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?
I don't think you'll miss out on anything. It's a flashback, but if you want to know about the scene
Yesterday was a holiday here in Canada, which normally means nothing for me. But my family was nice and LET me take the day off to play ToCS4 all day. yay. So yeah, played a ton, just got to act 2 now, found the interlude chapter thingie to be strange. the first 2 bosses were total cake, and despite the 3rd group having the 'op' party, I felt their boss to be the harder one by far, mostly due to unexpected spikes in damage happening at the worst times from link attacks. I did get the 10 bonus ap from the final boss though yay. It was really hairy at first, but then when I decided to bite the bullet and just focus on keeping my defensive order up and use brave seeds if I have to (used 2, I never used one in all of CS so far lol. It's a bad habit of mine where I horde 'good' items and never ever use the darn things. I still have yet to use a zeram powder in all of kiseki lol. hell I've never even used an ep max or whatever they're called!). Anyway, after keeping defensive orders up and using a couple brave seeds to make it doable easily, it was going in my favor.
How do people feel about act 2 so far? I haven't even really started yet, just in the town hub area talking to folks currently. Do the mainstream reviewer people have a point where it's not as good as act 1 or whatever? So far I'm having a blast overall. Though I do wish we had more item/quartz choices before the interlude chapter since we have to equip so many people up for it. I just kinda tried to get 2 people 'built' properly in each group, and the rest was like meh whatever, which is funny since the groups I got to customize were the easier ones when I half-assed them. I guess maybe it expected you to not really put effort into either quite yet.
Chapter 3's boss timer bonus ap thing was cake. I thought it would be hard since it had a new mechanic that was not friendly to the player, but managed to down them in 14 turns anyway, I only used 1 s-break too! Act 1 chapter 2's was way rougher IMO... The mech fight was also easier I found, wonder what your guys' takes were? I'm playing on hard btw, not sure if it changes things or not.
I just finished the sol shrine and am back on the ship where the game gave me a tutorial on the harem mechanic. Fie is the only option for me. Is this due to cs3 carryover bonding points? If I view her event does that eliminate other "harem" options that may appear later? Id like to see her event cuz she is one of my top 5 or so but not "best girl" to me or whatever so I dont want to see it if it prevents me from seeing other ones of that nature later.
No, it's just like the other games; on that day Fie and whoever else are available, then on the next round a different selection and so on. There's no lock out, so you can play Rean as a complete dirtbag if you want and lead all the ladies on.
There isn't really a 'harem' option (this isn't an R-18 game...) but no, picking one character for any event won't lock you out of picking any other character for future events, until you get to the culmination of all the bonding stuff anyways and you're locked in to your choice for the remainder of the game.
With work being much busier and getting overtime, weekends are becoming my only time to get through the game, so finally had a chance to get through the first part of act 2. I am starting to get CS II vibes here with how much like CS III had the same format as CS I, CS IV has the same structure that CS II has. That comes with both the good and the bad. As of finishing that one section, it feels similar to CS II in how the main content feels more like fluff and while in the moment it feels fun, once done I'm not really thinking much on how what we experienced is leading up to later moments. It's the smaller things like seeing the world and some of the side quests that are better and keep me more interested than the actual main plot. To go in more depth.
In the main plot though, I was already starting to get bored of Claire's story, but now I'm losing patience with her. Or more accurately, I feel like the way her story is unfolding just doesn't feel natural enough. That and I feel like the revelation about what the eyes for the Iron Bloods do kind of goes against what they were supposed to be known for. She's supposed to be known for her strategy and planning, and the idea for both her and Lechter being there for operation birdcage was that even if they were up against strong opponents, together their minds plus resources could keep everyone at bay. Now it was only possible because of channeling the great twilight because the people they were against would be too much otherwise. I know even in Sky there were already super humans, but it's starting to get ridiculous the amount of power level BS we have to go through.
I'm starting to see how the curse seems like a convenient plot device in so many respects. The quest in which they chalked up the paperwork being sent out due to the curse was so weird to include. With everything else going on, seems like even with it being super important it could still happen. The way the quest ended with how they have to shelf that though for later makes me think there will be more and another quest will have to do with that later. Even if another quest happens that changes the context of everything, still a really bad way to set up things, and gets me to why this curse really sours my overall enjoyment of this arc.
When you have mystical and magical elements in a story, it still gels with the overall real world aspects that we ourselves understand. We may not have magic, but when magic is put into a story you can see how such a thing would reflect certain aspects of out world. Not necessarily related to Cold Steel, but you can have discrimination based on those able or unable, those who are hungry for power using magic to get what they want, those kinds of things. More Trails specific, in Sky 1 the reason I think the main antagonist worked so well was the very real feelings of his past experiences and fear for the future. Being invaded by a massive force they would have no hope of deterring themselves, he was easily manipulated, or because of his fear went for a power that he didn't know actually truly existed because he felt it was necessary.
Now we have the curse, which at this time feels like an easy way to handwave average citizens and possibly other major characters behavior. These people aren't actually terrible and would never have committed such atrocities, it was the curse that did it. Now credit where credit is due, some of the worse stuff that happened wasn't just forgiven. Those who caused the Hamel incident for example were punished. On the other hand, when you are on the protagonists side, people like Ash who tried to take the Emperor's life is forgiven instantly. I know these two events are completely unequal in how morally wrong it is, but still makes it a little inconsistent.
All that said, it makes it worse when the game is making it an easy way for the common person in Erebonia to be excused. The Curse can completely stop people from critically thinking, dismissing facts and get into nationalistic ferver to go to war with another superpower that will cause the death of unspeakable numbers. Maybe it's from both our world's current and past history, but it makes me sick thinking that we can look over all of this because the curse did it, and not because people in general can easily be manipulated even if we don't want to think about that, and it is an uncomfortable truth that people that can seem nice on the surface can have internalized hatred. Everything that people are doing in this game could happen without the curse.
If that doesn't affect your enjoyment of the game, more power to you. However, for me it's such a baffling plot device that really ruins what should make for much more organic storytelling and making a much more real parallel to our world. Alas, it did not go that way. I know there's a possibility that later in the story new information could change things. That said, I severely doubt that anything else that happens could make me be fine with the curse, and even then I may question why the story couldn't have been done a different way without this plot device. I don't believe that just because they story itself justifies a certain things means it needed to be actually in there.
Last note, I was warming up to Rean in CS III, but now with him back as the lead I really miss the fresh air that was the new Class VII being the center. I love Estelle, but even if she was the main character for 4 games that combined to over 300 hours of game I would want someone new. Doesn't help that I go for Fie for my first bonding event and instead of just having a fun little time I have to get another confession towards Rean. I just want to enjoy these characters, and every old and new class VII female character vying for him is really getting tiring. Heck, after the rivalry between Rean and Crow those few scenes cemented into me that Crow and Rean should be the canon couple. In those scenes they have chemistry and you can tell that Crow means a lot to Rean, where with all the girls he just doesn't seems to care. End of the day, I'm just ready to move on from Rean and the fact that Hajimari has him as one of the 3 main characters is making me look a little less forward to that game.
Being really vague here, in theory from what I am gathering from what I've played and knowing some major end game spoilers I can see myself liking the idea of what they were going for in regards to one specific plot point. That said, considering all the build up and my spoilered criticisms, it's still not something I feel I will be able to get behind completely. If you want a more spoilered idea what I am talking about.
Update
So finished the 2nd part of act 2, and liked this part much more overall. Unlike CS II where it never felt like Class VII ever went anywhere with finding their own way, this part made it feel like everything is starting to come together with seeing how far everyone has come into their own. I also take back my distaste for the military side of things. Having more time to think about it and seeing some more of the story, I can see how taking their role they can still do some good. I hope the next part keeps the momentum going, but even if it doesn't hit a high note I feel that with everything I've seen so far it has done better of not falling into the problems that CS II had, at least so far. Also, liked the call back into Sky which if you've played the games and remembered what happened you knew what to expect in how that one scene would play out.
I am very happy that I don't have to go back to every single place after each little part, and that the quick travel guide allows you to see where things have changed. I think CS II was a similar in how even when the map opened up more not everyone changed their dialogue, you just didn't know until you went to an area and if you remembered the dialogue you could tell nothing changed.
If I had to guess I'd say I'm somewhere between a third to halfway through the game, I've put about 37 hours in. At this rate the game will take at least as long as CS III to finish.
Oh boy, just finished Act 2 and going to need some time to digest everything before giving my in depth thoughts. For now, Act 2 was overall solid, not dragging too much and ending on a high note. Though I do feel like it's a little like CS II where a lot of the story stuff you do is pretty unmemorable, though it does have some good moments. Outside of the climax, the only part that I thought was really well done was the second mission you did. The first one was lackluster and the third one dragged on and I didn't really care for it. The climax is what really elevates it and even then it hits that point of going on too long even if there's a lot of individual things to love about it.
That said, outside of still not liking the curse, certain plot points that I knew would unfold that I was uncertain of I ended up enjoying. I'll have to go into more details in spoiler thoughts once I have had time to digest everything.
Ok, now having some time to digest the end of Act 2, ready to give my full spoiler thoughts before diving into Act 3. Major spoilers abound so beware.
I knew coming into the game that those on the courageous had survived, and I was not a fan knowing that. I still stand by it a little since we've had a few fake out deaths only for them to come back. Though in this instance it wasn't "surprise, we were immortal and can't die until a super specific event happens". However, with the way Olivert came in like a boss sporting that amazing eyepatch (It's illegal how much more sexy it made him, and he was already quite the looker). So while part of me thinks those staying dead would have upped the reality of how high the stakes are, Olivert just shone that entire scene and I can't be mad at him. Something I did not know was that Victor would become an antagonist, and the fact that he lost an arm. All in all, this scene once again taught me that just because you know a specific spoiler doesn't mean you can't be surprised how certain things play out.
If there's one character I found myself liking more after this part it was Musse. When they are the protagonist it can be hard to have a super genius character who seemingly can see every single thing and be super accurate. However, one we see that even she didn't see something like Olivert surviving and having his counter measure. And two, it showed that Musse is quick to take the most extreme measures on plans the predicted. She can predict a lot of things and come up with plans for maximum efficiency, but in the moment she will fall on a plan instead of considering her options. I was worried she was going to be supreme leader of the Weissland army but this scene showed why Cassius is more fit. In the future Musse could be much more capable, but Cassius has experience and can change his plans on a whim with ever evolving situations.
A small bummer for me was how short the playable section was. It's for the best so it didn't drag, but dang it I've been wanting my Estelle and Fie duo so having that so short lived hit me. There are some bigger problems I had with the Act 2 finale that makes it not stick as well as it could have.
The bloat is really showing with the characters and how much dialogue in this can negatively affect the game. In times where nothing is happening like before the ship is attacked, having all the characters interact with each other is a treat. When shit has hit the fan and major developments keep happening, everyone making comments can make it drag and at times just be frustrating. It's not a deal breaker, but by the time Olivert finished his grand speech and then Osborne and his cohorts came up it started getting old. It was still a great scene, but it did sour the experience a little with how much it dragged.
My biggest complaint once again comes down to Class VII and how their development as a whole being a 3rd faction feels really underdone. As much as I loved Olivert's entrance and his speech, it really took out the momentum that Class VII and their allies had been building up. I understand that he is a player in this as well, but at least in my head the idea was that Olivert had put some pieces in place for a faction to flourish and come into their own. The fact that he comes to their rescue and has so much stuff set up for them takes away from allowing class VII to do their own thing. By the end of the act, I was feeling like once again class VII was less a faction and more just pieces on the board with little agency. To be fair, with how big the conflict this is it makes sense that they are supposed to feel small, but 3.5 games in and not much to show for themselves to get their own way out of this mess was missed potential. I'm not saying outright winning, but enough to do something to turn the tides enough to at least get away even if they lose their main ship in the process.
The scene also really spells out how little the individuals of old Class VII seem to really pull anything out to help. The idea of class VII was to get these unique individuals with their own specialties and abilities to help make a third faction so much bigger. Jusis is acting head of one of the 4 great houses yet he has done nothing of note to help out, with Musse doing the heavy lifting. Machias in his time in working hasn't made any headway into anything. Alisa made her own machine like Tita, but that's about it. Once again, I understand they aren't in a position to make huge plays like the Titans that are Irene, Osborne, and Schmidt, but overall it feels like the game didn't pull through on each one of them making some contribution in order to make this third faction. At most it's the bonds they made, which to me doesn't feel like enough, and even then it becomes insulting considering every scene makes it seem like only Class VII can do this, ignoring all the other Thors alumni and students that have stakes in it and are actively helping out seemingly more than individuals in class VII.
While the main plot and the world building is pretty solid in Cold Steel, the whole Class VII set up has been very mismanaged, and this act finale put certain things into perspective into why. So at the end of the day, while the end of Act 2 is really cool and has some great moments, it really dampens my mood going forward on the whole third faction story line as a whole. I like it, but after typing my thoughts out I can't really say it was great. Many individual moments had me pumped, but considering everything before and the execution of the scenes, it doesn't feel right.
For those who are trying to skip spoilers and want a quick spoiler free TLDR, many great individual moments in the finale, but when considering all the Cold Steel games leading up to this and the way the scene plays out, it fails to deliver some much needed payoff for Class VII as a whole, and makes it clear at least to me how mismanaged the overall Class VII plotline has failed to deliver.
I admit I may just be getting fatigue from the Cold Steel saga. I was able to breeze through Crossbell since it was a new cast and was a breath of fresh air, but with CS IV I will play a few chunks for a day or two then spend days waiting to muster up the will to continue on.
Last, more positive note, this game has once again showed Duvalie is a treasure and all the bullies out there should be ashamed of themselves. Also, there are only two correct Rean pairings and it's either Rean X Crow or Rean X Patrick, or if you are feeling really spicy, All three of them together. I swear the true curse is that it's suppressing the true feelings of people and once it's gone we will see just how gay Erebonia is when people can admit their true feelings, and it will be glorious.
SpoilerEnd of Act 2The scene also really spells out how little the individuals of old Class VII seem to really pull anything out to help. The idea of class VII was to get these unique individuals with their own specialties and abilities to help make a third faction so much bigger. Jusis is acting head of one of the 4 great houses yet he has done nothing of note to help out, with Musse doing the heavy lifting. Machias in his time in working hasn't made any headway into anything. Alisa made her own machine like Tita, but that's about it. Once again, I understand they aren't in a position to make huge plays like the Titans that are Irene, Osborne, and Schmidt, but overall it feels like the game didn't pull through on each one of them making some contribution in order to make this third faction. At most it's the bonds they made, which to me doesn't feel like enough, and even then it becomes insulting considering every scene makes it seem like only Class VII can do this, ignoring all the other Thors alumni and students that have stakes in it and are actively helping out seemingly more than individuals in class VII.
While the main plot and the world building is pretty solid in Cold Steel, the whole Class VII set up has been very mismanaged, and this act finale put certain things into perspective into why. So at the end of the day, while the end of Act 2 is really cool and has some great moments, it really dampens my mood going forward on the whole third faction story line as a whole. I like it, but after typing my thoughts out I can't really say it was great. Many individual moments had me pumped, but considering everything before and the execution of the scenes, it doesn't feel right.
SpoilerCSIV end of Act 2I have to agree here and calling it mismanagement is a pretty fitting word. In my opinion, the beginning of this mismanagement started as early as CS3 and the establishment of New Class VII. While Rean's students really grew on me, their engaging character arcs were at the same time a delayed fuse for old Class VII and this whole Third Way idea to bomb. The first inkling I felt that Old Class VII was simply doing too little was during their Class reunion in CS3 chapter 4, namely after all the hugs and heartwarming scenes were over and they started to discuss the progress they made to thwart Osborne. Not going to repeat the lines, but my reaction afterwards boiled down to:That's it? You all graduated early, left Rean with one hell of a burden to content with and that's all you have to show?
My main beef with the way Falcom wrote OG Class VII is that for the most part, they are too passive when dealing with Osborne and the whole Divine Knight/curse issue. And due to the existence of New Class VII, there simply wasn't enough room to write them in a proactive manner, because that would've made them the protagonists of their own individual plot sections.
As such I actually disagree that OG Class VII weren't in a position to make huge plays. Falcom simply wasn't willing to follow up on some of their dangling plot threads or character arcs. Probably because they wanted to build up Osborne as this nearly invincible chessmaster.
Alisa: Probably one of the most mishandled characters in the whole Cold Steel arc due to wasted potential. One plot thread that Falcom practically abandoned and that could've been an awesome and engaging way to develop Alisa, advance the plot and do some good worldbuilding, while making her extremely plot relevant would be the investigation of Reinford's elusive 5th Factory Division. Still remember? The Roer Field Study in CS1, when Class VII plus Towa/George found out that hundreds of thousands torim of iron ore were dumped on the black market? After everything we know now, the development of the Panzer Soldats and that missing iron were most likely all funneled to this 5th Factory Division. And knowing the true inventor of the Panzer Soldats the 5th was probably either affiliated or even part of the Black Workshop. When Alisa became the chief manager of the 4th Reinford Division, she was in a perfect position to pursue this issue. It could've cracked open the underbelly of Reinford, Osborne's major weapon supplier and it would also serve as a perfect way to explore the Gnomes and her own Gnome heritage. And with Machias as the new Inspectorate hotshot giving legal assistance and one of the more combat oriented members of Class VII like Fie or Laura as backup, they could've majorly inconvenienced Osborne's big war preparations before that whole assassination scapegoating made legal or political moves impossible.
Jusis & Laura: As of CS3, he was basically number two of the entire noble faction and Kreuzen was his to command. While he's somewhat limited in the direct actions he can take due to the major power-up of the Reformists and the burden of mitigating Marquis Ballards stupidity, he could've used his wealth and influence to majorly prop up two of his classmates: Laura and Alisa.
We know thanks to CS2 that bigshot nobles are a major part of Reinfords shareholders or in Heidel Rogner's case even part of the board of directors. If Jusis had thrown his weight and money behind Alisa, it wouldn't be inconceivable for her to challenge even her mother, beside the fact that Gwyn is also on Alisa's side. And if Falcom were real gutsy (but the Rean harem made this option all but impossible), a political marriage between Alisa and Jusis could've allowed Alisa to wrestle the CEO position from Irina.
As for Laura, Legram is part of Kreuzen and Jusis could've supplied her with both money, infrastructure and Panzer Soldats. Money and infrastructure to build up the reach and influence of the Arseid school. We see in CS3/4 that the Vander school basically have their own internal information network to draw on and during the Gral of Erebos incident when Cryptids were roaming in Heimdallr, Kurt's mother and her disciples helped by rescuing and evacuating civilians, making them pseudo bracers. The Arseids are hailed as the Vanders equal, but Laura or Victor seem to be the only active members. As for Panzer Soldats, Laura questioned the worth of traditional swordfighting as early as a bonding event in CS2, but Falcom simply refuse to let her learn piloting, which only further diminishes her impact in CS4, when mech fighting becomes more important.
And why did Laura never pursue the option of becoming a guest instructor at Thors Branch campus in CS3? She was already traveling throughout Erebonia to gain experience as a martial-arts instructor and even a month-long stint at Leeves could've done wonders to develop her character and show her rapport with Aurelia who voiced an interest in mentoring Laura as early as CS2.
Millium: The quintessential double agent. If Falcom was willing to introduce proper character friction within OG Class VII even after they grew to be best friends after CS2. Jusis even lampshades it in CS3, but it's again a resource that none of old Class VII seem willing to use. Fie's search for Zephyr, the Reinford/Black Workshop angle, Machias' Inspectorate work to expose government corruption, all could've profited from info slipped to them by a certain White Rabbit.
Emma & Elliot: CS4 Act 2 shows in the mainline quest, a sidequest and Elliot's bonding event that music can actually counter the curse. Emma's bonding event shows that she is willing to delve into forbidden magic to root out the curse within Rean. Why are these two not cooperating? Vita is shown as early as CS1 to cast a broadcasting spell to show Class VII the happenings in Heimdallr from the safety of their class room. Combine such a broadcasting witch spell with one of Elliot's performances and they could again majorly inconvenience any of Osborne's war preparations that rely on people being heavily influenced by the curse. They aren't going to purge Erebonia from the curse, but using it sporadically could give them invaluable tactical advantages.
Fie: Another character who should've learned to pilot Soldats as early as CS2. But no, New Class VII need to have their own thing of course...
Gaius: He's the only one I'm willing to overlook. The whole Stigma issue plus Gralsritter training didn't allow him to do much during CS3. And as a foreigner, he naturally lacks the potential for political plays that his other classmates have.
- Just finished act 2 myself. So far Im liking it way more than CS2, and the similarities are really only skin deep IMO compared to the other games. I do agree that old class 7 feel more like guest characters what with how unimportant they seem compared to rean/new class 7. It doesnt bother me that much though, is just a point I can agree with.
I totally agree than CS3s class reunion was a let down. The interactions in CS4 act 2 were better, but even that doesnt hold a cancel to CS3s fancy dinner/dance part. I wonder if that will be the highlight of the entire series for me.
Was nervous about act 2s boss rush because it didnt let me rearrange equipment, and even the party distribution was weird what with this game's fascination of gender segregation. Why are they doing it? They didn't do it in CS3. Blah. In any case I thought I was in big trouble for the bosses since half my teammates were wearing default quartz and armor and had 0/accessories, but the game seems to go easy on you. I saw the bosses hit me for '1' sometimes wut? Of course others would full party nuke for 7k and inflict confuse and/or nightmare. Plus the old instant death ones, etc. But it still felt like there was some pity there. Fortunately between the rage quartz being available now, evergreens, etc, I got my Fie built up to carry one group which she did, and Rean of course did his own. His tranaformation craft isnt just great for offense, but his defenses seem to go up more this time around and status immunity is great, especially since I want him to have a gladiator belt and cant wear a grail locket since tbat eryn amulet is so dang good.
How far is this anyway? Im thinking somewhere between 2/3rds and 3/4s.
One gripe I have is how many crafts the old cast "forgot". They had like 6 or something in CS1, and then they end up with 3? Baw. Some of them were my faves too like resounding beat, armor breaker (I realize lions rush is supposed to replace it but one cost 20cp the other a ton more), estelle's morale boost was crap in sky due to its poor duration but it would be great in CS unless it only last 1 turn or something since it would last actual turns instead of oops gone before you got to move!
Man, I'd forgotten how good Rivalry of the Seven was. Very fitting for the times it plays, too.
Finished Act 3, the act that more than any other act felt like a majority of the content was from talking to NPCs and side quests than the actual story stuff. Once again I'm mixed on my feelings on how everything went. On the one hand, the emotional moments of characters involved with the Rivalries that happened were pretty good. On a whole though it felt like a lot of this stuff was there to pad the game out and at a certain point I'm just wanting to move on when cut scenes just keep going on. That said, it was all worth it for one scene.
The climax of the act was overall very satisfying. I knew the major spoiler of how a certain event went down, which only made the scene in question more tense knowing what would happen. However, it was really well done and really hit me in the emotions. I'll have to do a spoiler talk again once I've had time to process it all.
I know it's a pretty polarizing game, but I came away from it with an overall positive look on it. Yes, it had its lows:
Not a fan of the harem stuff and just how many girls were added to it.
Act 2 kind of drags, but I actually preferred it to CS2's and it feels like it goes by a fair bit quicker.
People being a touch too forgiving for my taste.
Falcom being a bit too scared to kill anyone off (but I'm glad that some people didn't make it to the credits).
On the other hand, it has some really high highs:
The best bonding events (romance stuff aside) in the series.
Some really great side quests.
Ash.
Mostly everyone being here.
My boy McBro just gets better with every game. That whole reveal of him and the Beyond still blows me away two years later.
Rufus getting socked right in his stupid sexy face.
The Osborne fight. Dat Heimdallr melody sneaking its way back in. Dat S-Craft. Dat cut-in. Worth the 9 game build up. I just wonder how they'll ever be able to top him.
It's been a long ride, but I am glad we'll soon be moving on to pastures new. Calvard can't come soon enough and not having been around for the lead up to the Erebonia arc teases and reveals, I'm looking forward to what that experience will be like for Calvard!
Ok, finished the Eventide part and now the final rounds of talking to every single soul and doing quests before starting the final stretch. I'm guessing between everything it will take at least a good 10 hours yet. Going to do two separate spoiler sections, one for Act III and one for Eventide.
However, once I got to the first boss battle in each Shrine it changed quickly. Getting backstory of these characters finally was nice, and really helped shed light on why these particular character followed their respective leaders. Xeno and Leo, while not the most dramatic backstories we had, really highlighted just how unusual Rutger it, especially taking an assassin who tried taking his life under his wing while destroying the people who hired him. Then there was the showdown and send off. I've made it obvious in the Xseed forum that Fie was my favorite Class VII member, so her having prominence made me extra invested. Her calling Rutger dad really hit me hard, and that last moment between father and daughter had me crying. Despite having little screen time Rutger left an impression and that whole section was really well done.
Then we have the Rivalry with Arianrhod. I knew ahead of time about the fact that Rufus came in to stab her after she was ready to join your side. Of course she had already lost and was going to pass away after the main story ended, but I wasn't a fan of the idea that one of the strongest people was going to be taken out that way. Though if at that point one still thought Rufus wasn't a complete prick, that is indeed the way to remove all doubt and make him completely irredeemable. I don't care about what his backstory and explanation later is, that's going way across the line. I didn't hate the execution, but still think she deserved better.
However, after the fact more than made up for it. Of course we have the Stahlritter who are each attached to her, and with everything that involved Duvalie leading up to their confrontation it was hard to see Duvalie's reaction. There is also Roselia who we really got to see how much Arianrhod meant to her, and her anger at what Rufus did. Between all that it was quite a tearful farewell. Then we had various Oroboros members, including Josh and Renne come in to give their condolences. It really sunk in just how much of a presence she had in the organization, not just in sheer martial prowess, but in the ability to touch others. In a way, I fear for how Oroboros members will continue on, as I feel perhaps her presence helped alleviate members, but with her gone it could lead members to lean on their worst tendencies.
Then we had the reveal of the fortress and the various towers/pales to set up the final confrontations. Once again, cool at first but then it dragged on. The bigger problem for me though was the whiplash of having all that insanity happen, the suddenly everyone having a party night in Mishielam. Not against the idea of everyone needing a final night of relaxation before all out war starts, it makes sense. But the way we got from shit hitting the fan to that moment felt janky to me.
End of the day, I enjoyed Act III. However, much like CS II the pacing can be off at various times, and the execution of events and the amount of fluff is there. It's not nearly as pronounced and unlike CS II the game avoids certain pitfalls. Unlike CS II though, this game doesn't get leeway in certain regards, such as how much contribution Class VII gives. For a group that was made and set up to be a 3rd way in order to stop the conflict in the Empire, they continue to fall short constantly in which while they have become stronger battle wise, it feels like everyone else is doing a lot of heavy lifting so they can just get to each section to do battle. Though it would be unfair to give CS IV all the blame when it's a fault of the series. I'll need to do a long dissection of my thoughts on Class VII as a concept once I'm finished with the game.
Ok, on to the Eventide portion. For non spoiler stuff, it was fun to have some relaxing moments and just see so many small character interactions. For me, I refused to do any of the dating options, because if the game is going to allow me to make a sort of head canon, I'm making it he goes for none of the girls and down the line his true feelings will become clear. Sucks that the various items you get are for Rean only, because those would be great to use on other characters when you are limited by two accessories.
Anywho, on to spoiler talk.
However, the part for me that falls really flat is Rean becoming a master to his form. So from my understanding, his mastery is supposed to be wrapping up his character arc, or at the very least a payoff to him accepting his Ogre powers. I can't remember the exact words in the scene, but it was heavily implied that he and his Ogre powers are one in one, should walk side by side and not fear it. However, the whole Ogre power stuff to me has been just so poorly executed that I really don't care about him finally facing his fear and what not. So when he confronts it and comes out on top it just didn't make me feel like it was something that had been properly set up so it didn't really feel like it was paying off anything.
A more minor problem it I feel like his swordsmanship was such a minor part of his character. We get small tidbits of the school and his form, but there are so many other things at play that at least for me it never felt prevalent enough. Reans main character focus has been more his self esteem and his place in the world due to his background. To be fair, I am willing to put more blame on myself for lack of understanding. It seems the various forms of the 8 leaves school has a philosophy behind it, and for Rean's I personally don't understand the meaning behind the void. There is a high chance that the meaning behind the style and Rean's character arc work in tandem, and my inability to grasp that made me incapable of enjoying this part of the story. I would love nothing more than someone else's opinion on this part.
On a more positive note, man was that scene with Olivier and Scherzard just the sweetest thing. They really are a great couple and I was tearing up during that scene. Both voice actors did great with their various inflections in their voices to make it come across as well as it did. I know in Sky 3rd it was implied, but having Olivier come out and propose had a smile on my face and tears coming out. Probably the 2nd best long term payoff, trailing behind Renne Bright.
This has been a long journey, though I feel like having played both Crossbell games, playing 3 never played before Trails games in one year has been too much. I'm definitely going to need a break from the series once this is over. Honestly, I hope Hajimari comes out in 2022 that's how long of a break I need.
