@jumpyjunpei @wuolong77 Do either of you remember when she says that? I don't recall it and a quick check of my script dumps wasn't able to pull it up, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was in there somewhere and I've just forgotten it.
I also can't wait to see the Sky characters' reaction to being in Phantasma 2.0 lol
I expect it's going to be much the same as Rean's reaction that we can see in one of the screenshots: Oh god, not this again! I also want to see Ash's reaction whenever he gets involved, because you know he's just sick and tired of all this occult bullshit and he really hoped he was done with all that.
And the Craft that the new 'C' uses at the very end has him launching a sword-rain right into some kind of magical (or arts) gate. Reminds me of Crow's S-Crafts starting with CS3 when he shoots a barrage into some magical gates to spatially transport his bullets to another angle to hit his opponents.
Whatever... probably just a coincidence, or Kondo throwing out red herrings.
And Rixia's shot surprised me. The way her pupils dilated made her look like she was freaking out. But considering who she is, I have to wonder what could make someone like her react like this.
We've seen plenty of characters using similar effects so I'm not inclined to read anything into it. Emma and Roselia both summon things from similar-looking portals, Elie converts one shot into many via a similar one, Alisa uses one, Joachim summons a mini-Death Star from another... so yeah, it's probably a coincidence.
As for Rixia, KeA's warning her in that shot just beforehand, though it's difficult to tell how much of that sequence is meant to be part of one scene and how much is selective editing. It all looks like it's taking place in the same general location though, in the vicinity of the Fortress of the Sun. One thing that would definitely set her off like that is seeing her friends in danger. It's probably significant that she's looking at one thing, then turns and has that reaction before starting to look back at whatever had her attention in the first place.
All I know for sure is that it's in either CS1 or 2 (helpful, I know!). Bearing (no pun intended) in mind that this was the localization, so I wonder if it was worded in a way in Japanese that...I dunno, alluded to bears? I'm reaching here!
Found it! It's her scene if you bring her to the Stella Garten at the campus festival in CS1. And it's actually pretty direct in Japanese too, it's just that I was looking in the wrong folder the first time. So yeah, he was still with Zephyr for long enough that Fie remembers him well though it's still unclear when he left aside from 'some time before Rutger's death'.
And don't worry about the horrible puns, I have a strong tolerance for them due to floofy's streams featuring tons of them which I might contribute to on occasion. Okay, all the time really. Somehow floofy's able to grin and bear it. ;p
@Yotaka, I don't intent to read anything deep into it either. The similarity I wanted to point out is more stark than your examples though. Summoning stuff from portals happens very often, but in that shot 'C' launches a sword rain upwards into the portal first - a direction where an enemy wouldn't typically be located. To be fair, we don't see what happens after, but if this is supposed to be some kind of attack, then it follows that something has to come out afterwards. There's the possibility that the portal is used to fuse all the swords from his sword rain into one big sword (or some kind of beam attack etc.), so the circle ends up as an amplificator similar to Alisa or Elie. In that case the parallel to Crow's S-Craft would be moot. But there is the possibility that it ends up similar to Crow's, namely swords (bullets) launched into the first portal, second portal opens somewhere else, translocated sword (bullets) stab enemy in the back.
Is it me, or is the enemy in this screenshot one of the monsters you could fight in the Axis Pillar in SC?
Is it me, or is the enemy in this screenshot one of the monsters you could fight in the Axis Pillar in SC?
That's actually a returning boss from The 3rd, Bennu ('The Wailing Casket') of the Seventy-Seven Devils. He also appeared in CS4 along with some of his 'kin'. At least in the later games he only has one form to deal with.
I'm still crossing my fingers for Astarte to show up in Hajimari since he was the only one of the Devils from The 3rd that didn't get a 3d reimagining in CS4. A rearrangement of Genuine Devil would be nice too as long as I'm wishing out loud...
Ah, that totally is Benu (or Beni as I initially misread his name back when I played 3rd and nearly fell out my chair laughing). I was thinking of this weirdo, now that I look at the list of enemies in that dungeon.
The Cold Steel games are overall pretty solid, and even my least favorite (Cold Steel II) at the end of the day is still a good game. That said, there are a number of writing decisions they make that still aggravate me from small to large. The biggest problem still to this day is how the arc took 4 whole games to go through, which combined is over 200 hours long. I loved the Sky games, they resonated with me and even though SC is the one that I have some problems with, all the good helps me look past the little bit shaky stuff here and there. However, if that exact same story took 4 games to tell the story of FC and SC I would've started checking out and problems would've become more abundant and apparent. Cold Steel is so bloated yet feels underdeveloped in some aspects. You get great moments but getting there can take time.
End of the day, I criticize Cold Steel because I expect so much better from what we've gotten previously. Of course, there is a number of things that are more personal taste that Cold Steel doesn't appeal to me as much as previous, but even then I feel it's okay to point that out. Hajimari seems to be going more in that direction since all these various characters will have a chance to go back to those great character interactions that I loved in the previous games that seemed to not be nearly as strong to me in Cold Steel. This is definitely a game even having not played it is the one game I will say people need to have played all the previous games to appreciate it.
I really like how we agree on cs2 being relatively weak in the series and FC being strong (even for the rest of sky I mean), so part of me thinks we have similar tastes for how stories and worlds are crafted. But I have the opposite opinion with the 4 games thing.
Sky was originally supposed to be 1 game, but it ended up being 2+ish. I believe Cold steel was originally intended to be 2 games to begin with, but it ended up being 4+ish. The amount of 'drag' is pretty similar IMO, and not just from a numbers point.
I do think Cold Steel 1 is very similar to FC in how much it builds from virtually nothing (sure it has concepts and stuff established by sky/crossbell, but it doesn't seem to me that it saves a significant amount of game development for CS1 alone), and leaves on a similar cliffhanger too, where you find out that the game's individual antagonist was really just a lieutenant of sorts for a grander plan that only just reveals itself.
So maybe that's why CS feels like it drags on more, because CS1 is pretty compareable to FC in pace, but, while lots of people like CS2 because 'it finally picks up', it's really where it grinds to a near halt IMO. CS2 feels like half of SC basically (and as I've said before, the first half of SC really kills its position of where I like it in the series as a whole, very saturday cartoon style formula introducing new villains in new areas in a very copy paste way IMO). Only while half of SC has this issue, like 4/5th's or so of CS2 feels like this IMO.
I have no complaints with CS3 in the broader scope of things, I just wish the towns weren't all so large. Talking to all the unimportant npcs wasn't as fun in that game as CS1 IMO. Come to think of it, I think CS1 is the absolute king in the series on the 'how fun is it to talk to every unimportant npc after every event'. Some games I struggle to do it and stay interested for long, but CS1, I managed to do it twice (no cheating!) and not feel too burnt out. FC/SC would be pretty good I suppose but the way you have to backtrack from lighthouses to towns to the other smaller town to the shack in the woods, etc with lack of fast travel options and all that. bleh.
Sorry for going off topic so much.
My point is I'm actually rather happy cold steel got dragged out so much. The longer the series drags out, the better IMO. Just provided it drags out properly. like the way FC got 'dragged' into FC/SC, great (even though the first half of SC was tied for the lowest part in the series along with CS2 for me, the 2nd half was worth it, and I wouldn't want to see FC get squished in any way). CS3 had no bad 'draggage' in my opinion, and I suspect I'll like CS4, though maybe I'll be surprised, I'll see I suppose and might eat my words.
Maybe it's just the part of me that wants the series to never really end though. I mean I don't want loose ends forever, and I like seeing stuff conclude at some point but. Well, I just love the series as a whole and I know I'll feel a little empty when it's actually over at last, I know chances are slim there will ever be anything else like it, and if it does actually happen, will I even live long enough to see its completion? I feel like maybe yes if t his one drags out a bit, but a whole new one on top of it? Maybe, but I'll probably start losing my faculties at that point =P
I really like how we agree on cs2 being relatively weak in the series and FC being strong (even for the rest of sky I mean), so part of me thinks we have similar tastes for how stories and worlds are crafted. But I have the opposite opinion with the 4 games thing.
Sky was originally supposed to be 1 game, but it ended up being 2+ish. I believe Cold steel was originally intended to be 2 games to begin with, but it ended up being 4+ish. The amount of 'drag' is pretty similar IMO, and not just from a numbers point.
I do think Cold Steel 1 is very similar to FC in how much it builds from virtually nothing (sure it has concepts and stuff established by sky/crossbell, but it doesn't seem to me that it saves a significant amount of game development for CS1 alone), and leaves on a similar cliffhanger too, where you find out that the game's individual antagonist was really just a lieutenant of sorts for a grander plan that only just reveals itself.
So maybe that's why CS feels like it drags on more, because CS1 is pretty compareable to FC in pace, but, while lots of people like CS2 because 'it finally picks up', it's really where it grinds to a near halt IMO. CS2 feels like half of SC basically (and as I've said before, the first half of SC really kills its position of where I like it in the series as a whole, very saturday cartoon style formula introducing new villains in new areas in a very copy paste way IMO). Only while half of SC has this issue, like 4/5th's or so of CS2 feels like this IMO.
I have no complaints with CS3 in the broader scope of things, I just wish the towns weren't all so large. Talking to all the unimportant npcs wasn't as fun in that game as CS1 IMO. Come to think of it, I think CS1 is the absolute king in the series on the 'how fun is it to talk to every unimportant npc after every event'. Some games I struggle to do it and stay interested for long, but CS1, I managed to do it twice (no cheating!) and not feel too burnt out. FC/SC would be pretty good I suppose but the way you have to backtrack from lighthouses to towns to the other smaller town to the shack in the woods, etc with lack of fast travel options and all that. bleh.
Sorry for going off topic so much.
My point is I'm actually rather happy cold steel got dragged out so much. The longer the series drags out, the better IMO. Just provided it drags out properly. like the way FC got 'dragged' into FC/SC, great (even though the first half of SC was tied for the lowest part in the series along with CS2 for me, the 2nd half was worth it, and I wouldn't want to see FC get squished in any way). CS3 had no bad 'draggage' in my opinion, and I suspect I'll like CS4, though maybe I'll be surprised, I'll see I suppose and might eat my words.
Maybe it's just the part of me that wants the series to never really end though. I mean I don't want loose ends forever, and I like seeing stuff conclude at some point but. Well, I just love the series as a whole and I know I'll feel a little empty when it's actually over at last, I know chances are slim there will ever be anything else like it, and if it does actually happen, will I even live long enough to see its completion? I feel like maybe yes if t his one drags out a bit, but a whole new one on top of it? Maybe, but I'll probably start losing my faculties at that point =P
I always chuckle when I see posts on sites with "When does FC get good" or "when does the story actually start". I was hooked from the initial scene with little Estelle and loved the slow build up and still amazed with just how everything even from the prologue has something that built up to the end. Most people just need something that hooks them off the bat. Though I still don't understand why people think Cold Steel picks up so much faster. Outside the cold opening, you don't really get introduced to the main antagonists until about halfway through the game and most of the events are still pretty small and feel mostly disconnected.
Yeah, I do know that the CS series was planned to be two games, but each one had to be split into 2 games so like Sky it comes out the same of number planned equal to number unplanned. That said, it's still 4 games with the same main character, a lot of the same cast with a change up in 3, and even though there's mostly new places to go in CS 3 it's still Erebonia. To me, by the end of CS III despite being interested in certain things either from that game or knowing what happens in IV, I'm just ready to move on elsewhere.
I'm not against the villain of the week formula that both SC and Cold Steel II use, it's more what is going on mixed in with that. I personally give credit to CS II in that the first act of returning to the different major areas works better overall compared to Sky SC. In CS, with the war you get a feel of how each area is being affected and how different people view the stuff. SC was inconsistent for me, with the Zeiss area being the most unmemorable area and Estelle's home town being okay. SC gets saved overall in the first act mainly because the characters and their interactions are so well done, that even in those areas that aren't interesting story wise I can get through just on that alone. CS II then has the second act that basically sidelines pretty much anyone not Rean and squanders its potential.
CS 3 has been another interesting game for me, because I love it, but playing through it again it's a bit of a roller coaster with lots of highs, but there are moments that happen that just kind of take me out because I just don't understand why they had to do certain things the way they did. Still agree though, it never felt like it dragged on. As for CS IV, there are certain story elements I know about that I'm not keen on but willing to give the game a chance to make it bearable, but even if it's somehow worse than CS II in storytelling and pacing, I can't make it the lowest game on my list. Only because of best protagonist making her return.
This week's update was just the next Three and Nine chapter, which means some artwork for The Emperor in his 'hobo robes' look. The website had also previously updated with more or less the same information as last week's magazine reveal, plus some more about a seemingly Towa-centric Episode happening after the close of the academic year. They also revealed various shop-specific preorder bonuses. No DLC item sets this time, so we aren't getting any hints of content there. Falcom's own bonus hasn't been revealed yet.
Still playing the waiting game on Japan Post and international shipping and whether or not I blink first.
I've read some snippets at the Falcom reddit that Hajimari would get a simultaneous Asian release with a Korean and Chinese translation. Is this information legit?
Yeah, it's legit, Falcom announced it themselves via their Investor Relations page. The Chinese version is Traditional, not Simplified.
That's what I figured. And thanks for the link. Can't read all the hiragana, but 繁体字中国語版 is confirmation enough... Well, I more or less managed to hack through CS4 in traditional Chinese, though it was quite a chore in the beginning. Still, a simultaneous release is a sweet, sweet thing. This really is a good year to be a Kiseki fan.
In the event we ever catch up in the west, I wonder if such a thing would be possible here, too. I know they've said that constantly changing the script made it difficult in the past, but either they found a way around it here, or it wasn't as huge an obstacle.
The Chinese version (and most likely the Korean one, too) only have Japanese voice acting which makes things easier. If NISA decides to forgo the voice acting in future games then I can imagine it to be possible, but I would seriously miss the English VAs. As a rule of thumb the original VAs sound better in 'anime-media', but there are several characters that the English localization surpassed in my opinion. Rean, Sara, Rufus/Valimar, Vita, Fie/Alfin. Then again, win some, lose some. Osborne, Roselia and Randy sound so much better in Japanese.
