Finished the 2nd part of Act 1. Gotta say, I was a bit critical of certain aspects of new Class VII, but this game is really making me like them a lot more with pay off of what was planted in CS III. As for my deeper thoughts.
I'm liking how much more variety you get in this game, not retreading everything. The first part returning to the Hyarms province (forgetting the actual province name), was outside one part all the same places you've been to. This part was nice in that outside of Ash's hometown every place was a somewhere you never been. Having read the Zero prequel manga and the drama CD for CS II, was neat seeing Alster. Was very surprised to see Lucy in this game, and not sure if we are supposed to know the brunette who was with her. Glad I brought Fie with me between seeing Edel and Shirley. Speaking of which...
Getting the chance to beat smug ass Cedric was a great time. Outside of Shirley's habit of sexual assault at times, she can be fun, especially mouthing off to Cedric about putting a bad name to Testa Rossa. I am interested in what Michael's plan is, since he was on our side at the end of CS III and he was clearly not happy about what was going down with the branch campus at the beginning of the game. I imagine he hopes to minimize problems by being there, especially with how Cedric is quick to escalate.
I've been pretty good on calling on small things. I knew the woman eating food at the gate was Marguerite, and knew Ash's friend from the diner sold them out (I can't remember all of these names, forgive me). A current prediction I have is the owner of the shop at that lake town where you go to the shrine is Ellie's mother. In the picture the little girl looks eerily like her, then when Juna mentioned something about the mother looking familiar pretty much confirms it.
For other predictions, I've been wondering when some of the guest characters would come in to save the group, not just old Class VII. With Crossbell being next, I imagine Lloyd and Ellie at least being there to save them. Perhaps all of team Crossbell.
Edit
A small spoiler thought on return to the 3rd area in act 1
@jumpyjunpei Yes, there's 26 AP worth of leeway so you can miss every battle bonus AP condition and a few quests and still hit max rank.
Also, my copy finally arrived. xD
Grats! Still waiting for mine though ='(. Amazon says they will refund me in 2 days if I don't get it. I'll just take the refund and buy a physical copy at teh local store when that happens like I wanted to to begin with but let a family convince me otherwise because if I didn't agree I'd get the 'YOU NEVER TAKE MY SUGGESTIONS' lecture that I was trying to avoid. Hopefully there will be game stores left that aren't burned down due to election result rioters or something.
Pretty rough spot to be in. It was a little annoying having to wait an extra day or so for the digital edition I preordered to start working, I can only imagine having to wait over an extra week for the game.
I'm slowly inching my way through the first act, I've actually decided to talk to all the NPCs again in this game. Not sure what it was about Crossbell in particular but I enjoy talking to NPCs in this game compared to Zero, since in that game it felt like a chore pretty quickly. Something just more interesting about it in these games compared to Zero.
Overall enjoying the game, but once again while the game is very solid there are just small things here and there that just detract my enjoyment. The main thing is that so far nothing in this game has really changed my mind on the curse. Also, not a fan of prophecy stuff and just got to a part that talked about that stuff from CS III. I don't hate it, but both the curse and the prophecy stuff are just things I can't get behind 100 percent. There are other things that are hard to describe. There are times where a scene is great or things are starting to payoff from either CS I or CS III, but it feels like there wasn't quite enough build up or the execution was just off enough that I can enjoy the scene, but there's a nagging thought that something was missing to make it work much better.
For some spoiler thoughts.
It is starting to get tiresome with all the "I know you", "That's so and so the insert title here", and any variation of let's drop persons name and various type of affiliation. There's a number of those that have been pretty neat, but it does at a certain point get tiresome with all these characters. Still, love various call backs and seeing just how far these characters have come.
Not digging Vandyks reason for doing what he's doing. I'm a soldier and I fight for my country regardless of circumstances. Yeah, the man pulling all the strings is a horrible human, using nationalism and xenophobia to rally people to start a war that could spill the blood of millions. Then again, motivations have been hit or miss in these games for a while. Sky nailed them pretty well for the most part (Luciola still being the one in Sky I found stupid, and Walter being generic to me).
After playing the Crossbell games it has been fun to see it in IV and seeing even more NPCs from the previous games. Jona is the same lovable brat as usual, and I enjoy Sully dunking on him. The effects of the war in this game feel more present than the war in CS II with the draft, and the Hayworth's can't catch a break with Harold being drafted. It's so heartbreaking seeing Him and Sophia trying their best to make the best of their last day together and Collin seeing right through the façade and unable to cope with the reality.
Looks like the Marsh is the last stop for this part, though looks like NPCs have reset so looking like it will be another hour of talking before moving on, unless it was only the Hospital that changed NPC dialogue.
SpoilerLate part 3 Act 1Not digging Vandyks reason for doing what he's doing. I'm a soldier and I fight for my country regardless of circumstances. Yeah, the man pulling all the strings is a horrible human, using nationalism and xenophobia to rally people to start a war that could spill the blood of millions.
I'm pretty sure he recognizes Osborne's actions for what they are, but the important thing is that the Chancellor is successful in his utilization of nationalism and xenophobia, something that still works pretty well in real life today. He has the overwhelming majority of the Erebonian people buying into the hate. In addition to the populace being lied to and manipulated in regards to Calvard, there's the curse to buttress the whole mess and once this kind of group dynamic reaches a critical mass, it's the old Japanese saying of the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.[/spoiler]
SpoilerLate part 3 Act 1Not digging Vandyks reason for doing what he's doing. I'm a soldier and I fight for my country regardless of circumstances. Yeah, the man pulling all the strings is a horrible human, using nationalism and xenophobia to rally people to start a war that could spill the blood of millions.
SpoilerCS4, late part 3, Act 1I find Vandyck's actions depressingly accurate. Fighting for your country regardless of circumstances is exactly what every military in human history has conditioned its members to do. I mean, what alternative action is the man supposed to take? Rebel? Those elite Osborne-fanatic guards would try to arrest him in an instant and most of his reputation and pedigree within Erebonian society would be annihilated in short order through the propaganda machine. Flee? Then someone less competent is most likely to take his place, resulting in a more drawn out war and therefore even more blood spilled.I'm pretty sure he recognizes Osborne's actions for what they are, but the important thing is that the Chancellor is successful in his utilization of nationalism and xenophobia, something that still works pretty well in real life today. He has the overwhelming majority of the Erebonian people buying into the hate. In addition to the populace being lied to and manipulated in regards to Calvard, there's the curse to buttress the whole mess and once this kind of group dynamic reaches a critical mass, it's the old Japanese saying of the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
So I finished Act 1, and what a way it was wrapped up. Certain pieces of information that came up at the end there I already knew about, but they way it was revealed and how it happened I was not privy to, so definitely had a great time seeing how it played out. Minor complaints aside, act 1 was solid and was a blast from start to finish, though the last few hours of the 3rd part of the act started to drag out, but the finish more then made up for it. For more spoiler thoughts.
CS III, Rufus was still mostly likable, with a bit more surfacing of his terrible side. Now with him awakening the Auric knight, he's gone full asshole. When he threatened to kill the soldiers I knew we were truly dealing with a terrible person. I feel like this is what Cedric could become if he had actual power and was a lot more composed and capable. [/spoiler]
Gotta say, having not seen much of the game since I played it 2 years back, I'd kinda forgotten how absolutely hype this whole section of the game was. However I haven't forgotten that the next Act is...a little bit of a drag pacing-wise. Ah well.
One question, though. Shirley seems surprised that Merkabah 8 is repaired already...and I'm totally drawing a blank on when it's supposed to have been grounded. Perhaps when Bell and the Oathbreaker took on Arteria?
SpoilerEnd of FragmentsOne question, though. Shirley seems surprised that Merkabah 8 is repaired already...and I'm totally drawing a blank on when it's supposed to have been grounded. Perhaps when Bell and the Oathbreaker took on Arteria?
Allegedly
I mean, There is that Crack Theory about the whole story being an elaborate setup to fake Barkhorn's death, so that he can move around freely. And one of the main reasons why I found this Crack Theory so convincing was that Merkabahs should eat Calvardian aircrafts for breakfast, so Gaius whole story about how Barkhorn needed to shield him with his own body instead of simply tanking the aircraft attack with his OP stealth craft sounded fake to me.
If Shirley's remark is true and really refers to Barkhorn's sacrifice, this would throw a wrench into the theory in my opinion, though this would still leave me baffled how mundane Calvardian aircrafts managed to destroy a Merkabah in the first place. It also doesn't help Gaius' case because he completely failed to mention the role of the church aircraft in his little retelling.
SpoilerEnd of FragmentsOne question, though. Shirley seems surprised that Merkabah 8 is repaired already...and I'm totally drawing a blank on when it's supposed to have been grounded. Perhaps when Bell and the Oathbreaker took on Arteria?SpoilerCrack Theory, CS 3 endgame and CSIV FragmentsConsidering that Barkhorn was the former user of Merkabah 8, my guess is that this destruction refers to Gaius little Nord adventure when he received his Stigma from his mentor after he sacrificed his life to protect him.Allegedly
I mean, There is that Crack Theory about the whole story being an elaborate setup to fake Barkhorn's death, so that he can move around freely. And one of the main reasons why I found this Crack Theory so convincing was that Merkabahs should eat Calvardian aircrafts for breakfast, so Gaius whole story about how Barkhorn needed to shield him with his own body instead of simply tanking the aircraft attack with his OP stealth craft sounded fake to me.
If Shirley's remark is true and really refers to Barkhorn's sacrifice, this would throw a wrench into the theory in my opinion, though this would still leave me baffled how mundane Calvardian aircrafts managed to destroy a Merkabah in the first place. It also doesn't help Gaius' case because he completely failed to mention the role of the church aircraft in his little retelling.
Man, some of the guest characters really don't last long. So just got to the start of the Fragments part and the thing I was dreading about happened.
Okay, outside of that, pretty neat overall how everything worked out. Did not expect the workshop to be underground like that even though a few hints were there. Pretty hyped to see how it all plays out
I think this is part of why I like Ash so much. He's so counter to all the overly polite members of the group, his rudeness is a breath of fresh of air, even if he is so abrasive. Him and Crow roasting each other had me laughing out loud - it was great! That line about Ash's trigger finger...Like god damn, Crow gives no Fs.
Ok, finished the Fragments section. Overall pretty great, though it started to drag near the end and while still enjoyable it got a bit laughably sappy in some ways.
Ok, I know I dunk on Rean a lot, and I can buy the idea he is the center of class VII. Anyone can become the center of the group for varying reasons and you don't have to have a particular personality. But geez, everyone coming in to give a pep talk was just so sappy, both good and bad. Most characters were fine, but at times I was thinking "Rean really didn't have much of a connection with this character". Still, that part with Millium and Valimar was a real tear jerker, so I can't hate on the scene.
The stand off between the two groups was pretty cool, and seeing how they played off each other was pretty great. Then when Vita, Aurelia, Randy, and Agate come down was all the more hype. After they arrived and they did the whole "things still look bad" I was starting to get a little tired of the scene and wanted to move on. Still a pretty great scene. Favorite part was Ash calling Arianhord granny and Duvalie screaming "Call her that one more time and I will deck you punk". Always loved her character so looking forward to more of her arc in this game.
Now with Rean back I wonder how I will enjoy the game. It was nice to have other characters front and center without Rean to steal the moment, but now it looks like we are back to Rean taking center stage. I've heard act 2 is what splits people's opinion on the game. If I had to guess, this section of the game is going to be focused on setting up the Rivalries and saving the different duo's we saw during the fragments (Tio/Elise, Tita/Alfin, Towa/Pricilla).
Overall, my current thoughts on the game is a better executed act I compared to CS II. While a few sections drag on a little too long and certain scenes don't land as effective for various reasons, it does a great job showing the consequences of what happened at the end of CS III and gives great moments for all of new class VII. It also has warmed me up a little more to certain aspects of the earlier games, though that might be more because I'm playing again by myself instead of with my friend who is much more harsh on the CS games, so not influenced by his more negative thoughts.
I’m far enough into the game and watched enough spoiler scenes to have an opinion of the localization now. Overall, I think the localization is in better shape at launch than CS3 was. As with all Trails games, the dialog is a big improvement over its corresponding Kiseki.
Voice acting is kind of a mixed bag. NC7 and OC7 (including Laura’s new VA) are great. Besides McBurn, the other replacements sound kind of off especially Osborne (which is a huge disappointment). It’s pretty clear that COVID had an impact on recording. On a positive note, I think all new castings from CS3 improved in CS4.
Most of my gripes is with how NISA picks terms which is very very Hollywood-esque imo. It’s like they are trying to come up with something that sounds cool based off a relatively simple title in Japanese, but it ends up just sounding super cringe and chuuni at best and a huge lore issue at worst (Thaumaturgical Sector).
So amazon never arrived and was late enough to give me a refund so I bought a physical copy from gamestop. Been binging on the game hard the last couple days staying up to like 5.30AM and such. Im at act 1 part 3. Going to avokd spoiler tags since Im on the phone and its annoying to do on it.
Im enjoying the game a lot, combat in particular is a step up IMO in the sense that I cant just steamroll everything before they move. Though part of that is just that enemies seem hella fast. Even with triple advantage, enemies get to move after even my fastest moves with the least delay. Likewise when you break an enemy, they arent stunned for very long, sometimes recovering before I get to hit them once. You definitely have to be careful about turn order when you remove their break meter completely.
The new voice actors stick out because Im used to the old ones but I think they are fine. Even Osborne would sound fine if we had the same guy all along I think. But it'll definitely be one I wont get used to ever I think. The original voice was as distinctive as leonard Neemoy or something.
One gripe I have though is there seems like there are some really long stretches of travel time with monsters and such like dungeons and outdoors before any story stuff happens. Part 2 of act 1 in particular felt like I did a lot of travelling without much excitement happening other than minor bump-ins with old thors alumni, though I was cheering when a certain one who mentions goodies surrounded by water appeared. I hope we get more of them.
I had zero issues with part 1s boss timer. Did it in 17 turns and probably could have made it in 15 if I remembered to use my best sbreak sooner since it did 4S damage instead of 2S. Part2s boss fights both of them was another story. I BARELY took down the last person on turn 40. I had some bad luck with a certain deathblow craft landing deathblows on me twice. Imma know to bring the appropriate accessories for it next time. The mech fight was pretty nuts too. Dropped 2 of my mechs to below half health before I even got my first turn wut. The boss seemed to move more often than all 3 of my mechs combined too, including their backup support turns. Other than CS1's final battle on nightmare, this was the only mech fight that wasnt a total cakewalk... err I guess the sparring match with nighthardt in CS2 is up there too.
Oh man, didn't realize I missed the shrine around the Parm area, managed to completely forget to go down the other road before moving on with the story. Went through and the battle didn't happen so I missed the little extra scene with that. Is that going to make me miss out on anything big late game or is it just extra AP and that little scene. Also, anyone remember what kind of scene that was?
