Board 8 > Best First Game in a Trails Arc?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Cold Steel > Zero > Sky

They hit it out of the park with Cold Steel 1. The Persona vibes really helped the sales i think.

Sky is like watching paint dry and Zero is actually decent.

Cold Steel 1 blew me away and got me barreling through the franchise.

I have been unable to force myself through Sky 1 and Zero.

Sky > Zero > Cold Steel

Sky > Zero >> Cold Steel

Cold Steel 1 is a massive slog (combat is never once actually interesting) and kicked off the horrible "gate important content behind multiple playthroughs" trend

but most importantly, Cold Steel largely abandons the world building that make the first five games great

Zero > Cold Steel > FC

Mostly I just really like the SSS

Cold Steel > Sky > Zero

I can only go by the 10-15 hours I have played of both, but Zero's issue is that it was completely failing to draw me in at all, I didn't care about anything that was happening, and the combat felt like a weaker version of Cold Steel.

Sky was drawing me in a bit more narratively....but, at least in the beginning there, I'd say Sky's combat is MAYBE the worst I have ever experienced in a JRPG? I can't imagine a world where I could tolerate an entire game of that.

Sky = Zero >>>>> CS

Zero >> CS1 >>>> Sky

I haven't played Zero yet, but FC > CS1 is an easy choice

zero is amazing but i love estelle so much it's impossible to decide

voted FC

Zero > Sky > Cold Steel

Zero and Sky are closer to each other than to Cold Steel but I like them all.

Hoping that Kuro 1 takes the crown though because I've heard mostly good things about it.

pyresword posted...

Zero > Sky > Cold Steel

Zero and Sky are closer to each other than to Cold Steel but I like them all.

Same.

CS1 once it catches up to the cold open the rest of the way is excellent though.

Zero > Sky > CS

Frankly I'm stunned CS is winning the poll right now. I like it fine but think the others are leagues better.

NBIceman posted...

Frankly I'm stunned CS is winning the poll right now. I like it fine but think the others are leagues better.

It's the only one of the three that's the best game in its arc

MacArrowny posted...

It's the only one of the three that's the best game in its arc

except zero

I haven't played beyond CS2, but it's leagues better than CS1

neither of them is as good as any of the first five though

MacArrowny posted...

It's the only one of the three that's the best game in its arc

CS3 runs circles around the rest of Cold Steel imhotbqh

CS2 is easily the worst Cold Steel game

Maybe the worst Trails game period

my current ranking as they stand

Azure
Cold Steel 3
Sky SC
Cold Steel 1
Zero
Cold Steel 4
Sky FC
Cold Steel 2
Sky 3rd

Based on the 2 chapters i played of Reverie in Japanese it was trending around where CS4 was, but apparently it's much better with the official localization so I'll see when I get around to it.

3rd
Zero*
FC*
SC*
Azure
CS1/CS2

i did not care enough about cs3 to finish but maybe one day i will

*fluctuates on my mood

Cold Steel 2 is the worst CS game by a country mile. Thank God for 3.

3>1>4>2

Zero and it isn't even remotely close. FC and Cold Steel 1 both compete for worst games in the franchise.

That was like a 6 vote jump for Zero in under 10 minutes.

Did somebody really vote stuff this poll lol.

the hero we need

https://twitter.com/getaroomyoufuck/status/1705653418491076908

Got my eye on you tcaz

it was 3-4 votes in well over an hour

Tier 1: Sky SC > Azure > Sky The 3rd
Tier 2: Zero > Cold Steel 3 > Reverie > Sky FC
Tier 3: Cold Steel 4 > Cold Steel 1 > Cold Steel 2

CS1 > Reverie > CS3 > Azure > CS2 = CS4 > Zero > Sky 2 > Sky 1 = Sky 3

Sky SC > CS3 > Azure > CS4 > CS1 > Sky FC > Zero > Sky Third > CS2

Haven't finished Reverie yet

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Got my eye on you tcaz

Your eye should always be on me anyway because I'm awesome

SC > Azure > CS3 > Zero > CS4 > Reverie > CS1 > CS2 > 3rd > FC

Something like that. Top 3 and bottom 3 are pretty fixed at least.

3rd > Azure > SC > CS3 > Zero > CS4 > CS2 > CS1 > FC

3rd/Azure/SC/CS3 the top tier, maybe CS3 a step below the others. Zero not-quite-top-tier but better than the others. CS4 is probably safely above the remaining three but I'm not sure. Bottom 3 still good games and I'm not positive about that order.

Playing Reverie right now so it's unranked currently.

CS1 >> FC. Haven't played Zero.

th3l3fty posted...

Cold Steel 1 is a massive slog (combat is never once actually interesting)

That's how I felt about Sky. Everything about Cold Steel's combat is much snappier and less overwrought. I also didn't feel underpowered just by configuring my characters in a way that felt natural.

Sky gives you a ton of control over combat because it doesn't make you wait to find a specific quartz for a specific art

Cold Steel severely limits your options in the early game, and by the time you get access to better arts it doesn't even matter because they're so vastly inferior to crafts

Is this the most evenly divisive RPG series of all time?

One of these days I should probably finish CS3. I just stopped halfway through like two years ago and never resumed.

FC = Zero >= SC >>> 3rd

Among the ones Ive played so far.

The FC hate in this topic is criminal.

foolm0r0n posted...

Is this the most evenly divisive RPG series of all time?

I feel like theres a clear favorite in SC so probably not?

I've heard that Cold Steel is the most popular arc with casual viewers.

th3l3fty posted...

Sky gives you a ton of control over combat because it doesn't make you wait to find a specific quartz for a specific art

Cold Steel severely limits your options in the early game, and by the time you get access to better arts it doesn't even matter because they're so vastly inferior to crafts

You don't need a specific art. You just play the game as you're given it.

Unlike Sky, where if you don't min-max the shit out of everything, it takes an hour, all your consumables, and a ton of luck and planning to kill a boss. (And yes, that happened -- in chapter 3.)

Who needs to use items on bosses in a Trails game

azuarc posted...

You don't need a specific art. You just play the game as you're given it.

Unlike Sky, where if you don't min-max the shit out of everything, it takes an hour, all your consumables, and a ton of luck and planning to kill a boss. (And yes, that happened -- in chapter 3.)

get good? Who needs to use items on bosses in a Trails game

I remember all Trails games being fun and easy

But I play on Normal

Crescent-Moon posted...

Who needs to use items on bosses in a Trails game

NFUN posted...

get good? Who needs to use items on bosses in a Trails game

I use items in video games in general approximately 0.00000000000000000001% of the time because I refuse to be married to consumables. But this was the one time where the fight was unwinnable without them.

And when I asked later, people were like, "Oh? That was easy. You just set up this character with this and this and this, and give them that, and put these together in this certain way and..."

Well, gee, sorry the character power system in Sky wasn't immediately obvious to me how I could break the game with it, considering I barely understood how it worked in the first place. (I mean that in terms of deeper mechanics, not surface level. That part's obvious.)

yeah in trails games just use the items

your builds will start coming together at some point, items let you stall until you figure it out