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| Box art is kinda lame so have one of the title screens(they change every chapter) |
Release date: 2021-09-29.
I wasn't sure if I should write a post about this game as I usually avoid falcom games.
Kuro no Kiseki is the latest installment in falcom's trails series
its a series famous for its over-arching story, characters and worldbuilding.
I'll try to refrain from touching any main plot points and when I do there's a huge warning
though there are some screenshots but without any context! I don't think the ones i've posted
ruin any aspect of the game that hasn't already been touched upon in prerelease info.
So if you want to go into this game blind with only basic info
then I do suggest to not read past the jump break.
Edit: apparantly falcom has released a patch exactly 1 month after release
that fixes some of the many problems at release(why do I feel like a beta-tester now?)
as well as make Van's scraft better and add some art work with Shizuna during final chapter!
I think its nice and shows they care about the game in the long run before moving to the next project.
So keep in mind my issues with say performance may not exist anymore...
Pro's/What I liked:
- Main cast+side.
- Overall plot and decent ending.
- BGM.
Con's/What I disliked:
- Most of the villains.
- Performance issues.
- A part of the last chapter.
OP movie, I think I watched it everytime I boot up the game
but you gotta wait a little on the title screen before it plays.
Kuro takes place in the Calvard republic, with a new MC and cast.
There are some returning characters as per usual but there role was minimal not to say
they don't do anything, depending on L.G.C alignment a certain returnee or other character
at some point might even help you. This game can be pretty dark, focuses a lot on grey areas...
anyway its an alright start to a new arc but perhaps might have been better if it was a little shorter
overall I still liked it though! 7.5 out of 10.
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| Love these little screens when they take breaks during the trips to the next location. |
The MC; Van Arkride was older as well and had more experience and is old enough
to enjoy adult things or visit a strip club with mr horny on main.
I didn't dislike any of the main cast... Agnes was a great heroine and Aaron was
an absolute delight sometimes. Others all have their place in the group.
The only one who may have needed a moment was Quatre but perhaps the time is not right.
I liked Shizuna more than I thought! Elaine and René's relationship with Van
it was honestly nice to see/learn more of over the course of the game.
Childhood friends are an overdone trope but falcom manages to breath new life into it.
I also loved Rion and Celis and hope they become playable in a future game...
or the dominions/church get more focus again. Easily my fav minor characters.
I liked Ellroy as well but can't put my finger on it, he seems oddly laidback even
more so than mcburn was, maybe that's a good thing probably also one of the few
older guys in the game that i'd say husbando! besides Aaron.
Though some of the villains got on my nerves. Let me just say they are bad, very evil
but I did end up liking two of Almata's members Alexandre and Olympia.
Melchior is my most disliked as well as the boss of the group.
I want to add that I am dumb and kept reading his name as Jelal when it was Gerard
what would I do without official localized names, lmao.
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| Hello there, Aaron. |
As for the story? I won't be posting too much about it but overall I liked it
can say this was a lot like Zero no Kiseki. Meaning a good entry point! i'm sorry
this series is very long and I don't expect anyone to play 9 or 10 games before this one
that is unless they really have time to invest in it then by all means go for it. With a
new MC & cast it manages to start off a new arc quite nicely but it still is a kiseki...
there is still that feel it won't be able to do all it wants to do in a single game... the only part
where I thought this game was dragging on was the last chapter but eh I honestly
did enjoy it overall so I won't let it get to me.
but it is a step up and I think the models are better than previous games.
Unfortunately while it runs mostly fine there are moments where the performance issues
arise, namely the central station area in edith(especially last chapter) and Tharbad's vegas film.
These could be fixed but at times the lag spikes made it literally unplayable
the game also lagged during some fights right before unlocking the last dungeon but I suspect
there was simply too much effects going off at once. My poor PS4 was trying hard.
I loved the music in this game as well, definitely considering buying the OST or some tracks of it.
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| Honestly this Arioch guy looks like he came straight out of the FATE series, probably lancer class. |
Gameplay; field battles are action-based and command battles turn-based
honestly I think field battles are only there to get the advantage
cuz if you do you can probably end the battle without ever letting the enemy get a turn.
Which honestly helps for the overall pace of the game, other than that field battles
might be good to get CP back if you don't want to eat the food you can cook.
The pacing was similar to older games but there's no more mock battles
if there was any mocking it was the villains doing it.😂
I like Shizuna but this game didn't do her justice in terms of explaining her character, she's pretty
strong and badass and knows it but that's it, If this game ever gets a sequel I hope she gets her moment
to further go into ikaruga and her backstory.
Minor hajimari spoiler(from the post game patch events!!!
Uh yea that aside, I played on normal and I had no problems up until the last boss of the game.
Majority of the game is just grab aggro/hate with Van and have allies spam arts or use a craft.
This game relies on speed! ain't gonna matter how much HP/attack/defense sure some is nice
to have but if you can't get any turns to do dmg/delay etc you get nowhere.
For last boss I made it to the second phase but then my game crashed.
Yea.... that's not nice I ended up lowering the difficulty and its HP was shredded
difficulties in this game only boost the enemies stats and higher ones bloat it meaning
you have to figure out what works best... if you're only here for the plot pick easy or very easy.
There is no shame in doing that, I mean if you want to play on nightmare right off the bat
go right ahead but i'm not gonna bother with that mate.
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| If I have to go through this desert one more time i'm gonna lose it! |
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| I bet Aaron wants some of that cactus piss we just had to fetch so they could make this cocktail. |
There were plenty of quests too, I probably missed some hidden ones
but eh sometimes it does get tiring to have to check if there is one more thing
before continueing the story so most of the time I was like welp who cares?!
There wasn't any fishing minigame but they did have a funny way to put it into the game
either by npc reference like its just a fun past time.😅😅😅
I don't really like falcom's fishing minigame anyway they tend to make my fingers hurt
and it made me appreciate how laidback the fishing minigame was in Tales of Arise.
Atleast there is still cooking and book collecting... but I think its for the better they stopped
caring about people notes as I always thought it was more annoying to do than fun to collect
cuz the time frames to do so was at times limited, its easy to forget about it.
This game was atleast 70 hours so they didn't lie and I think it was long enough
especially when I am about to go into the fact the last chapter dragged
and I did feel a bit burnt at the 60 hour mark. Also this game has no post game
but it does have a very good final dungeon honestly CS2 and Hajimari have spoiled us
in terms of post game.
Here's a double spoiler warning about stuff bothering me even though I try not to mention too much!
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SPOILER WARNING!
I WILL BE POSTING SOME HERE:
Now I have no problem with party members potentially ending up apart and having to reunite
however the way they did this was honestly dragging it down and making it too repetitive.
Maybe cut down the amount of orbs you have to destroy to proceed?! I honestly kept taking breaks.
It did pick up again by the end and the final dungeon which was good both in terms of
plot/gameplay perspective though so it wasn't all bad.
There is one other problem I have and it concerns choices made during chapter 5
depending on that 3 characters either live or die, the seventh genesis made a mess of this.
if you killed them they will die again but if not they will just get knocked out in the last chapter.
Falcom might have shot themselves in the foot here, especially knowing the series continuity...
In my playthrough both Alexandre and Olympia lived... while Viola ascended to heaven
along with the rest of Almata. I think it might be best to just assume they all died because
even if they live the writers spared no moment to actually give them any more screentime.
Knowing this I can't help but wonder why even give us the choice?
Honestly both Alexandre and Olympia are the only Almata members who even become likable
especially the latter oh well unless Falcom reintroduces these two their fate
is currently up in the air much like some other plot threads in this game.
Some ramblings on the last boss...
That was a cool but very long fight needless to say I was frustrated at the adds for constantly
interrupting my arts or it putting up barriers. which let me to think am I not fast enough?
but at this point I can no longer grind for sepiths only readjust my grids or lower that difficulty
which I did cuz I didn't want to deal with the BS the last boss pulled but honestly
very easy is too easy for me and I will probably continue playing on normal
the fight honestly was too long for me and I was not prepared at all.
END SPOILERS.
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| I love the chemistry between these three! also Elaine and Van are shippable.💕 |
If I ignore the facts/annoyances of the last chapter then in all honesty Kuro no Kiseki
was an alright game, it tried something new and more mature themes of exploring grey areas
and well villains that're you know actually evil? I think what saved this game for me
was the main cast, most are all equally developed but some may need more, tho they had or found
their place amongst the group. If there will be another game with this cast to wrap up
remaining plot threads in calvard then I welcome it. There wasn't any harem nonsense either
just comedic moments one of which was fanservicey but even then it was tame.
Bonding in this game is literally Van hanging out and connecting with them a little bit.
The overall pacing was pretty good but it is still a kiseki game and there will be kiseki things.
I do sometimes wonder for how much longer this series will go on... but I hope
it won't take another half a decade to finish the calvard arc like it did with the erebonian arc.
Because if it does I will seriously consider graduating from the kiseki/trails series.
If you're tired of Rean and want to invest in a new setting and cast Kuro is a good bet, honestly
the guy deserves a break, he's been through enough and its time to pass the baton on to another MC.
A japanese article already said a sequel is in production and this game sold
relatively well considering stock expectations which means falcom had realistic
expectations of how much this game would sell on PS4 alone.
If for some reason there won't be a sequel feel free to blame it on series fatigue.
This game might not have given me the most satisfying/well-rounded ending but it was good
enough at what it tried being a kiseki game and all, with everything considered falcom really tried here
but it needs more polish, but nothing that can't get fixed with a patch.
I think i've said enough and will probably repeat myself if I continue rambling
for score it shifts between a 7 and an 8 out of 10 so 7.5/10 seems about right.
Now if you'll excuse me i'll go back to suffer through Shuuen no Virche...💀💀💀
Thanks for the review (I avoided the spoilers section as I'm playing the game currently and have just cleared the Tharbad chapter). I don't think I'll have cleared it by the 70-hour mark but that may be down to my Japanese reading speed. Initially I was speaking to most NPCs where as now I'm focusing on where to go and how to clear the side/main missions to progress quicker.
ReplyDeleteI'm still enjoying the game and I like a large number of the characters be they the main party, they're allies or the antagonists (the only one that grates at times is Mariel or whatever the name of the young female reporter is). Otherwise they've done a decent job with the cast and its nice to see a fresh cast with only short cameos by characters from previous Trails (they finally allowed Team a rest which is relieving after him being front-and-centre for the last 4-5 games in the series).
I cleared the game this morning after having occasional breaks away from it (not necessarily out of tiredness from playing it but because I played a new title I had been waiting for a few days, then went back to it). Maybe its the way I played it but my runthrough was significantly longer than yours (as mentioned previously it could be down to my Japanese reading speed or that I spent up until clearing the quests whilst in Langport speaking to all NPCs). Once I realised it was just increasing the game's runtime I stuck to the ones that let you progress quests or the main story.
ReplyDeleteComparing it with Sen no Kiseki 4 I think I preferred this one overall. The battle systems are decent in both titles and though the story's pacing takes a hit at times I think Kuro did a better job with its characters. I did enjoy ToCS 4 but that game had a seriously bloated number of characters in the end so that will have contributed to discussions taking ages at points.
I've written the above but I'll probably play Kuro no Kiseki 2 when it gets released. I just have to prepare myself for it being a long JRPG given it will belong to this series.