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Delphisage posted:I like how Sergei just admits the reason the S3 exists is to both steal work from the Bracer Guild and improve the reputation of Crossbell's local guardian forces. It's both a pragmatic and sympathetic motivation for him. Local police forces. The Guardian Force is an entirely separate government organization that doesn't really have anything to do with the city proper. Yeah, Zero's pretty slow to start. That's kind of a recurring pattern with Trails games; pretty much every single entry is a slow burn. I do like the Crossbell games' approach of basically doing a vertical slice of a single complicated city; its kinda neat to focus on something as small scale and nuanced as municipal power rivalries for once. But by the same token, sometimes it doesn't exactly make for riveting plot motion.
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Feb 4, 2023 07:27
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 18:54 |
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you know, I think the Crossbell games might actually have the largest amount of backtracking dialogue of any of the Kiseki series. Its only competitor is Sky, which has more NPCs but also blocks off big chunks of the map more than Zero/Azure do. Its more convenient in any case, as the city of Crossbell is way more compact than all of Liberl. I like how the game needs you to buy orbal staffs for the gameplay economy to even out (or at least they think they do; in practice it probably wouldn't be a big deal), but can't think of an actual reason why that would make sense, so we end up with surreal plot element of Tio's handler bizarrely sending experimental technology packages to the local weapons dealer. I'm not even mad, its an entertaining bit. It makes even less sense when you realize that in 6 months, basically every arms dealer in east Erebonia will be stocking orbal staffs (which are still experimental technology) for no explained reason whatsoever! Which is interesting, as with regards to the Arcus units, at least occasionally there's a nod in the story as to why all the orbal factories they encounter can service them.
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Feb 11, 2023 09:16
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Wazy Hemisphere is definitely up there in the ranks of my favorite JRPG names of all time. Can't say it doesn't fit the character, though.
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Feb 26, 2023 01:37
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I like that neither Randy nor Tio give a crap about professional ethics, and Ellie's already used to bending the rules to get things done. 3/4 of the SSS already down for reasonable bribes. It's very confusing that the Saber Viper's headquarters has a gecko drawn on it rather than a snake. Crossbell has the Deluxe Criminal package, (2) delinquent gangs packaged with the purchase of a primary criminal mafia. And of course, the actual criminals would never be caught dead in a shithole downtown. A Big Dummy Lloyd run sounds pretty fun, considering how often the game wants you to roleplay him as bigbrain. Just a constant stream of Tio glares, Ellie sighs, and Randy saying 'sall good, no worries bro!
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Mar 5, 2023 08:03
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We have found, as far as I can tell, the only practicing lawyer on the west half of the continent. His support staff seems to be exactly one child, which strikes me as possibly the least realistic thing in the game, considering he's supposed to be an international business lawyer who also does general practice. Mafia v. Triads is pretty accurate. Many elements of Crossbell are essentially just Erebonia v. Calvard proxy wars, and this is no exception (besides the fact that the Eastern faction in this case appears to be new on the scene). Machias is very much Dudley, but as an annoying child with no actual power. Never trust old ladies. Classy Hydra fucked around with this message at 23:13 on Mar 12, 2023 |
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Mar 12, 2023 23:11
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I don't know why precisely, but the idea of Ellie as a reverse-vampire who dies if they ever leave a demesne is very entertaining. Randy's interactions with the city are a little odd; he's definitely been in Crossbell State for a while now, but he does seem unfamiliar with the city sometimes. I suppose, since he's been with the Guardian Force the entire time, we're supposed to assume he's been spending most of his time in the barracks out-of-city. Also yes, he most definitely would buy anything with the general shape of a busty woman drawn on it.
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Mar 26, 2023 23:03
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I actually had no idea those offered bonding points, or carried over into Azure. Hunh. Wonder what other random stuff carries over between games I never noticed.
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Apr 1, 2023 02:37
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Actually shocked that of all characters to get portraits in that mod, Jingo and Ashleigh didn't make the cut.
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Apr 2, 2023 05:38
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I think I've been mistaking Felicia for Felicity, who was the daughter of an Erebonian noble who went to Jenis back in Sky and also had a maid following her around to handle her family issues. Hunh; all this time, I thought that was an Anton-class multi-game spanning character arc, but I guess it's not? (Later Kiseki) You definitely find one of those two's manors somewhere in CS3, but I have no recollection of which it is at this point.
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Apr 2, 2023 18:27
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I am weirdly addicted to Zero/Azure's poker minigame, which was basically my source of mira throughout both games. Gambling, not even once.
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Apr 9, 2023 17:45
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Making Harold a mod is a decision we will never regret
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Apr 18, 2023 07:59
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:Please tell me you didn't gamble at the casino so you could sell the prizes. I actually tested the math out on this once out of curiosity. It's not especially profitable, but I was spending literal hours doing it on autopilot while binging episodes of House, so  For the record I don't remember having any real mira problems at any point in the crossbell duology, the poker minigame is just easy to waste time with once you figure out a workflow.
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Apr 18, 2023 20:34
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"Do you, or anybody you know, own a cat?" would be a decent Trails megathread title.
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May 4, 2023 05:21
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Estelle and Joshua's new face portraits are possibly the most jarring reminders that the series changed art directors after Sky 3. Estelle actually mostly looks like herself, albeit with darker hair (and her hair thing spun around the opposite way for some reason), but Joshua doesn't even slightly resemble his Sky sprites and it is very distracting Also those apes are a gargantuan pain in the rear end on Hard. I think you got lucky; it is an escort mission (of a sort), and usually those fuckers hone in on the bus immediately.
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May 14, 2023 09:17
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Randy, perhaps unusually for a comedy pervert, actually seems to have some degree of game. You can't deny he's willing to walk the walk as much as he talks the talk. That Tio scene is optional I believe, I missed it my first playthrough. Seeing it slightly changes at least one later scene too. It's surprisingly involved for optional scenes, involving two separate cutscenes. Regardless of how much trauma/darkness any member of the SSS has, all of them are masters of deflection whenever their backstory is concerned. Even Ellie refuses to divulge stuff about her family despite her surname being regularly featured in the Crossbell Times! If anything, Tio is the worst at avoidance tactics, since she at least acknowledges she's not talking about personal stuff when it becomes relevant. If the Sky games are any indication, Arios probably makes more selling all the excess sepith he collects than he does off of his Bracer work. Thematically I'd guess he's probably not that wealthy, especially in Crossbell City which seems to be 33% stock brokers by weight, but he probably has rich connections. Considering they mentioned he solved some problem for the Remiferian crown, and said crown funds the hospital, I doubt he has much issue getting Shizuku's treatment covered.
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May 22, 2023 07:04
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 18:54 |
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I like how Lloyd started fishing just a few days ago, and yet has already made it enough of his self-image to be annoyed about Master Angler Estelle.
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Jun 4, 2023 07:19
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