So I recently took the dive and started playing through Azure. Thought I would make a topic just to talk about my thoughts as I play through the game since this is the last piece of the Kiseki puzzle for me to play before CS IV comes out later this year. I will be making mention of the Cold Steel games and Sky as well in my spoiler posts, so if I have something in a spoiler tag assume it can have spoilers for the Sky trilogy and the first three Cold Steel games.
I can already see how this game is one of the more popular ones. At least in my experience, the lower rated games for people tend to be the first games, or at least games where they feel the story doesn't really pick up until a certain point. With Azure, there is a sense that things are going to happen very quickly, part of it being that there's been a huge change with Revache gone and a lot of political leaders removed for corruption. The other part being how so many important characters appear with in a short time.
You also get some shakeups right off the bat, part of it being the scenery of Crossbell, and others being change in society. It makes you interested in what happened in the short time between, and just how exactly things will play out. Of course I know what the fate of Crossbell is having played CS II and III, but it's the small things that make it come alive.
After Zero made the decision to skip most NPC dialogue. The biggest reason is I've been slowly getting burned out on that aspect after doing it for so many games, so this time around I will focus on a very select group of people.
Overall, strong start and while I know some of the general plot beats, I'm excited to see how we go from this point to the end point of the game. Also excited to finally be pretty much up to date on the series.
Regarding what's under the spoiler tag, yes, you're thinking of the right person from CS3 dialogue. I love how the game uses one of its core mechanics as clever foreshadowing there. xD
And yeah, it's easy to get burned out on NPC dialogue in Crossbell since so many characters are available for most of the game. They're among the wordiest games period and Ao is second only to CS3 of the ones we have text dumps to compare.
Enjoy the game, looking forward to seeing your impressions as you play!
So just got to the part of the game where the Trade Conference just begins. Kind of crazy just how many characters they throw at you in such a short time. Especially in chapter one, I was thinking only a few characters would show their faces and some of the others would make their appearance later, only for more to show up. For example.
I do find it funny how the game gives you quick travel much faster, but since you just start the game you ideally need to go on foot to get all the chests. Though it is nice that on the way to Mainz the commentary changes depending on how you travel there. The car option seems to be the worse choice, because if you go to a particular spot and leave it there you have to walk all the way back to where it was just to use it, so I mainly walk and use the bus.
The first game seemed to take turns on which party member got a little development, but this game really goes heavy on Randy, which I'm not complaining about since he was my favorite in Zero. In regards to everything that has happened so far
Outside of the grope thing, I do like Shirly more in this game just with how menacing she is. Also couldn't stop laughing at how during that scene in the club she's just munching on a parfait the whole time. Speaking of the groping scene, I hated that one more than the Cold Steel III one only on the basis that the party seemed to down play it, especially with the idea that Ellie shouldn't mind since it was a girl doing it. Left a poor taste in my mouth
While I know there will be more development, I do see how the ship between Mireille and stupid Randy is a thing. Though with Tio's comment in Cold Steel III, I see it becoming pretty explicit much later on.
Something that this game seems to give the best idea of that no other game has is just how strong both Zephr and the Red Constellation are. You are given the idea that If Arios went against the strongest in either group he has a 50-50 chance of winning. I figured the likes of Rutger were strong, but not quite that strong. Also, the fact that they have the strength of a small military force and that a organization such as the guild taking them on would mean war really shows how scary these two groups are.
I know the worst part is to come yet, but the harem stuff is becoming grating once again. It also is the worst when it comes to the idea of Lloyd and Cecile, where people are commenting how close they are as if it could be romantic. I think I find it worse not because of the brother/sister dynamic but because she was engaged to his older brother and everyone piling onto that idea makes it so creepy. I do like how she comments how Lloyd needs to make a choice, unfortunately my two choices can't happen.
Have to say, the various scenes that take place from the ends of the first day of chapter two to the start of the second day is some of the most hype moments. I know what happens during it but seeing not just some returning characters but all these powerful figures from different countries coming in through various means to the tower area was just a spectacle. This has been the event that takes place in Crossbell that I have been looking forward to seeing in game, so I am incredibly hyped to see it all play out.
So yeah, really enjoying the game quite a bit, and definitely understand so far why this particular game is so high on people's list.
Chapter 2 is down, been a while since a Kiseki game has made me want to blaze through it. With Zero and CS III, I took my time but with this game it's hooked me and it's harder to not just boot it up and put multiple hours in a session. Though it might be because I'm not talking to all the NPCs and just using a guide to see the optional events. When I talked to all the NPCs it felt like I would do one play session doing that then have to take a break before playing again, especially with Zero where talking to everyone could take over an hour.
Hajimari is going to have this beat, but this game compared to the rest feels like it has the most returning characters yet. This chapter had the return of so many characters that I was so pumped just to see any small interaction with them.
Then we got another of my favorites with Kloe. Love how we got her much more confident in her role, but still showing how she has a long ways to go in her role as well. She's gathering information and has her priorities, but she knows that she is among people with much more experience and when confronted by Osborne or Rocksmith, she doesn't have the bite to go against what they are saying. Overall really did well showing her character, and loved how she's gotten with seeing through Lechter. He's trying to act like Lucy hit him and she went straight to the point.
I'm very interested in Calvard games especially with seeing more of Kilika. You can really tell with her current position that she comes across very different. She's comes across much more cunning and secretive, which makes sense given her position. But then you have her talking to Arios and she is much more open and she has that soft look, showing she is still has that soft part of her. I feel like this position is slowly going to eat her up, since in third we learned she has been lost on what to do and was uncertain on taking that position, and implied that she would leave that position if she decided it was not what she wanted.
Seeing the conference happen up close even knowing what would happen was still quite the ride. The biggest part seeing both Osborne and Rocksmith in the same room, and over time seeing how each of them respectively make their moves in hopes to obtain what they want. Osborne as we know from Cold Steel is more direct with is words, while Rocksmith gives an air of being friendly but has ulterior motives in what he says and does. After the incident is resolved it really shows just what lengths they will go to gain even the smallest foothold.
I think this chapter is what made clear to me what Cold Steel lacks to me personally, and that's bit and the feeling of things truly taking a turn. Not to say that Cold Steel doesn't have those moments where you go "whoa" or things don't build up, but there's just something about Azure where it builds up the moments and those moments really hit me, where Cold Steel even the best moments feel like a pale imitation. As an example.
Ultimately, it's down to personal preference but Azure is like the Sky trilogy to me, where even if there can be small things here and there that I may not like, the overall package is so solid with proper build up and payoff that I'm completely engrossed in what is happening.
Last thought for now, since there is so much to unpack in this game, I really love Wazy. Liked him in Zero, but with being much more prominent in this game with his various interactions he is just the best. I'm trying to get the most bonding points with him since it sounds like if you want to get his backstory you really need to get those points up. Not sure how much I will learn and what is optional, but I did learn a little about where he came from on the ship.
Of course I have a lot more game left, but for now I'm still putting Sky FC and Third above this game. At this point I might be a bit too biased towards those two to give any other game leeway to top them, but once again it comes down to small personal preferences. Still could change though. Now if only this game had a proper translation I would be gushing even more.
I haven't played Azure cold turkey for like 2 or 3 weeks lately. BOTH of my jobs are like DOUBLY busy lately due to Covid. Except this past week, one just free-fell into 0 due to riots, and the other one doubled yet again since the summer season is our busiest season and we're basically opening up here in BC Canada pretty soon so there's a ton of prep work for it (busy summer + people dying to escape lockdowns = omghalpbbq!11one).
I think I'm just at day 2 for chapter 2? Umm, Basically I just finished the late night meeting at a particular brand-new high-end club.
So I wont read cuz no spoils but I'm looking forward to it once I start again! I haven't even touched these forums for like a week or two, agh. I just don't want to play azure when I only have an hour or two of free time in a day, it's like something I want to binge 4-6 hours on at a time y'know?
I haven't played Azure cold turkey for like 2 or 3 weeks lately. BOTH of my jobs are like DOUBLY busy lately due to Covid. Except this past week, one just free-fell into 0 due to riots, and the other one doubled yet again since the summer season is our busiest season and we're basically opening up here in BC Canada pretty soon so there's a ton of prep work for it (busy summer + people dying to escape lockdowns = omghalpbbq!11one).
I think I'm just at day 2 for chapter 2? Umm, Basically I just finished the late night meeting at a particular brand-new high-end club.
So I wont read cuz no spoils but I'm looking forward to it once I start again! I haven't even touched these forums for like a week or two, agh. I just don't want to play azure when I only have an hour or two of free time in a day, it's like something I want to binge 4-6 hours on at a time y'know?
That's a bummer, hope it calms down soon enough so you can get some more time in. I completely understand wanting a large chunk of time to play, since it can be easy to go from "I'm just going to play an hour or two" to "I just spent most of my day playing this".
I know exactly where you are at in chapter 2, and things are only going to be better. It's definitely a section where you will want to have extra time to dedicate because it definitely had me keep playing till I finished that day of the chapter.
Started the final chapter and been so engrossed with the game that I haven't had the time to really come back to put my thoughts down for each chapter. I need time to digest everything that happened to start putting my thoughts down.
I was worried with how fast developments started happening it wouldn't come across quite so impactful, but unlike Zero this game does things pretty well with events speeding up towards the final act. Though there are revelations that don't feel quite as built up due to this so unlike something like Sky FC where everything really did feel connected and built up, this feels somewhat disjointed because everything just kind of comes together. The explanation of how it all fits works, but to me there's still a sense that it was a more tell don't show in some respects. That said, can't deny how much hype moments they manage to pack into this game.
I can definitely say the biggest weakness is the intermission portion. In CS II it had at least a character moment and some lore stuff, but here it was part fanservice, and the whole time it just felt out of place with the rest of the game to me.
Final chapter seems like it's going to be a long one, guessing I still got at least a good 10 hours left. Kind of surreal to think that soon I will have finally beat both Crossbell games and by end of the year be done with the main Cold Steel story.
Imagine only being 1 game behind Japan finally. just a few years ago it felt like we'd never catch up.
I remember the good ole days of waiting for Sky SC to be released. Delays happened and it felt like this series was dead in the water, that once it was released (if it did), the rest of the series was never going to be released. Then it was announced Cold Steel would be released shortly after SC, and since then it's been steady releases. I really do hope both Zero and Azure gets an official release, but at least now we have a really good Zero translation and a translation of Azure that is enough to get an understanding of the main story.
Well Geofront just announced their Azure project, so now got a great reason to replay the game again in the coming years.
Ok, first major negative thing about this game. Last chapter, especially the final dungeon, really starts to drag. Final dungeons in all the games can be a bit too long near the end, but this is like the true final dungeon of CS II where I am at the point I just want the game to be over yet there's still easily hours left of the game. This final chapter is basically like combining the last two chapters of Sky SC into one chapter, but to me less effective and fun overall.
Finally finished Azure, though thought I was going to not be able to finish because one of the bosses near the end was crashing on me. Thankfully I was able to fix things and get past it. I'll have to give a lot more detailed thoughts after I have time to digest everything. Also will have to go back and talk about the various events since I didn't talk a lot about that stuff before. For now, just a quick general overall thoughts on the game and ranking.
I can put this as my 3rd favorite, below FC and 3rd. When it comes to how I enjoy games, it's not about which ones have my overall favorite moments, but how it is as an overall experience for me. Everything through chapter 4 outside the intermission stuff was really solid, things moved through quickly and pieces fell into place quickly where I was engaged. However, the final chapter was where the holes showed and made the overall experience less solid than I was hoping.
There were character moments that didn't quite feel they were earned, because events happened so fast that the characters had less time to get their moments. This was most apparent with
In the final chapter they each had moments where there was a struggle and then their triumphant moment in a way. However, while I can see what they were going for it felt like there wasn't enough given in the game to make those moments feel truly earned. I know for at least one of those characters a significant part of their back story you only get from their final bonding event. This reminds me of Emma in CS II where her best moment doesn't feel earned because a significant portion of her development happens in her bonding events (as far as I have been told).
Then there's the fact that the sections you play through feel like a slog, especially the final dungeon. When the turning point of the story happens and I was exploring Crossbell in a different state I was expecting something dynamic, but it was pretty much go here do this with nothing that really piqued my interest. I liked how Sky SC did it due to being the one time in the story the whole country was open and the way everything worked made it interesting to go through every place on foot one last time. Here, it just didn't have that effect. Then the final dungeon keeps going on, where you fight a boss and there's long sections between each one. There are some neat visuals here and there but most of it was boring to me.
Overall, I really liked both Crossbell games, but they both seem to have problems where they final chapter starts out pretty hype, but then it struggles to have a satisfying payoff of everything it built up to. The actual final moments are still good so it ends on a high note, but I can't completely look over certain aspects so while great games, as an experience they aren't as solid as the first and third sky games to me.
Been playing this a ton lately, at the final chapter myself. I didn't want to read this thread much cuz I saw the bit about the intermission, and I did a derp and was thinking Zero's where you first get Kea and I'm like oh crap I'm already th ere stop reading stop reading.
Anyway... I really enjoyed the last chapter (as short as it was) a lot, and this final chapter seems like it's going to be really good, like hold the game up good. Sky SC for example, I thought was one of the weakest games in the entire series but the final chapter was super good and holds it up higher than multiple games. I get the impression this game will have the same deal, except I do think the early portions of it are better than sky SC to begin with, soo there's that.
I read somewhere that the conference in chapter 2 is like the best scene in all of Kiseki, and rpg politics is like the thing I like the most when it comes to storytelling, so I was looking forward to it. Maybe it was the translation, but honestly I thought it was actually quite weak. It didn't really feel like there was any big reveals or multi-dimensional arguments between lines or whatever. A much better 'politic heavy' scene IMO was the one in CS3 with the dance in the palace, THAT was a great scene.
I thought I would like the quartz system more in this game. I thought it would be like sky sc or 3rd with Master quartz... Which it is kinda. But I dunno.. It just seems like the colour requirements for the artes are far more strict, and the master quartz level up so slow that I wonder if I'll even level cap a single one while intentionally not changing them because I can't a fford to split up that precious rare MQ experience that grows slower than molasses (making it faster in CS was a good decision in other words IMO). Plus the game seems to be much stingier at hading out the 'good' quartz like bells and haze and stuff. They all seem to be super endgame final material type things, rather than rare monster chest reward type things, which is weird because the game hands out super accessories at you like candy, gladiator belts, grail lockets, etc, those things. I mean not much more than CS games but compared to sky games (except 3rd maybe, and then even then prob more than 3rd if you don't use a SC save file), there really is a lot.
Story wise though I think I'm really going to enjoy the final chapter, and I loved the previous one. Honestly I think the conference portion was quite possibly one of the weaker parts of the game because other than the big crossbell reveal, not much actually happens. I think the part I liked best was a chance to talk to Kloe once again.
I think the game handles Kea very well too (and Zero). So many games give you some kind of kid or loli or something you have to protect and they don't really make you the actual player care about the character as much as the cast you're playing as, but t his game really makes you care about what happens to Kea IMO, it's great.
Not really sure what ToP's comments about Wazy power fantasy whatever is. Are you saying it's a power fantasy to let the player have a 'gay' harem option? Or are you saying that by excluding it, it somehow makes them some kind of power fantasy pandering company? I don't really agree with either sentiment. That said for what it's worth if you really care about gay options in games (personally I'd prefer them to dump the whole harem option system altogether and just go full canon like Estelle/Joshua, if any romance at all), I suspect things may change for the future since the whole ReanxCrow fandom seems to be quite large, and Falcom would be kinda silly to not notice.
Tried glossing over my posts and not sure where I talked about Wazy and power fantasy. Mind pointing which post you are talking about so I can make sure I can explain what I was talking about properly? If I did mention just having gay options being part of a power fantasy, just feels like if you are going to go all in on people wanting to romance you, minus well make it so the guys are the same. I feel this more in Cold Steel where the Harem stuff continues to grow each game. Also, just allows for more options in general with a harem so kind of a win win in the end. I agree that it's better to drop the Harem stuff and just commit to a pairing, because it basically limits writing in how relationships could work out.
As for the conference stuff, how much you enjoyed it depends on what you wanted and got from it. I wasn't expecting much in the way of heavy politics stuff since the series leaves that more on the side and the few times I felt it was more at the forefront it didn't feel that well done. For me, I thought it was well done on showing both Calvard and Erebonia in how their representatives act in order to gain even the slightest foothold. Makes me really interested for the Calvard stuff on the small bits we got here alone. Can agree it's not the best part of the game, I think end of chapter 3 through beginning of chapter 4 was the best part for me personally.
I will be interested to hear you're thoughts of the final chapter once you finish. It definitely has great parts, but I still feel the chapter drags on at times and there are certain character moments that just didn't feel as cathartic as they were supposed to be.
Once Cold Steel IV hits I'm going to take a bit of a Kiseki break since I've been deep into these games for so long. Then once we get Hajimari coming here I will do another replay, this time in order of actual Japanese release since I will be able to do that for once. Also, I think for now I'm tapped out on talking to all NPCs all the time. was fun for a bit, but now I just want to enjoy the main stories and not spend hours reading extra text.
So I finishededed Azure now too just an hour ago. To continue from my last post. The final chapter was indeed really good at the start, but yeah it did drag on later on. The final dungeon in particular was really long but not in a good way. I don't mind long dungeons, in fact I actually like them if it has some kind of attrition challenge aspect to them. But in a game where you can save any time, and one with enemies like Azure.. ugh. The baddies in there were just annoying. it was like get the ambush on them and finish them off before they hit you or else you get vanished, or super vanished, or uhh vanished. or.. ok I get it. gosh. Actually that goes into a nice segway of my main beef with bosses in this game. They seem really really 'do this before they S-break or else' oriented. Needless to say the combat in Azure is one of the low points for me because of these 1 dimensional boss mechanics (final boss was pretty good though despite me being effing sick of VANISHHHH again). I wish the ending was longer, and that we got to have more dialogue with azure-KeA (not the party in particular, just her in general talking to shizuka, maybe Arios, Mariabelle, etc. I just wanted to have more behind the scenes screentime with her. Probably would be nice to actually SEE the scenes that make everyone concerned about how sad she is).
I gave a little summary of how I rank the Kiseki games before. I forget exactly what I said, and CS3 isn't fresh in my mind as before, so it may be a bit different. But I feel it must be something like:
FC>CS1?CS3>Sky3rd>SC>CS2
the '?' represents it's close and I'm not sure which I like more. I prob have to replay cs3
Also I don't think SC (or cs2) are bad. I love em. buuut. I'll say the gap between cs2 and sc is bigger than any of the other gaps, I really think there is no question that CS2 is the weakest. Strange how youtubers like it so much it seems. oh well.
with zero and azure in the mix. Probably something like:
FC>CS1?CS3>sky3rd>Zero/Azure>SC>CS2
Yeah. I don't know if I like zero or Azure more. I liked the gameplay in zero more even though I love master quartz in cold steel.. I actually didn't like t hem in azure. It was too punishing to change them, and the way they give you quartz colours to unlock spells instead of just giving you spells makes it so that alot of the high end magic seems to demand so much colour dedication that I feel like the cool factor of the more customizable system isn't fully realized. So.. I'd like the quartz system to be like sky/crossbell where gems give you co lours which meet requirements for unlocking artes, but that the master artes were an exception, didn't give you these colour requirements, and just had their own base magic. Part of this is because if I do want to change a master quartz, it really REALLY messes with what artes you can use, and I don't necessarily want to just toss the table over in that regard because I want different status bonuses.
I may like Azure more if the translation was up to the same quality as Zero though, who knows. Maybe I'll think differently if I reply the two games, but I don't think Crossbell foreshadowed things as well as sky or even cold steel. I'm pretty sure Joachim had no clues or anything to piece together that he was a big bad like you did Weismann or Crow (not saying crow is the big bad but you know). Same goes for Ian, same goes for your brothers murder. It really comes out of nowhere IMO. It just didn't have the wham effect to me, and NOT because I was spoiled. I actually avoided a couple of those spoils, still didn't hit as hard.
I also don't know what to make of Mariabelle.. Is she a bish? Or does she secretly have a heart of gold? I mean the way she didn't actually kill Ian. Did she really mean to torment Kea or was that just for show at the moment? I look forward to seeing her character develop in the future. I feel like she acts cruel to push people away because she works best alone but doesn't want people to feel bad about that if they try to help her. I kinda have a similar feeling myself sometimes. I mean I have friends I like and respect and sometimes they are just soo.. not.. good.. at what I'm doing and I really wish they would just go away when I'm doing something. I appreciate the sentiment but I have to look for excuses to get away and do it without anyone y'know? I thought she must be a bish at first but the dialogue at the end gave me second thoughts. But again, maybe I should get the bestest translation before I look deep into it.
A bit bummed you see so l ittle of Estelle/Joshua/Renne in Azure, and then the last thing you see with them ends the way it does with no after-... oh wait.. there was that quest where she's passed out in the inn.. hmm. damnit.. I want more anyway. Renne is easily the most emotionally touching fictional character ever for me, I want more! Her being with Estelle is just a match made in heaven too because Estelle brings the love that you really feel (even in fiction I mean), so her and Renne and and.. it's like sweet and spicy, yin and yang, a cold drink on a hot day. MORE.
Enough ranting for now, my buddy is bugging me to game with him. I told him I would after finishing Azure =P
