Nano20
Don't feel like making a proper review so all I'll say is this,
What the fuck
What the fuck
This was definitely a worthwhile payoff for the first game. It for sure has tremendous issues from the pacing of act 2, and some of the characters not doing much in the game, but the thematic highs and overall fun I had with it more than make up for it.
Honestly the highs are so high that it's probably my second favorite in the series so far. The themes it covers regarding moving forward towards one's path in life really resonated with me extremely, and certain twists towards the end hammered it home even harder. This was surprisingly one of the most emotional games in the series for me as a result of this.
Rean embodies this theme entirely which made me especially connect with him a lot. He has tremendous potential for the series moving forward especially with all the developments at the end of the game. His dynamic with Crow was also a highlight of the game.
While class 7 was uneven in how much focus each member got, I still connected with them and the members that are good are really good such as Fie and Jusis. Fie in particular is already one of my favorite party members in the series.
The gameplay is for sure the best in the series so far with plenty of additions to it mechanically which kept me entertained even when the story was spinning its wheels. My only critique with it was that it gets really easy towards the end of the game. I literally killed the final boss in just 3 s crafts even while playing on hard difficulty. It's such an easy game to break.
All in all, this game impressed me. While I can understand why people often put this game low or the very bottom in their rankings for the series, for me personally, it worked and I'll be moving forward to the second half of Cold Steel with very high expectations.
Honestly the highs are so high that it's probably my second favorite in the series so far. The themes it covers regarding moving forward towards one's path in life really resonated with me extremely, and certain twists towards the end hammered it home even harder. This was surprisingly one of the most emotional games in the series for me as a result of this.
Rean embodies this theme entirely which made me especially connect with him a lot. He has tremendous potential for the series moving forward especially with all the developments at the end of the game. His dynamic with Crow was also a highlight of the game.
While class 7 was uneven in how much focus each member got, I still connected with them and the members that are good are really good such as Fie and Jusis. Fie in particular is already one of my favorite party members in the series.
The gameplay is for sure the best in the series so far with plenty of additions to it mechanically which kept me entertained even when the story was spinning its wheels. My only critique with it was that it gets really easy towards the end of the game. I literally killed the final boss in just 3 s crafts even while playing on hard difficulty. It's such an easy game to break.
All in all, this game impressed me. While I can understand why people often put this game low or the very bottom in their rankings for the series, for me personally, it worked and I'll be moving forward to the second half of Cold Steel with very high expectations.
What if Sky FC was actually fun? Also goddamn that finale was raw. I love chuuni shit and it gave me everything I wanted.
I'm speechless. Words can't do it justice.
Absolutely phenomenal game that succeeds on almost all fronts. I expected very little coming into the Crossbell games given my disappointment with the Sky games, but Zero and especially Azure blew me away.
The game has great pacing, one of the best in any JRPG I've played actually which is surprising because pacing has always been the series' weakest part for me. The cast is fantastic and a lot of them are well fleshed out with only a few exceptions. I love Randy and Wazy especially, their arcs really moved me. KeA is so adorable and she must be protected at all costs.
Lloyd motherfucking Bannings is such a great protagonist man. The perfect one for crossbell. A guy willing to stare at the face of despair and struggle with all his might no matter how hopeless the situation is. He's the perfect representation of the indomitable human spirit. He's also a great representation of Crossbell as a state, always being the underdog with constant oppressors holding them back, yet they will never ever backdown no matter what.
The plot was surprisingly complex too, escalating tremendously from the straightforward but solid narrative of Zero, tackling incredibly ambitious ideas with it delivering never ending, nail-biting twists until the very last moments of the game. Yet somehow all these twists never serve to muddy the core message of the game which is to rely on the people around you in order to overcome the mistakes of the past instead of taking the easy way out with ones problems. The game never crumbles from the weight of its own ambitions which is something I greatly commend the game for.
The antagonists are hit or miss, but generally I don't have a problem with them very much and I think they're better handled than Sky SC's antags as their dynamics with the cast feel more relevant to what's actually going on in the story instead of it being fueled by some random past history that's irrelevant to the plot. There are a few exceptions to this in SC but generally this is the case. Imo at least.
As for other stuff about the game, the ost is absolutely fantastic, easily one of my favorites in any JRPG with many bangers such as Inevitable Struggle, Mystic Core, Get over the Barrier, To be continued! And much more. The gameplay is stellar too, taking the already great foundation of the series and making it even better with the addition of Master Quartz which adds a lot more decision making in the gameplay.
All in all, Trails to Azure is essentially a masterpiece with very little issues and fixed nearly every problem I had with the series up to this point. The last stretch and conclusion of the game left me in shock and awe. Not only is it such a satisfying conclusion to the game thematically, but it also made me incredibly excited for the series moving forward.
Though it took a long while, I suppose Trails won me over at this point.
Absolutely phenomenal game that succeeds on almost all fronts. I expected very little coming into the Crossbell games given my disappointment with the Sky games, but Zero and especially Azure blew me away.
The game has great pacing, one of the best in any JRPG I've played actually which is surprising because pacing has always been the series' weakest part for me. The cast is fantastic and a lot of them are well fleshed out with only a few exceptions. I love Randy and Wazy especially, their arcs really moved me. KeA is so adorable and she must be protected at all costs.
Lloyd motherfucking Bannings is such a great protagonist man. The perfect one for crossbell. A guy willing to stare at the face of despair and struggle with all his might no matter how hopeless the situation is. He's the perfect representation of the indomitable human spirit. He's also a great representation of Crossbell as a state, always being the underdog with constant oppressors holding them back, yet they will never ever backdown no matter what.
The plot was surprisingly complex too, escalating tremendously from the straightforward but solid narrative of Zero, tackling incredibly ambitious ideas with it delivering never ending, nail-biting twists until the very last moments of the game. Yet somehow all these twists never serve to muddy the core message of the game which is to rely on the people around you in order to overcome the mistakes of the past instead of taking the easy way out with ones problems. The game never crumbles from the weight of its own ambitions which is something I greatly commend the game for.
The antagonists are hit or miss, but generally I don't have a problem with them very much and I think they're better handled than Sky SC's antags as their dynamics with the cast feel more relevant to what's actually going on in the story instead of it being fueled by some random past history that's irrelevant to the plot. There are a few exceptions to this in SC but generally this is the case. Imo at least.
As for other stuff about the game, the ost is absolutely fantastic, easily one of my favorites in any JRPG with many bangers such as Inevitable Struggle, Mystic Core, Get over the Barrier, To be continued! And much more. The gameplay is stellar too, taking the already great foundation of the series and making it even better with the addition of Master Quartz which adds a lot more decision making in the gameplay.
All in all, Trails to Azure is essentially a masterpiece with very little issues and fixed nearly every problem I had with the series up to this point. The last stretch and conclusion of the game left me in shock and awe. Not only is it such a satisfying conclusion to the game thematically, but it also made me incredibly excited for the series moving forward.
Though it took a long while, I suppose Trails won me over at this point.
Holy shit, trails finally hooked me. This game is easily the best one in the series so far imo with its incredibly entertaining cast and tight pacing. Very emotional at points too with Renne's arc and Lloyd's desire to protect KeA being the highlights. I really loved Lloyd and Randy's dynamic a lot too. Really hyped for azure now.
The weak link of the game sadly are its villains which aren't that great with the main villain in particular being laughable at points.
It took a long ass while but trails has finally clicked for me, and it took the barrier man Lloyd Bannings to do it.
The weak link of the game sadly are its villains which aren't that great with the main villain in particular being laughable at points.
It took a long ass while but trails has finally clicked for me, and it took the barrier man Lloyd Bannings to do it.
If Xenoblade 3 and Black Souls 2 had a baby
2021
Most flawed of the series storywise imo but I still love it a lot regardless. Roland one of the best characters ever.
2023
Wtf Canto 6 didn't know you were built like that. Insane shit. I dunno how they're gonna top this one ðŸ˜
Definitely a substantial improvement from the earlier games. Decent pacing for the most part and some strong moments. Kevin is a really good protagonist. Can't believe star door 15 was even allowed to be put in. That shit was crazy.
However, while still better than the earlier games, it still has things holding it back dramatically for me. My main issue with the game is that it's fairly underwhelming for most of it as everything that it does is done better in other games or stories I've experienced. 3rd is a standard execution of its ideas that brings nothing new to the table nor does it in a way that feels very impactful for me.
Another problem I have with it is that while the pacing is decent and for sure better than the earlier games, it's still not very good for me. Not much actually happens for most of the game as it mostly just repeats a similar formula, barely deviating until the very end, which by then the story is immediately about to end. The combat and dungeon crawling do not really circumvent this issue as they're fairly unimpressive for me overall, and by this point in the series, I'm burnt out and want to see a major shake up to the combat. I'm also fully burnt out on the setting and cast of Liberl, which further accentuates this problem for me. Hopefully the crossbell games deliver on these fronts.
For a series I have spent more than 150 hours at this point to be this underwhelming, it's such a shame and also a bit annoying. Especially when it is a hyped up entry such as this one.
However, while still better than the earlier games, it still has things holding it back dramatically for me. My main issue with the game is that it's fairly underwhelming for most of it as everything that it does is done better in other games or stories I've experienced. 3rd is a standard execution of its ideas that brings nothing new to the table nor does it in a way that feels very impactful for me.
Another problem I have with it is that while the pacing is decent and for sure better than the earlier games, it's still not very good for me. Not much actually happens for most of the game as it mostly just repeats a similar formula, barely deviating until the very end, which by then the story is immediately about to end. The combat and dungeon crawling do not really circumvent this issue as they're fairly unimpressive for me overall, and by this point in the series, I'm burnt out and want to see a major shake up to the combat. I'm also fully burnt out on the setting and cast of Liberl, which further accentuates this problem for me. Hopefully the crossbell games deliver on these fronts.
For a series I have spent more than 150 hours at this point to be this underwhelming, it's such a shame and also a bit annoying. Especially when it is a hyped up entry such as this one.
This review contains spoilers
This game is an improvement from FC for sure but it's still very flawed for me.
For one thing, the pacing in the game is very bad. Every chapter until chapter 6 has the same repetitive structure of going to a country, an ouroboros member is causing problems, beat them, rinse and repeat. It's tedious. The game often doesn't even try to make these chapters feel distinct apart from chapters 3 and 5. The game is also filled with a ridiculous amount of backtracking which makes the tedium even worse.
Another thing is I did not personally vibe with Estelle and Joshua's dynamic very much. It had potential, but I didn't enjoy their personalities too much.
Estelle is a decent protagonist who's main characteristic is that she's optimistic no matter the situation she's placed in, and will also be a beacon of hope to everyone around her. That's a trope I'm typically fine with but Estelle doesn't do it in an interesting way imo. She lacks any flaws that would make her feel more grounded for me. By the end she didn't impress me much. Her dynamic with Renne was pretty good though and has a lot of potential moving forward in the series.
Joshua is a different beast entirely. He was incredibly disappointing especially with the amount of potential he had. He barely accomplished anything when he was separated from Estelle, and spends most of the entire game sitting on his airship instead. The game decided not to give more introspection for his character during his time alone which is a puzzling decision. Instead he either does very inconsequential things or just sits on his ass. Estelle reunites with Joshua again in chapter 6, and in that same chapter she convinces him to join her again, which I felt is very rushed as she essentially just talk no jutsus his lifelong trauma away. It overly simplifies what could have been an interesting exploration on his lack of self worth, and martyr complex. Joshua's dynamic with Loewe I liked quite a bit though.
Speaking of Loewe, he's by and large the best character of the game for me. Very enigmatic with a lot of presence, a cool design, and just being plain badass. His role in the story was very strong too as it greatly emphasizes the game's core message of forming connections with others and how doing that can enable people to walk towards a brighter future, free from tragedy. Loewe is the antithesis of that merely believing in "testing humanity's worth" by a trial with fire through conflict essentially. His clash of ideals with Joshua is one of the main highlights of the game despite it's very short runtime. Loewe's conclusion while rushed, is one of the few payoffs that worked for me. All in all a very good character.
This segues into another problem I have with this game where it spreads itself too thin by spending time on things that don't matter much while integral elements such as Joshua/Loewe dynamic and Weissman's motivations get barely any screentime to make them more impactful. Though for the former it still worked for the most part.
The other characters are somewhat improved in SC partly due to how some of the antagonists serve as foils to them which helps their characters get explored more. Though the execution of this I'm very iffy on. Scherazard and Zin's struggles are not handled well for me as it directly ties into their foils' storylines, which are barely present in the game to begin with. So it's hard for me to care about them. Agate gets a cool arc in chapter 5 and is an example of a well handled arc in this game. Olivier is fairly interesting though his story was backloaded at the very end, and didn't even show up for very much. Kloe didn't do anything particularly standout in this game which is disappointing as I decently enjoyed her character in FC and believed she had potential. Tita isn't all that great but she did her job servicing Agate's arc. Kevin is a standout character who is not only incredibly entertaining, but interesting as well. His scene where he kills Weissman really makes me excited for his character in 3rd.
The antagonists themselves were okay with the highlights being Loewe and Renne. Weissman was an underwhelming main villain for me. He barely had any screentime, and didn't do much with the screentime that he has. His motivations of basically wanting humanity to become ubermensches to stop all conflict was fascinating but it literally comes in the last hour of the game, and it more so feels like an excuse he's using to cause more suffering to people as he enjoys it.
All in all the story was fairly disappointing for me despite the huge potential it had.
The ost was fairly decent throughout with a few notable standouts like Silver Will which is often noted as being Loewe's theme.
As for the gameplay, it's very good. It is basically a mix of tactical RPG combat and traditional turned based JRPG combat, and it's great. You have to react to enemy arts as you can cancel them out which is cool. The gameplay is made easier with arts such as earth wall, which is borderline necessary for some fights. The enemies though are incredibly annoying with how they consistently spam status effects, and almost always operate as a group which makes it difficult sometimes to react to them. They also often pullout very cheap moves that can just one shot you without warning (looking at you Weissman). Hopefully the later games make the enemies less annoying. Really interested to see how the gameplay evolves from here.
Overall, I really wanted to like this game more especially given its near universal praise, but sadly it just has too many glaring issues for me to ignore. I am still very excited to experience 3rd and the later games as they looked very appealing to me.
For one thing, the pacing in the game is very bad. Every chapter until chapter 6 has the same repetitive structure of going to a country, an ouroboros member is causing problems, beat them, rinse and repeat. It's tedious. The game often doesn't even try to make these chapters feel distinct apart from chapters 3 and 5. The game is also filled with a ridiculous amount of backtracking which makes the tedium even worse.
Another thing is I did not personally vibe with Estelle and Joshua's dynamic very much. It had potential, but I didn't enjoy their personalities too much.
Estelle is a decent protagonist who's main characteristic is that she's optimistic no matter the situation she's placed in, and will also be a beacon of hope to everyone around her. That's a trope I'm typically fine with but Estelle doesn't do it in an interesting way imo. She lacks any flaws that would make her feel more grounded for me. By the end she didn't impress me much. Her dynamic with Renne was pretty good though and has a lot of potential moving forward in the series.
Joshua is a different beast entirely. He was incredibly disappointing especially with the amount of potential he had. He barely accomplished anything when he was separated from Estelle, and spends most of the entire game sitting on his airship instead. The game decided not to give more introspection for his character during his time alone which is a puzzling decision. Instead he either does very inconsequential things or just sits on his ass. Estelle reunites with Joshua again in chapter 6, and in that same chapter she convinces him to join her again, which I felt is very rushed as she essentially just talk no jutsus his lifelong trauma away. It overly simplifies what could have been an interesting exploration on his lack of self worth, and martyr complex. Joshua's dynamic with Loewe I liked quite a bit though.
Speaking of Loewe, he's by and large the best character of the game for me. Very enigmatic with a lot of presence, a cool design, and just being plain badass. His role in the story was very strong too as it greatly emphasizes the game's core message of forming connections with others and how doing that can enable people to walk towards a brighter future, free from tragedy. Loewe is the antithesis of that merely believing in "testing humanity's worth" by a trial with fire through conflict essentially. His clash of ideals with Joshua is one of the main highlights of the game despite it's very short runtime. Loewe's conclusion while rushed, is one of the few payoffs that worked for me. All in all a very good character.
This segues into another problem I have with this game where it spreads itself too thin by spending time on things that don't matter much while integral elements such as Joshua/Loewe dynamic and Weissman's motivations get barely any screentime to make them more impactful. Though for the former it still worked for the most part.
The other characters are somewhat improved in SC partly due to how some of the antagonists serve as foils to them which helps their characters get explored more. Though the execution of this I'm very iffy on. Scherazard and Zin's struggles are not handled well for me as it directly ties into their foils' storylines, which are barely present in the game to begin with. So it's hard for me to care about them. Agate gets a cool arc in chapter 5 and is an example of a well handled arc in this game. Olivier is fairly interesting though his story was backloaded at the very end, and didn't even show up for very much. Kloe didn't do anything particularly standout in this game which is disappointing as I decently enjoyed her character in FC and believed she had potential. Tita isn't all that great but she did her job servicing Agate's arc. Kevin is a standout character who is not only incredibly entertaining, but interesting as well. His scene where he kills Weissman really makes me excited for his character in 3rd.
The antagonists themselves were okay with the highlights being Loewe and Renne. Weissman was an underwhelming main villain for me. He barely had any screentime, and didn't do much with the screentime that he has. His motivations of basically wanting humanity to become ubermensches to stop all conflict was fascinating but it literally comes in the last hour of the game, and it more so feels like an excuse he's using to cause more suffering to people as he enjoys it.
All in all the story was fairly disappointing for me despite the huge potential it had.
The ost was fairly decent throughout with a few notable standouts like Silver Will which is often noted as being Loewe's theme.
As for the gameplay, it's very good. It is basically a mix of tactical RPG combat and traditional turned based JRPG combat, and it's great. You have to react to enemy arts as you can cancel them out which is cool. The gameplay is made easier with arts such as earth wall, which is borderline necessary for some fights. The enemies though are incredibly annoying with how they consistently spam status effects, and almost always operate as a group which makes it difficult sometimes to react to them. They also often pullout very cheap moves that can just one shot you without warning (looking at you Weissman). Hopefully the later games make the enemies less annoying. Really interested to see how the gameplay evolves from here.
Overall, I really wanted to like this game more especially given its near universal praise, but sadly it just has too many glaring issues for me to ignore. I am still very excited to experience 3rd and the later games as they looked very appealing to me.
This was certainly a videogame.
2023
This shit will save me when it ends in 10 years. So far (Up to canto IV) it's still pretty amazing. Yi Sang you did miracles.
2018
Game might be hell to play but my god is the story worth it. The hellish gameplay also genuinely adds to the ludonarrative experience of this game.
Holy fuck Ayin you did miracles on me
Holy fuck Ayin you did miracles on me
2024
Anyone saying this is soulless are insane
2021
A great exploration of conflict and how prejudice towards a specific group can prevent understanding of one another. It has many glaring issues but the sheer passion and heart seeping out of every pore of it makes up for it tenfold. So many moments are executed with the utmost of sincerity that I can't help but just feel enamored by it.
The cast is also surprisingly well written with Deathpolca and Diana being the most standout. Deathpolca is an excellent protagonist that is perfect for the kind of story this is. Diana is one of my favorite JRPG party members ever with an incredibly strong character arc that had a cathartic conclusion. The rest of the cast are no slouches too with them being very endearing and having great dynamics. The weak link of the casts are sadly the antagonists but the Emperor and another one I shall not name are pretty good.
The way it functions as a prequel to King Exist is also unlike anything I've ever seen. This is a very uniquely executed prequel.
The one true flaw of the game that I can't ignore is definitely the gameplay and overall world design being boring. It is not very fun to play sadly, and when compared to other RPGM games such as Black Souls, it falls flat in this aspect for me.
I love Deathpolca so much.
King Exit translation when.
The cast is also surprisingly well written with Deathpolca and Diana being the most standout. Deathpolca is an excellent protagonist that is perfect for the kind of story this is. Diana is one of my favorite JRPG party members ever with an incredibly strong character arc that had a cathartic conclusion. The rest of the cast are no slouches too with them being very endearing and having great dynamics. The weak link of the casts are sadly the antagonists but the Emperor and another one I shall not name are pretty good.
The way it functions as a prequel to King Exist is also unlike anything I've ever seen. This is a very uniquely executed prequel.
The one true flaw of the game that I can't ignore is definitely the gameplay and overall world design being boring. It is not very fun to play sadly, and when compared to other RPGM games such as Black Souls, it falls flat in this aspect for me.
I love Deathpolca so much.
King Exit translation when.