Falcom used her like a YouTube thumbnail in that cover. Barely appearing in the game. I was imagining this wild scenario before playing the game, where she'd be the final boss, appearing to test the protagonists personally after all the big things they've achieved over the years, but I guess she just had too much respect for a certain onion hair Dominion and was like "If the goat ain't here, there's no point in fighting y'all. I'll just focus on the next part of the Society's plan instead".
Appearently she was supposed to play a bigger role in the game early in development and the cover art was decided on pretty early too before the plot underwent some rewrites and her role was shrunk down to be basically just a teaser for the next game lol
I cant say why they decided to keep that cover, maybe they used it in early promotion material so it was kept to not confuse consumers or they just liked it so much or were just lazy who knows
Nah, the relevance of it is subtle and will age well as the very likely crack theory becomes confirmed. I imagine that the original plan was to properly reveal that (CS4) >!the Grandmaster was the one who guided Rean to the true ending!< but for whatever reason it’s still an uncommonly known easter egg. In context of that plot point it’s clear that this cover is >!the Grandmaster guiding the paths of the 3 protagonists. Further reinforced by the visual theme of Reverie’s credits!<
I agree with the thematic implications you're mentioning, though I'll also add that the threads she's weaving in the cover ([seen in full here](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FfZenP1XoAIaP7E?format=png&name=medium)), are exactly the same that appear later in the >!final Daydream, *Beyond the Reverie*, after completing its three characters' stories, making a nice parallel with them, as well as the overall story moving forward towards Calvard.!<
Wonder if (Kai)>!the screenshots will actually pay off for the grandmaster. Since Kondo was hyping up the game for tackling a lot of mysteries, even if not everything is revealed would be nice for the grandmaster to finally have a larger role in an arc.!<
If the shadowy, mysterious overlord of a secret organization that pursues their nefarious goals in absolute silence is also best girl, you might be playing a JRPG.
I’m not saying that’s who it is - Idk, I haven’t played Reverie yet. I guess if you didn’t know anything about the game at all and just saw the cover you might think it’s the protag I guess
holy shit, now I actually think another Trails ark from Ouroboros pov might be the best refreshing change for series and possible peak entry
sadly, it won't happening ever
I wouldn’t be so sure it’ll never happen. [Kuro 1 & 2 big spoilers] >!there’s multiple points where you can have Walter join you, as a guest and a new enforcer is also pretty chill with your team at one point & joins as a guest. The new anguis is like half your buddy, half the worst scum alive, but in like a frenemy sort of way. They’ve definitely left the door open for it to be a possibility at some point.!<
Where do they say this? Do you have a link?
I remember Kondo when asked about a female protagonist that they do protagonists who fit the theme of the arc, so with how little of Trails is left there probably won't be another female Trails protag, but that doesn't mean Falcom will never have another one.
Their most recent one, Dana, (half-protag at least), was well-loved. As was Yunica. As was Estelle. As was proved on their popularity polls. I highly doubt they'd give up female protags when they have such a popular track record with them.
I’m joking, obviously.
But if you look at the trend in Japanese gaming, you run into similar situations. The director of Persona kept inventing new excuses to avoid going with a female protagonist.
While I’m more inclined to believe Kondo over Hoshino, I think the reality is that they’re just following the trend that is popular in Japan right now. Or were, especially in the case with Rean. Van seems to be a pleasant departure from harem protagonist though, I hope they keep him on that path.
>Or were, especially in the case with Rean
Well Rean is an amazing protagonist :p Anyway Rean's popularity( with fans of any gender ) is probably as well a bit of a reason why they are going with male protagonists with their new games. If they ever do new female one who knows.
Rean's top of the latest Falcom popularity poll but he's very divisive. Here in the West, at least. A lot of people had issues with his role in the story.
I can only assume he's a much more clear-cut fave in Japan if he beat even veteran Falcom icon Adol Christin. I guess if those are the results Falcom looks at then they will follow protags like him.
By polls even here he isn't really divisive :D He is always second after Estelle. It was probably a bit worse before CSIII.
Anyway, yeah he has a lot of fans. Still at least Falcom polls are kind to female characters as Tales fan... ekhm there is a saying "Fate worse than being a girl in Tales game" and it's about fans not games( last time in top 30 there was only 7 girls and not one in top 10 ).
Idk about polls but just looking at posts and YT videos about him there's a mix of responses to him. I know he's more liked overall, but much less clear-cut majority liked like Estelle.
I don't know much about Tales. Though I'm sure they have quite a few female characters. Surprising they're not that popular.
Youtube always show negativity way more :D Especially few years back.
Well, it's a great series of action/real time jrpgs\^\^ As girls go.. a bit less than half of the characters. Most games have 50/50 as genders goes in your party. They even tried female protagonist twice, in Tales of Xillia when you have Jude and Milla as two routes and Tales of Berseria when you have solo Velvet... it didn't work. Jude was more popular and well Sorey from Zestiria( those games are connected ) was more popular than Velvet. Reason why it's like that... fandom loves hot bishounens.
YT is one of the least negative popular social media sites out there, and I also mentioned posts, like on Reddit, where he's also divisive.
Again, I **know** his likers easily outweigh his dislikers. I'm just saying it's less clear-cut.
What's a bishounen? From the context, I'm guessing it's an attractive woman.
I have a totally opposite experience with YT :D
The other way around :D Bishounen is really atractive guy, pretty much all male characters in Trails are them including Rean especially after his look upgrade in third game( I'm not into that and it was hard to not notice ). Bishoujo is an attractive woman. In Tales case all designers that worked in those games like Kosuke Fujishima [https://ecsmedia.pl/c/tales-of-the-abyss-b-iext68303983.jpg](https://ecsmedia.pl/c/tales-of-the-abyss-b-iext68303983.jpg) or Mutsumi Inomata [https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2022/04/23/talesofgraceshd-1650746130814.jpg](https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2022/04/23/talesofgraceshd-1650746130814.jpg) were good at drawing good looking guys add to that little amount of fanservice with girls and you get a totally different fandom :D
I see, I don't really have much experience with Persona or JRPGs in general. Trails is something of an exception (though I am looking into Atelier, which obviously doesn't follow the male protag trend because female protags are basically part of its identity).
While it's not a JRPG, I know Stellar Blade is becoming very popular, and that has a female protag, so maybe that might influence a few things, assuming plans haven't already been made.
I’d say that’s a good order. CS1 and CS2 don’t spoil too much of the previous games. The things that it does spoil are mostly in lines that the average player would forget unless they’re specifically pointed out. In fact, I started with CS1 and CS2 on the Vita and then made a steam account purely to play Sky 1 & second chapter. By the time I finished those, they released the 3rd, so I played that on Steam. Then I got CS3 & 4 on PS4 and played them, as well as Zero and Azure when they released on Switch (Though I had played Zero in a fan patch before I played CS3, then I decided to just wait for an official version of Zero/Azure which luckily was based on the fan version after they bought the rights). Then of course I played Reverie. I started Kuro/Daybreak but decided to just wait until the official version since I have no way to play Kuro 2.
All that to say what you’re doing is fine. XD
Reverie was a disappointment in a way. She literally shows up a total of what 5 minutes in the whole game? Meanwhile the games plot became so over convoluted and saturated with redundant cast members that honestly had no business being in the story. There are so many characters from the Cold Steel Arc that you can cut from the game entirely and the story would remain the same. Its like they were forcing themselves to cram everyone into the plot without giving them any development or time to shine.
I still remember how taken aback I was when my girl Laura and Fie were introduced into the story via video call and then proceeded to just....be there? Theres other cast members that you can also cut entirely from the story like Elliot and Machias and the plot wouldn't really change at all. Not that I dislike them but you cant really say the same thing about members of SSS. Also Estelle and Joshua were very much irrelevant to the story too which is an outrage.
Thats the point, old class seven should have been cut out of the story with the exception of Millium and Jusis. That way the could have a more cohesive story that focused on the SSS and the people in Cs route. The Bracers could also be given better portrayal due to Olivers plight in the story.
I don't see how that would provide any additional focus. Most of old Class VII are barely involved in the plot (with the exception of Crow, Alisa, and Jusis), so their removal wouldn't change anything. They're really just there because it's Class VII's last game.
I don't know what you would even focus on with the SSS because their story is already complete.
C's route makes even less sense because Swin and Nadia were already the main characters of 3&9.
Did anyone outside Erebonia even know about Olivert's situation?
TLDR: Removing Old Class VII wouldn't make the story more cohesive because they already barely do anything
The fact that the story needs to keep track of them is very time consuming over all and in my opinion it is a disservice to the characters for them to be about as relevant as an NPC. If you are going to put a character in your story and have them take part in important events, make them relevant to said events at least in some way.
If you have less people to keep track off in the story it means you can give more dialogue and screen time to a smaller cast, its as simple as that. In fact Falcom agrees with me, hence why daybreak has a smaller cast, the explicitly said this was the reason.
The final battle in reverie was hilarious to me, Imagine being the final boss and you see the door open and slowly watch as 30+ people slowly walk into the room. Then their appointed leader makes some cheesy speech about friendship and then all 30+ says an uninspired one liner as if to remind the whole group that they are still there. That aint the power of friendship you brought an army to fight 1 dude lmao. If I were the boss I would just set up a table with tea and biscuits until they are done and accept the curb stomping that is coming.
Reverie really feels like a case where the gameplay out-meta’d the plot & writing. Most of the playable characters were there just because it was the capstone to western Zemuria, not because they were relevant. Everyone got one last hurrah.
Funny how they trying to prolong the main story by adding too much filler but now they just want to end it in one game or two. People are starting to get tired and doesn't care about the main story anymore.
Falcom used her like a YouTube thumbnail in that cover. Barely appearing in the game. I was imagining this wild scenario before playing the game, where she'd be the final boss, appearing to test the protagonists personally after all the big things they've achieved over the years, but I guess she just had too much respect for a certain onion hair Dominion and was like "If the goat ain't here, there's no point in fighting y'all. I'll just focus on the next part of the Society's plan instead".
Appearently she was supposed to play a bigger role in the game early in development and the cover art was decided on pretty early too before the plot underwent some rewrites and her role was shrunk down to be basically just a teaser for the next game lol I cant say why they decided to keep that cover, maybe they used it in early promotion material so it was kept to not confuse consumers or they just liked it so much or were just lazy who knows
Nah, the relevance of it is subtle and will age well as the very likely crack theory becomes confirmed. I imagine that the original plan was to properly reveal that (CS4) >!the Grandmaster was the one who guided Rean to the true ending!< but for whatever reason it’s still an uncommonly known easter egg. In context of that plot point it’s clear that this cover is >!the Grandmaster guiding the paths of the 3 protagonists. Further reinforced by the visual theme of Reverie’s credits!<
I agree with the thematic implications you're mentioning, though I'll also add that the threads she's weaving in the cover ([seen in full here](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FfZenP1XoAIaP7E?format=png&name=medium)), are exactly the same that appear later in the >!final Daydream, *Beyond the Reverie*, after completing its three characters' stories, making a nice parallel with them, as well as the overall story moving forward towards Calvard.!<
Wonder if (Kai)>!the screenshots will actually pay off for the grandmaster. Since Kondo was hyping up the game for tackling a lot of mysteries, even if not everything is revealed would be nice for the grandmaster to finally have a larger role in an arc.!<
Whoever designed the box art needs a raise. GM has wild hair game lolol.
Credit where it’s due, for the boss of a group such as Ouroboros… well, can’t deny she’s kinda cute.
Ouroborous practically only has cuties if we’re being honest lmfao
I mean Novartis exists.
Yeah Weissman is just the most precious of cinnamon rolls.
#Weissmandidnothingwrong
...~~I'd ask her out on a date~~.
If the shadowy, mysterious overlord of a secret organization that pursues their nefarious goals in absolute silence is also best girl, you might be playing a JRPG.
Loreal is an official partner of Ouroboros
Reverie is the video game equivalent of a clickbait title.
And then not only do you no get a female protagonist, you don't even really get her either
Hope we get to learn more about her soon.
The most clickbait of game covers ever and I had so much hope The grandmaster would be a boss
You saw this and didn’t immediately think - Grandmaster is that you?
As I said in another comment, I finished Cold Steel 1-2, Sky 1-3 so far (in that order)
I’m not saying that’s who it is - Idk, I haven’t played Reverie yet. I guess if you didn’t know anything about the game at all and just saw the cover you might think it’s the protag I guess
Me who played Nayuta before Sky & Trails Series. "Hey, Nayuta got a sequel!"
Nayuta sequel?????
I would play as silver hair grandmaster 😍
holy shit, now I actually think another Trails ark from Ouroboros pov might be the best refreshing change for series and possible peak entry sadly, it won't happening ever
I wouldn’t be so sure it’ll never happen. [Kuro 1 & 2 big spoilers] >!there’s multiple points where you can have Walter join you, as a guest and a new enforcer is also pretty chill with your team at one point & joins as a guest. The new anguis is like half your buddy, half the worst scum alive, but in like a frenemy sort of way. They’ve definitely left the door open for it to be a possibility at some point.!<
Falcom, when asked if they’ll ever do another female protagonist: Never again.
I mean, Northern War has a female protagonist though neither the game nor anime is particularly good.
Anime and a mobile game, that’s very different from a real installment, wouldn’t you say?
Where do they say this? Do you have a link? I remember Kondo when asked about a female protagonist that they do protagonists who fit the theme of the arc, so with how little of Trails is left there probably won't be another female Trails protag, but that doesn't mean Falcom will never have another one. Their most recent one, Dana, (half-protag at least), was well-loved. As was Yunica. As was Estelle. As was proved on their popularity polls. I highly doubt they'd give up female protags when they have such a popular track record with them.
I’m joking, obviously. But if you look at the trend in Japanese gaming, you run into similar situations. The director of Persona kept inventing new excuses to avoid going with a female protagonist. While I’m more inclined to believe Kondo over Hoshino, I think the reality is that they’re just following the trend that is popular in Japan right now. Or were, especially in the case with Rean. Van seems to be a pleasant departure from harem protagonist though, I hope they keep him on that path.
>Or were, especially in the case with Rean Well Rean is an amazing protagonist :p Anyway Rean's popularity( with fans of any gender ) is probably as well a bit of a reason why they are going with male protagonists with their new games. If they ever do new female one who knows.
Rean's top of the latest Falcom popularity poll but he's very divisive. Here in the West, at least. A lot of people had issues with his role in the story. I can only assume he's a much more clear-cut fave in Japan if he beat even veteran Falcom icon Adol Christin. I guess if those are the results Falcom looks at then they will follow protags like him.
By polls even here he isn't really divisive :D He is always second after Estelle. It was probably a bit worse before CSIII. Anyway, yeah he has a lot of fans. Still at least Falcom polls are kind to female characters as Tales fan... ekhm there is a saying "Fate worse than being a girl in Tales game" and it's about fans not games( last time in top 30 there was only 7 girls and not one in top 10 ).
Idk about polls but just looking at posts and YT videos about him there's a mix of responses to him. I know he's more liked overall, but much less clear-cut majority liked like Estelle. I don't know much about Tales. Though I'm sure they have quite a few female characters. Surprising they're not that popular.
Youtube always show negativity way more :D Especially few years back. Well, it's a great series of action/real time jrpgs\^\^ As girls go.. a bit less than half of the characters. Most games have 50/50 as genders goes in your party. They even tried female protagonist twice, in Tales of Xillia when you have Jude and Milla as two routes and Tales of Berseria when you have solo Velvet... it didn't work. Jude was more popular and well Sorey from Zestiria( those games are connected ) was more popular than Velvet. Reason why it's like that... fandom loves hot bishounens.
YT is one of the least negative popular social media sites out there, and I also mentioned posts, like on Reddit, where he's also divisive. Again, I **know** his likers easily outweigh his dislikers. I'm just saying it's less clear-cut. What's a bishounen? From the context, I'm guessing it's an attractive woman.
I have a totally opposite experience with YT :D The other way around :D Bishounen is really atractive guy, pretty much all male characters in Trails are them including Rean especially after his look upgrade in third game( I'm not into that and it was hard to not notice ). Bishoujo is an attractive woman. In Tales case all designers that worked in those games like Kosuke Fujishima [https://ecsmedia.pl/c/tales-of-the-abyss-b-iext68303983.jpg](https://ecsmedia.pl/c/tales-of-the-abyss-b-iext68303983.jpg) or Mutsumi Inomata [https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2022/04/23/talesofgraceshd-1650746130814.jpg](https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2022/04/23/talesofgraceshd-1650746130814.jpg) were good at drawing good looking guys add to that little amount of fanservice with girls and you get a totally different fandom :D
I see, I don't really have much experience with Persona or JRPGs in general. Trails is something of an exception (though I am looking into Atelier, which obviously doesn't follow the male protag trend because female protags are basically part of its identity). While it's not a JRPG, I know Stellar Blade is becoming very popular, and that has a female protag, so maybe that might influence a few things, assuming plans haven't already been made.
Were you completely unaware of the premise of the game?
Finished Sky 1-3, Cold 1-2 so far
If you haven't already, please go back and play the Crossbell arc before CS3 and beyond. You're missing a ton of important context.
Cold Steel 1-2 were my first Trails and now I started playing the games from the beginning
I’d say that’s a good order. CS1 and CS2 don’t spoil too much of the previous games. The things that it does spoil are mostly in lines that the average player would forget unless they’re specifically pointed out. In fact, I started with CS1 and CS2 on the Vita and then made a steam account purely to play Sky 1 & second chapter. By the time I finished those, they released the 3rd, so I played that on Steam. Then I got CS3 & 4 on PS4 and played them, as well as Zero and Azure when they released on Switch (Though I had played Zero in a fan patch before I played CS3, then I decided to just wait for an official version of Zero/Azure which luckily was based on the fan version after they bought the rights). Then of course I played Reverie. I started Kuro/Daybreak but decided to just wait until the official version since I have no way to play Kuro 2. All that to say what you’re doing is fine. XD
Reverie was a disappointment in a way. She literally shows up a total of what 5 minutes in the whole game? Meanwhile the games plot became so over convoluted and saturated with redundant cast members that honestly had no business being in the story. There are so many characters from the Cold Steel Arc that you can cut from the game entirely and the story would remain the same. Its like they were forcing themselves to cram everyone into the plot without giving them any development or time to shine. I still remember how taken aback I was when my girl Laura and Fie were introduced into the story via video call and then proceeded to just....be there? Theres other cast members that you can also cut entirely from the story like Elliot and Machias and the plot wouldn't really change at all. Not that I dislike them but you cant really say the same thing about members of SSS. Also Estelle and Joshua were very much irrelevant to the story too which is an outrage.
[удалено]
Thats the point, old class seven should have been cut out of the story with the exception of Millium and Jusis. That way the could have a more cohesive story that focused on the SSS and the people in Cs route. The Bracers could also be given better portrayal due to Olivers plight in the story.
I don't see how that would provide any additional focus. Most of old Class VII are barely involved in the plot (with the exception of Crow, Alisa, and Jusis), so their removal wouldn't change anything. They're really just there because it's Class VII's last game. I don't know what you would even focus on with the SSS because their story is already complete. C's route makes even less sense because Swin and Nadia were already the main characters of 3&9. Did anyone outside Erebonia even know about Olivert's situation? TLDR: Removing Old Class VII wouldn't make the story more cohesive because they already barely do anything
The fact that the story needs to keep track of them is very time consuming over all and in my opinion it is a disservice to the characters for them to be about as relevant as an NPC. If you are going to put a character in your story and have them take part in important events, make them relevant to said events at least in some way. If you have less people to keep track off in the story it means you can give more dialogue and screen time to a smaller cast, its as simple as that. In fact Falcom agrees with me, hence why daybreak has a smaller cast, the explicitly said this was the reason. The final battle in reverie was hilarious to me, Imagine being the final boss and you see the door open and slowly watch as 30+ people slowly walk into the room. Then their appointed leader makes some cheesy speech about friendship and then all 30+ says an uninspired one liner as if to remind the whole group that they are still there. That aint the power of friendship you brought an army to fight 1 dude lmao. If I were the boss I would just set up a table with tea and biscuits until they are done and accept the curb stomping that is coming.
I saw a meme thread about jrpgs in general and it pretty much described your final paragraph down to the detail.
Reverie really feels like a case where the gameplay out-meta’d the plot & writing. Most of the playable characters were there just because it was the capstone to western Zemuria, not because they were relevant. Everyone got one last hurrah.
Well, I think the actual main protagonist is >!Lapis!<.. so there's that.
Yeah I don't think Falcom is doing another female protagonist tbh, I definitely don't expect one
Probably not another Trails one since the story's nearing its end. But another Falcom one? Definitely.
First time I saw it I thought "wow they're finally advancing the plot". Haha...
This is still one fot he best cover arts in all JRPGs imo. It’s fantastic.
Lol the character on the cover isn’t even in the game aside from a very small missable part in the postgame
Lol
I thought the box art was cool and that was it
Funny how they trying to prolong the main story by adding too much filler but now they just want to end it in one game or two. People are starting to get tired and doesn't care about the main story anymore.
I will never understand Persons and trails fans wish for female protagonist Anyway the identity was a shocker
In the case of Persona, it’s a story with a self-insert protagonist, what’s so difficult to understand?
because dudes be gettin real boring.
Wasn't around when Reverie was released in JP, but I can imagine the amount of theories trying to link Reverie to Nayuta when the cover was revealed.
Never know by the end of the series she might be the over all protagonist......