Sky 3rd is simply the third game in this continuous series. It’s not a “die-hard fan” thing. It’s the third work, just as much the third season of a TV series or a third novel in a novel series. Whether or not it’s a good work is a matter of taste. But whether it’s a necessary part of it is not up for debate.
It wraps up the first arc of a major throughline in the series and starts many more.
Katana314@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Ahem, erm, technically, hah…there’s also a manga that connects the events after SC! Bet that makes you feel silly, being wrong and all. /s
Whether it’s necessary is not a matter of what the Lord and Savior Mr. Falcom says. It’s purely down to whether players will enjoy playing it. They also make Ys, and the same rule applies there. Honestly, if it was “necessary” to play Sky 3rd in order to enjoy Zero/Azure, I probably wouldn’t recommend any of the three. This even extends to my favorite series, Ace Attorney; part of what makes them great is that you can technically enjoy any of them in any order.
To prevent sounding too negative, 3rd does refine the combat formulas a bit, and adds some cool characters and moves. For me, that wasn’t enough to justify it. Mainly, I don’t want people with limited time worrying they “must” play 3rd to avoid getting snubbed by key unexplained details. Some people that enjoy that kind of extensive lore, or read every codex entry, may love it, but that’s definitely NOT what everyone plays for.
Ashtear@lemmy.zip 10 hours ago
Again, Sky 3rd is the third game in a continuous series. This is not Ys, which is an entirely different narrative format following a hero in stories specifically designed to be standalone. Ys isn’t even told in chronological order. Ys can absolutely be played in any order without losing anything (other than the second game, which is a direct sequel of the first).
You didn’t make it to the Cold Steel games, so you don’t know what I’m talking about here. Most of Sky 3rd’s throughlines continued in Cold Steel, not the Crossbell games (they even continue into the Daybreak arc). Falcom pivoted during Sky’s development; they initially weren’t going to do games in Crossbell.
Trails is Mass Effect writ large. It’s Game of Thrones. It’s Harry Potter. Yes, one can jump into those properties at any point, but they will be lost at some point–if not immediately–or otherwise missing context critical to their enjoyment of the property. That’s basic fictional media literacy. It’s just highly unusual in video games, so people assume it’s like other series. It’s not. It’s closer to long-running manga, television or novels.