Board 8 > SaveEstelle & LeonhartFour in New Houses: Estelle Saved Edition [SELF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Howdy, folks. Been a while (again)! Most of you probably know by now, but a big part of why I largely closed the door on GameFAQs a few years back is so that I could focus on launching a career and socializing with colleagues.

It's been going great! I've got some real firm footing in the industry and I worked tirelessly to make that happen. I also graduated with my BA - and I'm pecking away at a doctorate. Because why not?

Everyday, without fail, I rise with the sun and live life to the fullest. I sincerely hope y'all are just as blessed, or that you're on your way. If not, I'll wish you luck and be here again at least for a little bit to chat with you about what's up. Maybe I can help.

The poll is clearly catered to my interests - sorry, not sorry. I specifically chose stuff that hasn't premiered yet; The Expanse, Star Trek: Discovery and Picard, even Foundation is off-limits. We live in such a rich golden age for sci-fi and fantasy fare!

By the way, it's been tough finding time for replays when I'm previewing and reviewing new RPGs so often these days but I booted up Trails in the Sky earlier tonight. I've got a DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter en route so that I can enjoy the games on my 55" panel. Because nothing looks better on a 4K OLED screen than 2000s Falcom.
---

How'd you like Star Wars: Visions speaking of recent sci-fi/fantasy?

I have some anxieties about pretty much all of the shows you listed, unfortunately. Wheel of Time has my biggest hype but I'm worried they'll stray too far from the books (they're my favorite books, so changes would make me a bit sad). Obviously some changes would be cool, but changing who the main character is wouldn't excite me.
---

Not particularly excited about any of those, but I am morbidly curious to see what WoT ends up being, so I guess that one.

---

Loved it, seen it more than once

Ace Attorney
Attack on Titan
Clannad
Cowboy Bebop
Full Metal Panic!
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Hyouka
Kaguya-sama: Love is War
Kanon
Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
Persona 4 The Animation
ReLIFE
Sailor Moon
School Rumble
Steins;Gate
The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Toradora!
Tsuredure Children
Working!!

Really liked it, will watch again

A Place Further Than the Universe
Angel Beats
Baccano!
Eureka Seven
Fate/stay night
Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Mob Psycho 100
Planetes
Psycho-Pass
Usagi Drop
Violet Evergarden

Liked it, but probably won't watch again

Air
Azumanga Daioh
Dragon Ball
Fate/Zero
Great Teacher Onizuka
Love Hina
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Ouran High School Host Club
Sweetness & Lightning
Trigun
Tsukigakirei
Your Lie in April
Yu Yu Hakusho

Didn't like it, definitely won't watch again

Beyond the Boundary
Code Geass
Persona 4 The Golden Animation
Persona 5 The Animation

Dropped it, never finished

Fullmetal Alchemist
Gurren Lagann
Monogatari
Slayers

---

SaveEstelle posted...

but I booted up Trails in the Sky earlier tonight

!!!

has the promised day finally arrived

---

Mac Arrowny posted...

How'd you like Star Wars: Visions speaking of recent sci-fi/fantasy?

I have some anxieties about pretty much all of the shows you listed, unfortunately. Wheel of Time has my biggest hype but I'm worried they'll stray too far from the books (they're my favorite books, so changes would make me a bit sad). Obviously some changes would be cool, but changing who the main character is wouldn't excite me.

Visions was pretty cool! I'd be down for more. There were a few clunkers (IMO the rock band episode was particularly dire) but the highs more than made up for the lows. Cool project with some nifty original content!

I'm pretty worried about Wheel. Eddv and Kaelee seem more confident in how it'll turn out than I am, which is a little funny because between the three of us, I'm historically the most optimistic and likely the easiest to please. Here's hoping!

The Mana Sword posted...

Not particularly excited about any of those, but I am morbidly curious to see what WoT ends up being, so I guess that one.

Best of luck to us all on that front...
---

xp1337 posted...

!!!

has the promised day finally arrived

Estelle more like Bestelle.
---

SaveEstelle posted...

Estelle more like Bestelle.

You haven't even played the game that Estelle's best moment is in!

take that and put it in the hype machine

---

I got about a paragraph in before realizing that Leonhart did not, in fact, make this topic

---

xp1337 posted...

You haven't even played the game that Estelle's best moment is in!

take that and put it in the hype machine

My coworkers at RPG Site are hyping that heck out of Kuro no Kiseki, including James (who infamously gave Cold Steel IV a 5/10). Augh. Gonna be awhile.

@LeonhartFour You finished FMA: Brotherhood and really liked it! I either forgot or I never knew. That's rad.
---

Yeah, I don't remember if we talked about Brotherhood or not, haha.

But yeah, pretty good!

---

LeonhartFour posted...

Yeah, I don't remember if we talked about Brotherhood or not, haha.

But yeah, pretty good!

I get why some folks prefer the earlier stuff's original depiction. I don't entirely agree, but regardless, after that moment, Brotherhood is such a superior show to me. I'm happy to know you got through it. The dub is super-fun, too.
---

SaveEstelle posted...

My coworkers at RPG Site are hyping that heck out of Kuro no Kiseki

I've heard good things about it but I also heard an early impression (that seems to have been exaggerated/misinterpreted... probably) that had me worried Falcom might actually try to do one of the only things they could do to turn me on the series. So I've been tinged with some existential dread ever since. Kuro might be safe but Kuro 2? dammit falcom it says something that i can no longer trust you.

i think dowolf is playing it so maybe he can allay my fears later. or confirm them. >_>

CS4 has problems but it's better than 5/10 imhotbqh.

But as for Estelle I'm talking about Sky the 3rd. Easily has her best moment in the series IMO. i cried.

---

xp1337 posted...

I've heard good things about it but I also heard an early impression (that seems to have been exaggerated/misinterpreted... probably) that had me worried Falcom might actually try to do one of the only things they could do to turn me on the series. So I've been tinged with some existential dread ever since. Kuro might be safe but Kuro 2? dammit falcom it says something that i can no longer trust you.

i think dowolf is playing it so maybe he can allay my fears later. or confirm them. >_>

CS4 has problems but it's better than 5/10 imhotbqh.

But as for Estelle I'm talking about Sky the 3rd. Easily has her best moment in the series IMO. i cried.

Intriguing. I'd ask my coworkers if there's anything they're worried about along a similar vein, but I can't imagine they'd be able to answer me informatively without spoiling anything. Good think I have seven games purchased and ready to go!

But yeah, I knew I needed to start over after several years away from Liberl. I'm like an hour in and already shocked by how much I'd forgotten.
---

I think my favorite Estelle scene is still the beach scene in SC but 3rd is great either way.
---

That's probably #2 but for me the clear #1 is the conversation with Renne during the ending in 3rd.

---

Also CS4 had problems, but they're problems that already existed in all the other Erebonia games. So it's a bit weird to me to get to CS4 and then suddenly be like "this is the game that's the problem."

Of course I suppose I don't know what they rated the earlier games though.
---

CS4's a more serious game than the previous CS games, which accentuates a lot of those problems.
---

pyresword posted...

Also CS4 had problems, but they're problems that already existed in all the other Erebonia games. So it's a bit weird to me to get to CS4 and then suddenly be like "this is the game that's the problem."

Of course I suppose I don't know what they rated the earlier games though.

I'm not reading James' review, obviously, but here it is - feel free to give it a skim! He gave CSIII a 9, for the rec.

https://www.rpgsite.net/review/10402-the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-iv-review
---

For me, it's really one aspect of CS4 - the bond events turning into a full blown harem for Rean, and you can trace elements of that all the way back into Crossbell really. You're right it was always present in the CS arc but CS3 felt like it was walking it back a bit compared to CS2 and then CS4 comes in and turns it up to 11. I think that's what does it, it felt like Falcom identified and took steps to address it in CS3 and then pulled the football away Peanuts style with CS4.

And that kind of casts a looming specter over the rest of the series of if Falcom will go back to that. Hajimari/Reverie did not from all I've heard which was good but I've heard mixed opinions on Kuro's take but the average opinion I'm seeing is essentially "It's kinda like CS1" which means we once more stand at the crossroads and wait to see where Falcom wants to go with it next game lol.

Edit: Haha, kind of funny that my concern doesn't really come up directly in that review. I don't disagree with the points he's bringing up there but I'm not quite as hard on the game for them. A lot of that does fall on the crux of "We're talking about the 9th game in an interconnected series and that can cut both ways." Also the review score was updated to a 6! I actually wonder if the Zero and Ao localization announcements would trigger another revision because that issue was also raised because it kinda was, you know, a problem at the time of release.

---

Honestly the harem stuff in CS4 doesn't bother me as a whole since it really just felt like a natural conclusion to the last three games. Though I will never not be grossed out by Altina's events.

Some of the writing just doesn't land for me, and it has maybe my least favorite scene in the series (specifically the Intro dream/Eryn part, good lord). Soundtrack is probably the weakest of the four games for me too, even though I like some of the more memeable tracks.

---

I talked about that stuff with more specifics and detail back during my playthrough so I won't rehash it here especially since Quinton is like 6 games behind that and I don't want to scare him off with black bars everywhere but I'll just say I feel it massively held back and detracted from what were otherwise excellent scenes and development.

---

Well it seems like the actual text of the review suggests he views it as old problems getting worse rather than new problems appearing. I don't really agree with the "getting worse" part but I can see where it's coming from.

Though I suppose it also does get worse specifically in the transition of CS3 to CS4--the third game takes some steps to fix some of the issues with the first 2 games which were then just immediately undone in CS4. (Personally I'd argue it really happens in the final third of CS3 which I consider some of the worst content of the series, but I digress...)

I will also say he seems to view them as bigger problems then I do generally speaking though, since I liked all the games a fair amount.
---

I definitely agree with that review that the curse is dumb. And also that the pacing could be improved. Sometimes I wonder if games get edited the way books do, where the author'll write out a first draft and then cut out a bunch of unnecessary content by the time of publishing to make it flow better. I'm kinda skeptical they do.
---

Sad to see Kuro no Kiseki's launch physical sales at just 50k. Pretty big dropoff from the 80-87k of CSIII, CSIV, and Hajimari. The worry is that the reduction in "otaku" stuff is to blame here.

SAD!
---

Get ready for more fanservice in Kuro 2!

---

what does otaku stuff mean

edit: oh I see

---

Uh, the obvious cause is that it's a PS4 game and PS4 is on the downswing in Japan, I would think. Not making it a cross-platform release on the Switch was a big mistake.

It's worth noting that CS1 and CS2 also sold much better than CS3 and CS4, so I don't think the fanservice lack can be blamed.

Cold Steel 1 - 149,340
Cold Steel 2 - 151,781
Cold Steel 3 - 104,401
Cold Steel 4 - 97,158
Hajimari - 83,680
Kuro - 50,114

If people are curious about sales trends for the series. Those are all first week sales, but generally games sell >80% of their copies first week in Japan.
---

Mac Arrowny posted...

Uh, the obvious cause is that it's a PS4 game and PS4 is on the downswing in Japan, I would think.

I was poking a bit of fun at some of the Reddit comments I've seen this morning. (Including some with erroneous data!)
---

https://novacrystallis.com/2021/10/dragon-quest-composer-koichi-sugiyama-passes/

I volunteered for this one. Felt a weird need to, like, get it out of my system or something.
---

Publix subs are so good
---

kuro's soundtrack is pretty bad, but at least we get the best final dungeon theme since Axis Pillar

---

SaveEstelle posted...

Publix subs are so good

If someone had me make a list of things I missed most about the South, they would probably be in the top 5 or so

---

NFUN posted...

we get the best final dungeon theme since Axis Pillar

i feel like every final dungeon theme since axis pillar has cleared that bar. except maybe cs2.

---

yeah but CS2 made up for it by having the best credits song in the series

if only the game knew when to quit

---

Gotta tag this new topic

Im up to Grimmers introduction in Monster. Love this guy.

---

LeonhartFour posted...

yeah but CS2 made up for it by having the best credits song in the series

I'd give that to CS3 but CS2 is in second place.

---

xp1337 posted...

I talked about that stuff with more specifics and detail back during my playthrough so I won't rehash it here especially since Quinton is like 6 games behind that and I don't want to scare him off with black bars everywhere but I'll just say I feel it massively held back and detracted from what were otherwise excellent scenes and development.

I have an idea what you're referring to and even arvin said it's not that bad. I think it's healthiest to ignore old characters' developments in CS on anyway

---

Time to get me an OLED Switch
---

Need that true Metroid Dread experience huh

---

I still enjoyed season 3 of Castlevania, but it's definitely the weakest of the bunch.

---

first episode of CV really turned me off but all the chatter around it makes me wanna give it another shot! we just started paul rudd's netflix miniseries from 2019
---

Well, depending on what you didn't like, it just might not be for you because some parts of the show (like the excessive gore) never change.

---

Leon is a huge gore fan.
---

It's why I played Mortal Kombat

---

And Russell Wilson is out 1-2 months, so I guess I'll have to find a good replacement or cross my fingers with Cousins!

---

Ted Lasso Season 2 complete (for real this time)!

Not quite the catharsis I was hoping for with the finale, but they're clearly saving that for Season 3.

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PJpkGPtAHE

Season 6 premieres December 10th

HYPE

---

Oh cool, I was wondering when we'd get Season 6.

hype

---

I'll be curious to see what's different about season 6 considering what they had to, uh, change about season 5.

---