Lurker > colliding

yeah draymond sucks. he's like pat bev tier when he had his 15 minutes of morning show fame

I think everyone except Ernie will probably be back wherever Inside ends up being

I also like the Dragon Quest VIII rec

Smol Girls Pt 2

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/994e6102.jpg
34 . Millium Orion

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a pre-teen girl riding on a weird smooth sex toy looking thing? Millium's full of optimism throughout most of CS1 and 2, though she comes to understand complex emotions like sadness by the end of those two games. She's kind of dull in CS3, but at the end of the game she gets a lot sharper.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a027e1aa.jpg
33 . Towa Herschel

Everyone's favorite diminutive senpai. She's sweet! She's cute! She's definitely too small and her voice is too high pitched for me to take her seriously. I know she's popular and I can see why. It's fun to catch her when she falls off high things.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/00d0fed2.jpg
32 . KeA Bannings

The only Trails character named after a mid-class automobile. Do I truly care about KeA or is she using her Sept-Terrion powers on me to make me? Who cares? I will say I played CS3 and 4 before the Crossbell games and I thought she was super annoying. Her arc was pretty predictable but the reveal in Azure of how she rewound time to save everybody in Zero was cool.

Up next: A tale of two joke villains

Anagram posted...

I'm concerned with PW + DR + ZE because of obvious spoilers might force people unfamiliar with one series to stay away.

If you post on Board 8 and haven't played these game yet you never will probably

yes (I stg this one has been done before)

The Weird Sisters (plus their cat)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/26c8a8b7.jpg
38 . Vita Clotilde

You know, it's actually impressive how literally ANYTHING goes in the world of Trails. Political intrigue? Check. Giant Robots? Check. Slice of life? Check. Cop Procedurals? Check. Magic? Check. For the most part it doesn't feel bad or out of place either. Vita doesn't feel strong enough to be "second Anguis" of Ouroborous to me. She's not really a good villain or a good ally. She's just kind of there. She's definitely too high on this list but I am contractually obligated to rank the magical girls together.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/67f18042.jpg
37 . Celine

It's a talking cat! How cliche can we get? Well, what if she was a bit snarky? Even better! Even though she's a bit of cliche she's still more interesting than Vita by a country mile. Plus you can feed her saucers of milk. We're not going to discuss her human form, which is a crime.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/260670b4.jpg
36 . Crimson Roselia

When I was making this list, I forgot that she is also a groper. My bad. She's also got a bit of that problematic Fire Emblem "I'm 800 but I look 13" energy going. But for some reason the devs made her boss fight music go hard for absolutely no reason whatsoever, and she's way more expressive than 75% of the cast despite being not all that important to the overall story.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e47bbc64.jpg
35 . Emma Millstein

Dayum, what a ridiculous cut-in illustration. That can't be good for your back. Unlike most of Class VII, I think Emma benefits from getting more interesting as the series goes on. Still, I don't think she really reaches any of the heights that the currently unranked class 7'ers achieve. I usually like the smart class pres characters, but she's a bit boring. If Vita is a 6 on the personality scale she's more like an 7.5.

Up next: Protect them at all costs

8.5

judge is good. but he should only be judge. seeing him not judge in AAI is cursed

+3 Xenogears
+2 Grandia
+1 Lost Sphear
+1 CFCF's album "Liquid Colours" (music)
+1 Sea of Stars

Yeah 16 might actually have a legit claim to this, issues with that game aside

I have to make it clear that Sully's last name isn't Sullenberger. I had her mistaken for the pilot responsible for the Miracle on the Hudson. It's "Atraid" which could be a good Phoenix Wright pun if she was bad at her job (because then she would "sully her trade") but eh.

I feel like I actually felt the impact more since they teased her being saved so much

Frank Jaegers
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5b93ee3d.jpg
41 . Rutger

The reasons why I like this guy are spoiler-tastic, so maybe skip this if you haven't played CS3 or 4 yet. Part of me wants to say there's no reason for this guy (and Zephyr itself really) to exist, and that same part wants to say that jaegers themselves just make CS3 super complicated for no reason (who cares about warring factions of stupidly named mercs?). But then again, Fie rules, and it was kind of cool how he impaled that Aion that one time. Good VA too.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6926923b.jpg
40 . Sigmund Orlando

What a ridiculous name. It makes me think the localizers listened to a lot of Mars Volta or Coheed and Cambria at the time. Sigmund gets points for actually being kind of scary sometimes, like when he blew up the IBC cola building and had all those dudes killed in the geofront. I also like the genuinely tough extra ATB challenge battles. And that time he had us count all the people in the train? Pretty good introduction.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6cb6c4bb.jpg
39 . Shirley Orlando

Fine, fine. Let's talk about this crazy. She's the Blood-Red Groper for sure, and we know how I feel about that. The thing about Shirley is that I think we're supposed to hate her. In Azure, they tease the idea that she could be sympathetic, just a poor girl made into a monster by her family, but then they undercut this immediately by having her drop a chandelier on Ilya and shoot a bunch of people. And then in CS they just make her super annoying and not really deep at all. So don't get me wrong, Shirley absolutely sucks as a person, but in a pretty effective way I think. I also weirdly like the Cedric/Shirley Ouroborous dynamic so long as they don't try to completely redeem / Face turn either of them.

Up next: Hocus Pocus

No one suspects the Spanish inquisition
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43 . Gaius Worzel

Oh you don't like Gaius? You think he's a boring stereotype? Well, what if he had a bird attack like Kloe? Still no? What if he became a secret church guy like Wazy and Kevin, you like them right? Still no? I agree that the constant references to the wind are bad, but I dunno. He seems like a cool guy to me. Maybe I just like his design more than most. I like that they made Rean's two best friends be really into art (music and painting) to make them less threatening.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/14bc8cdf.jpg
42 . Thomas Lysander

Speaking of secret church guys, this weird teacher from CS 1 and 2 ended up being a Superpriest called The Partitioner. It's a wild plot twist to be sure. Trails rule #1: You can never trust a smart guy. They're either going to be evil or secretly one of the strongest people on the continent (or both!)

Up next: Let's do some Jaeger bombs

9

I really like Larry

A little bit of lace and a little bit of grace
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45 . Anelace

A scene-stealer for sure, we still know very little about Anelace the bracer. After guesting in FC she is a temporary party member during the hardest section of any Trails game (beginning of SC). Then she shows up in 3rd but we need more! All we really know is that she's a student of the Eight Leaves, she's into cute things, and she really really wants to be Estelle's best friend.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7ee09c2f.jpg
44 . Grace

I'm a sucker for energetic Lois Lane reporter types. Not much else to say beyond that I guess. She sends us on some truly annoying side quests but I'll forgive her since she's cute.

Up next: Do you have a few minutes to talk about the wind?

Phoenix: 9
Mia: 7

In hindsight I think her 1-2 fate is kinda gross. It's really a good thing T&T exists and is fantastic.

probably the best video game ever made

TBQH, I haven't gone back to actually finish the MIddle Manager quest. I heard some wacky stuff happens but I have "moved on" as they say

WE'RE SO BACK! Let's see who we're talking abou... oh no
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48 . Agate Crosner

What a generic "cool big sword guy." Even his name screams big sword energy. As this list will show, I tend to prefer women with BSE over guys. Still Agate deserves some credit for having depth and development, which is more than can be said for most characters who fall into this category. Sure, his depth pretty much extends to "anger issues" and "little sister issues," but we take what we can get. He totally sucks in Cold Steel.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/ddbc05c4.jpg
47 . Tita Russell

I know, I know. I leave for a few days and when I come back I unceremoniously dump two main Sky party members. I like Tita and Agate. Tita especially is one of the better "little kid characters" (admittedly, this coming from someone with a high tolerance for kid characters). She's not annoying or totally useless, which is common. Unlike Agate, they end up doing interesting stuff with her in later games. Which should not be taken to mean that I like her piloting a suit of magitek armor, because both she and Alisa look totally dumb.

But man, they need to stop with the weird romantic stuff. It's amazing I still like this series in spite of all the questionable shipping going on.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/41f39efc.jpg
46 . Chancellor Osborne

I'm just going to casually throw Osborne into the list here at the tail end of the Titagate writeup. As the series's "big bad" (pretty much so far) he has some good moments. They usually come at the last ten seconds or so of Cold Steel games, where he'll drop a really nice stinger. "Well played Armbrust." "Rean, I am your father." "Rean, I'm an immortal demon destined to pilot a Gundam." I've played through CS3 and 4 twice and I still only understand 65% or so of the Phantasmal Blaze Plan and the History of Erebonia and the Curse and whatnot. I kind of liked it better when he was just a really terrible colonizer. It's kind of like how I would have liked LOST more if it didn't have any supernatural stuff at all.

Up next: She's best girl, I fear

The Fab Four

This will get us to the top 50, and then I'm headed on vacation, so I'd appreciate it if this topic doesn't get purged.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/1c142d47.jpg
52 . Toval Radonneur

There's something to Toval that I don't quite get, because I never read any of the books. Never have, never will (except for the Black Records). I want to say his real name is Cody or something? And he had some adventures in Remiferia? Regardless, now he's a bracer whose only real aptitude lies in being able to cast arts really fast.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/ee685362.jpg
51 . Chief Sergei

Lloyd and co's boss at the SSS, Sergei is a great boss. What he does all day at his desk while they're off chasing cats and doing fetch quests, we'll never know. What we do know is that he will occasionally wreck shop and tank bullets like a champ. He's hard boiled for sure.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/eae24444.jpg
50 . Arios MacLaine

Kind of a weird mishmash of identities this one. His heel turn is rather clumsily handled I think. Like it'd be one thing if he and Grimwood really stuck to their guns about getting KEA to bring their family back from the dead, Persona 5 Royal style. But they both kind of drop it once the SSS beats them up pretty good. Anyway, when he isn't a villain, I think he's a pretty cool dude. Maybe not the best dad, but pobody's nerfect.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/cd7a5a86.jpg
49 . Mueller Vander

Cracking into the top 50 we have Kurt's brother and Olivier's boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, Mueller's pretty cool and it takes a lot to put up with Olivier's shit all the time. He borders on "OP character" and you know how I feel about those. But the comedic hijinks and Trails the 3rd give him some separation from those other characters. He's definitely way better than Kurt so I understand why the latter has such a complex.

Up next (in four or five days): Another cute platonic relationship with no romantic subtext whatsoever because that would be gross

woo

thanks for hosting the character contest

Helldivers 2 almost certainly

You're so... nice.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/95d85b91.jpg
55 . Elliot

I'm having a hard time thinking of a "nicer guy" in a JRPG. Elliot is the type of guy who won't kill a spider. What is relatively unique is that he's a nice guy who also is never bullied or emasculated. He's just a sensitive dude who everyone likes. He might be a bit boring, but as a violinist I empathize. His dynamic with his dad is a good bit.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/1fbff67b.jpg
54 . Kloe, aka Princess Klaudia

Kloe's pretty good. As far as "secret princesses" go, she's one of the more believable ones. I appreciate her development from quiet girl in FC to more capable leader in SC. The school play in FC/Jenis Royal Academy chapter in FC remains a series highlight for me, and Kloe's a bit part of that! But yeah, almost too nice and I have a weird thing against fencers/rapiers being people's weapons of choice.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c6517236.jpg
53 . Elie

Take just the names, Elliot and Kloe, and smush them, you get Elie. That's kind of weird. Elie's got her moments, and she'd be a great love interest if Rixia and Noel didn't exist. There's a lot of untapped potential with both Elie and Kloe in the sense of actually using their backgrounds and connections instead of just concealing them or resisting them. Less nice than the other two, but could use a bit of edge.

Up next: Bros that'd be good to go out for drinks with

Absurd doesn't necessarily mean bad. I would agree that there is a lot of absurdity in FFVIII, but it's also quite brilliant. It's also not really more absurd than what happens in X, and people rarely complain about that one as much as they complain about VIII. Junction system sucks though sorry!

To make this not a secret FFVIII topic:

I'm going to choose to ignore Kitase or whoever says that 7 and X are in the same universe. I think he was just doing it for the clicks. I'm also going to ignore all the X-3 audio drama stuff that's supposedly canonical and really really bad.

Spirits Within just existing and nearly destroying the brand/company is a great answer. I want to give them kudos for taking risks but it's just a terrible movie.

10/10

Again, I'm giving this and the prior case tens because taken together I truly think it's the third best case in the series after 2-4 and 3-5

Kotetsu534 posted...

More interesting combat arenas, with more structures and positioning based encounters (makes the interplay between range and melee more interesting, think Eligor and Airbuster in Remake).

For sure agree with this.

Like West Side Story
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57 . Wald Wales

The thing about living in a big city like Crossbell is you got to get used to crime. For example, warring gangs. On one hand you've got the red gang, who loves heavy metal and beating people up. Their leader is this guy named Wald who has a secret crush on the rival gang leader and everyone knows it but he can't say anything cause toxic masculinity. He's been known to get roided up and destroy the slums every once in a while.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/68393abb.jpg
56 . Wazy Hemisphere

On the other hand, you've got the blue gang, who are religious fundamentalists who also enjoy beating people up. His name sure is something. I guess it's cool, but maybe it's too cool? Other notable aspects of Wazy: he's a sex worker, he's a secret member of the Churchy version of Ouroborous, and he sucks just like every fist-based / unarmed Trails party member.

Up next: The nicest characters in the Trailsverse

Kill Bill: Taito Style

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60 . Walter, the Direwolf

Yeah, it's kind of hard to take this guy seriously due to his character design. But he's the real deal Evander Holyfield when it comes to Taito style, and I'm not talking about Bubble Bobble. He's so serious about martial arts that he killed his girlfriend's dad in a duel. What's wrong babe? He started it?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d816bf8b.jpg
59 . Kilika

Speaking of said girlfriend, Kilika starts off as a Bracer Guild desk person, which is a pretty unflattering position in the Trails universe (apologies to Michel) and ends up becoming Calvard's version of Lechter. Quite the glow up. It's cool that there's more to her character besides "Walter/Zin love triangle" nonsense.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/732c7863.jpg
58 . Zin

Speaking of Zin, remember when you bought Trails in the Sky for the PSP because Board 8 recommended it to you, and remember how you read the instruction book and saw a picture of Zin and thought "I can't wait to meet this Fei Fong Wong looking-guy - he's probably really interesting and likable based on this blurb" but then you met him and realized he's altogether pretty average in every regard? No? Just me?

Don't get me wrong, Zin's totally a cool bro but he's overshadowed by what ends up being one of the best playable parties in JRPG's. Sorry man.

Up next: The neverending battle between blue guy and red guy continues

10

I get around the "incomplete" nature of both of these cases by giving them both 10's.

Villains I don't know what to do with
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62 . Xeno and Leonidas

If any characters were to be a package deal it's these two. They stand out like a sore thumb in CS2 but by the end of the CS4 I found them surprisingly endearing. The fact that there are people reading this list who are in the middle of CS2 are making me feel bad about spoilers but I did say "reader beware."

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0ae2e821.jpg
61 . Alan Richard

The main antagonist of FC, Alan Richard is still one of the series' more sympathetic villains, despite being a relatively minor charcter. Sky 3rd really adds a lot to what was already an interesting foundation.

In all honesty, these two entries probably should've come before the last three but oh well.

Up next: Calvardian Representation

Blatant sex appeal
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2733fcdf.jpg
65 . Scherazard

Scherazard, pictured here moments before disaster, is Board 8's second favorite silver-haired woman known for whipping. No one's beating Franziska for that title. I know for a fact there are people who genuinely dislike the alcohol stuff in Trails. I totally respect where they're coming from. Personally I don't have a problem with it, so the ranking has more to do with her being overall more boring than you'd think. For being the sex appeal character she's weirdly lawful good. And the romance with Olivier felt really kind of out of nowhere, but I'm not sure if that's her character's fault or just bad writing.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/17ebed98.jpg
64 . Musse Egret

You can't spell regret without Egret. That's just facts. Musse, pictured here satisfying a part of the Falcom fandom I never want to meet in person, is Trouble. Musse makes FF7 Remake Jessie look prim and proper. The thirst can never be quenched. She's also like a genius or some such nonsense able to plan ten thousand moves ahead just cause. The degree to which the sex appeal is a performance to throw people off is up for debate (unless you're nasty and end up romancing her, in which case may God have mercy on your soul).

"In all 14,000,605 futures, how many do we actually NOT get embarrassed while playing this game in front of people?"

*zero sign*

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/72008b0e.jpg
63 . Instructor Sara

I admit it, Sara's hot. Like Schera, perhaps the drinking will catch up with her someday, but when you're 25 or whatever knock yourself out. She's both fun and flirty! But yeah, CS3 took it too far by having her ACTUALLY kiss Rean (even just on the cheek) as part of the main storyline. Just a smidge too desperate with that one. If players want to embrace their hot for teacher fantasy by spending all their bond points then fine, but don't make her canonically smitten with the student she met when he was 16. I could not care less about North Ambria either so her backstory in those later games wasn't all that compelling.

Up next: My two dads

Leonhart4 posted...

Is it worse than the Anthony Bennett draft?

It's the worst "all-time" according to some

8.5

Quite good. This case really lets you know that you're playing an honest to goodness high quality AA game again

pyresword posted...

Modern Trails is afraid to be dark I think (to its great detriment), but Sky and Crossbell really weren't.

I honestly don't think anything comes close to Renne's backstory in those games. Maybe Kevin's but that's also Trails 3rd. The cult itself gets mentioned in Zero but the way it's described is way tamer than what's in 3rd.

2B

Gran Turismo
Ridge Racer Type 4
Mario Kart 8
Wipeout

I'm not Okay (I Promise)
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67 . Beryl
Simply love this little creeper. She's not particularly helpful in any way, but I dig an out of place gloomy NPC. Not a lot to say here. Maybe I should've put Claire or Julia on the list but what can I say? I like Beryl more.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9b75e99b.jpg
66 . Renne

"Renne sucks."

To elaborate, I don't think she's all that bad a character, but I do find her kind of annoying. She's like the dictionary definition of a "hat on a hat." First she's a spy-type gothic lolita character. Then she's a mech-character. Then she's a hacker. Then she's a redeemed character and kind of just becomes a hanger-on to Estelle and Joshua (weirdly making them less interesting in a way). Then there's her tragic backstory, which still feels like a weird anomaly in a series that is usually afraid to do dark violent stuff. It would be like if there was one episode of Avatar that had r*pe and graphic torture. Also her backstory just kind of "exists" in Trails the 3rd but doesn't really impact any other scene that features Renne in any other game.

Up Next: Problematic Waifus

v_charon posted...

I think the writing is on the wall now. Thinking Nuggets in 6. Pretty unfortunate for long-time fans of the team to have to witness all the overhyping and hoopla the media gave us; at the end of the day, we just aren't ready for a title run. Edwards is too young and perhaps after all, KAT isn't going to be the second guy they need.

way too early to say this, but I'm the king of the reverse jinx so I see what you're doing

7

pretty good but saying it's the best case in either game is unhinged seabass

8

It's the only case where you can hear susato's objection theme

man thibs really didn't want to call time out huh

no new posts today due to mother's day mood disorders

Who's the best Trails mom? It's clearly not Irina.

had to come here to discuss how cursed the pistons are

it's a bad draft so it probably won't matter that much anyway

Missile

Can we get some better names, please?
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c88cc439.jpg
69 . Bleublanc, aka Phantom Thief B

"Ha hah! Nice!" (said in Bleublanc's voice)

Everyone's favorite member of the Phantom Thieves summons his persona and becomes... this. He's really into beauty. He can freeze you by your shadows like Peter Pan. He likes to lead the party on wild goose chases following arcane riddles. I assume his name means "blue white" which would make his first name Red obviously. While his rivalry with Oliviert is kind of interesting, I must say his schtick gets old pretty fast. CS4: Playing as him is cool but doesn't necessarily add anything to the character.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c0c7dc88.jpg
68 . McBurn, the Almighty Conflagration

It's a tale of two names. First, "McBurn" is the stupidest thing I've heard in a while, stupider than Bleublanc. Is he a Scottish Nobleman? Is he a discarded McDonald's menu item? Is he Scrooge McDuck's drag racing alter ego? Secondly, "the Almighty Conflagration" is trying way to hard. But then again, it's a trails thing. We live in a world with "the Golden Rakshasa" and "the Radiant Blademaster" after all. He burn stuff make go boom. He very strong. CS4: He from a different world and have scary final form. Burninate the countryside indeed.

Up next: Goth girls

Mordin Solus

If the knicks win game 3 they end up winning the series

If this ends up 2-2 then indiana wins it in 7

XIII_Rocks posted...

So I'm up to the date now.

How cringeworthy and bad is it? I've been putting it off for a couple of days.

it's honestly impressive how little of this game was cringey and bad considering the potential