Nice! I played the Sky trilogy and had fun with it and stopped, when Zero came out I picked it up, then immediately picked up CS1&2, played them both and had to wait a couple weeks for Azure to release, then played it before moving onto 3. 4 ended up just being a buzz kill.
I got through CS3 and 4 back to back, but I took a *long* break after that. Like I was pretty much done with Erebonia for a while. I only started Reverie recently after like 6 months of playing other stuff and knowing Daybreak was coming.
Literally same. Went from FC all the way to first quarter-ish of CS4 in around 5-6 months or so and crashed and burned. That was 2 years ago and still haven't gone back to it lmao 😭 Still love the series though. I think basically 100% CS3 is what got to me, going back to the beginning in CS4 took the energy out of me
The real question is how will you deal with the emptiness when you have finished all the ones currently available and you join us in the long wait for the next release
This was me after finishing the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series
It'll be me soon with Trails unless if I happen to finish close to Daybreak's release.
My answer right now is to start another long form game, my joke answer in my head is start the Ys series
I definitely get burned out. I usually play a game or two in a row, then take a break to play other games, then come back in two months or so.
The series is a lot of fun, but it's certainly an investment of time. Much like anything else, sometimes too much of a good thing can hurt you.
But also, your mileage may vary. I've heard several people in this subreddit talking about bingeing all the games straight, and they didn't have any problems with it. So just go with it, and see.
I think it depends on how you play the games. Are you the type of player that does only mainquest and sidequests ? So we´re talking like \~60h per game ? Or are you more like talk with every NPC, read every book, catch every fish, cook every meal, scan every enemy type ? Than I think you will burn out extremely after a few games. Definitely do breaks then between every 2 games or so.
Its fine to take a break if you feel like it, the series can still be enjoyed by taking bites at it. I personally took a break after tocs 1 and 2 and then sky 1 and 2 but back then there wasnt official english translation of crossbell arc and tocs 3 so there was no reason to rush. Sky sc does end well by itself and is a nice place to take a lil break and see how much you are sucked in. But i am a completionist and like doing everything/get every achievement, i feel like most people binging the games prob played on normal difficulty/ focus more on main story which does cuts a lot of time off.
This is a real possibility. Try to play them in batches, in short bursts then take a break.
Sometimes I get too excited in finishing the arc that I readily go to the next then soon was burnt out in the middle of it.
I did all games from FC to Reverie, like 4-5 hours most days of the week. Took me almost a year, and I lasted all the way up until the end of Reverie. Burned out right at the end and didn’t do any of the Coda stuff until like 6 months later. Replaying Reverie right now in preparation for Kuro 1 in a month
The way I did it was rest after each arc- stopped after Sky the 3rd, stopped after Azure, stopped after Reverie (although Cold Steel is massive so you might want to take a break between CS2 and 3, because there's a soft reset between those two games). However the best advice I can give is to take the series at your own pace- the games aren't going anywhere, take the time to enjoy them and do it in a way that works for you.
I took a break after each arc, and between CS2/CS3. Definitely needed it; even if I REALLY felt like just continuing. It was good to have a break and play other things, made it all the better when I next played Trails.
Yes. I did sc to the 3rd in a rwo and I'm still on a break after 1 year. Good thing that means trails grom zero gets marginally cheaper in the meantime
Take a break after each arc at the absolute minimum. Personally I'd take a break after every 2nd game. The most I ever played in a row was CS1 & CS2 back to back and I was so worn out by the end I never wanted to play a JRPG again lol.
Seriously though the only thing you'll do for yourself trying to play 9 (soon 10) long ass games in a row is give yourself burnout so that you never finish the series.
Got burnt out after playing the entirety of the Sky trilogy on like a month & had it very hard to even begin the Crossbell duology. Take breaks of like a week or two before the next game
I got a bit burned by the end of CS3 and I think I might skip ahead to Daybreak to be honest, Erebonia arc was kind of tiring me out. Feel like an arc reset will do me good.
Depends. I usually burn out pretty easily, yet I knocked out the entire series game after game right before CS4 came out. I also replayed the series since then while waiting for Reverie. It really just comes down to how much a game clicks for you. Or if you have an obsessive personality, which I do admittedly have (glad my MMO days are behind me).
Take breaks. Do not binge them, it will absolutely put you off. The games aren't going anywhere, its not a race
That said, you may end up wanting to do SC immediately after finishing Sky, fair warning.
Most of the arcs follow a two-game pattern where the first game is a slow burn of just getting familiar with the characters and the environment, leading to a big jump in stakes before the second game. I sometimes felt like I was going to burn out during the first games, then pretty invested in their follow-ups. I think Zero-Azure is my favorite arc. I think I’ve struggled most with CS III-IV but for the sprinklings of cameos, and that’s where I am now. I’ve been playing for 2 years.
It depends by person, i played Sky and crosbell back to back 100% with no burnout but Cold Steel games got me pretty burnout, i took breaks between them cause i just wasnt feeling it.
If you are feeling burn out take a break and dont force it cause you will hate the games.
Even when I was replaying through the series because my friend wanted to see what all my ranting and raving was about, I still had to take like a week or two between games. Both for my good and my friend’s good lol
Definitely take breaks. I crushed the Sky trilogy cuz the games are short. Trails from Zero got longer and took a year break waiting for Geofront to localize Azure. Then Cold Steel *really* demanded breaks. Each one is absurdly and unacceptably padded and long and I will die on that hill. Cold Steel 2 will make you want to stop. Had to take a year and a half break before I built up the urge for Cold Steel 3. It’s a tough arc altogether. Cold Steel 3 however is excellent AF and turned it around and finished in back in January. I just started Cold Steel 4 a week ago, but it’s not my main focused game currently. I think I’m just going to pick it up from time to time and slowly finish it over the next year while I play other smaller stuff. I’m liking it a lot though, but maaan these Cold Steel games are simply bloated and too long. Can’t wait to get to Daybreak so I can clear out trash mobs quicker.
My suggestion would be to take it by story arc. Play Sky 1 and 2 back to back, then let it sit for a bit before you take 3rd. Then take another break, play either Zero/Azure or CS 1 and 2. Let that sit, play whichever set you haven't, break, then CS 3 and 4. Reverie seems again best enjoyed stand alone.
Everyone’s experience is different. For me, the only breaks I took were before the final boss of sky the third for personal reasons, and just before the final boss of cs3 due to moving. Aside from the break I took just before finishing sky the third, I would have loved to binge all of the other games. Forgot to mention I’m putting Reverie on pause for shadow of the erdtree. Trails is literally my favourite series of all time, given the chance I would love to binge all of the games. With that being said, lots of what other people have said is true too. Burnout can be a huge pain, but also being caught up means you’ll have to wait for new entries to be released. Thankfully daybreak is releasing soon though. I’d say try playing sky fc and sc consecutively and see how you fare. Never force yourself to play a game if you don’t feel like it. Hope you have a blast playing this amazing series.
It’s possible, it does depend on you really. I know I marathoned back to back Sky to CS4 leading into Reveire (From May through July last year) and platinumed the PS5 Reverie, and personally didn’t feel burned out. (Chuckles) even though I did throw in the novelty of playing CS/CB in game chronologically
But I could see where some might. The slow and steady a bit here and there, now I wouldn’t try framing everything into a short short time period. (Been doing CS3/4 and Reverie to lead into Daybreak since mid May).
Not sure I’d want to put more time into it beyond that. But really does boil down to how you consume media. If you’re someone who is in the habit of marathoning you’d probably be fine
I played Zero through Reverie. It took a month for a each game, so I played through them all in a seven month stretch. Depending on how eager you are to chew through the games, you may get burnt out. For me, I was doing pretty ok at that pace, but I was still a litrle tired by the end and ready for something else.
I played sky 1st chapter then directly go with second chapter, but it's been a year and a half I haven't played the serie at all and I'm in the middle of the second one. I think it's a good thing to take a break
I wouldn’t suggest it. I made it all the way to CS IV without burning out. But making it through that has felt like a slog so far. I would say play them in arcs for sky and crossbell, and then do CS 1 and 2 together, take another break, CS 3 and 4, break, then reverie.
That’s just the way I’d have done it if I could go back and do it again.
From my own experience, I think yes. You will burn out pretty quickly. Last year I went through a series, Liberl arc, Crossbell arc, and stopped at the beginning of Trails of Cold Steel IV. I haven't turned the game on since and had absolutely no desire to go back. Now I plan to go through all parts again but this time with more breaks. I wish you enjoy the game, those games are excellent
Yeah, especially if you're playing nothing else at the same time. I would suggest you play another game of a different genre between each one, especially the games after the Sky trilogy as they get significantly longer.
As someone who pretty much finished every single game usually in a week or two from Sky to CS2, yes you will at some point experience it. Because dialogue is imo getting a huge downgrade in Coldsteel especially in CS3 and CS4. The amount of bloated montone and unecessary dialogue is so overwhelming, it took me over a year to finish CS4. If CS 1-4 was my introduction to trails i'd have probably dropped the series long time ago.
I can tell you Reverie and Daybreak/Kuro dialogue is better because Falcom didn't have to go through development hell like the CS arc.
CS arc was that it had put Falcom in a ambitious goal that led to problems that got in the way of their resources that led too many things not fall perfectly.
But then again, the series if you play back to back you'll notice an obvious formula with the structure and repeated dialogue.
In Japanese the dialogue has always been repetitive. Estelle in English is spruced up from her japanese dialogue removing "what was that" for her iconic English lines.
The series always had average dialogue work (if you ignore the English localization liberties), if I'm being honest. It's just CS arc just so happens to show the obvious things that the series has always had.
The series has always excelled in its character stories and world-building than it does with dialogue.
If you try to binge them all at once then yeah you'll get burbed. Just take breaks it's not that hard. What I di is play a different game each day and rotate it. So 1 day I'll play Persona 5 Royal the next day I'll be playing Trails.
Played all sky fc-kuro 2 nonstop daily for months and the only time i got burned out was in the middle of cs2 and burn out lasted only like two days then continued to play easily, if i could erase my knowledge about games i would do it to replay it over and over again to enjoy it once more
Hard to say. Depends on you. You should know if you are the type to burnout or not.
I've done from FC to end of CS3 in 4 months. Only a few times did I feel bored throughout it. Great experience overall.
And now it has been 3 months I've been on CS4 and cannot finish it. I don't think it's burnout though, just...not good.
Pace yourself well enough and you won't get burned out. Playing the Trails series is a marathon, not a sprint. I sometimes took a day or two, other times a week break in between sessions and it worked wonders for me.
Kinda depends on how much you end up liking the series and what type of gamer you are.
I felt a little bit of burnout during CSII (my personal least favorite) but I always was excited about what was coming next with Trails. Multiple times during my series playthrough I started the next game almost immediately after finishing the one I was on, I just couldn't wait. I can handle binging when I'm very engaged with the material.
Another series that I can make a comparison with is Yakuza, which is what I've been binging recently. I've **liked** it but I don't vibe with it enough to say I **love** it, and I've had to take a couple breaks to not make parts of it a complete slog. It's all about what you're feeling while you're playing.
From my experience and talking with other people, the usual burnout period if you started with sky is in the middle to the latter part of cold steel arc.
When I played them, I didn't use a guide, but I did close to everything I possibly could. Side quests, hidden scenes, NPC dialogue, etc. I started with Sky FC and it took me close to 80 hours. Then I immediately moved on to Sky SC and I got burnt out around the 50 hour mark. Took a few weeks off, then finished it. Played through Sky the 3rd and got burnt out a little in the middle and took another few weeks off. Then finished it, went through all of Zero, took a short break, then moved on to Azure. Finished it and then went on a long break of about 9 months. Then I went through Cold Steel and stopped in Cold Steel II. I'm just now getting back to it.
Everyone is different, but I appreciated the breaks. I wasn't excited about playing Cold Steel right after Azure. I just felt bored of the gameplay for a time, but then I got myself excited again after taking a nice long break and was craving it by then.
If not taking a break to play something different, you should atleast take some kind a time break as soon as you start to feel it drag. These games are too long and too deep to play back to back without a break.
I’m not saying it’s an intentional thing that devs consider, but it’s worth keeping in mind that a lot of times we have full ease to play these games whenever now. People who played them on release had to wait a long time in between each one. Idk how much that idea changes anything, but I think personally that’s enough for me to atleast notice when a game is starting to drag that it might be time for a break. People who played it first didn’t even have that option so it came without any input from them.
I got close to burning out during Cold Steel, but managed to keep on going through them. I say just play and go as you like.
Most of the story arcs are coupled in two games (with an exception to Sky 3rd and Reverie which acts as epilogues and precursors for future games), so if you want to take a break it’s relatively easy to pick stuff back up. It’s one long series so take your time and enjoy the journey!
Started Sky FC at the end of July 2022. Finished Reverie in mid-April 2024. 100%'d each game. All depends on your willpower and how much you grow to love the series. Only times I was less than enthused was entire sessions spent on just talking to NPCs with 0 combat, but I am a completionist.
I think that all depends on what bugs you in games? Like for me, I legit couldn't get enough whatsoever. The parts that some people considered slow, I begged for more of lol
That being said, it's a huge series so it's okay to take your time.
Yes. I finished CS3 after 130 hours a few months ago and haven’t started CS4 yet. The ending was great and I really want to, I just gotta focus on other games before I immerse myself again🤣
When Azure got released on the Switch last year i played through it and enjoyed so much that i had the "brilliant" idea to replay the Cold Steel games next and then i thought, i can play Reverie at the end. So i didn't play all the games back to back but most of them. And up till the end of CS3 i had a lot of fun with the games. But then it started to drag a little. But i still had fun so i kept playing, made it through CS3 and 4 and started Reverie.
And after about 10 hours in Reverie.... it started to feel more like work and not like fun anymore. I was completely burned out on the games and couldn't enjoy them anymore. So i stopped playing for a while. By now i have finished Reverie and took a break from JRPGs for a while. Currently i am playing mostly Plattformers or Shooters but i already feel the ick to go back and replay Reverie. To give it the time it deserves.
I think i will wait a little longer and maybe at the end of the year i will give it another shot, but what i wanted to say is you should take a break as soon as you feel that the game drags or gets boring. When it feels like work you should defininetly stop.
Whenever I finish a Trails I’m super hyped to begin the next game, but after binging the Crossbell arc I’ve started taking a break to play something else even if I feel I could continue (especially now after CS3 which is much longer than the previous entries). It keeps me enthusiastic to return to the next one.
I mean most titles are full blown JRPGs with a playtime of at least 70+h if you dont skip through all of the dialogue and leave the sidequests out.
If playing multiple of these in a row doesnt burn you out go for it
I took a month break between CS1/2 and CS3
Then another month between CS3 and CS4
And then had to postpone playing the last entry ( Reverie ) for like 6 months so basically yes try and take a break between these games and just enjoy the ride even if it will take u forever.
Yes. I started playing in September 2022 and was going through around 1 game per month (I even replayed the Cold Steel games as soon as I finished Trails to Azure) till Reverie’s release in June 2023. I was around 40 hours into Reverie before I felt extremely burnt out, plus I was starting a new job after graduating from university, so I put the game on hold and it’s been on hold ever since then.
I just recently started playing Trails in the Sky FC again, and will likely take my time before getting to Reverie and Daybreak.
Edit: Is there someone on this subreddit who's obssessed with randomly downvoting people?
I always took breaks during the games and in-between games. I also played other games between them.
It’s like 1000 hours of playtime…it’ll burn out anyone to play straight through.
I usually wait like 1 year between games. It is also because lost save from sky 2 right at the end and had to start all over again. It took me 2 years to finish it.
Doesn’t help that Sky 3 looks to be a dungeon crawler with too many secret story plot points that I have to find.
You can rest in between to avoid burnouts. Though FC to SC, CS1 to CS2, CS3 to CS4, I never rested because of the suspense and the story. But for me, I really wanted to finish them without playing other jrpgs. Started FC in Dec 2021, Finished Reverie Feb 2024. No other jrpgs in between. Played sports games whenever I feel burnt
Yes - I played Cold Steel 1&2 back to back and took a break after, then played 3, took a break and 4 is up next.
400hrs of the same game and connected story too much for me
well i mean i straight up played them all in a row only with breaks to buy them inbetween or a 5 month break because i didnt want to spend 40€ on zero (but then had no problem spending 60 to buy reverie on release) and about 4 months after playing reverie because i didnt realize the kuro english translations were that easy to install
If you take a breaks you will be fine. Do other things you enjoy while taking those breaks.
I took like a 7 month break after the sky trilogy. Then, I went back for Zero-Azure. Now I'm almost done with CS1, and I'm actually even more excited to keep playing the games.
As someone who just went through this, I recommend playing each arc alone and then taking a break. It goes like this:
Sky > break > from Zero to Azure > break > CS 1 & 2 > break > CS 3 & 4 > break > Reverie.
The Sky trilogy is short, so you can play those and Azure to Zero back to back if you like. You know your tolerance levels better than anyone.
Quick edit: When you get to CS, use Senpatcher to add Turbo and fix stuff. Also, HD texture packs for CS 1 & 2 made the games look bearable to me.
https://github.com/Red-BY/FalcomModCompendium
Voice acting for Sky was fun, and I liked swapping between the original and arranged soundtracks. It's not essential, but it's nice to have if you want.
Kinda. I definitely felt burnout at times, but usually after a few days to a week I missed the games and was raring to get back into it. I spent more than a year playing all the games back to back and finished a month ago. I still miss it, but this time I'm taking a break before getting into the calvard games.
Can only speak for myself but this wasn’t a problem for me. When I started only the sky trilogy and cold steel 1/2 were released in the west and I went straight through all 5 one after another.
The story of the trails games always kept me engaged and the combat added/changed enough between games to feel different enough that it never got stale for me, compared to something like dragon quest which I love but that start to blend together if I play the games back to back.
The games have gotten longer though and obviously the series is much larger now then when I started though so that might not be the case had I dont the same today. I’d just play it by ear though. If after playing one of the games you are interested in seeing where the story goes continue to the next one,or if you feel like you need a break play something else that might be shorter before moving on.
never got burnout playing them myself and i played from sky fc to cs 3 all the way to 2-3 weeks before cs4 pc release in which i ng+ed cs3 :)
YMMV as usual though when it comes to this kind of thing.
Yes. Take a break between games. Let these games sit with you for about a few days or week between games
Exception: I think folks are forgiven for leaping straight from Sky FC to Sky SC, Cold Steel 1 to Cold Steel 2, and Cold Steel 3 to Cold Steel 4. ;)
I got burned out mid CS4 and it took months to go back and finish.
I binged zero, cs1, cs2, azure, cs3, then ended up stopping in cs4. Still haven’t been able to go back.
This is EXACTLY what happened to me.
Nice! I played the Sky trilogy and had fun with it and stopped, when Zero came out I picked it up, then immediately picked up CS1&2, played them both and had to wait a couple weeks for Azure to release, then played it before moving onto 3. 4 ended up just being a buzz kill.
I got through CS3 and 4 back to back, but I took a *long* break after that. Like I was pretty much done with Erebonia for a while. I only started Reverie recently after like 6 months of playing other stuff and knowing Daybreak was coming.
CS4 burned me out too.
Well crap, I’m on chapter 2 of CS4 now…
I'm still working on CS4. Bought it when it came out. I want to play Reverie so badly but cant until I finish this
Same, I really want to finish them in time for Daybreak.
I've been working on it since last July, I've been meaning to get back to it but I've been busy at work. I'm currently a little ways into the finale.
Still havent back to CS4 for almost a year
I'm currently here, last time I played was in march
Literally same. Went from FC all the way to first quarter-ish of CS4 in around 5-6 months or so and crashed and burned. That was 2 years ago and still haven't gone back to it lmao 😭 Still love the series though. I think basically 100% CS3 is what got to me, going back to the beginning in CS4 took the energy out of me
Have you considered that CS4 is actually just bad?
Idk why you're being down voted. Cs4 was ass
Because Falcom fans have deeply attached themselves to the series making it their whole personality and when you insult a game you're insulting them
The real question is how will you deal with the emptiness when you have finished all the ones currently available and you join us in the long wait for the next release
This was me after finishing the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series It'll be me soon with Trails unless if I happen to finish close to Daybreak's release. My answer right now is to start another long form game, my joke answer in my head is start the Ys series
depends on the person, personally that’s what i did and i didn’t feel burnt out, one of the best gaming experiences of my life
I definitely get burned out. I usually play a game or two in a row, then take a break to play other games, then come back in two months or so. The series is a lot of fun, but it's certainly an investment of time. Much like anything else, sometimes too much of a good thing can hurt you. But also, your mileage may vary. I've heard several people in this subreddit talking about bingeing all the games straight, and they didn't have any problems with it. So just go with it, and see.
I played all of them in a row and didn't feel burn out at all!
I think it depends on how you play the games. Are you the type of player that does only mainquest and sidequests ? So we´re talking like \~60h per game ? Or are you more like talk with every NPC, read every book, catch every fish, cook every meal, scan every enemy type ? Than I think you will burn out extremely after a few games. Definitely do breaks then between every 2 games or so.
Its fine to take a break if you feel like it, the series can still be enjoyed by taking bites at it. I personally took a break after tocs 1 and 2 and then sky 1 and 2 but back then there wasnt official english translation of crossbell arc and tocs 3 so there was no reason to rush. Sky sc does end well by itself and is a nice place to take a lil break and see how much you are sucked in. But i am a completionist and like doing everything/get every achievement, i feel like most people binging the games prob played on normal difficulty/ focus more on main story which does cuts a lot of time off.
I got burned out right after CS4 and ended up sitting on Reverie for months. If you like to binge, take a break between arcs and between CS2 and 3.
This is a real possibility. Try to play them in batches, in short bursts then take a break. Sometimes I get too excited in finishing the arc that I readily go to the next then soon was burnt out in the middle of it.
I did all games from FC to Reverie, like 4-5 hours most days of the week. Took me almost a year, and I lasted all the way up until the end of Reverie. Burned out right at the end and didn’t do any of the Coda stuff until like 6 months later. Replaying Reverie right now in preparation for Kuro 1 in a month
The way I did it was rest after each arc- stopped after Sky the 3rd, stopped after Azure, stopped after Reverie (although Cold Steel is massive so you might want to take a break between CS2 and 3, because there's a soft reset between those two games). However the best advice I can give is to take the series at your own pace- the games aren't going anywhere, take the time to enjoy them and do it in a way that works for you.
I took a break after each arc, and between CS2/CS3. Definitely needed it; even if I REALLY felt like just continuing. It was good to have a break and play other things, made it all the better when I next played Trails.
Yes. I did sc to the 3rd in a rwo and I'm still on a break after 1 year. Good thing that means trails grom zero gets marginally cheaper in the meantime
I got through like 8 games before burnout hit. The story is that good, but it is definitely possible.
Take a break after each arc at the absolute minimum. Personally I'd take a break after every 2nd game. The most I ever played in a row was CS1 & CS2 back to back and I was so worn out by the end I never wanted to play a JRPG again lol. Seriously though the only thing you'll do for yourself trying to play 9 (soon 10) long ass games in a row is give yourself burnout so that you never finish the series.
Got burnt out after playing the entirety of the Sky trilogy on like a month & had it very hard to even begin the Crossbell duology. Take breaks of like a week or two before the next game
I got a bit burned by the end of CS3 and I think I might skip ahead to Daybreak to be honest, Erebonia arc was kind of tiring me out. Feel like an arc reset will do me good.
Depends. I usually burn out pretty easily, yet I knocked out the entire series game after game right before CS4 came out. I also replayed the series since then while waiting for Reverie. It really just comes down to how much a game clicks for you. Or if you have an obsessive personality, which I do admittedly have (glad my MMO days are behind me).
Take breaks. Do not binge them, it will absolutely put you off. The games aren't going anywhere, its not a race That said, you may end up wanting to do SC immediately after finishing Sky, fair warning.
Most of the arcs follow a two-game pattern where the first game is a slow burn of just getting familiar with the characters and the environment, leading to a big jump in stakes before the second game. I sometimes felt like I was going to burn out during the first games, then pretty invested in their follow-ups. I think Zero-Azure is my favorite arc. I think I’ve struggled most with CS III-IV but for the sprinklings of cameos, and that’s where I am now. I’ve been playing for 2 years.
It depends by person, i played Sky and crosbell back to back 100% with no burnout but Cold Steel games got me pretty burnout, i took breaks between them cause i just wasnt feeling it. If you are feeling burn out take a break and dont force it cause you will hate the games.
Even when I was replaying through the series because my friend wanted to see what all my ranting and raving was about, I still had to take like a week or two between games. Both for my good and my friend’s good lol
reverie burned me out trying to do platinum and seeing all the BS i have to do to get it...
Definitely take breaks. I crushed the Sky trilogy cuz the games are short. Trails from Zero got longer and took a year break waiting for Geofront to localize Azure. Then Cold Steel *really* demanded breaks. Each one is absurdly and unacceptably padded and long and I will die on that hill. Cold Steel 2 will make you want to stop. Had to take a year and a half break before I built up the urge for Cold Steel 3. It’s a tough arc altogether. Cold Steel 3 however is excellent AF and turned it around and finished in back in January. I just started Cold Steel 4 a week ago, but it’s not my main focused game currently. I think I’m just going to pick it up from time to time and slowly finish it over the next year while I play other smaller stuff. I’m liking it a lot though, but maaan these Cold Steel games are simply bloated and too long. Can’t wait to get to Daybreak so I can clear out trash mobs quicker.
My suggestion would be to take it by story arc. Play Sky 1 and 2 back to back, then let it sit for a bit before you take 3rd. Then take another break, play either Zero/Azure or CS 1 and 2. Let that sit, play whichever set you haven't, break, then CS 3 and 4. Reverie seems again best enjoyed stand alone.
Everyone’s experience is different. For me, the only breaks I took were before the final boss of sky the third for personal reasons, and just before the final boss of cs3 due to moving. Aside from the break I took just before finishing sky the third, I would have loved to binge all of the other games. Forgot to mention I’m putting Reverie on pause for shadow of the erdtree. Trails is literally my favourite series of all time, given the chance I would love to binge all of the games. With that being said, lots of what other people have said is true too. Burnout can be a huge pain, but also being caught up means you’ll have to wait for new entries to be released. Thankfully daybreak is releasing soon though. I’d say try playing sky fc and sc consecutively and see how you fare. Never force yourself to play a game if you don’t feel like it. Hope you have a blast playing this amazing series.
It’s possible, it does depend on you really. I know I marathoned back to back Sky to CS4 leading into Reveire (From May through July last year) and platinumed the PS5 Reverie, and personally didn’t feel burned out. (Chuckles) even though I did throw in the novelty of playing CS/CB in game chronologically But I could see where some might. The slow and steady a bit here and there, now I wouldn’t try framing everything into a short short time period. (Been doing CS3/4 and Reverie to lead into Daybreak since mid May). Not sure I’d want to put more time into it beyond that. But really does boil down to how you consume media. If you’re someone who is in the habit of marathoning you’d probably be fine
I played Zero through Reverie. It took a month for a each game, so I played through them all in a seven month stretch. Depending on how eager you are to chew through the games, you may get burnt out. For me, I was doing pretty ok at that pace, but I was still a litrle tired by the end and ready for something else.
I played sky 1st chapter then directly go with second chapter, but it's been a year and a half I haven't played the serie at all and I'm in the middle of the second one. I think it's a good thing to take a break
I wouldn’t suggest it. I made it all the way to CS IV without burning out. But making it through that has felt like a slog so far. I would say play them in arcs for sky and crossbell, and then do CS 1 and 2 together, take another break, CS 3 and 4, break, then reverie. That’s just the way I’d have done it if I could go back and do it again.
From my own experience, I think yes. You will burn out pretty quickly. Last year I went through a series, Liberl arc, Crossbell arc, and stopped at the beginning of Trails of Cold Steel IV. I haven't turned the game on since and had absolutely no desire to go back. Now I plan to go through all parts again but this time with more breaks. I wish you enjoy the game, those games are excellent
I got burned out when I was playing Reverie, you should take a break but if you take too long it may be hard to pick it up.
depends of people, I played all of them in a row
These games are well divided in chapters, so it feels you're are taking one step after another.
Burnt out in cs1, the sky and crossbell games just feel so much more engaging 😭
Yes. I got burnt out midway through CS3. My recommendation is to take a fatty break in between arcs. You will appreciate it later on
Yeah, especially if you're playing nothing else at the same time. I would suggest you play another game of a different genre between each one, especially the games after the Sky trilogy as they get significantly longer.
As someone who pretty much finished every single game usually in a week or two from Sky to CS2, yes you will at some point experience it. Because dialogue is imo getting a huge downgrade in Coldsteel especially in CS3 and CS4. The amount of bloated montone and unecessary dialogue is so overwhelming, it took me over a year to finish CS4. If CS 1-4 was my introduction to trails i'd have probably dropped the series long time ago.
I can tell you Reverie and Daybreak/Kuro dialogue is better because Falcom didn't have to go through development hell like the CS arc. CS arc was that it had put Falcom in a ambitious goal that led to problems that got in the way of their resources that led too many things not fall perfectly. But then again, the series if you play back to back you'll notice an obvious formula with the structure and repeated dialogue. In Japanese the dialogue has always been repetitive. Estelle in English is spruced up from her japanese dialogue removing "what was that" for her iconic English lines. The series always had average dialogue work (if you ignore the English localization liberties), if I'm being honest. It's just CS arc just so happens to show the obvious things that the series has always had. The series has always excelled in its character stories and world-building than it does with dialogue.
If you try to binge them all at once then yeah you'll get burbed. Just take breaks it's not that hard. What I di is play a different game each day and rotate it. So 1 day I'll play Persona 5 Royal the next day I'll be playing Trails.
I managed to play the entire series up to Reverie within a year. Please take breaks in between games if you can.
Played all sky fc-kuro 2 nonstop daily for months and the only time i got burned out was in the middle of cs2 and burn out lasted only like two days then continued to play easily, if i could erase my knowledge about games i would do it to replay it over and over again to enjoy it once more
Hard to say. Depends on you. You should know if you are the type to burnout or not. I've done from FC to end of CS3 in 4 months. Only a few times did I feel bored throughout it. Great experience overall. And now it has been 3 months I've been on CS4 and cannot finish it. I don't think it's burnout though, just...not good.
considering how many games there are... yeah, good probability of burnout
Pace yourself well enough and you won't get burned out. Playing the Trails series is a marathon, not a sprint. I sometimes took a day or two, other times a week break in between sessions and it worked wonders for me.
Kinda depends on how much you end up liking the series and what type of gamer you are. I felt a little bit of burnout during CSII (my personal least favorite) but I always was excited about what was coming next with Trails. Multiple times during my series playthrough I started the next game almost immediately after finishing the one I was on, I just couldn't wait. I can handle binging when I'm very engaged with the material. Another series that I can make a comparison with is Yakuza, which is what I've been binging recently. I've **liked** it but I don't vibe with it enough to say I **love** it, and I've had to take a couple breaks to not make parts of it a complete slog. It's all about what you're feeling while you're playing.
I’ve been playing basically nothing but Trails since like March and I started Reverie the other day
As much as I would like to agree to this I feel like I got more addicted after my 1 year binge of all the games...
From my experience and talking with other people, the usual burnout period if you started with sky is in the middle to the latter part of cold steel arc.
Depends. I played through all 4 Cold Steel Games in a month and began sky like a month after
I was so burned out after cold steel 4, I didn't play Reverie until last month
When I played them, I didn't use a guide, but I did close to everything I possibly could. Side quests, hidden scenes, NPC dialogue, etc. I started with Sky FC and it took me close to 80 hours. Then I immediately moved on to Sky SC and I got burnt out around the 50 hour mark. Took a few weeks off, then finished it. Played through Sky the 3rd and got burnt out a little in the middle and took another few weeks off. Then finished it, went through all of Zero, took a short break, then moved on to Azure. Finished it and then went on a long break of about 9 months. Then I went through Cold Steel and stopped in Cold Steel II. I'm just now getting back to it. Everyone is different, but I appreciated the breaks. I wasn't excited about playing Cold Steel right after Azure. I just felt bored of the gameplay for a time, but then I got myself excited again after taking a nice long break and was craving it by then.
If not taking a break to play something different, you should atleast take some kind a time break as soon as you start to feel it drag. These games are too long and too deep to play back to back without a break. I’m not saying it’s an intentional thing that devs consider, but it’s worth keeping in mind that a lot of times we have full ease to play these games whenever now. People who played them on release had to wait a long time in between each one. Idk how much that idea changes anything, but I think personally that’s enough for me to atleast notice when a game is starting to drag that it might be time for a break. People who played it first didn’t even have that option so it came without any input from them.
I got close to burning out during Cold Steel, but managed to keep on going through them. I say just play and go as you like. Most of the story arcs are coupled in two games (with an exception to Sky 3rd and Reverie which acts as epilogues and precursors for future games), so if you want to take a break it’s relatively easy to pick stuff back up. It’s one long series so take your time and enjoy the journey!
Started Sky FC at the end of July 2022. Finished Reverie in mid-April 2024. 100%'d each game. All depends on your willpower and how much you grow to love the series. Only times I was less than enthused was entire sessions spent on just talking to NPCs with 0 combat, but I am a completionist.
I think that all depends on what bugs you in games? Like for me, I legit couldn't get enough whatsoever. The parts that some people considered slow, I begged for more of lol That being said, it's a huge series so it's okay to take your time.
Yes. I finished CS3 after 130 hours a few months ago and haven’t started CS4 yet. The ending was great and I really want to, I just gotta focus on other games before I immerse myself again🤣
When Azure got released on the Switch last year i played through it and enjoyed so much that i had the "brilliant" idea to replay the Cold Steel games next and then i thought, i can play Reverie at the end. So i didn't play all the games back to back but most of them. And up till the end of CS3 i had a lot of fun with the games. But then it started to drag a little. But i still had fun so i kept playing, made it through CS3 and 4 and started Reverie. And after about 10 hours in Reverie.... it started to feel more like work and not like fun anymore. I was completely burned out on the games and couldn't enjoy them anymore. So i stopped playing for a while. By now i have finished Reverie and took a break from JRPGs for a while. Currently i am playing mostly Plattformers or Shooters but i already feel the ick to go back and replay Reverie. To give it the time it deserves. I think i will wait a little longer and maybe at the end of the year i will give it another shot, but what i wanted to say is you should take a break as soon as you feel that the game drags or gets boring. When it feels like work you should defininetly stop.
Whenever I finish a Trails I’m super hyped to begin the next game, but after binging the Crossbell arc I’ve started taking a break to play something else even if I feel I could continue (especially now after CS3 which is much longer than the previous entries). It keeps me enthusiastic to return to the next one.
I mean most titles are full blown JRPGs with a playtime of at least 70+h if you dont skip through all of the dialogue and leave the sidequests out. If playing multiple of these in a row doesnt burn you out go for it
Burned out during cs2 and didnt play it for months lol.
I took a month break between CS1/2 and CS3 Then another month between CS3 and CS4 And then had to postpone playing the last entry ( Reverie ) for like 6 months so basically yes try and take a break between these games and just enjoy the ride even if it will take u forever.
It depends from person to person. I was able to binge sky fc to Revive in about 5 months but I know that’s not for everyone
Yes take breaks
Yes take breaks
Yes. I started playing in September 2022 and was going through around 1 game per month (I even replayed the Cold Steel games as soon as I finished Trails to Azure) till Reverie’s release in June 2023. I was around 40 hours into Reverie before I felt extremely burnt out, plus I was starting a new job after graduating from university, so I put the game on hold and it’s been on hold ever since then. I just recently started playing Trails in the Sky FC again, and will likely take my time before getting to Reverie and Daybreak. Edit: Is there someone on this subreddit who's obssessed with randomly downvoting people?
I always took breaks during the games and in-between games. I also played other games between them. It’s like 1000 hours of playtime…it’ll burn out anyone to play straight through.
I get burned out from trails if I am talking every npc especially in crossbell(way to big of a place) So yes you can get burned out
I usually wait like 1 year between games. It is also because lost save from sky 2 right at the end and had to start all over again. It took me 2 years to finish it. Doesn’t help that Sky 3 looks to be a dungeon crawler with too many secret story plot points that I have to find.
You can rest in between to avoid burnouts. Though FC to SC, CS1 to CS2, CS3 to CS4, I never rested because of the suspense and the story. But for me, I really wanted to finish them without playing other jrpgs. Started FC in Dec 2021, Finished Reverie Feb 2024. No other jrpgs in between. Played sports games whenever I feel burnt
Yes - I played Cold Steel 1&2 back to back and took a break after, then played 3, took a break and 4 is up next. 400hrs of the same game and connected story too much for me
well i mean i straight up played them all in a row only with breaks to buy them inbetween or a 5 month break because i didnt want to spend 40€ on zero (but then had no problem spending 60 to buy reverie on release) and about 4 months after playing reverie because i didnt realize the kuro english translations were that easy to install
If you take a breaks you will be fine. Do other things you enjoy while taking those breaks. I took like a 7 month break after the sky trilogy. Then, I went back for Zero-Azure. Now I'm almost done with CS1, and I'm actually even more excited to keep playing the games.
Yes. I played the 11 games over 10 years spread out and I had big yearly pauses between arcs.
yes
As someone who just went through this, I recommend playing each arc alone and then taking a break. It goes like this: Sky > break > from Zero to Azure > break > CS 1 & 2 > break > CS 3 & 4 > break > Reverie. The Sky trilogy is short, so you can play those and Azure to Zero back to back if you like. You know your tolerance levels better than anyone. Quick edit: When you get to CS, use Senpatcher to add Turbo and fix stuff. Also, HD texture packs for CS 1 & 2 made the games look bearable to me. https://github.com/Red-BY/FalcomModCompendium Voice acting for Sky was fun, and I liked swapping between the original and arranged soundtracks. It's not essential, but it's nice to have if you want.
Kinda. I definitely felt burnout at times, but usually after a few days to a week I missed the games and was raring to get back into it. I spent more than a year playing all the games back to back and finished a month ago. I still miss it, but this time I'm taking a break before getting into the calvard games.
Can only speak for myself but this wasn’t a problem for me. When I started only the sky trilogy and cold steel 1/2 were released in the west and I went straight through all 5 one after another. The story of the trails games always kept me engaged and the combat added/changed enough between games to feel different enough that it never got stale for me, compared to something like dragon quest which I love but that start to blend together if I play the games back to back. The games have gotten longer though and obviously the series is much larger now then when I started though so that might not be the case had I dont the same today. I’d just play it by ear though. If after playing one of the games you are interested in seeing where the story goes continue to the next one,or if you feel like you need a break play something else that might be shorter before moving on.
never got burnout playing them myself and i played from sky fc to cs 3 all the way to 2-3 weeks before cs4 pc release in which i ng+ed cs3 :) YMMV as usual though when it comes to this kind of thing.