One thing I forgot to mention in the video as some of you have pointed out. For new players, I do not necessarily recommend binging the games back to back to back, like I did. That style of play is definitely not for most people and might hurt your experience through burning out. I'm a bit weird when it comes to the way I consume media, I love diving super deep into one thing and I never have issues with burning out so for me this was a perfect way to do it. But for others taking your time and playing other things in the middle might be the way to go. Thank you for all the comments and discussion so far. I love to read all of it.
I also advice against binging the whole series within a short timeframe. I stopped after every story arc and played some other games before going back into Trails. If I can finish Reverie before the beginning of next month, it will have taken me 3 years to get throug 10 of the games. But the way I play is taking my time, talk to every NPC every time the story progresses, do all the side quests and play all the mini games. So I'm alway a bit fatigued, when I reach the end credits.
That is really understandable and taking your time is best for most people. Like I said, I'm weird when it comes playing games (or even watching TV shows) where I can binge really long streches without getting burnt out and I usually end up enjoying things more this way.
@@rioichiFIN Usually I'm like that, too. But I had never before played a game series with that many games. So I found myself in a kind of paradox situation where I simultaneously wanted to know how the story continues, but was also a bit tired of it at the same time. So whenever I got to that point, I took a break and played a different game. And when I came back after, I couldn't wait to meet all of my favorite characters again and see what they're doing next. But Reverie has been starting to get pretty exausting. It feels like more than half of the game is just padding, the Reverie Corridor feels way too much like Phantasma 2.0 and there are way too many playable characters you have to grind with to get them to the levels they need to be to do specific things. For the first time I feel like just doing the main story and skipping all of the optional stuff. Obviously not my favorite game in the series.
I totally feel you on Reverie, I like the gameplay and combat in the series but when it's just dungeon crawling random levels I get tired of it fast so I just put on podcast and just grind the available levels out. I think the short episodes or "daydreams" were worth it but whatever works best for you
I am currently on CS4 after having played the first 3 over the past month or two. I seriously cannot believe that all these years went by and I never knew these games or Ys even existed. The amount of enjoyment I have had from these games here and also Ys Dana/Ys Monstrum are some of the better gaming experiences I have had in so long. Great stories within games are so rare now a days, so damn rare....
I certainly don't begrudge anyone for their preferences... I'm just glad that people live the franchise as a whole! I definitely have a very different ranking, but I love that there's so much to discuss and share.
Excellent video! This was quite the interesting list for someone who would personally put Sky 3rd in S tier (did the Kevin pfp give it away? 😂) and I'm also equally fascinated by the fact you didn't really vibe with Crossbell as a whole or the SSS themselves. I don't think I've come across this before, so it's definitely unique! But hey, you love Pom Pom Party so I'd say it balances out 😉 I also gotta add, that timeline effect with the game covers opening up like a picture book? *chefs kiss* 🔥
Thank you! Means a lot coming from a fellow video maker. Cool thing about Trails is that it fells like everyone have very different rankings, there is something for everyone. And yeah, I'm definitely an outlier with Sky 3rd (and Reverie). Like I said, nothing to do with the stories or characters, I just dont like the structure of those games. And thank you for noticing the timeline, I think I spent more time animating that in After Effects than I did editing the actual video :D
I completely like this video. Everyone who says Zero is the best game is probably just sexist and does not like Estelle who is clearly the best written out of all the trails main characters and nothing can top the Sky games! Zero is nice because you get to know 4 characters but as soon as azure changed that it kinda ruined the vibe. Still better than cold steel maybe but I just reached there so let's see. (also zero had renne azure didn't lol)
Played all of the games in order. Crossbell and the SSS were my least favorite team. Just felt a lot more connected with Estelle/Joshua and Class 7. Still love the Crossbell games regardless.
I took a look at your channel and it seems you like role-playing games. Let me assure you that you will embark on an unforgettable journey and encounter the most outstanding protagonist of all time, Estelle Bright. I'm currently immersed in Trails of Cold Steel 2 and it's truly amazing after playing all the other games in the series.
Great video! I just went a little crazy and bought sky through reverie (thank goodness for steam summer sale). I have about 5 hours in sky and I'm absolutely obsessed. I can already tell I'm going to be pulling a lot of late nighters, I can't seem to put the game down. Can't wait to get caught up to speed!
Nice! I wish I had the faith to buy all the games from the Summer sale back then. I only bough Sky FC & SC from the sale and then found myself obsessed after playing them so I just had to bite the bullet and buy the games full price (including jumping through all the hoops to buy the japanese versions of Zero, Azure & Reverie) as I went through the series. I don't necessarily recommend doing the insanity that was my 10 game marathon in 4 months but when the series hooks you, it is hard not to just jump to the next one. I hope you enjoy your journey!
Glad to see a fellow FC enjoyer. I'd say what makes it so great is how the entire game is a textbook case of rising action. Every chapter has its own rise, climax and fall, but at the start of each the stakes have been raised by new mysteries/discoveries that push the plot forward. Not sure I'd put it at S-tier personally, chapter 2 in particular feels like it could have been reworked to better suit the plot flow, but that may be my reluctance to hand out full marks in general. If FC isn't there, just about the only other title I'd even consider is Zero, the 'seconds' of each arc just get too padded to my taste. By contrast CS1, largely because of the lengthy in-between segments at Trista, returns you very close to zero tension each time, only to then go and raise the stakes higher than the last chapter before dropping it all the way down again. On top of that the clues you gather towards the ending are like a reverse thought map: everything converges at the center but doesn't really connect otherwise. It's still perfectly serviceable on its own, but comes off as downright inept when placed next to the very first title in the franchise. D+ CS3 is indeed an improvement on 1 in a number of ways, though Rean continuing to be the protagonist gets pretty damn tiresome if I'm being frank. Then again, I'm not really sure if the new class has anyone who's protag material as written, Kurt has the charisma of soggy toast, I don't call Juna "PMStelle" for nothing, and Altina's just too aloof for the role. Unfortunately, this game also introduces a couple retcons I absolutely detest and still has the same pacing issue as CS1 with the school setting. C As for SC, Azure, CS2 & CS4, I'd rank them A, B, C & D respectively. The reasons outside the pacing are various and would need going into details I'll avoid to respect the spoiler-free video. As far as Sky 3rd and Reverie go, I'd rank them the opposite of yours and probably up the former into upper B-tier. 3rd's doors are excellent and the game itself provides a farewell to a cast of a "mere" 16 playables and a handful of extras, whereas Reverie's "doors" just felt like pure bloat, not really bothering to give any meaningful new insight to the characters in the enormous cast or the world. The main story of 3rd itself did what it had to and made Kevin the second best Trails protagonist along the way, what I was missing was some kind of distraction in the dungeon crawls that didn't grind it to a halt like the doors did, for instance echoes of the Ark's citizens giving a better look at the ancient society, or even just plain old puzzles like in the Jennis map. Reverie's, on the other hand, was roughly 70% missed opportunities, 25% trite but technically functional character work and 5% brilliance. Haven't played Daybreak yet, so I'll have to wait and see. While the word of mouth is promising, I don't forget how many fans were praising CS4 and Reverie from the rooftops as well, and I consider those the only truly bad games in the franchise so far. After 7 years of steady decline I simply don't trust Falcom's writing staff to still have the chops to deliver something on the level of Sky or Crossbell. PS. Is your accent Finnish by any chance? The hard consonants and vocal fry kind of give me that impression.
Thank you for your comments, always interesting to hear other's more indepth thought of their ranking. I deifnitely agree with you that you need more gradual build up tension like a wave rather than harsh zigzagging. When it comes to Sky 3rd & Reverie, I think what makes Reverie better for me is that the story takes place in the real world, I just feel more connected to the world that way and the structure of having all the extra stuff be actually separate and not in the middle of a main story dungeon feels better for me. And I didn't mind Reverie's doors being more chill slice-of-life stuff. I hope you enjoy Daybreak as much as I did. It does have a similar structure to CS1&3 but I do think they that building up tension in it way better and not school setting lets it breathe out more. And yes, I am finnish!
I like how sky fc is THE title i'm the most nostalgic about, even if it's not as high as in your tier list (definetely an A/B on the minimum tho) it's the title i kinda have the itch at times to go back to and just listen to the music while i travel with Estelle and Joshua. I really hope daybreak will be as good as everything is making it out to be!
I have to say that I find your rankings very interesting. As someone who started with Cold Steel 1, while I didn't start with Sky, I still feel as though I've done a good job of learning about the prior events (I backtracked and played Sky FC & SC after I played the first 2 CS games). I do completely agree with you that you can start at the start of most arcs (aside from Crossbell) and have a decent experience. A very fun video, and one I enjoyed as well.
Thank you! And yeah, I don't get people who say that you must start from Sky. I guess it's optimal, but starting from Cold Steel is a great way to get into the series and then go back.
Your timeline segment was really well done, loved it. I enjoy hearing fellow Trails fans' opinions on how they rank the games. I've completed six games so far and here's how I rank them. S: Trails in the Sky, Trails to Azure A: Trails in the Sky SC, Trails from Zero B: Trails of Cold Steel, Trails of Cold Steel 2 I'm currently playing Cold Steel 3 and LOVING IT! I'm sure it'll be either S or A when I'm finished.
Thank you so much, I appreciate you noticing the timeline! And awesome that you are enjoying CS3, it's a great game! Hope the rest your journey through Trails stays as good.
@@rindou97 I’m afraid not. Sky 3rd honestly didn’t appeal to me. I’m no fan of dungeon crawlers and the fact that it’s a huge part of this game is a turnoff. I also see 3rd as kind of a filler game. It gives some amazing background info on characters but, I don’t know, it’s just not appealing to me. All that said I do own it and know I’ll play it at some point for the sake of completing them all.
A FC enjoyer? This is rare. I freaking love FC, so *shakes hands*. I like it more than SC, which is the Trails game I less enjoyed of the first five. It has great stuff, but the repetitive formula and the backtracking killed it for me. My favourites would be Zero and Azure, they are simply (almost) perfect in my opinion. Azure is almost a masterpiece, a 9,9/10 game.🎉
FC is just so chill and vibey, I love it. And yeah, the last couple chapters of SC bring it down for me. First going to the towers by airship and fight the bosses, then walking around the map and then the finale once again fighting the bosses that you just fough. I wish I enjoyed the Crossbell games a bit more. I think their stories are some of the best in the series but I just didnt connect with the group like I did why Sky's cast. Thanks for watching!
@@rioichiFIN FC was my comfort cozy game when I needed it the most. About Crossbell party, it is my favourite. I'm not a fan of big parties because characters end up just "being there" until its their turn to do something (*cof cof* SC *cof cof* Cold Steel in general). I love how Crossbell group is always consistent and they are always there supporting each other. Like Joshua and Estelle in FC, but for two whole games and four (six) characters. Also I like how it integrates even more the found family theme. In addition, Lloyd and TIO must be along Olivier my favourite characters in the series. Also just love Crossbell city. Everybody in that city feels so alive and real... I kept up with everysingle NPC in Liberl, but in Crossbell I found a redux but more memorable cast of supporting NPCs. In addition, the side quest when certain NPC from Liberl goes to Crossbell to see his father made me cry. Also, for me the issue with SC in chapters 1, 2 and 4. I really like chapter 3 and thing the game finally gets very good in chapter 5. Here onwards, great. What I don't like is the low stakes extra build up enforcer of the chapter after one whole build up game. All chapters feature highlights, but I'm not a fan of the first half. My ranking would be Azure > Reverie > Zero => Daybreak > the 3rd > CS3 > FC > CS4 > CS1 > Daybreak 2 > SC > CS2.
I'm close to the end of Sky SC (just began chapter 9) , quite enjoying so far. First game was a little slow for my taste cause i don't really enjoy doing side quests in JRPG's and most of the game was setup, but not enough to waver me to stop. I appreciate the decision for the worldbuilding and setup, and I'm glad SC has been non stop to make up for the first game's slow pacing.
Nice, I'm happy that you decided to continue. I totally understand why FC is not for everybody and that's why I dont blame them from starting from another game. People like different things. Hope you enjoy the jounrey through this amazing series.
@@whaleblubbah800 Uh, the opposite happened to me. FC was a really pleasant experience, while SC... it took me long, and to force myself to play it two times. After a whole setup game another five setup and backtracking, with the same enforcer structure (except ch5) killed the pacing for me. So far SC is the game I've less enjoyed, tbh. Still a good game, but this one, CS2, CS4 and Daybreak 2 are the only game I consider they feature padding.
Same here: started in 2023 with sky 1st, and then played the next one, and the next one, and the next one. April 2023-october 2023 played every game in the series and can’t live without it 🤣🤣🤣
The one thing I would add to this video, and a small point that it seems a lot of people miss, the Protagonist of Nayuta Boundless Trails is confirmed to be Towa Herschel's grandfather. Boundless Trials takes place in the 1150's of the Septian calendar when he is I think either 15 or 16 and if you do Towa's bonding events in CS3 she has the same telescope that was on the roof of Nayuta's house saying that she inherited it from her grandpa. Pluss he get to see a picture of him with a young Towa on his lap when you visit the Herschel grocery store in the Imperial Capital and it's just an older Nayuta with a beard.
I dont thing any of that is confirmed but it's fun theory (with still a lot of holes in it). Falcom likes to do fun crossover stuff. I mean Towa is literally in Tokyo Xanadu or Mishy shows up is Ys and those don't mean anything :D
my ranking is different for sure, for starter sky 3 and reverie have unique appeal to me as its focus a lot more on the characters than the other games, making them feel special. and even necessary to a certain point, i don't thing i could imagine my self putting them below A tier simply cause it give me what i wanted since the begening of CS1.... more character focus
Thanks for uniting fellow FC fans in your comments, I genuinely thought I was alone in thinking it was the best of the series. I played CS 1, 2 and 3 before going back to the start with FC since CS 4 was not out yet, and idk what it is, but FC has some kinda nostalgic warming feeling that just hasn't been seen since for me, and I even went out of my way to replay it after CS4 to see if I was under some kind of magic, and it was just as amazing as I remembered it. Been playing them over the past 3-4 years in between uni, and am about halfway through reverie, and my rough tier list would look like: S - FC, 3rd A - Zero, Azure, CS3 B - SC, Reverie (tentative) C - CS4, CS1 D - CS2 Looking at that list I really can't tell what my preferred type of trails game is lmao, but man am I happy to have found the series at all, pretty much rejuvenated my joy for games after nearly being tired out of the hobby entirely. Totally agree with you that at bare minimum any game in this series is an all time B, which has made it such a delight to experience.
I'm so glad to hear that the series has brought you so much enjoyment, it really is such a special franchise. And yes, I've been loving to see so many Sky FC fans in the comments.
Not just a best Trails games in my opinion list, but also a list which includes the three games from the Gagharv arc that were released on PSP. So yes, this is a list of best Legend of Heroes games I've played starting from The Moonlight Witch and ending with Daybreak II Crimson Sin. Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II Crimson Sin Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermilion (I hate the final boss to this game more than I do any Final Fantasy final boss including the optional boss from FFVII Ruby Weapon.) Legend of Heroes: The Moonlight Witch Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Third Chapter Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Legend of Heroes: Trails of Zero Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III Legend of Heroes: Song of the Ocean
incredibly based rankings, I gotta say probably the best list with legit reasoning for placements I have yet seen. Only thing I gotta disagree on is azure not being S. The final of azure still is the peak of the trails series imo
Sky FC is probably my favourite. Ive only played up to CS3 so far. I find my issue with the ark sequels is that they recycle a lot of the areas understandably to keep the world cohesive, so the dungeon crawling aspect is usually somewhat less enjoyable. Sky SC for me has the best final dungeon though. Though that being said I think Cold Steel 2 is much better than Cold steel 1, the freedom to explore the world fully was a big deal, the dungeons are pretty good and despite some clear parallels with sky sc I very much enjoyed the story.
Yes, all of the part 2s definitely feel like it. I think for the most part it works well, it has a weird sense of recent "nostalgia" revisiting places even though you just went there in the previous game. And behind the scenes it makes sense as Falcom makes these games so fast so they have reuse locations and assets, which is totally fine when they make the places worth it. Like Celdic is such a great example. The things that happen there in CS2 feel so much more impactful because you visited it in CS1. But when they reuse stuff just for the sake of it, like in Sky 3rd, it can feel a little cheap imo. Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoy CS4!
@@Andrew_S1 Reverie's story is nothing extraordinary but the way you play the game by followint 3 different paths that connect with each other is pretty unique. Also there's a special area that allows you to train your characters and complete multiple challenges, giving you many rewards and increasing the lore. I loved Reverie and had a lot of fun. It's a very different experience from the other titles.
The only reason I made it through Sky FC is that is already played Cold Steel to know there would be a slow buildup. It's not that it was bad... It's just that the slow build was boring for me. I'm glad I didn't start there or I'd have likely quit. Last chapter of FC and going into Sky SC is where things picked up for me. This isn't to bash Sky FC... It was exactly what it needed to be for world building. For me, there's nothing lower than a B+ in the franchise.
This is exactly why I dont understand people who say you must start with Sky or otherwise the experience is ruined. People have different tastes and need different experience to get them invested in the world. I totally understand how Cold Steel is much better introduction to a lot of people. Personally, it was the total opposite for me when Cold Steel 1 didn't click with me and Sky was the one that hooked me.
The only thing I don't recommend, is doing what you did, which is playing all of the games back to back. I tried that, and even though I was enjoying every single game, by the time I reached Cold Steel I started to rush stuff and even get annoyed by some quests. Unless you're some kind of patience saint, play them at your own pace, enjoy the story and do not rush.
That is a really good point, I wish I put that in the video. The insane back to back binge is not for most people and might hut some people's experiences. I'm a bit weird when it comes to consuming media and I love diving deep to one specific thing at a time and I don't really get burnt out so I had no issues playing the series this way.
As long as cs1 is the worst, i agree 😂. That cs1 background, char writting and some troupe just like cheap LN school & magic harem clueless virgin boy. Make sense tho, the release date is when a year in japan those types of LN booming. Damn u cold steel
I think the reason Estelle is not a main character in Reverie is that the game is an epilogue to the Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs specifically. Sky already got it's epilogue with Sky 3rd. But Estelle is still in the game, dont you worry. I don't think the fanservice is that bad as you make it out to be but Cold Steel definitely leaned towards it more. But Reverie really doesn't focus on that side and the next game, Daybreak, also corrects course.
Estelle appears, but the writers realized she had no real agenda there. There was no reason to make her a protagonist when there's no plot thread to make her carry a protagonistic role. She has her scene and one episode about her and her family, tho. Reverie is a Crossbell epilogue as well as an Erobonia epilogue, which also sets the stage for a certain Daybreak plot-thread. According to Kondo, the "harem thing" was only meant for Cold Steel since they wanted to recreate the teen youth stuff with limitless possibilities towards the future, which is also a Cold Steel theme. They kinda dropped the ball and did Alisa dirty by doing this, but what's done is done. There are no harem options in Reverie since it carries the choice from CS4 to the game if you load a savefile and in Daybreak it is hugely reduced to a love triangle at best. Also they clearly made Ellie the canonical pair for Lloyd.
FC is the best game in the series for me so far, currently going through CS2 which is a bit boring, my rank of these games FC>Zero>SC>3rd>Azure>CS2>CS1
Nice, love to see more FC enjoyers! Cold Steel 1 & 2 can feel a bit off coming from the previous game but I hope that CS3 will be better for you just like it was for me.
It's always good to see another Zero/ FC enjoyer. I never agreed with the saying that " Sky FC is the prologue you have to go through to get to Sky SC". I've also found Zero more enjoyable than Azure.
Loewe is cool, but Richard might be the best antagonist till Osborne... and still Osborne was done dity in CS4 too :/ Osborne is the best main antagonist and then we have CS4, where he needs a proper closure.
I wouldn’t call the cast of Ouroborus generic nor badly written. Sure a few of them don’t have the best written in the series compared to other characters but even those few are far from badly written.
@@Wallie33. I agree, but SC's formulaic structure after FC (game where it worked) watered them down (I don't like SC repetitive structure, even less than CS1). There are better games when it comes to showcase its enforcers and agnis.
They might not be as bad as I remember but I still hate how they are used to pad the game in the most predictable manner. The moment I see one (iirc the first was always Blueblanc), I know I'm soon going to fight each and every one of them, only for them to flee again. I can't help but roll my eyes every time that happens. Well, it's just me and my high standard. I value good writing more than anything. You don't want to hear my opinion on Sen IV, lol. (I love III btw)
The only Ouroborus member I don't like is campanella. Beublamc is a great member but the side missions he sets up are such a chore in SC.... one riddle mission is fine but I think there was like 5 in that game and that was unbearable.
