sallymander
2016
I really enjoyed my time playing Berseria. It's a really good story, with an amazing cast (in and out of the party) really good gameplay elements (most of the time) and is just all around a good time.
That said, MAN am I glad that I went into this having all the DLC (apparently) because if I had to do this without all the little bonuses that the DLC gives you I'm pretty sure I would've driven myself insane grinding for this game. Even with the bonuses I still had to go grind until I was 20 levels above the final boss, because phase 1 includes an aoe attack that does like 1500~ damage to basically the whole arena. Realistically there was probably a better way of dealing with it, like upgrading my gear more, or making it specifically reduce damage from Void (which all the final bosses attacks use).
But yeah no I love this game and it's mechanics. I love how it rewards you for challenging yourself. You can go out, fight completely optional mini-bosses, it rewards you with "Potentite" which adds things to your gameplay, either random bonuses on equipment, a flat increase to something, or just adding a whole new system to the game, like charging a power attack by holding block for 3 seconds first, and some Potentite only works on certain difficulties, so it then rewards you for making the whole game harder, by giving you quality of life in return.
Still would not recommend Chaos difficulty though, which you can get from a boss is the last 5th of the game (yes, you have to unlock the difficulty by fighting a mini-boss, and this one makes you prove you're ready for Chaos by having the boss be invincible to all damage, which it then reflects, so good luck with that.) I instead recommend Insane mode (which you also have to unlock, in the first third of the game) which is a good challenge that will consistently place enemies about 5-8 levels ahead of you, but you feel really good for managing it in return.
I don't know, just a good time all around. May get filtered by the grind if you don't have passive increases like I did aha.
That said, MAN am I glad that I went into this having all the DLC (apparently) because if I had to do this without all the little bonuses that the DLC gives you I'm pretty sure I would've driven myself insane grinding for this game. Even with the bonuses I still had to go grind until I was 20 levels above the final boss, because phase 1 includes an aoe attack that does like 1500~ damage to basically the whole arena. Realistically there was probably a better way of dealing with it, like upgrading my gear more, or making it specifically reduce damage from Void (which all the final bosses attacks use).
But yeah no I love this game and it's mechanics. I love how it rewards you for challenging yourself. You can go out, fight completely optional mini-bosses, it rewards you with "Potentite" which adds things to your gameplay, either random bonuses on equipment, a flat increase to something, or just adding a whole new system to the game, like charging a power attack by holding block for 3 seconds first, and some Potentite only works on certain difficulties, so it then rewards you for making the whole game harder, by giving you quality of life in return.
Still would not recommend Chaos difficulty though, which you can get from a boss is the last 5th of the game (yes, you have to unlock the difficulty by fighting a mini-boss, and this one makes you prove you're ready for Chaos by having the boss be invincible to all damage, which it then reflects, so good luck with that.) I instead recommend Insane mode (which you also have to unlock, in the first third of the game) which is a good challenge that will consistently place enemies about 5-8 levels ahead of you, but you feel really good for managing it in return.
I don't know, just a good time all around. May get filtered by the grind if you don't have passive increases like I did aha.
2008
I'm giving up on this game way too soon.
The first couple of missions, and I mean couple literally, are good, it introduces you to the combat and you may find yourself going "Oh shit this is cool!" and I still do think it's cool! But then mission 3 happens and the difficulty spike becomes vertical. But you think its probably fine, maybe its an anomaly so you spend 45 minutes finishing mission 3 and you finally manage to do it, and then you're back to enjoying the game and the cast again. And then mission 4 arrives and its back to "Jesus fuck this" again.
This game was just, as far as I can tell not really balanced, or if it was they did a shit job at it.
Great characters though HUUUUUUGE fan of some of them. Biggest complaint character wise is that, why the fuck is Welk the protagonist? Alicia has better character motivations, backstory, experience. Literally just the better character overall (excluding Welks autistic swagger which Alicia does lack).
Idk, I'm shelfing it at this point so I can go to VC4 which I've heard is much better!
The first couple of missions, and I mean couple literally, are good, it introduces you to the combat and you may find yourself going "Oh shit this is cool!" and I still do think it's cool! But then mission 3 happens and the difficulty spike becomes vertical. But you think its probably fine, maybe its an anomaly so you spend 45 minutes finishing mission 3 and you finally manage to do it, and then you're back to enjoying the game and the cast again. And then mission 4 arrives and its back to "Jesus fuck this" again.
This game was just, as far as I can tell not really balanced, or if it was they did a shit job at it.
Great characters though HUUUUUUGE fan of some of them. Biggest complaint character wise is that, why the fuck is Welk the protagonist? Alicia has better character motivations, backstory, experience. Literally just the better character overall (excluding Welks autistic swagger which Alicia does lack).
Idk, I'm shelfing it at this point so I can go to VC4 which I've heard is much better!
2023
A couple of days ago I was thinking "At what point do you review a live service game?" Because while I'm sure I'd love to wait for End of Service to review the "Whole Experience" at that point, why bother?
So the answer I've come to after seeing another friend post their own review on HSR is just, whenever. Do you feel you have a good enough basis? Then go ahead and post what you feel like.
I've played a lot of RPGs recently, including the Trails series which HSR's Director is a fan of and even took inspiration from for the combat system in HSR, and that was both a pro and and con.
The pro was obviously that I knew exactly what I was getting into in terms of the combat, its the basic AT system, with Delays, Advances and butting into the turn order to hit your ultimate, it's got a Break system introduced in Cold Steel 3 even if the conditions are more specific to get a Break off. Which is great Cold Steel 3 is the best combat in the Cold Steel quadrology.
And the cons... It feels kinda pedantic but when I first started playing HSR there were so many moments when I went "God the presentation for this would be so good if it wasnt a gacha."
To explain what I mean, there are several moments in the story where you are accompanied by other units, for a majority of Jarilo-VI this is March 7th and Dan Heng. There is a part in Jarilo-VI where the player character sneaks out with Bronya and Seele leaving March 7th and Dan Heng behind. So it's really jarring when you get into combat and your actual "Party" consists of March 7th and some woman you haven't even met yet, and neither Bronya or Seele.
Like I said the point feels pedantic, and at best is just "Could you imagine?" because if this were a singleplayer game the presentation of these events represented in changes in your party would be great. And you don't even have to Imagine that hard as the Player Character is mandatory for the final boss of Jarilo-VI because part way through the climactic fight they functionally change to a new unit entirely due to influence of the story. So they devs and writers clearly have some idea what I'm talking about here because they've done it.
So my main complaint basically boils down to "Would be better if it wasn't a gacha" and while I'll stand by that I will put down that as a Gacha it could be so much worse. Almost every system available to the player is generous in its own way to the point where I don't really mind most the Gacha aspects.
Anyway, good game, would've been better as a singleplayer game, but as a gacha its more then decent.
EDIT: Since this review I have gotten to the Luofu, and it's solidified my issues with the presentation of the party system, but because it goes on to be MUCH BETTER about it. Having a whole side story that you can do starring Dan Heng and 2 other units being lent to you for a trial period that fight.
Guess they just didn't want to do it for Belobog?
So the answer I've come to after seeing another friend post their own review on HSR is just, whenever. Do you feel you have a good enough basis? Then go ahead and post what you feel like.
I've played a lot of RPGs recently, including the Trails series which HSR's Director is a fan of and even took inspiration from for the combat system in HSR, and that was both a pro and and con.
The pro was obviously that I knew exactly what I was getting into in terms of the combat, its the basic AT system, with Delays, Advances and butting into the turn order to hit your ultimate, it's got a Break system introduced in Cold Steel 3 even if the conditions are more specific to get a Break off. Which is great Cold Steel 3 is the best combat in the Cold Steel quadrology.
And the cons... It feels kinda pedantic but when I first started playing HSR there were so many moments when I went "God the presentation for this would be so good if it wasnt a gacha."
To explain what I mean, there are several moments in the story where you are accompanied by other units, for a majority of Jarilo-VI this is March 7th and Dan Heng. There is a part in Jarilo-VI where the player character sneaks out with Bronya and Seele leaving March 7th and Dan Heng behind. So it's really jarring when you get into combat and your actual "Party" consists of March 7th and some woman you haven't even met yet, and neither Bronya or Seele.
Like I said the point feels pedantic, and at best is just "Could you imagine?" because if this were a singleplayer game the presentation of these events represented in changes in your party would be great. And you don't even have to Imagine that hard as the Player Character is mandatory for the final boss of Jarilo-VI because part way through the climactic fight they functionally change to a new unit entirely due to influence of the story. So they devs and writers clearly have some idea what I'm talking about here because they've done it.
So my main complaint basically boils down to "Would be better if it wasn't a gacha" and while I'll stand by that I will put down that as a Gacha it could be so much worse. Almost every system available to the player is generous in its own way to the point where I don't really mind most the Gacha aspects.
Anyway, good game, would've been better as a singleplayer game, but as a gacha its more then decent.
EDIT: Since this review I have gotten to the Luofu, and it's solidified my issues with the presentation of the party system, but because it goes on to be MUCH BETTER about it. Having a whole side story that you can do starring Dan Heng and 2 other units being lent to you for a trial period that fight.
Guess they just didn't want to do it for Belobog?
Funny game.
Comedy Moment, Combat Moment, Something resembling a story, Games done.
Classic
Comedy Moment, Combat Moment, Something resembling a story, Games done.
Classic
You would think with my ranks slowly decreasing as the series goes along that Reverie would get a low rank.
BUT NAH, Trails into Reverie is one of the best stories and one of the best experiences the series had to offer at this point, technically the story doesn't reach Trails the 3rd levels of good but thats instantly outbalanced by the Combat being the best the series has had. And even if the story isn't AS good as 3rd, its still so good that it somehow ends up making Cold Steel 4 look better retroactively! I don't know how they did that but Rean Schwarzer is the goat in this game for some reason we love Rean.
BUT NAH, Trails into Reverie is one of the best stories and one of the best experiences the series had to offer at this point, technically the story doesn't reach Trails the 3rd levels of good but thats instantly outbalanced by the Combat being the best the series has had. And even if the story isn't AS good as 3rd, its still so good that it somehow ends up making Cold Steel 4 look better retroactively! I don't know how they did that but Rean Schwarzer is the goat in this game for some reason we love Rean.
There is something in Erebonia.
If my main compliment of CS3 is that I love playing the game, then CS4 is a direct downgrade from CS3 because they made playing the game worse, still decent combat though. They also made the experience of the game directly worse too, and then swapped out the DESERVING major antagonist for a final act eldritch being to take all the blame and make the game non-political.
Absolutely the worst experience in the Trails franchise, Please go to Laura Cave for refund.
If my main compliment of CS3 is that I love playing the game, then CS4 is a direct downgrade from CS3 because they made playing the game worse, still decent combat though. They also made the experience of the game directly worse too, and then swapped out the DESERVING major antagonist for a final act eldritch being to take all the blame and make the game non-political.
Absolutely the worst experience in the Trails franchise, Please go to Laura Cave for refund.
Cold Steel 3 is mid, It has the best combat in the Cold Steel series, it has some amazing highs, some incredibly nothing segments and then some insane lows.
I guess the best way to say it is that it's the opposite of playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2. In which XBC2 is a game I hate playing, but love experiencing, I love playing Cold Steel 3, I don't care for the experience it presents though.
I guess the best way to say it is that it's the opposite of playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2. In which XBC2 is a game I hate playing, but love experiencing, I love playing Cold Steel 3, I don't care for the experience it presents though.
TRAILS OF COLD STEEL 2 BABY, Cold Steel 1 is an incredibly unneeded Sky FC then Cold Steel 2 is an amazing new telling of Sky SC god this is the best game in the Cold Steel Arc and It's because it pays off a bunch of things that had been set up since Sky and through Crossbell. Not to mention the amazing connection between Crow and Rean god CS2 is the best Cold Steel Game.
This game is the Sky FC for the Erebonian Arc.
It's already been done two times, and we've learnt plenty about Erebonia through the Liberl and Crossbell Arc's given that Erebonia was a small antagonist in /both/ Arc's. So the information isn't needed that much but some is appreciated. Then the gameplay and story turns out to be mostly boring anyway outside of the last hour of this 50+ hour game. Far from my favourite game.
It's already been done two times, and we've learnt plenty about Erebonia through the Liberl and Crossbell Arc's given that Erebonia was a small antagonist in /both/ Arc's. So the information isn't needed that much but some is appreciated. Then the gameplay and story turns out to be mostly boring anyway outside of the last hour of this 50+ hour game. Far from my favourite game.
Once again we GOTTA get over the Barrier, and fuck it we'll Burning Heart along the way.
This game is the Sky SC to Zero's Sky FC except this game goes for way too long and leaves you asking "how much more???" but in a good way I promise. You're basically asking how peak can go on for so long. Well you're also asking what the fuck happened in that one zoom call but we don't talk about that.
This game is the Sky SC to Zero's Sky FC except this game goes for way too long and leaves you asking "how much more???" but in a good way I promise. You're basically asking how peak can go on for so long. Well you're also asking what the fuck happened in that one zoom call but we don't talk about that.
LLOYDO BANNINGS DA! WE GOTTA BREAK THROUGH THE BARRIER!!!! FUCK IT WE BURNING HEART!
Its Sky FC again but with a new cast with new twists and backgrounds, as well as being in a new part of the continent. So it makes sense you need some background information but its a bit more boring this time due to already having gone through the info dumping stuff in FC aha.
Its Sky FC again but with a new cast with new twists and backgrounds, as well as being in a new part of the continent. So it makes sense you need some background information but its a bit more boring this time due to already having gone through the info dumping stuff in FC aha.
This game has some interesting choices mechanically, like chapter 6 being 13 consecutive boss fights with story on both sides (As in, before the first boss, and after the 13th) but aside from the interesting mechanical decisions this game has one of, if not THE, best story beats in a trails game so far. Kevin Graham got that good shit and then vanished from the plot lmao.
WE LOVE TRAILS IN THE SKY SC!!!! SC takes the amazing set up provided by FC and knocks it out of the park, the middle of the game is just a bit tedius given that it is technically the same plot 2-3 times with slight variations but we all love it despite this fact.
The Ideal entrypoint into the trails series as said by the Falcom Team and for good reason! God Bless Trails in the Sky FC! Some people say its too filler or boring but I think it does what it needs to do extremely well and then sets up an amazing hook for the next title.