This is a wonderful game. It focuses more on the action rather than just the story; the Kiseki series does the opposite. Both are wonderful games, and though Ys 8 is focused on the gameplay, it still has a wonderful story and characters. Dana herself is a treasure
Basically, this game has a focus on a romantic relationship between the protagonists. It is very relatable and honestly is one of the most refreshing takes I have seen on a romantic relationship in audiovisual media to date. Its cute, pragmatic, complex, and human more than anything. The game also has some georgous landscapes and sceneries. The game does lacksomewhat on "gameplay". Not much would be lost if they removed the combat aspect out of it and just focused on the story. And as much as the landscapes are georgeous, they can get a little repetetive. If they had removed the combat element out of the game and focused more on enhancing the uniqueness of the environments, I would not have complained. As it is, the game is sort of like a visual novel with gameplay elements, so to speak That being said, the focus of this game is on the relationship, which it does WELL. Other games really should take note of the interpersonal interactions and try to build on it. Fair warning, some of the dialogue is explicit. The game has an M rating for a reason. A few scenes are probably not appropriate if you are playing with your kids around. Solid game. Glad I played
This game is the third and last game of the Trails in the Sky series; far from the last in the whole Legend of Heroes games, however! This game is not the end of the story; rather, it transitions to the rest of the Legend of Heroes saga. Gameplay is fairly similar to the previous two games. However, the locations are very different. And though you will be heavily involved with your protagonists from the previous games, the main protagonists are actually two new characters with minor involvement in the previous games. This is their story, but you also learn much about other main characters in the series, both past and present. This game, like the others is story based. Very much so. If you liked the other games, you will like this one. Gameplay and combat are very similar to previous entries too. Its main difference in that rather than just continuing the Liberl arc, it opens up the rest of the continent of Zumeria and paves the way for the Crossbell and Cold Steel Arcs If you are reading this for the first time, I have probably lost you at this point. Other arcs?Characters? What the heck is a Crossbell? Overwhelming, eh? If so, please take my advice and play the first two games. You WILL. BE. LOST. if you start with this game. It would be like starting at the third Lord of the Rings book; its just a bad idea. That being said, I promise you its worth it. And when you play the other games, you will be dying to play this one. This game is amazing, just like the whole Trails in the Sky franchise. My only regret is not being able to play for the first time again
This game begins the Legend of Heroes series. I have played many, many games in my time, but never have I played a game like this one This game is the first of the series. Despite being the first, it does everything right, imho. This game starts the Liberl Arc, consisting of this game, Trails in the Sky SC, and Trails in the Sky the Third. Once an Arc is complete, you have finished the story for that region and main characters. However, there is an overall story that continues into other Arcs. After Trails in the Sky, there is the Crosbell Arc, with Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure Then begins the Cold Steel arc, with Cold Steel 1, 2, 3, 4. Then Hajimari is due to release at some point In spite of this... the whole series is only ~70% done!!!! Its a long, long franchise. But there is nothing like it. I would never recommend that much of a commitment if you weren't going to love it. But you will love this if you have ever loved RPGs, JRPGs, Story, or Characters. Because the Legend of Heroes does this SO right. This game, like all of them.... Its really text heavy. But I love it. You get to know so much about the characters and the world. Not just the main bits either. You actually can learn about all the different NPCs; there are practically no generic NPCs with the same two lines of dialogue. First game that ever made me care about NPCs. Actually, one of the only ones. This game is a slow burn, like most of them. Thats the nature of it being text heavy. But this is NOT a disadvantage of the game; this is actually its strength as its world and characters are its charm The combat is turn based, and quite deep. Its a lot of fun figuring out that tweak that just makes your team unstoppable and broken. Granted, thats on normal; nightmare mode is harder. Story is just... everything. I love it. The main story, the characters, the world... Seriously, I can never stop recommending this game.
There are other reviews that discuss this games gameplay better. Or the story better. Or anything better really. So here is my own, short hot take This made me laugh, cry, and I literally couldn't put it down till I beat it. My only regret is that I can never play it for the first time again. I will still love subsequent playthroughs If you ever loved any RPG or game with amazing story, this is the game for you, period.
This is not made clear on the store page. In order to play the game, the game MAKES you download something called kalypso launcher. You cannot launch the game without this program. This program is designed to show you ads for other games by the same developer, and pushes you really hard to make an online account. Technically, you don't need an online account, if you keep your eyes open and press the red 'skip' button Technically, I can unplug my PC from the Internet and avoid the ads But that defeats the purpose of a DRM free game, right? Cannot reccommend. This is a pretty blatant disregard for the spirit of GOG's anti-DRM policy, while still technically meeting the absolute barest minimum
Have over 100 hours on this game on PS3. One of my favourite games of all time. XSEED is an incredible localization company for bringing this series to the West and to PC. 100% recommend
