Board 8 > The Legend of Heroes Kuro no Kiseki II Crimson Sin - Fall 2022

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/Hansuke21/status/1471341772081188868

At the rate we're going it'll be 2025 by the time we get this one

honestly if we get it in 2025 i'd be surprised

Reverie is 2023.

What's the word on the first one now that it's out over there, any good?

Edit: I mean I'm sure it's GOOD, but HOW good?

I'm hoping we get the other unlocalized ports first at least. I'm sure I can get through Sky if it's from the comfort of my television.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I'm hoping we get the other unlocalized ports first at least. I'm sure I can get through Sky if it's from the comfort of my television.

We are.

Zero and Azure are the two that got skipped before in the west when the series jumped from Sky to Cold Steel and they were both announced a while back.

Zero - Fall 2022
Azure - 2023

Once those two are here the gap in the middle of the series is filled. Nevertheless there's still catch-up to do to get to Kuro II

Reverie - Also 2023, after Azure
Kuro (Japan is here) - idk not announced. If you asked me to guess, I'd say 2025.
Kuro II - 2026?

...If you mean ports of Sky uh... I'm not sure there have been ones since the PS3 and Vita ones which lmfao.

Since I imported hajimari I keep forgetting that we don't actually have it yet

Oh I thought they were putting out PS4 versions of Sky?

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Oh I thought they were putting out PS4 versions of Sky?

No, Zero and Azure had PS4 versions and that's ultimately what we're getting for those two (along with PC and Switch [I think?] ports). Last I checked Sky's only platforms were PC, PSP (Sky 3 unlocalized), PS3 (unlocalized), and Vita (unlocalized)... with the Vita ports being all the way back in 2015.

Possible I missed some news somewhere but =/

Well damn, guess Sky is still a pipe dram then.

I'm banking it all on that newly remotes PS Now service!

This time I will be caught up for the new release for sure

Don't you have like 5 more games to play

I'm still triggered by the way they're handling everything. We'd got to a point where we had nearly caught up and now we're gonna be miles behind again.

Trails of Eternal Waiting more like it if youre outside Japan.

_stingers_ posted...

Don't you have like 5 more games to play

only 4

after I beat CS2 by the end of the week that is

Has it been confirmed whether or not this is the final Calvard game?

In any case, looking forward to the English release, though it's a bit hard to get excited when I don't think we even have a timeline to Kuro 1 yet.

pyresword posted...

Has it been confirmed whether or not this is the final Calvard game?

Kuro II is "the next chapter of the Calvard Arc" IIRC

I want to say Kondo had an interview some time back where he said it would be very hard for them to wrap up Calvard in two games so I think we're going 3 at least lol.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

What's the word on the first one now that it's out over there, any good?

Edit: I mean I'm sure it's GOOD, but HOW good?

I'm hoping we get the other unlocalized ports first at least. I'm sure I can get through Sky if it's from the comfort of my television.

why would you be sure it's good?

I mean outside of any official confirmation, only a fool would have bet on the Calvard arc being only 2 games.

pyresword posted...

I mean outside of any official confirmation, only a fool would have bet on the Calvard arc being only 2 games.

I think a lot more people were speculating on Calvard only being 2 games after Kuro 1 disappointed in sales.

Yeah I suppose that makes sense actually. I've been a bit checked out of the Kiseki fandom lately.

I was thinking more from the perspective of an observer before any of the Kuro games were released.

https://twitter.com/NoisyPixelNews/status/1471517417180471298

Falcom has said for like 7 years now lol.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

What's the word on the first one now that it's out over there, any good?

Edit: I mean I'm sure it's GOOD, but HOW good?

I'm hoping we get the other unlocalized ports first at least. I'm sure I can get through Sky if it's from the comfort of my television.

Spoiler-free as I can get, but spoiler bars for folks who want nothing. note that I still haven't finished the final chapter because I've been busy, but I'm close enough that I feel I can write this:

Story:
Vann is probably best protag since Sky. And I don't say this as a setup for "low bar" jokes -- he's genuinely well-written. Some of the other party members hit a similar level, but unfortunately, not all. A few literally get no characterization, which is impressive given it's not a short game.

Main plot starts off really strong, but quickly falls off. One chapter in particular is, for my money, the worst-written chapter of any Trails game, and there's some steep competition there. There's also a lot of attempts to be darker and grittier that just don't work; they feel forced or fake instead. A few things even feel Problematic to me with a capital P; your mileage may vary.

Random NPCs are probably the best written they've been in a while. We still have the problem we've had since Cold Steel 1 (and has gotten worse in the last couple) where there's lower-tier NPCs who are boring and who sound like they're talking out of a textbook. That said, the game takes steps to keep the good NPCs around so we can keep going back to them, and it really helps.

Gameplay:
I think it's a really cool system in theory, and for the first dozen or two hours. Expanding real-time attacks to be more dynamic is great, and flowing into the turn-based system after you get a stun (which is basically required) feels really good. Unfortunately, there are simply not nearly enough moves to keep real-time options to keep you interested for the length of a 100-hour RPG.

Furthermore, the turn-based system suffers a major dumbing down. Setting up a build went from galaxy-brain in Sky, to normal-brain in CS, to caveman in Kuro. I'm fine with them changing things up -- with Sky in particular, I know a lot of people who beat FC or more without ever understanding how orbment setups worked -- but this is too much.

Finally, there's no minigames. Not even fishing. This is literally the first Trails game without fishing. At that point, is it even an RPG?

Art / Music:
Game is actually super beautiful? Like I am impressed, especially given it's on a last-gen console. We pay for that in loading times, but if you have a PS5 or an SSD in your PS4, well. Let's just say I'm jealous.

Musically, it's the same general quality as the last couple games. You know what you're getting at this point, and I don't know what else to tell you.

TY.

Gotta say it sounds worryingly like a Valkyria Revolution situation.

the battle system always looked like a weird experiment more than a good idea to me

the other stuff in that spoiler text is more worrisome for sure

From what I've heard of the battle system, every major fight in the game ONLY takes place in the turn based system so the real time combat thing is sort of more of a extension of field attacks giving you an advantage than meant to be a full on battle system of its own.

That said I've also heard several people say that it being so half baked actually makes them more aware of the annoying parts than if it was just the same as how Cold Steel did it.

Hopefully they can iterate on it some or something.

The battle system by the end of Cold Steel was incredibly broken. They did try adding stuff to make it feel a bit more fresh but all that ended up doing was making you way more overpowered. The idea of being able to give any character any secondary MQ seemed overkill.

shane15 posted...

The battle system by the end of Cold Steel was incredibly broken. They did try adding stuff to make it feel a bit more fresh but all that ended up doing was making you way more overpowered. The idea of being able to give any character any secondary MQ seemed overkill.

the battle system was incredibly broken in CS1. There are a dozen builds to trivialize the game, including one that makes it impossible for you to even take damage if you supplied yourself well enough

If anything I'd say CS3 is more balanced than the other 3 games of the series (which isn't saying much because they're all super easy to even unintentionally in a casual playthrough completely bend over your knee).

CS2 is easily the most broken though in that literally setting up Laura in the most obvious way possible and using a single S-Craft one shots most bosses on Nightmare.

idk wtf they were thinking with that game lol

is there still dating sim stuff in kuro? cold steel IV is almost ruined thanks to it so I'd be happy to hear that they got rid of it, but I fear the worst.

colliding posted...

is there still dating sim stuff in kuro? cold steel IV is almost ruined thanks to it so I'd be happy to hear that they got rid of it, but I fear the worst.

Cold Steel didn't go far enough with it

Let me have a harem and H-scenes with everyone imo

CS4 giving you the tools to make Rean a god-tier caster is the funniest shit

Every one of the last three Persona games does the dating sim elements better than any Trails game.

Hell, the Fire Emblem games even do it better...

I don't think the dating stuff I'm CS is, like, particularly bad or anything, but it doesn't add anything and the games would be better without it.

It's kind of cringe.

should've just made Laura canon and moved on

LeonhartFour posted...

should've just made Laura canon and moved on

Preach.

Actually I'm going to backpedal and say they do make the games notably worse because Rean can date his students.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Actually I'm going to backpedal and say they do make the games notably worse because Rean can date his students.

this is what makes CSIV egregiously bad. like I can deal with the harem aspects of CS 1 & 2. I can look away when older Rean and Sara get flirty in CSIII and IV (which is definitely icky but tolerable), but they crossed the line with Altina and Musse.

and unlike Persona they don't have friendzone options, and some of the good story/character development is locked behind the date events (I forget what they're actually called)

Rean's Bone Zone is a very large AoE

In Hajimari, Rean's route is the only one with dating options so they've made it clear it's a special ability only he has

colliding posted...

and unlike Persona they don't have friendzone options

In CS4, they kinda do.

If I wasn't already committed to Towa I definitely would have romanced Musse or Altina next

All the more reason there needed to be a harem option

LeonhartFour posted...

In CS4, they kinda do.

I guess. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I distinctly remember there being some pretty cool/interesting character stuff being locked behind "special memory" scenes or whatever

tcaz2 posted...

If I wasn't already committed to Towa I definitely would have romanced Musse or Altina next

you're a monster

colliding posted...

I guess. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I distinctly remember there being some pretty cool/interesting character stuff being locked behind "special memory" scenes or whatever

well yeah, every game with multiple love interests encourages you to romance characters by hiding the good stuff behind the romance route

#TowaLife

I still haven't played CS3 or 4 but Sara was the best and I won't allow anyone to badmouth her romance

all I wanted to know was if kuro had bonding events; sorry to turn this into a waifu topic, which it now is, obviously

it will always become a waifu topic

Tokisaka > Shwarzer, at least he can't romance his non-blood related little sister.

... Wait.

Falcolm what the fuck is wrong with you?

They're just giving the people what they want

Will stand by that inequality still though, because his "main" romance is 100 times better.

Asuka >>>>> Alisa