japan us and Europe may be the main markets but they are not the world, here I am, a poor person in a third world country where single game costs over 1k and a console over 40k, yet whenever possible to buy at the risk of financial crisis, I still buy games I like, and traditional jrpgs is something I like the most in gaming genres. anyways americans complain about the price of barely 60 a game, I have paid over 2k for last of us, AND THERE IS NO ARGUEMENT FOR CURRECNY CONVERSION CRAP, WHO IN AMERICA OR UK WOULD PAY OVER 2K IN THEIR CURRENCY FOR ANY GAME? gaming here is for the rich only. but since I have been gaming since 8 bits I could not help but buy whenever possible, I would so support games I like buy buying the special edition or two copies of one game in the name of back up and also to share with future family like kids.

Sounds rough man. Where you living? Brazil? I know they've had it pretty rough. If possible I'd start saving for a ticket out of where your at and get somewhere where you can do your hobbies cheaper, but alas something like that is easier said than done.

Tarks Gauntlet india, where electronics are more expensive then gold

MtMarshi I agree this series is one of my favorites......

@Monika 3 is miles better than 1 and 2

*have

Connor Merritt it does deserve more attention

Starting to now! :)

Its gonna be the next tales or persona if they dont sell out

I just finished the second earlier this month. The game's got a much fast pace but it's still just as fantastic. I'll be keeping a much closer eye on Falcom from here on out I think.

Enjoy! Glad I could be of assistance ;)

+Mage Masher I'm hearing word of a part 3 as well. If part 2 and 3 are as good (Or better as I've heard part 2 is) this could be the best RPG investment I've ever made.

Kaiji* stupid auto correct.

The character he plays is a really solid character too (But they again they all are! haha)

Took a long time to "Find my voice" so to speak. Part of the motivation to keep running this channel was to learn new skills, both as an editor and an orator. Happy to see how much things have changed over time and that it's recognized. Thanks for the kind words! Though that also makes it really hard to watch these videos now haha.

@@TarksGauntlet I enjoy your content and style so much that I find myself watching videos on games I will likely never play just to hear your two cents. You have a certain quality and style that many other content creators will never even come close to. Thank you for the countless hours of entertainment.

You wouldn't happen to be Canadian would you? It seems not too many people outside of my beloved True North Strong and Free get the joke haha. And Fie is definitely one of my favorites too. I pursued Alisa in both this and the sequel but Fie was my runner up! Got to see her final relationship scenes too! They're good (Y) Plus Fie has a history you just can't help but empathize with. She was in my party as often as possible.

Yeah, I'm a Canadian! I would agree that most people wouldn't get the joke if their not from Canada. Although I'd have to say you sound like your from the east coast.

Oh boy, this isn't the first time I've been found out haha. East coast indeed. Nova Scotia. I always want to believe I don't have a definable accent, but I guess I do. As long as I don't go full-on newfoundland though I'll be happy.

That's true! I'm from Alberta, but I have friends from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and they have a similar accent to yours so that's why I guessed east coast.

Tbh I'd say it's less Québec and more Taiwan. But yeah, Crossbell City's got its own two games and it's a CRIME they weren't ported first. I really, really hope that Trails of Zero and Trails of Blue will get translated as well, hopefully before Cold Steel 3.

I'm glad to hear you liked it so much!

This and Legend of Dragoon are some of my all time favorite games. The two games really don't have too much in common aside from both being stellar RPG's though.

I hope you enjoy it! I mentioned in the video but it can be a slow burn to start but it all comes together so nicely I couldn't help but love it. And part 2 was amazing as well!

Frit-yawf Saga while not exactly "like it" ys8 is on switch witch is another franchise by the same company, so it could happen...

I gotta get to part 2 before I start reading spoilers of it on my own video haha. I have it and I so want to play it but I'm basically fucked for time right now. Plus I had the brilliant idea of reviewing 3 horror-ish games for october so I made it even harder on myself.... But as soon as this is over I'm jumping on it.

The shortest way to said might be one piece of JRPG , bigger scale of fullmetal alchemist , tower of the god of JRPG...something like that might resonate better

I've been trying to find a physical copy of Trails in the sky (Which has the single greatest acronym in JRPG history) for a good year now but I never find them in the wild. Will probably end up getting them on steam eventually. When I do I doubt I'll review it cause I'd have nothing new to say about the series at this point, but I do really want to get into it.... Ys8 too. Still haven't hit that game yet. Falcom produces gold in game form haha.

Tarks Gauntlet Hmm...I'd recommend getting it however you can. Not hard on Steam, especially with the near-constant sales on Falcom titles (I may be biased as a PC gamer). I think it would be interesting to hear your thoughts anyway, since the brilliance of the series is that all the adventures are cleverly connected by a certain society, yet they are all still very different stories with different characters. Can't deny what you're saying, though. (Vulcan) I agree Ys, particularly modern Ys, is amazing too! I'm slowly making my way through them all on Steam. Falcom really is fantastic. Don't mind my dramatic lead up in my last comment. Thanks for the quick reply! :D

Might want to take to the forums on steam for that one. Honestly it sounds like your build is more than capable of running the game just fine.

From what I understand Part 3 is coming to PS4. No more vita releases. Part 2 should be releasing on PC soon.

Just beat Yakuza LAD last weekend. Will work on having that review out soon. And yeah... Some of those final scenes. Hit hard.

@@TarksGauntlet goodluck with the review/editing, can't wait to see it!

I'd certainly hope so haha. These early vids are pretty rough.

@@TarksGauntlet They still work, you just sound a lot more comfortable now.

@@Ya_Mosura Yup haha. It took a long time to "Find my voice" so to speak. KZfaq if nothing else has been a learning experience. Glad others can see the change too!

I think you can play Cold Steel 1 and 2 first. There are some references you won't understand, but there are not all that many. If you like Cold Steel 1 and 2 though, i'd highly recommend to go back to Sky 1 and 2, and possibly also 3 (it's a bit of an outlier in the series, it's more of a dungeon crawler, but is still important for the story and character development). It's probably better to play these before Cold Steel 3, because from what i have seen (i tried not to see too much to avoid spoilers), Cold Steel 3 and 4 bring all the characters from Sky, the (japanese only) Crossbell games and Cold Steel together. Someone recently compared the Trails series to the MCU, and the way they are all interconnected and tell one large story, the comparison is pretty much on point. And it seems Cold Steel 3 and 4 will be the equivalent of the first Avengers movie.

If you don't start with sky it's highly recommended you get to it before getting to cold steel 3 and 4. It's not needed to start the series but you miss a lot without it over the course of the series.

Just came out on steam too!

The further back you go on this channel the worse the videos get lol.

Agree that this series is criminally underrated. I’ve started the whole “Trails” saga with Cold Steel. Finished it, and playing through Cold Steel II. I’ve also just begun playing Trails in the Sky. I will say, if you like JRPGs with a good story and character development, this whole saga is one that will definitely grip you with the story. This game, no, this whole saga deserves to be recognized more.

M.Aziz Pratama No. They make occasional references to trails in the sky but nothing you really need or even worth knowing. I'd recommend playing sky after though. It's widely considered the better game. So people who move from there to here often end up with a bit of growing pains.

Tarks Gauntlet thx, I think im gonna buy this

Most people are with you on that one. I think the pace of the second one definitely appeals to a larger demographic of people, but something about the leisurely pace of this one and the gradual background build of events felt so good to me. That said, it's so hard to even view them as separate games now and I can't wait for part 3!

I think also because of the party system on the second one it gives you more freedom and you can actually create your most perfect party! Man can’t wait for 3 that on PS4 will be a sight to behold although I am going to miss it on handheld. I beat the second game 3 times back to back to back lol.

Who knows, maybe it will support vita remote play :P (But I'm not holding my breath)

+phantom3668 From what i've heard so far though, the second trails game is even better then the first. Seems so hard to be possible to me, but my body is reggie. Can't wait. The game's already fully translated according to Xseed and almost all voiced. Should be out by october or something.

If you do end up finishing it i'd love to hear your thoughts at the end. This is definitely a game that takes getting to the end for it all to click. I found the pay off incredible, but understandably not every body will.

Thanks Tarks!

Almost as slow paced as this review haha. It's almost like a really meticulous chef cooking a 5 course meal, but they only cook 1 ingredient at a time and they cook it to perfection. It can be hard to appreciate what's going on until you see all the ingredients brought together as one mouth watering feast by the end.

A word of advice stick with it,I had trails in the sky on my psvita for like almost five years I did not like the game at all it was so boring but then came cold steel and I loved it so I took a step back and started playing The Legend of heroes Zero no kiseki which is the fourth game in the trails series,in the game the two main characters appeared so not know knowing what the hell was going on or why they were there I decided to go back to the first game the one that I hated and to surprise it was a blast.The world building in this series is amazing ,you will love the characters(let me give a little shout out to my favorite characters/team in trails 1& 2(Joshua,Oliver,Kloe and Kevin)lol anyway as I said just stick it out it will get better and (I have say trails 3 I did not like but still played it).The thing about these games is that you have to play them all in order to enjoy it fully but the sad part is the fifth part Ao no Kiseki has not been translated yet as of right now I am still waiting the fan translation patch to be release so I could finish cold steel 2.

You can't go wrong with starting at Trails of Cold Steel 1. Each series kind of has it's own title and they work independent of each other. You could also give the Trails in the Sky series a good look.

Tarks Gauntlet Ok sweet thank you I look forward to it

Lol and yet a lot of the normal dialogue is very realistic and well written.

Anime Babes is a good reason to be here. We're in a bit of a dry spell for new releases on that front but this years got a few coming I'm really looking forward to.

Trails series is not your typical generic jrpg.

Man... I'm still waiting for them to announce if the third entry is even coming over or not.

That's why I'm asking. Can I be happy with ToCS 2 ending? Or is it have a massive cliffhanger?

I reviewed TOCS2 and towards the end of the review I state that I have no idea how the 3rd game can pick up directly where the second leaves off. TOCS2 does feel like it wraps up most active plot threads and that a 3rd game isn't necessary, but apparently TOCS3 has a lot in store for us. So I think TOCS2 has a good enough ending that you can stop there and feel satisfied.

ok thanks

This is entirely unrelated to you comment, but I love the reference in your username!

@@TarksGauntlet thank you much, good sir. Why can't we get a remake of I have no mouth and I must scream? How badass would that be? Long as they don't butcher it in development.

I got the sequel here. I'm dying to get to it but I gotta finish the game I'm currently working on now. The wait is killing me.

'trilogy' Hah!

Justin Yates Theirs actualy 4 games in the cold steal series

Btw play in Japanese Voice...

Decent? If youre a casual gamer who just like decent and light stories, this aint for you. But if youre looking for a heavy story-oriented game, then you are in the right place. It takes a lot of building up though and a lot of people didnt managed to endure it, but I gotta say, just endure it till the end. Itll be worthwhile, especially if youre a crazy fanatic of heavy stories. Just start with Trails in the sky trilogy, and before you complain, try finishing the trilogy first because what your insight of the game might be hugely different during midgame and endgame. Its available in Steam. If youre still skeptical, you can check in the reviews there. If you wanna try it out, make sure you install the voice patch to give maximum immersion.

Yeah, shes the one I gravitated most too myself. Taking her to the flower garden towards the end was a nice touch.

ikr but i do wish i to know who her english dub voice was sadly no one knows

You're right. Just looked through the credits and IMDB, I don't see her anywhere... that's messed up. If I done this job I'd be dying for a credit... maybe at the end of trails 2?

i did somehow found it on wikipedia but upon clicking it shes not listed in the game and her VA in english is Christine Marie Cabanos

Xeroix Interesting I thought from the beginning Rean & Laura were soul mates.. I see Alisa with Jusis.. And Emma with Gaius for that matter.. Regardless I love all these characters and hope they are here to stay with a long running series..

"Top 10 jokes Canadians get."

The whole series is very slow but I always stand by it's methodically slow approach and how it pays off. But if this doesn't hook you by the end it's probably not a series worth continuing for you.

@@TarksGauntlet I am still going to continue lol I need to, I already bought the other 3 games 😂😂 so yeah, I just hope it gets more exciting in the next chapters. The thing is that I also keep exploring a lot in the game doing side missions and everything. Oh well, I just have to continue 🤞🏻 thanks for the reply!

@@Rubiick How'd it go?

Yeah... Come this fall I'll be playing my 9th lol

@@TarksGauntlet never looked forward to fall before curse this series for that! I feel like it's going to mirror tocs2 in it's pacing, there's so much they need to cover! O also ever try the legaia series?

damn straight

Jokes aside, great review!

Thanks. This game was a whole new world to me. Wish I could have done the review now after I learned something about proper presentation, but I'm happy so many people found it and found the game through it!

I finished the second one 2 days ago and boy am i heart broken waiting for the third one to have its localization announced

I'm almost certain it's coming, but I really can't wait. I've heard some crazy things.

Have you finished it yourself? Its pretty satisfying and heart breaking at points

They were definitely my top JRPG's of 2016. Of all time.. They're definitely in my top 5.. Maybe even top 3. I really want to get the word out there about this series! Can't wait for part 3!

Tarks Gauntlet dude i feel you man the second game gave me huge feels for crow. Though seeing the cover art/title with rean standing there and a guy with silver hair . Its like dude thats crow hands down hes my fav character. The third game i have no doubt ited be amazing im glad rean for the most part is main character. What ticks me off though is i loved the extra chapter at the end of 2 where you play the main guy from the vita ones. Its like yo falcom bring those two vita ones here now lol

Yeah, That extra chapter struck me as so odd to be honest but I still enjoyed it. I'd like to see them get more attention in Trails 3. Some nice eye candy in there too haha.

Tarks Gauntlet yea haha was really awesome i had fun with thay chapter

You got me lol.

I hope you're not talking about me showing that 1 boss. ..You know.. the boss they show you in the games intro cinematic.

Mario Styleman Yup haha. I have no idea where my head was at when I was filming these older videos but suffice to say the least I eventually realized the problem and fixed it. My presentations are much snappier now thank god. I can hardly watch these with their super slow pace anymore.

Charles Caulkins you know, I've never heard a negative opinion about this game that didn't also include comparisons to trails in the sky. I'm kind of glad I played this first so I could approach it without the extra baggage and expectations lol. Series so far has been amazing in my opinion (as you heard) and I'm 100% set on finishing it, then starting trails in the sky.

Charles Caulkins I'd give a longer form answer addressing your complaints and why I mostly disagree (the anime tropes is 100% accurate at least at the start) and why I found the subtle background build of events so enthralling, but I really hate typing on my phone, and I take it you probably heard enough between this video and part 2 if you watched it.

we hate the game because it's a lazy sequel from 5 previous games that are on the same universe, so coming without knowing anything is foolish since the trilogy make references from those 5. And even if you haven't played the prequels the way the game itself is made is lame, 6/7 chapters of rinse and repeat, the 7th chapter is where the story begins. The adults in the game entrust the future of the country to some students with daddy issues and the sequel is just trying to formulize Trails in the Sky SC. The game is mediocre if compared to contemporary games like FF Type-0 that deals with the political issues way more realistic or any Tales of, the animations are lazy, they recycle most animations for many characters and they move like robots, the facial expressions are limited, and they only have 1 stand pose. This is what the leftovers from PS2 era games feel and it's sad from a company like Falcom whose 2000s games were adhoc to the era and they had more enjoyable games.

Curiosity get's the best of us I guess. I didn't really have a problem with that series of events but I also felt like she was kind of in a trance when the whole thing happened, like she was being lured there beyond her will. Also I can't really compare this to the old games so if it's written worse I can't hold that as a criticism against it, it's why I opened the video saying this is my first in the series but that now I'm very interested in checking out the rest. Very happy to hear they may be even better cause I really didn't have a problem with this game at all! I thought most of the acting was great but starts off feeling pretty generic as the characters feel like plain old archetypes for a good portion of the game. Never got the robot feeling. It all felt very human to me, even made me a bit nostalgic for my highschool years. The concert at the end I can grant you. It was just incredibly cliche. I seen the same thing in 100 anime's before so it hardly phases be anymore. I feel more or less it was kind of shoe-horned in at the end to give players a little peace of mind before the massive cliff hangar. It was fanservice and nothing more.

**********************************************SPOILERS******************************************* If there was a reason for her to go down there, it would have been ok. It could have also been done that way, rather easily. Like that MC had to go into the old school house again to find out if something changed because they observed something and she would follow them, once inside she could get lost or something. Or she could have actually been entraced by the antagonists somehow and sent there to trigger the event. The way it was done just completely destroyed the character. She wasnt curious about the building, she got lost on a campus with one clear exit and instead of going out she continued into a clearly abandonded and decrepit building without so much as a word of a reasoning as to why she was going there, besides "oh a Neko, better follow her and get myself killed" :D There are a few more things that just made me question if they were serious about writing the story, I know that the first game was meant to get the class 7 together and so they could become friends and stuff, but some of their "issues" are simply ridiculous, like when the noble and the other guy (cant remember their names right now) outright almost killed MC because they were arguing...in middle of a battle, for people who are at a army school, that just seemed ridiculous and dont get me started on the issue with Fie...Fie was completely fine, but Laura i think it was, didnt like her because she...what didnt try her best...? lol Also, the fact that every single class member is a family member or knows another highly placed super story important character is just plain old lazyness. What I mean with the characters is that basically they do not behave their age, again this I know can be explained with them being in an army school and the entire empire being very military based, but still. Someone compliments Laura for example on her clearly good skills and she is like, no, no im not good, but you are good where as the other person goes, no, no im not good, you are better and this continues for several sentences. Overy polite and robotic in their actions, i cant think of a better way to say it. I know that this is likely because I keep comparing the cast to the cast of previous games, which had some flaws as well of course, but never to this degree. Esentially what tocs did (and I have this confirmed from two of my friends as well as some gamefaqs peeps) that it divided the trails fandom, fans of previous games, trails in the sky, trails of zero etc were quite schoked at the direction they took, its clearly mimiking persona, which is not a bad thing mind you, just not done quite as well, but it was loved by newcomers, because it has all the currently liked cliches, like high school settings, certain types of characters etc. If you find the time you should absolutely play Trails in the sky I and II, they are one of the best rpgs that I have ever played and I play a lot. I sort of dislike very old games, its quite hard sometimes to bring myself to be ok with the older gameplay and graphics, but here the story just carried me through almost without stopping. Check them out and then you can easily see how better the story structure and the characters are written, Estelle and Joshua are some of my favorite protagonists and still one of the very, very few instances where a character sacrificing themselfs or leaving was actually well reasoned. At least in my opinion. Sorry for the rant, regarding trails I always get a little bit too carried away :) Thanks for answering anyways.

I do believe she was lured there by the cat. Remember the cat was a source of mystery and power that the player wasn't meant to understand at that point in the game. It would have destroyed plot progression to show how she was lured, but I believe she was and against her will intentionally to get rean down there without the cat revealing her identity to him yet. It never struck me as odd or suspect at all, I think it's safe to say I saw the event in an entirel different light than you did haha. I never found it lazy the characters all knew somebody influential. For me it geniusly established the hierarchy of the land in realistic form for a prestigious school. It also gave a weight behind every event and every character and made everything feel that much more important like it had more gravity. Laura's responses like that just strike me as her being humble. I think she'd be annoying if she wasn't haha. As per mimicking persona, definitely. I think I drew allusions to that myself in the review. This game is basically anime the RPG lol. But there's such depth to each character and the world I just can't sleight it for that. And I'll definitely play trails in the sky as soon as I can track down physical copies locally. Part 3 is out now too I believe. I love the graphic style of those games.

Out of curiosity have you played TOCS2 yet? They explain pretty clearly in that one that the cat did hypnotize Elise to lure Rean to the basement and that she was never in any danger. They also explain that the class was specifically assembled because of their family to fulfill a specific role. it wasn't just happenstance or lazy writing. It was an integral part of the plot. Having said that I feel I've got too far into spoiler territory so if it's possible can you edit your first comment to just say "Spoilers" at the top? lol

She only saw the cat inside the building tho :D I havnt played the second, I bought the first tocs mid last year and finished it later that year, but by then it was already announced that both tocs I and II may come out on pc at some point this summer so I didnt want to buy TOCS II on ps vita, or ps 3 as on pc its going to be far superior imo. From the video they released it has more voice content and upgraded graphics, it also includes some dlcs, which is amazing. Not to mention, that having already finished the game, I will be using the crap out of cheats and trainers to just see everything ^^ You played the vita or ps3 version of tocs II? I already knew that they were assembled that way, I mean, I figured anyways, but found it incredibly convenient the first time through. For example Elliot being a son of a general was just totally out of the blue and it wasnt even necessary. But yea, it depends on viewpoint for sure :) You are trying to get physical copy of those games? Man that is going to be one hell of a hassle, the pc version doesnt have physical copies at all, it was only digital release, so your only option is psp that I believe has retail, good luck with that :O Also, what do you think about Rean? At least that you gotta give me, he is as clueless and as annoyingly stupid as any anime protagonist ever, right? :D Edited :) Also, dunno if its ok, add me on twitter, I love these conversations, but dont want to spam your comments :D If not its cool, I understand if your busy :)

And the strongest by others. Personally I think crossbell is the strongest, but even the weakest of the current continuity is an incredible journey easily worth recommending, OG die-hards be damned.

The weapon choices in this game tend to coincide with all of the characters back stories, the training they had and where they grew up at. It's stupid for me to bring realism in a game like this, but realistically one would not be trained to use all weapon types. I'll grant with so many characters the game can start a bit slow, but you do get good use of all the characters in this I find, you just can't use them all at any given time for obvious story reasons. The linearity is pretty standard for JRPG's though. Even the most open JRPG's are pretty linear (Minus dark souls, but that was a JRPG designed in the fashion of a Western RPG) If you wanted something with more openess or freedom, with less character centered story and less character development overall you're probably best off with western RPGS. If you want something that marries the pro's and con's of western and japanese RPG's really well then you may want to peak into the Mass effect series, for me though.. character development, rich lore, and a good battle system are cornerstone. Thanks for watching the vid and leaving some great insight.

different games, different systems, doesn't make one better or worse just preference. I personally prefer archetypes for my characters.

***** It's a fair preference. I can't hold it against anybody. A lot of people just like the blank slates that they use as avatars so they can better put themselves in the shoes of the character experiencing the story. Different games I like different things. I still grapple with how I would feel if Link spoke (In any of the real zelda games.. none of that CD-I business haha)

+Tarks Gauntlet haha yeah that may someday be something we have to deal with, I just try to go with it and trust the developers and see where it goes. Final Fantasy XII is a good example of this, the original version offered the freedom to equip all characters how you wished but then the Zodiac version ( which we will be getting with the HD re release ) has characters on a set path I believe.

It's how The Legend of Heroes has always been. The first is pretty much world building, and linear, with forced parties throughout most of the game. The 2nd will come along, and opens up the world alot more. It was the same with Trails in the Sky.

The first 2 cold steel games can be played independently with little issue. Also, at the time this video released there was only 1 cold steel game, and certainly not 12 kiseki titles.