The Legend of Heroes Thread - Trails of Cold Steel in the Sky

[Rean]

sorry i had the names confused, LOH: Trails of cold steel is the game i played for a bit. yes , the setting was the worst part . i think i looked at Trails in the sky games and the old graphic was a bit offputting. maybe i should play those first ?

Sky is great, but not an absolute necessity to understand the story if you can't handle the graphics.

The academy setting works fine (and is, anyway, the main setting of only the first and second games, the series gradually opens up), there's a reason the Japanese prefer it and have mastered it.
Narratively, a school setting is a fantastic place where hundreds of characters organically congregate and interact.
It also signifies and marks growth, so that when the characters finally leave the academy you can observe how much they've developed, which is exactly what happens with Cold Steel.

 

[Ysaye]

So my question is, it is worth getting back in the game and eventually in following games of the serie, or like everything today latest installments are more and more decline?

Trails in the Sky trilogy are all good so play that.

Cold Steel has a much more "anime" feeling with academy setting and all, but I still find the series very charming regardless including the big cast and evolving world and NPC

sorry i had the names confused, LOH: Trails of cold steel is the game i played for a bit. yes , the setting was the worst part . i think i looked at Trails in the sky games and the old graphic was a bit offputting. maybe i should play those first ?

There are whole forums on whether people should play all games in order (Sky-> Zero then Azure fan translations -> Cold Steel, the Trail in the Sky games first then Cold Steel, or whether it is fine to just jump into Cold Steel. I guess the thing to note is that they all occur in the same world in different locations and/or different times; Sky happens first and then Crossbell next but overlaps what is going on in Cold Steel.

IMO If you enjoy Cold Steel just play from there - there are references to the older games but most things are quite complicated so whilst you might learn about something that is technically a spoiler but nothing that should put you off.

In terms of decline, my thoughts for consideration:

• Characters - Cold Steel (CS) 4 has so many player characters that some of them don't get enough character development time, which is bad in a Trails game because characters are a key part of the narrative. The new series Kuro No Kiseki (Probably English Trails to Darkness) addresses that somewhat but that was a decline for a while. Some people don't like Rean (protagonist of Cold Steel) because he is story-wise super OP, he is a disciple of one of the strongest sword fighters, he also has multiple "special powers", all the ladies love him etc. compared to earlier protagonists who are a lot more normal. On the other hand, Falcom probably know their fan base, as the latest protagonist Van is 23, which is much older than the original protagonist and probably reflects the fans getting old as well.
• Combat - I suppose if you look ahead to the Kuro series they have got a limited non turn based option for trash mobs which is arguably decline for a series heavily rooted in being spatial turn based (although in CS2 onwards once you got to a certain level you could just whack a low level monster on the open world and auto-win so it is similar to that), but before that Cold Steel turn based gets more and more bloated and breakable as the games go on. Levelling is pretty much pointless in CS games, which is probably a good thing.
• Music - Falcom has always had high standards in terms of music and I think since CS4 and the following, these games have had their critics; one of the favourite composers for Fans left the falcom sound team whilst the contractor composer who writes okay music gets more and more of a gig. I know that people that have played it have thought that Kuro 1 has the worst sound track for some time.
• Setting - I would argue no decline here, the settings are always pretty nice. CS1-2 takes place in Eastern Erebonia (the country that it is set in), whilst CS3-4 is set in Western Erebonia with visits to Crossbell (setting for Zero and Azure) - it is all nicely depicted and have their own quirks. Kuro is set in Calvard which is described as being a mix of Eastern Europe but with some middle eastern bits and refugees from the Far East.

 

[Stoned Ape]

I'm finding it really hard to get around to finishing CS3 and I'm not enjoying it as much as I did the earlier games. I think a big part of it is that I don't really care about the new students' stories or backgrounds.

I got to the merchant city on the coast and did the island exploration from what I remember, but when I returned to see the festival I dropped the game and I've not been motivated to pick it up again since. That was a couple of weeks after it was released and the icon's just been sitting unclicked in the corner of my desktop ever since.

Is it worth biting the bullet and pushing through the rest of it to get to CS4? Unless it's a step up from this one I think I might just give up on the series.

 

[Mark.L.Joy]

CS3 introducing noble boy nº2, favela boy, noble girl and loyd's fangirl.
Riveting storytelling.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

CS3's problem is that it should be the payoff game. All of the setup was done in CS1 and CS2. CS3 should have been about Rean and friends fighting against Osborne from the get go. Instead we find out that they did nothing for 2 years, and we redo CS1 all over again as a new cast of characters is introduced and they have to slowly remember who they were supposed to be fighting against: Osborne. Except this time the build up isn't even engaging like in CS1. The ILF and the Noble Alliance were interesting and their chapter of the week conflicts built up the story of Erebonia. In CS3 you spend 90 hours chasing anime supervillains who have nothing to do with Erebonia and have no coherent motivations or goals.

 

[Rean]

CS3 is the best game in the franchise.

Every seething nobody always comes out of the woodwork to talk shit. Random baldies, stoners, I'm sure the Nintendog will be by soon.

 

[Abu Antar]

In Cold Steel one: is there a benefit fully level up master quarts, or should I just swap to another one, if it seems better? I'm assuming swap?

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

In Cold Steel one: is there a benefit fully level up master quarts, or should I just swap to another one, if it seems better? I'm assuming swap?

Level 5 Master Quartz are generally a lot more powerful than lower level versions. For example:

• Chevalier at level 4 only has a 30% chance to taunt enemies, but at level 5 it has a 90% chance to taunt enemies, meaning that if you want a tank character you want to level up Chevalier to level 5.
• Scepter at level 4 has a 60% chance to loot extra sepith when attacking, but at level 5 it is a 90% chance.
• Vermillion dels 1.5x extra damage at level 4, but 2x damage at level 5.
• Murakumo at level 4 increases crit chance by 10%, but at level 5 it increases crit chance by 20% and increases crit damage from 1.5x to 2x.

You won't be able to level up all MQ over the course of a single playthrough if you play normally. If you do want to level up MQ, the best place to do it is in the last room of the final dungeon. There are two mobs that respawn everytime you enter/exit that room that you can farm indefinitely for EXP. If you decide to level up MQ that way, then you should level up damage dealing MQs like Vermillion first, so that it will make your grinding go a lot faster. However, this is at the end of the final dungeon. You won't really get much more mileage out of your fully levelled up MQs after that, so it's mostly if you plan on doing a NG+ playthrough, as you can use your fully leveled up MQs in a new run of the game.

 

[Abu Antar]

One playthrough only. I will level up the ones I think that I will use, then.

 

[Rean]

 

[Endemic]

CS3's problem is that it should be the payoff game. All of the setup was done in CS1 and CS2. CS3 should have been about Rean and friends fighting against Osborne from the get go. Instead we find out that they did nothing for 2 years, and we redo CS1 all over again as a new cast of characters is introduced and they have to slowly remember who they were supposed to be fighting against: Osborne. Except this time the build up isn't even engaging like in CS1. The ILF and the Noble Alliance were interesting and their chapter of the week conflicts built up the story of Erebonia. In CS3 you spend 90 hours chasing anime supervillains who have nothing to do with Erebonia and have no coherent motivations or goals.

Don't play 4 then, it gets worse in that regard.

Spoiler

A bullshit curse and the big dragon finale undercut the Osborne storyline heavily. Can't have someone be ruthless and pragmatic for his own reasons.

It's a shame because this is the same series that dared to have elements like the D∴G cult and Paradise in the Crossbell games.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I've wondered on this entire franchise.... are they more deep into story than grinding? Can you endlessly grind? I saw the Sky trilogy and was considering. I saw the Steel series and grimaced a little as the art style might take time for me to get used to.

 

[Abu Antar]

It leans more into story and worldbuilding than grinding in my opinion.

 

[Ysaye]

Worldbuilding is the focus; if you need to grind you aren't paying attention to the systems and enemies (maybe getting certain quartz or accessories can be useful which may require you to squirrel away some money). The later games actually penalize you for grinding by resetting everyone's levels and equipment to a certain point once you reach a certain point in the story.

 

[Jermu]

After finishing every trails game on nightmare only games I would say that require grinding is sky 2 and maybe sky 1. Other games you are probably fine just skipping every random encounter and doing only quest monster encounters. At least CS 1-4 I just skipped every random encounter I could and found those games very easy.

 

[Lyre Mors]

I just fight every encounter I see once and avoid them if I have to back-track or something. That usually lands me right where I need to be in terms of experience and sepith gathering. Since Sky, the series has been pretty actively anti-grind, with experience gain dropping drastically once you match the levels of the monsters in a given area.

Still don't agree with people who say the Cold Steel series is super easy on Nightmare, but I tend to avoid any overly OP cheese tactics when they present themselves in the game, except dodge-tanking with certain characters.

Man, I need some Hajimari in my life now. Can't believe we still have to wait until 2023. Not to mention Kuro II is pretty much already out in Japan. I've probably said something similar earlier in the thread: I'm happy the Crossbell duology is getting the localization it deserves finally, but I think it kinda fucked those of us who've already played them and beyond in the series. I have no doubt Hajimari's release was unnecessarily staggered as a result.

 

[Rean]

I have no doubt Hajimari's release was unnecessarily staggered as a result.

I hadn't even thought of that, it's probably true!

 

[somerandomdude]

I just fight every encounter I see once and avoid them if I have to back-track or something. That usually lands me right where I need to be in terms of experience and sepith gathering. Since Sky, the series has been pretty actively anti-grind, with experience gain dropping drastically once you match the levels of the monsters in a given area.

Still don't agree with people who say the Cold Steel series is super easy on Nightmare, but I tend to avoid any overly OP cheese tactics when they present themselves in the game, except dodge-tanking with certain characters.

Man, I need some Hajimari in my life now. Can't believe we still have to wait until 2023. Not to mention Kuro II is pretty much already out in Japan. I've probably said something similar earlier in the thread: I'm happy the Crossbell duology is getting the localization it deserves finally, but I think it kinda fucked those of us who've already played them and beyond in the series. I have no doubt Hajimari's release was unnecessarily staggered as a result.

Hajimari has a fan translation patch available. It's not the overlay, it actually patches the game. It's not a flawless translation, but it's decent enough.

I saved the link to the patch files from a youtube video that got pulled, if anyone is interested. Yeah, you all heard it right, you can play Hajimari right now in English, if you copy over the patch files. Grab the jap version off steam, or wherever else you might get it.
https://mega.nz/folder/FVQglRyZ#Ko2ORdPVz6MEXx_hx3aKFQ

They're working on one for Kuro as well, which is releasing tomorrow on steam. Probably within a month Kuro will be patched as well.

What I will say about Hajimari, is the game is super easy, for the same reasons the cold steel games were. Arts users in particular are just busted in this game. Chain no-delay casts back to back until whenever you're fighting is deleted before it gets a turn, even works against post game bosses. They don't get a turn. And then the same gimmicks with chrono burst, and absolute delay (Gaius S craft), combine that with low delay arts and you break the game. Not only that, but even the weaker arts can do 200CP S-craft level damage, even the C tier damage arts with the correct setup. And then you got lost arts that's up to 6S damage, you can setup a character to get that off for max damage and typically oneshot a boss. Soo many ways to break Hajimari.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Yeah, as much as the wait is difficult, I won't be starting down the fan translation route. If every one was of the same quality as the Zero and Azure Geofront projects, that'd be one thing, but I'd rather hold on, get the quality stuff, and not derail myself even further from the English release schedule going further. Trust me, I've eyed up that patch before. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Arthandas]

Still don't agree with people who say the Cold Steel series is super easy on Nightmare

It is, even without using cheap stuff like Insight, Chrono Burst, Invigorate/Megalith quartzes or approaching enemies from behind (which completely trivializes any non-boss encounter). S-Crafts are too good and default enemy stats on nightmare (especially speed) are just too low to be threatening. Thankfully, you can make it as hard as you want by editing the T_Status.tbl file (at least in part I and II) which I strongly encourage (even if only to bump the speed multiplier).

CS2 is generally harder as
a) they nerfed the burn status to cap at only 3k dmg so that's one source of big damage on bosses out of the window
b) more enemies and bosses are resistant to slowdown so no more stunlocks

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Jermu]

Cold steel 1-2 are very easy unless you consider using S-crafts cheese tactics. Might also require advanced tactics such as buffing str before spam.

If you are curious here are nightmare speedruns for cs1-2:





For me it is pretty clear that best combat from all trails games on nightmare are Zero and Ao. Most balanced experience overall without being too easy / require using bs tactics such as earth wall spam.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I found CS1 and CS2 to be the most challenging (in a fun way) Trails games. The earlygames on higher difficulties can be pretty tough. The final gauntlet of battles in CS2 are also pretty hard. Be you have a lot a leeway in what kind of builds you want to use. Sky and Crossbell can be "harder", but they're not fun. You can't really customize your crew in those games because spamming earth wall and White Gehenna or Lord Inferno is the only way to win.

 

[Abu Antar]

I'm playing more CS1, and it's jarring to me, when in the same cut scene, some characters have VA, while others do not.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I'm playing more CS1, and it's jarring to me, when in the same cut scene, some characters have VA, while others do not.

Are you playing the Vita/PS3 versions? XSEED added 5,000 new voicelines to the PC version (which carried over into the PS4 port) and all scenes are consistently voiced acted.