>All heroes & villains in one battle. 10/10 setup
>NOTHING. FUCKING. HAPPENS.

Falcom just can not help themselves...

Worse than nothing. The only thing that happened in the previous game UNhappens.

>>3762591 (OP)
Fie’s so fucking hot geez

>>3762602
I honestly don't think I've ever seen a plot with NEGATIVE consequence. And I don't mean negative as bad I mean mathematically.

Alisa is raw unfiltered NTR fuel, don't deny it

>>3763229
Alisa's just boring. I don't even mean sexually I mean just, as a character. Nu-Class VII is so much better than old I'm actually upset

>>3763229
Shalom

>>3762591 (OP)
Wow those "villains" look lame as shit.
How do you take this corny shit seriously?

>>3763837
The villains aren't in the picture, these are the heroes getting ready before the big operation The actual villains also look lame as shit, which fits their actions to a T

It's why I stopped at Reverie. Should of stopped at Cold Steel 2.

I still can't get over how Daybreak tries to make the Heiyue good guys after all the horrible things they did in Crossbell. I feel like I'm being gaslit.

>>3762591 (OP)
Nothing happens is like the misson statement of this series. It's a complete fucking waste of time and I truly wish I never started it. They hype up all this shit and the lamest possible payoff for it that they can do is what they will choose every time. Or they just continue to put it off into a "future game" that just never seems to come.

>>3762591 (OP)
It's interesting to me how Suikoden managed to do more in a single game than Trails in entire arcs.

After CS2 I play the games just to enjoy beating up monsters with cute girls and seeing their character events. Letting yourself get invested the broader story is just masochism.

>>3763967
Aside from getting in tussles with Revache I don't remember them doing anything explicitly evil? Weren't they also against Dieter's crossbell?

>>3764047
it's because suikoden sells single games and trails sells as series

>>3767034
heiyue have always been a crime syndicate that never actually commit any crimes and falcom so desperately want you to like them and think theyre awesome
one of the worst written factions ive ever seen in a game

>>3762591 (OP)
Sky 1st will remind Kondom how to do things...right?

>>3767046
I've seen western comics have more visible plot impacts over a lifetime and western comics as a rule will pull a negative space wedgie out of every asshole imagineable to retcon anything at least three times to maintain the status quo. It is amazing that the Trails series can be that stagnant and unchanging.

>>3762591 (OP)
I’ve only played like 5 Trails games and I still wish I could take my time back from them.
They’re pure filler.

>>3762591 (OP)
This series is a scam. It just exists so that Falcom can make a bunch of assets they can reuse for the next 5 years and pump out yearly releases while they work on other projects. There is no plan they make it all up as it goes along so there is 0 cohesion to it and the status quo will never change. To anyone reading do NOT waste your time on this series. Play literally any other JRPG series and it will be less of a waste of time. Trails only exists to be pumped out to meet Falcoms yearly release schedule there is absolutely 0 creative drive behind any of it.

>>3763967
Oh those pesky mafia guys. They just wanted to engage in human trafficking and drug trade!

What gets me is when people try to praise this series for its "World Building." Yeah the NPCs have a lot to go on about and you can find books full of flavor text but that's not really WORLD building. That's chaff. It's bloated crap. Every part of the world is nigh identical. They just use ORBAL bullshit to drastically change the setting any time they see fit. Nothing feels organic and nothing really matters. Meanwhile Ys, which is regarded as the more "gameplay" focused series and much lighter story wise actually does both it's world building better and it's characters. Oh sure they're hardly complex but they generally have places in the plot. They have arcs. They have defined personalities and react to things in ways that feel more unique. Every game Adol visits a new land, meets new people, new drastically different cultures and mythologies. And each game is completely stand alone and as a result things have to matter because they can't put off some character's development for so long that they eventually forget too. They just focus on what actually matters to the setting, the character and the story instead of wasting 40 goddamn hours telling me what club they're in or what snacks they like.

>>3762591 (OP)
Falcom's unironic goyslop. It applies by every definition of the word. Trails is no budget Japanese MCU.

>>3767181
There are parts of this series that honestly feel like they're TOO MUCH to the point where I want to say Falcom is taking the piss but if this a joke the punchline hasn't dropped yet.

At what point did the culture switch from not being able to say a bad word about Trails to not being able to say a good word about it?

>>3767277
Around the time Moeblob committed suicide

>>3767277
Probably around Cold Steel 3/4 or Reverie. Even during CS 1 and 2 people had a few choice words. In any case looking at a series like this in retrospect is very different than looking at it as it was coming out. In the earlier days we had little reason to expect that this shit wasn't going somewhere. We had every faith that the characters would get their moments, that something big might happen that there would be a real pay off. And then there wasn't. And there kept not being any real pay out. And then it kept going and not cashing out and old stuff just got ignored, recontextualized and there was endless padding and we're at like a dozen games with nothing important to show for it.

>>3767277
When they started shitting out garbage coomer games. That made people view their old games more objectively also. You can still find your circlejerk on r/falcom, though. They also try to police r/jrpg to eliminate wrongthink.

>>3767277
its easy to be positive about a series when half of it hadnt even be localized
once the entire thing came out in english people realized it was just the same shit over and over and was going nowhere from the start
and you cant even enjoy the games individually because every game is made to set up 5 other games in the process and almost none of them truly stand alone

>>3763229
The only NTRbait character is Elie, and only if you really want to read it like that. Seriously, the sheer amount of other characters that VERY openly want her is absurd.
Any suggestion that any other character is NTRbait is delusion and projection from seething cuckolds.

>>3767277
I like trails. They're fun games with a lot to offer.

>>3767475
>a lot to offer.
Not really. It just takes them a lot to offer very little.

>>3767034
>>3767062
They collaborate with Ouroboros and Erebonia in CS3 and 4. They also kill a bunch of innocent civilians in Daybreak.

>>3767512
Heiyue has never done anything wrong. Just like Ouroboros.

>>3767449
I am a seething cuckold but that doesn't mean she's not merchant/monster NTR bait

>>3767277
When people realised that this series had no interest in building a world and telling stories at all. It's also full of time wasting filler on top of having less going for it than never ending shonenshits too.

>>3767515
The later games basically retcon it but never forget that in Trails FC Ouroboros uses child soldiers.

>>3767562
The world building in Trails is crap. Each country, faction, character or historical event has about a paragraphs worth of detail at best. Half the countries on the continent apparently only have one city each. 1000 years of recorded history and apparently just nothing happened until the last 15. Now this is nothing new for JRPGs most of them are like this but most JRPG worlds only last for one game and this series is always sold to people as having this amazing detailed worldbuilding with this epically crafted world yet after 10+ games it's no different from the majority of JRPGs. Japs just fundamentally don't respect actual worldbuilding.

>>3767302
>>3767748
At this point, I am convinced that only Slavs and Japanese have the reading comprehension required to enjoy long-running series.
To say that there is no progression or world-building is just a big fat lie. Yes, on their own these games might seemingly not add much. But just taking a look at Hajimari, Kuro, Kuro 2 and Kai together, they actually expanded the worldbuilding and where the story is heading greatly. Same for Zero to Ao to Sen to Sen 2 to Sen 3 to Sen 4. Whether it was planned from the beginning or just clever writing, that made everything make sense retroactively. The hints to civil war and Osborne´s plans are there already from Zero to Sen 2 for example.
Similarly, people complain how Kuro and Kuro 2 were meandering, but every complaint about it was invalidated by Kai, which actually addressed most of these.

>>3767805
>The hints to civil war and Osborne´s plans are there already from Zero to Sen 2 for example.
Please point me to where Osborne is portrayed as a good guy keikakumancer secretly trying to take down an evil curse by pretending to be its lackey in any of those games.

>>3767809
For example, the fact that Claire is an ally in Sen 1,2 and 3. And Lechter being ally to Lloyd and SSS in Zero. And that is just the big glaring ones based on the characters and connections with each other.

>>3767812
>For example, the fact that Claire is an ally in Sen 1,2 and 3.
...and then proceeds to be a total doormat; one who complains about being helpless because of the curse in CS4.
>And Lechter being ally to Lloyd and SSS in Zero.
Now this is some Mr. Incredible levels of reaching. It takes quite a bit of revisionist mental gymnastics to go from:
>Lechter was an Erebonian spy who - both wittingly and unwittingly - helped manipulate a group of naive, well-intentioned rookie cops et al into removing a major obstacle for an expansionist, belligerent military dictator hoping to conquer Crossbell.
To:
>Osborne had such a deep and broad understanding of both Erebonia's and Crossbell's geopolitics, and was such a good judge of character, that he understood that the strength and resolve of the SSS could be leveraged in his 5D chess plan to eventually defeat Ishmelga. As such, he sent Lechter to aid them. That way, he could subtly nudge the SSS into involving themselves with events and people that would eventually coalesce into a resistance movement against Ishmelga.

The latter doesn't even read like actual analysis. It reads like the retarded musings of a Tumblrite with an overactive imagination.

>>3767826
>>Osborne had such a deep and broad understanding of both Erebonia's and Crossbell's geopolitics, and was such a good judge of character, that he understood that the strength and resolve of the SSS could be leveraged in his 5D chess plan to eventually defeat Ishmelga. As such, he sent Lechter to aid them. That way, he could subtly nudge the SSS into involving themselves with events and people that would eventually coalesce into a resistance movement against Ishmelga.
Yes, that is exactly what happens.
And you just keep proving my point.

>>3767857
The only thing I'm proving is you have a shit ton of headcanon that you perceive as fact.

>>3767449
why would the cuckolds be seething

>>3767859
I just know how to read the dialogue and visuals presented in the game, instead of just complaining about stuff that is not even true.

>>3767868
What did I say was untrue? People not having a Pepe Silvia-tier interpretation of themes and dialogue is not the same thing as not understand the story.

>>3767869
I would obliterate you with a screenshot if I could find it, but whatever. You are dumb,
But the gist is that Osborne also literally says: We are going to write an end to this bloodstained fairytale together."
If you still think that wanting to break the curse was in anyway nonsensical after that, then you really shouldn't play these games, because you clearly can't read.

>>3767874
>But the gist is that Osborne also literally says: We are going to write an end to this bloodstained fairytale together."
Yeah, at the end of CS3. You know, outside of the games you initially mentioned.
>If you still think that wanting to break the curse was in anyway nonsensical after that, then you really shouldn't play these games, because you clearly can't read.
Who's talking about after that? Your entire argument hinged on there being good hints and foreshadowing regarding Osborne's goal to break the curse in Zero through CS2. You gave examples that I considered an attempt at revisionism; ones that retroactively attempt to project themes and recontextualize plot points that weren't even remotely established prior to CS3.

>>3767125
It's literally the only jrpg series i never tried cause it doesn't look very appealing to me, i actually always wondered why some people seem to like it so much.

>>3767922
at this point it's a combination of sunk cost and Stockholm syndrome

>>3767922
You'd be shocked to find out that a large portion of the Trails fanbase haven't played a non-Falcom JRPG. They somehow find the series, then they become incredibly obsessed cultists.

>>3767958
I don't even get the impression that they've played any of the non trails falcom games. Maybe an Ys game when they get released but even trying to talk about that series in Falcom threads is like pushing a bolder up a hill if it's not in the release window because everyone is in a rush to spam bullshit like OMG FIE!!! Sure as shit don't think they've ever touched a Brandish game.

>>3767922
I've seen people that claim they don't like JRPGs say that it's the only good JRPG series.

>>3768151
I really don't understand audiences sometimes. The level of fanaticism this series has is astounding and I just don't see it. The story and character and world development is practically non existent and what does exist takes so long and is spread so thinly that it's a slog to get through even one conversation because the information any given scene conveys is tortured to an excruciating degree. And anything that DOES actually happen is so basic bitch genre cliche that it's all stuff that any other game would do in one title.

>>3768149
Brandish sucks shit and you're a faggot for trying to shill it in every single Trails thread.

why does this thread read like 1 retard spamming and samefagging over and over

>>3768156
Brandish rules and Trails is moronic garbage made to pander to light novel reading retards.

>>3768158
there's a couple fags that unfortunately got brainbroke cause Rean was successful, and they made being contrarian about that their whole online personality.
These are the most vocal people in any conversation about falcom on the website (they search out and participate in any conversation about falcom on the website).

>>3767888
>Lechtcher and Claire helping out SSS and Class VII
>ancient lore in Zero and Ao
>ancient lore about Septerrion of Fire and Earth already in Sen 1
>talking about the importance of Septium Veins since Zero
>Arianrhod in Legram
>Chancellor being buddy-buddy with the Machias´s dad, Emperor and Prince in Sen 1 and 2
>Drieichels lore in the Old Schoolhouse and Spirit Shrines
>mystical feel of the multiple ost song
And that is not all. As I said, you are just too stupid for this series. There is way more set up in these games than contrarians are trying to say there is. And the same goes for Hajimari to Kai. Or Sora games onwards.
>>3767922
>>3767958
What a load of projections.

>>3768158
The haters of these games are 100x more obsessed than the fanboys are.

>>3768158
It’s more then one person, Trails has burnt a lot of people.
>>3768176
You’re either baiting or delusional.
>>3768200
A lot of the people that hate Trails liked it at one point.
Also no you’re just wrong.

>>3768197
Nah, that's just your own fanfic take on the lore.

>>3768325
Tell me you didn't play the games without telling me you didn't play the games.
Anyway, I will keep enjoying the games. And I will keep buying them.
Plus, they gave me the best boy ever, who was my husband for the last 13 years.

>>3768366
>Tell me you didn't play the games without telling me you didn't play the games.
You can there if you want to. You're wrong, but I guess everyone jumps to the "you didn't play the games!" retort eventually.

But I'll reiterate. Your interpretation of how much of this stuff was cleverly tied to plot twists later game in the CS arc is a huge reach. It assumes a level of planning and story cohesion that the CS arc almost certainly didn't have, considering that:
>A. its initial premise of being about a group of soldiers was scrapped
>B. the Crossbell arc was mostly conceived by a bunch of newbie developers literally working behind their seniors' backs
>C. the roughshod development cycles of the games in the CS arc

It's not that the way the arc played out doesn't make sense, per se. It's just that it's a mess of unsatisfying conclusions and flubs in writing direction.

>>3762602
How many actual dead people in the series so far? Loewe and Weissman and?

>>3767165
"World Building" is Reddit-speak for sunken cost fallacy. If you can't admit to yourself that you wasted hours on garbage, you praise the "world building". It works on zoomers because they are too illiterate and stupid to realize that the "world building" is just watered-down cliches stolen from other, better stories.

>>3772399
Loewe, Weissman, Joachim, the random market manager npc from cs1/2 lmao, and Dingo unless Kai undoes that

>>3772509
You know I'm not saying I wanted CS2 to be a Tomino-esque blood bath or anything, I don't think lots of death makes a story automatically better. But for fucks sake when we get art showing a massive civil war having brutal and devastating consequences for the setting I think it would be a lot more appreciable if the only major fatality wasn't some rando NPC you meet a couple of times. The series is just generally terrified to commit to anything. All your classmates join your side immediately. There's no conflict between opposing ideologies. Just a bunch of retarded fluff about how "war is like totally bad and stuff." It's saccharine.

Just one playable character death, falcom. Just one. That's all I'm asking for.

>>3772527
Sorry, closest you'll get is Oliver in 3.

Seems a lot of you hate Trails, what would you recommend instead

>>3767860
Because they are filipino, jewish, or chinese. Their entire existence consists of seething.

>>3767552
Delusion and self hatred. You see an attractive character and all you can think of is cuckoldry.

>>3774892
Ys.

>>3774892
FF8.

>>3775033
Modern Ys is just as trash as modern Trails is but Ysfags are all deluded

>>3775082
Maybe so maybe no but it doesn't take more than one game for a modern Ys to tell it's story.

>>3775115
None of the Ys stories are good anyway so who gives a shit

>>3762591 (OP)
>Series about war
>No one ever dies. Not even the villains
This series really is just the biggest slop ever created. It makes one piece look good.

>>3775126
None of the trails stories are good but at least Ys won't waste your entire life to tell it's opening act.

>>3775126
I thought Ys 7's twist was pretty clever, although it is one of the weaker ones gameplay-wise.

>>3776926
I replayed seven recently and liked it a rather lot. I just would have liked to keep Sigroon around.

>>3774892
That you kill yourself, pornrotted cumbrain

i found out about this series from /vrpg/. i remember it fondly. reverie was a letdown. nothing breaks the game like being forced to party with characters i didnt develop

>>3767958
With how many of them attribute changing NPC dialog as a unique feature of these games it's not that big of a shock.

>>3774892
>Third row, third from left
What kind of swimsuit is that?