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mèx
Member
Just finished Act 2 (A and B sides). The game keeps being great and the character interactions are top.
I unlocked some dual element arts now, they seem to be pretty useful.
That Shizuna + Gaolang vs the gang + Kasim cutscene was dope as hell. If only Falcom had more time and budget to do more of these scenes, damn. And immediately after that Shizuna joins you, and that's so Shizuna.
The ending of 2A was pretty cool, I had to repeat that fight a couple of times. During the last try Lucrezia came in clutch by pinning down Gaolang in a corner, lol.
I wonder if we will see the consequences of Cao's actions in this game or in Kai.
I also liked 2B, going around the school with Nadia and Swim was fun, they are so cute together. Lots of gruesome scenes with the bombing and a terrorist shooting students in the head too. Thanks to the Genesis gimmick we get to see a lot of scenarios that Falcom would never write and that's cool.
Now we know that Lapis was "stolen" and converted into Altera, but for which reason is still unclear.
Also playable Renne, hell yeah!
The ending of 2A was pretty cool, I had to repeat that fight a couple of times. During the last try Lucrezia came in clutch by pinning down Gaolang in a corner, lol.
I wonder if we will see the consequences of Cao's actions in this game or in Kai.
I also liked 2B, going around the school with Nadia and Swim was fun, they are so cute together. Lots of gruesome scenes with the bombing and a terrorist shooting students in the head too. Thanks to the Genesis gimmick we get to see a lot of scenarios that Falcom would never write and that's cool.
Now we know that Lapis was "stolen" and converted into Altera, but for which reason is still unclear.
Also playable Renne, hell yeah!
I unlocked some dual element arts now, they seem to be pretty useful.
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jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Starting with Daybreak (the game before this one), there are action battles in the field - but you can press a button to go into the traditional turn-based battle system. Active / action battles usually aren't sustainable and are just a way to quickly clear enemies that you're vastly superior to. What
mèx
posted above is an example where they were able to stunlock the enemy in the field, so they could keep doing active / action battle without getting damaged, and thus able to beat the monster in a very nontraditional way.
Jinzo Prime
Member
No.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
mèx
Member
I'm midway through Fragments (~50 hours in) and loving it so far. What I really like is that the pacing is more similar to Reverie than the "standard" Trails game. Character interactions are excellent as usual, the Connect Events that become available during Fragments are pretty good too.
Feels like the game is focused on wrapping up the loose ends of Daybreak 1 more than moving the overarching plot forward, which is fine by me since I know Kai no Kiseki (and its no-yet-announced sequel) will get the job done with respect to the overall plot.
Reviewers said that Act 3 (the one after Fragments) is not so good, so we will see about that.
mèx
Member
Finally I had some time to play and managed to finish Fragments.
What can I say if not: holy shit.
Onwards to the controversial Act 3 now.
What can I say if not: holy shit.
The beginning is pretty much chill, with the group hanging on the beach resort, eye candy included. I always love these kind of chapters in Trails, there are a lot of interesting character interactions since a lot of the cast is condensed in a single location. The Connect Events were really good, absolutely do not skip them and save/reload to see them all, it's worth it.
The second day is where things start to get serious. We are forced to be involved with Harwood's plot which leads to tons of fun fights against all the other factions. The fight against Shizuna was tough as nails but I managed to scrape by... and after that she goes like "thanks for the warmup", lol. I will never understand Trails power scaling.
The climax was great, lots of Dead Ends and lots of stuff happening: finding out that this is in fact Paradise, which ties with the whole Renne's subplot. Then the discovery about Quatre and his angelic form, then the fight against Ixs/Jorda (they are crazy but I love 'em), followed by Harwood being Harwood (he's a fun villain) and the appearance of the Gardenmaster (what a dumb name)... One thing after another, holy shit.
I didn't expect Swin betraying us and stealing all our Genesis fragments. What the fuck are you doing my man. Poor Nadia.
I still have no clue what the Geneses are for, but I guess we will see by the end of this game.
The second day is where things start to get serious. We are forced to be involved with Harwood's plot which leads to tons of fun fights against all the other factions. The fight against Shizuna was tough as nails but I managed to scrape by... and after that she goes like "thanks for the warmup", lol. I will never understand Trails power scaling.
The climax was great, lots of Dead Ends and lots of stuff happening: finding out that this is in fact Paradise, which ties with the whole Renne's subplot. Then the discovery about Quatre and his angelic form, then the fight against Ixs/Jorda (they are crazy but I love 'em), followed by Harwood being Harwood (he's a fun villain) and the appearance of the Gardenmaster (what a dumb name)... One thing after another, holy shit.
I didn't expect Swin betraying us and stealing all our Genesis fragments. What the fuck are you doing my man. Poor Nadia.
I still have no clue what the Geneses are for, but I guess we will see by the end of this game.
Onwards to the controversial Act 3 now.
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mèx
Member
Act 3 was... great? Never trust Trails fans, they like to bitch and moan about nothing I guess.
I'm a bit surprised by what I read about Act 3, I thought it was more akin to the filler parts of Cold Steel 2 but it's actually interesting throughout. It uses the time leap and corrosion plot devices to create situations that could not happen otherwise, and it uses this occasion to further character development for (some of) the affected characters. Seeing all those Dead Ends and the total rewind at the end was kind of wild.
Btw Act 3-E was fucking insane, lmao. It just keeps going and I love it. Good thing you can save between some of those battles/events. Act 3-E and F together are what you would expect from a final act, so I'm not sure what to expect for the actual final act.
The villain motivations were... uh... whatever. Maybe it's something it will be expanded upon in the final act. Harwood makes for a much better villain, his voice actor (japanese) is perfect.
I'm a bit surprised by what I read about Act 3, I thought it was more akin to the filler parts of Cold Steel 2 but it's actually interesting throughout. It uses the time leap and corrosion plot devices to create situations that could not happen otherwise, and it uses this occasion to further character development for (some of) the affected characters. Seeing all those Dead Ends and the total rewind at the end was kind of wild.
Btw Act 3-E was fucking insane, lmao. It just keeps going and I love it. Good thing you can save between some of those battles/events. Act 3-E and F together are what you would expect from a final act, so I'm not sure what to expect for the actual final act.
The villain motivations were... uh... whatever. Maybe it's something it will be expanded upon in the final act. Harwood makes for a much better villain, his voice actor (japanese) is perfect.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
mèx
Member
Finished the game at around 105 hours.
It was a great ride from start to finish! Probably one of my favourites Trails games. The main reasons are the character interactions and the overall pacing.
The character interactions are excellent all around. The dedicated Connect Events are the best they have ever been, both the ones in Fragments and the Final chapter were wonderful (the Risette and Renne ones especially). There is a lot of character development going on throughout the game, both for the main party and the "secondary" characters. I think they really nailed this aspect and that's why the game is so good.
The pacing is between Reverie and the usual standard Trails fare. Things keep happening at a steady pace and the momentum is never lost. There are some pauses (first half of Fragments, first half of the finale) but those actually help in keeping the story cohesive... and I tend to love those chill moments. The fact that you usually stay in the same location for a couple of days instead of three-four days really helps with moving things forward without feeling like a slog.
The story was pretty decent too, as an epilogue to Daybreak 1 at least. It's mostly about the Geneses, their purpose and how they can affect the world. The overarching plot does not move forward too much, but I feel like this was a stepping stone for what's to come. Thanks to all the character development in this game, the next game can focus mostly on the overall plot without trying to juggle too many character arcs, or so I hope.
Personally, I also enjoyed the plot devices introduced due to the Geneses, it was a nice change to see all those situations that usually don't or can't happen. That's why I liked Act 3, I found nothing wrong with it except that it should have been slightly shorter.
The ending was a banger as usual. Trails never misses with those, I don't think there is a single ending that I disliked in the entire series. If there is one thing that is consistently good in this series, it's how they make these endings. I don't think I understood the fine prints of the ending (mostly regarding the 8th Genesis); I would need to watch it again to make sense of some stuff.
Things I didn't like:
- The Gardenmaster was disappointing. It had a lot of potential but his motivations are just meh in the end. I didn't care at all. But that's offset by the Grendel Zolga reveal at the end, that was cool.
- Märchen Garten could be cut from the game and nothing would be lost. Just a waste of time. At least they bothered making different biomes, but the rewards for going through the Garten layers are laughable. The bonus cutscene you get at the end didn't need to be locked under this.
I'm a bit sad I finished it, Trails games truly are unique in what they offer. Now I'm really excited for what's coming next. Kai can't come soon enough.
It was a great ride from start to finish! Probably one of my favourites Trails games. The main reasons are the character interactions and the overall pacing.
The character interactions are excellent all around. The dedicated Connect Events are the best they have ever been, both the ones in Fragments and the Final chapter were wonderful (the Risette and Renne ones especially). There is a lot of character development going on throughout the game, both for the main party and the "secondary" characters. I think they really nailed this aspect and that's why the game is so good.
The pacing is between Reverie and the usual standard Trails fare. Things keep happening at a steady pace and the momentum is never lost. There are some pauses (first half of Fragments, first half of the finale) but those actually help in keeping the story cohesive... and I tend to love those chill moments. The fact that you usually stay in the same location for a couple of days instead of three-four days really helps with moving things forward without feeling like a slog.
The story was pretty decent too, as an epilogue to Daybreak 1 at least. It's mostly about the Geneses, their purpose and how they can affect the world. The overarching plot does not move forward too much, but I feel like this was a stepping stone for what's to come. Thanks to all the character development in this game, the next game can focus mostly on the overall plot without trying to juggle too many character arcs, or so I hope.
Personally, I also enjoyed the plot devices introduced due to the Geneses, it was a nice change to see all those situations that usually don't or can't happen. That's why I liked Act 3, I found nothing wrong with it except that it should have been slightly shorter.
The ending was a banger as usual. Trails never misses with those, I don't think there is a single ending that I disliked in the entire series. If there is one thing that is consistently good in this series, it's how they make these endings. I don't think I understood the fine prints of the ending (mostly regarding the 8th Genesis); I would need to watch it again to make sense of some stuff.
Things I didn't like:
- The Gardenmaster was disappointing. It had a lot of potential but his motivations are just meh in the end. I didn't care at all. But that's offset by the Grendel Zolga reveal at the end, that was cool.
- Märchen Garten could be cut from the game and nothing would be lost. Just a waste of time. At least they bothered making different biomes, but the rewards for going through the Garten layers are laughable. The bonus cutscene you get at the end didn't need to be locked under this.
I'm a bit sad I finished it, Trails games truly are unique in what they offer. Now I'm really excited for what's coming next. Kai can't come soon enough.
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