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escapevelocity

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Trails Series Journal: Week X+4

Had to skip last week, but here we are again. Week 4!

Things are starting to get wild! And as always, This is entirely comprised of SPOILERS!

(I don't know if anyone's reading at this point, but I apologize again if the specific names/quotes are not the same as the English translation. I try to find the actual English names at least, but I translate the quotes on the spot.)

Previously in Trails: Estelle regains confidence and the power of love.

Chapter 5

What a FUCKING. RIDE.

I've mentioned before that Agate felt like a character with a lot more potential in him, and boy does he deliver. In spite of the rather... mythical reptilian(?) spectacle of this chapter, the main plot itself doesn't move too much (or at least, not any more than the previous chapters). Our heroes are still in the dark about what exactly Ouroboros is planning with all these experiments, and there technically aren't any updates from Joshua's side within this chapter either. But the sheer focus of this chapter is just something to behold in terms of character writing in a JRPG. My god I love (some of) these characters.

I'm talking about THIS guy.
I'm talking about THIS guy.

Let's start where chapter 4 leaves off, in the town of Rolent (and the hour or so in the next town, Bose). There's one thing I've reaffirmed about this game: There's a significant amount of bloat that they could have cut off in the side quests. Feels a little strange to lob a complaint after that glowing intro, but it is what it is. Most of these side quests are fantastic in that they shed light on fun conversations and bits of world building that truly make these Falcom games stand out. But man... sometimes there's just too many of them, especially the "go kill X" side quests, which the game likes to throw handfuls at you at every turn in the story. And even if they aren't the generic monster-hunting, no-story side quests, sometimes they ask for weirdly time consuming tasks, like fishing up some oddly rare fish in a fishing minigame that they've hardly incentivised until this point. Don't get me wrong, this particular side quest ended in the most entertaining way possible, with the Rolent guild receptionist Aina utterly destroying Olivier and Anton (another fun NPC); with that said, however, it's also true that it grinds the game to a halt, even when things are starting to look like they're finally moving forward. It doesn't help that the first three "story quests" that the team takes in Bose is yet another list of "go there and kill this" quests, despite them being quite clever in foreshadowing the crash landing coming soon after (in fear of the approaching dragon, the monsters behave strangely and actually appear afraid/confused during battle. Nice touch! ...If they didn't make you run around the whole damn area for an hour). But no matter! This chapter does the absolute right thing and ditches the side quests (for the most part) after this point, and lets you focus on the rollercoaster ride coming up.

That is....

Also Bladelord Loewe upholding the Enforcer reveal trend, rather early on in the chapter.
Also Bladelord Loewe upholding the Enforcer reveal trend, rather early on in the chapter.

A motherfucking DRAGON crashing through the roof of the Bose city market! (The REAL rollercoaster is Agate's psychological transformation, but let's talk about the dragon too) This came as a surprise when the dragon was shown at the end of the last chapter, since the Trails world setting seemed a lot more grounded than allowing for full-blown western dragons coming out of nowhere... But I guess we have dragons now! Not that I would complain much, though it helps that the other characters are equally surprised at the existence of a living dragon. Anyways, finding out that Loewe was indeed his arch nemesis Lorence Belger from FC, Agate goes back to his hot-headed ways and chases after Loewe and the dragon by himself (though surely the danger they posed to his home village played a large role too). Aside from that, it was nice to have another of those conversation options that lets Estelle show her leadership skills, and seeing the residents of Bose staying strong together to survive the incident. I will say however that Bose and its residents are one of the more forgettable ones in the FC/SC world... I almost couldn't remember the town's name at the start of the game. Following a brief depiction of the rescue efforts, the scene moves to Ravennue Village, Agate's home turf, where the dragon had damaged the apple orchard it prizes.

"I know that face, he's up to no good."

And here we meet my Cool NPC of the Week! To be quite honest I'm slightly regretting my decision to limit this award to face-graphic-less NPCs since this chapter has so many good, prominent NPCs, but I'll try sticking to my guns. The cool NPC this week is Elder Reisen, the mayor of Ravennue Village. This guy's coolness is a little more subtle than Ashton from the entry before, but he's no less of a cool-ass dude, in that he's also a very caring father.... figuratively, apparently to the whole damn village. In the small bits of conversations we get with him, he shows genuine concern and understanding for Agate, who only visits the village once a year to say hi to his sister. In this scene he sees right through Agate's careless rush to face his nemesis, urging the heroes to hurry on ahead to help him instead of stopping to provide support for the damaged village. Later, we find that he had rebuilt Agate's burned down home after the events of the 100 Days War. Finding this becomes one factor that snaps Agate out of his grief, self-pity, and all-encompassing anger (but more on that later!).

"Quit talking like you know anything about me!"

At the end of the Ravennue Mine, Agate finally comes face to face with Loewe; A small point I'd like to point out first is how much I love the "fight cutscenes" in this game. It's so simplistic, with fairly rigid character sprites just kind of zipping around the screen... but the pacing and energy in how the battles are played out is so cool and actually convincing. I couldn't take a good screencap of the quick action in this scene, but another good example that comes to mind is when Schera fucking air-comboed a guy into a wall in FC. So satisfying.

Back at the story, Loewe points out Agate's critical weakness, and the emotional obstacle that is holding back his potential: His lack of a true identity as a warrior. Loewe observes that Agate merely uses the weight of his heavy blade to fill his empty heart, a void hollowed by his anger and grief over the loss of his sister and his inability to save her; He has neither the resolve to reach the heights of combat "enlightenment" like Cassius, nor the conviction to cast away his human values and become a "demon" of the sword like Loewe himself. Infuriated by the observation, Agate lashes out at Loewe, only to be easily defeated and cast aside with a broken sword. He is only saved by Tita shielding him from Loewe, loudly proclaiming her trust in Agate's true value as a person, as General Morgan swoops in with his troops to ward away the dragon and Loewe. I love this sequence, as cheesy as it is. The parallel of the heavy blade to the emptiness of Agate's heart, the natural explanation for his brash and (on the surface) uncaring attitude, his outburst of rage at General Morgan's by-the-books and slow military approach to saving the lives of Liberlian citizens, Loewe's ability to see through someone's heart where it pertains to combat, Tita's innocent but heartfelt trust in Agate's true nature.... EVERYTHING hits the right spot, somehow. And to think that this level of introspection is going on for a "side character!" Good stuff.

Agate tells the truth about his past.
Agate tells the truth about his past.

Another emotional moment follows as Agate is carried back to his house at Ravennue Village under Tita's care. Agate finally admits to Tita that his sister Mischa (whom Tita had been wanting to meet) is no longer, lost to the fires of war 10 years ago. I'll avoid going into the details of his past, but as Agate begins to look into his own past and belittles himself for his powerlessness (going from the anger/bargaining stage of grief to the depression stage), it is of course Tita that can give him a helping hand (to the face!). "Don't you dare belittle my kind and caring brother!" she yells, unknowingly embodying Mischa's behaviorism. It is then that Agate realizes he had been grieving for a long 10 years, only to make himself blind to all the other precious things in his current life: A home to come back to (rebuilt by the mayor and other villagers out of love), a caring girl that has welcomed him as someone as close as family, and a trusty team of friends that he joins in a career to help those in need. Again, it's amazing that this game would delve so deep into the character growth of a side character like Agate (though admittedly a bit rushed towards the end), and carefully portray his pseudo-sibling bond with Tita. Now, the anime fan in me gets the weird feeling that they might spin this into some kind of weird pseudo-sibling incesty thing, complete with a 12 year age gap, but.... I'll have hope that they keep it platonic. Otherwise, what a sweet and heartwarming tale of self love and overcoming grief.

Gen. Morgan pledges to protect all of Liberl's citizens. Directed at Agate, whom he had let down in the war.
Gen. Morgan pledges to protect all of Liberl's citizens. Directed at Agate, whom he had let down in the war.

I could honestly end there, since the chapter basically finished what it set out to do... but might as well finish the rest of the events, because they're really good too. General Morgan gets over his anti-Bracer shtick and comes up with a plan to capture the dragon using his trusty fleet of battle airships and the newly completed Arseille cruiser, allowing the Bracer team to be on board to provide backup in case anything goes wrong. The plan ultimately fails, however, as the captured dragon reawakens with the power of the Gospel embedded in his forehead. Our heroes decide that now is the time to utilize the quick movement only possible by the light-footed Bracers to track the dragon into his lairs in the misty peaks, and Gen. Morgan agrees. Gen. Morgan is another great NPC (honestly would have chosen him for the weekly award if he didn't have a picture for himself) that goes through a nice character arc throughout the series. He starts off hating the Bracer guild, deeming them untrustworthy and ineffective. But as our heroes work together with him and prove their worth, he slowly comes around to realizing his mistakes and opens up. His confrontation with Agate is fantastic too; He becomes much more human and complex as he shows his remorse at his failure to protect Ravennue Village during the war. It was also a nice touch that he remembered Agate in his youth, who was lashing out at the authorities for not being able to save his sister. These two had blamed themselves for something that they could not have reasonably prevented, trying to carry the weight of something that they couldn't carry by themselves for 10 years. The final shot of them standing together by Mischa's grave with flowers (which they both had been leaving every year) was genuinely touching. Screenshot at the end.

Didn't get the timing quite right, but the dragon blasts the whole field.
Didn't get the timing quite right, but the dragon blasts the whole field.

The dragon fight was cool too! It actually reminded me of the Safi'Jiiva fight in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, since the dragon does an uninterruptable spell towards the end that blasts the whole field. To make the comparison even more apt, it even did the whole "glitter of energy slowly descending towards the center of the map, then HUGE EXPLOSION" thing too. I was strongly reminded of how completely broken the Earth Guard spells can be, since I was able to completely negate that spell by casting a block-all shield on everyone right before. However, one thing that is starting to annoy me is the classic JRPG and status ailments issue: NONE of the common status ailments work on the bosses, and kind of throws strategy out the window. Boss fights pretty much devolve into a matter of equipping the correct status ailment prevention charms on your team, and then dishing out the highest DPS possible. A bit of a shame. One more thing: how the team flashbanged the dragon out of the air to deal the finishing blow was totally Monster Hunter too. I approve. (Also, Agate jumping from something like 3 stories high and stabbing his new sword into the dragon's forehead is pretty much peak anime. Fucking. Awesome.)

Well there we go! Kinda rushed it at the end since it's getting super late, but man Chapter 5 was a blast. I've kind of accepted that the story is going to do the same thing as in FC, where the "overall plot" only moves towards the end, but I guess that's fine too, since we're getting some quality writing delving into each character. I'm crossing my fingers that we get a little more character development for good ol' Zin, since... he's pretty much been COMPLETELY absent in the story the whole time. He has to come up again, right....? He does have that whole rivalry with Walter to deal with... He's been so forgotten that he's close to 10 levels behind the rest of the team (Which is actually the same with Olivier and Schera, since Kloe has been single-handedly magic-ing the SHIT out of everything she encounters. That ATS+100 armor is fuuuuucking broken). I actually liked the forced team compositions in FC, since it gave all the characters a place to shine. Hopefully it comes back in later installments; At the very least, Cold Steel 1 had something close for most of the game.

Anyways, here's some parting screenshots!

WTF IT SAYS THEY'RE ALIENS
WTF IT SAYS THEY'RE ALIENS
Inside the Arseille. Oooh futuristic.
Inside the Arseille. Oooh futuristic.

Remembering the dead. Loewe shows up too, leaving the name
Remembering the dead. Loewe shows up too, leaving the name "Harlem"... Sounds important.
That's a cool lookin' dragon. Freed from the effects of the Gospel.
That's a cool lookin' dragon. Freed from the effects of the Gospel.

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