Topic: Nihon Falcom games on NS2

@JaxonH, thanks for letting me know about the vita, the weird thing about cold steel 2 on vita, is that it is licenced by nis america, at least in Europe,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Heroes:_Trails_of...
Also I loved ys 8, I would love to see a ns2 version of the game.

@Mgalens I saw the other day that Sohei Niikawa, joins Falcom so
the port could be anything such as reviving one of falcom's earliest ips, personally I would prefer cold steel 1&2, it could even be an earlier legend of heroes title:
This youtube account retells falcom's history if anyone is intrusted https://www.youtube.com/@bowloflentils/featured

Trails beyond the horzion is the best switch 2 game I have played so far, its one of the only games on the console that can play 120fps on handheld apart from metroid prime 4, I would love to see the prior daybreak games render at such quality because I finished both daybreaks on switch 1 and the visuals quality of horizon is truly next gen.

@metaphysician, I was really pleased when I tried the game yesterday and it worked as it is supposed to, I really loved both crossbell games and the writing for npcs in those games was top quality.

I'm glad to hear that the Crossbell games work on Switch now, I ended up just buying a Steam Deck to play Sky the 3rd, the Crossbell games, and Cold Steel 1/2, and then I ended up just playing the whole series on it lol
I may play Beyond the Horizon on S2 if it looks that good, though.

@Mgalens Thanks for keeping us updated on the FMV issue in the Crossbell games! Glad to hear it's fixed!

Seeing as the issue still isn't acknowledged on Nintendo's webpages for those games (after a fix, they'd normally say something like, "previously identified issue has been fixed"), they probably found the underlying issue in the BC layer in another game. And now that the root issue is fixed, all affected games can reap the benefits.

Now that the crossbell games have been fixed, its due time for cold steel 1 and 2 games to get an English port for the switch, out of all games I desperately want a port for the switch 2, its those games in addition to metaphor refantazio.

Weird thing is, players can recap the English version of cold steel 1 and 2 on cold steel 3&4 home menu background lore, you can even watch events that occurred during the English version on those games, so if those games are included only during lore memory then I don't understand the localisation rights dispute between nis and xseed for those two games, since parts of those games are included in nis america's cold steel 3.

@xenobladexfan
yeah that would be rad as all heck.

playing through the crossbell games after CS1 and 2 (played them on vita) was an interesting experience, oddly it felt like Azure revealed more about pivotal scenes in CS1 and 2 than the cold steel games did about azure.

@Mgalens, I agree with you about the crossbell games, atleast lore wise in relation to Trails beyond the Horizon, I noticed Zero&Azure, gave me enough information to fully enjoy the calvard arc, as the first two daybreak games constantly reference the events that Guy Bannings dealt with.

Hopefully falcom will remake sky 3rd chapter then, cold steel 1 and 2 in a modern engine, anyway falcom uploaded new footage from sky 2nd chapter today:
https://www.rpgsite.net/news/19483-trails-in-the-sky-2nd-chap...

@xenobladexfan That video game me so much seratonin I'm so hyped for this game
Sky SC was so good and I'm so happy you don't have to play it solely on a PC soon.

@Bluelink45 in my opinion the best platform for these games are the switch 1 and 2 due to the hybrid nature of the switch, I really enjoy playing these games portability as well as docked due to the heavy text and long gaps between saves often found in trails games.

In addition, Nintendo's hardware is extremely durable, I had my original switch 1 since 2017 but the cooling fan in the unit broke when I was playing Zero in 2023 but I was able to fix the fan by ordering parts from ebay and it was easy and cheap.

My main criticism of pc gaming in addition the steam deck is its extremely difficult unless, the user hires a pc technician to fix those devices if parts break, which they do eventually, in addition to having to upgrade every couple of years to keep up with graphics requirements, I'm so pleased, the earlier trails games have broke free from the pc gaming scene, I'm hoping trails 3rd chapter as well as the cold steel games will come to the switch as well.

@xenobladexfan,

"I'm hoping trails 3rd chapter as well as the cold steel games will come to the switch as well."

Other than those games, are all the rest of the games in the series already on the Switch? Just curious, since I do want to get into the Trails series... someday.

@Nep-Nep-Freak as of right now, all of Trails minus Sky SC and 3rd, Cold Steel I and II are on Switch. Cold Steel I and II are on Playstation though, iirc, so you shouldn't have any problems with those, and Sky SC is getting a remake this fall.

@Nep-Nep-Freak yeah you can play both crossbell games, cold steel 3&4, trails reverie, daybreak 1&2 on switch in addition to trails beyond the horizon,
There are 13 main games in the series and 9 of them are playable on the switch 1 and 2 in the west and including trails sky 2nd chapter so that will be 10

I would advise getting daybreak 1 sooner rather than later because there is stock issues for that game in the uk and us, I think the original printed copies are sold out, and that game is rare, listings are getting more expensive on eBay.

@Bluelink45, @xenobladexfan,

Thanks for the tips, especially the Daybreak 1 one. Unfortunately, while I'm still lacking my own house and a ton of money, and am still saving up for a Switch 2, I don't really have the time and money to get into the series right now 😅. But I do intend on doing so in the future, even if it takes a few years.

@Nep-Nep-Freak the trails games in my opinion are very good value for money, most games average around 100 hours so, if I was looking to get into the series maybe wait for a sale and pick up Trails sky 1st chapter or some of Nis America's falcom games.

Depends if you like anime or manga as these games are often in that style, even so they do have very deep stories.

@xenobladexfan, "Depends if you like anime or manga"

Anime, manga, and Japanese video games are my favorite kind of media ever, lol 🤣. Kind of explains my profile picture. And I do love very deep stories. So I'm definitely looking forward to playing the games when I have the chance.

@xenobladexfan eh, idk. Most Trails games take me 30-50 hours, not 100+. If you're going for 100% completion, 100, sure. Otherwise, 60/game at most.

@Nep-Nep-Freak
one aspect the games are also heavy on is an aspect i really enjoy in rpgs and thats the walking around towns talking to NPCs and generally taking in the sights, the npc dialogue is also updated quite a bit and many NPCs are named (even if a good few of the minor ones share sprites/models their names are unique) the towns and cities also have a nice "lived in" feel to them thanks to things like that.

an exception would be Sky 3rd which is more dungeon focused (which makes sense in the plot) however that one also contributes a LOT to the overall lore of the series.

@Nep-Nep-Freak, I love Japanese video games as well, in fact 100% of games I play are Japanese games.

@Bluelink45, trails in the sky 1st chapter is 60 hours long, however the cold steel and crossbell games are significantly longer due to bonding with various characters, similar to the persona series.

@xenobladexfan Checked my logs, Sky 1st took me 30-35 hours, but I didn't go for 100% (I almost never do in games, the only game this gen I have is Return to Dreamland Deluxe.) Sky SC took me around 45, and 3rd took me 35. The Crossbell games were about 35, Cold Steel I and II were both 40, III and IV were both about 50, and Reverie was 38. I'm currently in the middle of Daybreak, so I can't comment beyond that.
I just read fast idk

I feel like the Trails games can be especially variable when it comes to playtime even compared to other RPGs, naturally theres the speed of reading aspect but also things like someone trying to hunt down all the hidden quests without a guide can take a lot of scouring around depending on the time window of them and theres also those who may want to keep checking for new NPC dialogue (something iirc made easier in newer games since it shows if someone has something to say you havent seen)

@Mgalens I 100% trails on the hardest difficulty mode and that I why the game lasts longer than players who do easy mode,

For example, trails to azure took me 115 hours to see everything and do all the bonding events on a single walkthrough, on the hardest difficulty.