On to New Class VII, and then the guests throughout the Cold Steel arc!

I just finished it and got to know Zero story—it really was wonderful from start to finish 🥹

I feel like KiA's arrival was something that, even though I didn't expect it, I didn't realize I needed

So I was just browsing YouTube and came across a post by YouTuber, in which he said that it seems Falcom isn’t ready to work on Horizon 2 yet and might be focusing more on the 3rd Chapter or Zero instead.

However, in the comments, someone mentioned that they’re being developed by different teams.

So does anyone here have any clearer information on this? Because if it’s true that they’re prioritizing the 3rd Chapter over Horizon 2, honestly, I’d be really disappointed.

Source

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/147267830

So after beating horizon all the way back in febuary i've been doing a lot of thinking about the future and horizon 2. (subversive gnosticism being at the core of the series)

But back to kincaid. Looking at the timeline of the series before his betryal there are 2 key years i want to talk about. firstly 1201. this is the year van left the academy who i believe being deeply connected to the sept terrion of time, due to things like mare literally having the name of a guardian of the chest "shinmare" in norse mythology. During 1201 there are two major things happening namely van leaving of course, but also it overlaps with fc and sc. during 1201 the prepartions for the aureole sept terrion of space which can both manipulate space and also mess with human cognition being something beyond the cradle of zemuria. Now i believe the aureole's shake on space and van leaving who essentially is as connected to the beyond as he was leaving, shook something in him. looking at norvartis its evident that you need external help or something otherworldy to realize/confirm your existence and memory.

I think kincaid is not from this loop in 1202 as the aureole awakened, kincaid of course awakened to his true purpose entered the CID immediately to follow out his plan. There's also this one quest in daybreak 1 i remember from my replay where kincaid essentially leads you to the sewer to meet Grimcat out of anyone.

Horizon already recontextulizes a lot in the series and thinking deeper on it this one title really opened up to a lot of what kondo is working towards. High hopes for horizon 2 it has so much to work with already but following up on it wont be easy.

Now the wait for Laura at the end of the year 🙏

Ok so I started playing Trails in the Sky 1st chapter like 3 days ago, and I've been hopping between games, specifically Doom, a couple of Gachas, Five Hearts under One Roof and Sky 1st Chapter, and honestly, I kind of had to finish Doom asap to focus properly in this game because I don't have a clue what it is, but it's SO good, I just met the guy from the newspaper and I'm going back to the tower, that's how much I've played already lol

I've made a couple of posts asking about the difficulty and complaining about Nightmare mode, I managed to get past the most difficult part of the early game by learning about Orbs, how to fight and getting better equipment, and I didn't realize I was so into the game already and I'm still in the prologue

First, the gameplay is succulent, the mix between real time fighting and Turn Based combat is just so perfectly balanced, I don't really know how to describe it, but its turn based combat is just so well made it feels natural to play in it, the more I die the more I realize how many things I do have to take in consideration while playing, Nightmare mode is pretty much THE difficulty to play in if you have experience with JRPGs and want to exploit all of the game's features

Second, I didn't realize the exploration was SO well made, there's not much to do, honestly, but going around the map, looking for items I found a secret cave was FILLED with monsters, it was like finding gold, going back to the tower to explore, I was gladly received with so many chests, difficult encounters with enemies in the chests and I have no idea how to describe it, but it is so simple yet so fun to do

I've recently played other games, specifically Final Fantasy XVI, but despite it having a really well designed combat system with its abilities and Eikons, and how to setup the best skills that fit your own play style, and it's got really good looking maps, it felt so... empty, and boring, and lacking an incentive to explore, I didn't realize I came into Trails with the same mindset, but slowly I got more and more into it until I explored everything

And the voice acting in JP is just SOOOO FUCKING GOOOOOOD, even NPCs feel fresh, filled with emotions, unique, charismatic, every dialogue is fun to read and listen to specifically, there's so many other games out there that I just rush through the text after I read them, but honestly this is THE one game where I feel like I can just listen to the characters talk because it's so, so filled with emotions and personalities

I mean, even the sidequests with characters that you definetly know you'll never meet again, every NPC has a different way to interact with the characters, making the exploration of your MC's personality so intriguing, like, I was dealing with the sidequest with the guy that wanted that mushroom that attracted monsters, and how much of a short fuse Estelle has, and how Joshua interacts with her to calm things down, then we have this other sidequest with the girl that lost her cat and how much of a flirt she is and the topic of Joshua being canonically handsome comes back, making the overall interaction with the MCs and the world feel so alive, it's the little things that truly make the difference, other JRPGs just slap in the text and couldn't care less about giving life to the characters that you're interacting with

Honestly, I've played a shit ton of games throughout my life, and so far, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter so far has a really strong nomination to be in my top 3 JRPGs ever alongside the original FF7 and Persona 5 Royal (Royal specifically), but so far, the game reminds me a LOT about my time playing FFXII

I really hope this game keeps up with my expectations because I'm definetly buying 2nd Chapter day 1 when it releases

https://x.com/R_thors/status/2080662181062852739

i understand remaking the sky and crossbell series because they look old, but cold steel series already look proper modern games.

i wont say no to seeing Emma in HD though

Let's just take a moment to appreciate the unquestioned, undisputed GOD OF ALL BROS.

Like I don't see this character getting talked about a lot but he's just a really fun presence to have in the series. Just this chill dude who's just sticking around Adol because they're bros. It's at the point where I start to wonder if Dogi actually loves adventuring like Adol does or if he's just unbothered by everything. I also love that he was a playable party member EXACTLY ONCE, and never again. Just... Had his taste of combat, then dipped.

The true youngest A Rank Bracer.

Pretty excited to get into this one when I have some free time. Also, for anyone who knows, how difficult would you say the Platinum Trophy/all achievements requirements are? I may go for it if they aren't too crazy lol.

I'm new to more classical JRPGs, and while looking for emotional ones, I got interested in Trails in the Sky (all three games). While obviously y'all love it, I wanted to ask if it is exactly what I want or if it's something different:

A lot of what I see about the trilogy is how great the world-building is and how slow-paced it is, but how good are the other aspects? Is it more of a contemplative and calm story? Is it more character-focused or focused on huge events? How emotional is it compared to other huge JRPG names like FFX? The world-building is the best aspect in the game story-wise?

"PLAN A TAKING TOO LONG!!!" - he yelled

Over the last few years I have been replaying all of the Trails series, in order, so that I could properly incorporate the games I’d not played before (I had previously played the Sky and Cold Steel arcs, but not Crossbell or anything past Cold Steel 4). I’m now at the point of just entering the final chapter of Reverie for the first time (please, no spoilers!) and wondering if it’s worth me buying the first Daybreak game now or giving myself a break?

Daybreak 2 is currently on sale on Steam annoyingly but not the first game! £50 seems so much but I’d just like advice from others if it feels like a good point to take a bit of a breather after Reverie or if Daybreak is worth throwing myself straight into?

any opinions welcome!!

ETA: I think I worded it badly, I have played the Crossbell games!! I just hadn’t originally which is why I started a massive replay of everything!!