Earnest and empowering, in short. Trails from Zero is an incredibly powerful game that feels like a battle shonen in video game form, mixed with the long term storytelling, ambitious world building, and the mind bogglingly deep lore of Kiseki that results in a video game that combines the best of both and works perfectly, primarily because of how every element from the two spectrums I mentioned are glued together seamlessly through Lloyd bannings. On the surface, Lloyd seems like a perfectly normal main character with a clear cut moral code, but what makes Lloyd so compelling are the small neat bits of characterization that hint at a deeper, darker side to him that he grapples with without even realising it. It kind of fits with Crossbell’s setting too, because in a way, much like Lloyd, Crossbell looks like a perfectly stable peaceful state, but is actually run by the absolute worst, corrupt politicians. In the same way, Lloyd puts on an unbreakable facade and tries to be an invincible hero with an unflinchingly optimistic attitude, but on the inside, he’s the same kid that lost his brother, hasn’t moved on, and is stuck chasing after his shadow even after he died.


This is something that I absolutely adore when it comes to world building, where it feels like the city is a breathing, living character who’s tied to the main characters leading it, and that applies to Crossbell where it’s all about exploring your own truth and finding meaning to it on your own terms, because in Lloyd’s journey of uncovering his truth, he began uncovering Crossbell’s identity as well, and that acted as a genius backdrop for Crossbell’s theme of truth. Going back to Lloyd for a bit, as I mentioned, the parts of him that make him stand out to me are the small bits of characterization that people who call him boring often times miss, the small bits that show how caught up he is in his own brother’s shadow, how they seep into his mundane day to day life events, and how self damaging that can be.


When it comes to trauma, we often times unintentionally bottle it up for our self preservation since they’re unexpected, yet in spite of that, they seep into our mundane day to day life no matter how much we sugarcoat it and spreads its disease into our social interaction, which is my favorite form of portrayal of trauma and is why I adore Lloyd so much. He tries to put on Guy’s persona of an unstoppable hero that everyone can rely on even when it comes at his own expense, yet the person he forgets to save is himself, and it’s never explicitly told that this is what he struggles with until the near end of Zero because up until that point, Lloyd’s struggles are portrayed through his behaviour and it’s up to the player to infer what he goes through in comparison to the cast. In this sense, we’re put into Lloyd’s comrades’ shoes, have our intelligence tested by trying to infer what he himself goes through despite his seemingly normal demeanour, and that’s what makes the eventual exploration of Lloyd’s issues and his admittance to his insecurities hit so hard, because we as the player already could infer what he goes through yet ignores and are simply waiting for him to recognize that part of him. It’s an incredibly effective yet unique way of telling a main character’s arc through perspective, and that goes well with Crossbell’s themes about perception and truth, because even if Lloyd seems normal when we first perceive him, he is the exact opposite of that and that plays well into what Crossbell is trying to tell about the concept of truth.


Time and time again, from start to finish, Lloyd’s insecurities are shown through his actions even from the get go, where he was prepared to throw his life away to save the SSS from the geofront monster before Arios came in to save the day, and that’s not just because of the goodness of his heart but because that’s what his image of Guy would do in a situation like this. In this sense, you can say that when Guy died, Lloyd’s sense of self split into two, the part of him that admires Guy and the part of him that feels worthless in comparison to him and chases a far fetched shadow of his, forever stuck in an endless whirlpool of insecurities and living on auto-pilot mode. To illustrate further, whenever Lloyd accomplishes something, or is praised for having a good trait, he always denies that praise and credits it to Guy, which might seem like its Lloyd being humble, but in reality, it’s much more complicated and sadder. The reason for this is that Lloyd doesn’t take credit for those accomplishments or traits of his because he views them as Guy’s, or rather, the traits/accomplishments of his image of Guy that he only inhabits because of his desire to be like Guy. As such, when he does a good deed, or embodies a good trait, it’s to chase after that image of Guy first and foremost, and since those traits and actions are motivated by his desire to catch up to Guy, not just his own good will, it feels wrong to take credit for that because it doesn’t truly feel like his. He disassociates from those good deeds because they were coloured by his unhealthy admiration towards Guy and while motivated by his good will, that good will is only a secondary reason. It’s why in chapter 2 after Lloyd gives Ellie a corny friendship speech and Ellie asks him how he can be so optimistic, Lloyd doesn’t take credit for that and instead thanks Guy for it. While that’s definitely because Lloyd loves Guy, it’s also because he doesn’t believe in himself to be great enough to be that capable and strong on his own. Lloyd’s arc is all about finding balance between his image of Guy and who Guy really was, it’s about repairing his sense of self after it was shattered by how much he revered Guy and attached his individuality to him, and that’s makes Lloyd such a sympathetic main character to me, because in his attempt to find meaning in Guy’s death, he forgot to find meaning in his self, and that’s what enabled him to connect with the SSS members on such a spiritual level. At their core, Randy, Lloyd, Tio, and Ellie, are all incredibly lonely individuals with no place to call home, and that’s what enabled Lloyd to guide them and be their leader.


All of what I said about Lloyd up until now has been purely analytical, but on a personal note, there are small bits and pieces of dialogue that Lloyd said that truly connected with me, the biggest of them being when he told Randy that as strange as it is, he can finally accept that he can be his own man, reach his ultimate potential, and be satisfied, as opposed to a few months ago. This sentiment rung true to me personally, because I have an older brother that I admire and feel the need to chase after as well, yet despite being told countless times that I just need to keep being me, it all felt like hollow garbage to me that meant nothing, until lately after years of practising self love and self care, where I’ve come to identify and appreciate my own worth beyond my brother’s. It made me feel seen, because with Lloyd, the truth of his being and his surroundings and their meaning started and ended with him. This sentiment is reflected in the concept I mentioned above with Crossbell being like a living, breathing character on its own, where by overcoming his own barriers and finding his truth, Lloyd was able to understand the ins and outs of what Crossbell’s conflicts pertain, break the status quo, and change Crossbell for the better, like the hero he had hoped to become after initially running away from the city he treasured. In the end, it was all about perspective.


Truth be told, I didn’t really plan on writing such a long form piece on Crossbell mainly cause I wanted to do that once I was done with Azure, but I couldn’t really stop myself once I started expressing my passion for this game and what it made me feel. I guess that’s what happens when you let your own words flow and come together to form a pattern of thoughts instead of limiting yourself, and maybe that’s what Trails has become to me. Something that allows me to be ‘’free’’, and that’s why I’ve come to adore it and adore talking about it so much. In a word, though, Lloyd’s earnest nature is what made Crossbell’s cast (and me) love him, and through that love, he was able to find meaning to himself and have several white women wanting to fuck him.

Perhaps taking an offshoot route to play Nayuta in my not-for-the-faint-of-heart journey through the Kiseki series when I was and am admittedly dying to reach Cold Steel/Reverie/Kuro was a bizarre decision to make. End of thought.

Nayuta is a strange little game that, as someone who hasn't progressed past Azure and has only heard of things from this game's story loosely tying into the main Trails canon, there's really no set time or need to play it to understand the main Trails story. More of an "aha" moment if you see something in a future game that calls back to Nayuta, but doesn't feel like a major gap in the Trails experience if you miss out on it. I only really know this as many of my friends who are caught up with Trails skipped Nayuta and didn't enjoy the story of the games any less.

There's something interesting about how it's chronologically the next game in the series after Azure and before Cold Steel if you go based on release date, but that doesn't detract from the fact that Nayuta is largely its own thing and can be experienced anytime, whether that be before Sky FC or after Reverie if you really wanted to. I really had no clue what I was getting into other than a friend of mine (shoutout to @Stormowl0 for this recommendation and for drawing god tier Rixia Mao art) telling me it was really good.

Rather than being turn-based strategy on a grid, this is a full-blown action RPG with sword combos, magic spam, dodge rolls, and blocking galore! I could understand this as it is what Ys seems to be like (author's note: still need to play Ys), but what I was not expecting for it to be just as much of a platformer as it is an action JRPG. Turns out innovating the series by adding a jump button was done for more than show as enemies are often fought in a linear level-by-level format with precarious jump, traps, and pits you have to make your way around in the environments. I can't remember where I've heard this but I remember someone comparing it to Kirby 64 strangely enough, and I honestly find it very fitting for both games have a similarly whimsical worlds, a balance of combat and platforming in their level designs, and a silly little fairy girl that follows the protagonist.

Nayuta definitely isn't as easy as Kirby however and this is where I think some of its greatest gameplay strength lies: in how fast and frantic combat can get when you're in a pinch. It's not necessarily the most deep or thought provoking combat out there, you can spam magic quite a lot of the time to negate some challenges and swinging your sword mindlessly doesn't heavily punish you and is even encouraged at times. But playing on hard mode still required me to respect what enemies could do and at least know how to position myself and pull off timely dodges/blocks to not get obliterated by the high damage. Bosses were some of the most demanding parts of the game where magic spam was largely ineffective and you have to rely on playing aggressively to open up a weak point you can slash. The bosses in general were fantastic. While it may sound like average good video game stuff based on what I described, let me put it like this. Remember Twilight Fossil Stallord from the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and how, despite being another use-the-dungeon-item boss, the second phase had his head come off and you chased him down on your spinner in a thrilling, high-speed encounter? Imagine if nearly every boss had a cool twist like that, but was never gimmicky to the point where the base combat you know first and foremost isn't shafted (except in one boss which was the worst in the game because of this lmao).

The story while not connecting to the rest of a series as is often seen as a strength of the Trails series above other JRPGs, Nayuta has a similar general structure to its plot going from very, very, humble beginnings and then turning into Xenogears by the very end. It's much faster paced than even the shortest individual Trails game, so the characters don't quite the same level of screentime they would in Trails, but it was still enough to tug at my heartstrings and even get me misty eyed in some of the later scenes.

I'm very well aware at how disorganized and all-over the place these thoughts are, but it's honestly just kind of hard to sum up what kind of game Nayuta is. It takes so many elements from other games as it creates this fascinating JRPG-platformer hybrid with wild creativity and endearing characters and storytelling. It's something that, while not blowing me away quite to the extent that the Trails games all have so far with their jaw-dropping narratives at times, really clicked with me and carried the experience.

Man, it'd probably be more reasonable to let my opinion settle before making a bold statement, but this series hasn't consumed my mind over the past several months for nothing. I spent a good 90 hours on Trails in the Sky SC only to come out thinking "yeah, this is one of the best games I ever played."

I've barely scratched the surface of this series yet and I'm both amazed at how I simultaneously feel like I've already found an absolute peak story and that there's still so much more to uncover in this series' lore. The world feels incredibly fleshed out thanks to the abundance of flavor text and dialogue but it never feels like every answer is just given to you as there are always hints of bigger, more sinister events taking place behind the scenes. Even though Trails is often seen as a slow burn, I never found myself bored with the story as I found it interesting to let my mind wander and guess where the story will go and I can't say I've experienced many games that strike such a rich balance.

The stakes of the story in SC are much higher than that of the first game and that game's set of already established characters are all given time to shine in some of their most emotional and badass moments yet. It definitely helped that most of the characters were likeable from the get-go but now they feel far more fleshed out with backstories being explored and development taking place throughout the story. I don't want to give too many details for the sake of spoilers but I'll let you know that this game left me speechless more than once. And that doesn't even get into Estelle and Joshua's relationship which was a huge emotional Rollercoaster throughout the game and led to some of the absolute peak of JRPG writing if I've ever seen it.

I am slightly disappointed that they mainly reused locations from the first chapter as I liked the new location the game starts out in, but I never found this to be a major hindrance as the aforementioned world-building gives each location enough depth to feel like fully realized settings and the new dungeons revealed in these previous locations contributes to the sense of mystery in this world. The combat similarly went through little change though I found it significantly more addicting this time around, but maybe that's because I actually made stuff resembling character builds and liked playing with the new arts/orbments. I'm almost inclined to do a second playthrough to experiment with more combinations, which rarely happens with RPGs for me.

Either way, I have no clue why it took me so long to try the Trails series. It doesn't really revolutionize the genre but the concepts, mechanics and storytelling are so well executed that I find it hard to call this game anything less than a masterpiece.

Xenoblade 1 has a lot of issues, especially compared to its sequels. The combat's pretty simplistic, the worlds can feel a little too big for their own good, the side quests suck, and besides Shulk and Melia, the characters aren't the most interesting.

That said, it still has a lot going for it, and it's impressive how many of the ideas it established still work in later games.


Edit: Also, the Wii version does not look better than this

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Forgot to log this even though I played it at a friend's house like forever ago. Whoops. Either way, it's genuinely an incredible tech demo. While I'm not personally super familiar with all of Sony's franchises so the references may not have hit me as hard as with people who grew up with these franchises, seeing the amount of care they were treated with and the fact that you can find cool references in nearly every corner was really damn cool. I really enjoyed poking around every world and I almost wish it was longer. Guess Sony's gotta last until the year 2122 so they have an extra 100 years to make references to in a future game that can be longer 🤷‍♂️