So yeah, this is my last entry on Crossbell. It’s a bit of a lot all at once, because my motivation for Crossbell had… issues. And I had less to say because, well apathy started to creep up. See the end of the post for more.
Oh, for– Lloyd ‘Ace Detective’ Bannings back at it again, not putting together that maybe the weird glowy blue plants near the otherworldly monsters and higher element zones might be the Pleroma Grass critical to making the drug that turns people into otherworldly monsters and generates higher element spaces. Get it together dude.
Wazy: “Hey, I read about this plant in the not-Bible. Let’s ask the church.”
Ries: “They only talk about Pleroma Grass in the Apocrypha or the not-Bible, which only the Gralsritter is allowed to read.”
Really Lloyd? Didn’t think to maybe ask Wazy a question or two after that? Hmm? Lloyd ‘Ace Detective’ Bannings is on fire today.
Capua’s! And Don messed up the shipping labels again (I assume).
Ok. Like, I kinda don’t get how the Armoricans are getting suckered so hard? It seems pretty straightforward that the deal they’re being offered is ‘our company will now own your fields and in exchange reduce the amount of labor you do. By 100%.’ Like? Isn’t that an obvious scam?
Huh. Really thought that doll delivery would be Renne.
What?! Minnith is the dude that screwed the Capua’s? We need to go get Aaron and tell him to kick it up the ladder. Have Josette strafe Armorica with the Bobcat. Go go go go go (Don: “I am go”).
Sigh. On the one hand, I appreciate that they didn’t wait until I’d beaten Wald to show how ‘oh no, he’s too strong for us’, but on the other hand, it’s a bit frustrating that it came when I’d barely taken any damage myself.
Ah yes. Nothing like breaking up the tedium of the game like a bad rhythm minigame. Wait…
And why is the timing on this thing so darn finnicky? What the heck? Why does this game insist on throwing me into (basically) oneshot gameplay shifts? I just want to play the game you promised; diversity in gameplay doesn’t necessarily make it a better game.
Everyone: “Hmm, why would Red Constellation steal the bell from the central square?”
Lloyd ‘Ace Detective’ Bannings, who has seen multiple demon summoning bells of a similar make: “Gee, that’s a stumper.”
Words cannot express how much I want to choose Randy for the ‘Working Women’ beauty pageant [Footnote 1].
I can’t vote for Ries? B-but… Sword-nun…
Ah. Well. There it is. My monthly ‘Tactical Wild Rage Self-destruct’. Sorry Randy.
Oh. Huh. Neat how Crossbell Arc basically takes the exact story beats from Sky and puts them on the other side. Like that a certain someone basically pulled a Hamel. Or thst Arios seems to have completely missed the point of Cassius’ role as Divine Blade in FC. We’ll see if they’re actually aware of this or if they just play it to the hilt unironically.
Really? After all that, that’s all Arios is capable of? I thought he was supposed to be strong.
…
We’re never gonna address the fact that the Sept-terrion of Zero just killed a ton of people, are we? Like, sure, wartime circumstances and it was at another’s behest, but she was a willing collaborator and I don’t know that this entirely falls under just war theory.
Really? Really? You have the gall to just cut from ‘I will escape no matter what!’ to captured and on the ground? Without explanation? Without a cutscene or anything? You do realize that kind of contrasting cut is a humor play, right? Am I actually supposes to take this seriously and feel like there’s a threat or am I supposed to laugh. Because I can tell you what I’m not feeling right now. At least you’re consistent in immediately pulling the rug out from any hype I manage to build, game.
Did Zeit just eat that guy?! What?! This is great!
Oh. Nevermind. Still sucks.
Kevin!
Who the heck thought it was ok to give an enemy a global self-destruct?
Wow! That Campanella fight was incredibly unfun!
Holy heck guys, are you seriously just leaving the bell there? I don’t care if it’s an irreplacable artifact, it’s directly responsible for all your current problems. You can’t just leave it undefended for any shmuck — much less the people currently using it — to find. At least try to blow it up.
Yikes, Arianrhod. I don’t see how you can win that fight without Zero Field abuse. But despite infuriating me to the point of nearly quitting mid-battle, I actually… enjoyed the fight? Somehow? [Footnote 2].
Brights!
Gosh hecking dang it. Really? Really? You felt the need to interrupt the climatic confrontation with a sit-down political chat? Why are you like this, Azure?
Oh, hey. They did address Sept-0’s kill count. Kind of. Like, they gave a compelling, in-character reason why the ones that got zapped away could survive, but that doesn’t exactly address the ones in vehicles that got outright blown up by the Aions. Oh well.
“Alright. After a tense dogfight, we made it into the final dungeon. Time to save the day!”
…
“Hold up. Need to go back to the police department so I can analyze some data. Be right back.”
Thanks Azure.
“War Cry has been upgraded to War Cry 2”
Oh yeah. Now we’re cookin’ with fire [Footnote 3].
Ugh. The Azure Tree is waaaaay too long. I guess it’s not meant to be done in one sitting [Footnote 4]. The Domains are just… Meh. I get why they exist and certainly the bosses are important for the characters and story, but I don’t feel like I needed such a long mini-dungeon for each. Especially Domain of Passion. It was just a massive pain.
Also, still don’t care about Shirley’s ‘rivalry’ with Yin.
I do appreciate them continuing the theme that chests don’t have messages in Gehenna.
Ugh. Pacing. Not Azure’s strong suit. If your antagonist stops to infodump and literally field a Q&A with the party, maybe your plot needs a bit of restructuring.
“Arios, you were always our inspiration; the rival we measured ourselves against.”
No. No he wasn’t. I never cared or felt a strong connection. He was just there. I shouldn’t let my personal gripes get too far into this though.
Did… Did Guy really just tell his younger brother to ask out his fiancée?
Alright. So, Azure done. I… have opinions on it. Simply put, I do like the characters. I like the gameplay. I… outright do not like the plot. At least not as presented. I think it largely fails to accomplish what it’s out to do. Granted, a lot of people think the Crossbell Arc is the best of Trails, so I’m the clear minority here. You should still check it out if you’re interested or into the series. I’ll have to do a full write-up later. Anyway, on to Cold Steel. I’ve already started a bit and it feels promising. I’ve enjoyed it thus far and feels a breath of fresh air from a lot of the issues I had with Crossbell. We’ll see though.
Footnote 1: But I did not, because I actually wanted to… Like, fulfill the qualifications of the quest?
Footnote 2: I mean, she’s also max-Lady Knight and I love that, so…
Footnote 3: So this is a very distinct Martlet-ism. I know the phrase is ‘cooking with gas’, but I messed it up once and decided to roll with it.
Footnote 4: I mean, yeah. The Liber Ark wasn’t exactly short either. I think it was shorter than Azure Tree, but still pretty long. So it’s not like that’s a new thing. I just noticed it more this time.
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