A direct sequel to FC that takes place almost immediately after, this is my favourite game of the Trails series story-wise. It probably has my favourite set of villains, Estelle gets to really develop as a character because of the situation she’s in, and we also get to develop other characters that I really liked. The battle system of the Sky games can be a bit slow, but you can always use turbo speed and slow animations aside, I do really like the system here.
Trails in the Sky the 3rd
The main story is okay, although it still feels that this game is merely a vehicle for telling little character stories – and that’s okay. Some of them are more interesting than others, some are more infamous than others, but my personal favourite was just the little arc of Joshua’s early time at Estelle’s house. It’s really clever if you know their story, and to be fair Estelle’s whole “YOU MUST LIKE BUGS” dynamic in said story reminds me hilariously of Gonta and always makes me laugh.
Trails of Cold Steel
Set in a military academy in a different country than the Sky series – but the same world – Trails of Cold Steel takes some cues from Persona (think that instead of playing a calendar year, you play maybe three or four days a month, but extremely long, plot heavy days that go on for hours). Cold Steel is interested in looking at the notion of a class divide, and people learning to tolerate others. And then it goes a bit bananas at the end.
Trails of Cold Steel 2
Another direct sequel, the game suffers a little from the lack of the school structure holding it together at times, I think, although there is still a hub location, as I recall? It’s interesting to compare the characters to how they start off in Cold Steel!
Trails of Cold Steel 3
Taking place around a year later, this is my favourite of the Cold Steel games. It introduces several of my favourite characters, the fact it pares down the main focus to five characters from nine is really beneficial. I really like what it does with Rean, who is the main protagonist but seems to be a fairly contentious figure in fandom, but I can’t dislike someone with as much self-loathing (or maybe lack of self worth would be a better term?) as that guy (among other things).
Trails of Cold Steel 4
I liked Cold Steel 4 enough, but I think it suffers from trying to bring together too many characters and conclude too many arcs. I like characters meeting between games as much as the next person, but if you’re throwing around huge groups of characters it doesn’t necessarily do it justice as the characters don’t always get room to breathe.
We Were Here
I picked this up when it was free (it may still be free?). It’s a coop game: you have to pair up with somebody, and one directs via obscure clues and information, while the other person acts upon that information to try and (you guessed it) escape from the place where you have been trapped via puzzles. It’s not a long game, and not possible to play on your own, but it was interesting enough as you can’t see eachother’s screen so it really depends on your ability to communicate accurate information and identify miscommunications quickly.
Whispers of a Machine
Another one for my adventure game collection! This was also a detective game, and you pick up different “functions” dependent on the way you play, which is fun, and leads to some different puzzle solutions later on. I enjoyed it, although I did prefer Lamplight City, which I played not too long before this and was on my prior list.
Your Turn To Die
Another one in the “this is free?” camp, in a genre I really love. I particularly like the Main Game sections and the way the role cards make everything unfair: you can’t just have a considered, mature, reasonable discussion even if everybody was on board, as you always have it being underpinned by unfairness, especially in terms of the sacrifice card. I really, really like deductive games, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now!
no subject
A direct sequel to FC that takes place almost immediately after, this is my favourite game of the Trails series story-wise. It probably has my favourite set of villains, Estelle gets to really develop as a character because of the situation she’s in, and we also get to develop other characters that I really liked. The battle system of the Sky games can be a bit slow, but you can always use turbo speed and slow animations aside, I do really like the system here.
Trails in the Sky the 3rd
The main story is okay, although it still feels that this game is merely a vehicle for telling little character stories – and that’s okay. Some of them are more interesting than others, some are more infamous than others, but my personal favourite was just the little arc of Joshua’s early time at Estelle’s house. It’s really clever if you know their story, and to be fair Estelle’s whole “YOU MUST LIKE BUGS” dynamic in said story reminds me hilariously of Gonta and always makes me laugh.
Trails of Cold Steel
Set in a military academy in a different country than the Sky series – but the same world – Trails of Cold Steel takes some cues from Persona (think that instead of playing a calendar year, you play maybe three or four days a month, but extremely long, plot heavy days that go on for hours). Cold Steel is interested in looking at the notion of a class divide, and people learning to tolerate others. And then it goes a bit bananas at the end.
Trails of Cold Steel 2
Another direct sequel, the game suffers a little from the lack of the school structure holding it together at times, I think, although there is still a hub location, as I recall? It’s interesting to compare the characters to how they start off in Cold Steel!
Trails of Cold Steel 3
Taking place around a year later, this is my favourite of the Cold Steel games. It introduces several of my favourite characters, the fact it pares down the main focus to five characters from nine is really beneficial. I really like what it does with Rean, who is the main protagonist but seems to be a fairly contentious figure in fandom, but I can’t dislike someone with as much self-loathing (or maybe lack of self worth would be a better term?) as that guy (among other things).
Trails of Cold Steel 4
I liked Cold Steel 4 enough, but I think it suffers from trying to bring together too many characters and conclude too many arcs. I like characters meeting between games as much as the next person, but if you’re throwing around huge groups of characters it doesn’t necessarily do it justice as the characters don’t always get room to breathe.
We Were Here
I picked this up when it was free (it may still be free?). It’s a coop game: you have to pair up with somebody, and one directs via obscure clues and information, while the other person acts upon that information to try and (you guessed it) escape from the place where you have been trapped via puzzles. It’s not a long game, and not possible to play on your own, but it was interesting enough as you can’t see eachother’s screen so it really depends on your ability to communicate accurate information and identify miscommunications quickly.
Whispers of a Machine
Another one for my adventure game collection! This was also a detective game, and you pick up different “functions” dependent on the way you play, which is fun, and leads to some different puzzle solutions later on. I enjoyed it, although I did prefer Lamplight City, which I played not too long before this and was on my prior list.
Your Turn To Die
Another one in the “this is free?” camp, in a genre I really love. I particularly like the Main Game sections and the way the role cards make everything unfair: you can’t just have a considered, mature, reasonable discussion even if everybody was on board, as you always have it being underpinned by unfairness, especially in terms of the sacrifice card. I really, really like deductive games, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now!