>>3945807
No hope.

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>>3945807
As disappointed as I have been with the story of Trails games since Ao, they will still be day 1 purchases for me. I enjoy the aesthetic, music, battle system, pleasant characters, the setting, etc. There just isn't anything else coming out that appeals to me besides MMO expansions.

The real question is what Falcom plans to do once they "end" the story. Trails is their flagship IP that has a loooooong tail, where if just one person finishes a Trails game and becomes a superfan, they buy 12 more games for $700. If Kondo actually terminates Trails, that long tail will begin to dissipate as Trails won't be in the news anymore and fewer and fewer people will enter the pipeline. And Trails was built up over 20 years. Falcom can't start a new RPG series and replicate the same profits in a short time frame.

>>3945853
I have zero faith that the series will end in a satisfying way. It will be a generic big battle where no one dies except the villain, just like Cold Steel 4.

>>3945856
Yes, that is a forgone conclusion. I fully anticipate all of the mass murdering Ouroboros people will get off scott free too.

>>3945859
It's wild to me how whitewashed Ouroboros has become. No one in the later games even mentions all the evil stuff they did, like exploiting a brainwashed child soldier (Joshua) or trying to destroy that city with an Earthquake generator.

I stopped playing the Kiseki series after the first trilogy. Might go back and play Zero & Ao someday but I have no interest in anything from Cold Steel onward.
Same goes for Ys. Love the old games, haven't played the newest ones, probably never will.
I love the prerendered sprites and low budget doujin game aesthetics of Falcom's early 2000s games. The newer games feel soulless to me by comparison, I can't vibe with them. I guess I'm in the minority though, I'm a jaded boomer.

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I still like Ys. It's not that they haven't adapted some of the more annoying aspects of falcom, but they managed to at least do it all in one game. That's really my big issue with Trails. It shouldn't take four games to tell the kinds of story they're telling and when NPCs have more of an arc than your party it's an issue. It's not world building to just sit in one place for 2000 hours saying the word ORBAL over and over.

>>3945902
>Might go back and play Zero & Ao someday
Save yourself the trouble. Zero recycles plot elements from Sky shamelessly and a lot of the lore doesn't make sense if you think about it for more than 20 seconds, but if you can overlook that it's not the WORST thing ever. Until Ao, where they start throwing in completely forced plot twists out of nowhere and ruin whatever joy you may have experienced from Zero.

Oh, and the art style sucks ass too.

>>3946198
Problem with Ys' is there's no point in playing any of the new ones if you've played Ys 8.
Falcom can't make money off the series no more.

>>3945807
If they learn from Sky 1st's success and start designing their new games like the games they're remaking, there's hope. Otherwise no. Just look at Calvard and Ys IX and X. Irredeemable trash. Especially the Ys games. Insulting to the franchise.

>>3946268
Trails is in a similar ditch minus the recent sky remake (future remakes will continue to plummet in sales)

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Hopefully, after the next Ys game and a remake of V, we get a game that concludes Adol's adventures, then Falcom can go and work on Sorcerian and some other stuff

>>3947312
a remake of 5 is likely but i don't see a point in giving Adol a permanent ending when the whole point is that he's just a generic Red Link avatar who goes on infinite adventures
and a real Sorcerian reboot would be cool but we'd be more likely to get something in the vein of Tokyo Xanadu where they reuse the name for a completely unrelated game

>>3947335
Adol already has a permanent ending, he died on a journey to, was it Antarctica? Though that was planned before Ys VI I think, that might have been retconned when that game was made.

Why did Falcom sales collapse between C2 and C3?

>>3947312
>we get a game that concludes Adol's adventures,
Adol's adventures don't ever end until well into his 60s

>>3947852
They don't end at all. What happens to him will just be another game, if they can get past the 13 year hoodie Adol they love so much. Fucking faggy Japan. I hate you.

>>3947852
>well into his 60s
Ys LXV: Voyage to Pharmacy
Ys LXVI: The Perils of a Broken Hip

>>3948451
He becomes Santa Clause

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Is there any hope of a international Brandish 3 release?

>>3945807
>>3946274
Falcom needs to stop with their declining music quality before we can see any hope.

>>3945902
At least go play Ys VIII which is falcom's best 3D game. It's also the last falcom game that has a truly great OST.

Just finished Ys Origin as Yunica. First Falcom game I've completed. Is it required that I beat the game as the other characters or would I be okay looking up the ending and moving onto the next game. Presumably I should go to Ys 1/2 next? I've got both a PCE CD and a PSP, which one should I play?

>>3949621
>Just finished Ys Origin as Yunica. First Falcom game I've completed.
both characters have different stories and when beaten by both, unlock adol in time attack

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>>3949621
If you enjoyed Origin so far you should definitely go back to it eventually, but you can take a break to play other games if you want
>Presumably I should go to Ys 1/2 next?
Yes
>I've got both a PCE CD and a PSP, which one should I play?
That's up to you. PCE is the definitive "old" version and plays perfectly fine. The remakes are very faithful though and look amazing.
I strongly prefer PC over PSP for the remakes just because it's less zoomed in and has the cool vintage UI border. If PSP is somehow your only option though it's still a fine way to play them.

>>3949621
All three story paths in Origin are pretty different. And fun.

>>3949710
>PC
Ys I + II Complete with the NightWolve translation or Ys I & II Chronicles+ (GOG)?
How do they differ anyway?

Kai was unambiguously good and Nordics was fun but not nearly as good as Dana.
They're in a good spot rn.

>>3945807
They're very competent Single A level developers that make fairly compact games on quick timelines for cheap.
They'll survive and keep making their games for longer than most companies that fly high and crash inevitably.
Nothing remarkably good, but nothing atrociously bad (usually).

haha that's our falcoom for ya!

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>>3949990
Emulate the PC Engine CD remake of I & II. It's one continuous game with the same progression, as opposed to separate games. Chronicles is a demake with worse combat and unholy amounts of bloat that kills the pacing.

>>3945807
I'm excited for Kyoto Xanadu.
Lost all faith in the trails series and will just watch a youtube recap to see how it ended.

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>>3950149
>They'll survive and keep making their games

>>3950290
>Chronicles is a demake with worse combat
incorrect
>and unholy amounts of bloat that kills the pacing.
where exactly? i don't remember this

>>3950361
>Chronicles is a demake with worse combat
This is factual. Play the PC Engine CD version.
>>and unholy amounts of bloat that kills the pacing.
Also factual. You don't remember it because you haven't played any other version. The Chronicles pacing is complete dogshit.

>>3949621
Same Anon here, I've also got an MSX2. After I play Ys 1 and 2 are there any Falcom games I should play on my MSX? Assuming it has any of the best versions of any Falcom games.

>>3950377
i have played the PCE version though and i don't remember the remakes having any notable "bloat" by comparison

>>3950399
It does. Unholy amounts of dialogue and new mandatory scenes. The entire intro of Ys I Chronicles is new and wastes your time. Lots and lots of new quests with endless yapping. Finding that faggy kid in the volcano in Ys II is an escort quest rather than just handing him an item. The combat is also outright worse and inconsistent.

I am back on this series due to there being nothing else to play
I am playing Dawnbreak 1 and then going straight to chronicles
But god its hard to get through
I hate how they make meaningless side quests mandatory to advance the plot
Shameless padding and filler
Most of the dialogue is entirely skippable
In fact it must be skipped
And many of the story sequences must "skip all"
To maintain my sanity and not alt-f4 in rage
Because apparently they don't care about boring you to death
Like cutting through layers and layers of fat to get to the meat of the game the good parts
But the game is pretty good
I like the kino combat animations at 120fps
These games require difficulty mods
But overall an immersive experience but its truly a statement on how uninamously bad all recent game releases are, that here I am playing Falcom slop again

>>3949616
No it isn't, the Ys series is made for 3 year olds
At least Trails is raunchy, Ys is literally made for kids, I find all Ys games to be unbearable

>> 3951180 (no (You), fag)
bait used to be believable

>>3951183
you play Ys for the gameplay, not the story
>I find all Ys games to be unbearable
have you played any of the pre-Seven games? have you played them on Nightmare?

>>3945807
I played through the series and made it to Daybreak, and I guess I'm burnt out because I'm not as into Daybreak like I was previous entries. I'm only on chapter 2, but I haven't been playing it as much as I did Reverie and previous games.

>>3951970
>pre-Seven games
>on Nightmare
I'm pretty sure 1-5 didn't have any difficulty settings until the shitty remakes.

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Still the best game to cater to my philosophical and metaphysical preferences (of ending this cursed Kali Yuga and remake the world) out there.

>>3952432
Felghana & Origin are the best Falcom games by a very large margin

>>3949992
Kai was good but Kuro 2 bombed so badly that Kai under performed despite it being a drastic improvement to the point where even bringing back the majority of the popular Cold Steel characters didn't help.

Sky remake did good so confidence in the franchise isn't totally dead but it's not clear if it's because word of mouth that Kai didn't suck got out or people just knew that Sky would be good regardless.

>>3952993
>Kai was good
>trolling outside of /b/

>>3952993
>popular Cold Steel characters
Then why did CS 3/4 bomb?

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>>3947340
The PC engine version of Ys 4 ends with Adol marrying Lilia from Ys 2.

>>3949621
While it isn't required it is highly recommended to do so after playing Ys I and II. Ys Origin is a great prequel that expands on the lore by telling the different and notably contradictory accounts of an event that laid down elements that were coincidental in the original games like the family lines that were tied to the mystery, artifacts, etc. Not that you ruined Ys 1 and 2 as an experience, but when played there was an element of discovery with finding the lost civilization of ancient Ys. I am of course very biased and all the connections could have similar payoffs the other way; and it doesn't really matter as Origins is plotwise an unnecessary prequel to the original two games.

But to answer your question: play Ys 1 and 2, both versions are fine. PC engine if you are interested in the best original hardware experience unless you are an autistic PC-88 fan. And Chronicles+ is the best version of the game, ignore bloat schizo, Chronicles+ is good, though I would recommend the PC version.

>>3949990
The differences between Chronicles and complete are very minor but most of them have to do with making small changes to the plot to be more in line with Ys 6's plot as that is the game that the larger Ys meta plot is working off of. The original plots to Ys 3, 4, and 5 did not have the conceit of Ys telling a broader story about an extinct race of winged gods. The biggest change that comes to mind is adding a small town where Adol wakes up in to explain how he got there and the abnormal weather that is isolating this area from help abroad.

>>3945902
You really should, the Crossbell Arc ties up some loose ends from the Liberl Arc in a very satisfying way.
Don't listen to this retard >>3946207

>>3953670
That was before Memories of Celceta became the canon version of Ys IV. By then, Mask of the Sun was Falcom's authorized canon version of Ys IV. Apparently, the story of Dawn of Ys was done by Hudson so it wasn't canon. Adding to this, I was disappointed with the source of Adol's amnesia in Memories of Celceta, I was expecting it to be a callback to Mask of the Sun by having Gadis, Bami, and Gruda, beat him to near death.

>>3953682
Just finished Ys 1 on PCE, I can see why Origins would hit harder if you played 1 first but my enjoyment of Origins was what pushed me to stick through the rougher edges. Still extremely playable for an RPG from 87. Onto 2.

>>3950149
series sales were down the drain before sky remake (they'll drop down again after SC)

>>3953670
So does the PC Engine CD remake of Ys I and II.

>>3945807
Yeah but they need to cut their loses and end the trails series asap.

>>3955398
Every other game flops compared to trails (yes trail is also flopping).
Death spiral.

>>3945807
because they make their letters in colors you don't like?

Grabbed the EGG Console versions of Ys MSX2 and Revival Xanadu on a whim as an excuse to practice my barely mediocre Japanese, honestly more fun than I expected them to be (even if Xanadu kicks my ass despite getting the Easy Ver). La Valse Pour Xanadu's stuck in my head, very memorable melody even if it sounds a bit offputting at times. Any tips for Xanadu's early game? I went all in on STR and MAG while somewhat neglecting the rest of the stats, save for giving CHR a small bump. Did I fuck up already?

>>3957079
At this point, they're pretty much entirely propped up by the western market. They lost the Chinese market to gacha shit and the Japanese console market is way too normie to buy their kind of games anymore. Sad times to be an otaku-centric dev in Japan. You spent decades cultivating a certain appeal to your games only to see your own domestic market move away from it.

>>3958882
CS2 killed interest in the chinese AND japanese markets. They hate each other but CS2 united them.

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>>3945807
It's doing pretty good since Sky 1st released. There's hope.

The only hope for Failcom is that they finally go bankrupt and take their shit budget games with them.

>>3948451
I have NEVER played an Ys game and I played most of the classical JRPGs growing up. I'm not sure if I want to get into it or not. It appeals to me and I can't explain why. Also I remember liking but not understanding Brandish when I was little, thinking it was too different from what I would normally play so I left it behind.

Why does this company specifically have so many A-logs on this board? I've never seen this level of irrational hatred for Falcom anywhere else online

>>3959950
90% of Kisekifags in 4chan are genuinely mentally ill and Kiseki tickles their autism in a way no other series does, but some game or arc inevitably burns them and thus they develop a burning hatred for this small niche company.

>>3945807
They need to appeal to the west to sell more games, and the best way to do this is with the remakes

>>3960645
Lost my train of thought: appeal to the west with remakes, rake in money to hire new talent, make sure to treat employees better than Kato did do you do not lose so many almost legendary creators and musicians, and either let them work on new IPs or revive old shit like Sorcerian and Brandish.
If current Falcom did that, people would complain it feels like Trails.

Also, some of you guys seem to be stuck in the last decade. Sales for these games keep going down because they are niche even in their home market and because the Japanese market is skewed heavily towards mobile gaming. They outspend china on chinese gachas. Falcom has to be sagacious enough to develop games as they have for their JP market but keeping in mind their main demographic is the west, or they get bought up by Nintendo/try and make a big push into Nintendo’s market, which they have been doing with mixed results since they have been tied with Sony for so long with their main moneymaker (Kiseki). But that’s just to keep being relevant in Japan which seems harder and harder these days, even for big series. Dragon Quest seems to be the exception.

>>3960654
>Also, some of you guys seem to be stuck in the last decade. Sales for these games keep going down because they are niche even in their home market and because the Japanese market is skewed heavily towards mobile gaming
They're also down because Japan is *old*. In 2005, Japan's median age was 42 which is a really good place to be because the majority of people who buy games are in their 30s and 40s. And this continued into the 2010s with the median age only rising to 45.

However in 2026, the median Japanese person is well above 50 and almost a third of the population is living on some kind of fixed-income pension. The game buyers of yesteryear are either pensioners or desperately trying to save everything they can for retirement. What little earning power is left gets eaten up by ballooning taxes to pay for the pensioner class. There's simply not the kind of buying power for games and consoles that there was in the 2000s and 2010s.

Meanwhile the US has a median age of 39. It's literally the perfect market to sell into which is why every Japanese game studio is desperate to market their shit here nowadays.

>>3950353
take this random graph that i shat out of my ass

>>3960661
Console gaming has been growing over there, but it's insanely Nintendo and normie-centric now.