Board 8 > Sorry for asking for like the third time. Trails in the Sky before Cold Steel?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Preordered Cold Steel 1 and 2. I know I don't need to play Sky first for story reasons, but will it be hard to go back and play later after playing the newer games?
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I don't know about harder but they do play a bit differently in terms of gameplay and I guess... story flow.

You played Tokyo Xanadu, right? Cold Steel (particularly 1) has a gameplay flow quite similar to that. Sky is more... traditional, I suppose? I suppose it'd be safer to play Sky first and not have to worry about that but if it's not clicking for you you could jump to Cold Steel and see if that's more your flavor.
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ninkendo posted...

It's like you didn't read my post!
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xp1337 posted...

I don't know about harder but they do play a bit differently in terms of gameplay and I guess... story flow.

You played Tokyo Xanadu, right? Cold Steel (particularly 1) has a gameplay flow quite similar to that. Sky is more... traditional, I suppose? I suppose it'd be safer to play Sky first and not have to worry about that but if it's not clicking for you you could jump to Cold Steel and see if that's more your flavor.

Since Cold Steel is out in 3 month, do you think they're similar enough that there would be burnout risk?
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the only answer is to play them in release order don't be a fool
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If you decide to start with Cold Steel 1 and 2 and you enjoy them, be sure to play the Sky games before CS3. Starting with Cold Steel 1 is perfectly fine though.

Between Sky and Cold Steel? Personally I'd say no. I think the mostly different cast and setting is enough of a shake-up to avoid that but I don't know if that's the typical opinion.
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I recommend Sky first because the Sky games are much better I think, at least from a writing/dialogue standpoint.

There's also one important Sky plot point that is spoiled by a conversation in Cold Steel.
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There's a lot of Sky plot points that are spoiled by conversation in Cold Steel (though mostly in CS2).

One fairly big one in particular is in CS1 though.

But you should play Sky first even disregarding that.

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LapisLazuli posted...

Since Cold Steel is out in 3 month, do you think they're similar enough that there would be burnout risk?

Only in as much as playing large RPGs back-to-back like that could burn you out. The RPGs are framed in very different ways, with different themes, settings, characters, so while they are part of one larger story with similarities inherent to the series, it's not like playing the same game.

I think if you're willing to play the Trails in the Sky games it would be preferable to play them beforehand, but only because they're stronger games. Also, the first Trails in the Sky game is shorter than all the rest, and you don't need to play The 3rd (although I do recommend it, because it's nearly as good as SC!), so it's not a super big commitment.
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did you guys have to find like the world's largest image to say something easily communicable through text
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but also Ys > Trails

Especially now that Ys VIII is basically Trails but better gameplay
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Say I wanted to play most sidequests, nothing post game unless it was story related (not interested in weapon quests and stuff like that either.

Length of each Sky game?
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ninkendo posted...

Trails but better gameplay

not a particularly high bar
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Didn't like that Y's VIII demo very much honestly! And I'm far more interested in the story than the gameplay.
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My playtimes were roughly these when playing under a similar philosophy to what you described:

Sky FC: 40-50 hours
Sky SC: 70-80 hours
Sky 3rd: 45-55 hours

For reference, both Cold Steel 1 and 2 were in the 80 hour range for me
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Which Ys is a Townbuilder/people collector?

I wanna play that one.
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LapisLazuli posted...

Say I wanted to play most sidequests, nothing post game unless it was story related (not interested in weapon quests and stuff like that either.

Length of each Sky game?

There is no post game in any of the Trails games

FC = 40-50 hours
SC = 60-70 hours
3rd = 30-40 hours

Rough estimate.

tcaz2 posted...

LapisLazuli posted...

Say I wanted to play most sidequests, nothing post game unless it was story related (not interested in weapon quests and stuff like that either.

Length of each Sky game?

There is no post game in any of the Trails games

FC = 40-50 hours
SC = 60-70 hours
3rd = 30-40 hours

Rough estimate.

Cold Steel 2 arguably has a post game.
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SupremeZero posted...

tcaz2 posted...

LapisLazuli posted...

Say I wanted to play most sidequests, nothing post game unless it was story related (not interested in weapon quests and stuff like that either.

Length of each Sky game?

There is no post game in any of the Trails games

FC = 40-50 hours
SC = 60-70 hours
3rd = 30-40 hours

Rough estimate.

Cold Steel 2 arguably has a post game.

Didn't for me! I love cold steel and I put it down due to dissatisfaction in the ending. Will still play CS3 though!

Is 3 officially out?
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Only in Japan

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Which Ys is a Townbuilder/people collector?

I wanna play that one.

that's VIII, the most recent one
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Cold Steel 3 and 4 are both out in Japan, but neither has an NA release.

If you ask me, it's very likely XSEED is currently working on it and that Cold Steel 3 will be released sometime in the next 1-1.5 years. However, there's been no official confirmation of anything.

The two Crossbell games will likely never be released here at this point, but there are unofficial translations that exist if you choose to go that route.
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How about for sky 3? Fan patch?
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Sky 3 has a US Steam release. I think he assumed you were talking about Cold Steel 3.
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LapisLazuli posted...

Didn't like that Y's VIII demo very much honestly! And I'm far more interested in the story than the gameplay.

no apostrophe in Ys
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The PSP version of Sky 3 never got released in the US though, so if you're dead set on playing these on something other than a PC then that might be problematic
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I hate playing on PC, but it is what it is.
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If you're playing games on PC, the Sky games have a turbo mode which will cut down on playtime.
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iiicon posted...

If you're playing games on PC, the Sky games have a turbo mode which will cut down on playtime.

they have a what now
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Yeah I assumed you meant CS3

Tom Bombadil posted...

they have a what now

Yep! Can't remember if they were added around SC or The 3rd's release, but they're in all of the games now, including the Cold Steel PC releases. Not sure if they'll be in the PS4 releases, which is more relevant to LtM and why I didn't mention it.
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The Cold Steel PS4 Amazon blurb says it has 2x field speed and 4x battle speed.
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