Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2 are solid games that you can play without knowledge of the previous titles in the series and still manage. You'll, of course, miss out on many of the references to things that happened in the past games but you should be good.
Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4, however, do definitely require that you've played all of Trails in the Sky and the Crossbell games too or else you won't understand a lot of what's happening. Cold Steel 3 and 4 are like big crossovers where all the characters from the different Trails series finally meet up.
I will say though that the Trails series as a whole is absolutely phenomenal, so you should definitely try to get into it if you can. Are you absolutely sure there's no way to play the Trails in the Sky trilogy on Mac? You may be able to use Wine to play them.
It’s you!
Tis I.
playful, like Shirley’s
Shirley clearly did it just to get a rise out of people
Have we... been playing the same game? Musse is the one who is playfully teasing; Shirley is the one forcefully grabbing women's chests in a way that would make even Angelica blush.
I mean, you could definitely make the case that Musse is worse, what with the date rape magic. I might disagree (is sexual assault without the use of drugs really any better than sexual assault with the use of drugs?), but I could understand that. I certainly don't mind having a difference of opinion. But you can't tell me Musse is the devil incarnate while Shirley is just a harmless, playful tease, when their actions are so similar. If one is morally objectionable, so too is the other. Otherwise, it's like saying Weissmann was a monster but Joachim was a great dude, you know? It doesn't add up.
Nani?! I mustve completely missed this, do you remember when he says this? But that does make it interesting – my running theory was that Ash simply wasn’t in Hamel when the incident occurred and only stumbled back into his village to see that everyone was dead. (I mean, isn’t it surprising that no Hamel residents were travelling away from Hamel at the time?)
Dug through my screenshots until I found it. Too lazy to upload them, but I'm hoping you'll trust me here. This is during chapter 3, at night, outside the Derfflinger, when Ash is talking with Lechter via radio and Rean catches them. He says the following:
"... Yeah. It's all starting to connect. Walking that mountain road barefoot, cryin' the whole way... The old man takin' me under his wing... Him puttin' me on that night train or whatever... Coming to this sparkling place... Meeting you-know-who. Heh-heh... I really know some good-hearted people."
I don't know who the old man is, nor "you-know-who". My best guess is that the latter is Osborne. Probably how Ash got in touch with Lechter in the first place, and also how Osborne immediately recognized Ash as the third survivor of Hamel at the end of chapter 4 (though it could be that Osborne is just extremely well-informed). No idea who the "old man" could be, though.
I believe Ash was in Hamel during the massacre. My first reasoning is because seeing the aftermath, as horrifying as it would have been, probably wouldn't have nearly the same impact as being there when it actually happened. I suspect the sheer trauma is what implanted Ash with the curse.
My second reasoning (which really renders the first obsolete ^_^ ) is because Ash more or less confirms it during his confrontation with Osborne and the Emperor. And I quote:
"Maybe the queen of Liberl is just as guilty for keeping quiet... Or maybe the other two. For running away and leaving me for dead."
What’s wrong with Pablo?! He’s just a super chill dude, and he loves trains! Plus his band is super dope and he helped Valerie become more confident in her singing. #RespectPablo
All good points. It's the train thing that gets me. I can understand people having an obsession with cars, or motorcycles, even boats and planes/airships. But trains? Why trains? What could possibly be so interesting about trains? It's like being interested in tables. Tables are very useful, but, I mean... they're just tables, you know?
But you can't tell me Musse is the devil incarnate while Shirley is just a harmless, playful tease, when their actions are so similar. If one is morally objectionable, so too is the other.
Ok, wait, I never said Shirley was morally better in some way. I find her entertaining, sure, but I can also acknowledge that her sexual harassment is morally wrong. Musse I do not find entertaining period – again, almost entirely due to the date-rape scene. If Shirley at any point in Azure hypnotized Elie or Tio or Rixia and then proceeded to sexually harass them while they were hypnotized, I’d feel the same way about Shirley. But hey, I’m also not saying you’re wrong; the two characters are very similar in more ways than one, so thank you for bringing up your points so I could compare the two.
I believe Ash was in Hamel during the massacre.
Your insight regarding Ash is interesting too. Looking back at the dialogue you provided, it does seem like Ash was in Hamel during the time, so now I really want to know how Ash survived! Did Osborne plan for him to survive? Did Joshua and Loewe know him? So many questions which I hope are answered in C CS4. Seriously though, how were there absolutely no Hamel citizens outside of the village at that time? Like, what if one of them was on a business trip to Heimdallr at the time and they just came back to find the whole village was terrorized.
It's the train thing that gets me. I can understand people having an obsession with cars, or motorcycles, even boats and planes/airships. But trains? Why trains?
It’s precisely because of his completely random love of trains that I like him so much. It’s just such a strange thing to have a passion for, y’know? The fact that it’s trains is arbitrary, it’s the fact that he’s so passionate for something no one else would be. In fact, if there were a character who did have a passion for tables, I’d probably feel the same way about them.
Now that's an interesting question. I can't say whether Osborne planned for Ash to survive (at the time, Osborne himself would have been pretty new to the whole "manipulating the world" business), but it definitely seems like Osborne knew exactly how things would play out at the end of chapter 4: Ash picking up the resin gun from the Calvardian agent, infiltrating the palace, shooting the Emperor. Shortly before that happens, Cedric and Rufus are even talking about how Osborne is being brave by putting himself on the line for the cause. Like they all knew not only that there is a curse and that it influences Ash, but exactly how and when it will manifest.
My best guess would be that Osborne knew Ash was cursed, and by studying the curse's history, Osborne concluded that it has a certain "intelligence" to it. That is, the curse won't cause Ash to just go berserk randomly on the street, as the resulting chaos would be minimal and the curse would have effectively "wasted its chance". Instead, it would manifest only in a situation that would have a massive, terrible impact. Thus, Osborne probably realized that the party would be the most likely event for all hell to break loose: it's the only day when the one bearing the curse (Ash) and the most damaging target (the Emperor) are in the same place at the same time.
It’s precisely because of his completely random love of trains that I like him so much. It’s just such a strange thing to have a passion for, y’know? The fact that it’s trains is arbitrary, it’s the fact that he’s so passionate for something no one else would be. In fact, if there were a character who did have a passion for tables, I’d probably feel the same way about them.
Heh, fair enough. I can respect that reasoning.
You're right! As Ash was making his way to the Emperor during the party, both Rufus and Prince Cedric noticed it and seemingly knew that Ash was on his way to assassinate the Emperor. Maybe they knew it was coming due to the final chapter of the Black Records - the events leading up to the Great Twilight did say someone of royal blood was going to die, after all. It's just crazy that Cedric did nothing to stop it. Whatever this Great Twilight is must be quite the doozy if Cedric is willing to go as far as letting his father die for it to happen.
I also agree that I think the curse is intelligent to some extent. Ash even said that it talked to him at some points, right? Like, I may be remembering, but I'm pretty sure Ash says as he's going to assassinate the Emperor that a voice in his head told him to do it. This means that the curse is almost basically a living entity. Creepy stuff, if you ask me. I'm super excited to see how things play out in Cold Steel 4!
Load more comments
I'm down to do the $25 for Watch Dogs Legion, but you'll need to activate it for me as I just have a GTX1080. Is that alright with you?
Sweet, I'll PM ya!
It surprised me! I was like wait... We're doing this? It stressed me out that we had to fight Rean and it really made me question what he was doing and if it was the right thing. Also it occurred to me the other day that playing CS before crossbell would spoil Rixia's identity. I can't remember when it was revealed in Zero/Ao but even so. Im curious if it was necessary to have her in the divertissement instead of an SSS member or someone like Dudley. I know they're on the run and all that and I haven't played CS 3 to see more of Crossbell's development yet, but it just made me wonder.
Yep! As someone who played the Divertissement first, I did indeed sorta know going into Zero that Rixia would, at some point, wield a big-ass sword. Surprisingly though, they actually reveal that Rixia is Yin fairly early on in Zero (I think somewhere in Chapter 2 or 3, you see her on the rooftop after talking to Cao). It was strange that they'd reveal it so early when it doesn't really come into play until Ao/Azure.
But yeah, looking back, I'm not sure why they decided to explicitly use Rixia over Elie or Tio. I also haven't played Cold Steel 3 or 4 yet so maybe they reveal it later, but my guess is that Elie is busy working on government stuff while Tio is assisting with the Epstein's foundation research, so they both don't have time to dedicate to directly helping Lloyd's anti-Erebonia shenanigans.
My reaction was "fucking finally I can play as lloyd again", and then when I got to the end boss fight "beating these two up feels pretty good ngl". Basically was just sick of CS2 at that point.
Oof haha, I can see that though considering you got to experience Lloyd as a protagonist first before Rean. I played as Rean first, then Estelle, and Lloyd was my last - so I suppose Rean holds something of a nostalgic place in my heart weirdly enough.
I really liked how Rixia pointed out Rean's negative energy when he was powering up, what did you think about that? I thought it really showed how Rean could appear like an antagonist of sorts depending on your perspective.
Oh man, I could've easily missed this. Being a PC player and wanting to avoid spoilers, I originally planned to ditch this subreddit after CSIV comes out, until it's out for PC. Good thing I can't keep my promises - even to myself.
At this point, commenting on your journey isn't even about the joy of discussing Trails with a fellow fan - it's sheer principle.
So without further ado, let's hop to it!
Dieter was quite possibly my favorite villain precisely because he wasn’t so obviously evil – he had a genuine pursuit for justice, and I found myself questioning whether or not I’d support him if I were in an ordinary Crossbellian’s shoes.
Indeed. I think I'd describe him more as an antagonist than a villain. He wanted what's best for his people and his country, and using KeA's power to bully Erebonia and Calvard into submission was the only realistic way for him to accomplish that.
(big Game of Thrones vibes, without the shitty ending)
That ending was just terrible. At least my boy Sandor got his revenge.
I mean, it was crazy to hear about Chancellor Osborne getting shot from Crossbell’s point of view,
On that note, what did you think about getting the ending of CS2 (i.e, Osborne still being alive) spoiled by Azure's epilogue? It made me rethink the value of release order quite a bit.
Heck, another point detracted from playing by release order involves the BIG GIANT MEGA-TWIST THAT MAKES AZURE, AZURE, which you didn't even mention in your post -_-
I am referring, of course, to the very beginning of Zero, where we see the SSS without Estelle and Joshua. What makes this so easy to dismiss once you get to the actual finale of Zero (which in turn makes the twist all the better), is seeing it already being done in CS1's prologue, where Crow and Millium are omitted to avoid spoilers. So when you see Estelle and Joshua showing up at the end of Zero, you just think to yourself "Oh, they just did the CS1 thing, to avoid spoilers", and you don't suspect a thing.
Speaking of things that happen during this reveal, what did you think about Ian's not-death? I really hated it. The lack of death in Trails is already one of its greatest weak points, and here was a death that was fairly easy for the players to swallow, and Falcom just wasted the opportunity. Ian's arc was done; there was nothing to keep him alive for, and Mariabell actually killing him would establish her as a proper villain. Not everyone deserves a redemption arc, damnit!
I THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST RANDOM NAMES THAT SOUNDED COOL.
Not gonna lie, I thought the same lol.
I ROMANCED ELIE CUZ CANON BUT NOEL IS SO CLEARLY BEST GIRL. SHE IS JUST SO SHY AND PRECIOUS. RIXIA IS A CLOSE SECOND, THEN TIO.
Don't give in to canon; that's how Alisamancers think! If Falcom wants a romance to be canonical, they can ditch the stupid harem routine. Anyway, I have to admit, I liked Noel better in Zero, because she was mysterious and unavailable. Her becoming a permanent member of the SSS made me take her for granted.
That said, I don't resent her for choosing to arrest Lloyd. Like I mentioned earlier, Dieter's plan was the only plan, and Noel chose her homeland's safety over Lloyd's ideals. I may not like it, but I get it.
HOW THE FUCK DID IILYA SURVIVE? I REALLY THINK THE IMPACT WOULD’VE BEEN BETTER IF SHE DIED, OR LIKE, IF HER LEGS GOT SEVERED OFF OR SOMETHING.
I mean, I don't disagree, but you're complaining about that and not Ian's "death"? Really? <.<
REST IN PEACE PATER-MATER. YOU WERE THE BEST ROBOT ENTITY. YEAH, YOU HEARD ME, VALIMAR.
Damn right. Pater-Mater is best mech.
WHY THE FLAPJACK FUCK DOES THE GAME END WITH SAYING THAT CROSSBELL WAS THEN OCCUPIED FOR 2 YEARS BY EREBONIA? LIKE, I KNOW THEY GET OCCUPIED BECAUSE I PLAYED COLD STEEL 2, BUT FOR TWO YEARS?! AND IMAGINE IF YOU PLAYED THIS WHEN IT CAME OUT. LIKE, HOLY HELL, WHAT A WAY TO END.
Yet another reason why I hate the unholy trove of spoilers known as Azure's epilogue. I don't mind that it told us Erebonia occupied Crossbell; I mind that it told us for how long, which spoils the fact that Crossbell will regain its independence in the near future.
ALL OF THE MUSIC IS STILL JUST BANGERS. CONCENTRATE ALL FIREPOWER? BANGER. DESTRUCTION IMPULSE? BANGER. AZURE ARBITRATOR? FUCKING. BANGER.
I n e v i t a b l e S t r u g g l e.
Say it. Say eet.
Anyway, one thing I think you left out was Elie's tragic lack of development. Early on in Zero, she had this incredible conversation with Lloyd at the rooftop of the SSS building, and then... nothing. When I was commenting on your review of Zero, I didn't want to spoil the fact that this doesn't get any better in Azure, but now you know. I was really hoping Elie would get a chance to shine during the trade conference, what with her extensive knowledge of international politics, but we didn't really get that, either.
Is it possible to platonically love another Redditor that you’ve never met? Because I think at this point, I love you man. Your consistent replies and analyses to my posts give me life. So, thank you, /u/3rdDementor, for once again leaving a comment - now allow me to dig in!
He wanted what's best for his people and his country, and using KeA's power to bully Erebonia and Calvard into submission was the only realistic way for him to accomplish that.
Exactly, and I think what Azure does so well is making the pressure Crossbell feels from both Erebonia and Calvard feel so palpable throughout the whole game (but especially during the trade conference). Like, you can just feel the oppressive nature of having these two giant countries on either side of this small nation – and thus, you can see exactly why Dieter would want some sort of trump card or way to protect itself, even if it means exploiting a small girl.
That ending was just terrible. At least my boy Sandor got his revenge.
Absolutely, haha. Thank god the bells in this game didn’t, like, make Lloyd go crazy or something. I will never forgive them for ruining Dany’s character like that ಥ_ಥ
On that note, what did you think about getting the ending of CS2 (i.e, Osborne still being alive) spoiled by Azure's epilogue? It made me rethink the value of release order quite a bit. Heck, another point detracted from playing by release order involves the BIG GIANT MEGA-TWIST THAT MAKES AZURE, AZURE, which you didn't even mention in your post -_-
I KNOW, I WANTED TO ADDRESS IT BUT I FORGOT! Another comment reminded me that I completely neglected to bring that up in my initial post, even though it was one of my favorite reveals in the whole Crossbell duology. Like, holy shit, it just completely changes the tone of the introduction to Zero if you go back and play it. And, once again, I think you’re right on the money - I totally thought it was just a Crow/Millium situation like in CS1! I absolutely thought that they just removed Estelle and Joshua to keep them as a surprise, which makes the twist of the alternate timeline so much more impactful. I’m not sure if that would’ve had the same impact had I not played CS1 already.
And on that note, to address your other question – yeah, I’m astonished by how much the ending of Azure reveals about the future of Crossbell and Erebonia. We learn of the Chancellor’s survival, Erebonia taking control of Crossbell, and the fact that the occupation lasts two years. That’s a lot of info to just drop outta nowhere! Although the end picture of the whole cast (seemingly a bit older) did tickle my heart a little bit as it’s nice knowing they all pull through.
what did you think about Ian's not-death?
I also did not like it, even though characters sorta-dying-but-not-really is something I’ve come to accept from Falcom games. It’s strange, because Ian’s “death” rubbed me the wrong way for several reasons: for one, as you said, it would have definitely helped make Mariabell seem actually evil if she did kill Ian. There was no reason for her to keep him alive, so unless she’s not actually all that evil, then she should have killed him. But if she’s not actually evil, why the heck did she do everything else? It also rubbed me the wrong way because Ian was such a unique villain for a Falcom game. He clearly had no fighting strength and was just a smart, cunning antagonist, who had a morally-questionable goal that could still be justified to some extent. I was so looking forward to having a villain who Lloyd would have to win through debate, not just by fighting; but instead, he gives up super easily! Like, they make a point of stating how strong Ian's convictions are, and he just admits fault in his plan without any actual input from the player. I dunno, I think it would’ve been a fantastic end for the character if you could have convinced him he was wrong but by actually presenting logical arguments yourself.
/rant
Don't give in to canon; that's how Alisamancers think!
Haha, I try to resist but knowing that it’s basically the canon romance makes me feel like it’s wrong not to romance her. In any case, Noel is absolutely the best girl in the SSS; I really wish they spent more time developing her since the short arc she had arresting Lloyd and being a member of the State Guard actually created a super interesting dynamic for me. Like, she clearly still was fond of Lloyd and crew, but had a duty to her nation and Lloyd was technically a criminal. I dunno, it was neat, and they didn’t do her justice!
I mean, I don't disagree, but you're complaining about that and not Ian's "death"? Really? <.<
OKAY THE NEEDLES COULD HAVE REALISTICALLY NOT KILLED HIM BUT GETTING CRUSHED BY A FREAKIN’ CHANDELIER SHOULD DO SOME NOTICEABLE DAMAGE.
I don't mind that it told us Erebonia occupied Crossbell; I mind that it told us for how long, which spoils the fact that Crossbell will regain its independence in the near future.
Exactly, yeah. It’s such a strange thing to reveal too; like, I wonder what the writers’ thought process was mentioning such a specific piece of information. I mean, I’m still gonna play all the games regardless, but c’mon.
I n e v i t a b l e S t r u g g l e.
Say it. Say eet.
I LIKED INNEVITABLE STRUGGLE, I SAID THAT IN MY REPLY IN THE LAST POST TOO (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Anyway, one thing I think you left out was Elie's tragic lack of development.
Absolutely, and to an extent I felt that with Tio too. Both Elie and Tio get some measure of development in Zero (Elie with Earnest and Tio with Lloyd’s brother) and while I had thought those were just the foundations for what would become more character development later down the line… you’re right, nothing much was added. We get little scraps of development here and there with Elie saying she wants to move into politics to help with Crossbell, but they really don’t spend as much time as they should considering she’s a main member of the cast – and especially if you compare her to the development of Lloyd and Randy. She’s just as much as a protagonist as either of those two (and Tio), and yet she definitely gets the short end of the stick for development. Sort of a disappointment, considering the massive amount of development the main OTP (Estelle and Joshua) got in the Sky trilogy, both separately and together as a couple. To an extent, I also feel like even Rean and Alisa got more character development too, although admittedly this could be my Cold Steel nostalgia talking.
Well, thank you again for all your comments up till now. I’m not sure if I’ll do another post when I finished Cold Steel 3 and 4, but if I do, I sincerely hope you’re there!
About MacDowell, CS2 mentions in the Crossbell Times issue that you can read that he was in tears when he was forced to sign papers for the official annexation. He's such a good guy and so alone in a bad political situation.
Awwww that's so sad, I had no idea. Jesus, that's brutal. I'm really interesting in seeing how they handle Crossbell's occupation when I play CS3. Like, we see a little at the end of CS2 with the Divertissment, but it felt like just a little taste. I wanna see more of Lloyd on the run!
Load more comments
so is Crossbell... man please get localized
stares at nisamerica
Would it still be possile for XSEED to handle Crossbell localizations? In an ideal world, XSEED would handle the Crossbell localizations for PS4/PC/Switch while NISA works on localizing Hajimari. This level of collaboration seems too good to be true though :(
Nah XSeed are a shell of their former selves since the Senran Kagura/Sony thing. A lot of the localisation team, including nearly all of them that had worked on previous Trails games, are gone.
Frankly i don't care who localises it we just need some passion back in these projects, the kind that Tom and Brittany used to provide. Im already seeing basic lore mistakes creep in to NISA's work and this fanbase is full of hardcore dudes that would seriously fact check their entire script for free, its no good waiting for release and then have them report it to patch later.
Oh, I didn't know XSEED lost a lot of their translation team, I just thought they lost the rights to work on Trails. Interesting, although somewhat saddening to hear since their work on the Sky trilogy was amazing.
I suppose I really just want the same passionate people behind Crossbell's localization, as you said, regardless of which company they're actually working for.
Load more comments
Moderator of these communities
Trophy Case (5)
Gilding III
reddit per annum
Eight-Year Club
