Trails/Kiseki series version details

[MosesRockefeller]

I am about to fight what I think is the final boss battle. What an epic game. I'm looking forward to finishing this and moving onto The 3rd, even though I wish it was localized on PSP/Vita/Switch. PC is better than nothing, but I haven't played a game on PC in more than 5 years!

 

Also:

Spoiler

I gave up trying to beat Loewe after the 2nd attempt, so I accepted defeat and chose "Continue". I think the boss gauntlet left me impatient to really work at the fight, but he was also much, much harder than any of the previous Enforcers.

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by MosesRockefeller

[Cave Johnson]

32 minutes ago, MosesRockefeller said:

Also:

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I gave up trying to beat Loewe after the 2nd attempt, so I accepted defeat and chose "Continue". I think the boss gauntlet left me impatient to really work at the fight, but he was also much, much harder than any of the previous Enforcers.

 

 

When I said, "That character has best defensive s-craft in the game, maybe even in the whole series. It is incredibly useful against a certain boss later on.", that's the exact fight I was referring to. 

Spoiler

I don't think I've ever beat Loewe without Kevin in my party. His s-craft perfectly counters Loewe's. 

 

Anyway, good luck with the final boss. I doubt you'll need it though, since it's not nearly as hard as the previous boss.

[MosesRockefeller]

14 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

 

When I said, "That character has best defensive s-craft in the game, maybe even in the whole series. It is incredibly useful against a certain boss later on.", that's the exact fight I was referring to. 

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I don't think I've ever beat Loewe without Kevin in my party. His s-craft perfectly counters Loewe's. 

 

Anyway, good luck with the final boss. I doubt you'll need it though, since it's not nearly as hard as the previous boss.

Oh I had Kevin in the fight. I still couldn't keep my defenses up though, even with his S-craft and trying to cast Earth Wall from multiple party members.

 

Anyway, thanks, I'll hopefully finish up the game by this weekend.

Edited December 6, 2018 by MosesRockefeller

[Cave Johnson]

2 hours ago, MosesRockefeller said:

Oh I had Kevin in the fight. I still couldn't keep my defenses up though, even with his S-craft and trying to cast Earth Wall from multiple party members.

 

Anyway, thanks, I'll hopefully finish up the game by this weekend.

 

Well, that is often called the hardest fight in the game. I guess it doesn't matter now, but what I'm going to say can be applied to (almost) any boss. If you aren't already, use Clock Up EX and Clock Down. Most bosses surprisingly don't resist Clock Down, it even works on

Spoiler

Loewe.

You should also have both Action and Cast quartz on just about every character. One other thing, formation can really help the start of a boss fight. There's rarely ever a good reason to have your party members in the front. By putting them in the back, whatever/whoever you're fighting will likely have to waste time going to the back.

[MosesRockefeller]

2 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

Well, that is often called the hardest fight in the game. I guess it doesn't matter now, but what I'm going to say can be applied to (almost) any boss. If you aren't already, use Clock Up EX and Clock Down. Most bosses surprisingly don't resist Clock Down, it even works on

  Reveal hidden contents

Loewe.

You should also have both Action and Cast quartz on just about every character. One other thing, formation can really help the start of a boss fight. There's rarely ever a good reason to have your party members in the front. By putting them in the back, whatever/whoever you're fighting will likely have to waste time going to the back.

I tend to use Clock Up EX on my main damage dealer at the very least, but I don't use Clock Down very often. I'll start using it more (in The 3rd I guess). I'll have to check my quartz setup again; I think I have Action and/or Cast on some people, but probably not all. I'll be honest, character "builds" are my least favorite part of JRPGs. That's one of those tedious things that does not interest me. I don't spend lots of time maximizing my quartz setup, so I wouldn't be surprised if it could be improved. I always use the best weapons (armor and accessories are more complicated of course), but I tend to use the same small handful of Arts so I'm sure there is room for improvement in my quartz setup.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by formation and putting people in the back. Do you mean battle formation? If so, I haven't spent much time thinking about it. Having party members at the front makes it easier to kill weak mobs with weapon attacks to build up CP in between boss fights, usually before they get a single turn in. That's the only scenario I really consider regarding the battle formation. Because building up CP is one of those tedious things to me, and probably my least favorite aspect of this series (in fact I stocked up on Tomatrio Sandwiches for the final battle - I have about 30 of them). But I guess I can see how having the party in the back would sometimes make bosses spend their first turn walking closer - at least melee-oriented bosses.

 

Anyway, I beat the the first form of this presumably-final battle, and the game saved mid-battle, so it's too late for me to change setup now (and I don't want to fight him again). I'm managing okay though, so I think I'll pull through.

[Cave Johnson]

23 minutes ago, MosesRockefeller said:

I tend to use Clock Up EX on my main damage dealer at the very least, but I don't use Clock Down very often. I'll start using it more (in The 3rd I guess).

 

Clock Up EX increases speed by 50%, so you definitely want that buff on everyone. When you combine that with Clock Down (-50% speed to an enemy) it makes a massive difference.

 

39 minutes ago, MosesRockefeller said:

I'll have to check my quartz setup again; I think I have Action and/or Cast on some people, but probably not all. I'll be honest, character "builds" are my least favorite part of JRPGs. That's one of those tedious things that does not interest me. I don't spend lots of time maximizing my quartz setup, so I wouldn't be surprised if it could be improved. I always use the best weapons (armor and accessories are more complicated of course), but I tend to use the same small handful of Arts so I'm sure there is room for improvement in my quartz setup.

 

I love that sort of thing, so it wasn't rare for me to spend an hour trying to get my quartz "perfect". Anyway, if you made it this far with your current quartz set-up, I'm sure it'll be fine for the rest of the final boss.

 

48 minutes ago, MosesRockefeller said:

I'm not sure what you mean by formation and putting people in the back. Do you mean battle formation? If so, I haven't spent much time thinking about it. Having party members at the front makes it easier to kill weak mobs with weapon attacks to build up CP in between boss fights, usually before they get a single turn in. That's the only scenario I really consider regarding the battle formation. Because building up CP is one of those tedious things to me, and probably my least favorite aspect of this series (in fact I stocked up on Tomatrio Sandwiches for the final battle - I have about 30 of them). But I guess I can see how having the party in the back would sometimes make bosses spend their first turn walking closer - at least melee-oriented bosses.

 

Yeah that's what I meant. What I should've said was that there's no reason for your party to be in the front (for a boss battle). Having them in the front is indeed good for what you mentioned. 

 

Thankfully CP is easier to build up/maintain in the later games. Resting at an inn recovers 100 CP (this happens as early as Zero, I think). There are also some CP recovery arts. I can't remember the name, but one of them adds an effect that recovers 20 CP per turn (lasts four turns).

[MosesRockefeller]

10 minutes ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

I love that sort of thing, so it wasn't rare for me to spend an hour trying to get my quartz "perfect". Anyway, if you made it this far with your current quartz set-up, I'm sure it'll be fine for the rest of the final boss.

I think the game being so approachable makes it easier for me to not spend much time worrying about the quartz setup. Which again, is good for me since I dislike spending lots of time on RPG "setup". Being able to lower difficulty on a tough battle is a nice feature, but the flipside is that it spoils gamers. I think it's an awesome feature, but I'm just saying it might encourage "laziness". I think it does for me at least.

 

I don't want to give the wrong impression - I don't think my quartz setup is TERRIBLE, but I have no doubt that it could be better. But the setup lets me succeed 99% of the time, so I am fine with the way I do it.

 

13 minutes ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

Yeah that's what I meant. What I should've said was that there's no reason for your party to be in the front (for a boss battle). Having them in the front is indeed good for what you mentioned. 

That makes sense. I don't love the battle formation menu, so I hope it's improved in later entries, or that the games let you toggle between frequently-used formations. In FC and SC the menu is pretty clunky.

 

16 minutes ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

Thankfully CP is easier to build up/maintain in the later games. Resting at an inn recovers 100 CP (this happens as early as Zero, I think). There are also some CP recovery arts. I can't remember the name, but one of them adds an effect that recovers 20 CP per turn (lasts four turns).

That's great to hear. I think Kevin has a CP restore Craft, but it drains his IIRC.

 

Speaking of Zero, that reminds me. I'm assuming that there won't be a localization of that Dualogy by the time I finish The 3rd. I still need to decide how I'm going to experience those games, if at all. I just noticed that there is a Youtube Let's Play of the first game... and it's 40+ hours long (which on the plus side, means the bulk of the game is covered... but that's a long set of videos).

[Cave Johnson]

1 hour ago, MosesRockefeller said:

I think the game being so approachable makes it easier for me to not spend much time worrying about the quartz setup. Which again, is good for me since I dislike spending lots of time on RPG "setup". Being able to lower difficulty on a tough battle is a nice feature, but the flipside is that it spoils gamers. I think it's an awesome feature, but I'm just saying it might encourage "laziness". I think it does for me at least.

 

I don't want to give the wrong impression - I don't think my quartz setup is TERRIBLE, but I have no doubt that it could be better. But the setup lets me succeed 99% of the time, so I am fine with the way I do it.

 

Yeah, spending as much time as I do is definitely unnecessary — especially on normal — but that's just how I am. 

 

Most "high tier" offensive arts are actually useless, so it's not worth it to try and get those anyway. The high EP cost, unimpressive damage, and slow cast time makes them rather unbalanced. You can do far more damage in a shorter period by using low level arts like Soul Blur and Aqua Bleed.

 

1 hour ago, MosesRockefeller said:

That makes sense. I don't love the battle formation menu, so I hope it's improved in later entries, or that the games let you toggle between frequently-used formations. In FC and SC the menu is pretty clunky.

 

It doesn't change much, sadly. The only major change is that the placement is more free, rather than being on a grid.

 

1 hour ago, MosesRockefeller said:

That's great to hear. I think Kevin has a CP restore Craft, but it drains his IIRC.

 

Speaking of Zero, that reminds me. I'm assuming that there won't be a localization of that Dualogy by the time I finish The 3rd. I still need to decide how I'm going to experience those games, if at all. I just noticed that there is a Youtube Let's Play of the first game... and it's 40+ hours long (which on the plus side, means the bulk of the game is covered... but that's a long set of videos).

 

Right, I forgot about that one. There are similar (and better) crafts in Sen; I can't remember any good ones in Zero or Ao, though.

 

An official localization won't be happening soon, if at all. There is, however, a fan translation of Zero that is being done by a very capable team. The translation is done and they're 75% done editing. If you want to see their progress: https://geofront.esterior.net

[MosesRockefeller]

Well, I finished SC, and started on The 3rd this weekend. SC had a pretty epic ending! From what I've seen of The 3rd so far (I just added the 3rd party member), it's a "smaller" story, but that's fine.

 

On 12/6/2018 at 5:31 PM, Cave_Johnson_ said:

An official localization won't be happening soon, if at all. There is, however, a fan translation of Zero that is being done by a very capable team. The translation is done and they're 75% done editing. If you want to see their progress: https://geofront.esterior.net

I heard about that, but the site doesn't seem to have an "overview" page that I can find. Do you know what the overall plan is? Mod for the Japanese PSP and/or PC version? I played a bit of the Valkyria Chronicles 3 English fan translation, and that was a mod for the Japanese PSP version.

[Cave Johnson]

7 hours ago, MosesRockefeller said:

Well, I finished SC, and started on The 3rd this weekend. SC had a pretty epic ending! From what I've seen of The 3rd so far (I just added the 3rd party member), it's a "smaller" story, but that's fine.

 

Nice! I love the ending in SC. I'll never forget

Spoiler

hearing the first few notes of "The Whereabouts of Hope" — and subsequently the rest of the song while watching the Liber Ark fall to pieces — all the while being 99% certain that Estelle and Joshua would be okay somehow, yet being shaken by that one percent of doubt.  

 

Anyway, the 3rd is one of the shorter games in the series, and is structured quite differently (as you've probably noticed).

 

7 hours ago, MosesRockefeller said:

I heard about that, but the site doesn't seem to have an "overview" page that I can find. Do you know what the overall plan is? Mod for the Japanese PSP and/or PC version? I played a bit of the Valkyria Chronicles 3 English fan translation, and that was a mod for the Japanese PSP version.

 

There doesn't seem to be an overview of any kind, though there really should be one. I did manage to find this comment taken from here: 

 

Q: "Will this translation patch be out for the PSP ver? I unfortunately can’t get my hands on the PC ver due to the region I live in."

A: "There will be one for PSP, but it will be limited to script insertion. We are primarily focused on improving the PC version and using that."

[MosesRockefeller]

17 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

 

Nice! I love the ending in SC. I'll never forget

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hearing the first few notes of "The Whereabouts of Hope" — and subsequently the rest of the song while watching the Liber Ark fall to pieces — all the while being 99% certain that Estelle and Joshua would be okay somehow, yet being shaken by that one percent of doubt.  

 

Yeah, I was pretty much the same way.

 

17 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

Anyway, the 3rd is one of the shorter games in the series, and is structured quite differently (as you've probably noticed).

Yeah, I just finished Chapter 1 so now I have 4 party members. So far I'm liking it even if it's more grinding than story.

 

I also didn't realize how long those Moon Door scenes are. The first one started automatically and while I enjoyed it, I was trying to get to bed and had to leave the game paused overnight!

 

17 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

There doesn't seem to be an overview of any kind, though there really should be one. I did manage to find this comment taken from here: 

 

Q: "Will this translation patch be out for the PSP ver? I unfortunately can’t get my hands on the PC ver due to the region I live in."

A: "There will be one for PSP, but it will be limited to script insertion. We are primarily focused on improving the PC version and using that."

Hmm. I know I can get the Japanese PSP version either via PSN or a store (if there is a physical version still being sold), but I'm not sure how that would work with the PC version. I guess I'll cross that bridge when the fan translation is complete.

[Cave Johnson]

17 hours ago, MosesRockefeller said:

Yeah, I just finished Chapter 1 so now I have 4 party members. So far I'm liking it even if it's more grinding than story.

 

I also didn't realize how long those Moon Door scenes are. The first one started automatically and while I enjoyed it, I was trying to get to bed and had to leave the game paused overnight!

 

The Moon Doors certainly are long. Phantasma and the Moon/Star doors are kind of like a convenient excuse to show us scenes we would have never seen otherwise, but that's fine with me, since the end result is amazing.

 

17 hours ago, MosesRockefeller said:

Hmm. I know I can get the Japanese PSP version either via PSN or a store (if there is a physical version still being sold), but I'm not sure how that would work with the PC version. I guess I'll cross that bridge when the fan translation is complete.

 

I'll have to look into it more, but I believe the PC version can be bought digitally somewhere. That would most likely be the easiest (legal) way.

[MosesRockefeller]

On 12/12/2018 at 4:05 AM, Cave_Johnson_ said:

The Moon Doors certainly are long. Phantasma and the Moon/Star doors are kind of like a convenient excuse to show us scenes we would have never seen otherwise, but that's fine with me, since the end result is amazing.

 

 

I'll have to look into it more, but I believe the PC version can be bought digitally somewhere. That would most likely be the easiest (legal) way.

I just started Chapter 4, but I haven't done many of the doors yet. I think I only did that first Moon Door and whatever type of door is a minigame.

Spoiler

It was for Josette and involved shooting at "poor" Gilbert's airship in a rail shooter minigame. That fight was tough and I had to retry it once.

 

As for the game itself, I've been doing a mix of gaming on my main personal laptop just using my trackball (because I'm weird and prefer them to mice), and connecting my Surface to use with the TV and a DS4 controller. It's pretty cool that Steam does automatic savegame syncing, so I can switch computers and pick up my progress without extra work. I think Xbox One does this too, but the other consoles don't.

 

On 12/12/2018 at 4:05 AM, Cave_Johnson_ said:

I'll have to look into it more, but I believe the PC version can be bought digitally somewhere. That would most likely be the easiest (legal) way.

I'll do some digging when I finish "The 3rd".

Edited January 2, 2019 by MosesRockefeller

[MosesRockefeller]

On 12/12/2018 at 4:05 AM, Cave_Johnson_ said:

I'll have to look into it more, but I believe the PC version can be bought digitally somewhere. That would most likely be the easiest (legal) way.

I found a guide for buying Zero on PC digitally. I'll give that a try pretty soon.

 

I'm almost done with Chapter 6 in Trails in the Sky the 3rd now. I have only done 7 or 8 of the Doors, so I'll clean up the rest before I finish the game.

 

Also, giving Kevin a Super Gladiator Headband makes him amazing for defense. I can fire off Grail Sphere at full charge (200 CP) every couple of turns in boss fights now.

 

Spoiler

I really struggled to beat Cassius (I ended up using Orbal Suit Tita, but even then it was tricky), but after him the next few boss fights were pretty easy. I'm using Kevin, Richard, Joshua, and Renne. Renne uses Zodiac to increase everyone's damage and Kevin keeps them alive with Grail Sphere and Earth Wall, while they crank out Soul Blur and S-crafts. It works pretty well since I have Gladiator Headbands/Belts on most of them.

 

[Cave Johnson]

On 2/13/2019 at 5:47 AM, MosesRockefeller said:

I'm almost done with Chapter 6 in Trails in the Sky the 3rd now. I have only done 7 or 8 of the Doors, so I'll clean up the rest before I finish the game.

 

You don't have to worry about missing any doors (in case you were wondering). There is a point of no return, but the game makes it very clear when that is. 

 

On 2/13/2019 at 5:47 AM, MosesRockefeller said:

Also, giving Kevin a Super Gladiator Headband makes him amazing for defense. I can fire off Grail Sphere at full charge (200 CP) every couple of turns in boss fights now.

 

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I really struggled to beat Cassius (I ended up using Orbal Suit Tita, but even then it was tricky), but after him the next few boss fights were pretty easy. I'm using Kevin, Richard, Joshua, and Renne. Renne uses Zodiac to increase everyone's damage and Kevin keeps them alive with Grail Sphere and Earth Wall, while they crank out Soul Blur and S-crafts. It works pretty well since I have Gladiator Headbands/Belts on most of them.

 

 

Yeah, the various gladiator accessories in this game are some of the best in series. There is a completely broken strategy in the Evo version that allows you to win without the enemies ever getting a turn. With the right quartz and a few gladiator headbands/belts it's possible, but not really necessary.

 

Spoiler

There's an even harder boss later on, believe it or not. At least I think so, anyway. Obviously I won't say, but you can probably guess who/what it is. The hardest boss is by far the final one, but that's only in the Evo version due to a small change. At the end, my party was Kevin/Ries/Renne, with the fourth slot usually being Tita or a fixed party member. As I'm sure you've noticed, it can be really hard to choose when there are only four slots and so many great characters.

 

[MosesRockefeller]

7 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

 

You don't have to worry about missing any doors (in case you were wondering). There is a point of no return, but the game makes it very clear when that is. 

 

 

Yeah, the various gladiator accessories in this game are some of the best in series. There is a completely broken strategy in the Evo version that allows you to win without the enemies ever getting a turn. With the right quartz and a few gladiator headbands/belts it's possible, but not really necessary.

 

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There's an even harder boss later on, believe it or not. At least I think so, anyway. Obviously I won't say, but you can probably guess who/what it is. The hardest boss is by far the final one, but that's only in the Evo version due to a small change. At the end, my party was Kevin/Ries/Renne, with the fourth slot usually being Tita or a fixed party member. As I'm sure you've noticed, it can be really hard to choose when there are only four slots and so many great characters.

 

Yeah, I beat the masked guy ("Schwarzriter" I think?) without too much trouble. The battle at the end of Richard's section (the one I mentioned using Tita for) was by far the hardest so far, simply because he hit for so much damage, had frequent turns, and couldn't be debuffed. Even though that boss had no backup, it was the toughest. When I fought the "boss triad" from the end of Joshua's section, it was nowhere near as hard. 

 

I know what you mean about picking the party members. I'm kind of sad that I haven't used Olivier much this time. I think for my playstyle, Josette is the least useful member, which is a shame because I love her character. Let's be honest though, all the characters are pretty great. I feel bad I haven't had a chance to use them all.

 

I did the door where the 3 gang members train with Agate, and even though they are low level, that damage debuff is an AMAZING S-craft. I wish I had something similar (the closest one I know of is Kloe's Craft but that only does like 30% damage debuff versus 50%). The one the gang folks have only costs 10CP too, so it would probably break the game if it was available to a regular party member.

 

One thing I've noticed more in this game compared to the previous 2, is the "damage threshold". I'm sure there's a formula for the min-maxers, but I've noticed that underleveled party members do zero damage until they hit a combination of a certain level and upgraded weapons. That's for weapon attacks - Arts damage appears to be based on stats and level, while Crafts damage might be based on current weapon, but not sure. I just know that using Joshua's 200CP S-craft on a boss does like 3000 damage tops, while Richard's Sakura something S-craft does like 13000. And Richard is only 5 or so levels ahead. I don't really care about the details too much; finding good boss tactics is kind of fun in itself. I definitely had to search online for tactics in that tough boss fight I mentioned though! 

 

I preordered the Collector's Edition of Trails of Cold Steel 3 (the $99 one) because it looks so cool, even though I'm not ready to start Cold Steel 1 yet. 

 

Have you tried the fan translation for Ao? Apparently it's a machine-learning translation and is pretty bad. I wonder if the Zero team will move on to Ao next. I read that the Zero translation is 80% done so it might be complete by the time I finish TitS 3rd. 

[Cave Johnson]

On 2/17/2019 at 6:05 AM, MosesRockefeller said:

Yeah, I beat the masked guy ("Schwarzriter" I think?) without too much trouble. The battle at the end of Richard's section (the one I mentioned using Tita for) was by far the hardest so far, simply because he hit for so much damage, had frequent turns, and couldn't be debuffed. Even though that boss had no backup, it was the toughest. When I fought the "boss triad" from the end of Joshua's section, it was nowhere near as hard. 

 

I know what you mean about picking the party members. I'm kind of sad that I haven't used Olivier much this time. I think for my playstyle, Josette is the least useful member, which is a shame because I love her character. Let's be honest though, all the characters are pretty great. I feel bad I haven't had a chance to use them all.

 

I did the door where the 3 gang members train with Agate, and even though they are low level, that damage debuff is an AMAZING S-craft. I wish I had something similar (the closest one I know of is Kloe's Craft but that only does like 30% damage debuff versus 50%). The one the gang folks have only costs 10CP too, so it would probably break the game if it was available to a regular party member.

 

One thing I've noticed more in this game compared to the previous 2, is the "damage threshold". I'm sure there's a formula for the min-maxers, but I've noticed that underleveled party members do zero damage until they hit a combination of a certain level and upgraded weapons. That's for weapon attacks - Arts damage appears to be based on stats and level, while Crafts damage might be based on current weapon, but not sure. I just know that using Joshua's 200CP S-craft on a boss does like 3000 damage tops, while Richard's Sakura something S-craft does like 13000. And Richard is only 5 or so levels ahead. I don't really care about the details too much; finding good boss tactics is kind of fun in itself. I definitely had to search online for tactics in that tough boss fight I mentioned though! 

 

I preordered the Collector's Edition of Trails of Cold Steel 3 (the $99 one) because it looks so cool, even though I'm not ready to start Cold Steel 1 yet. 

 

Have you tried the fan translation for Ao? Apparently it's a machine-learning translation and is pretty bad. I wonder if the Zero team will move on to Ao next. I read that the Zero translation is 80% done so it might be complete by the time I finish TitS 3rd. 

 

Huh, maybe I don't remember this game as well as I thought. Come to think of it, I can't even remember if that fight is in chapter six or seven. 

 

Yeah, I don't think there are any characters in the main cast that I actually dislike. I don't think it's just you; Josette just isn't good in battle. If you feel bad about not using all the characters, then worry not, their time will come. Or maybe it won't. You'll see.

 

I remember that part being pretty rough on nightmare, probably because NG+ doesn't change anything for that. It would probably be impossible (on nightmare, anyway) without those crafts.

 

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure the way physical damage is calculated is the same for all three games. Damage has always seemed to increase or decrease exponentially. In a way, I think there is a "damage threshold" of sorts. If a character's attack stat isn't high enough (in relation to the enemy's defence) it will simply do no damage. The math behind it all is probably much more complicated than that, though. 

 

I was tempted to get the collector's edition, but then I thought about how much I already spent on 3 and 4... I'll probably get the regular edition eventually but I'll pass for now.

 

There isn't a better one? I know there's the spreadsheet, but that's a different thing entirely. I think there's a better translation, but it might just be a patch for the Chinese PC version.

[MosesRockefeller]

2 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure the way physical damage is calculated is the same for all three games. Damage has always seemed to increase or decrease exponentially. In a way, I think there is a "damage threshold" of sorts. If a character's attack stat isn't high enough (in relation to the enemy's defence) it will simply do no damage. The math behind it all is probably much more complicated than that, though. 

That's certainly possible. However, I wasn't switching party members out in FC and SC because the character-gated parts were minimal, and the playable cast was smaller anyway. So it's more noticeable in 3rd when I have to swap in a level 105 character when my main party is 125. 

 

2 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

I was tempted to get the collector's edition, but then I thought about how much I already spent on 3 and 4... I'll probably get the regular edition eventually but I'll pass for now.

I can only imagine how pricey importing can get. The only importing I've ever done is DVD/Blu-rays from the UK, where they're actually cheaper. 

 

2 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

There isn't a better one? I know there's the spreadsheet, but that's a different thing entirely. I think there's a better translation, but it might just be a patch for the Chinese PC version.

This is the only thing I've found, which is for the PSP version: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3679/

I found lots of complaints online, which I assume was about this patch, but maybe it's for another one that I couldn't find. 

 

Edited February 19, 2019 by MosesRockefeller

[Infected Elite]

its annoying how little promoting XSeed is doing on these. they just say early 2019 and then when asked say it's not released yet. no shit... that's why we ask. As much hate as NiS can get for localizing games, at least they get them out. at this rate wouldnt be shocked to see 3 and 4 released by NIS before 1 and 2 are out by XSeed

[Cave Johnson]

On 2/18/2019 at 5:26 PM, MosesRockefeller said:

I can only imagine how pricey importing can get. The only importing I've ever done is DVD/Blu-rays from the UK, where they're actually cheaper. 

 

I live in the US, so there are no import fees at least. I mostly import games and music which are generally more expensive in Japan (and that's not including shipping). For example, the most recent album I pre-ordered was about $30. Yeah it's the limited edition, but the regular one is only a few dollars less.

 

On 2/18/2019 at 5:26 PM, MosesRockefeller said:

This is the only thing I've found, which is for the PSP version: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3679/

I found lots of complaints online, which I assume was about this patch, but maybe it's for another one that I couldn't find. 

 

I remember trying one translation and quitting about five sentences in (it was that terrible). That was quite a while ago, so things might have changed since then. I'll have to look into more, although, last time I said that I completely forgot and did nothing... 

[MosesRockefeller]

18 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

I live in the US, so there are no import fees at least. I mostly import games and music which are generally more expensive in Japan (and that's not including shipping). For example, the most recent album I pre-ordered was about $30. Yeah it's the limited edition, but the regular one is only a few dollars less.

Yeah, I live in the US too but I don't do much importing.

 

18 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

I remember trying one translation and quitting about five sentences in (it was that terrible). That was quite a while ago, so things might have changed since then. I'll have to look into more, although, last time I said that I completely forgot and did nothing... 

No worries, I can probably find something eventually. And we can always hope that the Trails announcement for the anniversary next month is a remaster and localization of Zero/Ao... right? Right?

 

Anyway, I in the Finale chapters and I just finished The Abyss. I'm going through all the Constellation Doors now. So far the only ones that really gave me trouble were the stupid quiz (I cleared the first two difficulties, but even with a Steam cheat sheet, I'm too slow for the 3rd difficulty level), and the Gambler Jack one where I had to beat him. That one took me a fair few tries to finally beat him. Also, I did the Door where:

Spoiler

We see Joshua and Loewe saving Renne to bring her to Org 13. I may have missed it in the story before, but that seemed extremely dark. Am I jumping to conclusions about her life before The Organization? Because it seemed to be about as bad as it could possibly be...

 

Anyway, I also heard poor Kevin's backstory now, and man he had a rough early life also.

 

[Cave Johnson]

10 hours ago, MosesRockefeller said:

No worries, I can probably find something eventually. And we can always hope that the Trails announcement for the anniversary next month is a remaster and localization of Zero/Ao... right? Right?

 

I think Kondo actually expressed interest in porting Zero and Ao to PS4 in an interview. That wouldn't automatically equal a localization of course, but it would be a start, at least. And that's only if it even happens in the first place. Right now, the only viable platform would be PC. 

 

10 hours ago, MosesRockefeller said:

Anyway, I in the Finale chapters and I just finished The Abyss. I'm going through all the Constellation Doors now. So far the only ones that really gave me trouble were the stupid quiz (I cleared the first two difficulties, but even with a Steam cheat sheet, I'm too slow for the 3rd difficulty level), and the Gambler Jack one where I had to beat him. That one took me a fair few tries to finally beat him. Also, I did the Door where:

  Reveal hidden contents

We see Joshua and Loewe saving Renne to bring her to Org 13. I may have missed it in the story before, but that seemed extremely dark. Am I jumping to conclusions about her life before The Organization? Because it seemed to be about as bad as it could possibly be...

 

Anyway, I also heard poor Kevin's backstory now, and man he had a rough early life also.

 

 

Some of the mini games are pretty hard. I remember having trouble with the fishing one, but it's hardly surprising given that I suck at fishing. The highest level of the quiz seems to be impossible unless you memorize all the questions. I can read fairly fast, but even then there's just not enough time to think about the answer and select it.

 

Spoiler

You're not jumping to conclusions; it really is as horrible as you're probably thinking it is. There's a reason this game is often considered the darkest in the series. The PC version is the only one to have that scene intact. I think it was changed for all the console versions; it never would've made it past CERO otherwise. 

 

[MosesRockefeller]

On 2/22/2019 at 10:11 PM, Cave_Johnson_ said:

I think Kondo actually expressed interest in porting Zero and Ao to PS4 in an interview. That wouldn't automatically equal a localization of course, but it would be a start, at least. And that's only if it even happens in the first place. Right now, the only viable platform would be PC.

I'll take an officially localized PC version. Hopefully it will happen but I'm not holding my breath. I'll probably end up starting the fan translation of Zero before this announcement anyway, seeing as I'm in the final chapter of Trails 3rd and I'm almost done with the constellation doors.

 

On 2/22/2019 at 10:11 PM, Cave_Johnson_ said:

Some of the mini games are pretty hard. I remember having trouble with the fishing one, but it's hardly surprising given that I suck at fishing. The highest level of the quiz seems to be impossible unless you memorize all the questions. I can read fairly fast, but even then there's just not enough time to think about the answer and select it.

I will rejoice on the day that fishing minigames are forever banished from the world of gaming. I beat the first round and I think I'll stop there. The timing is so weird - for some of the rods clicking as soon as the exclamation point appears is a guaranteed hit, for other rods I still can't figure out the timing (but it isn't that, which always results in failure). The gunship minigame actually gave me trouble because I almost ran out of health. I gave up on the quiz minigame after the 2nd out of 4 levels. I can't believe I beat the gambling one. I got to the final stage of the arena and wiped out on the final round. I think I will try that one more time but the others have tried my patience enough.

 

On 2/22/2019 at 10:11 PM, Cave_Johnson_ said:

 

  Hide contents

You're not jumping to conclusions; it really is as horrible as you're probably thinking it is. There's a reason this game is often considered the darkest in the series. The PC version is the only one to have that scene intact. I think it was changed for all the console versions; it never would've made it past CERO otherwise. 

 

Wow, just wow. There are a lot of people in this series with dark, depressing backstories.

[Cave Johnson]

On 2/25/2019 at 9:09 AM, MosesRockefeller said:

I'll take an officially localized PC version. Hopefully it will happen but I'm not holding my breath. I'll probably end up starting the fan translation of Zero before this announcement anyway, seeing as I'm in the final chapter of Trails 3rd and I'm almost done with the constellation doors.

 

I'm sure it'll happen eventually, but probably not until after Sen III & IV get localized. In other words, it's going to be a while before we see that happen.

 

On 2/25/2019 at 9:09 AM, MosesRockefeller said:

I will rejoice on the day that fishing minigames are forever banished from the world of gaming. I beat the first round and I think I'll stop there. The timing is so weird - for some of the rods clicking as soon as the exclamation point appears is a guaranteed hit, for other rods I still can't figure out the timing (but it isn't that, which always results in failure). The gunship minigame actually gave me trouble because I almost ran out of health. I gave up on the quiz minigame after the 2nd out of 4 levels. I can't believe I beat the gambling one. I got to the final stage of the arena and wiped out on the final round. I think I will try that one more time but the others have tried my patience enough.

 

Fishing is here to stay, unfortunately. The only good thing I can say is that it becomes a lot easier in the later games. Aside from getting the trophies I didn't really bother with the minigames that much. Ultimately, they're just "for fun" and don't really add anything to the story. I think it's funny how the difficulty can be lowered in the gambling one. What does that even do? Lower how much the AI cheats, I guess? Good luck with the final stage of the arena. In the Evo version they added another boss to the final round — as if weren't hard enough already.

[MosesRockefeller]

17 hours ago, Cave_Johnson_ said:

Fishing is here to stay, unfortunately. The only good thing I can say is that it becomes a lot easier in the later games. Aside from getting the trophies I didn't really bother with the minigames that much. Ultimately, they're just "for fun" and don't really add anything to the story. I think it's funny how the difficulty can be lowered in the gambling one. What does that even do? Lower how much the AI cheats, I guess? Good luck with the final stage of the arena. In the Evo version they added another boss to the final round — as if weren't hard enough already.

I only have the 3 last Moon Doors left (I saved most of the long ones for last) and Star Door 14 (which requires opening all the other doors). I haven't done any more of the minigame nonsense, and as long as Star Door 14 doesn't require finishing all the minigame stages (technically it says "the rest of the doors must be "opened", which I have done for all the minigames), I'm good with ending them there, most of them not finished on the hardest level.

 

I don't know how the difficulty affected the gambling minigame, but I had to do it until it stopped letting me lower it. I went through several tries before I started to get the hang of those weird rules, and finally got lucky. I will never touch that again!

 

My arena strategy was flawed I think. I saw a guide that said to go after Loewe first, but I think that was my undoing. He only has slightly lower HP than Cassius, and damaging him seems to make him more likely to split up, which is where it gets really tough. Also, I think my party wasn't ideal, since none of my crew had SINGLE damage S-crafts that were great. I'm going to try it again with Richard instead of Renne, since his S-craft takes down over 10K HP each time. But anyway, since the arena door is under the minigame category for some reason, I won't fret too much if I lose the second attempt. The categories are kind of weird, because the first minigame (the rail shooter on Josette's ship) had real story development, but the other 4 minigames did not. I don't care about Steam achievements (or PSN trophies much anymore, for that matter).

 

Anyway, I noticed a couple of times where I played the Star Doors out of order and saw some references to earlier Star Doors I hadn't done yet, but nothing mind-blowing. There is some great backstory in those doors. Some highlights so far - Schera meeting Aina, Olivier and Mueller returning home, Joshua and Kloe at the celebration dinner, and Richard and Kanone transitioning to civilian life. Man, what a great series.

 

I got everyone up to level 130+, so I should be well prepared for the ending section.