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Post by Imperial Khador on Oct 19, 2023 15:02:07 GMT
Finished up Chained Echoes on the Switch. I really enjoyed it. Among retro pixel-art JRPGs lately, I do prefer that HD-2D look a lot of the time, but even without it, this had some really excellent sprite work that was a pleasure to look at. Combat had lots of varient options, and I enjoyed both the character and giant robot fights. Story and writing were...a bit mixed. I appreciate the hints at a lot of lore and a greater world, but I also feel like the writing quality didn't quite support it all the time. They definitely seem to be angling for a sequel at the end, which I wouldn't mind seeing. Very solid game overall though.
Edit: As think more about it, the game reminds me a lot of what Xenogears might have been like if they tried to do it during the SNES area instead of on the PS1. Thousands of years of secret histories, manipulators on top of manipulators, and throwing in giant robots just for fun. Not the worst things to be compared to though. ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png)
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Post by Imperial Khador on Oct 29, 2023 16:45:29 GMT
Finished up Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana on the PS5.
Much as I said in the other thread, I really liked this one. It was a nice evolution of the formula in Seven and Celceta. Nice story, engaging (if not terribly deep) characters, and bright, colourful island locations. I think the transition to third-person-behind perspective worked really well.
But...as I also said in the other thread, I think this would have been just as enjoyable with 1/3 to 1/2 of its length cut. I don't need or want Ys games to by 80-hour affairs, and a lot of the sections (time travel with Dana, Raids and Hunts) seemed like they were intended to break up the narrative, but with near-identical gameplay, I find they just added to the slog.
I'm hoping the Ys series gets away from this, but having started Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, it looks like they're building on the Raid setup as a core part of the that game, which is unfortunate in my opinion.
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Post by Imperial Khador on Nov 17, 2023 5:58:33 GMT
Finished up Ys IX: Monstrum Nox on the PS5.
I talked about this one a few times in the "What are you playing" thread, so I won't go into as much detail here.
I liked it, and in a lot of ways, I feel it improved on Ys 8.
Because it was set mostly in a fortress-prison and the surrounding city, the environments were not as vibrant as the previous game, and definitely leaned towards the dour side, but this did improve in the few times you're able to go outside the city.
I was disappointment to see the Raid/Hunt system back from Ys 8, in the form of the 'Grimwald Nox' segments. I understand that they're there to break up gameplay a bit, but I can't think of a single one that went beyond 'Wave 2' where I felt anything other than a desire to get onto the next segment. I've seen a few other reviews, including Game Sack's single this out as something they hope isn't becoming like the weapon/character triangle (ie a permanent addition), and I'd echo that.
That said, there are some segments where you play as a character in the prison itself, and these echo the 'Past-Dana' segments from Ys 8, but I felt they were a solid improvement and respected my time. In Ys 8, those segments showcased some of the abilities you hadn't unlocked yet for the main party, as Dana was quite powerful. However here, the prisoner isn't very strong, so you're confined to base abilties for the most part, and a nice side-story that compliments the main arc. In addition, while there are several dungeon segments with a 'fail and restart from the beginning' mechanic to represent how fragile the prisoner is, as soon as you die once, you're given the option to proceed as if you'd completed the segment. I feel the was very respectful of the player's time. You could try for a perfect run if you wanted, but you weren't required to do so.
I saw some complaints about how slowly 'Nox' points accumulate, which are needed to unlock 1-2 areas per chapter, or rather, to unlock a Grimwald Nox segment that would then unlock another portion of the city upon completion. This certainly true if one if only accumulating points through random fights, which are worth 3-5 points. However, the side quests each chapter provide a substantial amount of Nox points, and so doing the side quests ends up being faster. It's a nice mechanical enticement to explore the optional content and lore.
Like a lot of the recent Ys games, I found the setting and characters to be enjoyable, though a lot of them fall into normal archetypes. Keeping up with the Ys-world being an off-brand Earth, most of this is set in the province (former nation) of Gllia, which is an off-brand France, complete with local legends of legally-distinct-from-Joan-of-Arc. But that isn't a complaint. I always find if fun to spot the parallels and differences between our world and Adol's.
This game is also set the furthest in the Ys timeline so far, with Ys 10 set to be another prequel, so it was nice to see Adol and Dogi reflect on past adventures and companions, and the continuing background storyline with the Romun Empire. In some ways, it'll be a bit sad to go back for another prequel, but given that Ys 10 is subtitled "Nordics", and the 'Nordic Religion' shows up prominently in this one, it does feel like the developers were sewing the seeds for the plot of the next game with the audience.
The Monstrum abilities were a nice addition, though managing to map them all to the controller in a comfortable way was a bit challenging. Some, like the ability to break down certain walls, or duck being certain doors, were pretty niche. However, the first 3 unlocked (a sort of hook-shot ability, running up walls, and a gliding ability) were a major improvement to the last game. The environments could be a lot more three-dimensional than their counterparts in Ys 8, and just moving around the city is a lot of fun. A good comparison might be the modern Spider-man games, where normal movement is so much fun that you forget to bother with fast-travel. Ys 9 is not nearly as ambitious a game, but those monstrum abilities serve the same function, and I think they were a great addition.
I played leisurely, and finished the game in about 50 hours, compared to the 80+ that Ys 8 took. There was no optional 'True' ending, which required extra steps to unlock, which I also appreciated. That said, while I felt the issue was improved, this still felt too long for an Ys game, and was dragging by the end. For 'modern' Ys, I feel like the Napishtim/Felghana/Origins entries were the sweet spot for me at 10-20 hours, but at last in this respect, I consider Ys 9 to be an improvement over it's predecessor.
And with that, I'm more or less caught up with Ys. I could go play some more of the system-specific versions of the older games, but I honestly don't have the urge to do so. The exception might be the PS2 remake of Ys 5 if it ever gets a fan-translation, but given that I've heard it is an improvement over the original, but still not great, hopefully we'll see another modern remake or port for that one.
Ys Online seems like an interesting adaptation of Ark of Napishtim, and looks pretty but I just don't have much interest in android/iphone mobile games. Maybe I'll give it a shot if it ever gets a Switch port.
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dschult3
Off-Brand Transformable Robot
The true heir to the Monado.
Posts: 2,807
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Post by dschult3 on Nov 17, 2023 13:37:30 GMT
Finished up Ys IX: Monstrum Nox on the PS5. I talked about this one a few times in the "What are you playing" thread, so I won't go into as much detail here. I liked it, and in a lot of ways, I feel it improved on Ys 8. Because it was set mostly in a fortress-prison and the surrounding city, the environments were not as vibrant as the previous game, and definitely leaned towards the dour side, but this did improve in the few times you're able to go outside the city. I was disappointment to see the Raid/Hunt system back from Ys 8, in the form of the 'Grimwald Nox' segments. I understand that they're there to break up gameplay a bit, but I can't think of a single one that went beyond 'Wave 2' where I felt anything other than a desire to get onto the next segment. I've seen a few other reviews, including Game Sack's single this out as something they hope isn't becoming like the weapon/character triangle (ie a permanent addition), and I'd echo that. That said, there are some segments where you play as a character in the prison itself, and these echo the 'Past-Dana' segments from Ys 8, but I felt they were a solid improvement and respected my time. In Ys 8, those segments showcased some of the abilities you hadn't unlocked yet for the main party, as Dana was quite powerful. However here, the prisoner isn't very strong, so you're confined to base abilties for the most part, and a nice side-story that compliments the main arc. In addition, while there are several dungeon segments with a 'fail and restart from the beginning' mechanic to represent how fragile the prisoner is, as soon as you die once, you're given the option to proceed as if you'd completed the segment. I feel the was very respectful of the player's time. You could try for a perfect run if you wanted, but you weren't required to do so. I saw some complaints about how slowly 'Nox' points accumulate, which are needed t unlock 1-2 areas per chapter, or rather, to unlock a Grimwald Nox segment that would then unlock another portion of the city upon completion. This certainly true if one if only accumulating points through random fights, which are worth 3-5 points. However, the side quests each chapter provide a substantial amount of Nox points, and so doing the side quests ends up being faster. It's a nice mechanical enticement to explore the optional content and lore. Like a lot of the recent Ys games, I found the setting and characters to be enjoyable, though a lot of them fall into normal archetypes. Keeping up with the Ys-world being an off-brand Earth, most of this is set in the province (former nation) of Gllia, which is an off-brand France, complete with local legends of legally-distinct-from-Joan-of-Arc. But that isn't a complaint. I always find if fun to spot the parallels and differences between our world and Adol's. This game is also set the furthest in the Ys timeline so far, with Ys 10 set to be another prequel, so it was nice to see Adol and Dogi reflect on past adventures and companions, and the continuing background storyline with the Romun Empire. In some ways, it'll be a bit sad to go back for another prequel, but given that Ys 10 is subtitled "Nordics", and the 'Nordic Religion' shows up prominently in this one, it does feel like the developers were sewing the seeds for the plot of the next game with the audience. The Monstrum abilities were a nice addition, though managing to map them all to the controller in a comfortable way was a bit challenging. Some, like the ability to break down certain walls, or duck being certain doors, were pretty niche. However, the first 3 unlocked (a sort of hook-shot ability, running up walls, and a gliding ability) were a major improvement to the last game. The environments could be a lot more three-dimensional than their counterparts in Ys 8, and just moving around the city is a lot of fun. A good comparison might be the modern Spider-man games, where normal movement is so much fun that you forget to bother with fast-travel. Ys 9 is not nearly as ambitious a game, but those monstrum abilities serve the same function, and I think they were a great addition. I played leisurely, and finished the game in about 50 hours, compared to the 80+ that Ys 8 took. There was no optional 'True' ending, which required extra steps to unlock, which I also appreciated. That said, while I felt the issue was improved, this still felt too long for an Ys game, and was dragging by the end. For 'modern' Ys, I feel like the Napishtim/Felghana/Origins entries were the sweet spot for me at 10-20 hours, but at last in this respect, I consider Ys 9 to be an improvement over it's predecessor. And with that, I'm more or less caught up with Ys. I could go play some more of the system-specific versions of the older games, but I honestly don't have the urge to do so. The exception might be the PS2 remake of Ys 5 if it ever gets a fan-translation, but given that I've heard it is an improvement over the original, but still not great, hopefully we'll see another modern remake or port for that one. Ys Online seems like an interesting adaptation of Ark of Napishtim, and looks pretty but I just don't have much interest in android/iphone mobile games. Maybe I'll give it a shot if it ever gets a Switch port. Great write up! I've been interested in IX for a while now, but a lot of people say it is good, but not as good as VIII. You've given me a different perspective. I absolutely loved VIII, and I didn't mind the game being as long as it is. (I love finding a game to get immersed in to the point that I don't play anything else for at least 3 months.) I'll have to check this out soon.
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Post by Imperial Khador on Nov 18, 2023 6:15:35 GMT
Great write up! I've been interested in IX for a while now, but a lot of people say it is good, but not as good as VIII. You've given me a different perspective. I absolutely loved VIII, and I didn't mind the game being as long as it is. (I love finding a game to get immersed in to the point that I don't play anything else for at least 3 months.) I'll have to check this out soon. Glad to hear it piqued your interest. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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dschult3
Off-Brand Transformable Robot
The true heir to the Monado.
Posts: 2,807
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Post by dschult3 on Dec 9, 2023 18:01:17 GMT
I forgot to post that I beat Super Mario Wonder a couple of weeks ago. It's incredibly fun, and extremely innovative. It can get extremely frustrating too, but it isn't impossible. The difficulty is stupid hard in the special world, and I don't care enough to complete it. Overall, I'd recommend playing it for fun.
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Post by Imperial Khador on Dec 14, 2023 7:46:48 GMT
Finished up Super Mario Wonder the other night. I'll echo dschult3's statement above; it was incredibly fun from beginning to end. The music-themed Bowser fight at the end was one of the most memorable in the series.
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dschult3
Off-Brand Transformable Robot
The true heir to the Monado.
Posts: 2,807
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Post by dschult3 on Jan 2, 2024 16:09:02 GMT
Last night, I beat Arkham Asylum. I really enjoyed the game, but you could tell that it was the first in the series. It felt a bit clunky at times, and that doesn't work well with the tightly cramped areas within the asylum. I just started up Arkham City, and you can definitely see the improvements in the movement. I can absolutely see an improvement in the combat too. I liked it nevertheless. The story is a lot of fun. I love the music and the voice acting. I love beating the tar out of bad guys.
Batman rules.
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scipioafricanus
Cartoon Pony Wrangler
Sega Does What Nintendon't... except the 32X
Posts: 3,585
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Post by scipioafricanus on Jan 2, 2024 23:33:03 GMT
Last night, I beat Arkham Asylum. I really enjoyed the game, but you could tell that it was the first in the series. It felt a bit clunky at times, and that doesn't work well with the tightly cramped areas within the asylum. I just started up Arkham City, and you can definitely see the improvements in the movement. I can absolutely see an improvement in the combat too. I liked it nevertheless. The story is a lot of fun. I love the music and the voice acting. I love beating the tar out of bad guys. Batman rules. Kevin Conroy is the best Batman.
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Post by Imperial Khador on Jan 3, 2024 8:21:26 GMT
Finished up 2 games recently
Like a Dragon: Ishin! - on the PS5 I enjoyed this one, as a neat spinoff of the Yakuza series, even if it doesn't top my personal best list of those games. It's still great to get a remake/remaster of this one in the west, but I found the story dragged on a bit, and some of the mechanics were a bit clunky. Still, lots of fun kicking around Kyoto just before the Meiji restoration.
Paper Mario - on the N64 (played on the Wii U Virtual Console) Since i finished the Mario RPG remake recently, and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is getting a remake next, I figured I'd give this one a shot. I've long known it was a charming RPG, but never played it when it was new. As expected, it was a fun time, with entertaining companion characters and NPCs. It's aged pretty well.
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MeleeMonk
Cartoon Pony Wrangler
Part-time gamer, full-time environmentalist, and member of PAPO (People Against Palm Oil)
Posts: 3,651
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Post by MeleeMonk on Jan 5, 2024 0:16:01 GMT
Finished up 2 games recently Paper Mario - on the N64 (played on the Wii U Virtual Console)Since i finished the Mario RPG remake recently, and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is getting a remake next, I figured I'd give this one a shot. I've long known it was a charming RPG, but never played it when it was new. As expected, it was a fun time, with entertaining companion characters and NPCs. It's aged pretty well. Ahh, Paper Mario 64. What a classic game. My favorite of all time, in fact. I still remember being moonstruck the first time I met that splendid paper plumber on his first adventure oh so many years ago. Paper Mario 64 was the game that single-handedly inspired me to become interested in art. Its visual design was just that distinct and innovative, especially for the platform (N64). I still can't believe that there's demand for a remake of TTYD, AKA Paper Mario: Newgrounds Adventures, AKA Paper Mario: Adobe Animate Edition, AKA the ugliest sequel ever made. TTYD is one of the most infamous examples of Nintendo cheaping out by cutting corners and slashing budgets with their Gamecube titles. An utter travesty that they would even think to turn Paper Mario into flash animation. I'm so glad Naohiko Aoyama returned to the series with Sticker Star on 3DS. It was really his franchise; he understood how to do Paper Mario better than anyone else. But by that point it was too late; Paper Mario was already dead, having been murdered by all the awful, cut-throat, financially motivated shareholders at Nintendo. The blame the death of the Paper Mario franchise as one of the key reasons I lost interest in gaming so early in my life. It's ironic that Nintendo, a company that practically invented video gaming, also nearly destroyed it by alienating their MASSIVE longtime fanbase with polarizing dumpster fires like Wind Waker, Paper Mario TTYD, Super Paper Mario, Metroid Other M, Paper Mario Sticker Star, Super Mario Galaxy, SSB Brawl, Paper Mario Color Splash, and Metroid Prime Federation Force, among other games.
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dschult3
Off-Brand Transformable Robot
The true heir to the Monado.
Posts: 2,807
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Post by dschult3 on Jan 8, 2024 13:53:46 GMT
I just beat the main story line for Arkham City. I'm now going through the post story with Robin. I'm not sure if I want to play through everything, or should I move on to Arkham Knight.
I don't need to say much about how great the game is, do I? I probably did eons ago when I played the Wii U version. I will say this, though: I miss the game pad.
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centipede
CGR Undertow Groupie
It was just one soy latte, I swear!
Posts: 2,733
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Post by centipede on Jan 17, 2024 4:25:06 GMT
A couple of months ago, I bought Mario 3D World for the Switch. It was $30, second hand. Normally it would be $70 - $80. At the current retail prices, you'd think the Switch was released 6 MONTHS ago, not 6 years.
Anyway, it was nice 3D blend of NES Mario elements. Four playable main characters, familiar enemies, the ending flag pole, the tank levels, levels that are short but challenging, even elements from Mario 64. But I wish it had the option for Mario 64 music.
Anyway, I'm in the post game and I've gone just far enough to unlock Rosalina. the next level is pain. All those lives I saved up early to mid game, going, going...
I've also finished Bowser's Fury with 60/100 'Cat Shines'. It's like a mini N64-style colect-a-thon.
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Post by Imperial Khador on Jan 17, 2024 8:08:51 GMT
A couple of months ago, I bought Mario 3D World for the Switch. It was $30, second hand. Normally it would be $70 - $80. At the current retail prices, you'd think the Switch was released 6 MONTHS ago, not 6 years. Anyway, it was nice 3D blend of NES Mario elements. Four playable main characters, familiar enemies, the ending flag pole, the tank levels, levels that are short but challenging, even elements from Mario 64. But I wish it had the option for Mario 64 music. Anyway, I'm in the post game and I've gone just far enough to unlock Rosalina. the next level is pain. All those lives I saved up early to mid game, going, going... I've also finished Bowser's Fury with 60/100 'Cat Shines'. It's like a mini N64-style colect-a-thon. I should really get back to Bowser's Fury. I enjoyed it.
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Post by Imperial Khador on Jan 20, 2024 13:41:21 GMT
Finished up the main story in Trails into Reverie on the PS5, though I still have some post-game content to go. I really wanted to write down my thoughts on it somewhere though, as I have a lot of them
This...honestly might be my most mixed impression of one of the Trails games. I still had a fun time, and am enjoying it enough to do the post-game stuff, but...I feel the need to get some thoughts down. A lot of this won't make a ton of sense if you're not a fan of the Trails games, as this is game #10 of a very continuity-heavy series...
Three Branches I quite liked the idea of switching between 3 man party's (Rean's, Lloyd's and C's), as it kept any individual segment from dragging on too long.
The Reverie Corridor Although a version of this made an appearance earlier in the Trails of Cold Steel arc, it's use here as an extra-dimensional gathering place and training ground that had more in common with The Phantasma from Trails in the Sky 3rd. It allowed characters from distant places to be brought together, including those actively hiding from one another, with memory gaps, to adventure in a strange dungeon.
Here is allows you to level up party members who may not have gotten as much play, and gives an in-game excuse for the 3 parties in different parts of the Zemurian continent to be able to share inventories and cash.
The 'Daydream' segments were also great ways to see some story/character beats between Cold Steel IV and Reverie that were more or less self-contained, and/or focues on characters only minimally involved with hte main story. Much like the similar segments in Trails in the Sky 3rd, I found these highly enjoyable
Story - General Trails into Reverie feels to me like the most extraneous of the main Trails thus far. I enjoyed sections of the story, but it feels like it's sort of a filler entry in some ways. After using the same engine for the last two Trails of Cold Steel entries (which I believe they also used for the modern Ys entries), I know they introduce a new one for the next arc (Trails into Daybreak), so the cynic in me things that part of the motivation for this entry was a chance to use assets from Cold Steel III and IV (locations and characters) to get out another entry during the longer gap between main arcs.
Because this is a single-game story, rather than told across 2-4 games, the antagonist doesn't feel as well built up as some of the other entries.
Story - A Pleasant Surprise In most of the Trails games, the game creators seem to have an ongoing problem in giving the player characters an 'honest' victory. Antagonists will stand up after a knock down, drag out fight, spout cliches about 'not using their full strength', or 'just testing you' and teleport away, or you'll be saved at the last minute over and over again by other allied characters arriving. It does allow for antagonists to be re-used and have interesting story arcs, and it's certainly a common anime trope...but Trails repeats it so often that it can become infuriating over time.
As a variant of this, Trails antagonists also have a tendency to, when actually, unequivocably defeated...to still claim that their defeat, and the foiling of a plan they spent years of time, accumulated wealth and political power into...was also part of their plan all along, so they've really one....before teleporting away.
...This is all remarkably absent, for the most part, in Reverie. Characters who have grown to become competent and deadly, are allowed to outsmart and outfight their antagonists, and it's very satisfying. I'm hoping the series creators took note of this going into the Daybreak/Calvard Arc.
Story - Timeline Unlike a lot of the other Trails games which take place over the course of months in-universe, Reverie plays out in under a week. One of the downsides of that is that you really get an idea of how small Zemuria is becoming, with characters able to swing half-way around the continent. But one of the benefits for the story is that the whole thing does feel very much like a crisis that came out of nowhere, and then was quickly resolved. Parties in the world not directly involved will be left confused with what happened and the presence of numerous duplicate characters, as well as the dubious participation of previous antagonists who were apparently content to pay their debt in prison could potentially mean political fallout from other powers who understandably refuse to accept 'no that was our evil twins' .
Story - Cast Size The playable cast of this game...not even counting the extra folks only available in the Reverie Corridor dungeon...is huge. And while it's neat, I feel like Trails already had its 'Avengers' moment with Cold Steel IV. I could have done with a much smaller playable cast. That said, I think other Trails fans might have enjoyed the opportunity to play with all these characters one last time before the Calvard/Daybreak arc pulls back with a much smaller cast.
Story - The Three Routes Rean/Erebonia/Cold Steel Arc Epilogue
As much as did say above that it's nice to see characters grow into their own...Rean and the rest of Class VII have already had FOUR Cold Steel games. As much as I'm fond of them, there's a lot of them, and many don't have much going on. The main saving grace here is that their contribution to the story only takes 1/3 of the run time...even though I dislike some of the late-game focus on Rean again after so much in the Erebonia arc centered around him. It was nice to have one last (short) hurrah with these characters, but I'm hoping for not much more than the occasional cameo going forward.
Lloyd/Crossbell Arc Epilogue It's a bit of a mixed bag here as well, though less so than with the Cold Steel crew. The Crossbell folks played a significant part in Trails of Cold Steel III and IV, but felt more like guest characters in someone else's story. Here, we get to see the eventual liberation of Crossbell that was shown in still images all the way back in the ending to 'Trails to Azure', which was five games previous...
...but not before Crossbell is invaded/seized YET AGAIN and used as a pawn YET AGAIN. This is...in universe, I believe the third time this has happened in 2-3 years, and to me it felt like a tired retread. I suspect it was done because they had all the Crossbell assets available, but it still grated on me a fair bit.
That said, I did still enjoy traveling around with Lloyd, the SSS, and some other guests new and old to their particular circle.
C's Route aka The New People Although 'C', is a returning character, most of the rest of this group were new folks, and I enjoyed this the most of the 3 parties. Swin, Nadia and Lapis are all excellent additions to the series, and I hope we see more of them in the Calvard Arc. Swin and Nadia in particular felt like very well-realized parts of this world who just hadn't appeared on screen yet, aside from the in-game 'Three and Nine' novels from Cold Steel IV.
I liked the group dynamic, and found myself wishing the game were more heavily balanced towards this party. I couldhave easily done 60% C's party, and 20% each for Rean and Lloyd.
The low point of this group for me is, unfortunately, C himself. Another anime trope Trails leans in to a bit too often for my preference is rehabilitating villains...which works up to a point, but some of the folks to whom the try to give redemption arcs are people responsible for the deaths or suffering of thousands of people, if not more. Some of them, at the end of other arcs, regret their actions and get to sit in a prison cell being remorseful, but remaining off stage. Some get...unsatifying 'oh I was really doing this for the greater good' moments before dying, that leave me deeply unsatisfied. Sometimes they don't even get redemption...we're just supposed to enjoy a cute scene with a character we know is a bloodthirsty, remorseless mass murderer.
C falls into the first group, but sprung from prison and on the redemption path. Much of my dislike is that his real identity is a character I did not like or find interesting for the several previous games he'd appeared in...which was made worse because I always thought their voice actor sounded 30 years too old for the part he was playing.
But knowing Trails, that last bit is a minor gripe. Among Reverie's three story paths, the 'C' route is the one that really shines as something fresh.
Mechanical Stuff - Too Damned Many characters Mechanically, the game is pretty close to Cold Steel IV, so I won't dwell on this a lot...but...there are 50 playable characters, and as neat as that is in some ways, it creates its own problems.
By letting the three parties share limited resources through the Reverie Corridor, I found that the Falcom developers have created a situation where I either had to re-spec my current party with the limited top-tier accessories and quartz every time I shifted perspective...or leave amazing equipment on a party I might not come back to for hours, and therefore make combat unneccessarily harder.
This became more of an issue in later parts of the game, when you'd be switching between 2 or even all 3 groups multiple times in order to progress in a dungeon...so you're forced to spend 10-15 minutes to respec over and over again, or try to deal with at least one under-powered party.
This was the thing that I found bogged me down the most in terms of actual progressions, and is one more reason to look forward to a smaller cast for the new arc.
Overall Recommendation For Trails Newcomers - Absolutely not. Despite the title suggesting a new arc, this is an extended epilogue for two other arcs, and probably steeped more in series lore than any single entry before it.
For Trails Veterans - Yes, with some caveats. Of all the mainline Trails entries, if you forced me to pick one to skip, this would be it. It's mostly an extended epilogue to both the Cold Steel and Crossbell arcs, so players familiar with both those entries are going to get the most out of it. But with the exception of C's storyline, it feels like it rehashes a lot of things from those two storylines, without managing to do any of them quite as well.
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