This is how I would rank: 1: Ao no Kiseki (just amazing plot twists, character development, story, soundtrack overall) 2: Trails in the Sky SC (very similar to Ao no Kiseki, I just thought Ao was slightly better, but amazing overall) 3: Trails of Cold Steel II (expands on CS1, better in every way, pacing a bit off but a bit more open ended, great ending/cliffhanger) 4: Trails of Cold Steel IV (lots of playable characters, epic moments, gets too predictable sometimes though, weaker soundtrack) 5: Zero no Kiseki (starts off a bit slow, but gets extremely epic about half way through, great plot twist, great soundtrack) 6: Trails of Cold Steel III (felt a bit slow at a times, less open ended, weaker soundtrack, great ending though) 7: Trails in the Sky III (this game gets a lot of hate, but honestly I loved it, Kevin makes a great protagonist) 8: Trails in the Sky FC (starts off a bit slow, but gets really good towards the end) 9: Trails of Cold Steel I (this one starts off really slow, doesn't really pick up until Chapter 3, still a good game tho) I think 6-8 for me could easily be interchangeable. This is not say the worst ranked games are bad, each and every one of them is worth playing and helps you enjoy the higher ranked games that much more. For example Trails in the Sky III gives you a much greater appreciation for a lot of characters in the game. From many people's rankings, though different I see a lot of commonalities: - Ao No Kiseki, Sky SC and CS4 are towards the top of people's list - CS1 is usually lower on the list
i don't get why everyone rates fc so low, it's definitely one of my favorites, probably only second to sc. i haven't played them all yet though, i just finished cold steel 2 and still have 3 and 4 to go. i very much enjoyed every trails game i've played so far, but none quite match up to sky 1 and 2 for me. largely because estelle and joshua are just such great characters that no other characters can quite compare to them for me.
I find it hard to rank these games because they rather similar in a good way ofc. All are slow burns and the characters are great in all the games and every game have some really good moments.
This is so true. SC is definitely my favorite but honestly only by a small margin. and almost all the rest of the games can be ranked differently on any given day
@@toozilly359 fc and sc are both my favorites, mainly because estelle and joshua are the best character duo ever, and the rest of the characters are really good too, besides the whiny little bitch tita.
Okay, let me try to figure out how I'd rank them... 10--Sky the 3rd 9--Sky FC 8--Cold Steel 3 7--Hajimari 6--Zero 5--Cold Steel 2 4--Cold Steel 4 3--Ao 2--Cold Steel 1 1--Sky SC Haven't yet seen/played: Kuro no Kiseki I feel like CS2 would be a lot lower if not for the last parts of it, and Sky FC would be a lot higher if we were only counting the last parts of it. I legitimately really think that Cold Steel 1 is actually that good although the cliffhanger really helps it too. CS2 is where I started to feel that the writing of the series as a whole maybe wasn't as good as I had previously given it credit for, but once I accepted that the plot of Sky-13 and Zero/Ao & CS1 were just objectively better I still greatly enjoyed CS2-4. I'm not calling them bad by any means, but just, they started to feel a bit more like a comic book than what I had thought they were previously. And that critique is about the main plot, not the worldbuilding, which is still top tier.
I am a huge RPG fan, and sad it took me a random sale this summer for buy Cold Steel series. I would see it in the PSN store and be like what is this a HS/Dating sim from Japan pass. But when I did pick it up, OMG I have now bought the whole series expect for the ones not in the states (😒) and this series is easily one of the best RPG franchises out there!! I would recommend it hand downs to any PS1 RPG fan missing those old school story and world building comes first kinda series. I now buy anything Falcom puts out to just support them.
If this company wins you over, pick up there Ys series as well, while not the to my the Trails level it is fun and for many fans what made them love Falcom in the first place.
Just finished CS 1 & II. Getting ready to try and do the Sky series. Since the Kiseki series which is not localized yet (as of mid-2022) would you Trails fans recommend waiting until the official release before jumping into CS III? I saw a couple of familiar faces in the Azure footage (@8:17) like Osborne and Lechter and didn't want to spoil anything.
I've so far only played the Cold Steel games, but my ranking of those would be: 4. *Trails of Cold Steel II* 3. *Trails of Cold Steel III* 2. *Trails of Cold Steel* 1. *Trails of Cold Steel IV* I'm sure I'll enjoy the Crossbell and Sky games just as much (if not more), but I'm honestly still waiting for them to be re-released in some fashion on consoles as PC isn't an option for me. The ideal would be full on remakes, though maybe that's a bit too optimistic of me?
Sky games could get release on consoles, but remakes are not going to happen in near future. PSP is the only option besides PC for now and those games go for suuuuper high price used.
Hey, Kevin is also my favorite character in the series. Maybe Renne... but probably Kevin. Sky 3rd is for sure my fave I've played so far though (just started CS3).
Lemme see... So From worst to Best in my eyes: 9 - Trails of Cold Steel II 8 - Trails of Cold Steel I 7 - Trails in the Sky FC 6 - Trails in the Sky the 3rd 5 - Trails from Zero 4 - Trails of Cold Steel IV 3 - Trails of Cold Steel III 2 - Trails to Azure 1 - Trails in the Sky SC That's my Story-based. Gameplay-wise this is my rank: 9 - Trails in the Sky FC 8 -Trails in the Sky the 3rd 7 - Trails in the Sky SC 6 - Trails from Zero 5 - Trails to Azure 4 - Trails of Cold Steel 3 - Trails of Cold Steel II 2 - Trails of Cold Steel IV 1 - Trails of Cold Steel III Note that, this is mostly the release order, but the truth is: I don't like how insanely complicated it is to make sure you can get the best arts in certain characters from Sky to Azure. I do prefer how it was simplified, and you have to decide if you want to fill your character with status-ailment quartz or good arts, but you can make every single one of them use any kind of arts you want, and that makes messing with orbments waaaay better than the first five games, games that you have to keep like, looking a freaking manual every single time you need to adjust an orbment. Story-wise, and final-dungeon-wise, no game have beaten Sky SC. Something on the Liberl Ark makes that entire setup so... Impossible, and interesting. The Azure tree is just a super-natural place, the same can be said to most places, but the Liberl Ark feels like it has such a rich story in it, it reminds me of Caer Xhan from Breath of Fire 3 and frankly, it's impecable. I really hope if they ever remake Sky on the current engines, that they make the Liberl Ark as rich and interesting as they did on the Original release.
It's actually kind of funny seeing most creators and people in general ranking CS1 last but almost every single one of them say that it was their first in the series and if it wasn't chances are they wouldn't have touched the series.
sky fc was my first, and my second favorite right behind sc. not sure why people are rating fc so low but sc so high. sc is a little better but not by much, they're pretty much identical in most ways, fc is just a little more slow paced, but all of these games are slow paced.
@@Jack_80 I think its just combination of the very slow pace (which is inevitable, being the first and needing the time for world building alone) and just the general lower stakes and general "main" story of the game. I agree it's good and honestly it does the series justice in how it presents the narrative that's to follow. It's just that the story itself picks up from there and on a ranking list, something has to build the bottom, unfortunately.
@@tylerwhite7833 people say the same about the first cold steel game, but i'm nearing the end of cold steel 3 right now and to me it feels way slower paced than the first cold steel, sky fc, or zero. aside from that, i feel like pretty much all of them are as slow paced or moreso than sky fc. sure the first game spends time introducing a new world and new characters, but the sequels expand on the world and those characters and add a bunch of new characters to start developing on. i just never felt like the first games were any slower than the rest.
Hi, nice Vid mate - im only missing Cold Steel IV and Azure. Im thrilled to know how you played Trails from Azure with english translation - im still waiting for the Geofront release.
I've had the geofront patched crossbell games sitting on my computer for months and I'm finally getting around to playing them, even though I've been spoiled on the big moments thru CS. I've heard many say Ao is their favorite in the series and I'm just starting it now. I don't know if it will overtake Sky SC as that is basically my favorite game of all time or at least favorite story told in a game. The characters in crossbell are nowhere near as compelling to me as sky, I just kinda hate Randy in particular. As it stands now I mostly agree with the list except I would put zero higher because to me it was the best intro game to an arc but only in the context of having played sky and knowing the returning characters and seeing their stories continue.
What platforms are the best place to play the earlier games? Obviously cold steel games is PS4 and eventually switch if we do get 1 and 2. But whats the best way to play sky trilogy? And the crossbell duology? I own a PC, PSP, Vita and PS4 and Switch. And pretty much all other consoles but I think there only available on the ones I listed. Open to english translations if there available and easy to use. Thanks!
The best way to play the Sky trilogy is Steam, preferably with the voice patch. Not long ago, the best way to play Crossbell was the official Japanese and Chinese PC releases, with the Geofront patches (for the day or two the Azuke patch was posted), though the patches have since been taken down. But the Geofront team is working on the localization of Zero and Azure and they will be coming to most major platforms over the next two years.
You can play Sky through Crossbell on most PCs. Controller recommended as well as voice patch, Sky is fully voiced with Crossbell having fully voiced story and minor side stuff. Geofronts english patches are taken down from their site but reuploaded pretty much anywhere else.
For me: 9) Sky FC (I love this arc, but on its own... it really drags and doesn't really deliver that much other than a great foundation and amazing ending) 8) Cold Steel 1 7) Cold Steel 2 6) Sky the 3rd 5) Cold Steel 3 4) Zero 3) Cold Steel 4 2) Sky SC 1) Azure (the top 3 aren't really in a specific order, though Cold Steel 4 is *probably* the weakest overall of the three, given its various problems... but the hype injections straight to the bloodstream from this game are unmatched) I definitely enjoyed all the games though :).
my ranking for the Trails game would be: 1. Trails of the Sky, what a lame game, so slow and boring and the fact that you "spoiled" the twists with the #1 ranking and i am just looking at the screen going "wow i called everything, thats so lame" makes me less inclined to play past that damn mining city level. Why do people like these games?
Just because something is predictable or foreseeable in a twist doesn't help that the execution of it is what makes it great. People knew the twist was coming, but the way it was executed is what makes it great and loved. The series is loved for having great characters and a world that slowly reveals itself that gives reasons to nations and cities purpose than just being there for characters to travel and leave.
If you think Trails in the Sky FC is "slow and boring" just give up there. You clearly aren't the kind of person who will appreciate the series. People like these games because the character development, world-building, and music is absolutely phenomenal.
@@Iamtheamazingmrg phenomenal is subjective to me the characters were bad cliches that hurt to watch and its almost as bad as some compile heart games and at least i can laugh at those for being bad. pc gamer put it a lighter than i would put it: but I don't think the first chapter of Trails in the Sky, likely Nihon Falcom's most beloved RPG series, is anything special. The character archetypes and dialogue and general vibe are about as straightforward anime JRPG as they come. The turn-based battle system is pretty straightforward, with just enough complexity to get by thanks to the way you mix magical orbs to unlock new spells. Fans like to point out that every NPC in the game has their own little life, with new dialogue to discover every time you go back to them across a sprawling journey. And that is true, but it's all the same basic, largely uninteresting RPG background patter you've seen before. I think that but i am a lot less forgiving.
@@windwaker0rules I actually agree with you about trails in the sky didnt like it at all lol so much that I dropped it and just read what happened. Have you played any trails games? If so what is you're fav.
@@TheCharlos64 I got into this series when CS1 was first released for PS4 but I went back to play the series from the beginning back in October to prepare for CS4 starting with Sky FC, just finished Ao no Kiseki recently and now i'm finally back to replaying Cold Steel 1. But so far my favourite arc is Crossbell
I started the same when I bought cold steel after seeing a cold steel 3 trailer. Went back and played through all 8 (replaying cold steel), and just finished replaying cold steel 3. Replaying fc and sc till cold steel iv comes out for pc.
@@alphblishtarl9374 Nice man I know Cold Steel IV is gonna be worth it with all the returning characters now that we know the knowledge of the previous arcs
@@TheCharlos64 I started around the same time. It felt like the perfect time to get through the sky games because as soon as i finished trails in the sky 3rd. The translation patches were done for Zero and Azure by Geofront. Now i am on Cold Steel 3. This was so worth it
at the end of the day, my favourite Trails game is whatever Trails game I'm playing at the time. If I had to pick one, though, it'd be Ao no Kiseki. It's a true masterpiece. Also, I'm definitely a huge Kevin fan, of our four protagonists so far, he's my favourite
Many Consider CS1 the lowest of them all but i am grateful it exists because for many people, it was the gate to the wonderful Trails series. For me, Crossbell arc is the best. SSS for life.
Massive spoilers ahead since I'm gonna do a poorly written rant on Ao no Kiseki. 1. CS1 2. Sky 3rd 3. Zero 4. CS3 5. SC 6. FC 7. CS4: is rather low on my list since I'm just at the start of Act 3 - could go higher depending on how the rest of the game plays out. Not really seeing it go any lower than it is right now tbh. 8. CS2 9. Ao I'm one of those rare souls that doesn't really "get" Ao no Kiseki. Personally, it's the only game in the series that felt like a chore to play through and one that I actively disliked after seeing the credits roll. I was afraid of not liking Zero after starting it like, 5 times and absolutely HATING it each and every single one,. However, on my 6th go at the game it just "clicked" and it quickly turned into one of my favorites. The exact opposite happened with Ao, where I started it two or so months after beating Zero and was incredibly pumped to play it but chapter after chapter I just feel more aggravated by the game. Maybe it's a contrarian streak I can't control, who knows... Personally, I'd have much preferred if Falcom hadn't pushed Ao's plot into the Crois conspiracy since I found the DG cult by itself a far more interesting force. I would have enjoyed seeing these absolute maniacs regaining influence while SSS and associates utterly crushed them back into Sepith dust. Would also make for an interesting additional faction to mess with Ourobouros down the line. I especially dislike how this absolutely vile and storied entity is just kinda... tossed aside as Magical Girl Bell's little sideshow for a plan whose motivations are so flimsy that to this day, I still have no idea what it was all about. Dieter I understood, and he was a very good character. Mariabell though? What even was her point other than being evil for the lulz? Honestly, the game should have ended with Dieter. Don't even get me started on poor little Grimwood. Not only did Falcom completely "murder" his character, they also DIDN'T murder his character. The fact he is "killed, but not really" started a trend that is widely criticized in Cold Steel - although it can be traced as far back as Luciola in SC - but seems to get a pass on Ao, just like the harem anime tropes, for some ungodly reason. People love to ignore the fact that Lloyd's dead brother basically tells him "Hey, it's free real estate!" when it comes to Cecile; or everyone calling him out as a lucky bastard for basically just standing around any given group of female characters, much like Rean after him. The big difference between the Crossbell and Erebonia arcs is that one tried to be sneaky about these things (Crossbell), while Erebonia wears the anime cheese on it's sleeve and goes balls to the wall with it. Not to everyone's taste, I realize (and Falcom too, surely) but it sure as hell is more entertaining. Judging by the Kamen Rider shenanigans in Kuro's trailers, it seems Falcom is doubling down on the anime cheese and I am very much grateful for that. Returning to Grimwood - I "love" how he is talked out of YEARS of scheming in less than 5 minutes, making Guy's death feel cheap and insulting in retrospect. This wouldn't be a bad thing if Guy's death was indeed treated as a cheap and insulting affair, but it really isn't, being constantly framed as a "tragic but necessary" outcome by Grimwood and Co. If I were Lloyd I'd be pissed that the idiot who killed my brother was so weak willed that talking with him about surface level-morality was enough to bring him back from the "dark side". Digging even more into the characters, since they're by far the worst point of Crossbell as a whole: - Noel's arc in Ao was pointless. She might as well not be in the game and nothing of value would be lost. That's how little I cared for this character. - Elie gets ignored, like usual. Little to no conflict regarding Dieter or Bell's plans; piss poor interactions with most of the cast. Very rarely does she contribute anything to any given scene. In that way, she's kind of a blueprint for the characters of Cold Steel, but at least those get progressively more interesting as the games go on (Laura/Sword Girl being the one big exception, I feel). Sometimes I see her compared to Alisa regarding her character and development, which is just insane. - Tio gets a similar treatment throughout this game, becoming little more than a mascot character, actively souring her whole arc throughout Zero. She was my favorite character by the end of Zero, but she just stagnated into a Mishyphile wallflower by the second half of Ao. - Wald is one of the dumbest, most pointless characters Falcom has written in this series. I liked the dude in Zero, but his IQ drops into the single digits in Ao after getting dumped by Wazy. I mean, I get it, I'd like Wazy to give me his full attention too, but god damn, is his character arc forced to hell and back. Just like with Noel, if Falcom had cut him from the game, nothing would be lost. In fact, the game would be all the better for it. - Arios has been boring since Day 1 of Zero no Kiseki, but I felt that was a necessity given the type of character he was. I liked him for it. Ao completely ruins him by removing his agency and attempting to turn him into a bootleg Loewe. I also felt like backing down on his supposed murder of Guy Bannings was a severe misstep, since if he had done that it would have given a lot more weight to his actions in Ao, which he severely lacks. - Rixia was so incredibly boring, probably the biggest disappointment I've had regarding side characters in this series. There is nothing in particular I can point to that makes me feel this way. She just fell flat in all regards, and I hope she will get another chance to shine during the Calvard arc. - Red Constellation somehow managed to overstay it's welcome and be under utilized. They hang around for far too long. Randy gets a small bit of development due to their presence, but it mostly boils down to a scene that could've been deleted and not much would have been lost. At least it didn't actively hurt his character... On that note, Lloyd, Randy and Wazy were the only major characters I came to love by the end of this arc, and they carried Ao HARD. Lloyd is by far the most intelligent of the protags so far, and only comes in second to Kevin on my end. Despite all it's other failings, the final chapter of Ao DOES make Lloyd into the best possible protagonist when he refuses to change the world/timeline. That was a very good moment. Randy is big time fun and he bounces off Lloyd really well, the same for Wazy. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Update: I was kinda drunk when I typed that out, so I dunked on Ao a lot. Still deserves the beating, but I don't hate the game as much as that whole rant makes it seem. Also beat CS4 and it's going up on the list, I liked it more than SC.
SO I love Ao a ton, but I pretty much agree on the whole Crois VS DG Cult point, Mariabell is a baffling character. Also agree that the final interaction with Grimwood and Mariabell could really use some work but Grimwood overall is still a great character due to him being kinda the ideal villain for Crossbell. Maybe you didn't really resonate with Crossbell overall, but the setting is by far the best, especially with how its integrated into its story. Most of crossbells characters have suffered at the hands of erebonia and calvards conflict or "the crossbell problem" as its referred to. In this way it resembles Liberl's Hundred Days War which was also a driving force behind many of the characters and events in that game. A ton of interesting political intrigue takes place in CH2 alone which again highlights the crossbell problem, both showing our main cast what they are up against as well as driving the villains further into a corner therefor reinforcing their intent on completing their plan. Grimwood isn't talked out of years of scheming in 5mins or at least he has reasons for stepping down. The Azure-Zero project would reset the timeline to a point where nobody died, Guy would be alive, Grimwoods Family would be alive, Arios wife would be alive and his daughter wouldnt be blind, etc. However it would also erase every memory and event that came to be because of the tragedies of crossbell. Grimwood would've never taken in Pete, his assistant/adoptive son. Lloyd wouldn't have met the SSS(Arios kinda had a net positive gain but he wasn't there to make a decision lol). Grimwoods main motivating factor in accomplishing the Azure-Zero project was his murder of guy, he sort of had to go on with the plan or guys death would be in vain. He is however a smart man and thus for the 3 years(?) since then he has had doubts about the plan, doubts which Lloyd then confirmed and weighed in on. Its still really odd to have an ordinary guy like grimwood stand next to bdsm outfit mariabell and have them summon Azure Demiurgos because neither of them have that final villain vibe that Osborne or Weissmann have to them. Grimwood is too much of a decent guy and Mariabell is too much of a joke. Otherwise Main party I kinda agree with you, except I think you underplayed Randy a bit who is definitely the highlight of the game and his voice actor is a god. Tio and Ellie get the short end of the stick in terms of story relevance but that was kinda expected or realistic in a way. Tio has connections to the DG cult but is otherwise very young and her trauma took up most of her life so far. There isn't really a way to give her more relevance and its not really her game, some characters are simply fine being characters that are there, especially if they had a chunk of story attention already(coldsteel cant say as much about 90% of old class 7 even after 4 games). Ellie also just kinda exists as a more static character who is there for party dynamics and less plot action. She is very infuriating in her interactions(or lack there of) with bell but I'd like to chalk that up to bell being a mess personally. Lloyd feels very solidly placed as the main character and often even oversteps his bounds a bit by taking up attention that couldve been given to side characters like ellie. Both Lloyd and Ellie are kinda the "smart guy" role in the SSS and while there is minor distinctions between Ellie being the traveler who knows lots of places and lloyd being detective he still often says a ton of things that ellie wouldve also known. While Ao has issues its still not remotely as bad as any of the coldsteel games and its a coherent finale to an arc that mostly pays off everything that got set up, unlike coldsteel 4.
I'm currently playing CS IV, but so far, Crossbell duology is my favourite. 1 - Ao no Kiseki (battle mechanics, plot, characters, fast paced) 2 - Cold Steel II (same as above, fast paced, the plot twists and overall battle mechanics made me crave for more and made me binge play it to the end, however, not as Ao made me. The post game content is superb) 3 - Trails of Sky SC (same as Ao, however, since it's an older game, the new battle mechanics of other installments made this game less interesting) 4 - Zero no Kiseki (An intro game for the Crossbell arc, slow paced, however, the plot and characters are overall captivating. The plot twist with Ao no Kiseki that makes you interpret Zero totally different made it worth playing) 5 - Trails FC / Cold Steel I (very slow paced, no freedom to customise party members. It's understandble since it's an intro game, sometimes oddly repetitive) 6 - Cold Steel III (the plot gets larger from here, so you'll need to have played previously Trails Game, the very and tedious slowed pace, as Cold Steel II leaves you at a cliffhanger, and an intro game just breaks the enthusiasm to play it. The ending of Cold Steel III is nothing compared to other installments, even if Cold Steel I ended in a cliffhanger too, however, it seemed plot wise;. in Cold Steel III it's just seemed that developers paused and ended the game as is, and that just felt that lacked a proper ending) 6 - Trails Third Chapter I wished Trails series received more praise by its overall quality and plot, however it's becoming rather difficulty to new players become acquainted to the new installments,since to play it, you must had played other Trails game, and that could take to you 5-7 games, differents console eras, graphics and some of them are not yet officially localised.
I've played this series for 8 years now. I chronologically finished them all starting from Sky to Cold Steel. I can't wait for hagimari to come. I'm in love with this series, and I hope this game gets its attention it deserves.
My ranking is 1. Ao 2. Sky SC 3. CS3 4. Zero 5. Sky FC 6. CS1 7. Sky 3rd 8. CS4 9. CS2 Man it was difficult ranking this lol have to wait for Hajimari when it releases in 2023
Merciless Savior and Stairway to Gehenna are my two top Trails sound tracks. Both of them come from the Sky trilogy so that tells you how much greater the music was in the old games. Don't get me wrong the newer games had good soundtracks as well but can you honestly tell me that when you think of the most memorable features of CS4 that you will immediately think of the soundtrack?
So many nicknames. "Watch out! They're the icy/radiant/golden blade/god/knight." Who's coming up with these in this universe? I've never seen it happen organically. Mind you I've only played 7 out of 9 titles.
SC > Azure > The 3rd > CS4 > Zero > CS3 > CS1 > CS2 > FC Sky FC is actually the only game that I would rank below great and demote to just a good game. The pacing of the first 75% of the game is just too slow for my tastes and I ended bouncing off Sky FC multiple times before having to force my self to power through it. I actually tried playing Sky FC before Cold Steel 1 but couldn't get into it then a few years later picked up CS1 and was hooked got through it no problem all the way through CS2 basically non-stop then decided to go back and power through FC. So FC gets bottom marks because had it not been for CS1 I never would have gotten into the series as a whole.
These aren't too far from where I'd put them. I might move CS1 and 4 closer to the middle. Leave zero at the bottom with Sky third somewhere nearby. Ao would be my number 1 with Sky 2 in second. Kind of happy to see Zero near the bottom of somebody elses list. The game seems like the most beloved if you hang around twitter at all but I never got quite why. Its good, but by far the most mundane adventure in the series for me.
I've had a look through some Reddit rankings and the results are all over the place. I don't think I've ever seen a series with the rankings all over the place like this series is.
I don't know where you've been looking, but from what I've seen on this site, Azure is definately the overall top ranked game in all of Trails. Very few I've seen seems to rank Zero highly and almost noone ranks it higher than Azure. I'm one of the few who do. I think that Zero have the most consistent writing (story events and character dialogues) and pacing in the entire Trails series. There's always interesting things going on and it feels like a detective game. The story is very modest, but very interesting and it builds beautifully into the backstories of Renne, Tio and Kea. I really liked the dynamic between the SSS and the different factions with the Mafia, Heiyue, the Bracers and the local police. In Azure, the dynamic between the various factions are less interesting since the power balance had kind of been broken. Azure have a stronger main story, but I think the writing is less consistent and the game feels squeezed into the middle with a boring start and overly long final dungeon with barely any reward for the effort. But my primary issue is the villains. They really bother me. I don't get why they made a mercenary group into the main villain throughout the story, and I think that Lawyer Grimwood and Dieter Crois were poorly integrated into the story to the point that they ended up looking like total fools.
@@pite9 TBH, its probably just because my twitter seems flodded with geofront and Zero stans so it's almost all I see from the fanbase these days. They literally hold zero up like it's gods gift to man. The worst part is, I don't even follow any of them, they're just that ravenous.
Ao > Sky SC > Sky 3rd > CS 4 > Zero > Sky FC > CS 3 > CS 2 > CS 1, I don't really like the school setting in cold steel and Rean is too generic for an Mc for me, well that's just my opinion and I have yet to play Hajimari no kiseki
In general I agree with your ranking here. I personally would rank Zero a bit higher, but not by much. Unfortunately I cannot rank Cold Steel IV, because as a PC gamer I still have to wait several months before I can play that game. I really hate that! So at the end I can agree with your rankings, with a side remark that Cold Steel IV is still a black hole for me (no - I am not going to peek at LP's because I don't want spoilers).
I hope the Liberl and Crossbell arcs would be serialized as collections in new consoles today. Especially the Switch since there’s something great about playing 2d pixel graphics in handheld mode
I’ve only played through the Erebonia arc so I can only rank those games from favorite to least favorite: 1. Cold Steel II 2. Cold Steel IV 3. Cold Steel I 4. Cold Steel III (I know playing the third game and fourth game basically spoiled a bunch of the Liberl and Crossbell arcs, but those arcs are bit more inconvenient for me because I can’t seem to get into on pc gaming.) I really liked the entire series, but something about Cold Steel III felt off to me. I’d still rate it an 8 or 9, because of the improved graphics and combat system, but something about the character development and story execution just left me wanting more. I didn’t really like the new class VII until I played the fourth game and it felt like Rean lost some of his character development from the first two games. I absolutely loved the second game because the battle progression felt the smoothest out of all the games, at least to me. It also had the most memorable soundtrack and character development for me (My favorite character is Toval, so that’s probably a big reason why).
It was intentional that, if you quit the 5th place (halfway point), the list follows the pattern Cold Steel - Crossbell - Cold Steel - Sky, every game in ascendent order? Other than that, interesting list and good video.
3rd > Zero > Ao > FC > SC > CS3/CS4 >>>> CS2 >>>> CS1. I've played all of them this year. CS1/CS2 are average as jrpg (poor cast, story, intensity, cliché), CS4 is the worst in writing but the fanservice moments were orgasmic. (If we except stupid BP with student, lolis, professor almost everybody) The others are good or really good for me. The best is probably Ao but I don't like the last chapter.
Honestly I enjoy the entire series but for me both azure and sky sc are much better than all the rest. Their the only 2 I consider real class while the others rate between good and very good. (cold steel 1 for me is very very average though I like the music)
Before I even watch this I am gonna comment my personal list in order of favorite to least :) 1. Sky SC 2. Azure 3. sky FC 4. Zero 5. Sky 3rd 6. Cold steel 4 7. Cold steel 2 8. Cold steel 3 9. Cold steel 1 Just to be clear I did enjoy them all, its just the top 4 in my list are like 9/10 and 8/10 style good especially sky sc and azure, both of them get a solid 9.5/10. The rest like cold steel 2 and 4 get about a 7. Still really good. :) oh and side note, I honestly think sky FC has one of the best endings ever imo. I immediately went to steam to download SC lol
I play right now CS3 and damn I love the series really much^^ my list right now in the moment 1: Trails from Azure 2: Trails in the Sky sc 3: Trails from Zero / Trails in the Sky 3rd (i really can´choose XD) 4: Trails in the Sky FC 5: nayuta no Kiseki (just beat the first chapter an I really enjoy it 6: Trails of Cold Steel 3 (yes still chapter 1 but right now I like it) 7: Trails of Cold Steel 1 8: Trails of Cold Steel 2 the reason why the Cold Steel Games are so low on the list is because of 2 reasons: 1: I really don´t like the the new orbment system, which doesen´t give art´s how many element points you have on the line, but they are installed in the quarz itself. I really loved the system where you combined elements. 2: Artes in itself (at least in 1 and 2) are useless because of the OP crafts and how much you can gain on CP 3: the biggest reason: Mr Protagonist Rean schwarzer and his whole harem/ Bonding system. They focus really waaaaayyyy to much on him and it feels really like, because of that character development and realationships suffers much because of this. So much that I always crinch when Rean is again in the spotlight. If there is just the tiniest bit that a Character is in the focus, NOPE Rean is there and tries to be the hero. It goes so much on my nerves. Rean could be a good character if there wasn´t the always focus on him and his harem. And no most of his female final bonding events doesn´t feel natural and some (like Laura and Sara) feel like complete fan service and just dumb. The only character where I think she really loves Rean (no not elise she doesn´t count) and he loves her is Alisa. And she isn´t even one of my favorite characters. but still I like CS and is good, I love the world building, the Story and the characters itself are not bad, but the flaws are not small.
that s why i like cs 3 and the main cast. cause they are a much smaller and more flushed out grp than old class 7. cs 3 feels like the trails game I feel in love with, hoping cs 4 stands up to it.
The Trails series gleefully riffs on other games and anime, it's true. But it seems to me more influenced by Xenogears, Suikoden, and Final Fantasy Type-0 than Grandia, which was itself likely influenced by countless JRPGs before it, possibly including the Legend of Heroes, which Trails is a spin off of. This kind of thing is extremely common in all media and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. Honestly, if you're into classic JRPGs, and it sounds like you are, you should really give it a shot.
Totally agree with no 1 and 3, I haven't played Cold Steel 3. I would've put FC much higher up the list though. I just LOVE the Sky arc as a whole and Silver Will is still my no 1 favorite soundtrack of all time
FC is very slow and also the worst "game" of the series. This isn't exactly unexpected since its the cut off beginning of SC which starts you off in the middle of a story . Personally I really wish they remade Sky at some point while keeping the story mostly intact except for minor tweaks like adapting the manga version of the Perzel farm mission(give the trails in the sky manga a read btw its quite short but very solid)
My ranking. All the games were pretty great though. Tier 1 (best): Sky SC > Azure > Sky The 3rd Tier 2: Cold Steel 3 > Zero > Cold Steel 4/Sky FC Tier 3: Cold Steel 1 > Cold Steel 2
I can only agree with your ranking, although I could not play the Crossbell games yet. Only change I would make is to rank Cold steel II the lowest, I did not like the pacing and it was really repetitvejust going back everywhere in a pseudo open world, I was missing the back and forth between school and missions, also the beginning was super lackluster coming from that big cliff hanger. I also agree with Trails in the Sky SC, it's just perfect, I'm really happy about the new game in Calvard but I think Falcom is giving away again a huge opportunity on choosing another male protagonist. They srsly need to reconsider the whole waifu fanservice.
Hmmm... in order of best to worst I'd say Sky SC Azure Sky FC Sky 3rd Zero Cold Steel 2 Cold Steel 1 Cold Steel 3 Cold Steel 4 For me the series just got worse over time
Also the real question is who has the best rivalry in the series is it Liberl gang vs Leowe, SSS vs Arios or Class VII vs Crow or also more so like Rean vs Crow
![Ranking the Trails Series [Sky series, Crossbell arc, Cold Steel series]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
