Forum - View topicNEWS: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Remake Game Previews Olivier in Videos
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MFrontier
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Both VA's sound fantastic!
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Fluwm
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it's shaping up to be quite a release, huh? Even with the extreme anxiety that comes with not having any firm plan in place for SC, it's probably my most-anticipated game of the year. I'd say of-the-decade, but by some arcane miracle Baldur's Gate 3 exists, so that's out.
I'm a little iffy on Olivier here, though. At this point, Matt Mercer's voice is just so iconic that I have a hard time hearing the characters he's voicing -- my brain just goes, "Oh, it's Matt Mercer again." Sort of the same position Johnny Yong Bosch was in for a good chunk of 2000s games and anime (Vash, everywhere Vash). |
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Stelman257
Posts: 370 |
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Matthew Mercer sounds incredible as Olivier and I'm so glad he gets to continue to reprise this character, after nearly a decade of voicing him now across all of the other Trails games!
This is some [ REMOVED ] Mandela effect in play here whenever old heads bring this up. Man voiced Vash, Ichigo and Lelouch and everyone says he was "everywhere" aha. Bryce Papenbrook was everywhere, JYB just did 3 or 4 really popular roles. MODERATION NOTE: Play nice. Last edited by Stelman257 on Fri Jul 04, 2025 3:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Fluwm
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I'm not referring just to anime. Like he was also in a lot of games.
And "three or four popular roles" is really underselling it. He was in Trigun, LAst Exile, Wolf's RAin, Eureka Seven, Bleach, Haruhi, Code Geass, Durarara, Tales of the Abyss, the .hack//GU trilogy, Devil May Cry 4, Disgaea 3, Tales of Symphonia DotNW, Last Remnant, etc., etc. Not to mention countless bit roles that we'd of course notice because he has a very disitinctive voice (one that, unlike many voice actors, he never really tried to vary), in stuff like Naruto, Ace Combat, Samurai Champloo, Gurren-Lagann, Lucky Star, etc., etc. Like... he has been an extremely prolific voice actor. Last edited by Fluwm on Mon Jul 07, 2025 4:37 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Stelman257
Posts: 370 |
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The entire second half of your list is almost entirely niche titles that were way past his "main" era, and honestly into the years where he was mostly just doing side character work, like in Durarara, or extremely niche video games like Last Remnant. Saying "Wow he was in everything!" and then using Last Remnant as an example is wild. Nero from DMC4 is like, the one big more mainstream video game role he's known for. Like yeah he's a voice actor, he was going to continue to voice act lol.
You're right he is extremely prolific, but saying he was "everywhere" when he clearly wasn't is what I mean when I say so many old heads have this weird Mandela effect of JYB, where because he was in Trigun, Code Geass, Bleach and Haruhi, they act like they could never stop hearing the guy. If you watched any FUNi dub from that era there was no JYB. Any ADV dub, or Canada dub. Same thing with Matthew Mercer, who's long since been a reprisals only voice actor in the anime and game dubbing scene, so it's actually quite rare to see him in one, and this character Olivier is one he first voiced back in 2015 and has continued to reprise, his voice is extremely iconic for the character. |
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Fluwm
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If you read "everywhere" and interpreted it as "starring roles in literally every major release of X year(s)," I'm afraid that's entirely on you. (And if you thought I was commenting on anything other than the recognizability of those two performers, that's also on you.)
If you're conceding that he was very prolific, you're conceding my point. Nothing more needs to be said. |
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Trollhiti Tour Guide
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As interesting as it looks compared to the original, I worry about how many remakes are coming out. This could have been a new game rather than one I already played ages ago.
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Stelman257
Posts: 370 |
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I completely disagree and I definitely do not concede on your point, to each their own but I don't understand your take either way. It's like saying you're "iffy" on any role that Aoi Yuuki or Saori Hayami do because they're prolific. And also you're confusing the point anyway, because it's not as if JYB ever slowed down in his career, he's still in just as many projects today as he was in the 2000's, which is why I say it's such a mandela effect old heads all have that he was everywhere back then, when no, he was just another voice actor doing his job that happened to land a couple of mainstream popular roles.
Like this just wasn't anywhere near as true as you think it was and it's always so fascinating to read. |
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Fluwm
Moderator
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I strongly suspect you didn't understand my point, and just wanted to be belligerent in response to whatever you imagined it to be.
It may be pointless to try and clarify, but literally all I'm saying is that these are two voice actors who are very prolific, don't vary their performances a whole lot from role-to-role, which makes it hard for me to hear them as their characters rather than the voice actors themselves. This is especially an issue with Matt Mercer who's famous as himself. It's like watching an old Western and not being able to see a certain cowboy character *as* that character, because they're played by Ronald Reagan and all you can see is the old bastard. I don't really think it was enough of a hot take to warrant your insults. |
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ANN Forum Mod / Admin
Posts: 5 Location: This account can not receive PMs |
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This digression has more than run its course. Please limit future posts in this thread to the topic at hand.
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FishLion
 Crazy Fangirl Posts: 861 |
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I had heard people were excited for a remaster and it was a great game, but the longer I go the more and more I see people really excited and think I need to investigate it's strong points more. Is there a specific reason you expect it to be that amazing or does it have more to do with loving the original and liking what's you've seen? |
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Fluwm
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It's ~mostly~ my affection for the original game. It's a *fantastic* story with great characters and a really fun world, but the presentation was always a little underwhelming -- Falcom did some really impressive sprite animation, but the chibi style of the sprites didn't exactly mesh with the narrative. Then, to a lesser extent, it's that Falcom seems to be putting a lot of care into the remake, and avoiding some of the more annoying issues they've had with 3D games in the past -- most notably character animation. But, yeah, it's mostly down to the strength of the original game. Like, speaking personally, I've got a hyperfixation on RPGs, and I've played through... very nearly all of them. Certainly, all the classics. To the extent where I don't have a "top 10 list" so much as a "top 100 list." And I rank the Sky duology right up there at the very top. That said, it may not be for everyone. Each title is really just half of one whole game, so neither game works quite so well in isolation -- FC is almost entirely set-up, and SC is almost entirely pay-off; FC is all about establishing the world, the characters and their relationships, SC is all about one Crowning Moment Of Awesome after another after another. FC also has a lot of surprisingly subtle writing, especially for the medium, with a great many interactions that seem completely innocuous the first time you play through, but are completely recontextualized after playing SC, which makes the first game one of those rare games that's not just a delight to replay, but even better the second go-round. To contextualize the Sky duology in relation to other JRPGs, it's very similar to Suikoden, but with a more grounded setting -- far less magic, far more technology (the games take place approximately 1 generation into an industrial revolution of sorts). I really can't recommend the original game enough -- which also boasts one of the best localizations in the genre, I hasten to add -- though only time will tell to what extent the remake lives up to it. One thing I will warn you about going in, though: the pacing is slow. Both games present you with a single main goal, but for the most part you're slowly circumnavigating the country (Liberl is conveniently wheel-shaped) encountering episodic stories in each city. The over-arcing plot is only unveiled very slowly, one fragment at a time, before falling down like an avalanche in the final chapter. If you're looking for an exciting "main plot" to propel you through the narrative from start to finish, you'll likely be disappointed; if you're looking for characterization and development, you'll find it in spades. |
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FishLion
Crazy Fangirl Posts: 861 |
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That does sound pretty incredible honestly, I love characterization over a long period in RPGs so as long as the writing is as good as you say I don't think the lack of an immediate threat should be an issue. It actually sounds kind of cool focusing on that instead of starting the game with the world falling apart and then I have to walk through an idyllic village after my best friend tried to murder me or something. I have kind of especially been on the look out for RPGs with a cozy vibe for that reason, I can deal with a world ending threat at some point but let me get to know who I'm fighting for before I get thrown in the deep end please! The writing being surprisingly subtle for the genre especially makes that part a draw, that kind of sounds like exactly the type of game I have been looking for. I will have to see how the remake comes out because I wasn't the biggest fan of the chibi style art of the original and hope this one turns out as great as it looks, but I will definitely check it out at some point regardless. Thanks for giving me your thoughts! |
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Fluwm
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Yeah, I can't say the chibi style ever really worked for me (they look kind of like shiny plastic toys to my eyes) BUT I think they really did a fantastic job with the animation: they manage to pull off some really incredible combat sequences with the sprites flying all over... to the extent that most of the 3D games Falcom's published since compare unfavorably, because they didn't have the budget to do the kinds of things in 3D that they'd done before in 2D.
I'm not fully caught-up on the series, but I've heard that this becomes less and less of an issue in the Daybreak series (and on). Anyway, two last items to comment on w/r/t the Sky duology: 1. Regarding the lack of any major conflict or super-high stakes, yes, this is also something I greatly appreciate, too. One of my favorite things about these two games is that they are both VERY grounded, with the stakes, in general, being relatively local. I should warn you, however, not to expect this to hold true for the series as a whole. 2. You may have already heard this, but since it hasn't come up yet I feel obliged to mention it: one of the hallmarks of the Trails series is the depth to which it depicts its NPCs. Literally every NPC in the game is unique, and has their own story playing out in the background of the protagonists' story -- with new dialog refreshing after ever (literally EVERY) major story beat. You should never feel compelled to talk to everyone, all the time, to see all of this -- but know that should you choose to do so, you will be rewarded for those efforts. In other words: it's not even remotely uncommon to look at what in any other game would be little more than a cardboard cutout with some flavor text and think, "Wow, I really love this character and can't wait to see what happens to them." It's the "Legend of Heroes" in the truest sense: not only is the main story overflowing with heroic characters, but so, too, are all of the NPCs heroes in their own stories (of nearly every imaginable genre) and curious players can follow those tales as they play out, from game to game, from (sub)series to (sub)series. To what extent the subsequent games improved (or didn't) on the formula established in the Sky duology is very arguable, but I can say unequivocally that if you like the idea of NPCs given so much depth, you'll find that aspect greatly improve in the subsequent games -- with whole intertwining plot arcs playing out in the background. |
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NeverConvex
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Fluwm stole most of my Sky FC(/SC) gushing.
 Though, I loved the chibi sprites, and I also want to rave about:
1. Falcolm soundtracks are always on point. Sophisticated Fight and Fateful Confrontation were both standouts for me in the FC-SC OSTs. 2. Particularly at the higher difficulty levels, and without looking up any online tips or strategies, I really enjoyed the tactical depth in the FC-SC magic and turn-based combat systems. Even just trying to figure out how best to setup a particular character's spell access has a surprising richness to it; lot've trade-offs to evaluate in trying to figure out how best to assign each character's sepith/quartz. 3. FC-SC (+ to some extent Third) tell their own self-contained story, but they're also part of a much broader, sprawling narrative told from the p.o.v.'s of many different characters spread across now over a dozen games. You don't have to play all of them by any means, since each pair or triplet is its kind of own self-contained entry point, but if you do decide you really like the universe, I think it's cool to know that you have a long, long time before you'll 'run out'. It feels like a videogame series analogue of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere -- the scale of story-telling you often get out of fantasy and sci-fi authors ala The Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, and so forth, but with many medium-sized, semi-independent and meaningfully resolved threads woven deftly together; I'm not sure I've ever seen another videogame series so tightly bind together so many different games in the same shared setting. And maybe slightly, waffling pseudo-anti-rave: there's a tendency, especially in the latter entries in the franchise, to start incorporating some common tropes many fans of anime (and other genres, to a lesser extent) and some other anime-influenced games will find immediately recognizable -- e.g., high schools settings, harems, relationship/dating system, etc. Not personally fond of this stuff, but everything else about the series keeps me hooked anyway. These influences were all at their most limited in Sky FC-SC (especially FC, which, as Fluwm said above, is quite grounded), which I think is part of why they continue to stand out as some of my all-time favorite RPGs. |
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