FALCOM Thread

[BulletMagnet]

If anyone's interested GOG is having a sale on its XSeed-published items, which include several Ys games and the two thus-far-localized Trails in the Sky titles.

[Sumez]

40 to 60 hours? Christ.
I like my Ys games dynamic and fast paced. Celceta was nice and all, but it felt extremely padded like the developers though it would be too short for "the modern age".
I think they should just stick to the Oath in Felghana formula, a challenging game with superfun boss fights. Some dungeons were a little long, but it never got stale.

[ED-057]

Having completed Trails in the Sky (ep 1) a while ago, I must say that while I admire the effort the devs and translators put into this, their battle system is boring and stupid. Furthermore, it's not nice to saddle the player with endless dicking around with the camera angle just so that a 2D game could be 3D instead.

I'll get ep 2 if it has a cheat code to disable the battles and the walking around, and just do the story.

[MR_Soren]

Having completed Trails in the Sky (ep 1) a while ago, I must say that while I admire the effort the devs and translators put into this, their battle system is boring and stupid.

Really? I love the combat in Trails of Cold Steel, and this doesn't look much different. Maybe a bit clunkier. Did you play with a gamepad? I hear that helps.

[BulletMagnet]

Xanadu Next coming next month.

[Squire Grooktook]

Having completed Trails in the Sky (ep 1) a while ago, I must say that while I admire the effort the devs and translators put into this, their battle system is boring and stupid.

Really? I love the combat in Trails of Cold Steel, and this doesn't look much different. Maybe a bit clunkier. Did you play with a gamepad? I hear that helps.

Yeah it's good. A bit slow at first, but you got lots of options for every fight and it really plays quite tactically. I like it a lot.

[M.Knight]

Having completed Trails in the Sky (ep 1) a while ago, I must say that while I admire the effort the devs and translators put into this, their battle system is boring and stupid. Furthermore, it's not nice to saddle the player with endless dicking around with the camera angle just so that a 2D game could be 3D instead.

Having recently started the first Trails in The Sky (Steam ver.), I would have the same complaints as you. Estelle Bright is a fun character and all and the battle music is pretty great, but the battle system itself is terribly slow and boring. I can believe it gets better further down the line after you gain more abilities and whatnot, but the premise of moving your characters on the grid so they can hit (or rather should I say miss) enemies or wait centuries for them to cast a spell (complete with a MP system) is not very exciting. The random bonuses granted to a specific turn are not a bad idea, but there doesn't seem to be much leeway into manipulating your turns into aligning them with those bonuses. More often than not, I find myself trying to dodge fights instead of looking forward to them, and great battle systems are important to me in a JRPG.

I don't mind having a 360 camera for outer areas, but the issue is that the game randomly changes the angle you rotated it after leaving a building, which is disorienting and annoying.

[Squire Grooktook]

You have more control over turn order in the sequel, wherein it adds combos that allow you to have multiple party members take their turn at once. Combine this with the random bonuses, meter building CP, S-Breaks, and spells with different cast times, and you have a lot of nuance.

The first game opens up though once you get a full party and realize that status ailments like confuse and paralysis work on almost everything (even in bosses). The right combination of ailments, meter management, and earth walls to block attacks can turn absolutely hopeless battles around.

I'm a little torn on the speed of combat. On one hand, you can tell Falcom put a lot of their customary effort into making all the striking animations, sfx, and everything feel visceral and impactful. But it comes at the cost of making turns feel a bit arduous at times. I'm personally fine with it, and see the speed as part of the games character.

As is, I'd take it a million times over Final Fantasy Tactics combat (as I see it, its more or less a better version of that battle system) or anything that isn't a good fast paced Fire Emblem game.

[M.Knight]

Good to know the combat gets better and that aliments are useful for once. I'll stick with the game because the music is great and the character interactions are mostly interesting, not to mention the funny treasure chest texts courtesy of XSEED's translator but I can't say I am really eager to play it.
Oh, speaking of funny, do enemies often exhibit funny/odd behaviour in the middle of a battle? One early boss battle had

Spoiler

one of the rodent-like monsters in a villager's farm pretending to be dead.

That unquestionably cracked me up and I can be more forgiving of some of the game's lowest points if it is amusing.

[Squire Grooktook]

There are some pretty funny gags mid-battle. Some are story relevant (like when the monsters start acting "strange" midway through SC).

My favorite is the guy who cowers and hurls insults.

[wgogh]

Xanadu Next coming next month.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the old Xanadu, right?

Also, good to see the FALCOM Thread going on

[qmish]

It's rerelease of 2005's game.

^sounds like most japanese steam releases

[soprano1]

So, anyone played Xanadu Next before? Is it good?

[KAI]

I've played the english patched version a few years ago. Great game, feels like a mix of Diablo, Baroque and Vagrant Story.

[gameoverDude]

I love it. Though I've bought the Japanese one and used the patch on it, I'll get in again. Hopefully this will get proper widescreen support. XSEED has a history of going the extra mile, esp. with their releases of Trails in the Sky and the HD assets from the PS3 ported in.

Can't wait until we get a more precise release date than 2017 for Tokyo Xanadu. Hopefully Early 2017 means 1st Qtr. and not June.

[soprano1]

I've played the english patched version a few years ago. Great game, feels like a mix of Diablo, Baroque and Vagrant Story.

Damn!

[Obscura]

I wouldn't go so far as to say "great" (it's actually one of Falcom's weaker games IMO; the action is just too slow), but it does have a neat atmosphere, and it's certainly decent by any measure.

[Jonathan Ingram]

So, anyone played Xanadu Next before? Is it good?

The apex of Nihon Falcom's gamemaking, easily. The level design and art direction are particularly excellent.

[M.Knight]

My favorite is the guy who cowers and hurls insults.

That sounds great!

[Saikyoh]

Xanadu Next coming next month.

I may not be in the mood for anything that isn't shmup or fighting right now but color me interested in Xanadu.

[Leandro]

If anyone's interested GOG is having a sale on its XSeed-published items, which include several Ys games and the two thus-far-localized Trails in the Sky titles.

Can't believe I only saw your post now... Damn it!! I've been wating for a sale for the seoncd Trails on Steam but I never knew they were also on GOG.......... I just looked up and the sale is over... I loved the first game so much.... Noooooooooooooooo

[Durandal]

Xanadu Next is released

[soprano1]

Xanadu Next is released

Thanks for the info!

[gameoverDude]

I've found a few bugs on Xanadu Next at this time. I am sure that XSEED will knock them down though.

1) After you put the Robe on in the Back Alley Ruins, you will have the Thrust skill disappear until you get 100% proficiency with the Dagger.
1a) You can not use a weapon's skill until you learn it 100%. In the Japanese version, you are able to assuming you have the weapon equipped.
2) GOG Galaxy gave me the Cartographer achievement even though I haven't finished it yet.
3) Some bad stuttering in the frame rate. Odd, because I'm running it on my new Alienware Area 51/GTX 1080 rig.

The good stuff: Widescreen works properly with the map. Resolution is uncapped, and the frame buffer setting can go as high as 8192 x 8192 now.

[gameoverDude]

If you have the Steam version, some bugs are likely already patched out.
GOG Galaxy still is set to download the GOG-3 version. For now, turn the Install Updates setting to Manually and download the game from your library on the GOG site. Downloading from there gives you the GOG-4 version. Just install it over your existing one.

Now if your proficiency with a weapon is <100%, you are able to use its skill as long as it's your current equipped one.

Two big issues remain though. There still is some framerate stuttering, and there's one mistake with the Red Slimes. When they blow up before dying, they should only damage what is nearby. As it is now, EVERYTHING in the room will be damaged. It doesn't matter how far away you get from the Red Slimes. You get hit.

[Mero]

Finally cleared Cold Steel 1 after about 110 hours.

Spoiler

Great game with a few tough boss fights.

The boss fight that gave me big trouble was Loa Erebonius, much deadlier than what you face at the end. Used Laura with 75% strength increase and Domination quartz to hit him for about 50k hp at the start, which was nice. I also had Emma using maxed out Criminal master quartz (offensive arts 90% critical chance). Had Rean with 75% evasion and the Wrath quartz for some nice critical counters. I didn't have Mobius maxed out because I bought it too late, which is the price I pay for not using guides I guess.

At the Festival Afterparty it only gave me the choice of Eliot, Emma or Millium so obviously I fucked up my bonding events. I danced with Emma.

I didn't catch all the fish, cook all the food variations (or even find all the recipes), or max out anything else in the notebook. Somehow I missed an issue of the Chronicle which was annoying. Got the four Lionheart medals, so at least I managed something .

Anyway I really liked this, will grab CS2 when it comes out in the UK next week

[BulletMagnet]

I'm still working on Cold Steel 1 myself, though the sluggish pacing (I know the whole point of these games is to bask in all the world-building Falcom's done, but it's still a pain having to talk to everyone in the area all over again every time a story point occurs so you don't miss anything), an abundance of cliches (seriously, one of the first things the MC does is accidentally face-plant into a pair of boobs), and some irritating bush-league goofs (more than once I've come upon a boss that overwhelms me with status ailments if I didn't know in advance what he'd do and equip accessories accordingly...and the latest one does it in a dungeon I can't leave, seriously?) are sapping my enthusiasm considerably, especially if the sequel doesn't address any of this...the game does a lot right, but more and more I find myself forcing myself to play it, in "you've come this far, might as well finish, right?" mode, which is never a good sign.

[KAI]

I'm about to finish Trails SC and I don't want this to end. The 3rd when!?!?

[Squire Grooktook]

an abundance of cliches (seriously, one of the first things the MC does is accidentally face-plant into a pair of boobs

That's a really strange tonal shift from Trails In The Sky. There's basically no fan-service of any kind in that game, and FC is really unique tonally with its slice of life adventure progression.

Shoulda played Sky first tbh.

I'm about to finish Trails SC and I don't want this to end. The 3rd when!?!?

Yeah, same. I started it this year and have been sloooooowly working my way through on freetime. I'm halfway through the final chapter.

Despite loving it overall, I'll admit I have some minor nitpicks about the writing in SC compared to FC, mostly in relation to the villains being much less interesting and much less developed then the protagonists IMO (the game really thrives off slowly, gradually developing characters over time, something the villains don't benefit from due to spending 99% of the game hiding in the shadows). But the main cast (and their interactions and character development) and the world building carry it hard. And the game nails every scene that needs to be nailed like

Spoiler

Estelle and Joshua's reunion, Agate's bonding with Tita over his sisters death.

^^^Incredibly sweet but without feeling sentimental or cloying at all. Literally just right.

Still easily my favorite rpg of all time.

That being said, I'm thinking I might take a break and try out Coldsteel instead of waiting for 3rd Chapter, since 3rd Chapter is more of a spin off anyway. SC seems like a perfectly climactic point to leave off. Maybe.

[gameoverDude]

Xanadu Next's stuttering can be fixed with Nvidia Inspector (if you use a GeForce card, it's essential- for one more thing, its profile settings let you tweak more than the official Nvidia control panel, and it's faster to load the profiles). Open up the Nvidia Profile Inspector, and use the Frame Rate Limiter for a cap of 60 FPS or up to your monitor's refresh rate. Once I did, the stuttering was gone.