Board 8 > azuarc plays LoH: Trails of Cold Steel (progressive spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

azuarc posted...

Curses, no Laura on the next expedition. And no Millium, either. Does that mean I'm going to have to actually fight the trash mobs in chapter 6?

If this is actually a serious concern, mobs will only chase you a certain distance so you can aggro them, run away, and then when they give up and try to run back to their original location you can hit them in the back for the double/triple advantage. You're even full of ranged characters this trip to make it easier (though with Fie keep in mind her field attack is melee at what the game arbitrarily decides as close range so she might swing her gunblades instead of fire at times)

Or you can just wait for mobs to turn around on their normal patrols and then rush them for a field attack while their backs are turned.

And yeah, Impenetrable Shield is a great quartz.

actual best cold steel town coming up (get rekt legram)

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I mean, yeah, the game is all about not letting the enemy have turns so. And in case they do, there's insight, adamantite shield, and crescent mirror.

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That chapter 6 party is pretty crap tbh.

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We're really leaving trails in the sky now. I think everyone seems a little too idealistic about how this ship is going to be some amazing symbol of hope, though. I don't care who's captaining it or whatever; it's going to take more than a fancy red car to serve as a deterrent and an icon.

Roer is Zeiss trying to be Pittsburgh.

Alisa's mom is still Alisa's mom. This city could be a pain to navigate, or more likely they'll keep me on rails. I accidentally clicked past the instructions on how to use the orbal wave detector and couldn't figure it out on my own because I didn't spot it in the items menu. (They put it at the top rather than the bottom. How inconsiderate!) Nowhere I seem to have access to that has poor reception, though.

And out in the field, yeah, I'm not thrilled with this party. Where's my triple advantage? Where are my heavy hitters? I gotta do this the hard way. I hack my way to the quest monster to kill here, and it's basically just a giant damage sponge. Eventually I kill it.

There's also a fishing spot here, but something happened to my deluxe rod. Why am I only able to select beginner rod now? I got a deluxe rod from the fishing dude! Also, what's with the derpy penguins? I think I found your new discord avatar, FL81.

By contrast, these quetzacoatl owls are pretty awesome. Inside the mines, I've been attacked by a giant parachute monster. It ate some metal. \m/

Back in town, I realize I'm an idiot and missed like 80% of the city block. I find 5 places that have a signal strength of 1, including one that's outdoors. I also upgrade my weapons.

Then a clash breaks out between the local guards and the RMP. The provincials pull out a MF'ing tank to get the upper hand, and the RMP respond by pulling out an icy maiden. Claire talks down the captain and gets the upper hand until Rufus jumps in and surprises her. They mutually agree to pull out. It's still not really clear what that was all about.

And in the penthouse suite of the Reinford Company, Chairman Irina has ditched us for dinner. Alisa is distraught, and partakes in food therapy. Also, I never thought I'd see the phrase "show dem titties" appear in the text of this game. I catch up with Sharon in a laundry room, less than an hour after I witnessed a conversation about orbal washing machines and how Alisa wants to have one. She's clearly got 'em. Sharon deflects Rean's inquiries by offering to wash his back.

Oh, oh! Here's the will-they-won't-they moment. Rean's gonna go up into the terrace where Alisa is alone with her thoughts and...stroke her on the head like a kid. In spite of being called on that, he's got a goofy grin on his face afterwards.

Just like that, Rean's got a date...with Captain Claire. At least Sharon is there to cover our six. And given how Claire is dressed, this really could be a booty call. Instead, we get to a political argument. Claire's apparently trying to make sure we don't get mixed up in anything we shouldn't, but it really reads like the writers giving us exposition, considering even the best-intentioned RMP captain probably wouldn't call Rean out like this in the night. Fie needles him constantly about his dating type, and after the conversation ends, we're busted by Alisa.

Scarlet and Vulcan are outside the city, making preparations to "sweep in and take the chancellor's head."

Another https://savethecat.com/ quest. What noble heroes we are.

This dancing owl quest is going to be awful if it doesn't tell me when I get to 10. Like, how do I know what counts? If there's a team attack or a burst, do I get credit for that in all cases? Yech. Four fights later is 10 by my count, but no message. Fight number five takes me to 13 by my count, but apparently it's 10 according to the game because I get a pop-up. At least I know. And I get to what I reckon is 16 by the time I'm back in the city.

I've got a highway monster left to kill, but as soon as I do, I'm gonna get swept up in another big story arc, and I kinda need to get to bed.


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about where are your triple advantages. Rean and Jusis in Cold Steel 1 actually have such short overfield attack recovery compared to the hitstun that they apply that you can actually hit, move a bit, hit with them and position around anything until you can stun them from behind for a triple. Machias, Fie, Elliot, Emma and Alisa having long range attacks also. And enemies have a max threat range. If you run out of that range they'll chase you then turn around. You can attack them from behind when they turn around. Rean/Jusis strat is really fast tho. Rean's attack start up is actually so fast that it's often faster than Laura's bash it on the head until it works. Jusis normally is too. But Rean definitely is.

I think the Chapter 6 party overall beats up the Chapter 5 party. Laura and Gaius are nothing special by that point. They are just beat sticks at a point in time where Magic is out doing physical attackers. Millium is the best at kill everything with S-breaks but really everyone does that pretty much to weak encounters. Jusis is pretty good but he isn't Alisa. Emma is the best damage dealer in the game but it's not like she is so far above Elliot/Alisa/Jusis/Crow. (Altho having Jusis as her personal pair-up slave for the Arts Support because they share every chapter together and will have a high Link syngery no matter what is awesome for her.) Machias and Alisa get their best Crafts. Fie is the best tank (Evasion) in the game and can help Rean delay stuff. Crow is solid. Elliot hits really hard with Magic at that point.

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https://sonicmega.tumblr.com/post/150519010861/there-are-many-lines-of-dialogue-rean-didnt-get

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Wait, you're saying I have to adjust my strategy as the game progresses? Man, who made this piece of crap?

Or, on a more serious note, I basically never use nuke spells in RPGs. MP (or EP) is a limited resource, and physical attacks are not. Arts hit harder than basic attacks, but so do Crafts, so I've focused extensively on those. At this point, I have so many Arts to choose from and I have absolutely no idea which nuke spells are better, other than guessing that things that say "Area (XL)" are likely better than things that don't. The game gives you no numbers -- no damage, no EP cost to make assumptions from (until you equip it and check in battle), and the really big flashy spells drain your bar in like 3 casts. I can see how focusing on arts could be a more effective boss-killing strategy, but I feel like I'd need a wiki to determine which spells to use. Is there anything in particular I should be trying out?

Also, Fie as evasion tank. Interesting, considering she doesn't seem to have as much innate evasion as Rean or especially Gaius. Granted, some of that was because of male-only equipment and the game isn't throwing that at me any more. And I suppose I could steal Gaius's quartz and equip it to someone else.

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I don't remember Arts being that useful in general in the Cold Steel games myself.
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So, at this stage of the game, questions that remain:

1) Rean's past. There's something going on here with the scar on his chest and his superpower mode. Plus, curiously enough, Rean's family (sans sister) and his hometown are basically the only one in the class who haven't been featured in the story so far. Except, of course, for...

2) Emma and Celine. The game keeps teasing with little nuggets about Emma here and there. The latest was Beryl drawing some kind of parallels between herself and Emma. However, her past is completely shrouded -- like, not only has that basically never been discussed in-game, but none of the characters even stop to point that out. We simply know that she got an academic scholarship. But for all we know, Emma might not be as young as she appears, to have so much knowledge and ability at her fingertips. Regarding the cat, at first, she seemed to be subservient to Celine, giving reports and taking orders, but more recently she's been a tiny pinch more assertive. Meanwhile, Celine has been more pro-active, and maybe even intervened on our behalf at Lohengrin Castle. That's a noticeable shift from her leading Elise into the schoolhouse.

3) How they're connected. E&C are obviously very interested in Rean. Whatever the deal is with his powers, they seemed determined to use him for something. They keep lamenting how they're running out of time, which raises the question, time for what?

4) The schoolhouse. The completion of the final floor listed on the elevator was extremely anticlimactic. Easy fight, and nothing happened afterward. There's an ominous prediction that we haven't seen the last of the schoolhouse, which obviously must be true, because leaving that hanging would be extremely unsatisfying. Right now, other than the ghosted implication of being connected to Emperor Dreichels, there really isn't even a clue floating here outside of the armored guardian behind the red door.

5) Why the class display is so damn important. I could say this jokingly, like, man, the writers sure seem to have a hang-up on this, except there's been some pretty convincing overtones that something is going to happen at the festival. We know now that some VIPs are going to be there, and it's been the talk of chapter 6 every single moment something more important isn't happening.

6) Comrade C: identity and motive. Obvious questions are obvious. At the conclusion of my last session, I learned that the lib front are outside of Roer, and something's going to happen very, very soon. The ILF have been showmen grandstanding to us for four chapters now (all except 2,) but they've failed to put in concrete terms what they want. They aren't very effective terrorists if they don't stand for anything!

7) ILF's connection to the nobility. Setting aside the overtones that the noble faction is the old regime playing dirty pool to retain their power in the face of a changing world, and therefore they must also be bad guys, there's been obvious connections between them and the terrorists. If it wasn't explicit before, Claire just stated it at the cafe. Cayenne is involved, and so is Duke Albarea, buw how much so and what are they trying to get from the movement? The much-too-obvious answer is that Cayenne is Comrade C, and that the Front was founded by the nobles specifically to topple the reformist faction while keeping their hands clean. I can't imagine the writers would be that on the nose.

8) The third faction. Olivert thinks he's going to craft some third faction that can stand up to the reformists, the nobles, the terrorists, and send a message to the common people. But why? And while Olivert certainly seems like a good guy with good intentions, he also seems way too idealist for his own good. How do the Courageous and Class VII further those goals? And supposing that he could wave a wand and make things as he wants them, what would be his endgame?

9) Rean x Alisa. The game sure isn't pushing this relationship anywhere, but it also implies that it's a thing. There's a reason why Alisa is the female character that shows up in the most prominent positions in the game's artwork and during the intro videos and all, but right now, 65 hours into the game, she still seems like just another chick in the group. It started strong with them bumping into each other coming off the train, but then they were on the outs for several chapters until the stars scene in the highlands. We might finally be getting something else that pushes them in that direction, but it's almost like the writers want to maintain Rean's eligible bachelor status. Or give him a harem. There's certainly plenty of other lovely ladies that he could end up with if this were a WRPG.

10) Why is it called Class VII? Like, what happened to class VI? We got a one-line throwaway about this in the intro, but I've seen enough media where there's an extra unaccounted for group that comes into play during the late game or in the sequel to be suspicious. (District 13 is a really easy example.) And given the closeness and unusual nature of Crow, Angelica, Towa and George, I feel like maybe they're class 6? They did, after all, perform together at last year's festival, and nobody's thought to ask what entity they collectively represented.

I could throw plenty of other thoughts in here. Rufus, Irina, the chancellor, the RMP, etc. And just how long is this game going to go on? Because frankly I've got no idea if I'm winding up to the grand finale or just hitting another checkpoint. We certainly aren't working off of three-act structure here. But I think these are probably the biggest mysteries in the game right now.

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i'm pretty sure they skipped a class to show that class vii is very different or just so that if enough students end up enrolling that they need a new class, class vii would still be the highest

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Emma with Criminal, Fire Bell, Diabolos Gem, mind 3, cast 2. The cast delay is like 1 to 11 for the spells and the after cast delay is like 2. Pretty efficient for continued casting. So about Delay 13 overall for the slowest spell end game. Rean Arc Slash delay seems to also be 13 btw.

Purgatorial Flame is hitting for 18k on a crit (It's 90% chance with Criminal quartz.) or anytime she gets spell boosted by Jusis link. (She basically gets this for free so might as well include it.) Not sure Boost and Crit stack tho. At least it doesn't seem like it.
Laura with Vermillion, Domination, bunch of str stacking.
Brilliant Spin is hitting for 8k with 35 delay.

Her S Break with optimal set up pretty much 1 shots every not boss tho. Seems to be getting 40k in this dungeon.

But yea Arts are more efficient at the end of the game than crafts for sure if your talking pure damage. Crafts have Delay/Impede/repositioning/etc

Arts keep up the entire game in CS1 outside of maybe the first two chapters. I think the only good spell you have access to that early is Golden Spheres. Definitely easy to forget about tho since by the time you get used to the combat you likely haven't bothered at all with them.

They are also pretty much the best thing in CS2 and CS3 outside of S-Breaks for damage as well.

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Oh and as for Fie being good at evasion it's because she's the only character with innate evasion (It's only 5%)

Rean, Fie, Crow and Gaius get weapons with innate evasion in CS1. So they all have another way that others do not have access to do get more evasion. Basically she's the easiest to stack it on. Because she is one of 4 characters that have evasion granting weapons and is the only character to have innate evasion. Master Quartz/accessories/quartz/armor/shoes can go on anyone really. Only weapons are exclusive.

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"Why is it called Class VII?"

The game never explicitly answers this but IIRC you're far enough in that you have all the hints/implications that: "Class VI" was indeed Towa/Angelica/George/Crow the year before. It just was never an official on-the-books class and they all technically belonged to their respective classes but Sara dragged them around on field studies and ARCUS tests as a kind of trial run for what would become Class VII in the current year. How this actually worked since it would presumably require Sara to be dumping tons of extra work on them and pulling them out of their real classes on occasion is an exercise left to the viewer.

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I quit last night at the right time. As soon as I killed the quest mob, mechanical monsters strike the Roer factories. And oh yay, a miniboss fight right after another one. At least my CP is still near full. And haste/slow makes this an easy fight. As soon as the fight is over, Claire shows up with the RMP and shoos us out, so basically our efforts were for nothing. Plus, Claire comes out afterwards and YELLS at us. Like, how dare we run into a military installation to save the lives of people in danger? Rean stands up to her for a second, but all that seems to really do is keep us from getting punished. She makes her position clear.

The conversation ends with notice that the mine is being attacked, and our resolve is to hurry up and race to the mines to help. Yeah, that dressing down from Claire did a lot of good, huh.

And then we return to Roer after scouting the scene. The provincial army's keeping the RMP out, and acting mighty suspicious in the process. But Angelica and George are here now to dish out the exposition. Someone's been smuggling ENORMOUS quantities of iron out of the mine. I can't imagine how they kept all that secret, but Angelica (Rogner) and Alisa (Reinford) are determined to do something about it. So it's time to talk to Mama Reinford about securing a way in.



Oh look, it's not just Laura.

The meeting with Irina was...interesting, though. She basically prepares to dismiss us through obvious adult logic, and Alisa throws down and says nah dawg, that ain't it. She accuses mom of running the company the wrong way, and insinuates that she could end up succeeding Irina some day, so it's time she start walking the walk. After a speech that was not nearly as impressive as the game makes it out to be, Irina orders Sharon to give the group a keycard that will allow us to reach the mine. And right after we leave, she implies that everyone's strings have been properly pulled and every piece is in position. I could interpret this several ways.

Angelica joined the party!

As we reach the mine interior, George calls to inform us that the RMP is also rushing to Ordis...conveniently where Group B is. Auspicious.

Circling strafing with Rean to get advantage is so simple I wonder how I didn't try this earlier. And Fie's quartz just reached L5, giving her 10% evasion and a long-term speed boost in combat.

So, stupid question: why are the robots called Archaisms? Doesn't that name imply that they're obsolete? I mean, yeah, there's the implication that they're of ancient design, but archaic?

We fight through the mine, rescue the prisoners, send them out with Crow, and ultimately confront Vulcan. He's ready for us, and raring for a fight. So we...have a lengthy backstory dump?

Vulcan goes down easily once he's isolated and I can surround him with attack delay, using haste buffs. But then C shows up. Because of course he does. Shit, and 2 zepyhrantes, too. (20 minutes later...) Welp, that took a while. Properly-tuned boss fight. Challenging without being stupid. Apparently the max exp gain on one fight is 9999.

And we can't have a properly recurring villain if they don't manage to weasel away from you with cheap underhanded tactics. That doesn't mean the player ever likes them. And then somebody shoots down the airship, lmao. Okay, we're back to the chapter 1 & 2 endings now. And suddenly the gang's all here. I'm just kind of disappointed nobody kicks the pants of that asinine provincial army captain.

Huh, Sharon's working for the RMP. Or is she just cooperating on behalf of her boss? She knows a surprising amount about military matters even outside Reinford's R&D, though. And she can take out a big ol' archaism with one attack from her utility belt, along with having a mercenary nickname and a much more explicit (yet still unnamed) second employer.

Chapter 6 complete. 351 AP total, rank A2.

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xp1337 posted...

"Why is it called Class VII?"

The game never explicitly answers this but IIRC you're far enough in that you have all the hints/implications that: "Class VI" was indeed Towa/Angelica/George/Crow the year before. It just was never an official on-the-books class and they all technically belonged to their respective classes but Sara dragged them around on field studies and ARCUS tests as a kind of trial run for what would become Class VII in the current year. How this actually worked since it would presumably require Sara to be dumping tons of extra work on them and pulling them out of their real classes on occasion is an exercise left to the viewer.

I would argue that most of the necessary implications came during this last play session, actually.


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Rip Angelica.

The festival is here and all three of the singers are embarrassed. Emma simply for being Emma (and for her outfit) and Jusis and Machias for having to sing together. Wait, they're going to be practicing in the old schoolhouse. Yeah, sure, what could possibly go wrong?

Talking to the principal, he notices I have 3 of the 4 uber medals from school, and gives me the fourth. Then asks me if I want a thingy Sara uses or a thingy Neithardt uses. I couldn't possibly imagine what he's offering. And then he gives me a master quartz. I still haven't swapped out any of the defaults. Am I doin it rong?

There appears to be a giant whack-a-mole game in the middle of the fencing club's room.

Bought a new deluxe rod -- still not sure what happened to the first one -- and one catch later, I rank up to black angler and get an even newer super duper rod. The fishing dude seems to think I could be in a competition with him to catch the mega fish, but he says I don't have enough experience. I sit there and blow most of my groundbait on getting more catches, but the fish are very clearly repeating at this watering hole now.

This chapter is labeled as "Final Chapter." Guess this festival really is going to be the grand finale.

The "photography club" finds VP Heinrich's notebook, and we're led to believe he's a closet perv until he regales us with his fervor for the lead dancer in the Cirque du Soleil knock-off. He's very passionate.

I head back into the schoolhouse, because I can, and apparently it's just a chance to grind...except that the enemies are literally running away from me. Any sword slash stuns them, and a second turns them into sepith. That's new. I also catch two new fish. 16/20 is still not enough to go after Trista's Guardian, though.

Motorcycle time! Rean gets to bring someone to Himdallr and I can't tell if this is a bonding event or a pop quiz since he ruminates over who's busy. I forget what Alisa and Emma were doing, but they were together, and everyone else was helping their clubs. Except maybe Laura, who was kinda standing around in the athletic building. She comes along and there's extensive voiced lines so I probably got this right? Except then I get "Your bond has increased" afterward, so maybe it didn't matter. I certainly didn't need to raise my bond with Laura, but the event was nice. Also, strange blue bird and running into Misty.

The girls' outfits don't scream rock to me. They say risque school girls. But Emma in particular doesn't like them. Eh, not like she can see without her glasses. Meanwhile the guys are wearing a fancy version of the noble students' outfits. Yeah, Emma's not happy. She does seem like she'd have the best voice, though.

Given the instruments Elliot listed everyone able to play earlier, the line-up doesn't at all look like I expected, but seeing Laura on drums and Gaius on bass definitely feels right.

Lol at the dun-dun-dun noises as it zooms in on Crow with his reveal that they need to prepare an encore. So the encore...I'm assuming it's Whereabouts. That's been kinda telegraphed with an earlier Abend Time.

Oh shit, declaration of independence. But that's way off in Crossbell. That can't possibly affect things here...right?

Interesting that the other classes will have displays that are going to simply be up, but Class 7's is only going to be one brief performance. Surprised they aren't at least doing two shows for two days. But for now, Rean gets to wander the festival...on six dates.


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You need every fish but the Guardian to be able to go for it. At this point all the fish should be available between the spot in Trista's River and the spot at the Academy I think. Just RNG. Those two spots basically have their pool of available fish added to from all the kinds of fish you could have gotten on the field trips.

Motorcycle trip to Heimdallr is tied into your final bond event choice. Basically the last bond event is coming up soon-ish but unlike the others it has some pre-reqs. To be able to pick someone you need:

1. Have gathered enough Bond Points with them over the course of the game
2. Seen their Chapter 6 (or 5 for Towa) Bond Event OR took them to Heimdallr on the motorcycle OR spend at least 2 tickets on them at the festival you're at now.

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Yea your missing out not switching master quartz.

Some characters have kinda bad default master quartz.

Machias's is terrible. Iron is like the worst thing you can have equipped.
Jusis's Mistral is kinda meh. The Wind Quartzs are all good. But Mistral is likely the worst of them?
Elliot's starts great but is kinda bad the longer the game goes.
Laura's is only good in chapter 1. It falls behind quickly and might be one of the worst 3 in the game.
Rean's is alright. There are better options but it's fine.

Gaius/Fie/Alisa/Millium/Crow/Emma have pretty solid ones. Fie and Gaius are actually really good.

Moebius, Vermillion, Orochi, Magius, Criminal, Aeries, Wing, Megalith, Thor, Emblem, Chevalier and Tauros are all pretty great honestly. Moebius and Criminal are actually broken.

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xp1337 posted...

final bond event choice

o.0

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azuarc posted...

o.0

well it's the final chapter how many more opportunities did you think you were getting!

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lol. But wait, why is Crow dressed that way?

Took Emma on the horse ride since she said right before I went in there that she'd like to ride a horse again. And then she didn't ride. Thought about inviting Laura to Mishy Panic because she seems like she's be good at whacking things, but I invited Instructor Sara instead. She took the plushy and teased Rean an offer for a kiss after beating his score.

Looks like it's too late to try for the Trista Guardian now.

It seems only logical to take Crow to the house of cards. I kick his ass at blade, and then Sharon comes along. I don't know if the games were rigged so you would be guaranteed to be able to win, but I did. Towa seemed like a good choice for the teahouse. I picked a relationship fortune, and I'm told the one I wish to support from the bottom of my heart is by my side. Is that literal or figurative? Stella Garten says something about walking underneath a blanket of stars, so Alisa seems like the obvious choice. (Or Gaius, I guess, but I'm not inviting a guy.) I also finally reach link level 5 with her.

Have to say I'm impressed with the writers and designers. They took the time to create the entire academy setting three times for the three times of the day, each with the people in different places doing different things.



Err...

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Fear not for whom the bell tolls, for clearly we've just hit the part where this game turns into Doki Doki Literature Club, amirite?

Rean is strangely fired up to let the show go on.

Liek ZOMG GUYZ! The ARCUS units are all glowing!! Through the power of friendship, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

More creepy reverse image shots. And then Rean decides to put his hand through the wall, and appears for the class expedition. I understand Sara, but I'm surprised Vandyck approves.

Creepy, yet intriguing door.



Emma asks us if we're ready. Rean makes another dramatic speech.



Oh. Well, then.

One major area cleared. A bunch of standard portal stuff.

Second major area cleared. Portals triggered by damage type and a bunch of backtracking required.

Third area partially cleared, and then I get to a new screen just as big and decide maybe I should go to bed.

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The time has come

Dost thou desire the bongo?

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Area I stopped at last night was, in fact, the final area. Boss comes next.

Creepy door stuff happens next, and then we're sucked into a vortex where the scene from the opening animation with all the swords in the ground actually makes sense. (I guess?) As our "final trial" "commences," a giant shadow creature named Loa Erebonis attacks. Decently appropriate name. A loa is a god-spirit and Erebonis is referencing the land.

It attacks super slow, though. Normal melee isn't of consequence. Does the grab and absorb thing that I have no choice but to weather, and a huge massive attack that I'll say is it's S-craft. As long as I keep Adamantium Shield up, it's inconsequential. So basically, it's just a big damage sponge. Challenging enough to not be a pre-boss, but it really didn't feel like a big bad-ass final boss. Whatever. It's dead.

More dramatic disembodied words echo something about a shard and an awakener, and the word Valoran appears visually before Rean. Then everyone blacks out and is back in the schoolhouse.

Wait, it's back to normal? YAY! PARRTTTTYYYY!!! Because ain't nothin' more important in this world than getting to have our festival! FES-TI-VAL! DO YOU HEAR ME? Seriously, what's up with their insistence? I feel like I should rename them all Karen because they'd all be screaming in Walmart about not having to wear a mask.

Sara tricks them with a deadpan delivery that the festival won't be happening tomorrow. Didn't sound like a joke to me, but apparently Towa and George weren't fooled. Technically it's already tomorrow...therefore, the festival is today.

And then the door opens and a giant gundam suit is inside. End scene. I guess we'll find out from George what it is later?

I hit rank A1 with another 15 AP, for a total of 388. That means I'm 42 off of A0.

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I love the aesthetics of the Loa Erebonius fight -- both the location and its S-Craft thing.

and of course "Great Power" as the boss theme

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Ha, the cymbals say RIT on them.

Everyone's family is here. Perfect time to unleash hell on earth.

The group chats on stage about the show, transition into the "knight" in the schoolhouse, and then decide that oh well, it's not as important as being ready for their performance. The team leaves Rean and Emma behind, and he doesn't pressure her into answering any questions.

Rean decides to bring George some food since he's probably down in the depths studying the knight. That sounds like the first sensible idea since they popped out of the twilight realm.

One of the most fun parts about a moment like this in the game is seeing the reprisals of all the characters you met along the way.

"Is your Machias a pitcher or a catcher?"...Catcher, definitely.

Elliot's dad is so not at all like I have any right to expect him to be.

Everyone keeps talking about Angelica like she's going to show up. Laying it on a little thick.

Olivert: "Would you mind terribly if I tore off my shirt and leapt on stage to join you midway through?" I wasn't aware that was how they did things in Erebonia. But hey, sure. We gotta have groupies and a mosh pit. And you can be our roadie.

Glorious, my stage...

They look like the rival group getting ready to perform on Star Search. (Yes, I just referenced Star Search.)


If Angelica was a dude, that's exactly what would be happening...


I had no idea what the devs were going to do for the concert, but I didn't expect them to play To Become the Foundation of the World. I probably should have, though, because if there were legit vocal tracks from the game, I suspect I would have heard them by now. The other instrumentalists are just standing there doing their thing. Only Laura looks like she's actually having a good time.

I don't recognize the second song. Oh well.

And look at that, the crowd actually is calling for an encore. Huh, there is a vocal track. Crow implied this would be something the audience would all know -- and they do -- but I'm out of the loop. Sara watches from one balcony, Celine from the other, with Misty casually leaning against a wall.

Okay, why are they sitting at their desks now? They're acting all tired, but they've clearly already changed their clothes, too. But Patrick storms in, all buttfurious. He must have thought the voters would stick with Link.

Oh gee. Class 7 won the vote. Who-ev-er-could-have-see-that-co-ming?

Lmao at the bonfires igniting like a lightswitch.



Says the guy who makes the most schmaltzy move of the bunch by returning the 50 mira coin from ages ago.

And after a nice dance, the other shoe has fallen. I knew they were sequels, but I didn't think they'd dare save those other plots for later.

Uhh, Garrellia Fortress has...disappeared? Like, total death star?

And now it's the morning after, and there's an address from the chancellor coming at noon. But it sounds like Erebonia's kinda fucked at the moment. Guess we'll find out how bad it is soon enough.


---

Nice dance with who? I mean, I'm assuming Laura, but this is crucial info.

---

I would bet he picked Elliot. He was feeling the bromance.

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You should recognize the encore >:(

though it sucks anyway so whatever

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The encore is from Trails in the Sky SC and it's the worst of the trilogy's ending themes. ("I swear..." is the title)

...I don't actually remember what the 2nd song they played was.
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Is Elliot even a choice? My options were Alisa, Laura, and Fie. Assuming Towa or Sara are possible, I did spend a lot of bonding moments with them, too, but they didn't show on the list. xp said earlier I had to spend two festival tickets on someone or meet other conditions, and I spent one on six different people because I was trying not to metagame it.

Considering I saved before that scene, I could easily reload and nab a couple achievements if I wanted to. I'm not chasing platinum, though. I'd be committed to another playthrough if I wanted that, and I'm already at something like 77 hours? (That's Steam time. Dunno what the in-game timer's at, but it does go faster when you hold in turbo.)

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Second song is Crimson Wings, the airship theme

it's alright, but not even the best Falcom Crimson Wings song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNTtmjApANESE PERSON0rU

gamefaqs get the fuck out the mid 00's please

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azuarc posted...

Is Elliot even a choice? My options were Alisa, Laura, and Fie. Assuming Towa or Sara are possible, I did spend a lot of bonding moments with them, too, but they didn't show on the list. xp said earlier I had to spend two festival tickets on someone or meet other conditions, and I spent one on six different people because I was trying not to metagame it.

Yeah, he is. OG Class VII + Crow + Millium + Sara + Towa are all options. There's also Elise and Alfin (as a pair; not one for each) as the default option if you qualify for no one (I assume at least. It's offered as a selectable option in NG+ as well.)

The required bond points differ depending on who exactly it is. OG Class VII have the highest because they've been around the most. Crow and Millium have a lower threshold. Sara is lower still, and Towa has the lowest. Nevertheless because there's fewer opportunities to raise bond points with Sara and Towa you would need to attend almost all their events when you have the opportunity to make it.

---

Chancellor's address to the nation forthcoming. Crow and Millium are missing. All signs point to Crow completely cleaning out and leaving, though this hasn't occurred to Rean yet. Millium is staring at the gundam suit. Finally we bump into Patrick who says Crow wanted to see the speech from the chancellor in person....and Crow uses guns for his weapon. I have a very bad feeling about this.

As the speech is going, Millium is on the phone trying to contact someone. Apparently her place in Class VII was to monitor Crow. And Crow starts with C...

Everyone starts spinning the possibility or not of Crow as C, and conspiracy theories fly. Normally I'd call it absurd, but it seems inevitable this will be the truth. And as the Chancellor gives his speech, Crow stands atop a building with a fancy sniper rifle, and blows a hole in his chest. No voice manipulation. It's definitely him. Stranger still, the Chancellor's final words as he falls are, "Well played, Armbrust." Somehow he knew exactly who it was.

Paused here on the forums, without watching the rest, I have to ask, what the hell that was for? Even if the ILP manipulated everyone else and engineered this war, what does killing the Chancellor accomplish? Unless he's going to somehow make it look like the nobles were involved, and sew unrest. I mean, that's the only thing that makes sense, but I guess we'll have to see how this plays out.

Claire finds him on the rooftops, shoots off his helmet, and confronts him. Crow is from the Jurai SEZ, an area we know was annexed by Erebonia not terribly long ago.

And with that, Misty, while on the radio, performs an incantation to show us for ourselves what's happening. Her voice shifts, and Emma is extremely freaked out. The scene cuts to Misty as her opera singer alter ego, with the brilliant blue bird that's appeared earlier taking wing. And then a giant airship emerges. It looks like a shoe.



Does that not look like a giant heel? Forget Trails in the Sky, more like Platform Pumps in the Sky, amirite?

But it's dubbed the "noble allied forces flagship." It drops 5 mechwarriors who seem impervious to tank fire and simply obliterate the opposition with counterfire. Then they literally start roller skating across the city.



They're stupidly evasive. "Humanoid combat armors," according to Crow, and developed by Reinford's fifth division, which Alisa apparently doesn't even know about. Now we know where all that smuggled iron went. Then he escapes into his own mech.

Two of the mech pilots are the bodyguards for Duke Cayenne that we met in chapter 5.

"I wonder whose side our little princess will take."
"That's for Fie to decide."

Um, what? Other character reveals aside, that one cuts way harder. What does Fie have to do with all of this? (Later: Oh, it's her old Jaeger Corps.)

Clotilde sings from a rooftop while her bird flies, but then she's met by Baron Blueblanc. Mention of a phantasmal blaze plan, and Clotilde says the bells are tolling for Crossbell...which I can only assume means bad news for them. And this is only phase one of their plan.

-------------------------------------------

Sara gets a call and runs out. Gaius opens the window because he hears something approaching. Troops are arriving from Heimdallr.

Elliot: "I didn't wake up today preparing to fight enemies that can gut a tank." -- I know, dude. And this was supposed to be my day off.

Outside the gates, the instructor crew is fending off the nobles. Implications ensue that Vandyck and Beatrix aren't human, including weird sound effects on the nurse's voice. And then the mechs arrive. Unflappable, the instructors prepare for battle. And as the class prepares to wade in for support, Sharon says nope, my turn. She pulls a Mary-Poppins-from-hell routine and wraps one up with a cable like it's an AT-AT on Hoth.

(picture of Sharon talking about enjoying being bound up removed because post was too big)

Okay, that's just some kinky shit right there.

The instructors are way too eager to dish out exposition, and to charge in against the mechs. But two mechs approach from the east. Guess we're finally up.

Scarlet decides to toy with us, so the battle will be one and then one, rather than two at the same time. How sporting. Ah, geez. Not everyone has full CP. What the heck. Still, not a tough fight.

Scarlet, on the other hand, is a scripted defeat. This game has quite a few of those. Anything more than one's a little nutty.

Anyway, Rean pulls a Crono and decides to stand up to the mech by himself. Then a robot voice asks if he wishes the power. I was expecting a dialog box with yes and no options. Instead, Celine walks up out of the shadows and tells Rean what's up.

Wait, how does Rean know that he's Valimar, "the ashen knight?" Did he just make that last part up? Either way, looks like my megazord is coming.

(picture removed of "The cat is talking!")

I think this is the least of your concerns right now.

Scarlet watches curiously just long enough before getting bored to allow Valimar to arrive. And since we were kind enough to watch all those times while they monologued and then got away, I suppose it's only fair she does the same.

Rean doesn't know what he's doing, but he dodges the drill strike like Neo in the Matrix. The Eight Leaves style has an unarmed form, huh?

I decipher the mech battle puzzle and kick her ass, and true to form, Rean simply tells her to run away and not come back. No, dude. Squish her like a bug.

Appropriately, it was at that point Crow arrives. Rean appeals to his emotions, and it almost works, but Crow compartmentalizes and decides it's time to d-d-d-d-duel. I screw up the first go-around, beat him on the second, and then predictably he pulls some crap out of his ass at the end.

And then this happens...




---

Wait, that's it? That's the end?

Huh. I was getting ready to start another post. That's...to be honest, that's not a very satisfying ending. I understand there's sequels, but wow, way to leave things hanging.

Anyway, to elucidate on before (although I dunno who would be reading that hasn't already finished the game,) Crow damages my mech, and the rest of Class VII has recovered enough to form up on me and order me to leave. Rean refuses, of course, but Celine is in the suit with us and gives the command to fly out. Rean can't countermand it. Meanwhile the team prepares to buy enough time for Rean to escape and then fall back to the instructors.

The ashen knight flies off, and that's the end. Credits roll.



I'm going to take a walk.

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damn i love these games

cant wait for cs4

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azuarc posted...

That's...to be honest, that's not a very satisfying ending. I understand there's sequels, but wow, way to leave things hanging.

Welcome to Falcom

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azuarc posted...

Paused here on the forums, without watching the rest, I have to ask, what the hell that was for? Even if the ILP manipulated everyone else and engineered this war, what does killing the Chancellor accomplish? Unless he's going to somehow make it look like the nobles were involved, and sew unrest. I mean, that's the only thing that makes sense, but I guess we'll have to see how this plays out

Something I don't think comes across so much in Cold Steel 1 as compared to the earlier games is that Osborne is both a shrewd and ruthless politician that uses underhanded and questionable methods to achieve his ends, which are already suspect at best due to the fact that his goals are shrouded in mystery beyond amassing as much power and influence. He's also the type where if you look at any one thing he does there could conceivably be a reasonable explanation, but then when you look at his actions as a whole you see an obvious pattern of aggressive expansionism which suggests something is amiss. To be entirely fair though, I think this different representation is deliberate, since Cold Steel is depicting Erebonia from within, whereas the earlier games show perspectives of other countries and paint Erebonia as a borderline tyrannical empire that invades other countries at the drop of a hat, with Osborne as the driving force.

I will say I'm not particularly a fan of the way Cold Steel 1 ends. It is possible to make endings that are cliffhangers while still being satisfying, but this ending doesn't really succeed in accomplishing that imo. Though, as a whole I do quite like the intensity that the final chapter brings to the table. I also didn't see the thing with Crow coming at all, somehow. Come to think of it, with my Wiki browsing habits as they are I think that is the last time in the series where there was a plot twist I wasn't spoiled on ahead of time, and Cold Steel 1 was the 3rd game in the series I played.
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azuarc posted...

what does killing the Chancellor accomplish?

V made it pretty clear at Roer that the ILF just really, really hates Osborne and they're out to kill him because of their personal grudges against him.

And yeah, I think the CS1 cliffhanger could have been handled better.

---

Am I safe to click Pyre's spoiler?

Anyway, I should probably put together some final thoughts. I'm a little too close to the ending to give an objective opinion of that, but I'll try to string together my other reactions.

At game's completion:
80 hours played
18/51 achievements unlocked (some others I probably could have gotten easily)

Did I enjoy it?
Yes, absolutely.

What was good?
The worldbuilding and characterization are amazing. I know that's par for the course with Kiseki, but I'm always amazed how the towns actually feel alive and full of actual people rather than A_Townsfolk_03. The major characters all have a distinct personality, a background that influences who they are, and experiences that make them unique.

What was lacking?
Not much, to be honest. The game is absurdly long, both to the game's compliment and detriment. Once you acclimate to the flow, though, the fact that it fakes you out with a couple potential endings and then finishes abruptly. There are small things I could nitpick, but no sweeping strokes that drag it down. If I had to assign something concrete, it would be that -- even with warnings from the game -- it's incredibly easy to miss or forget to do things.

How did it compare to Sky FC?
I didn't finish FC, so the analysis will be lacking, but I still thought Cold Steel was much more enjoyable. The writing is more even. The battle/equipment system is more manageable. The main character -- while significantly less flavorful -- carries the protagonist duties more competently. With apologies to Estelle, she's a total airhead. The basic premise of some shadowy organization that is threatening the empire, while we see it in fits and starts from the periphery, feels very similar, though. It's obvious on so many levels that it was the same people that made both.

How many of my questions from earlier were answered?

Rean's past - unaddressed, except that he's the "awakener," which makes him something of a chosen one. I can't say I'm in love with that plot development or the fact that everybody's now a bunch of mech pilots.

Emma and Celine - partially addressed. Emma obliquely concedes that she's a witch. When Celine steps in and directs Rean to summon Valimar, we finally learn what her intentions are. But these things just raise more questions.

The schoolhouse - generally answered. Why the building got possessed in the way that Lohengrin Castle did is unclear, but otherwise it appears to have simply been a trial grounds for the eventual pilot of Valimar.

Class festival - unaddressed, but implicitly understood. It's for characterization and for enjoying all the characters in one place before the end hits. If there's a deeper reason, I've missed it. The real question I still have is why everyone's so damn intent on pushing on with it after Weird Shit (tm) starts happening.

Comrade C - generally answered, and wow was that not the resolution I expected. I'm honestly not sure if I even like Crow as C. There's a lot to be said in favor of it and a ton to be said against it, too. But at the very least, they did an amazing job of keeping me from guessing. Crow was a likeable rogue, but he was lazy, he slept in class, he seemed too preoccupied with gambling and other morally questionable activities to be able to coordinate a terrorist syndicate. It would be one thing for him to be an agent, but to be the ringleader, and someone with a host of elite skills and a tremendous intelligence network, seems questionable. Almost like the writers decided late in development that they needed to pull the rug out from everyone and this was the best way to do it. I'm sure his humanity and his persona as a classmate will be explored in the sequels, but I almost agreed with Rean as he completely flew off the handle with his emotional appeal at the end regarding, in particular, the effort Crow put into being their concert's producer. If nothing else, it really is a tremendous loss of talent if he's putting his efforts into overthrowing the country rather than simply improving it.

ILF connection to nobility - partially addressed. The nobility is anti-reformist, and they've supplied a lot of the means for the ILF to do what they've done. What's incredibly not clear is what will happen now that Erebonia appears poised for both international war and civil war. There's a power vacuum there, and I don't think the nobility can step in and seize it.

Third faction - not addressed, except that Class VII sent Rean off to go be the force that can make the difference in whatever capacity that entails, but we did get to see all the faculty at Thor's kicking some ass.

Rean x Alisa - not addressed, but only because I didn't address it. It's nice the game doesn't force you down that path, even though I can't imagine how much additional writing and recording that required.

Will I go on to play the second game?

Probably? I don't know. It's a weird question, because I'm not normally known for my tenacity at sticking with games any more. I used to be, back when it was one game for Christmas and one for my birthday, and I had to make those last. Now, I tend to put games down very easily and I've got quite the backlog. I've wishlisted the second game so I know when it goes on sale, but I didn't buy it outright. Part of me really wants to know what happens next, and part of me is exhausted.

And part of me is just really annoyed that they cut off at an incredibly anticlimactic moment. Politically, it felt like the game should have ended with the conclusion of chapter 6, and left us to believe that the leaders of the ILF had been defeated.

Will I replay it?

Oh, hell no. Not that I can't see the value in someone else doing so, but I can think of new things I'd like to experience with those 80+ hours instead. I'm sure I'd play with a guide to ensure I got 100% everything, but at that point, why not just watch a let's play?

.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed following along. I've never done a playthrough topic before. At times, I felt like I should be writing more, and other times less. Ideally, I gave you something to help relive the game vicariously. (If anyone was using this as an idea of how the game goes rather than playing it themselves, I apologize sincerely.)

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azuarc posted...

Am I safe to click Pyre's spoiler?

Yes, sorry. It's just from the ending of this game. I have a habit of spoiler marking what I consider "big spoilers" even in a topic like this.

Also one of the most satisfying things about Estelle is that she doesn't stay an airhead. I don't know, I liked her from start though so I don't know if development would really change your mind or not.
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yea your safe to click it. It's something you have already seen.
This topic has made me want to replay CS1. altho I'll be doing it NG+ bringing max bonding points and carry over items. might as well.

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When i first played this i remember not liking the whole mech thing at the end. Thought it was completely out of place but just kinda accepted it when i started the second one.

pyresword posted...

I also didn't see the thing with Crow coming at all

This went over my head as well.

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I'm not sure how anyone would, TBH. They write him in a way that makes him a loveable, affable guy, with absences that are easily accounted for by his supposed laziness. I mean, we literally see him sleeping in class. It never occurred to me that the reason for that is because he's up all night doing nefarious stuff. He's in the same building as Sara and Fie, who would twig to something being off about him even if Millium weren't specifically there to watch him. There's absolutely nothing suspicious about his behavior throughout the entire game, though.

And that's why, although in the moment it was an amazingly shocking twist, I'm not sure I really accept the reveal. We can ask how old is Crow actually, because he certainly looks more physically mature than his male counterparts in Class VII in a way that a single year doesn't fully account for. However, unless he's actually in his mid-twenties (which is Sara's age,) it seems unlikely that he would have the robust skillset that's required for his character. I know he's had eight years since the empire took over his homeland, and a very driven person can do a lot in eight years, but he's a master sniper, a grandmaster double blade user -- somehow with nobody at the school being aware -- a master manipulator who's able to scheme on a level that someone posing as a student at Thor's probably wouldn't be able to pull off. He has to maintain an absurd level of secrecy, be an incredibly good actor, maneuvers with impossibly good stealth skills...I don't know. It's just too much. I suppose this world has some obscenely multi-talented people who are willing to maintain a facade for the sake of intrigue, because we obviously have seen hints of what Sharon can do, but I just don't see how he can be the ringleader and do all these other things while being Crow Armbrust.

Besides that, there are points where his story doesn't really make too much sense. He helps Rean rescue his sister from the depths of the schoolhouse, but it's only after their arrival that Valimar starts spouting stuff about an awakener being present. While, yes, that's Rean, apparently Crow is also an awakener. Unless each of the ancient mechs are tied to one soul in the world, which would be taking the setting in a very different direction, Crow should theoretically also be capable of awakening Valimar. If he can't, then why does he enable Rean to reach the robot? Does he think one of his lackeys would be able to take it for themselves? That would situation seems bizarre to me.

Crow and Millium are part of your class by the time chapter 5 rolls around. When the attack on Fort Garrelia occurs, is he so confident in how things play out that he can afford to remain right under Neithardt's watch and let his subordinates do everything? Could he really predict that the team in chapter 6 would find a backdoor approach to the mine and give him a perfect excuse to sneak off from the group? Is he so confident in Class VII that he's willing to travel with them and act like someone who has tremendously less ability even in the wake of a total party wipe?

And speaking of Class VII...why does all his planning seem to revolve around them? Even when Gideon is the primary villain in the early chapters, the ILF's actions are still revolving around locations where Class VII is. Why? Why pit the two merchants against one another in chapter 1, except perhaps as a test? And if it's a test, what does he actually gain by Class VII's developing competence?

Plus, not that I really wanted to see him monologue at the end of the game, but it might have been nice if we had some reason to understand why he hates the Empire and the Chancellor so thoroughly beyond simply being from Jurai. Considering the overtones of Erebonia's takeover of the area, it doesn't seem like it was a horrible, hostile invasion by a totalitarian regime. Scarlet's mad that her town got leveled to build a rail line -- that's understandable. Vulcan's a merc who watched his entire unit get wiped when they assaulted the chancellor -- that's illogical, but at least can be rationalized from a certain twisted viewpoint. What happened to Crow? We don't know. We honestly know nothing about his background...which I was fine with, because I know nothing about Towa's or George's, either...but if you're going to turn around and use a very central character as your primary villain, the reveal has to be "surprising, yet satisfying." I completely agree with the surprising, and I don't mind it being Crow from an emotional level, because that's a fine jerking on your strings that the writers do, but it just doesn't feel like he can be C.

Also, I'm morbidly curious now: What happens if Crow is the person you pick in your final bonding moment?


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I feel like most if not all of those questions are addressed in Cold Steel II.

Though iirc the logistics of the mine mission are kind of sketchy and I think there was one actual writing error in that part.

I will also mention that this is far from the first and not even the most egregious example of young characters being overpowered in this series. I think you are just supposed to accept that as a feature of the setting that something like that is possible in extreme situations.
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pyresword posted...

I feel like most if not all of those questions are addressed in Cold Steel II.

Well, see, that's the problem with the narrative and where it truncates. This game doesn't have a beginning, middle, and end. It just has segments. Those individual segments have a beginning, middle, and end. However, the story itself is just so damn long without any truly specific high points that feel like a stopping point that ending the first game after chapter 7 feels completely unresolved. I honestly think chapter 6 would have been better. We don't get the festival as the culmination of our non-story worldbuilding, but we don't have to worry about Crow and his story. We don't have to worry about what happened to the ILF because they're presumed dead. We don't have an act of war. We don't have giant mech suits.

End of chapter 6 has its own unresolved problems, and depending on where the story is going, the one after 7 might also have been the more correct moment. But sending the character off with a defeat, the world in despair, and a billion unresolved narrative issues -- particularly surrounding your villain -- is usually not the way to start a series.


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falcom has never met a trails game that it didnt want to split into two because concise writing is difficult

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They wanted CS1 and 2 to be one game originally.

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shane15 posted...

They wanted CS1 and 2 to be one game originally.

NFUN posted...

falcom has never met a trails game that it didnt want to split into two because concise writing is difficult

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azuarc posted...

I'm not sure how anyone would, TBH.

first rule of trails: trust no one. he was suspicious ever since his name started with the letter c

azuarc posted...

He helps Rean rescue his sister from the depths of the schoolhouse, but it's only after their arrival that Valimar starts spouting stuff about an awakener being present. While, yes, that's Rean, apparently Crow is also an awakener.

Actually, IIRC, the disembodied voice starts talking about a potential Awakener being within a certain distance when Elise approaches the door before the "test" begins. And while it does specify a radius IIRC it's not so large that I immediately thought "okay yeah that includes the Thors campus" and at that time only Elise and Celine were in the Old Schoolhouse. I don't think it says anything by the time Rean and Crow arrive and Elise only remembers parts of what it was saying when asked later.

azuarc posted...

Could he really predict that the team in chapter 6 would find a backdoor approach to the mine and give him a perfect excuse to sneak off from the group?

He doesn't really need that to have happened, I think. I'm not even sure C would appear in Chapter 6 if not for the fact that Class VII forced Vulcan to get serious and he was trying to mitigate that situation. He could have just reused the recording trick from Garrelia to fake the death of the ILF without actually being present there. It just so happened that Class VII found another way in so he had to make shit up as he went along. There's some wacky timing going on towards the end there though which I personally try to explain away as him having the sniper rifle in the mines operated remotely because otherwise he must have been teleporting around after the fight to be everywhere he seemingly was.

azuarc posted...

And speaking of Class VII...why does all his planning seem to revolve around them? Even when Gideon is the primary villain in the early chapters, the ILF's actions are still revolving around locations where Class VII is. Why? Why pit the two merchants against one another in chapter 1, except perhaps as a test? And if it's a test, what does he actually gain by Class VII's developing competence?

This might legit be Rufus being a troll. Remember that the Thors Board seemingly decides where Class VII goes and that board is Irina, Machias's Dad, and Rufus (with Olivert and the Principal having honorary seats.) Rufus, being one of the major players in the Noble Faction almost certainly knows what's going on with Crow and the ILF seeing as how they're backing them. At the very least I don't think Crow was planning his moves around Class VII (and really if you're going this route, Rean, because Team B doesn't have these problems apparently until they go to Ordis in Chapter 6) - it just happened that way because of plot convenience.

But really the others are right that Cold Steel II answers most of these questions for you either explicitly or provide enough information you can go crazy with plausible speculation that makes sense.

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