While I’m here and a full two chapters into Zero, I do feel I need to make something clear: for as much as I’ve been complaining about Zero, especially in comparison to Sky, I do still think it’s a good game. I enjoy most of it. The cast is good (with one exception I’d still probably chalk up to preference [Footnote 1]), the combat is just as good as Sky’s but with a few more added twists, and overall gameplay is enjoyable. It’s just the plot and (to an extent) Crossbell as a setting I’m not sold on even still. And even that I think comes down mostly to preference. I like Sky for a lot of reasons I’ll explain in depth later. And I don’t like Crossbell as much because of the different approaches it took in its own identity as a work. That doesn’t make it bad; it just makes it not my thing. So yeah, I’d… Well, put simply I’d still recommend Zero to anyone [Footnote 2]. It is probably more accessible than Sky. Now with all that out of the way, back to petty complaints, shallow thoughts, and (at least one) poor quality memes.

Oh, for pity’s sake. I know what’s happening here. I’ve known the wolves were the equivalent of Jaeger dogs since the hospital. And then I messed up that heckin’ wrap up because this game is insane sometimes.

I am SO. SICK. of this game refusing to give me a single win. By all that is holy, just let me fight a single story boss that doesn’t go ‘grr, but we got better offscreen and now there’s twelve of us’! Like, there are better ways to prove an enemy’s a threat than by making your protagonists look like clowns. I feel myself drifting closer and closer to Chaotic Sky.

I take it back. I don’t want to like Arios. The arrogant jerk can piss off [Footnote 1].

And boy do I love it when a game claims the protagonist ‘didn’t think things through’ just because they didn’t assume a van could hold twelve wolf-sized dogs.

I actually think an essay on my current problems with Zero is brewing.

(So it turns out I had some chapter 1 wrap up too. Whoops. I was a little irked and set this aside for a bit.)

Ah yes. The classic ‘beat up soldiers under the pretense of training’ sidequest. Wouldn’t be Trails without it, huh?

Heh. ‘Marconi’. Has there ever been a more ‘mafia’ name?

Yes, Elie, it is a miracle Lloyd ‘Ace Detective’ Bannings didn’t realize your last name was the same as the mayor’s until now. If that’s supposed to be a surprise, then I don’t know what the world’s coming to.

Secretary Ernest can piss off.

Also, I suppose, Dudley can piss off too. Really, the long short is that chapter 2’s just bored me so far — in terms of plot. Going from Ouroboros plots and Gralsitter lore straight to police slice of life feels like a serious downgrade.

And oh my goodness, ‘barriers’.

‘Catch five of the same fish’. Oh. Oh no. Never thought I’d have to grind for fishing bai in an RPG, but here I am.

Alright. Dieter’s a villain. Calling it. Look at that hair. Look at that face. No way he doesn’t have sketchy ulterior motives.

I was going to ignore it, but it is kinda grating on me that Tio’s all ‘Don’t treat me like a kid’ for things like walking long distances and being afraid of things, but takes no issue with Randy calling her ‘Tio-tot‘.

Heck yeah! Higher elements! This is the kinda stuff I’ve been waiting for.

[Footnote 3]

But to the left: gettin’ that old Tetracyclic Towers trauma from Stargazer Tower.

‘Its attacks hit hard’ is not the same as ‘Deathblows with high frequency’, game!

Death Slugger
Aw, Gehenna. Here we go again.

And you know, I’d love to use Noel, but she’s underleveled, doesn’t have an obvious slot to replace among the main four, and I just don’t know if she’ll steal my stuff when she leaves.

*When Qilingong*.

Also… Like, ‘Black-shrouded Man’ for Yin? Really? With that voice?

Oh look. Another boss that says ‘no’ when we beat them. Imagine that. Though at least this time left a better taste in my mouth since it felt more foreshadowed through fight mechanics, reputation, and character design theme.

And as Chapter 2 wraps up… Wow. I. Am. Shocked. Who. Ever. Could. Have. Seen. That. Coming. The. True. Culprit. Was. A. Total. Mystery.

Admittedly, I did kind of skim through a lot of what was happening during the play because I feel like the Sun Princess and Moon Princess has to be a reference to something in the lore, I just don’t know what. Like, is this some hint to one of the forthcoming Sept-Terrions? A nod to Feena and Reah somehow as just a company in-joke? A nod to Tia and someone somehow as a company in-joke? Is this a hint that the Grandmaster of Ouroboros and Aidios are actually opposing sisters [Footnote 4]? I don’t know!

And, and as Chapter 2 wraps up… Wow. They did not hold Yin’s identity close to the chest, did they? I thought I’d be waiting on that reveal for a while.

Footnote 1: The more I’ve thought about it, the more I really don’t like Arios. Even in a metatextual [Footnote 1A] way. I was going to call him ‘Bad Cassius’ as a joke, but then I realized it isn’t a joke. It’s just true. He fills much of the same role Cassius did in Sky, but in a much less palatable way. But that’s for another day.
Footnote 1A: You sure you’re using that word right? — the Twisted Jerk.
Footnote 1B: Quiet you.
Footnote 2: Put a little less concisely, I actually wouldn’t recommend Zero to anyone. Because I think that if you’re going to start Trails, you should start with Sky. I like those games more and I think they serve as a better introduction to the series from a gameplay, lore, and plot standpoint. Like, while you can start with Zero and not miss out on too much (from what I’ve seen so far), it feels like you’re missing a lot of context because it throws you right in there assuming you don’t need it. For example: the conflict between Erebonia and Calvard that provides the whole backing of Crossbell has a bit more punch when you know the context of the Hundred Days War, Hamel, and the Nonagression Pact. So I would never actually recommend someone start with Zero, especially since it’s not a case where the age of the game matters: they both have similar enough gameplay that I think you’ll like or dislike one if you like or dislike the other. But in the sense that it’s a game worth playing, yeah, I’d recommend it.
Footnote 3: Like I said: poor quality. I apologize for putting you through that.
Footnote 4: Though if I’m being honest, I genuinely think the Grandmaster is connected to Aidios somehow. Like, I don’t think she is Aidios because it would put some of the interactions across the story in an odd light — Ragnard’s involvement in SC comes to mind — but… The fact that she could apparently forge Kernvitter using Divergent Laws is… suspicious. Along with her general interest in the Sept-Terrions and astonishing — apparent — lack of malice. Even the name of ‘Ouroboros’ for the organization is a bit interesting as the snake eating its own tail, if it’s in relation to someone associated with Aidios using Aidios’ gifts to accomplish rebellion against her. Or something. I’m bad at putting these things across.


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