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CS3+CS4 was the time for Falcom to pay the bill and deliver on the world war that they had been built up for 600+ hours. Falcom didn't do it. No consequences. No casualties. Status quo resets back to the start of FC. Actually, it's worse because now you have everyone apart of the same team. Protagonist backstabs his own nation and renders their blood spilt meaningless and inexplicably gets away with it. There is no tension anymore. There are no stakes. Whatever vague interest I had in the discount Organization XIII plot has evaporated.
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May 4, 2023 02:37
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| # ? May 30, 2024 05:20 |
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Yeah… after playing CS4, I don’t agree with that The point was to avoid the war from starting in earnest with both armies clashing for real, and there’s a lot of dread in the buildup to it throughout the story that’s supposed to make to fell “oh geese I hope Class 7 can stop this before it’s too late.” Communities having to donate their crops by government mandates and having to ration what’s left, men, fathers, dreading if a draft ticket comes to them, or having families torn apart when it does come. Or worse, people becoming caught up in the propaganda and nationalism, and having those feelings blow out of proportion by the Curse, and delighting in spilling Calvardian blood
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May 4, 2023 03:13
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i dont know how you played any of these games and thought an actual world war was going to happen with tons of people laying dead in the streets
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May 4, 2023 03:34
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Yeah I’m happy to throw stones at CS4 for how totally devoid of any stakes or tension it is but there was never going to be a grim war sequence.
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May 4, 2023 03:36
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In the rubble of a house demolished by artillery fire, we see a single drop of blood fall on the torn up cotton face of Mishy
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May 4, 2023 03:51
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why wont kingdom hearts 4 include a level set in disney's world war 2 documentaries
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May 4, 2023 04:00
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Still somehow complaining the games have done literally nothing you want for 9-12 games now, and still expecting them to pivot to full grimdark, I see.
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May 4, 2023 04:10
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Moofia Boss Val posted:CS3+CS4 was the time for Falcom to pay the bill and deliver on the world war that they had been built up for 600+ hours. Falcom didn't do it. No consequences. No casualties. Status quo resets back to the start of FC. Actually, it's worse because now you have everyone apart of the same team. Protagonist backstabs his own nation and renders their blood spilt meaningless and inexplicably gets away with it. There is no tension anymore. There are no stakes. Whatever vague interest I had in the discount Organization XIII plot has evaporated. Trails has always been an optimistic series with only a small smattering of grimdark elements that are eventually overcome and the people traumatized by them learning to move on with their lives. I've got a laundry list of gripes for CS2, CS4 and K2 as they're my least favorite games in the series, but not being grimdark enough and not showing literal millions of people dead are not one of them. I think you're confused by what this series is and always has been and it simply isn't for you.
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May 4, 2023 07:43
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Dont fall for the dumb troll.
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May 4, 2023 07:43
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It's not like the battles were averted, hell CS3 has a giant clash with bullets flying and explosions going off and nobody being the least bit injured. CS4 having air battles and and the land war kicking off and again, nobody dying. What, an airship makes a controlled descent and one guy is shown guy taking a rest on the ground? Them stopping the war from kicking off would have been less absurd.
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May 4, 2023 09:12
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People probably died in the war tbh.
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May 4, 2023 09:12
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heaven forbid you have to use your imagination a little
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May 4, 2023 09:13
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Just pretend people died off screen
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May 4, 2023 09:15
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Like we see the war begin and people start shooting and then we cut away. I don't really get the feeling those guys came out ok.
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May 4, 2023 09:15
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kirbysuperstar posted:heaven forbid you have to use your imagination a little That's easier when the game gives you specific details. Compare and contrast Trails in the Sky FC with Cold Steel 2/3. In Sky FC, everywhere you go, there are NPC's who are still, 10 years later, talking about their memories of the Erebonian invasion. Those accounts have details and paint a specific picture. The clock tower being bombed. The masses of soldiers outside the Ahnberg wall. Ravennue being burned, and having a war memorial. Power in Ruan being knocked out, leaving the bridge in the raised position. In Cold Steel 2, there's a full-on civil war, and you're vaguely told "the fighting is really bad out west." That doesn't paint any sort of picture at all. I can't "use my imagination" for something as abstract as "the fighting is really bad out west." In Cold Steel 3, just two years later, you go out west. Please let me know if I missed stuff, but from what I recall, there's hardly any mentions at all of the events of the civil war. You get almost nothing. The closest it comes is that there are mentions of the Imperial Army being bottled up in Dreknor fortress, and one NPC in Leeves had a fiancee who died. You don't see any towns which were besieged or had nearby battles, there are no mentions of buildings destroyed being rebuilt. Other than what I mentioned, I don't think there are more than a handful of NPC's all game who talk about the civil war. It's astonishing how a war 10 years earlier can feel real, but one merely two years ago seems as if it never happened.
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May 4, 2023 14:50
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Look they showed you Celdic in the east. Just copy-paste that in your mind a couple hundred times and you're golden.
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May 4, 2023 14:58
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Azure Chapter 3. End of Day 2. Super demon Wald is really annoying. I'm sure it's possible to beat him, but is it worth the trouble? Do you get anything for it besides shutting his arrogant rear end up for a few seconds? Difficulty is set to Hard, if it matters.
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May 5, 2023 21:36
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hepcat posted:Azure Chapter 3. End of Day 2. Super demon Wald is really annoying. I'm sure it's possible to beat him, but is it worth the trouble? Do you get anything for it besides shutting his arrogant rear end up for a few seconds? Difficulty is set to Hard, if it matters. It's not, the fight will just end after a few minutes. However, you'll get bonus DP based on how much damage you deal him.
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May 5, 2023 22:02
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hepcat posted:Azure Chapter 3. End of Day 2. Super demon Wald is really annoying. I'm sure it's possible to beat him, but is it worth the trouble? Do you get anything for it besides shutting his arrogant rear end up for a few seconds? Difficulty is set to Hard, if it matters. You get 2 bonus DP by reducing the boss's health to 75% "within 10 turns." I'm not sure if it means 10 party members turns or 10 turns for the boss, because I could have sworn it took more than 10 player turns to get that done. If you get it, the line you'll see is "You're holding out better than expected." Tips: Have a full burst gauge and 200 CP on everyone. Don't bother with Arts, the boss has high ADF, but you might want to bring Tio with you anyway because the Boss will randomly use their S-Craft at some point and that's very damaging. It will one-shot Tio from full HP even if she has an HP 3 quartz. You want to get your Burst gauge full, and while it's up, use combo crafts.
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May 5, 2023 22:20
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Endorph posted:i dont know how you played any of these games and thought an actual world war was going to happen with tons of people laying dead in the streets I mean, the first protagonist of the series literally watched her mother die in a bombing run by a hostile invading neighbor. The Northern War supposedly got kinda hairy, too. It seems the big, messy wars are the ones that happen off screen.
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May 5, 2023 23:18
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Regarding Demon Wald. After several more tries, I got him down to about 80% before getting wiped out. I'd have to go back several saves to gather additional firepower, so I just decided to move on. Not worth it for 2 additional DP when I have no interest in a 100% clear of this game.
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May 5, 2023 23:56
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Finally in the final chapter of Azure, and wow, they really tried to recapture the high points of characterization, story, and structure in Cold Steel 1 and 2 (haven't played or watched LPs of 3 and 4), didn't they? I suppose that's, in part, a problem with a writing team that I assume is mostly entirely the same across multiple titles (it is something I noticed between Persona 4 and 5). Whatever the case, someone definitely thought up the structure for the finale and thought, "You know, we should do this for an entire game". Still, I really enjoy the world building in this series. While it does sometimes feel like your immediate world revolves around your current protagonist/party, the world itself doesn't feel that way at all; major events happen regardless of your input and other major groups have their own problems to deal with. Even if it doesn't wind up mattering in the long run, I enjoy the setup.
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May 6, 2023 00:17
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Finished replaying the Crossbell duology. While neither Zero or Azure are my favorite games in the series, it probably is my favorite arc in the series overall. Even if I do have a few issues with how things resolve in the last hours of Azure.
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May 9, 2023 20:20
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Cold Steel IV, Act 3: I'm sorry, it's really difficult to take villains seriously when they pop up in zoom calls to taunt me about basically stealing a dungeon.
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May 13, 2023 05:32
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Justin_Brett posted:Cold Steel IV, Act 3: I'm sorry, it's really difficult to take villains seriously when they pop up in zoom calls to taunt me about basically stealing a dungeon. I would joke that they should have had Osborne dressed in a bathrobe for the VC, but that's basically his normal outfit anyway .
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May 13, 2023 05:39
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Gah, replaying CS1 and I'm going to have to skip the fishing quest. I forgot that I find the minigame pretty much impossible. I must be getting old because I can't press the buttons nearly fast enough and I feel like I'm destroying my arm. Yes, turbo mode is off. Yes, I've triple checked. 
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May 13, 2023 05:40
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i hate fishing in about every jrpg
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May 13, 2023 05:41
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I too hate fishing but Cold Steel 1 fishing is like the least offensive fishing ever lol.
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May 13, 2023 22:24
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GateOfD posted:i hate fishing in about every jrpg This except in all genres. Why does nearly every video game in existence include a fishing minigame? I don't get it! The only thing worse than fishing minigames is racing quests, especially if it's a mandatory quest. I am terrible at racing games. If I wanted to play a racing game, I would have bought a racing game! 
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May 13, 2023 22:57
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While I'm at it, fuuuuuuuuuuuuck the swimming minigame in Cold Steel. 
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May 13, 2023 23:01
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Fishing is goated.
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May 13, 2023 23:30
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Fishing owns
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May 13, 2023 23:31
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argh, what the hell am i suppose to do against this boss fight in Azure finale chapter freaking Ariarhod. She just oneshots the whole party and I'm barely making a dent in her
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May 14, 2023 18:29
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RevolverDivider posted:Yeah I’m happy to throw stones at CS4 for how totally devoid of any stakes or tension it is but there was never going to be a grim war sequence. Very disappointed and confused that CS4 didn't feature a sequence where a surprised and shell-shocked Rean decapitates a civilian
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May 14, 2023 18:38
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GateOfD posted:argh, what the hell am i suppose to do against this boss fight in Azure finale chapter First and most obvious, have Tio in your party with Zero Field as her S-Break along with some combination of Gladiator equipment and food to quickly regen her CP. If she's at 200 CP and can get you two guards from Zero Field then you've got a ton more wiggle room to continue setting up for survival. Next up, you'll want some way to forcibly move the boss around on the field. If you did the sidequest involving beating Lynn and Aeolia then Lloyd's spinning attack craft can use suction to pull smaller enemies around the field, and the Space art Dark Matter can also drag enemies around. You may also want to adjust your tactics to start most of your team off to one corner to make it easier to drag the boss to the opposite corner and away from your main group. Finally, set up Lloyd (or Wazy, but in my opinion he's better off casting) to be a complete dodge tank. If you can get him to 100% evade then his attack doesn't matter, since all he needs to do is keep the attention of the boss directed on him. Note that casting arts completely negates the evade, so you can use him for buff support if he can get an art off before the boss can take their next turn, but if the casting time will put him after the boss then don't bother casting that round. As long as her attention is mostly on Lloyd and failing to hit him, the rest of your party can sling arts around to do actual damage. For various other improvements to your characters you can go fight at least the lower level monster chests, because unlike what I recall from Zero the rewards here are actually good.
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May 14, 2023 19:06
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Why is it that none of the various iterations of the ARCUS, etc. have Caller ID? It's really loving basic functionality that you would think they'd prioritize adding to their phones. But nope, the caller always needs to state who they are.
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May 15, 2023 04:21
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...! posted:Why is it that none of the various iterations of the ARCUS, etc. have Caller ID? It's really loving basic functionality that you would think they'd prioritize adding to their phones. But nope, the caller always needs to state who they are. People do this irl even with numbers saved to their phone books, OP
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May 15, 2023 04:35
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Skipping the landline era and telemarketers meant nobody in the setting knows it's an important feature yet
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May 15, 2023 04:38
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...! posted:Why is it that none of the various iterations of the ARCUS, etc. have Caller ID? It's really loving basic functionality that you would think they'd prioritize adding to their phones. But nope, the caller always needs to state who they are. they have it at the very very end of CS4, when Rean gets a call from whoever his girlfriend is and he ghosts her to go chase after Crow again
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May 15, 2023 04:38
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Also, discovered the hard way that the "Shots Fired" quest in Cold Steel is bugged and seemingly uncompletable under certain conditions in NG+. Fortunately, people on GameFAQs figured out how to fix it and it's really loving odd: The quest: the weapons store owner in Roer wants you to test a new weapon by killing ten owls with it. You can test a weapon for one of three characters: Fie, Machias or Crow. The weapon itself is the quest reward upon completion. The bug: since I chose Fie's weapon in my first playthrough, I chose Machias' weapon in NG+. But no matter how many owls I killed with the weapon, the store owner kept telling me I hadn't killed enough. The fix: if the weapon you chose in your first playthrough is still equipped, you have to kill the owls with that weapon rather than the one you chose in your current playthrough. Upon having Fie kill ten owls, Machias immediately declared that he had killed the owls and thus the quest was completable. While turning in the quest, Machias marveled at the effectiveness of the gun he had never even fired. This seems like a pretty basic and obvious bug that would have been caught immediately if they had done any NG+ testing at all.
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May 15, 2023 04:44
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