Opinion Falcom was the best

suiko

suiko

saviour of worlds
Nov 12, 2018
307
640
93
it is known.

also let it be known that 2019 is 15th anniversary of Trails series, the best thing that humankind did in last 15 years, aside of PC gaming being resurrected and very much alive (according to rumours) and indie explosion.

There is no better time than this year to start playing Trails in the Sky.

[IMG='width:637px;']http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/39727720948270312/FC72A06EB64057D2B851B7538628E3BE936996BA/[/IMG]
 
  • Like
Reactions: Big_Al, Deleted member 113, Rei dos Vermes and 9 others
I like the games they make I guess. I severely dislike their shift to consoles though. Wish they would go back to developing on PC first, than port to consoles. And they should attempt to open an international branch like Idea Factory and Spike Chunsoft. Ditch NISA as the middle man.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ex-User (307), Rei dos Vermes and lashman
† Echo † said:
I like the games they make I guess. I severely dislike their shift to consoles though. Wish they would go back to developing on PC first, than port to consoles. And they should attempt to open an international branch like Idea Factory and Spike Chunsoft. Ditch NISA as the middle man.
Click to expand...
The more unfortunate thing is that with shifting development to consoles, they also shifted the age of their target audience down. It's noticeable when you compare Cold Steel and Tokyo Xanadu to Sky and Xanadu Next and Zwei Zwei.
I still love them tough. But not if NISA touches them. Unless they get significantly better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rei dos Vermes and lashman
Copons said:
Although they need to learn how to sale

Click to expand...

Cold Steel and Cold Steel 2 aren't exactly bad deals. 1 is a year and a half old on PC, and 2 not even a year.
With Trails in the Sky, the first is essentially always -50%/8 bucks, and that's essentially the only game that makes sense to buy if you have none. SC is only relevant if you've finished FC and by that time most people are willing to buy SC at that price (back when SteamSpy was still sorta reliable you could compare the percentage of people that got the achievement for finishing FC to the number of people who owned SC and it mostly matched up), and same for 3rd (+it's not that old and if you reach 3rd the series already has its claws into you anyway).

So from a business perspective, since the target audience for SC and 3rd is very clearly defined and stats show that most of that target audience are willing to pay the asking price, it doesn't make much sense to go much cheaper.

I've been arguing for "complete your collection" bundles with an extra discount for ages now though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MegaApple and lashman
Ah yeah, from a business perspective, if it works for them, sounds good to me.

At the same time, I'm one of those cheapskates who bought TITS 1, played it, loved it, and have been waiting for a proper sale on SC forever. :(
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman
Copons said:
Ah yeah, from a business perspective, if it works for them, sounds good to me.

At the same time, I'm one of those cheapskates who bought TITS 1, played it, loved it, and have been waiting for a proper sale on SC forever. :(
Click to expand...

so you're out for cheap TitS

[IMG='width:272px;']https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7abGCmpdH7JoZGSc/giphy.gif[/IMG]
 
  • Like
Reactions: Big_Al, suiko and Copons
I need to play more of their games. I've yet to play Ys 6, 7 and Origin, and need to buy Celceta and 8 after I'm done with them. During this Steam sale I also bought the first Trails in the Sky game, along with Zwei: The Arges Adventure and Xanadu Next. And I also found out today that I own Gurumin, so I should try that one too. Man, they made a lot of games!
 
  • Like
Reactions: suiko and lashman
Copons said:
Ah yeah, from a business perspective, if it works for them, sounds good to me.

At the same time, I'm one of those cheapskates who bought TITS 1, played it, loved it, and have been waiting for a proper sale on SC forever. :(
Click to expand...
You monster.
I'll hold you personally accountable if we never get official Crossbell in English. :wd_punned:
Kidding. Or am I? :unsure:
 
  • Like
Reactions: suiko, Copons and lashman
Even at full price, Trails SC is well worth the money. The game is simply that good. Trails FC was the only Trails game I bought at a discount and the others I always bought day one.

Although I'm not sure whether I should get the PS4 version of CS1/CS2. I already have the definitive version of those.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rei dos Vermes, suiko, lashman and 1 other person
Long time back I read a fantastic post (on either GAF or ERA) on Falcom's history (on how their led to the birth of action RPG, and helped in growing the Japanese PC market) and how much talent they have created.

That, and they also have made some good games 😉

Falcom has their own music department, they care THAT MUCH about their music.
Everyone should check out their YouTube channel Falcom Music Channel
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rei dos Vermes, lashman, RionaaM and 1 other person
MegaApple said:
Long time back I read a fantastic post (on either GAF or ERA) on Falcom's history (on how their led to the birth of action RPG, and helped in growing the Japanese PC market) and how much talent they have created.

That, and they also have made some good games 😉

Falcom has their own music department, they care THAT MUCH about their music.
Everyone should check out their YouTube channel Falcom Music Channel
Click to expand...
Yeah, their music catalog on Google Play Music is amazing. You can find anything there:
TkjZxNX.png


Don't know if that's the case on Spotify too, but I'd bet it is the same. The best thing is that you can find the original and remastered versions of some soundtracks, like Ys 1 and 2, so there's a lot of variety there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rei dos Vermes, MegaApple, Ascheroth and 1 other person
MegaApple said:
Long time back I read a fantastic post (on either GAF or ERA) on Falcom's history (on how their led to the birth of action RPG, and helped in growing the Japanese PC market) and how much talent they have created.

That, and they also have made some good games 😉

Falcom has their own music department, they care THAT MUCH about their music.
Everyone should check out their YouTube channel Falcom Music Channel
Click to expand...

Falcom Music Channel is actually run by a Falcom fan and not their official channel. They actually have an account on ERA but seldom post. But, it might as well be an official one because there's a lot of JDK albums there which has since long out of print and can only be found on Yahoo JP auctions from time to time.

I would love to be able to buy their back catalogue easily, though. Like, you can get the highest quality audio from Mora, for example. But not without jumping through hoops with VPN and whatnots.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rei dos Vermes, MegaApple and lashman
Falcom used to be the best during the early 2000s when they were developing computer games: Ys VI-Origins, Trails in the Sky 1-3, Zwei! 1-2, Xanadu Next... I'm not a big fan of their latest titles, to be honest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MegaApple and lashman
From what I know, they were the best with trails in the sky and the Ys games. Now they seem to have lost their spark because a lot of fans have been disappointed
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman
Falcom is great, except for the part where they sell translation rights to NISA.

I get that they probably win rights because they are simply the highest bidders, but have some damn pride in your work.

Trails:TCS3 is going to be an abomination.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman and Kvik
Haven't been following Cold Steel since the first two released without JPN voices, they should just concentrate on the Ys-games. Those are my jam.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman
I haven't even minded the NA voices for CS1+2. The PC ports were fucking fantastic and I don't feel a need to hear it in JP. But none of that matters if the translation is dumpster tier or if the port is garbage (or doesn't happen at all)

NISA has FUCKED UP so many games already. I don't think I can bring myself to buy any of their products until they are on DEEP sale.
Its fucked but I've already waited so long, might as well wait more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ascheroth and lashman
I take that back, apparently this was old news and Falcom is not the best anymore :negative-blob:

I hope we aren't having SC situation on our hands all over again, with CS3, but it's very likely we have and even worse.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: lashman and Deleted member 113
suiko said:
I take that back, apparently this was old news and Falcom is not the best anymore :negative-blob:

I hope we aren't having SC situation on our hands all over again, with CS3, but it's very likely we have and even worse.
Click to expand...
I think you can change your thread title on your own to "Falcom was the best" or something
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman and suiko
† Echo † said:
Nice title change lol.

One thing has become evident, and that's really that money is the only thing that matters to these people in the end. Didn't Western fans send Falcom a bunch of angry letters over the Ys8 NISA debacle, and look where we still are. o_O
Click to expand...
Yeah. It's pretty apparent that Kondo doesn't give a shit about western fans. Ys VIII was an utter shitshow that was so bad it got even mentionend on Japanese news sites and yet here we are.
But in the end all that matters is money and that Falcom's president Kondo is buddies with NIS' president. Yay.
 
  • Like
Reactions: QFNS, lashman, suiko and 1 other person
QFNS said:
Great title edit, btw.

Brittany and the others being involved is great, but I suspect they were brought in to right a sinking ship rather than start from the beginning.

Definitely still worried.
Click to expand...

i wonder if they'll even try to contact Durante ........
 
  • Like
Reactions: suiko
  • Like
Reactions: suiko and lashman
I want a new Vantage Master with the Trails in the Sky art, it could have been an amazing series :(

Vantage Master -English- (half-translated official freeware release, they did make a PSP remake with nicer graphics etc but it never came here afaik)

And a new Ys Origins/Oath style game :(

I really hope we haven't seen the last of their older graphics/engines styles, they were like slick & modern PS1 style RPGs a la Grandia or Xenogears.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: suiko and lashman
This thread reminds me I need to pick up Ys 8 on PSN this week, it's £15.99 until next wednesday. I would get on PC but no good price drop there yet and of course NISA just ditched the PC version support eventually. Fucking love Falcom games though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: suiko and lashman
I absolutely love Falcom games. They are my favorite dev by far. I loved the fun and quirky Legacy of the Wizard (NES) (though I never realized it was Falcom until later). When I had the chance to review Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita), I jumped on it, and I have played/reviewed every Falcom game released since (and I don't plan on that changing anytime soon). I own every Falcom game on Steam, and have beat them all (except for Ys Origin, which I am very far in).

My opinion on current Falcom is that while I do prefer the more mature styling of the older games, the current games still have the 'spark' that makes them great. Older Falcom music gets the edge to me as superior, though. (But current music is still great.)

Xanadu Next and Brandish: TDR are fantastic and should be played by everyone. And that music... oh man.

The Zwei series is awesome for totally different reasons. They characters and music are so lovely. (Play Zwei:AA with original music. PSP remaster is nowhere near as good.) The gameplay in Zwei: AA is... mixed, but everything else about it is lovely. Zwei: II is great in pretty much every way and needs more players.

Gurumin is kind of like Zwei: 1.5 and is good fun, even if the Steam version has the occasional bug.

As for the two main ones: Ys and Trails, they are both wonderful in their own ways, and need to be played. Ys has excellent RPG action, and an interesting storyline/lore, though you don't need to understand it to enjoy the games.

Ys VIII is probably my favorite game of the last few years.

The Trails series is equally awesome for different reasons. The world building, character development, and lore are second to none. The PC versions are incredible.

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is a really fun game that comes to its own in the second half of the game. The first half is positively boring, but the second is excellent. In my opinion, this game is best enjoyed by long-time Falcom fans, as the references and Easter eggs litter this game like crazy.

Both XSEED and NISA are great publishers that treat small sites like mine very, very well. No one questions that XSEED's translations and ports are second to none. And NISA really messed up Ys VIII. The redone translation is good enough, and the PC version is finally reasonably decent after the last patch, but nowhere near as good as the Durante ports (is anything?). Like all of you, I certainly hope that NISA makes the CS3 translation and PC port as good as previous entries.

Given their massive good-faith effort in bringing former XSEED translators and editors in for CS3, I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt and wait and see how well things turn out. Hatsuu has been clearly having fun working with Sean again, so I think the results may end up being great after all. Time will tell.
 
  • Like
Reactions: suiko, Big_Al and lashman
I would want nothing more than the miracle of NISA-trails somehow matching Xseed standards, but I'm not holding my breath until it's proven after release.
The cynic in me tells me that they've brought Hatsuu and co on-board too late to "fix" everything and it's mostly just a PR move.
 
  • Like
Reactions: QFNS, IBJamon, Kvik and 2 others
IBJamon said:
Given their massive good-faith effort in bringing former XSEED translators and editors in for CS3, I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt and wait and see how well things turn out.
Click to expand...

I've mentioned the following sentiment in the FalcomERA Discord and elsewhere, but I don't think we should give NISA any benefit of the doubt, simply because they've had more than a decade of bad results and mismanagement, all they way back to Mana Khemia/Ar Tonelico days, and I'm not even going to mention what kind of atrocities we're accustomed to in terms of their PC ports. The fact that NISA had released a competent project in Coven of Dusk recently is nothing short of a miracle, and remain an exception, not the norm.

Furthermore, I'm sure you're well aware that Trails games in particular features more Japanese character count than any other Falcom games, let alone any other games NISA had localise in the past. If they can't even localise Ys VIII which has significantly lower character count, I can't trust them to localise Trails properly.

Thirdly, there's another matter of the extremely large cast of characters whom has their distinct personalities shines through XSEED localisation. Can we say for sure if they'll have the same treatment as Rean, in terms of localisation consistency with past games? If Rean and Class VII were thoroughly polished, can we say the same about the secondary characters and NPCs? I sincerely doubt NISA will care enough about them.

There's some comfort to be had with the announcement that they're bringing over freelance staff whom had worked on Trails series in the past. But bringing competent staffer alone will amount to nothing if the project is being mismanaged.

In conclusion, I can only say that good will is cheap talk when NISA is concerned. I would say that we all should wait for results first, before we should even consider getting the game in English at all, let alone shelling hundreds of bucks to secure that Mishy doona.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ascheroth, QFNS and lashman
BTW, am I the only one with this experience? I have a desktop PC with a AMD 290X, and a laptop with a GTX 1070. I find Ys VIII PC runs just fine on both, but the frame pacing is noticeably better on the AMD GPU. (It's not dramatic, but it's there.)

Am I the only one to notice this, or am I the only one crazy enough to use the PC version? :p

I have all settings on max, 1440p screen, with FXAA disabled (it looks terrible with that enabled).
 
  • Like
Reactions: suiko and lashman
IBJamon said:
BTW, am I the only one with this experience? I have a desktop PC with a AMD 290X, and a laptop with a GTX 1070. I find Ys VIII PC runs just fine on both, but the frame pacing is noticeably better on the AMD GPU. (It's not dramatic, but it's there.)

Am I the only one to notice this, or am I the only one crazy enough to use the PC version? :p

I have all settings on max, 1440p screen, with FXAA disabled (it looks terrible with that enabled).
Click to expand...
Nah, I also played it on PC. They didn't get any money from me though (no I didn't pirate it), so my conscience is clean :coffee-blob:.
I have a 290 and it ran fine after all the fixups. I can't compare with Nvidia cards but I've heard that the game has more issues with them.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: suiko and lashman
8 More Posts...
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom