Yup, this is a great start to the franchise. Trails in the Sky is the start of something that has big shoes to fill, but I'm sure that it can do that successfully after finally beating this game myself.
The game centers around the duo, Estelle and Joshua who basically are on a quest to become full fledged bracers which are pretty much the police of the world. The worldbuilding for the story is great and only sets up for the future installments. It's done very well though with a balance of still having enough information to appreciate the story more, but also not too much. Alongside Estelle and Joshua, the main cast is generally likable, with everyone having 1 or 2 quirks about them that aid in a lot of the comedy that comes from the game. The story is also filled with plot twists, that aren't predictable and really fun to find out about. Well, not predictable for me at least.
The game's battle system as well is very fun. It's like chess, but I don't have to think too hard about the rules. Turns can get bonuses, you've got your usual magic with arts, but you also get craft moves from CP where you take or do damage, giving you some points. Then you use those points to play around with unique moves for the character. Every team setup also finds a way to be fun somehow, with everything being able to work. Especially thanks to being able to freely customize what arts your characters will have with orbments. This gives tons of freedom, and allows you to play with ideas since you can mix and match with them to get different moves.
If there were flaws with the game I do think that it's a little slow. Ok really slow to be honest. The pacing is kind of all over the place, especially in the first couple of chapters. That along with the fact that I just suck with getting motivation to play an RPG on my PC made me really slow with beating this game, so it's definitely an achievement to say that I actually beat it. I did also say the characters are fun but some jokes won't really hit, and sometimes, characters can just be flat out annoying to each other thanks to their flaws. But I guess that makes them even more human if anything. Other than that though, I can confidently say I love this game. Though it does end with a HUGE cliffhanger of an ending and for that to happen in my 50 hour JRPG, I can't help but be a little bit annoyed about that. But hey, I'll just have to play SC some time later because I'm already on board.
Before I end this, I'd just like to say what other people might've said. With how slow the game is, I think it's a good idea to play this game and adjust to it's pace. It feels like one of those games that hits different when it's raining outside, especially with the great OST made for it. With that kind of chill mindset the game just becomes a lot more relaxing and satisfying to play through. Other than that, what a great opener, and I really hope that SC will expand on this game's foundation, and improve on it.
The game centers around the duo, Estelle and Joshua who basically are on a quest to become full fledged bracers which are pretty much the police of the world. The worldbuilding for the story is great and only sets up for the future installments. It's done very well though with a balance of still having enough information to appreciate the story more, but also not too much. Alongside Estelle and Joshua, the main cast is generally likable, with everyone having 1 or 2 quirks about them that aid in a lot of the comedy that comes from the game. The story is also filled with plot twists, that aren't predictable and really fun to find out about. Well, not predictable for me at least.
The game's battle system as well is very fun. It's like chess, but I don't have to think too hard about the rules. Turns can get bonuses, you've got your usual magic with arts, but you also get craft moves from CP where you take or do damage, giving you some points. Then you use those points to play around with unique moves for the character. Every team setup also finds a way to be fun somehow, with everything being able to work. Especially thanks to being able to freely customize what arts your characters will have with orbments. This gives tons of freedom, and allows you to play with ideas since you can mix and match with them to get different moves.
If there were flaws with the game I do think that it's a little slow. Ok really slow to be honest. The pacing is kind of all over the place, especially in the first couple of chapters. That along with the fact that I just suck with getting motivation to play an RPG on my PC made me really slow with beating this game, so it's definitely an achievement to say that I actually beat it. I did also say the characters are fun but some jokes won't really hit, and sometimes, characters can just be flat out annoying to each other thanks to their flaws. But I guess that makes them even more human if anything. Other than that though, I can confidently say I love this game. Though it does end with a HUGE cliffhanger of an ending and for that to happen in my 50 hour JRPG, I can't help but be a little bit annoyed about that. But hey, I'll just have to play SC some time later because I'm already on board.
Before I end this, I'd just like to say what other people might've said. With how slow the game is, I think it's a good idea to play this game and adjust to it's pace. It feels like one of those games that hits different when it's raining outside, especially with the great OST made for it. With that kind of chill mindset the game just becomes a lot more relaxing and satisfying to play through. Other than that, what a great opener, and I really hope that SC will expand on this game's foundation, and improve on it.