LogFAQs > #961545299

12/24

It's Christmas Eve! The day starts without any acknowledgement of this, as the gang gathers around the sword that George whipped up. They say it's barely better than a normal weapon, which makes me wonder, why are we wasting the ore we got into making it? Shouldn't we have gathered all of it first so we could make the super, Zemurian ore-only weapon we originally discussed? When did this new plan come into fruition? Maybe he can just melt this one down to reclaim the ore somehow...whatever. I'm not going to worry about it. Take me on your wild ride, Falcom.

Towa walks in in a hurry and interrupts us to give an emergency report - apparently, Celdic was lit aflame. Guess I was right about us getting sidetracked. Are we finally getting to the end bit of a trails game, when the real things with actual consequences start happening? Sign me up! The gang arrives in Celdic to check the damage and they decide to meet up with Otto the market manager.

The mood in town is solemn, and the map has changed considerably with destroyed buildings and flame scorched ground. I stop by the church first and there's a mini scene there with Rosine. She is upset how powerless she was to stop the attack despite the months she spent in the military academy with us. I get it but you know, it's one girl vs an army, that's a tough one. It hits me here though, for all the complaints I have about this game, one thing I think Cold Steel as a series has excelled at over the others is in how it makes you care about the NPCs. I know Trails is notorious for their NPCs in general, but I think Cold Steel is a notch above the rest in this department. And I also know that it's a little easier when you're forced to interact with the same bunch of them a lot of the time since half of the first game took place in one location, I know that made their job easier. But they really took it and ran with it. The way they've been able to intersperse them all throughout the continent, and give them all stories and motivations is something you really don't see in any other franchises. So props to Falcom on that.

When you get to the market managers house, you learn that he's been injured in the attack and has passed away. And not in the trails way where they're totally fine after 30 minutes, apparently he's actually gone for good. RIP Otto, you were a brief part of this game but we will honor your memory real soon and fuck up some Alliance soldiers on your behalf. Neithardt, Craig, and Claire are off in the corner surveying the damage in town. When you speak with them they confirm that it was the Albarean forces who razed the town, despite it being their own territory. Dark stuff. They also repeat that line from earlier that I liked, about the psychological impact of the Soldats and how it's affecting the villagers. That's all they say though, and unfortunately Claire does not rejoin our team here now.

The gang gets ready to go back to the Courageous, but Becky and Hugo come down from the ship to investigate the damage. You'd think Becky would have come down with them originally, this being her hometown and all, but if you ain't Class VII you don't get to leave the ship I guess. Sorry, I don't make the rules. If you're not with us you're against us. Maybe the Courageous is secretly a prison ship for all Thors students that weren't in Class VII? Anyway, Becky is distraught over the occurrences of course but Hugo says he'll watch after her and make sure she makes it back to the ship. Good guy prison warden Hugo here to help.

You get back to the ship and they talk about the consequences of what happened, and prepare to make their formal foray into the war (because we TOTALLY haven't been huge players until now, and DEFINITELY haven't only supported the Imperial army, with the princess we rescued and use as a figurehead of morality for our actions, we've been 100% neutral until now. Wink wink). Suddenly we receive a radio call, and Rufus appears on the monitor. I didn't know you could transmit video with a Radio message. Erebonian technology really is advanced! Anyway, he says he's got a super confidential message for us. He let's us know that Duke Albarea carried out this attack on his own, and the rest of the noble alliance does not condone his actions. He also says he will not interfere with whatever we're planning to do. Millium, surprisingly the voice of reason, points out that he's clearly just using us to take his father out on his behalf so he can consolidate power. I guess she is a high ranking spy and all, but I'm not used to seeing that side of her so it's refreshing. Maybe Millium will grow on me more as the stakes ramp up and she gets more time to play that role, instead of annoying child.

Rufus shrugs off the accusation though, then calls out Jusis saying he's curious how Jusis will play this, it being such a family-centric affair. Jusis stammers and says nothing at this prodding. It's always fun to see how Jusis' confidence just shatters completely before his brother. Rufus does seem pretty capable so I can't blame Jusis too much, but it's still funny.

The call hangs up and then Laura, another voice of reason, points out that this could obviously be a trap. Rean puts on his monocle and top hat and says, "now we know the alliance wants something done about Duke Albarea as much as we do", as if to immediately make sure that you, the player, discounts any possibility that what Laura just said is true, and that we need to take Rufus at his word. Now, it's pretty obvious that Millium was right and that this is all a ploy by Rufus to consolidate power - well played to him - but from Rean's perspective, completely discounting Laura's idea that it's a trap does not make much sense. Rufus and the duke are still family after all, and ostensibly allied in this war effort. They could very well be lying to us and planning a joint ambush when we rush their fortress. It's very odd that Rean would ignore that possibility, even if in our world it's obvious that he's right and the Duke is being set up to fall.

Anyway, they finalize their plans to attack the fortress, and the day skips ahead...short day today!