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General Trails thread (Trails of Cold Steel 4 (PS4) out now).


Armagon
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On 12/7/2018 at 3:30 AM, Thane said:

Indeed, but thanks anyway, brother! I'm having fun with the game, though I did buy it while busy and right before Ultimate. Oh well, I do like a good RPG.

So far it's very simple but told well. The amount of dialogue in this game is pretty incredible, and the combat system seems nice even f those bloody mutant ladybugs can be a pest. Just got to the second city now in search of daddy dearest. He made the horrible mistake of being a loving father over 40 in an anime game.

The battle system will pretty much improve and expand in almost every game afterwards too. Also the dialog of every NPC pretty much updates after story events as well. 

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12 minutes ago, Jedi said:

The battle system will pretty much improve and expand in almost every game afterwards too. Also the dialog of every NPC pretty much updates after story events as well. 

That sounds nice! I do like the customization options but sometimes it feels like I've got no idea what I'm doing. Oh well, it's working so far though.

I also see why they're calling this "Trails in the Sky" though because you never manage to actually catch anyone; you're just always trailing them. Got to the final chapter of the first game just a few minutes ago, so I'm hoping all these loose narrative threads will intertwine. Joshua's past, Cassius' whereabouts, the revelation that the evil mastermind behind all of this also created Coldsteel the Edgehog...

This game could also be called "Legend of Impeccable Timing" because people keep popping in exactly when it's the most needed.

There were nine games, right? Is it always a different cast or how does it work?

Edited by Thane
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55 minutes ago, Thane said:

There were nine games, right? Is it always a different cast or how does it work?

Yes and no. The main series that Falcolm is developing is below but there are a couple more series. 

They are:

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky FC (first chapter)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky SC (Second chapter) (officially English translated) direct sequel to FC

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky the Third (officially English translated) Should be played after the above ones.

Can choose between these two next but is highly suggested to start with this series:

The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Kiseki (fan translated English patch)

 The Legend of Heroes:  Ao no Kiseki (fan translated English patch) 

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold steal (officially translated in English) you can skip the two above it's advised to do them in release order because of Cold steel spoiling a lot more of the Zero series.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (officially translated in English) 

That is all the games in the series so far. 

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3 minutes ago, Cure Naga said:

Yes and no. The main series that Falcolm is developing is below but there are a couple more series. 

They are:

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky FC (first chapter)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky SC (Second chapter) (officially English translated) direct sequel to FC

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky the Third (officially English translated) Should be played after the above ones.

Can choose between these two next but is highly suggested to start with this series:

The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Kiseki (fan translated English patch)

 The Legend of Heroes:  Ao no Kiseki (fan translated English patch) 

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold steal (officially translated in English) you can skip the two above it's advised to do them in release order because of Cold steel spoiling a lot more of the Zero series.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (officially translated in English) 

That is all the games in the series so far. 

Wow, thanks a lot, my friend! Man, this is reminding me of when I first got into the Fire Emblem series and had to learn all these whacky names and their place in the chronology. 

But first things first, Trails in the Sky is a trilogy and all released officially in English? That sounds like a good place to start. 

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22 hours ago, Thane said:

Wow, thanks a lot, my friend! Man, this is reminding me of when I first got into the Fire Emblem series and had to learn all these whacky names and their place in the chronology. 

But first things first, Trails in the Sky is a trilogy and all released officially in English? That sounds like a good place to start. 

Yeah, Sky has the same cast overall and is a continous trilogy, the 3rd game of the trilogy sets up things in the next 2 arcs, then the other 2 arcs have their own casts but the Sky folks are still around doing stuff depending on the plot and such.

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1 hour ago, Jedi said:

Yeah, Sky has the same cast overall and is a continous trilogy, the 3rd game of the trilogy sets up things in the next 2 arcs, then the other 2 arcs have their own casts but the Sky folks are still around doing stuff depending on the plot and such.

Sounds neat, my boy. I believe I am a new fan of this series. I like the gameplay, worldbuilding, and the plot quite a bit, even if there are some minor things nagging me here and there (seriously, people in this world have the best timing. I'm pretty sure it's a continental passtime to wait for just the right moment to do/say something just when someone needs it the most). Can't wait to see how the first game wraps up; I'm storming a villa now, which is fun.

Edit: Goddammit, literally one minute after I wrote about the timing thing, it happened again. Although I'm always happy to see Olivier. Seriously, the guy cracks me up.

Edit 2: What the fuck is up with the Florence boss battle? I hesitate to even call him a boss since all he does is heal, spam Earth Guard and Seal. Give him the slightest scratch and he starts healing up. I've been going at it for half an hour and he's still full health...and so am I!

Edit 3: Did Florence of all people seriously pull the "huh, not bad, you forced me to use 10% of my power!" and then beat us in a cutscene after we beat him? Did this guy absorb all of this game's anime and inject it straight into his veins? I feel like I'm reading fanfiction here.

Edited by Thane
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2 hours ago, Thane said:

Sounds neat, my boy. I believe I am a new fan of this series. I like the gameplay, worldbuilding, and the plot quite a bit, even if there are some minor things nagging me here and there (seriously, people in this world have the best timing. I'm pretty sure it's a continental passtime to wait for just the right moment to do/say something just when someone needs it the most). Can't wait to see how the first game wraps up; I'm storming a villa now, which is fun.

Edit: Goddammit, literally one minute after I wrote about the timing thing, it happened again. Although I'm always happy to see Olivier. Seriously, the guy cracks me up.

Edit 2: What the fuck is up with the Florence boss battle? I hesitate to even call him a boss since all he does is heal, spam Earth Guard and Seal. Give him the slightest scratch and he starts healing up. I've been going at it for half an hour and he's still full health...and so am I!

Edit 3: Did Florence of all people seriously pull the "huh, not bad, you forced me to use 10% of my power!" and then beat us in a cutscene after we beat him? Did this guy absorb all of this game's anime and inject it straight into his veins? I feel like I'm reading fanfiction here.

Trails in the Sky is an old game (from 2004), so yes, as you can also see from its artstyle, it is an old RPG that uses old, common anime cliches. You'll see even more of these in the future games.

Edited by Rapier
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To add on to that, Trails in the Sky didn't get localized until 2011. It didn't get to Steam until 2014. The localization for the series is a coin flip. You don't know when or even if the games will get localized. Trails in the Sky the 3rd didn't get localized until last year, which is really odd when you consider Trails of Cold Steel got localized in 2015 and that game is farther up in the timeline (although Cold Steel 1 is a pretty decent starting point for newcomers but it's not recommended you do that).

Meanwhile, the Crossbell games (Zero and Ao/Azure) are forever trapped in never-localized purgatory. Trails of Cold Steel 3&4 localization are up in the air right now. I think the fact that they are localizing the PS4 enhanced ports of Cold Steel 1 and 2 means they are getting ready for the remaining two.

44 minutes ago, Rapier said:

 it is an old RPG that uses old, common anime cliches. You'll see even more of these in the future games.

Especially in the Cold Steel games, which i guess is a reason why the reception to Cold Steel (at least the first two games) is more mixed from what i've seen.

If you want to know my opinion after two months since i've completed them, i actually really like the first two Cold Steel games (can't say for the later two, i haven't played) and i enjoyed them more than the Crossbell games (not that Crossbell is bad, it's just on an overall level, i enjoyed Cold Steel 1&2 more) but the Cold Steel arc is where the writing stumbles the most, at least in the first half. But i think that's fine, when your overarching plot currently 9 games, which amounts to 60% of the story, you're gonna stumble here and there. Not everything is perfect. Nothing is. Trails is definitely one of the better overarching stories in video games out there though.

Edited by Armagon
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Beat the game.

Spoiler

Man, when that bloody robot got up a third time I flipping panicked. It's way too late and I need to go to bed but I had to see the ending.

Oh hey, Alba was evil just as I thought he was. They made such a big deal of Joshua's eyes and hair that it always struck me as odd that Alba was the only other character with the same look yet was ignored. I would've been stoked for the next chapter if the very last writing hadn't been so cringy. I can get a good cliffhanger, but this is no different from Azura showing up at the end of Birthright/Conquest to inform you that you've fucked up and played the wrong version.

Overall a great game in spite of some qualms regarding the writing (and the camera); Florence was by far my least favorite part of this game, and it worries me he'll continue to play a part. I'll definitely pick up the second chapter when time permits...and I might make time permit as early as tomorrow. 

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3 hours ago, Thane said:

Beat the game.

  Hide contents

Man, when that bloody robot got up a third time I flipping panicked. It's way too late and I need to go to bed but I had to see the ending.

Oh hey, Alba was evil just as I thought he was. They made such a big deal of Joshua's eyes and hair that it always struck me as odd that Alba was the only other character with the same look yet was ignored. I would've been stoked for the next chapter if the very last writing hadn't been so cringy. I can get a good cliffhanger, but this is no different from Azura showing up at the end of Birthright/Conquest to inform you that you've fucked up and played the wrong version.

Overall a great game in spite of some qualms regarding the writing (and the camera); Florence was by far my least favorite part of this game, and it worries me he'll continue to play a part. I'll definitely pick up the second chapter when time permits...and I might make time permit as early as tomorrow. 

Florence/Loewe will be a hit-or-miss, I think. I personally like him, but if you aren't into old anime cliches, his characterization might put you off.

On 12/12/2018 at 11:19 PM, Armagon said:

Especially in the Cold Steel games, which i guess is a reason why the reception to Cold Steel (at least the first two games) is more mixed from what i've seen.

Cold Steel uses more modern tropes, though. What with the high school setting, the whole imouto thing, tsunderes etc. It's still a decent game, though.

I really hope CS3/4 get localized for the PC eventually, otherwise I'll have strong enough reasons to just get a PS4 (I'm not thinking about importing japanese versions though).

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1 hour ago, Rapier said:

Cold Steel uses more modern tropes, though. What with the high school setting, the whole imouto thing, tsunderes etc. It's still a decent game, though.

Well yeah but my point still stands that that's where the anime cliches and tropes are most common in the series. Thankfully though, it's not common enough to where it negatively impacts the writing (mostly, there are some things that really bothered me), at least in my opinion. Like yeah, it's not as good as the Sky trilogy but that's more because the Sky trilogy set a higher bar.

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5 hours ago, Rapier said:

Florence/Loewe will be a hit-or-miss, I think. I personally like him, but if you aren't into old anime cliches, his characterization might put you off.

Well he's been the worst part of the series so far for me so yeah, I don't think I'll like him. I'm afraid the second game seems less promising given a few things mentioned towards the end and the rather cringy attempts at being dark. That said, the first game was so good that I definitely want to try it, but I liked the smaller scope. 

 

4 hours ago, Armagon said:

Well yeah but my point still stands that that's where the anime cliches and tropes are most common in the series.

More than Florence and Joshua and Estelle's last scene? Pls no. 

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7 hours ago, Thane said:

More than Florence and Joshua and Estelle's last scene? Pls no. 

Well yes but also no. Like, some of it is just gonna depend on your tolerance levels for that sort of thing but i will say that some aspects of Cold Steel's writing are actually better than the Sky trilogy, in my opinion. 

Honestly, while the series writing is generally very good, my biggest criticism with the writing in the series isn't the anime tropes or anything like that but the villains. For me, the villains in this series are hit or miss. When they hit, they hit hard (how hard depends but you get the point). When they miss, it's to varying degrees, with the worst ones being Zero's villains.

I won't really go into detail though, i'll leave it up to you to play the games and form your own opinion.

Edited by Armagon
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On 2018-12-14 at 4:30 PM, Armagon said:

I won't really go into detail though, i'll leave it up to you to play the games and form your own opinion.

Thanks bud, I'll do that. I'll at least complete this trilogy when time permits. I really should get more things done right now buuut I kind of bought the second chapter.

Spoiler

Weird how Cassius says he was almost killed by an 11-year-old while Joshua said in the last game that he was being toyed with and stood absolutely no chance. Sure would've been helpful against that bloody robot if you had been that strong, Joshua.

Anelece is pretty much Mia from Path of Radiance, huh.

Oh god, I'm really not liking what we've seen of Joshua so far. This attempt at a dark tone is not doing it for me. Florence listing a bunch of silly nicknames for their agents too reminds me of Blazing Blade.

Aw shit, I picked Schera as my teammate but it seems like everyone is in agreement that Agate makes for a much better partner. Darn. I haven't looked up anything about this game as I want to go in blind but this really made me scratch my head. Maybe I should reload...

Oh shit, hang on, you get more Olivier if you choose Agate. That's it, reload and pick Agate immediately.

 

Edited by Thane
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So is Second Chapter just a carbon copy of Naruto or what is this? Fighting all these circus freaks - or rather, their pets while they cross their arms with closed eyes and talk about how weak we are - is getting really old really fast.

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2 hours ago, Thane said:

So is Second Chapter just a carbon copy of Naruto or what is this? Fighting all these circus freaks - or rather, their pets while they cross their arms with closed eyes and talk about how weak we are - is getting really old really fast.

Yeah, I get you. Chapters 1 and 2 were boring to me as well (save for the dialogues between the characters and NPCs, which never cease to amuse me), since not only were Ouroboros agents super overpowered and masters of cutscene powers, the game's plot had also apparently gone worse from the cool concepts in FC to the Naruto anime stuff we see in SC. I think it gets much better later on due to interesting character development parts, and in the end I think SC ends up doing right what Naruto did wrong.

I only started loving SC from Chapter 3 onwards (its start is interesting, but after Le Locle it bored me). Which is why I can say FC reigns as my favorite Trails game.

On which part are you in?

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16 hours ago, Rapier said:

masters of cutscene powers

This is probably my single biggest complaint against the writing of this series thus far barring the - and I'm sorry to use this word but it will serve to paint a picture of how I view the narrative - edgy elements. Not only does everyone in this world have flawless timing (I knew Sieg would show up to save us from Walter because people ALWAYS show up exactly when needed; I could write a list of that happening just off the top of my head) but there's often a jarring discrepancy in cutscenes. 

There's also a nagging sense of predictability. Gee, a random lost kid who's "not at all like other kids", I wonder if she's a member of the Akatsu- sorry, Black Fa- ah, shit, I mean Ourobouros.

The overall worldbuilding and character interactions are still great. I really like Olivier in particular, and the gameplay is generally smooth and interesting. It's just such a shame that fighting a group of clowns is the plot. 

I'm at the start of chapter three now, and I'm hoping it gets better, like you said. 

Edit: Welp, that concludes chapter three, I believe, and this is just starting to become embarrassing for everyone involved. At this point I'm wondering what the point of the plot is. I don't mean to whine but come on, this is getting ridiculous.

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21 hours ago, Thane said:

This is probably my single biggest complaint against the writing of this series thus far barring the - and I'm sorry to use this word but it will serve to paint a picture of how I view the narrative - edgy elements. Not only does everyone in this world have flawless timing (I knew Sieg would show up to save us from Walter because people ALWAYS show up exactly when needed; I could write a list of that happening just off the top of my head) but there's often a jarring discrepancy in cutscenes. 

There's also a nagging sense of predictability. Gee, a random lost kid who's "not at all like other kids", I wonder if she's a member of the Akatsu- sorry, Black Fa- ah, shit, I mean Ourobouros.

The overall worldbuilding and character interactions are still great. I really like Olivier in particular, and the gameplay is generally smooth and interesting. It's just such a shame that fighting a group of clowns is the plot. 

I'm at the start of chapter three now, and I'm hoping it gets better, like you said. 

Edit: Welp, that concludes chapter three, I believe, and this is just starting to become embarrassing for everyone involved. At this point I'm wondering what the point of the plot is. I don't mean to whine but come on, this is getting ridiculous.

To be fair, the "people showing up in perfect timing" makes sense for some FC moments, like the last scenes in the third city you visit. It never really bothered me much before you came up with this, lol.

As for the SC part you mentioned:

Spoiler

I also didn't really expect Renne to be from Ouroboros, but hey, I'm not a savvy person. I thought there was something special about her, such as some "hey let's give this child character amazing powers and plot relevance and turn her into a plot relevant macguffin that will only be expanded upon later".

I... er, think I might have guessed Ao's plot, but whatever.

Anyway, what made me like chapter 3 was how Renne and Estelle's relationship is built, as well as the looming threat that ended up being a red herring. I confess their relationship dynamics is one of the best I've seen in Trails, imo. And Renne is also strongly associated to Tita and Joshua, rendering much of their interactions interesting.

Chapters 4 and 5 are more of the same, but you should be treated to some interesting character development bits, at least. Chapter 6 is when shit finally hits the fan and it's Glorious.

Also, I agree with you on the anime parts, but I think Trails wrote these tropes well. Like, it's valid to find comparations between Joshua and Sasuke, for example, but the former is much better written. You have parts where he shows geniune concern and care for his peers, including the ones he found himself with now. It's not like the latter, who simply doesn't show any care for his friends, other than an one-dimensional desire for revenge. Loewe (Florence) also fits, in my opinion, for being a conflicted character with his own agenda.

In the end of the day, I'm still approving of the story because there are very well written characters.

 

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4 minutes ago, Rapier said:
Spoiler

I also didn't really expect Renne to be from Ouroboros

 

Spoiler

"Also"? It was my very first thought upon seeing her. I knew she was the clown of the third chapter as soon as she started tagging along.

 

5 minutes ago, Rapier said:
Spoiler

Anyway, what made me like chapter 3 was how Renne and Estelle's relationship is built, as well as the looming threat that ended up being a red herring. I confess their relationship dynamics is one of the best I've seen in Trails, imo. And Renne is also strongly associated to Tita and Joshua, rendering much of their interactions interesting.

 

Spoiler

I didn't like it at all. We already have Tita as the token cute little sister character, this is just another one but with another coat of paint. What bothers me is that I knew she was behind it all along and just had to wait for the characters to catch up. That's not a good sign.

 

9 minutes ago, Rapier said:
Spoiler

In the end of the day, I'm still approving of the story because there are very well written characters.

 

Spoiler

It's a good game, but I can't take this story seriously. It's just so...laughable, all of it. I really like the character interactions and the worldbuilding, but that is in spite of the main story, not thanks to it. If I've got to sit through one more of those cutscenes with an edgy asshole telling us how their experiments were a success I'm going to scream into a pillow.

 

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2 hours ago, Thane said:

What bothers me is that I knew she was behind it all along and just had to wait for the characters to catch up. That's not a good sign.

Spoiler

 

Gonna have to disagree here. Like you, i also figured out that she was behind it (i didn't know how specifically but i knew she was a part of Ouroborus).  However, to quote CinemaWins' video on The Last Jedi: "You can't look at stories from only your omniscient perspective." That quote was in reference to a movie but you can apply it to literally anything that involves storytelling and writing. I mean, i personally feel that if i only looked at things from my omniscient perspective, i would enjoy things a whole lot less.

I do think it is important to subvert expectations and whatnot but i believe that predictability isn't inherently a bad thing although that's a really specific case by case basis. In the case of this series, correctly predicting that a character is from Ourobourus isn't a bad thing. However, one of my main criticisms of SC (and sort of the whole series, i mean, it was my main criticism of FC too) is that the structure of the series is predictable. Not what happens specifically but the course of events. In FC, each chapter basically went like this: Estelle and Joshua arrive in a new region -> Estelle and Joshua meet new friends -> something bad happens -> Estelle and Joshua and friends solve the case -> Estelle and Joshua part ways with their new friends and go to a new region -> rinse and repeat. The first half of SC has a similar structure: Estelle arrives in a new region -> Ouroborus fucks shit up -> Estelle and friends fight Ouroborus (and likely lose to cutscene powers) -> Estelle and friends go to the next region -> rinse and repeat. Thankfully though, as Rapier said, Ch.6 is when things really start to pick up. In case you're curious, Trails in the Sky SC is 10 chapters long.

On the subject of structure predictability, Sky 3rd and the Crossbell games are the least predictable games in the series, for the most part. 3rd, Zero and Cold Steel 1 are also mostly devoid of Ouroborus so if you really don't like Ouroborus, you'll likely appreciate those games more.

 

 

 

 

Spoiler
2 hours ago, Thane said:

We already have Tita as the token cute little sister character, this is just another one but with another coat of paint.

I also have to disagree here but that's because Renne gets a lot of development in 3rd and Zero (and maybe Cold Steel 4 but i haven't played that one so i wouldn't know) that i won't really go into detail about because spoilers

 

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6 hours ago, Thane said:
  Reveal hidden contents

"Also"? It was my very first thought upon seeing her. I knew she was the clown of the third chapter as soon as she started tagging along.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I didn't like it at all. We already have Tita as the token cute little sister character, this is just another one but with another coat of paint. What bothers me is that I knew she was behind it all along and just had to wait for the characters to catch up. That's not a good sign.

 

  Hide contents

It's a good game, but I can't take this story seriously. It's just so...laughable, all of it. I really like the character interactions and the worldbuilding, but that is in spite of the main story, not thanks to it. If I've got to sit through one more of those cutscenes with an edgy asshole telling us how their experiments were a success I'm going to scream into a pillow.

 

Half the damn game is just that; "go to new old location, disrupt Ouroborous testing, gloating and jack shit actually happens". Chapter 5 does actually focus on a specific character and develop them towards the end, at least, but still virtually nothing in terms of the overall plot.


And, IMO, even when things "happen" it doesn't get much better.

SC bears the dishonor of being a game I tried very hard to get into on multiple occasions but ended up dropping for good in the last 1/3, due to the plot taking way too long to do anything and flip-flopping between edginess and cheesiness and the gameplay devolving into "who's the best at spamming Shadow Spear" with characters losing most of their individuality in combat and every major fight being easily dealt with by the exact same strategy. There's "pressing the same buttons over and over again with at least flashy results and feedback", and then there's "selecting the same two or three commands from a menu over and over" repetitive.

 

Edited by The DanMan
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14 hours ago, Armagon said:

Gonna have to disagree here.

And I with you. I don't think what you're talking about can be applied to here. Even if it can, I'd say it wasn't pulled off well enough to serve as a justifiable excuse. 

Spoiler

Also you said you didn't want to spoiler anything but you did mention Rene appearing in future games, which is kind of a spoiler in and of itself. I thought Estelle would save her after she proclaimed to do so at the end of chapter three but I didn't kow she'd become a staple character.

I'm on chapter four now and I really like Estelle and Schera's relationship. I think a major strength of the series is how they never forget that its cast members are all just human. Well I mean so far, who knows if someone is a robot in disguise.

 

11 hours ago, The DanMan said:
Spoiler

Half the damn game is just that; "go to new old location, disrupt Ouroborous testing, gloating and jack shit actually happens".

 

 

Spoiler

Right. I don't like the repetitive nature. Now they've dropped ample hints that Schera knows who's behind everything in chapter four, too. I think it's a good idea to try and make the cast have a connection to the villains, but there have to be better ways than having one overpowered guy after another repeating the same lines over and over again with a different coat of paint.

Again though, the worldbuilding and character interactions remain strong. I've said it before but Olivier in particular cracks me up, and it'll be genuinely interesting to see what exactly his goals are. 

Now I just need to find a way to balance all of dem Quartz between all the different party members. I also don't feel like using Tita since I'm pretty sure she goes down to a mosquito bite.

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