So I've been playing Trails in the Sky on and off lately (all hail PPSSPP). I'm currently in the final chapter about to enter the Arena competition together with Zane and Olivier.
Overall, I'm liking this game a lot. It has this down-to-earth feeling where you just move from one region to the next doing the quests that your guild (in whose employ you are as junior members) has available. I'm loving all the side quests and hidden quests, too. The only thing that brings it down for me is low difficulty and linear chapter progression.
Anyway, here are my (hastily put together) impressions so far:
+ No grinding. Absolutely none at all. First, you can avoid all random monsters and even choose which of them to engage with the right combination of Quartz equipped (Haze + Eagle Vision). Second, at least if you do the side-quests, you'll always be able to manage all boss and mid-boss fights (which give most of the exp anyway). Finally, you don't need to grind for gems (called Quartz here) either; you can find most of the good Orbments (magic stones that cost gems, basically) if you explore around and then you'll only need to buy a couple of them every chapter at most, just to fine-tune your setup.
+ Low-key story. It really feels like you're a couple of junior guild members doing assignments and traveling around the continent. This is really refreshing, and done well atmosphere-wise. The writing isn't mostly getting in the way either, some stupid dialogue here and there aside.
+ Feeling of progression. As you progress with missions, you grow stronger - it really feels like it and is also tied into story progression very well. The rate at which you progress is also good - not too fast and not too slow either.
+ Lots of hidden quests/secrets. This is one thing that (good) JRPGs do much better than WRPGs, and Trails in the Sky is solid in that regard. It also has NPC dialogue change a lot between missions, which is a really nice touch when you re-visit the same places a few times, and again something that good JRPGs can excel at. Of course, if you hate missing things just because you aren't in the right place at the right time, you're gonna hate this, but I love stuff like that.
+ Arts customization. Arts are basically magic you can do (though the game is steampunk-ish and so it pretends that technology, not magic), and the game has a neat element-based system where
+ That classic JRPG feeling. This game just feels right, exactly the same way that best JRPGs do.
+ The UI is good and lets you customize everything that matters, including your characters' special attacks and party formation. The quest journal and in-game help manual are good, too.
- On the other hand, that also comes with having a lot of classic JRPG tropes, which are definitely overused at this point, but personally I even kinda like that and don't find them particularly irritating here - again, thanks to the low-key story and dialogue. YMMV, however.
- The game is extremely easy. I only had to restart a handful of fights so far, just to change some accessories around. Whoever says this game is hard or "just right" must be kidding. You also always have just enough money to buy everything you need (though not too much money either, which is good).
- The chapter progression is linear. You do all guild assignments in one region, the plot advances in some major way, you move on to the next region, etc. It's mostly no big deal but occasionally (though thankfully not too often) the forced linearity gets very irritating, e.g. when you want to go to a specific location and do a specific sidequest but the game tells you "no, not right now; you must go a different way first and do what I, game, want you to do".
- Olivier is extremely irritating, but you can't ditch him because, being a JRPG, this game keeps forcing him on you.
Neutral: Combat system. It has rudimentary positioning and stuff like limit breaks etc., but that's all really really basic.
tl;dr If you're looking for a new classic-style JRPG to play, this game is very good and I can mostly recommend it. If you're looking for challenge, look elsewhere.
It could also be good as a JRPG noob's first JRPG due to low difficulty, low key story, getting the feeling of progression and atmosphere right, but also being modern and having a good UI.
Overall, I'm liking this game a lot. It has this down-to-earth feeling where you just move from one region to the next doing the quests that your guild (in whose employ you are as junior members) has available. I'm loving all the side quests and hidden quests, too. The only thing that brings it down for me is low difficulty and linear chapter progression.
Anyway, here are my (hastily put together) impressions so far:
+ No grinding. Absolutely none at all. First, you can avoid all random monsters and even choose which of them to engage with the right combination of Quartz equipped (Haze + Eagle Vision). Second, at least if you do the side-quests, you'll always be able to manage all boss and mid-boss fights (which give most of the exp anyway). Finally, you don't need to grind for gems (called Quartz here) either; you can find most of the good Orbments (magic stones that cost gems, basically) if you explore around and then you'll only need to buy a couple of them every chapter at most, just to fine-tune your setup.
+ Low-key story. It really feels like you're a couple of junior guild members doing assignments and traveling around the continent. This is really refreshing, and done well atmosphere-wise. The writing isn't mostly getting in the way either, some stupid dialogue here and there aside.
+ Feeling of progression. As you progress with missions, you grow stronger - it really feels like it and is also tied into story progression very well. The rate at which you progress is also good - not too fast and not too slow either.
+ Lots of hidden quests/secrets. This is one thing that (good) JRPGs do much better than WRPGs, and Trails in the Sky is solid in that regard. It also has NPC dialogue change a lot between missions, which is a really nice touch when you re-visit the same places a few times, and again something that good JRPGs can excel at. Of course, if you hate missing things just because you aren't in the right place at the right time, you're gonna hate this, but I love stuff like that.
+ Arts customization. Arts are basically magic you can do (though the game is steampunk-ish and so it pretends that technology, not magic), and the game has a neat element-based system where
+ That classic JRPG feeling. This game just feels right, exactly the same way that best JRPGs do.
+ The UI is good and lets you customize everything that matters, including your characters' special attacks and party formation. The quest journal and in-game help manual are good, too.
- On the other hand, that also comes with having a lot of classic JRPG tropes, which are definitely overused at this point, but personally I even kinda like that and don't find them particularly irritating here - again, thanks to the low-key story and dialogue. YMMV, however.
- The game is extremely easy. I only had to restart a handful of fights so far, just to change some accessories around. Whoever says this game is hard or "just right" must be kidding. You also always have just enough money to buy everything you need (though not too much money either, which is good).
- The chapter progression is linear. You do all guild assignments in one region, the plot advances in some major way, you move on to the next region, etc. It's mostly no big deal but occasionally (though thankfully not too often) the forced linearity gets very irritating, e.g. when you want to go to a specific location and do a specific sidequest but the game tells you "no, not right now; you must go a different way first and do what I, game, want you to do".
- Olivier is extremely irritating, but you can't ditch him because, being a JRPG, this game keeps forcing him on you.
Neutral: Combat system. It has rudimentary positioning and stuff like limit breaks etc., but that's all really really basic.
tl;dr If you're looking for a new classic-style JRPG to play, this game is very good and I can mostly recommend it. If you're looking for challenge, look elsewhere.
It could also be good as a JRPG noob's first JRPG due to low difficulty, low key story, getting the feeling of progression and atmosphere right, but also being modern and having a good UI.
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