Recent reviews by crossedbells

THE ONE WITH VAN ARKRIDE!!!

Finally arriving at Calvard, Trails through Daybreak (or Kuro no Kiseki) is a much-needed breath of fresh air for the series.

Falcom really stepped up their game with this narrative, fortunately continuing Reverie’s streak of great character writing. This game truly felt like a big return to form.

Trails has never looked as good as it does now. With the power of an in-house engine and motion capture, Zemuria was brought to life in ways we’ve never seen before, most notably with its seamless transitions.

As for gameplay, at first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the combat. It’s a massive overhaul compared to what we’ve been used to for the last seven games. But as I progressed through the game and acquired more options to push the limits of the new combat system, I found myself having the most fun I’ve ever had with combat in this series. It got to the point where I even struggled to go back to the Brave Order system.

Orbments also received a big change. To my delight, Sepith values are back—and better than ever, in my opinion. Now, instead of trying to gun for the values of your desired arts, you’ll want to aim for the very awesome Shard Skills. These can do a myriad of different things, and trying to find the ones that fit each character best is super fun. It makes every build feel much more unique.

While the larger cast is still quite big (as usual), the core group has been considerably streamlined—and hoo boy, did it work wonders. The Solutions Office dynamic is INCREDIBLE, and it really brought together the feeling of a close-knit, ragtag family. I was genuinely impressed by how fleshed out most of them were in a single game, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for this group.

But while this is a very good game, it is not without its flaws. The main one I want to point out is how unremarkable the OST is. There are definitely some standout tracks here, but they don’t carry the other 80 or so extremely bland and forgettable ones. This is a huge shame considering the legacy Falcom’s games have with their music.

Other stuff would be the bland city layouts outside of Edith and the severe lack of side content—though I’ve heard the sequel almost overcompensates for this, so I’ll keep an eye out.

Overall, Trails through Daybreak is an amazing experience that every fan of the series should try. And for newcomers, it’s not a bad entry point, all things considered. There’s a lot to enjoy in this game on its own.

bit of a unbalanced mess atp but it has JEFF THE LANDSHARK!!

been playing gacha games for about half of my life now and not a single one manage to touch my soul and not make me hate myself and the game like limbus did

canto 7 verily did change my life forsooth tis of a biggest fear of mine to say that this series have, indeed, peaked right here and now perchance forsooth

games good but for the love of god make it available everywhere so my bud can give you money

wtf I forgot to review ruina

bad pacing in the last chapter brings it down a bit for me but still a phenomenal game that I would gladly recommend to anyone

I don’t know why I took so long to write something about this game, maybe I just wanted to let it fully sink in, but I think it is finally time to buckle up and get the job done.

No spoilers as always haha.


Trails into Reverie is a game with a lot to live up to, it's a game that was revered as something special in this series since the time of its original japanese release, and did it manage to? In my opinion, yes, above and beyond. This game was a return to form for the series in a lot of ways and really rekindled my love and enthusiasm for the series.

Tying up a lot of loose ends from both Crossbell and Cold Steel (much like how the 3rd was for Sky) while serving as a bridge to the Calvard arc, Reverie stands strong as the 10th entry in the series.

The route system is something I was really interested in and it delivered, it’s a great way to handle a game with such a massive cast while giving the characters natural reasons and motives for being where they are, also allowing for some of the best and most engaging pace I’ve seen in the series.

While the core gameplay is very much the same as Cold Steel, what makes this game shine is the amount of options and characters you have to mess around, the Corridor is a playground of endless possibilities where you can spend hours upon hours just trying builds, reading side stories or playing minigames.

On a technical side, besides some bugs from release that are now fixed, Durante’s port is great as always.

This game was a really special experience, it’s everything I could have wanted from the final chapter of the first half of the series and a send off to both Crossbell and Erebonia, it was a labor of love and it shows in every aspect. The Trails series have been with me thought some of the best and worst times of my life now, it has been almost 3 years since I played FC for the first time, the ride had some of the biggest highs I’ve ever experienced in my life, but also quite a few lows, but even so I can confidently say that this is my favorite series in anything, and I will forever treasure the wonderful experience I had with this series.

Personal feelings aside, the bottom line is that this is a great game haha, one that is definitely worth your time.

Thank you Falcom for creating this series, thank you xseed for pioneering the series in the west, thank you Geofront for all the effort in making it whole and thank you NISA for carrying the torch.

See you all beyond the reverie.

Actual really solid selection of tracks, shout out to ARGGGGGGGGGG MYSTIC COREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Once again it contains Lloyd Bannings, so once again me enjoy it.

Hoo boy, this is probably the first time I’ve ever been scared of writing for something I love so much and being scared of not being able to do it justice with my words.
I will say this from the get go, Trails to Azure is my favorite piece of media of all time, one that lives near and dear to my heart, and I will try my best to explain why without spoilers on this absolute mess of a review that is coming.

First of all, while Azure IS a direct sequel to Zero, I highly recommend reading the drama CD “Trails to Azure - Road to the Future”, since it will be referenced at early parts of Azure and provides better context for why the characters are where they are now at the start of the story.

Azure tells the tale of a small state and its people, one that is not a large on the grand scheme of things by itself, where it inhabitants constantly gets tossed around and trampled over by others agenda and that, despite every odds being against then, each one of its people stands proud as part of Crossbell, trying everything they can to make the most of their situation.
And at the middle of this frenetic struggle we once again follow the Special Support Section, now revamped and bigger than ever, having finally won the hearts of Crossbell and gotten over one of the barriers that stood in their way. But now with the political dispute heaten up, new foes emerge to threaten Crossbell existence unlike any that ever came before, now from inside and outside the state borders.

Gameplay wise I’d dare say that Azure is the most enjoyable game in the series for me (yes even more then cold steel, tho ive yet to play hajimari).
We finally get the introduction of Master Quartz in the series, and ironically enough this is the last comically broken they’ve ever been to my knowledge at least.
Battles at the core functions almost the same as Zero, with a feel tweaks where and there, such as the new Burst mechanic, but I’d say where Azure shines on its own is the balance it made to some of Zero’s quite op crafts and how some of the boss themselves where designed, I played the game on the hard difficult for the first time and it stroke a sweet point for me of not being unfairly hard neither braindead easy, just a satisfying and fair challenge, especially the “optional win” fights, getting through those to this day is some of my fondest memories from this series. Or you can ignore all that and build an EVA tank Lloyd.

We also got a plethora of minigames this time, this game is packed with side content and has some of my favorite side quests in the series, not to mention the peak of Kiseki fishing (elite 4 my beloved). With Crossbell itself being full of new secrets to discover.

As usual this is the part I comment about how this isn't a review but just me rambling about random stuff about the game, but with Azure in special I really just cannot help it, this game means so much to me to a point I still vividly remember going through it for the first time even though it's been more than an year I played it, its themes still motivates me to be better, to try and not be afraid of taking the hard path, to not run way from adversity.

I can’t help but feel this is one of the most undercooked reviews I’ve ever written on Steam, I might even edit it later to be a more huh coerent semblance on writing (not like I’ve ever written anything deep here haha), but really nothing I can possibly say will do this game and how much it means to me justice. If this is your first time on this game you are in for a ride, a really really special wild that everyday I wish I could experience for the first time again.

Also thank you Geofront and Scott, for allowing me to experience the piece of media of my lifetime, I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to play this game you guys gave me and many others through your hard work and effort. May you rest in peace.

my favorite mahjong simulator