'Which Trails Game Should I Start With?'

Whichever you want. But...

Check out my previous Trails vids if you want!

Trails in the Sky FC:

Trails in the Sky SC:

Trails in the Sky the 3rd:

Trails From Zero:

Trails to Azure:

Trails of Cold Steel:

[weaponsci]

I hit "go public" and went straight to sleep so I'm only just now seeing everyone's comments. A few things I want to say:

- I have not forgotten about funny moments. Those will be getting released again soon.

- When talking about Kingdom Hearts, this never crossed my mind in the moment, but a variation of the "I don't need to play the older games" type of fan that was probably way more common were the people who only played 1, 2, and then 3 simply because they were the "bigger" numbered games. What I said still applies though.

- Once again, if you did start with a later entry, no ill will. But once again, if you were to ask, I'd always default to release order unless, as I said, you don't have the hardware to play Sky. It helps that it's basically the chronological order too.

[Kim-HC]

At this point, I'm so grateful to my friend who was "forcing" me to play the game in order. Like even it took time more than a year for me to finish 3 games of Sky arc. I could say I had the most burnout of the series from that arc. But I love the way it gets you attached slowly but sure, the curiosity to explore more of the world and the feel of meeting the same character who build you up from the very first, it's exciting. Until I get into Crossbell, and finished 2 games of the arc only in 2 months. I caught up all the games right before Cold Steel 4 released on the west, had to wait until 3 years for Reverie, and now patiently waiting for Daybreak's release in less than a month. Yeay.

[joaocbcneto]

Also honestly I really hope the Sky remake rumours for after Daybreak ends up being true both because it gives me an excuse to rerun those games and because it's an easy way to finally just kill this argument while giving people the easy 3D entry point with all the bells and whistles.

[lightzthestarz]

Hope you do more vids just talking to us! I’ll happily take more of these, feels like a chill convo about Trails.

[wheelotime]

"I'm gonna roast purists too"
>immediately goes back to roasting game skippers and defending purists
This is why you're the GOAT Weapons

[dragonmaster]

Personally, I think that Sky FC is the best starting point, so that all the story threads make sense and you get all the emotional beats, with CS1 being the second best. Totally agree with you about Zero.

[ShroomRPG]

Starting at FC: Ideal
Starting at Zero: Weird but it could work
Starting at Cold Steel 1: You'll miss some context and some reveals won't hit as hard but the story will still make sense
Starting at Reverie/Kuro 1: You'll be spoiling the whole first saga for yourself effectively

[ratoloko]

Start from the beginning always I did it and have no regrets.

[ShadowS.R.]

I played in release order, because during my time, only Sky SC was available on Steam. And for that same reason, I was forced to skip Zero and Azure till CS4 got announced in English.
This is where I had a friend that strongly recommended me to play Zero and Azure before going in CS4 and I am truly happy to have followed that advice because it gave me more hype and enjoyment about the game.

[JCDentonCZ]

I loved Trails in the Sky so I would recommend anyone to start there simply because they are great games all on their own. People usually don't like to 'downgrade', so it's fitting with the narrative to start at the very beginning as the world itself grows and evolves alongside the technology used in the series. In some cases I prefer the 'simpler' Sky/Crossbell presentation over the more modern 3D, though there are moments in Hajimari where I think Falcom finally managed to achieve a quality in the cutscenes and animations where it is superior in presentation.

Also, for the true completionists among us, I would recommend playing the entire Falcom lineup of games starting from Trails in the Sky to really get a full appreciation of what Falcom has been trying to gradually achieve with every project as a milestone.

[vlonewolfv]

I started with Cold Steel. Played all the way through 4. THEN went back to Sky and played the remaining in order. And my experience was AMAZING. I loved Sky even more knowing having played through the Cold Steel Arc. Already knowing the Sky FC twist made so many interactions in that game crazy interesting. Knowing how certain characters got their beginnings was so great to see how far she had come. It did not lessen the experience in any way at all, and in fact, I think only helped my personal playthrough.

And that is partly because of how I view spoilers. Generally speaking of course, because as with everything, there is no such thing as a “one size fits all” view. For me, spoilers are meaningless. There is no such thing as a spoiler without context. And to be clear, despite my personal opinion on the topic, I still try not to spoil others being aware of the general opinion on the subject. So knowing what would happen and hearing all about the events from Sky SC only made me excited to experience them with a different context. Without context, a spoiler is meaningless. So knowing a thing happens is VASTLY different from seeing the build-up and watching the story build to the thing.

I maintain, a good story cannot be ruined by a spoiler, it only changes the context. Whereas if you think the spoiler ruined the story, then you don’t think the story was very good. It was just a shocking twist for you to talk about.

Now, with all that being said. Of course the ideal spot to start the series is Sky FC. It’s the intended beginning of the story. But I would never call people who started the story differently wrong, or say their experience was inferior. It’s just a different experience.

[Mr.ColdFeet]

Everyone should start with gagharv's prophecy of the moonlight witch since it ties directly to the origins of fc

[Chumbv]

Without spoiling anything, Daybreak has A LOT of returning characters from all previous games (like more than 20). As well as connecting plot points that go way back, I would never in good faith recommend someone to start the series with it.

[sadwpi]

I started with Cold Steel 1, and loved it!

Instead of going right into 2 (people probably know why I would have wanted to) I decided, "Im in this for the long haul, so I'm gonna play Sky now!"

Glad I did! I'm about half-way through SC, and it's been a JOURNEY!!!!

[bibleman_]

There’s a comment I saw a while ago saying that they played the prologue chapters for Sky FC, Zero, and Cold Steel I to get an idea what the countries are, then went back to Sky.

I kinda like that idea.

[Callum]

I 100% agree with you, I think the best way for people to understand the situation is to change the form of media, you wouldn't start the 3rd book in a series, you wouldn't start the 5th season of a TV show, you wouldn't watch the direct sequel to a movie, so why skip multiple games? Though I do recognise that as amazing trails is, it's not for everyone. If you can't convince someone that skipping multiple games worth of world building, character development, political intrigue, and so forth is bad, I don't think trails is for them.

The one opposition I have is I think you were too critical of NISA towards CS III, yes they did market CS III as an entry point, but that was because Falcom said it themselves so I don't think NISA can be completely at fault. As to why Falcom said it was an entry point, I think they realised CS had major success because of the soft reset to the series so they advertised CS III as an entry point to boost sales, even though it's possibly the second to worst entry point in the whole series.

[FieryAnubis]

I love that I started with Sky. And the more entries come out, the more apparent it becomes that it's just the right way to go about it. They mention stuff from all over constantly, and to fully understand it beyond just "Oh, that's a thing, and that's a place, and that's a person, and that sure is a word" you kinda need the prior knowledge. People can start where they want, but they need to be aware that the series spans over 10 games with a continuous plot, characters, all that. If they get confused, that's on them.

[lergof]

Great video. You're doing Adios' work! Also, I'm a firm believer that the only acceptable answer to the question of "where should I start playing Trails"? Is Trails in the Sky FC. The entire thing that separates Trails from other RPGS is the world building and overarching story. If you skip all of that so that you can play the "newest game with the shiniest graphics" you're missing the entire point of the series. Just go play FF7 remakes. Trails is not about shiny graphics. It's about the biggest and best overarching narrative in gaming, and starting anywhere but the beginning robs you of that experience. It's not toxic gatekeeping to advocate that position.

[justinbavuso]

I started with Day Break lol but that’s what got me into it, then started Cold Steel Arc, on the 3rd game and I’m obsessed with the series now

[esuelle]

Great video Weapons. I'm on the same page as you. Keeping it very vague because I don't want to speak too much of Daybreak but just to offer my 2 cents as someone that has played it already, you *can* start with it (or any other start point) and have a lot of fun and even fall in love with the franchise. BUT you absolutely need to be ready to have things fly over your head or confuse you every other dialogue box, and not understanding what the characters are alluding to half the time will for sure make the story less enjoyable as a whole, although if you go in with the right mindset that could work as a nice motivator to go back to the older games and fill in the missing puzzle pieces of your understanding.

Anyway. For anyone that isn't allergic to older games, just start at Sky. They're great and I wish I could play them again for the first time. I could say more but I'd just be recapping the video 😅