Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

this game is genuinely fire. character building on par with persona 4. combat never gets boring either

This was my first time playing any game in this series and I went into it totally blind (I tried the demo for around 7 hours and then decided to buy the full game). I found most of the characters annoying and too tropey, the story was very predictable, and the cutscenes were way too long. And I loved the whole thing. Honestly, I have no idea how to explain it. I disliked so many individual elements of this game. And yet, it was completely engrossing and utterly charming. I played through the whole game multiple times (although I did skip the cutscenes on replay). While the characters never stopped being annoying stereotypes, they all really grew on me and I started to really care about them. The combat had surprising depth to it and the game keeps adding new elements to it every chapter. I think some of its strength comes from the story structure. Yes, the actual plot was pretty predictable. All the "oh no, s/he was the villain all along!" moments were completely transparent. Despite that, there was a lot the narrative did right. It starts of small scale and local like many RPGs do (you know, the classic "kill the rats in the cellar" type quests) but it escalates and deescalates in a more realistic manner. Frequently, your characters stumble upon a bigger conspiracy, handle whatever is the immediate problem, and then hand it off to more experienced characters to handle while returning to quests that pair better with their level of experience. It created an interesting story structure where the stakes kept fluctuating between smalltime errands and global conspiracy theories and that change in pace really helped keep me engaged. Play the free demo if you aren't sure; you can play the entire prologue which could easily take 6-10 hours depending on how thoroughly you explore the world. And don't worry, your progress carries over. However, I feel confident recommending it regardless. You will absolutely get your money's worth. I wishlisted the sequel long before I actually completed this one and I am eagerly anticipating its release next month.

I was not expecting this much dialogue, this is not my type of game

ファルコムのメガネキャラにはロクなのがいない、というジンクスを作った名作ですｗ （理由はクリアしてからのお楽しみに）

Super RPG!

My personal GOTY last year - now replaying on PC ( initially played on PS5 but given Sony's antics they won't be getting any more money from me ) in anticipation of the second chapter.

TLDR: I just couldn't get invested in the game. The writing kept me out of it for the most part.(If you don't mind that it's a good game) Maybe just not for me. I feel like I am missing something, because the reviews are very good for this game. But I have multiple Issues with the game as of now. (maybe it will get better, but honestly I doubt it). The issues I had are subjective, I feel like the core issue is that I expected too much. __________________________________________________________________ The writing lacks depth in pretty much every aspect. For example your starting location is a former frontline combat-zone of a war between two nations. So you would expect characters and the map to be reflective of those events, but even if you find a small mural or an anecdote I find myself just not invested in the story. It all seems kind of bland. I also have issues with the characters (They basically scream 2000s anime), but given this is a remake of a 2004 game I give it a pass here. The combat system is fun, not too deep, very friendly to newcomers of the genre. I really tried to like the game, but I think it is just not for me. Definitely not a bad game, maybe I expected the game to be something that it never tried to be in the first place. (This will maybe change if I progress further, as of now these are my thoughts)