Trails franchise (Trails In The Sky, Trails Of Cold Steel etc)

So, reading through Gambler Jack, and I have two thoughts:

• First, Calvard has movie theaters, something found nowhere else in Zemuria, which raises some interesting possibilities.
• Second, and this is what prompted my readthrough here - what if Jack, or rather the person who inspired his character (or one of the others from the books), is the Fourth Anguis?

I mean, we know there's a real Jack. He has his own minigame in The 3rd.

Are we sure that’s meant to be a real guy, though, as opposed to, like, an incarnation of the novels?

I mean, the Sun Doors also give us a Campanella hosting “Who Wants to be a Miranaire?”

Edited by KarkatTheDalek on Apr 13th 2020 at 10:32:43 AM

Blech. I'm still a nervous wreck about playing the rest of the Trails of Cold Steel series.

All the books have been basically true so far, with minor details being changed up to protect the real life people.

Well that's Cold Steel 3 beaten. That, uh, got dark.

Would you say the writers were ripping off Hunter x Hunter or Yu Yu Hakusho more?

I kind of already know where this is heading since CS 4 has been out for so long. Rean has a fucking tragic life for sure.

I still wonder how the reveal of who Osbourne is will affect the conflict, once I reach it. I mean, if he was actually fighting for a good cause this entire time, and he accomplishes all of his goals without being beaten, then... doesn't that kinda harm the agency of the main characters somewhat? Do their choices and the choices of the other villains matter when it's all part of Osbourne's game?

Edited by GNinja on Apr 16th 2020 at 2:58:29 PM

Main characters lacking agency is the biggest criticism of this series by far.

It's part of why so many people like the Crossbell Duology: it doesn't feel like we're being led by the nose the whole time.

I mean, I haven't reached the reveal yet, so it could be done well of course, but just on a conceptual level I don't think I like the idea of Osbourne being good (or at least necessary) all along. It upends everything for sure as a good twist does, but I'm not sure if it's in a good way. You take the villain who's the most competent, the most charismatic, the most successful throughout the series. The person the player is trying to stop but constantly failing to... and then you reveal that they were actually doing everything for a good cause and all of those villainous acts were really beneficial in the long run.

You've funneled all the competence in the story into a figure who isn't actually an antagonist. So once you reveal that he isn't a villain, there's no one else who's been built up nearly enough to replace him. He's already outsmarted everyone. And rather than focusing on him as the central character so maybe we could seewhat he struggles with and his internal conflict (Which I honestly think would be interesting), the story spends all of its time tricking you. First he looks like he's dead. Then he looks like a villain. etc etc.

Edited by GNinja on Apr 16th 2020 at 6:42:13 PM

I was just talking generally, but I really don't like that reveal either.

That one was my favorite JRPG villain before, now they're a mouthful of dinner plates.

Edited by HailMuffins on Apr 16th 2020 at 12:16:26 PM

Well he might be trying to be good but doing it wrong, Well-Intentioned Extremist is a trope. But the key thing I think is the scene from the 3rd, go rewatch Olivier's door, not even the Ironbloods will remain loyal to him forever if he keeps it up.

Everyone, even the Crossbell cast, is being manipulated to oppose him. Quite a few have failed already and fallen to the wayside. Rean, Olivier and Lloyd are the only ones to really ever do that job enough to start Osborne's plan but then what...

Edited by Memers on Apr 16th 2020 at 8:32:08 AM

The thing is, does the story ever suggest what he should've done differently? Does he fail because of the path he chose? Or does he get everything he wanted and all of his plans work?

Edited by GNinja on Apr 16th 2020 at 6:14:44 PM

All things considered this is about people trying to mess with things far beyond their pay grade.

So does anyone at ANY point manage to outsmart Osborne? Like, does anything happen to Osborne that he would rather not happen?

Are there any meaningfully competent antagonists in Cold Steel besides him?

Edited by GNinja on Apr 19th 2020 at 10:19:13 AM

Outside of Ouroboros? Probably not.

CS 4 spoilers but You are thinking that Osborne is the mastermind behind everything, he is not. That person is the Emperor himself, by his directive did Osborne come to power, by his funding did the Crimson Wings take flight. Everything including getting himself shot has been his will... why? He had the Black Records, he knew and made it happen Because Destiny Says So.

Once the records run out and the Rivalries of the Seven have started, he sides with Rean and by extent endorsing Alfin as Empress over Osborne’s lacky Cedric.

Edited by Memers on Apr 19th 2020 at 4:53:01 AM

CS 3 already heavily implies this, in the dialogue between Osborne and the Emperor. Osborne's shift in attitude when alone with the Emperor is a dead giveaway.

I mean... my hangup is more that Osborne seems like the only antagonist who actually gets anything done... and then we learn that he wasn't really an antagonist. So are Ouroboros just kinda useless in Cold Steel? My problem isn't specifically that Osborne is too smart. It's that there's no antagonistic force that's on par with him to take over once the reveal happens.

I know CS 4 ends with their leader insisting that everything is going according to plan. But that seems like a thing that's stated after the fact. Not something we actually see during the games.

Edited by GNinja on Apr 19th 2020 at 6:26:58 PM

Ouroboros itself might not even be straight up 'bad', just Well-Intentioned Extremist with a few crazies in their members. They have been successful at exposing Sept-Terrions and capturing 1, the rest have been sealed away forever, which may be their entire objective... to get rid of all Sept-Terrions for some reason.

The fact the Dragon Veins are drying up in the east might be a direct result of the Sept-terrions being removed or it could be actually the Sept-terrions doing it and Ouroboros themselves trying to get them away from harming the world.

Osborne and Ouroboros aren't in conflict. They're just letting him call the shots because it's easier and accomplishes their goals anyway.

Edited by LordVatek on Apr 19th 2020 at 2:36:45 PM

To be fair, it's difficult to say how not evil they are. They've certainly done some large-scale things to get their goals accomplished, and they can be ruthless even with their own members if need be. Whatever they are, they're apposed to our hero parties more often than not, and the hints about their own true goal definitely seem like it's directly opposing our good guy factions. For all that, they're positioned as antagonists in any game they have a part to play in.

Plus, uh. Most of their members are ruthless murderers or assholes.

Doesn't make them too easy to root for when they've got psychopaths like Shirley or Capauna on their side.

They were also behind a demon-worshiping cult that doubles as a child sex slavery ring on the side, lest we forget!