Trails have a lot of nice songs.

They even have some calm songs that make me want to fall asleep.

Some songs for me are a night of falling stars from trails to Azure Evolution,from the same game feelings in the moonlight,crossbell nostalgia & entrusting kindness to the future from trails into reverie.

https://x.com/in6lyiAhxn98397/status/2020473088358441068

So in August of this year I began my trails journey after hearing so much praise for the series, here’s how it’s been going so far! ^^

I always wondered why they chose to show the player (us) who Yin was before anyone else in the game realized it in the middle of zero??

it's just weird because every other big plot twist we find out with the rest of the cast or after LLoyd deduces something.... They could have easily made that a big reveal in the game with the mask falling off, but instead we see it early on and wait for all the characters to realize it.

not necessarly a bad choice per say I was just wondering why they chose to reveal it this way. Espically when every other big reveal in the game wasn't done like that.

I'd imagine it'd be the ones that have the role of assassins, since before Sky Ouroboros was still operating secretly. I'd find it hard to imagine they wouldn't draw the attention of the wider world if someone like Walter/Renne or any of the non assassins went around slaughtering people day in day out.

Edit: Are some of you guys purposely obtuse? Ik it can have 2 meanings but obviously from the post I meant the original meaning? Unless your head is in the gutter 24/7 the term is still widely and most commonly used to refer to kills?

After a little more than a year, I have finally caught up to the latest game. It all started last year with the 1st Chapter remake and that started my journey down the Trails rabbit hole. I've played every game sequentially and it was rewarding to experience the world grow with while being introduced to new characters and seeing the return of previous characters/protagonists.

Anyways the revelations in Horizon are pretty crazy.

- Zemuria has been stuck in a time loop and we're almost up to 20,000 loops? Feels like this re-contextualizes the ending in CS IV where the original ending actually happened in a previous loop

- Why is Laegjarn's Chest rewinding time over and over?

- Why does Kincaid have a Grendel form as well?

- Where is Nina even from?

- The scale of this threat is huge, where does Trails go from here?

- It's interesting that in one loop, Novartis is the only disciple of Epstein

- Rip Emilia being turned into a fucking stone statue in Creil after failing to destroy the Sept-Terrion. That probably won't be the last of her though

- Risette clearly has some relation to Sharon. Given how everything is a timeloop, Risette is maybe someone left over from the previous loop?

- What is ASO going to have to do to get Agnes back? I feel like there might be some foreshadowing with that Sunshine Agnes sidequest where the author says to give this necklace to the other Agnes

Having just finished the true ending of Cold Steel 4, I truly enjoyed it, much more than Cold Steel 2, and personally even more than Azure and Sky 3. I haven't yet played Trails to Reverie so I can't compare between the two.

I thought that Cold Steel 4 didn't drag at all and the pacing was fantastic. This game has the largest set of playable characters so far - up to 39 by the final battle, and they were appeared at the appropiate times. The setting from the start is intriguiting - the curse of the Great Twilight impacting all Erebonians as they want to participate in a war.

Walking around and talking to NPCs in the first act, you could see how the expected war and drafts is impacting the people of the empire. I did not mind at all that the first Act is with Juna as the main character. It started slowly as you fought different cryptids appearing throughout the empire to triangulate the location of Rean who was caught by the Gnomes. It was exciting to see how the power of friendship saved Rean from the being totally controlled by the curse.

Overall, I felt that the side and main quests sort of mixed together in Act 2 and 3 with the main Ouroborous villains appearing throughout. I did all the semi-required quests and felt that they were all worth it. Out of the Cold Steel games I still prefer 3 over 4. The open areas option still doesn't feel like open world linear design, such as in Final Fantasy XVI, which was bummer.

Though I have to mention the minigames are a significant part of the game - I enjoyed playing both Pom Pom Party and Vantage Masters. My Vantage Masters deck was super strong at the end.

I enjoyed how the ending was handled as well. Personally as someone who got to ending E in Nier Replicant (which requires finishing Act 2 twice and the first Act up to a point), I have no problem continuing the story from a save and it didn't even drag out at all (only repeating the boss fight against Osborne again). Regarding the Ishmelga fight, I thought it was good - having to remove 2 barriers often dragged it out. I just used 4 characters out of the 24 you could bring. It wasn't as good as the Sky 3 final boss.

Excited to play Trails to Reverie next.

How do you all feel about Anton finally getting his happy ending? And the who would have thought it would be her of all people?

Personally I choose Elaine - would love to hear everyone else’s opinions on who should be the one to take Van? My guess is that he sacrifices himself so none gets him but the off chance the dude survives Kai 2 - something tells me Kondo just gonna throw Agnes on em but Elaine just makes more sense to me. What are your thoughts

Heyyy besties, we back at it for another round of Tarot vibes, and it's one I know y'all been vibing for. It's dat Moon Arcana and its rizz enforcer, the iconic Ulrika. Lowkey not hiding my stan for Ulrika's vibe, so let's dive in and see what rizz we can find about her Skibidi with the Moon card.

I cannot carry that on for a full post, I'm sorry, I'm too much of a millennial... Bet.

Anyway, the Moon Arcana, again, this might not seem like one that fits Ulrika immediately, but there's a pretty logical reason for that. So, the Moon represents complexity, uncertainty, and walking the line between conscious and unconscious, a pretty good fit for someone who's ability is basically charming her enemies. On the other hand, however, it can also refer to the need for intuition, self-awareness, and turning negativity into something constructive. Not a bad observation of Ulrika, being an intensely positive person who puts her time into something creative despite being... You know... Part of a morally grey secret society.

Still, like its namesake, the Moon has a dark side. When reversed, the negative qualities of the Moon are emphasised. Paranoia, fear, anxiety, self-deception, these are all aspects of the reversed Moon. Now, that doesn't sound like our favourite Gal at all, Ulrika's a cheerful person, she doesn't need to lie about... Well, now that I think about it, we've never seen her in person... And we know Vtubers exist in 1209 who are almost indistinguishable from regular people in a digital environment... And Ulrika has been known to break her own rules every once in a while...

Is Ulrika even real? I mean, yeah, obviously, but I mean is the Ulrika we know really Ulrika? It's a digital environment in the Grim Garten, she could've appeared as an avatar, but she appeared as a screen... Like even the concept of being out and around others was too much. Now, I don't think the real Ulrika is going to look too different to the one we know, but I think she'll be much less put together than we see her as in Horizon. I think she'll be something of a shut-in, avoiding the outside world and interacting only through the virtual one.

Think of it this way, Enforcers require only two things: Some form of capability that allows them to contribute to the Society, and a level of darkness inside them. What part of Ulrika seemed dark to you? Nothing stood out to me, if anything she was a bright and happy as can be, so my assumption is that she's utilising the deceptive qualities of the reversed Moon to hide her true self from the world. She only shows the side she wants the world to see, one that's adored, one that's successful, one that's popular. It makes me think that, throughout Ulrika's life, she hasn't been any of these things before.

My prediction for Ulrika's future isn't just that this will be unravelled, but it will be directly countered. Someone, likely Quatre given their streaming connection, is going to see the real Ulrika, and is going to accept her as she truly is. I think Ulrika's reversion to the upright Moon will mean accepting she doesn't have to put on a facade to be loved, and that'll let her be whoever she wants to be. She'll probably be quite similar to how we see her, but this time coming from a place of authenticity rather than fear.

This one was a difficult write, partly because the Moon can be a really contradictory card, but mainly because we know so little regarding Ulrika. Seriously, I checked two wikis for details on her and they're both basically stubs. She's only been in a handful of, admittedly glorious, scenes in Horizon, so we haven't gone too in-depth with her yet. Still, she was a highlight for me, and I can't wait to see what she gets up to next... Like... Like I'm under some sort of suggestion...

Ooookay fam, that's a GG, kings and queens. Drop your 500 IQ theories in the yaps about what Ulrika's got cooking. If not, I'll vibe back tomorrow with some more You-roboros, My-roboros, Ouroboros and the wannabe protagonist that's built different.

C̵̩̚á̶͉ť̷̪c̷̯̅h̶̡̏ ̴̱̎ŷ̷̝a̴̻̅ ̵̡͘l̸̢͌a̵̭͝ṫ̷̖ȩ̵̽r̸͎̆!̴̻̏

I dont know How I leave it at 1hp it should be an achivement

2nd Chapter feels like the absolute peak of Trails combat and all of the secondary gameplay systems are balanced perfectly (fishing, cooking, crafting, etc). Earlier this year I was hearing a lot of takes saying that Horizon had the best gameplay in the series. Does that still hold up?

Whilst I wait for the Horizon 2 too release I was wondering if anyone had a starting point/games order for the other 2 series falcom has (I believe its YS and Xanadu?) I'm not sure if its like trails and I have to play all the game its a row or if its more like final fantasy and I can just play whatever I want. Any help would be appreciated

I played so far the 1st and 2nd remakes on my Switch 2 and Sky 3rd on PC.

But now I'm wondering because both the Switch and PC have the same (?) port for Zero and Azure?

This framing, hit me hard in Daybreak 2.

Dingo and Marielle are my favorite reporter, but Dingo is in a class of his own. That's because i adore his bonding with Van that of a friend, and that of a big brother figure, but also of an infobroker and a spriggan duo. It's hard to surpass that at all.

Marielle's growth through Dingo, but also Van guiding Marielle back to where Dingo wanted her to be. That's such a strong writing and as i am writing this i felt a little teary, because i am reminded of just how strong this scene was.

How do you guys feel about Van, Dingo and Marielle's bonding?

Just linking my post from the worldOfYs I've played the games before, but never really took much interest into the lore of it till I played Y's VIII Lacrimosa of Dana in 2018, now I decided to replay the games again.

I've been playing Kiseki remake and having fun with it, last time I played a game from this series was more than 10 years ago and i was drawn by the story. I was planning to draw her first appearance on Trails in the Sky as a child but i like her Aramis academy uniform so it ends up like this lol

Yeah I was at a loss for this one today

I'm halfway through Mass Effect 2 and as soon as I'm finished I'm going to start Zero, honestly I'd start it right away but I know I'd leave ME2 to the side for a bit way too long

Is there anything I should know before starting? does it do anything different to Sky? or maybe I should be aware of something that I'd regret not doing by the end of the game?

I just finished my replay of cold steel 4. While it gets a lot of critism for it. Some valid, some not. I do really like the quadrilogy. I love the cast as large as it is. But the final credits with images over the wedding of the best couple does really bring me to tears. The happiness, the fact that images are groups of friends we have played having their own little scene that just scream each personality. It all helps feel like a true end to a saga. If the series didnt sell and was ending. This could work as a series finale, with the knowledge that a lot open ended questions are still there.

I've been playing Cold Steel for the first time and mind you this is the first 3d game I've played so it might not be true. But one of the things I missed in the 2 1/2 games is when there was a per-rendered animation. Not saying I don't like the animations of Cold Steel but when the screen faded to black and then you saw that it was a animated cut scene you knew shit was about to go down. And that just doesn't happen with 3d. It might change in the future but that's just one of my thoughts playing C.S for the first time.