I'll be honest, the reason I paid this game any attention was its E3 trailer that dropped. You all know the one, with the big, voluptuous blonde beauty that caught everyone's eye so much that they now use the frame as a permanent promotional image on the store pages. (5th image on this store page by the way.) In a season of boring games with ugly female characters, one that focuses on beauty and conventional attractiveness, and yes, sex appeal, is something nice to see. Something that appeals to those of us who are more on the hot-blooded side and not afraid of seeing attractive women in our video games. The fact that it was an SRPG made the odds that much higher that I would play it. I've been an SRPG, TRPG, JRPG, and RTS fan for a loooong time now. On that note, the gameplay in SoW is fun. I quickly tore through this game. I will say the "normal"/rec'd difficulty is too easy for those who are experienced in TRPGs. I beat it on "TRPG autopilot" (when you play only vaguely thinking about tactics and go on instinct). Lots of customizability, solid map design, nice animations, and fun unit types. The story is ambitious and has a lot of heart and charm, even if its amateurish in execution. I enjoyed it all things considered, though it needs "more". You can see how much influence the game derives from Fire Emblem 4 in its storytelling + style. However, it has influences from all kinds of strategy and tactics games of old. The squad-based mechanics and building, the morale system, the individual units, even having a tech tree. Its honestly hard to tell where exactly they got it all from because there are so many places it could've taken them from. Sengoku Rance, XCOM, Yggdra Union, etc. Some of the obvious ones are Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre of course, which are decent reference point if you'll like the game. There's criticisms I can levy at the game, but its an indie game and they'll get polish over time. The game is worth supporting, check it out.
If I could give it a 4 and a half or even a 4 I'd do it. While I'm capable of doing the latter, I'd prefer not to hurt the devs; they deserve support for this game despite a few of its unfortunate flaws. First things first. Its short. I got just under 10 hours out of it. You'll probably get more if you have the patience to get all the coins but I did not. I got a more important "collectible" and the ending (I don't know if there's a true ending or not so I might get a bit more out of it). One of the game's biggest flaws is that it just flat-out needed more to it in terms of content. Another flaw to point out is that its overly forgiving. While the core gameplay is challenging and honestly incredibly fun, the game is so forgiving that it might as well not be a factor. If you lose/game-over you start where you were or at the nearest checkpoint which is often very close to where you were; I also think damage done to you during boss fights was reduced or something. I feel like making the player replay some portions would've been a fine way to extend content and make the game more memorable as a result, as just breezing through everything makes it harder to do the latter. Plus since the gameplay was fun it wouldn't have been a problem Despite these flaws, the game is charming in its characters, writing and world. The biggest flaw here is that it just needed more of everything and the ending, to me at least (and I might be the only one) felt unsatisfying. I feel like I needed more time with these characters. I still liked them but... I didn't grow as attached to them as I honestly should have for a game like this. Another excellent point in the game's favor is its stellar and well-thought-out design. One example is a boss that is basically built for only one character in your party to beat, and the fight's "story" and dialogue is designed by that forced choice. Its marvelously tragic once you get to that point. Anyways give it a shot, give some money and be happy!
Trails in the Sky 3rd chapter is... notably different from the two games that precede it. The first two games effectively finish off the arc, and this game serves as a sort of unusual catch-all game that's almost spin-off levels in terms of its strangeness. It also focuses on a different two main characters than the first two games, which is refreshing if a little bit unusual. I had my problems with this game if I'll be honest. The worldbuilding in this game isn't really present like it was in the first two games, with no town. Its more structured like a dungeon crawler than a traditional JRPG, and its a bit more "game-y" in how it handles things like its additional story elements. Rather than sidequests, there are these "door" mechanics and... you'll figure it out in-game. Anyways, despite its unusual nature, structure and... really everything, it finishes off the trilogy nicely with what it does. Like the other two games it requires patience to realize this game for what it is, but when you do, you'll realize that it was worth it. I'll be honest and say I didn't enjoy it as much as SC+FC, but not enough to take off a star from it. The characters were interesting, the soundtrack is slick, the combat is revamped a bit (arguably to the point of imbalance with its strangeness). Its just a very weird game, but give it time and it'll grow on you. It focuses very much on its "main" set of characters versus everything as a whole like in the other games, but thankfully with the characters and organizations/factions involved, it makes for a very entertaining story. To give an idea of what I might compare it to, I get a more hellsing ultimate vibe from this game (though obviously with less gore and edginess). Its satisfying as all hell and its worth playing for the closures and conclusions and just general little things that the ending of SC couldn't satisfy. Its worth your time and money, just stick with it like you did with the others, and you'll like, maybe love it!
The rating system on GoG is very simplistic, and the review system even more so. (curse you 2k char limit! Not even 10 tweets worth of space!) I'll try to keep this concise. Trails in the Sky is not a game for everyone. It is not a "traditional" masterpiece, and isn't a story told like most other JRPGs. You won't have the fantastical locales, mind-blowing plot point twisting into another. The world of Trails in the Sky is, for the most part incredibly grounded. Let's start with the flaws just to get them out of the way: -The character model graphics SUCK they look downright potato-ish. It'll be a bit jarring for a while but you'll eventually tolerate it. 3D environments look better which makes it weird. -The combat system isn't anything special Its okay. Serviceable, fun at times and customizable enough but nothing to write home about. Certainly nothing to be wowed by. -timed sidequests You *need* to do every sidequest the second you see them or you run a high risk of them expiring after a point in the story has been passed, which sucks Now unto what makes me give this game 5 stars. The worldbuilding and character and NPC dialogue and progression is *fantastic*. Its not perfect, but it certainly aspires to me. There are a few minor nitpicks that I had (Joshua being a bit of an oblivious, OP harem protag was one) but for the most part, it takes the time to craft a world with NPCs that you'll actually, if not care about, at least keep them in mind when you help them and their region out. You realize you're part of a world, you're not some OP hero able to do whatever you want. That said, you aren't powerless either. Its about the world, not just you. This game reminds me of a slower-paced, but very human version of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Explorers of Sky (or darkness w/e). If you've played that game, you'll know how glowing of a recommendation that is. I don't feel I can give this a full review without playing the sequel though. Bear that in mind. (char limit)
Trails in the Sky SC is worth your money. If you've read my FC review, let's just flat-out get that out of the way. I got it on sale for 20-something bucks but I should've paid full-price for the conclusion to the epic-in-construction that FC began. The writing is flat-out brilliant in near every respect. The world-building is top-notch, the characters are all lovable and intriguing and this all cannot be stated enough. SC's pacing is pure perfection, and its build-up is perfect for what it wants to accomplish. The ending will leave you just... awestruck. It made me just shout in triumph and cry at the same time in an emotional wellspring of... I don't even know what. I didn't know that a set of games like this could exist. It is the Lord of the Rings of JRPGs in terms of, well, it being a flat-out friggin' epic and *needing* both games to fully realize it, just as LOTR needs you to read them all (and in order too) to understand what's going on and appreciate it. Combined together, FC and SC make an experience like I've never had before in gaming. I forgave its flaws and places where it could be improved. This is a review, not a full critique (thanks 2k char limit) and I'll just flat-out say to just give Falcom and XSEED your money at this point. I *hate* to say something like that but these games are just marvelous and worth supporting; I can't help but gush over them. If you've finished FC and feel it was lacking in terms of its story and closure (which you should because of a certain thing that happens in its ending...), you owe it to yourself to at least try SC and finish it, since these games were clearly meant to be played together, one after another and enjoyed like the masterpiece it is, and SC really just realizes the foundation FC builds into a beautiful epic that proves to anyone and everyone that video games can be art (and also very fun, obviously). Seriously, if you know anyone that lacks faith in the video game industry, have them play these two.
Everyone has different backgrounds when it comes to anime. Some have never heard of it (not many can use this excuse now), some watched famous shounens in their youth, others have some experience with every genre, and still others stick to their own niche. I fall more in the second camp. I watched and read shounen manga and anime as a child, (oftentimes dubbed). Stuff like DBZ, YYHA, Yu Gi Oh, Bleach, really basic saturday morning cartoon stuff. Eventually as I matured I watched less anime but still mainly watched shounen and seinen, like Hellsing Ultimate, Berserk, Hajime no Ippo, and Gurren Lagann. You might be asking why this is relevant? Well... this game is unlike any of those things. If you've ever watched Bobobo, this game is more like that than any anime I can think of right now. Its very off the wall, very comedic, and meta in its humor. There are not many shows that can pull that off *well*, let alone a satirical game, but HDN does it finely. You'll laugh, cry, but mainly laugh, and you'll be left in awe and have your heart race at points that I don't wanna spoil. Its full of cuteness and charm despite being a budget game. I'll just list the main flaws here so you can be aware of them. The dungeon designs are *very* simplistic to the point of being trivial. There is some grinding to be expected. The sheer amount of dungeons can get tedious. Enemies get reskinned often. The rest of the game entirely overshadows these flaws with its characters, relationships and story. Its satisfaction and straight-up fun personified in cute girl form and that's better than it sounds, trust me. They knew where to put the budget in terms of combat (no spoilers!).. Give it a try. You won't regret it. This is my first time playing something this focused on cute girls and fanservice to this extent, but I'm very much happy I did. Also play with the japanese voices, the dub sucks and that's coming from a dub lover. The more of a gamer you are, the more you'll like this game.
