u/Kuirage

Hey all, new Trails fan that got into it with the Remakes, and has now recently finished Sky 3rd as well. Something that's been on my mind a bit playing through these games and seeing how people talk about them is the split between how people talk about the story and how they talk about the gameplay/combat.

I think that it's obvious a big reason why this series is praised or talked about or loved is its storytelling approach and the long running continuity between games that builds upon itself, something very rare across gaming. Goes without saying I really loved those things in the Sky games, the slowburn character work and their heartfelt dynamics, the lived in world etc. But I wouldn't like these games nearly as much if I also didn't have such a genuinely great time with the core gameplay and the combat, especially when it came down to the Remakes.

However, it seems that general JRPG consensus (or even among Trails fans themselves) is that Trails combat isn't all that interesting or great because of it being too easy, too easy to break, too monotonous, stuff along those lines. And I'm curious why that is, or what the frame of reference/comparison is? Even from playthroughs I've seen, people struggle even on Normal mode with bosses or even regular encounters sometimes, let alone harder difficulties. My experience was that action economy mattered a lot, I made constant use of buffs and utility abilities, the positioning gimmick adds spice and is always relevant in optimizing your DPS output and staying safe and you're always thinking about it, the quartz customization system is very fun to mess around with and has you thinking about optimal combinations and abilities you want for each character depending on their role in the party etc. In the remake this sentiment rings even more true because of auxilliary systems like eating that gives you permanent stat bonuses and the option to craft and upgrade equipment which makes engaging with the world and finding resources more valuable and meaningful, especially if you're playing on Nightmare where every edge you get matters.

Long story short, I found that all the various mechanics and gameplay systems fed into each other nicely and I made use of most of it, which I'm not really sure I can confidently say is true on average. I know this is the Falcom subreddit so they might be more biased to validate me, but as I said even Trails fans themselves kind of dunk on the combat a lot of the time so once again I'm kind of curious why that is.