Welcome to the Metacouncil official thread for Trails from Zero.
In this thread, we can discuss all aspects of the 4th game in the Trails series (or the 9th game in the Legend of Heroes series). Please mark spoilers accordingly. Post your experiences, screenshots, tracks, fan arts or clips from your favourite vtubers.
You may recall the OT that I made for the Geofront release. This thread is going to be mostly a low-key affair compared to that one, but if anyone has any questions about the game, ask them here, and hopefully, I can answer them to the best of my ability.
It's pretty clear where the inspiration for the city was drawn from. Crossbell is heavily populated by immigrants from all over Zemuria, but despite that, they identify themselves as Crossbellans first and foremost, no matter where they are from originally. The SSS interacted with people from all walks of life in Crossbell. Street gangs, students, statesmen, gamblers, farmers, miner, doctors, hoteliers, crime lords and last but not least: a real estate agent. These diverse demographics represent a microcosm of Zemuria. This diversity makes Crossbell such a unique place with its own identity. There is still a distinction in class strata, as we can observe from the various locations in the City. Being a metropolis, Crossbell shares the issues we found in the real world as well. Housing, healthcare, public trust and organised crime are represented here, even though the examination may not be as deep as it should be.
Another aspect of what makes Zero interesting is that it doesn't concern itself too much with the secret organisation we all come to love (or hate, depending on the person you asked). Instead, it focuses on the interpersonal relationships between the characters and how it affects Crossbell as a whole. Amongst these actors, Crossbell's geopolitics is examined here as we encountered characters from both sides of the borders; even as a major economic power, Crossbell has no significant military power. The Crossbell political machine ultimately has been designed to serve the two superpowers in the region, both with their own agenda. A detail which will often be revisited during the course of the game, the second half of the duology, and later in Cold Steel series.
Last but not least, the music. My personal favourite track from the game is probably the final dungeon theme, A Light Illuminating The Depths. It's probably one of the best final dungeon themes Falcom JDK has ever come up with. There's a bit of that sound motif from the Sky series we're all familiar with. And speaking of Sky motifs, Arrest the Criminal is probably one of Momiyama's best work in this game. The acoustic guitar in Tomorrow is Another Day is sublime, and Limit Break has that trance breakdown we're eventually going to get acquainted with in the later Cold Steel entries. On The Green Road is a great travel tune perfect for over world exploration. And of course, Ancient Pulsation is a great antithesis to it.
Thanks to Kiseki Wiki for the image assets.
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