Warning to anyone coming to this comment section: There may be spoilers for any and all current Trails games throughout. Obviously, anything that comes after Kuro 2 is not allowed. No rumors, no leaks and no spoilers for Kuro 3 or whatever it'll end up being called. Thank you. 👴
my overall take on Kuro 2 is: "Kondo said there would never be a long draught again (3 years between releases for trails)" so they made the epilogue like game (phantasma, reverie) smack dab in the middle of the arc. it technically came just 16 months after Kuro 1. There are no anouncements for Kuro 3 yet, so it was a time earning and quick cash grab scheme?? Other than that, I liked the hints on the possible routes the cast will go to in the future and visiting Paradise and giving Renne closure...man, if they needed to do all the wrongs in the game to give me that, then I welcome it.
@@coyote271280 I don't really follow what the developers and publishers say. Maybe I should, idk. But it's funny that they announced the next game will be out by next September right after you said that lol But yeah, it's not all bad with Kuro 2, but I have to admit it doesn't inspire much confidence in the future of the series to me. Hopefully they can pick things back up next time, but we'll see. Thanks for the comment 👍
The singa thing is completely true. He shines when it comes to environmental themes, but the battle themes while aren't too bad they just fail to many of the bangers that were in cs2 and before.
Story-wise this may be the first big stumble Falcom has made in the series. It felt more like a Gaiden or extended side story than a true sequel. The character writing, though, was superb. The Solutions office may have already overtaken the SSS as my favorite Trails crew, and Van has easily stolen top spot for best MC. On the positive side of the story, I like that with each passing game, all the lore and tidbits from Sky 3 become more and more relevant, which is funny considering there's apparently a clique out there which says that game is skippable.
Nah, I think they've made many fumbles before this one, especially in the CS arc. But yeah, there's still plenty to like in this game, and Van is a great and refreshing MC.
@@LowestExpectations For sure, CS made a ton of mistakes, but at least when the credits rolled, I felt that I just went through something crazy. Crimson Sin felt very self-contained and neither answered nor raised many interesting questions at all. It just kinda felt like a self-contained adventure
Takeshita will never be topped in making Trails music. Even his leftovers used in Nayuta and Tokyo Xanadu continue to be next level. Even Jindo or Okajima arrangements never come close. He's just that good. Unless Koguchi gets a whole game to himself, which could come close.
@@LowestExpectations he just has a unique style that can't be replicated. It's why I'm not a big fan of the Sora no Kiseki Zanmai album, because the Sky 3rd arrangements fall flat for me.
@@kieranray5340 I'd never listened to that album, but I quickly checked it out, and I do kinda like the Overdosing Heavenly Bliss cover, but you're right, they're nowhere near the originals. And holy crap that Masquerade of Lies is awful 😩
To me with the writing it felt like it was handled by two teams. The first team (possibly main writers) did the main plot points then handed that over to a second team and told them to go and connect these points somehow. This sounds plausible cuz i heard the team was split working on Ys X as well and makes me feel that the team left writing was a more less experienced new team which is why we got such an overused and haphazard plot device as the time travel that follows ZERO logic or reason. It functions however the writers at the times want and makes no sense at all. (keeping all the collected genesis despite traveling back in time, pick and choose who remembers the events or not ect) While i did like the main plot overall (padding and time travel bs aside) i have to admit that it almost entirely hinges on past knowledge or youre enjoyment will hit ground zero. The biggest saving grace is probably the cast as long as the writers (the second team i was talking about) puts them into an out of character unwinnable situation to do a time rewind cuz HO BOI some of them are VERY out of character. These characters are essentially mini detectives with a fairly high intellect and some combat knowledge to back themselves up. Watching them walk into every possible death scenario open arms was seriously infuriating. When that DIDNT happen finally though they were shining as a group of characters and as individuals.
I don't know the inner workings of Falcom at all, but what you're describing wouldn't surprise me if it's true. Most of those rewind moments were out of place for not just the characters, but also the overall story itself based on the series' track record, so yeah, it was very annoying. Thanks for the comment 👍
I don't hate Shizuna, I find her cute, in a disturbing way. And I expect her to be the new 7th Anguis (possibly since Yun Ka-Fai refused to join Ouroboros, Shizuna does in his stead). Plus, I expect Shizuna to be one of the Wind Civilization: as the Wind Sept Terrion represents mind and logic, I think Shizuna copying the Spirit Unification by just having seen Rean do it is connected with how the Wind Civilization is likely a civilization that has lost their emotions in exchange of extreme analytic abilities and the ability to learn anything much more quickly than a normal human or just by seeing it performed. Shizuna's odd personality would make sense if she's from said civilization, she's emotionless and she's acting on a fictional personality she "learned" by watching someone for a brief moment, as such having created for herself emotions that are only a single, overblown facet of someone's character. Since Shizuna is from Isuka and not Calvard, the Time Sept Terrion being in Calvard is still very possible, as the Wind Sept-Terrion might be in Isuka. Nina too is half-Eastern, and she's said to have no sense of self and to act as if she became the character: comparing Nina to Shizuna makes me think the two are both Wind Civilization, and as such the Wind Sept-Terrion is in the East. Shizuna's character would certainly make sense this way.
Don't you see the problem here? You have to speculate on pretty much everything regarding her, even after she's been tagging along for two games because they tell us nothing. We're supposed to just accept it. As of now, she's literally just a waifu bait character for those weirdos in the fanbase who obsess over harem garbage. I don't really spend a lot of time speculating, so maybe some of your ideas will turn out to be right, but I have no idea.
@@LowestExpectations But it's absolutely scary that she's able to perfectly replicate a technique she's only seen once. Plus, she for some reason seems to work for Gramheart and guard his space station, And if Shizuna is from Isuka (possibly its late emperor's last descendant), she's only in Calvard to set things up for an Isuka arc.
@@vittoriopugliese3352 You could see it that way. I see it has hard to believe. Until we get an explanation I guess. Again, I don't like to speculate much, and base my opinions on what we've been shown so far only. Totally possible I could do a complete 180° once we actually learn more about her in future games, but I'm not holding my breath on that.
I haven't played this game, but sicne it's explicitly a game about time travel and changing the future, I'd forgive its use of plot armor: plot armor is bad when it's a deus ex machina, but how can it be a deus ex machina if the game is explicitly about time travel? It's true the game doesn't answer many of the questions Kuro left hanging and introduces rather inconsequential villains, but at least how this game uses plot armor, at least to me, feels like a good way to write it (though yeah, the story would have been better if some damage actually stuck in the "optimal timeline" you create, I can forgive a game literally centered on time travel for undoing extremely brutal situations using that mechanic). By the way, I think Harwood fully expecting Van to time travel could foreshadow he's actually a demon, as demons might be immune to timeline changes and might exist outside of time itself. But, if Harwood really is a demon (and as such knows about timeline changes), they should have written the plot more centered on Harwood as the villain, rather than focusing on unnecessary villains such as Auguste and Zolga. Plus, Harwood knowing you can time travel (and, if he really is a demon, being unaffected by the changing timeline) could have allowed to have harsh elements even in the futures you create, as Harwood would know about them and have plans for them. Maybe it's because I played Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (which is exactly about going back in time to change things). By the way, I personally love the more technology-based focus of the Kuro arc. However, yeah, disappointing that many, many questions Kuro left hanging weren't followed up on, that it introduces unnecessary plot points such as Gouran, Grendel-Zolga and a long unnecessary act focused on the Erosion, and that the alignment choices did nothing important here. Overall Kuro 2's story seems to miss the mark but still have some good concepts
It's a deus ex machina because of how it operates. I sort of touched on it in the video, but the main cast (and by extension you the player) has no control over time rewinds, and can't manipulate the timeline to the best (or worst) possible outcome. Instead, it's automatic, and happens whenever something bad happens only, undoing every consequence in the game. If that's not deus ex machina, I don't know what is, especially considering there's no precedent for it in the series up until this point. Doesn't help that having every character walk right into every bad situation or all these terrible things happening out of nowhere also goes against the series' track record. It was just very annoying, and didn't make for a compelling story. If Harwood is a demon, does that conflict with his history? I could see that maybe he made a deal with a devil after losing his assassin's order, or has some sort of demonic power within him, in a similar way to Osborne. Only time will tell I guess. Kind of like what I said in the video, I feel like these "unnecessary villains" along with many of this story's plot points were just made up after they completed Kuro 1. Doesn't help that everything they do is just undone in the shadows without any significant impact on the world around them, so this story is so inconsequential, they just shoved it in between two games just because they could. I have to admit my expectations for he next game are now lower than they were before I played this game. It's a shame too because I love a lot of the new characters, and Calvard itself, so far. Regardless, thanks for the comment and continuing to check out my videos! 👍
Oh yeah, that Law Gray and Chaos didn't affect anything to the game, it feels like the devs forgot about it. I was expecting to see something similar like in Kuro 1.
Fighting your friends in Cold Steel 4 has nothing on Kuro 2, I was so honestly tired of everything at the end of Chapter 3. And I got to say Kuro 2 has the prettiest boss S Crafts, Ellroy Harwood's S Craft is absolutely stunning to watch, actually all of his Crafts are so nice to watch, even if he is killing my party. The man even makes the act of eating / drinking something look good.
Yeah Act 3 was terrible. If I were to remake my top 10 least favorite moments video, it would probably rank pretty high on there. As for the S crafts, I have no opinion on them either way, as they don't really appeal to me. Honestly, I wish they would reduce the "power level" of combat a little bit so it's more grounded/consistent with the story. Unleashing nuke-tier attacks 12 times in one fight is a bit ridiculous lol. Thanks for the comment 👍
Agree, act 3 left me with only one feeling : frustrated. It's just so tiring to play that chapter. I don't even know what's the point of doing all that, other than getting all the ancient thingies back
Character reveals like the ones you don't like, are a japanese storytelling staple. They expect it and do not even process it one way or another. Japanese games that do better (to us) in this regard, are games that have bigger sales on the west that on japanese soil. And unfortunately, trails is not one of these games, if it was, Falcom would do global releases and NISA would not be a factor.
So this isn't just a Kiseki-exclusive thing? What other long-running series do this with recurring characters that the viewer/reader should already know about?
@@LowestExpectations I think I did not express myself clearly here, this happens through all of their media, TV shows, movies, manga, anime, etc.... Most games from japan that we know off, are also marketed to global audiences or at least they consider western audiences when writing them to a certain extent. Falcom mainly creates Kiseki for their home market. Only very recently they started considering us when writing their games. Thing is, Trails is a gaming franchise that is long running and also a single narrative, so it becomes more aparent. Final Fantasy XIV comes to mind as one game that does this, since it is also long running, but this happens all the time in anime and manga, just pick one and you will see it.
