The tagalong thing and united fronts are super fun. I kept on forgetting about them until chapter 2, but I adapted super quickly when I started to encounter more challenges.
Rufus' character arc was masterfully done imho, he's a character I've been intrigued by since CS1 and I'm so glad we finally get to delve into his story. This was the perfect timing to introduce him as a PC and I feel like my next replay of the CS arc will be richer for having played this. His and Lapis' scenes stole the show for me, as well as some interactions between him and Jusis.
NGL Ilya's storyline didn't resonate with me at all, I did really like the moment where Rixia leapt to her aid at the Ancient Battlefield and backed off at the last second, but that was the peak of my interest of the storyline. Plus, I noticed it in CS4 but again now, but how did the dancing animations seem more charming in the Crossbell arc than with the new engine? They were kind of cringe then but had soul and personality, whereas I was just snickering during the whole throw-leg-up+roundhouse kick+pivot routine.
Walking through the Rosenberg studio was awesome after hearing so much about the way Joerg has it set up. Loved it. I was also retarded and had to retry like 3-4 times the escape from the burning RF factory because I was looking for treasure and also had the left touchpad fast forward pressed down which didn't help at all.
I cried a bunch during Rufus' scenes, and weirdly enough, I inexplicably burst into tears during the main song movie that plays after waiting on the start menu once learning of C's identity and seeing him dueling with his simulacrum, even I couldn't understand why I was so emotional at the time. The scene eventually came up during gameplay, and seeing Rufus' growth and perception of himself changing made me tear up... again. women b like.
I definitely inwardly shrieked when Rufus took that step back at the retributive tower, btw. I forget about Trails survival statistics, but since I love the SSS, Crow, Millium, and Rufus, I'd be pretty pissed if this is a case of alternate realities and the ''true'' one being the bad ending, though. I tire of people never dying when it would be a satisfying arc for the character, but I get that the moral is that you're never truly alone as long as people love you, form bonds with you, and care for you. It's a bleak and cutthroat world so I won't shop for heartbreak in my games, I guess. Like I said, there's still the opportunity to reveal that all the ooperator re-writes (KeA saving the SSS, the divine knights and Franz helping Rean, Crow, and Millium, Rufus being saved, yannow) didn't actually happen so if that's the case, I'll enjoy the idea that they're alright for a bit longer.
People complain about the gacha-adjacent system online but I didn't find it annoying at all. As usual, Pom Pom Party and Vantage Masters is super fun, my husband fell in love with Bug Battle Beauty Mesuking's mechanics in Yakuza and stuck through the slog of 3-4+Ishiin because he knew the game would capture him in the same way eventually, and it paid off with subsequent titles- this would be ''my game'' if Trails ever became a slog. They made a perfect game for my Slay the Spire, Inscryption loving ass as just a side game, so I know they can capture the magic in some way even if something they make is eventually a miss for me. Magical Girl Alisa was pretty cringe but I'm also not a slope so it's not meant for my sensibilities, and it was fun to play after fast forwarding the dialogue so who cares. The new soldat game, I was horrible at and had to restart stage 2 like 10 times on easy mode lmao. The beach vacay thing overstayed its welcome because I wanted all the cosmetics. Loved Beryl's quiz game though!
The daydreams were amazing. I LOVED Freddy's- it's not necessarily the best and plenty more stand out, but that one was just so silly and fun and gave me chitinous shells when I needed them for the recipe main missions.
I missed the sidequests and bonding events, but this was a lengthy enough game as is. I thought that all girls initially saying something potentially alluding to a relationship kind of cheapened the choice I made from CS1-4, but I also don't particularly care about the dating mechanism so it's whatever. I miss canon romances, harem setups just make me miss the idea of only one relationship for the main character to deepen and miss seeing reactions from other party members and in-game loved ones. Seeing Olivier and Shera, Randy and Mireille, Pearl and Scott, etc. making their own decisions on the trajectory of their specific lives together just makes me wonder what could have been for Rean and even Lloyd.
Estelle SUCKS in combat which I don't like because something I find super valuable in these games is that you can break it with any character combo and stacking a build is super easy, but even though I wanted to use Estelle a bit more through my cycling of teams, I found it hard to justify because anything she does, another character can do better and there is no build I landed on that made her preferable to someone else. I just play with characters I like, but there's so many I like that pack a better punch so it feels kind of hollow to pick her just because I like her. She does p well as a single target breaker but that's just not a scenario I often encounter.
I've disliked Claire her entire character's run, but this one softened me on her enough that I let her have quartz whereas I usually remove them all to be very clear to myself that I don't anticipate using her, lmao. I let her have a twisted twintail cosmetic item or whatever it's called to make amends. I also collected all the cosmetic items I could and used them with abandon, except the hair colors. I can never get used to the different hair colors.
I do like that many characters get a chance to shine at different points. Couldn't get enough of Ash in 4 because he was so interesting and well-developed, had him in my party at all times to hear his dungeon lines and perspectives on the events, and I rarely had him in my party this time around because I wanted to hear more from other characters. I think the VA did amazing work in the English localization, even better than in 4 potentially, too bad he's a semi-lolcow as most VAs seem to be.
ATS Crow is just insane, I did some unbelievable damage with the right setup and his self-buff.
My dream team during TRC Coda was Musse, Crow, Wazy, and Renne. Artes reign supreme as always on Nightmare difficulty, and I can't say I love Musse, but she was great at cycling between support/healing and casting for damage. Musse, Wazy, and Renne had infinite EP and Crow does great work as a physical attacker too when needed. It's just funny how I started CS1 as a crafts-centered player and now I'm all about the arts, which has completely changed my ideal party composition.
The end boss was really easy with teams A and C, and a NIGHTMARE with team B because I went in blind and didn't want to reload and re-outfit and quartz my characters. Thank God I had Kurt in there and hadn't used any of my incense items during the rest of gameplay, lol.
Playing as McBurn is stupidly fun, he's so cringe yet so fun and I'm glad I don't have to mod him in. I also don't get why everyone thinks Kurt is boring, I find him to be super endearing. Also, Lechter's mystery card (?) craft is bar none the most fun I ever have in a video game lmao, what a treat to instant death a miniboss.
At the end, I thought the Reverie Corridor overstayed its welcome a tiiiiny bit but I think I was just hungry for more story content. I understand why it had to be at the end for plot reasons, but I wish there would have been another playable ''plot'' section after. No matter. I'll just never be ready for a Trails game to end.
George, zzzzzzz. G. Nome the gnome, dig your way back in there.
