Trails From Zero / Trails To Azure / Trails From Reverie

[Timothy]

Can't recommend the first game highly enough if you are a fan of JRPGs. It came out on PSP years ago and finally got a remake on PS4 last year. I played it for the first time ever and adored it. New one comes out next week (although it seems to be early shipped to a lot of people, including me) and Reverie later this year.

The turnbased gameplay is great, there isn't much grinding involved, it has a nice soundtrack and the story and characters are really really good. 
Can't wait to play Azure this weekend and see how the story unfolds.

Anyone else here that played these games before or are looking forward to playing them now?

[oggyraiding]

I played a few hours each of Trails In The Sky, Trails Of Cold Steel, and Trails From Zero. Sky kind of dull, Cold Steel kind of cringey with how everyone rides the protagonist's dick, Zero I did like from what I played. Very impressive world building, but the combat mechanics haven't really gelled with me in any of the games. I do intend to give Zero another try as I really liked the setting and characters.

Reverie looks good but to get the most out of it I have to play the three Sky games, the two Crossbell games, and the four Cold Steel games, which all together is like 900 hours of game. Daunting prospect.

[brat-sampson]

Zero / Azure are absolute treasures, you can basically start there too, which is nice. Trails in the Sky I'd also recommend highly, though the first game progresses / builds up even more slowly than Zero. Other than that it's got a wicked final payoff and 2 comes out blasting.

Cold Steel I'm surprisingly mixed on, sorry to say, it pushes further and further into marginally embarrassing anime theatrics and pervyness. I remember essentially quite liking 1, getting bored in 2, enjoying 3 more again as it had a new engine going for it and played well but I've yet to finish 4.

Reverie is absolutely not a good entry point as it serves as an epilogue to both Zero/Azure and Cold Steel, but following that there's a 4th arc on the way with an entirely new combat system. Shame we won't see it for at least another year or so.

[oggyraiding]

Having looked into it, a good order is apparently Sky trilogy > Cold Steel I and II > Zero and Azure > Cold Steel III and IV.

I can't be arsed with Sky, and CS I and II are on offer on PSN, so time to give Rean and the gang of people with silly names a second try.

[oggyraiding]

Cold Steel has become very enjoyable, once I got through the fairly boring beginning few hours. Weird tone. The stuff about social class and the geopolitical situation is actually quite well done. But then you've got the anime tropes like the sister wanting to fuck her old brother, Super Saiyan style transformations, illogical interpersonal drama. Also the difficulty is a bit all over the place. I'm not grinding, but equally I'm not avoiding enemies, and sometimes I'll reach a boss and the fight will be incredibly difficult, then 20 minutes later the next boss is a piece of piss.

Would definitely recommend, with the caveat being there may be too much anime cringe for many people.

[Timothy]

Finished Azure and absolutely loved it.

Bought Cold Steel, arrives tomorrow.

There is no way to play Sky on PS4 or PS5 is there?

[brat-sampson]

Sadly no, but the whole trilogy have excellent PC ports / mouse control and run on a potato.

Cold Steel only gets more anime as it continues, but there's still a lot to enjoy there.

[Timothy]

Thanks! Seems it´s time to see if I can get the Steam Link from the attic!

Seems I need to play all of Sky and Cold Steel before I can play Reverie. This is gonna take some years haha.

[oggyraiding]

Took a two week break from Cold Steel 1, when I went back to it, it was when everything was kicking off. Can't actually fathom how, after more than 50 hours, I'm still quite a ways from finishing the game - then I have another three Cold Steel games of similar length to do. 200 hours is a lot of time to tell one story arc. Also there's the Crossbell duology to play between CS2 and CS3. 

[oggyraiding]

Nearly finished Cold Steel 1, stuck on a boss. Won't go into spoilers but the stuff with the terrorists and the armies and the politics, all good. The stuff with the extreme supernatural elements, not good.