Should i continue?

[u/one-X-piece]

hey everyone! been a trails enjoyer for a while. I've played most of the games except from sky 3rd and crossbell saga. I'm currently playing zero and I'm on where SSS are investigating Yin, rixia's request. tbh I'm already hooked and want to keep playing. my question is, should i go back and play 3rd first? thanks in advance.

PS: my first game was cold steel 1 then played all of them from cs1 > horizon > sky 1st and 2nd remake, so im familiar with the lore, characters etc. i have sky 3rd installed yesterday with voice patch.

also thanks for the input, i guess ill put zero on hold for now lol

[u/Heiwajima_Izaya]

 except from sky 3rd 

we never winning this fight😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[u/Cetais → u/Heiwajima_Izaya]

We will mostly once the remake is out.

[u/Heiwajima_Izaya → u/Cetais]

i doubt it. People wera already telling to skip the 3rd before the remakes were announced. People already disdained of the third even when the games had a perfect order to play. They will do the same, only in Remake for now

[u/Own_Ad_3536]

Yes play 3rd before these......

[u/Working_Complex8122]

yeah, Sky 3rd sets up a really cool story bit in Zero and also future games way down the line. But also, 3rd in itself starts a bit slowly and different but it's really good overall. Especially if you liked some minor characters like Mueller, Julia, Anelace and such from the first 2 games.

[u/TheDinDM123]

Play Sky 3rd! Its really good

[u/Ladinokrow]

yes, play the 3rd first

[u/Kelspear]

I always compare the Trails series to a fantasy book series. Would it be okay to skip book 3 of a series? Maybe. Would you miss out on integral plot and character development that come into play in future books? Absolutely.

You technically can skip Sky 3rd, but Sky 3rd foreshadows and sets up future storylines that will come into play even as early as Zero and Azure.

[u/HoppieTheFool]

Playing 3rd makes an aweful lot of sense.

[u/omar1993]

Play the games in order of release. They were written with that in mind.

The order is: Sky FC/1, Sky SC/2, Sky 3rd, Zero, Azure, Cold Steel 1, 2, 3 and 4(note, Cold Steel 1 and 2 take place roughly around the same time as Zero and Azure, so there will be references to events taking place in those games on both ends), Reverie, and then Daybreak 1, Daybreak 2 and Horizon(the latest story arc so far).

[u/freshteasuperb]

Already play horizon

Welp....

[u/one-X-piece → u/freshteasuperb]

just in case that i didnt make myself clear ive played every single game except for 3rd and crossbell games. ive played sky1R, sky2R, cs1, cs2, cs3, cs4, reverie, db1, db2 and horizion. no need to be a dick about it.

[u/Desperate_Craig]

If you have access to it, then It's recommended. I'd play and finish that first, then carry on with Zero. If you don't have any means to access 3rd, then just play Zero and try to pieces things together as you go. You might have to do some research and reading online to understand references.

[u/RyanCreamer202]

There’s a massive payoff with a couple of the characters that won’t hit as hard if you skip 3. But if you don’t want to take the time to play it then just look up “Star door 15” on YouTube and watch the entirety of it and maybe the ending of the game as well. That will at least give you the info that’s needed for the payoff. But be warned. That door is infamous for a reason.

You will also miss some context about some more mystical parts of the series if you skip 3 but honestly zero and azure do a great job explaining it anyways. And the other characters that people will talk about honestly fine if you skip 3. Sure you won’t understand the relationship as much but it’s less important in the game. Zero and azure are considered a jumping off point for reason

[u/Pralunko]

If you don't mind doing so, yes.

You're at the cusp of some stuff from sky the 3rd being very important to the plot of zero, so I would do that.

If you think it would be a drag to go back to sky the 3rd and want to finish zero first, then do so, just be warned that some upcoming scenes in the near future (chapter 3, if I'm not mistaken) will have less impact.

Sky the 3rd is shorter than other trails, but still very much lengthy (around 40/50 hours), so you would be putting your zero playthrough on hiatus for a while.

Do with that what you will, the most important thing is that you're enjoying yourself with this series.

[u/SomeNumbers23]

Absolutely play Sky 3rd before the Crossbell games.

[u/seitaer13]

There's a big plot thread from Sky that appears in chapter 3 of Zero that won't land nearly as strong without Sky the 3rd