This game gave me so much whiplash at the start! It felt like it really wanted to be a videogame, and the opposite thing, at the same time. It's full of very gamey mechanics, but at some points it just goes "fuck playing games, read all this text for the next one/two hours". But man, was it all worth it.

I think I get what people see in this series now, and what other people don't. It's a series about all this through world-building, and seeing the individual journey of each character as they meet with others and go through various events and adventures in their life, in this world full of mysteries and intrigue. The games are so faithful to this formula, to the point you'll either fall in love and want to see more and more, or you'll just get bored. Of course it will also depend on how much you like each character, and while I can say they aren't all super original or crazy well written, there's a lot of value in the bigger picture: seeing this little (okay maybe not little) world unfold and develop before your eyes.

And this is what 3rd is all about. It's a world-building game. I see some people call it "filler". If one thinks so, I wonder what they are into this series for?! In the end, THIS is Trails. It's the little slice-of-life moments that make the people come alive and come together, it's the lore drops that brings questions and answers, and make you wonder about the past, present, and future of this world.

But enough meta-commentary, I wanna talk about the game too! The gameplay remains the same-old from the previous entry, though you have of course way more variety in terms of characters you can use. I only wish they added a few more new powerful quartz to use. I really like the dungeons set in the new locations in the Phantasma, but mostly because of their looks and music than the gameplay. However, the ones where you control multiple parties are super fun!

The story, as you can guess, is VERY plentiful in this entry, but of course in an extremely different way from previous games, as it's more about world and character building than progressing a plotline. It's a full-on buffet! It's amazing to have so many different characters get all that attention to them. And some plot points introduced leave your mouth watering for the future. And a specific one will break your heart and soul and leave you hollow inside. [ Received ⦿Nothingness. ]

The music is Falcom. Takeshita is my goat. Listening to his 3rd tracks reminded of Ys Origin and so my heartstrings have been tugged. "Recluse Cube" is such a mystic and wonderous track I couldn't help but not skip the game intro everytime because of it (thank you Sonoda). "Golden Road, Silver Road" is such a fun and endearing track, it's on my mind and keeps coming every now and then. It also played in a great dungeon so it can't be helped! And oh boy, there are so many great tracks I'd like to mention... It could be a review of the soundtrack on its own to be fair. But I'll finish with saying the final dungeon and boss tracks go above and beyond.

And on the topic of the final dungeon... What a climax to this game, and to the Sky trilogy. It was such a rich and heartful experience that I'm sure to never forget the feelings I had. The visuals, gameplay, and soundtrack all come together perfectly to enrich each other, to deliver you the kind of experience only games can, and they all should strive to do. "Castle of Illusions (Phantasmagoria)", absolutely one of my favorite Falcom tracks of all time. Thank you, kings. And a very special shoutout to the chest messages in there too, hehe.

It's a game that really makes you feel thankful. For all the artists, writers, programmers, musicians, translators, managers, QA people, marketers... And all the passionate people who live and breathe this series. I'm definitely one of them by now, and I'm here for this ride across Zemuria.

"Oh nooooo the New series is so repetitive! It's all the same! So boring!"... Good thing I'm a Mega Man fan, this doesn't mean shit to me :D

Overall a fun game that doesn't do anything crazy but is very competent, as are all the games in the New series. And of course, this one has extra value for the multiplayer (which is how I played all of it).

The world map is pretty cool too!

An impressive sequel, much more ambitious in scope, that takes a lot from the first game while changing a lot due to the genre-shift. It's an interesting mix of familiarity and novelty at the same time. Overall, the game feels great to play, leads to very fun moments with friends, and is oozing with charm from its setting. Lots of loadouts to unlock and try, and lots of unique and crazy enemies to kill with them.

In the end, what I like the most is how it's different enough from the first game, meaning you can still play the first one (and you should!), and both are very fun in their own ways! In fact, I've also recently gone back to playing 1 again, and it's awesome to hop back and forth between the two of them. I love democracy.

30+ minutes of staring at the screen in profound puzzlement
...and then...
1 minute of executing the wackiest setup to solve the stage with a wicked smile on your face

this is probably one of the hardest puzzle games I've played, but damn is it both rewarding and rich in design. i would say a must for puzzle game enjoyers.

An absolutely great follow-up to the first game. The stakes are higher, the emotional connections are formed, and the drive to see this story through is set.

The magic system is a huge improvement. Instead of unlocking slots one by one, you already have them all unlocked by default, and you can upgrade them to use more powerful quartz. You also get much more powerful ones which allow you to play around even more with the possibilities.

The story feels a bit formulaic, but it's still fun, because firstly, it's not all about the main story, but the many side contents you can find all around. And secondly, despite the predictability of many plot points, the execution is well-made enough to still leave you satisfied. (I cried to a scene at the end even though I knew very well what would happen!)

The villains can feel very cartoon-ish, but they still have unique personalities and designs, and connections to the main cast that saves them from being too cardboardy. Overall, much of the writing feels very tropey, yet they managed to make it good to the point it doesn't bother too much.

The music is peak. What the fuck I love leitmotifs now. It's even better than the first game!! "Feeling Danger Nearby" is supposedly a danger/pinch track, but it's so groovy it feels like you don't care about the fact your party is dying. "Visions" is just beautiful, a sublime and soothing atmospheric dungeon track. And "Looking Up at the Sky" is such a nice upbeat field track that will instantly put you in the mood to explore Liberl all over again.

Overall, it was a lot of fun to see this story unfold, and it's amazing how Falcom was able to reuse so much from the first game in a way that feels fresh enough and justified. I won't lie that I would like even more new things, specially considering the length of the game, but all things considered, I think this game is a very worthwhile experience, and I'm definitely sold by now on this world. Yep, I already started the next game as soon as I finished this!

It gets a score this high from me being a huge Gunvolt person. I love the music tracks from all over the franchise, so of course a rhythm game is very welcome! Though it's obvious this game will have thousands of DLCs, which works for this kind of game I guess... though I can't help but feel awkward about this. If it released with a few more tracks it would be okay.

Anyways, it doesn't seem to innovate much in the genre, but from someone who hasn't played many rhythm games nowadays, it feels fresh enough with the analog flick and drag mechanics. At first I thought the control scheme seemed too simple, but overall it really is good enough to create fun and challenging tracks by layering the different note types on top of each other.

The game looks and sounds very pretty. The UI is clean and stylish, the sound effects are straight up from the GV series, and the music videos in the background are a feast for the eyes. The shots from the games in the series are a treat for fans, and the ones with the 3D models look great and exciting as well. Though, I gotta say it's very hard to play while Lola's ass flashes on the screen every now and then...