This review contains spoilers
Trails into reverie is an interesting game for me. While i overall loved the game its difficult to talk about my feelings toward it without bringing up some of the things that i had issue with.
The cast size is almost laughable at this point, with around 50 characters in your party alone. There is no way to ensure some of the more side characters are given the attention that they need. this is the reason that i think the crossbell games are so good, they have a small but tight cast who i care about a lot. One area of this game that does this well is in C path. Having a path that focus more on 4 people really let me feel more of what they are feeling in the game.
The paths to walk was a really neat idea, and while i enjoyed that it let me see the pats as they unfolded together, I cant help but to feel like it could be a Bit much at times. this is mainly to do with after a certain point all our gear swapped around, which is a good thing and should have been that way from the start gameplaywise. Due to this tho i didnt have enough gear to go around and was constantly swapping gear around after every party swap. Really could have used a save build feature
It also feels like some of the same story lines are being hit again. Crossbell literally gets its independence in azure, and the beginning, and the end of this game. it really kind off took away from a moment that i was looking forward to for a long time. Rean and ishmelga too was a point of frustration for me. i think that the end of cold steel 4 handled that really well and it felt a bit odd to bring back something that was already delt with. Though i did like the idea of a rouge ai using one of the gifts to try and make life better the wrong way.
One of the strongest points of this game is Lloyd. He has kind of been the same guy since zero, but thats what i love about him. hes always steadfast in his convictions and doesnt need anything else to overcomplicate his character. The reveal of C was also really cool. Something that i didnt see coming, that can only really work in this story. I am very excited to see where they take his character in the future
Another thing that i loved in this game was the Daydreams. this is how they where able to Give the side characters more in the story even though they wernt part of the main plot as much. My favorite being the one about the Bright family.
The combat in this game is highly exploitable and that is really fun. i was able to essentially turn off difficulty for most encounters. Its not as bad as in the cold steel 1 and 2 though i think. as in those games i was able to one shot most endgame bosses (love Laura). I am excited to see where the combat system goes from here.
One of my favorite segments of the main plot was in the early part of Lloyds story having to track down the separated members of the SSS. it felt very reminiscent of cold steel 2 and obviously FF6. I also just love that this game isnt afraid to lean into the campiness a bit. the comedy in this game is pretty low hanging fruit, but im here for it.
Thank you to falcom for this wonderful title, and i am patiently, but excitedly looking forward to kuro.
The cast size is almost laughable at this point, with around 50 characters in your party alone. There is no way to ensure some of the more side characters are given the attention that they need. this is the reason that i think the crossbell games are so good, they have a small but tight cast who i care about a lot. One area of this game that does this well is in C path. Having a path that focus more on 4 people really let me feel more of what they are feeling in the game.
The paths to walk was a really neat idea, and while i enjoyed that it let me see the pats as they unfolded together, I cant help but to feel like it could be a Bit much at times. this is mainly to do with after a certain point all our gear swapped around, which is a good thing and should have been that way from the start gameplaywise. Due to this tho i didnt have enough gear to go around and was constantly swapping gear around after every party swap. Really could have used a save build feature
It also feels like some of the same story lines are being hit again. Crossbell literally gets its independence in azure, and the beginning, and the end of this game. it really kind off took away from a moment that i was looking forward to for a long time. Rean and ishmelga too was a point of frustration for me. i think that the end of cold steel 4 handled that really well and it felt a bit odd to bring back something that was already delt with. Though i did like the idea of a rouge ai using one of the gifts to try and make life better the wrong way.
One of the strongest points of this game is Lloyd. He has kind of been the same guy since zero, but thats what i love about him. hes always steadfast in his convictions and doesnt need anything else to overcomplicate his character. The reveal of C was also really cool. Something that i didnt see coming, that can only really work in this story. I am very excited to see where they take his character in the future
Another thing that i loved in this game was the Daydreams. this is how they where able to Give the side characters more in the story even though they wernt part of the main plot as much. My favorite being the one about the Bright family.
The combat in this game is highly exploitable and that is really fun. i was able to essentially turn off difficulty for most encounters. Its not as bad as in the cold steel 1 and 2 though i think. as in those games i was able to one shot most endgame bosses (love Laura). I am excited to see where the combat system goes from here.
One of my favorite segments of the main plot was in the early part of Lloyds story having to track down the separated members of the SSS. it felt very reminiscent of cold steel 2 and obviously FF6. I also just love that this game isnt afraid to lean into the campiness a bit. the comedy in this game is pretty low hanging fruit, but im here for it.
Thank you to falcom for this wonderful title, and i am patiently, but excitedly looking forward to kuro.