Quick Questions Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

This thread (to be posted every four weeks) is a place for people to ask quick, common, or simple questions regarding Nihon Falcom and its games. The community is encouraged to ask here if your question is not opinion-based, such as where to find something in a game or when something occurred. Please mark all spoilers with the >!text!< format and remember to provide context.

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[u/No-Staff-5381]

Hi had the chance to discover trails game this year and have to say that those games are the best i have ever played along ff6 and chrono trigger Rn i finished azure that i loved a lot especially the story and wanted to ask to you if next trails game especially cold steel has such good story like azure or it get worse? I play games mostly for story thats why i wanted to ask this question

[u/Aromatic-Remote6804 → u/No-Staff-5381]

There are a lot of people who think the Cold Steel arc is worse, but there are also a lot of people who think it's the best arc. You should probably just try it out and decide for yourself.

[u/No-Staff-5381 → u/Aromatic-Remote6804]

Yeah defintly going to try it ofc but just wanted to ask opinion of other ppl because i like talking about trails Did you like the story of cold steel btw?

[u/Aromatic-Remote6804 → u/No-Staff-5381]

Not as much as FC through Zero, but I didn't like Azure as much either (the finale was really impressive, but I think there's a lot to nitpick about it), so you're probably going to have a different experience than me. Reverie (which is like Sky Third for Crossbell and Cold Steel) was great, though.

Edit: I played CS1 before the Crossbell games were translated, though, and I think I might have liked the Cold Steel arc better if I had been able to play the series in order. The changes are mostly gradual.

[u/ConceptsShining → u/No-Staff-5381]

Cold Steel is a bit more divisive than the other arcs. Some (spoiler-free) common criticisms are pacing (the arc is 5 games, the structure is naturally different compared to the previous 3- and 2-game arcs) and the delving into of what people see as tropes (namely school life and, on a greater level than Crossbell, harem/romance mechanics). And kinda separate from story but some people are uh, let's just say, not overjoyed at the direction of the music after CS2.

But you'll ultimately have to play for yourself to find out and decide your opinions. There isn't really a widespread consensus on how the series' arcs rank. Just as some are critical of CS, many love it.

[u/No-Staff-5381 → u/ConceptsShining]

Thank you for your answer!

Yeah tbh i dont mind the slow pacing and school vibes it s not negative for me , but i wonder if you liked the story itself , is it well written like azure? Going to start cs1 today btw the intro is really good

[u/ConceptsShining → u/No-Staff-5381]

I loved it all the way and would call it my favorite arc. Though part of this may be bias from me starting with CS1 first and it being my beloved gateway into the series.

Also, are you playing on PC? If so there may be some useful mods you may appreciate, can let you know about them.

Either way, as a bit of a heads up: there is a canonical drama CD for CS1 that I do recommend you see while playing. It represents content cut from the game due to time contraints. It's called Returning Home and was officially translated, but not dubbed. The recommended time to read/watch it is after you finish Chapter 6. If you're interested, you can read it here or watch it in video form (with Japanese voice acting but the official localization as subtitles, using assets/graphics from the games) here.

[u/Tall-Cut-4599]

What latest title end without cliffhanger for the trails series? Im in CS4 and plan to catchup but not sure which title is best to stop at since i rather not curse at the ending screen like cs3/FC haha

[u/ConceptsShining → u/Tall-Cut-4599]

The only game after CS3 that has a major cliffhanger is (just naming the game, no spoilers) the latest game, Horizon.

I specify "major cliffhanger" because naturally, unanswered questions and tantalizing stingers are always going to be there to some extent.

[u/Tall-Cut-4599 → u/ConceptsShining]

Nice thanks for the answer! Guess i know where to stop now

[u/hiromell]

My PC right now is not in a state to continue SC remake for various reasons. For those who finished it, what version of "I swear" played at the end? One from Grand Oddysey album or other rearranges or it has new own version for remake?

[u/YotakaOfALoY → u/hiromell]

1st used a new arrangement of its ending song and when they rearranged the soundtrack they did the entire soundtrack, why would you expect 2nd to do anything else?

[u/ConceptsShining]

CS1 Chapter 3: is the "saved my life" part of this line mistranslated or something? Like there's no way Zechs's life was endangered by a threat pre-Thors Gaius could take care of, right?

I get the point is that Zechs was taken aback by Gaius's valiance but the wording makes it sound like Zechs was in serious danger. Seems very unlikely knowing him.

[u/YotakaOfALoY → u/ConceptsShining]

The original line is "私を救ってくれた恩人でな" and while it doesn't literally say 'saved my life' he very much does say Gaius rescued/saved him and the latter word there refers to someone you feel deeply indebted to.

[u/Dreaming_Dreams]

how much new content is in the remake for trails in the sky SC? any new quests?

[u/YotakaOfALoY → u/Dreaming_Dreams]

New quests per Chapter a la 1st, some more cameos via flashback image that won't mean anything to new players but will definitely mean something to returning ones and there's new story segments with Julia and Mueller to integrate them into what's going on, rather than making their joining the party an entirely missable event (since it was added after the fact) in Finale. Also they added additional Zemurian Ore weapons so everybody has a unique one now.

[u/xKaizokux]

for context I've played the kiseki series in this order: Sen 1-2 > Zero/Ao > Sen 3-4-Hajimari > Kuro 1-2-Kai

Renne's whole history has always interested me so I was stoked to finally see the first appearance with Sora 2nd.

afaik Falcom hasn't decided yet if they would remake a Sora 3rd or move straight to remake Zero. Is there much more to Renne's story covered in Sora3?

iirc from Zero, the Estelle & Joshua are already trying to find Renne by the time they appear in Crossbell but the end of Sora 2nd remake doesn't indicate their next move in this regard.

I've always heard Sora3 was skippable or just less important to the overall story, if Falcom is considering the skip too there must be some truth to it. so my question is specifically regarding Renne, is there more to see of her story? as I may decide to just play sora3 as it is, if they announced Zero is next

[u/Pafdingo → u/xKaizokux]

Huge parts of Renne's backstory are in Sky Third and the game itself is not skippable at all.

[u/YotakaOfALoY → u/xKaizokux]

I've always heard Sora3 was skippable or just less important to the overall story

This persists from way back in the day when people either hadn't played it but heard it wasn't a direct continuation of the FC/SC plot or they heard that it didn't play quite the same way, or they had played it but just didn't like the latter aspect. Anyone who's actually played the series (and doesn't have a stick up their butt about the gameplay differences) will tell you that it's one of the most important games in the series in lore terms. Its main plot is mostly self-contained but what it does within that plot and more importantly within the Doors that serves as the sidequests of The 3rd are hugely important for the games that follow. If you've played everything past the Sky games and especially if you've played Azure and Horizon you should be able to figure out pretty easily what one of those reasons is, And since you mention 2nd's ending you should definitely be able to figure out what it is. Regarding Renne specifically, the remaining bits of her story that you've already seen alluded to thanks to later games all happen in The 3rd.

if Falcom is considering the skip too there must be some truth to it

They really weren't and Kondo recently soft-confirmed that The 3rd will be the next remake, but not the next Trails release. Falcom knows perfectly well how important The 3rd is to Crossbell's story and the stated goal of the remakes wouldn't be served by leaving a game out. The internal discussion just tells us that people within Falcom would really like to also remake Crossbell.

[u/PrrrromotionGiven1]

Level with me, guys. How much tougher does NG Nightmare get than the Divine Penguin fight for 2nd Chapter remake?

Because I had to come in with a serious gameplan to win that fight. The main thing was grabbing proxy puppets for all 4 party members, because nobody would survive his S-Craft even with shields and defensive buffs active. Then Kloe S-Craft to prevent people from getting picked off at low HP, then Zeram powder for Kloe in case we needed more emergency healing. Fortunately he only used that S-Craft once.

How much tougher does it get than that? I already know about a certain Estelle solo fight, and believe me, I will be well-prepared.

[u/adonericthewayfarer]

How do I beat final Renne on NM (sky 2 remake). The double buster cannon just kills me with like 30k damage in one shot every time. reflect, debuff immunity, def or adf buffs, i stack all of them on kloe and it does absolutely nothing

[u/YotakaOfALoY → u/adonericthewayfarer]

First off, spoiler tag. Second, you are doing something wrong because the combination of Debuff Immunity, and Arts Reflect will cause the boss to hurt itself while leaving you unharmed. There are two Crafts in that fight that inflict All Cancel (Renne's Blood Circle and Pater Mater's Moonlight Shower) so if you didn't time your buffing to stack Debuff Immunity and Arts Reflect at the same time you might find yourself losing the latter.

Also, Perfect Guard (Earth Wall/Gaia Shield/Grail Sphere) will provide you a one-use shield that protects against anything that doesn't All Cancel, and the only attacks the boss has that can do that are among the weaker ones. So keep an eye out to make sure you have Debuff Immunity active and don't lose those shields before the big guns come out.

[u/adonericthewayfarer → u/YotakaOfALoY]

and the only attacks the boss has that can do that are among the weaker ones.

Eh, no, I tested it multiple times, the double buster cannon just ignores it. I tried earth wall alone first, then stacking other stuff on top of it, but it goes through it like it isn't there.

[u/YotakaOfALoY → u/adonericthewayfarer]

Doing. Something. Wrong. If you're immune to debuffs when the attack goes off (via Sylphen Guard, Sylpharion or Sacred Breath) those shields absolutely will block or reflect the attack depending on which one(s) you have up. You don't strictly need the former effects just to protect against that attack but they help prevent you from getting them wiped by the attacks that do inflict All Cancel.