Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III just came out on Switch today. Do I need to play the previous entries to enjoy this?

[Synohan]

Just buy it and play it. If you're even considering buying it, it means you're really interested right? The game contains some background information on previous games. It's good enough to get a general understanding of what is going on. If you like it, you'll probably go back and play previous games to fill in the gaps, if not, then the series probably isn't for you.

 

[Shantae]

Also I'm still pissed the entire Trails in the Sky series isn't on Switch already. Falcom should ideally be able to get away with some fuckery where they can have NISA port Trails in the Sky Kai or some other slightly enhanced version of them to Switch if NISA isn't able to do vanilla Sky for some reason.

Hell they could even do that thing they're doing with the Crossbell games on PS4 to the Sky games and add 1 new NPC or something to differentiate it. Then just have NISA port that if they're interested. I'm sure theres a bunch of people that would give all these old games a chance on Switch just because well made portable RPGs are fun as heck.

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Yeah, Switch is the perfect platform for RPGs, especially for me. It's why I was so upset that Persona 5 Royal didn't get a Switch version. I didn't want another version of the game that I was forced to play only at home. I have a job that has LOTS of downtime, so I'm always pulling out my Switch to play games, and it's nice when I can take that same experience and put it on the TV when I'm back at home.

 

[Chaosblade]

Holy crap, some of you are just making me think I should not even bother jumping into this at all. I have a hard enough time playing 1 JRPG.

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This series probably isn't for you to be honest.

These aren't self-contained games. Even if you start with Cold Steel 3, you're still starting with it. You have 7 games of story in this world that happened beforehand and it's going to continue guiding you forward. I can't speak for Cold Steel since it's not entirely localized yet, but even the completed arcs - Sky and Crossbell - have a lot of allusions to events for future games. There is build up in Sky SC that came out in 2006 for Cold Steel that came out in 2013 and had 3 games between them. It's that kind of series.

So if one RPG is a big ask, getting into a heavily interconnected series that expects you to stick with it is a significantly bigger one. I like the games (moreso the older ones) and would like more people to play the series, but I also acknowledge that a serialized RPG series is not for everyone.

 

[EddyLovesTunaRolls]

So if one RPG is a big ask, getting into a heavily interconnected series that expects you to stick with it is a significantly bigger one.

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I bought my friend FC in 2016. He didn't beat it until last year. This year he's in Chapter 1 of SC. I think in 5 more years he'll be started with the 3rd. Some people REALLY take a long time to beat these kind of games lol.

 

[Shantae]

I bought my friend FC in 2016. He didn't beat it until last year. This year he's in Chapter 1 of SC. I think in 5 more years he'll be started with the 3rd. Some people REALLY take a long time to beat these kind of games lol.

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For me, it really depends on the mood I'm in, and the game itself. I dread starting a game more than anything, because I hate the early hours of games with the tutorializing, and slow burn. If a game hooks me though, I can beat a 100 hour RPG in 2-3 weeks if I really want to.

I'm probably not very smart also, because instead of playing new RPGs when I got the time, I often just go back to my comfort food. I've beaten Persona 4 or Persona 4 Golden, at least 4 times already. I've been resisting buying the steam version so I don't do it again lol.

 

[DarkChronic]

I plan on diving into this series at some point this summer. Last week I downloaded the Crossbell arc with their fan translations. I'm one of those people that *has* to play everything prior if the story is related. It would drive me nuts jumping into something halfway.

 

[Rapscallion]

I started with CS1 and 2, and don't feel prepared to jump into CS3. Thus I'm currently playing the Trails in the Sky games.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

You need to at least play CS 1 and 2. But to get more out of CS 3 and the upcoming CS 4 you will need to have played or be familiar with what happened in the Sky and Crossbell games to get the true experience.

 

[Derkon]

I did a replay of all the Trails games last year to get ready for CS3 and I can say playing the previous games greatly increased my enjoyment of the game as a whole. Even for CS1 and CS2 having knowledge of Sky/Crossbell arcs was nice.

 

[Deleted member 9746]

I think SUMIN is a very talented artist.

 

[CSX]

The bare minimum is to start on Cold Steel 1 if you're planning to play CS3 and CS4.

The endless debate of "Where can I start?" for the Trails series is a consequence of the ambitious method of storytelling that this series is doing (One grand story told across multiple games over the past 15 years) and its inconsistent availability on platforms (PC will be the only way to play every entry on the same machine).

The selling point for this series is how interwoven every entry is to each other. It doesn't cop out with the "This game takes place on another planet" or "It's been 1000 years since the events of the past story arc". All these games have happened within a span of a few years story wise and take place in countries/kingdoms that are next door neighbors. The stories, characters, lore, and world building are connected to each other from game to game and story arc to story arc.

As a result, every reference, callback, introduction of characters (yes even the NPCs sometimes) from previous games, and even slight cameo appearances to previous entries are a whole lot more meaningful and can bring more major story implications compared to other game series.

Thinking back to CS3 thanks to this thread, I remembered what happened at the end of the first chapter in CS3. I don't think that it would have had the same impact to me if I didn't know the significance of the characters that appeared or the setting that it all took place in from playing the previous Trails games.

Right now I'm imagining one of my friends who's planning to get into Trails if he decided to jump into CS3 and saw the end of the first chapter. My reaction was "HOLLLLEEE SHITTTTTT" and his probably would have been "...Who the fuck are all these weird anime-ass looking dudes?" LOL

Someone mentioned Lady Virgilia's youtube channel. I watched her story summaries of Zero and Azure before starting CS3 because I rather wait for either official translations or the fan translation to be done at the time. She does a great job. Even so, she warns you that she skips story stuff from sidequests so understand you ain't getting the full story but close to it. I'm really happy that I did because I'm sure a lot of the things I experienced in CS3 would not have been as impactful without knowing what exactly happened in the Crossbell story arc.

So to answer your question OP, see if you can at bare minimum start out with CS1 and 2. If you can't but you have time to watch some videos, Lady Virgilia's yt channel has story summaries that you can watch. I haven't watched her videos of the Sky trilogy but based on her work for Zero and Azure, they should be fine.

Personally, I don't think the Sky trilogy aged well gameplay wise but I played them before speedhacks were added into them so I bet that helps alot.

 

[Uthred]

Even with the speedhacks I don't think the gameplay in them has aged particularly well. The speedhacks make it more tolerable but its not difficult or interesting enough mechanically for the amount of it there is (hardly unique to this series, or really something that isnt still arguably an issue).

 

[Jolkien]

Even with the speedhacks I don't think the gameplay in them has aged particularly well. The speedhacks make it more tolerable but its not difficult or interesting enough mechanically for the amount of it there is (hardly unique to this series, or really something that isnt still arguably an issue).

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Can always go with the rebalanced game difficulty mode for trails in the sky and I think there's one for cold steel now too.

Gameplay is stellar but I preferred the way the orbment system worked in Trails in the Sky. In Cold Steel it's even more easy to be ridiculously overpowered. Even easier in Cold Steel 4

 

[TorianElecdra]

Just read the wikia. Not a big deal tbh. In itself the story isnt such a big deal.

 

[Bog]

What other series is this similar to? Is it an action rpg? Turned based?

 

[clay_ghost]

What other series is this similar to? Is it an action rpg? Turned based?

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suikoden. Turned based.

 

[Deleted member 18400]

You should play Cold Steel 1 and 2 before 3. I mean they are numbered for a reason, they are all direct sequels of each other. Sure you can play them out of order but it would be kinda weird. But hey if that's what you want to do, you can make it work with some videos and maybe a summary, or hell just by winging it.

Playing the older games will give you more perspective. A lot of characters and events from older games kinda get wrapped into one neat ball that is Cold Steel 3. Hence the reason so many will tell you to play all of them......

Holy crap, some of you are just making me think I should not even bother jumping into this at all. I have a hard enough time playing 1 JRPG.

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Ah yes, welcome to the cesspit that is the gate keeping fandom know as the Kiseki community. If you really want to see this shit in action go check out of the community thread. Not only will they attempt to gate keep their precious Kiseki games, but they will also personally attack you if you dare to question their judgement. I blocked almost the entire thread months ago when they jumped my shit for telling people to watch summary videos of the Crossbell games and one of the older PC games. (Which a couple of those aren't even officially available in English).

 

[Bog]

suikoden. Turned based.

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sold. Thanks.

 

[kyorii]

Should play CS 1/2 ideally. But going into 3 and catching back up isn't a bad option either.

 

[clay_ghost]

suikoden. Turned based.

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Note that CS is very anime on the surface but the series does touch on very dark themes.

 

[Riversands]

I feel like the answer is going to be "yes, this is a direct continuation of the previous games"...but then surely they wouldn't just put the third one out on a platform that doesn't have the previous entries, right?

I have the game preordered, but I haven't picked it up yet, because I don't know if I should get it because I haven't played any of the previous games yet. I just saw another RPG was coming to Switch, and I had put $5 down on it a while back. After looking at what the series is though, I'm fearing this is one of those "you gotta play 2 full games before you get to this one first"

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Yes. You can play this game without others. But whether you understand it or not is another story. I recommend to play the other games first, kinda like watching endgame without the others

 

[sanhora]

Start from the Sky FC if you can or CS1 if you can't, but know what you're getting into and that if you plan on continuing with the series into CS4 and Hajimari no Kiseki you will want to experience the earlier games in some form, whether it be by playing them yourself or watching playthroughs.

No matter what you do, do not read the wiki or watch youtube recaps.

 

[Theswweet]

For all the folks asking about where Cold Steel 1 & 2 are on Switch - I don't know if XSEED is the roadblock there, but from what I understand they were offered the rights for Cold Steel 1 and 2 on PS4 *after* they'd already learned that they had lost the bid for Cold Steel 3.

Make of that what you will. Personally I think only Cold Steel 3 on Switch still makes some sense, as some folks (including myself!) first played Cold Steel 1 and 2 on Vita, a handheld, and Cold Steel 3 jumped to home consoles only. Theoretically, there were at least a few fans that were waiting for a handheld version of Cold Steel 3, and the Switch port fills that role for them.

 

[Malms]

I've seen a lot of people in your position who started with III and loved it. I could see it as a good balance of completely new content/characters you'll enjoy regardless of experience, together with callbacks seeded throughout that you might have questions about and as a result might make you wanna check out the previous ones.

I see the series as less of a "you absolutely must play the others in order to understand everything and enjoy it at all" and more of a "the more of them you play, the more you'll get out of it" type of thing. Don't be afraid to jump in and work your way back if you like it!

 

[Chaosblade]

For all the folks asking about where Cold Steel 1 & 2 are on Switch - I don't know if XSEED is the roadblock there, but from what I understand they were offered the rights for Cold Steel 1 and 2 on PS4 *after* they'd already learned that they had lost the bid for Cold Steel 3.

Make of that what you will. Personally I think only Cold Steel 3 on Switch still makes some sense, as some folks (including myself!) first played Cold Steel 1 and 2 on Vita, a handheld, and Cold Steel 3 jumped to home consoles only. Theoretically, there were at least a few fans that were waiting for a handheld version of Cold Steel 3, and the Switch port fills that role for them.

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I think XSEED would happily localize the games if they were basically handed to them, like the PS4 versions. Same would probably apply to ports of Sky. But if they're going to have to take the risk and contract the port themselves, it doesn't seem like they are going to bother.

 

[Theswweet]

I think XSEED would happily localize the games if they were basically handed to them, like the PS4 versions. Same would probably apply to ports of Sky. But if they're going to have to take the risk and contract the port themselves, it doesn't seem like they are going to bother.

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Yeah, and considering that NISA is more than happy to port the games themselves, Falcom have no reason to go through the effort themselves. They're a pretty fiscally conservative company, after all.

 

[AquaWateria]

So do I play the Sky games first then the crossbell games? Or is it cool to play Cold Steel right after the Sky games because the Crossbell games aren't officially localized?

 

[Theswweet]

So do I play the Sky games first then the crossbell games? Or is it cool to play Cold Steel right after the Sky games because the Crossbell games aren't officially localized?

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I'm biased, but the Zero fanTL is of a very high quality, and it's very easy to buy in the west. By the time you're done with the first 4 games there's a good chance Ao's fanTL will be released, too.

 

[Nightengale]

I mean, there's a recap of CS1/2 built into the game...

Make of that what you will.

 

[i-Jest]

If you really want to understand what's going on with the plot then yes. The series is very story heavy, especially where it matters the most. Go watch Let's Plays on the series.

Can someone recommend good Let's Plays for Trail's on The Sky series and Trails of Cold Steel series?

 

[Korigama]

If you don't have the time or desire to invest in the series to get the full experience, or aren't able to at least play the first two Cold Steel games ahead of it (the in-game recaps are not an adequate substitute), then you should probably reconsider. By skipping straight to CS3, you would basically be jumping right into Infinity War without knowing who anything in it is or what happened leading up to it, so those characters meeting or callbacks to previous games that come up won't actually mean anything to someone not already invested.

So do I play the Sky games first then the crossbell games? Or is it cool to play Cold Steel right after the Sky games because the Crossbell games aren't officially localized?

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The Sky trilogy is first chronologically. In regards to the Crossbell games, Zero comes first, Ao coincides with the final chapters of CS1 and most of CS2.

 

[Kyrios]

That basically me lol, I haven't played 3 yet cause I was waiting for the switch port after playing the series exclusively on Vita.

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There you go! Lol

 

[Deleted member 9746]

zzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Deleted member 16876]

I haven't beaten the games yet. I am still going though them. With that said, a friend of mine who is deep into the series told me the fourth game in the CS series needs you to play the rest of them (all the games that came before) to understand and enjoy it. So make of that what you will.

 

[Korigama]

If you really want to understand what's going on with the plot then yes. The series is very story heavy, especially where it matters the most. Go watch Let's Plays on the series.

Can someone recommend good Let's Plays for Trail's on The Sky series and Trails of Cold Steel series?

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I went with the walkthroughs by Pafdingo Trails for the Crossbell games, so you could try theirs if Japanese voices for the Sky and Cold Steel games would be fine.

Trails Series Story Walkthrough

All Trails games by falcom in release order. Trails in the Sky and Crossbell games with added Evolution version voice acting.

www.youtube.com

 

[Wyze]

Prepare to be told that you should play seven other games before playing it, two of which arent officially available in English. I mean its technically correct but still.

Edit: Ah I see it already happened. I mean maybe its just me and my shitty memory but reading a summary would probably do the job. Even if you play all seven games back to back (so thats about 210 hours) you're probably only going to remember the main story beats anyway. That said the other games are great in their own right and well worth playing.

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You could ignore the other games and jump straight into CS but come one the impact of the story wouldn't be close to be the same. Trails in the Sky are amazing games in their own right, so it's not like you'd be playing shitty games.

It's like Suikoden, you could start at 3 but seeing Luc as the villain in 3 wont have the same impact if you didn't play the first 2.

 

[Chaosblade]

So do I play the Sky games first then the crossbell games? Or is it cool to play Cold Steel right after the Sky games because the Crossbell games aren't officially localized?

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Geofront's patch for Zero is probably better than any official localization we'll get. Even if NISA were to match it in translation quality I doubt they would go above and beyond with features like Geofront did. The game isn't very difficult to legally buy on DLSite, unless you are in the minority who have credit card issues. Just have to navigate through checkout in Japanese.

Azure is getting the same treatment from Geofront. It was borderline impossible to legally purchase, but Geofront worked a miracle and Joyoland now accepts Paypal, allowing people to buy the Chinese version directly. The big hurdle for Azure was availability, and now that's gone so it's just a matter of waiting for Geofront to finish their work.

I'd recommend release order. Some people recommend Cold Steel 1 and 2 before Crossbell because Azure spoils some twists from Cold Steel 1 and 2. I don't think that really matters though, because the twists for Cold Steel 2 in particular are so blatantly telegraphed if you've played prior games they really aren't even twists. Cold Steel basically shows all the major setpieces from Azure at a distance and without detail, and I think Azure would have been even more enjoyable if I didn't have the knowledge and expectations about what was coming up.

 

[Łazy]

As long as you don't begin with Sky 2, 3, Blue or Cold Steel 2 you're fine.
As long as you're beginning with sky 1, Zero, CS1 or CS3 you're good.

These are the most friendly to begin with.

Yes, it still boggles my mind that 1 & 2 aren't on the Switch yet. It's like they released Cold Steel III specifically for the people who jumped ship from Vita to Switch.

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That's where I'm at.

But with Xseed having the localisation rights of 1 and 2 I can see how it can easily be a mess.
I wish they all made the right choices.

Holy crap, some of you are just making me think I should not even bother jumping into this at all. I have a hard enough time playing 1 JRPG.

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Don't listen to people who overblow the whole as all they're doing is constantly pushing away people from playing the series.
Beginning with sky 1, Zero, CS 1 or 3 is fine. Trust me.

Many people began with CS 1 and like the series despite not having any knowledge from the previous episodes. And CS3 makes you meet a new cast as well as introducing some older characters in a very friendly way.

I don't know why I click on Trails threads anymore. Some of this series' fanbase is insufferable.

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Maybe just ignore them and give positive messages so it helps new people not being drawn away.
That's what I'm doing, hoping it helps the series getting more popular.

 

[Brat-Sampson]

Playing through it now, and so far, while I definitely appreciate having played the other games first, I'm sure you could get by with reading the summaries.

Difference so far is when you see a guy you'll be like 'it's a guy.' instead of 'oh shit, it's that guy! Good to see him again!' or when you see a girl you'll be like 'she looks a bit weird' and not 'fuck, she's here?! And they don't even know who she is! Shit's getting real!'

Most other plot stuff is explained in the game one way or another, as, I mean, Rean wasn't there for Crossbell or TitS either, and his new class (mostly) weren't for cold steel 1/2, so things that need to be given context are.

I'm still early on, but that's my experience so far.

 

[Cassius Bright]

Yes.

 

[Trelova]

it actually has story recaps ingame so you can jump in if you're so inclined

honestly having literally just ended it yesterday, it's a fucking ride and drops some insane bombs by the end(im still reeling and processing to be honest). it's also completely functional as a game on its own. it establishes newer villians, new main characters and all that so you can definitely enjoy it as a story regardless of anything.

if your choice is between not getting into the series at all or just playing this one, play this. it'll likely single-handedly get you in anyway

 

[Trelova]

So do I play the Sky games first then the crossbell games? Or is it cool to play Cold Steel right after the Sky games because the Crossbell games aren't officially localized?

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if you're going to start from earlier, do not skip Crossbell(Zero or Azure). not only are they excellent games, probably best in the series, Crossbell in particular has strong ties to the events of CS1-4 while Sky is only marginally related until CS4(and some of CS3). In particular, Crossbell and CS1-2 happen simultaneously and CS will gladly spoil Crossbell events as they're happening in real-time.

if you're planning to skip at least a part for CS, you can skip Sky, but definitely not Crossbell.

 

[lucancel]

Not the perfect starting point but It Is fine.
Perfect starting point for gameplay since It Is one thing that got better with each release.
Story wise they explain everything really everytime and makes me wonder maybe It was designed for new fans since i read too many things i already know...

 

[Pooroomoo]

I feel like the answer is going to be "yes, this is a direct continuation of the previous games"...but then surely they wouldn't just put the third one out on a platform that doesn't have the previous entries, right?

I have the game preordered, but I haven't picked it up yet, because I don't know if I should get it because I haven't played any of the previous games yet. I just saw another RPG was coming to Switch, and I had put $5 down on it a while back. After looking at what the series is though, I'm fearing this is one of those "you gotta play 2 full games before you get to this one first"

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Thank you for the thread! It helped me get some more people into my ignore list :-), specifically those that told you you should not play the game if you don't plan on playing other games in the series first (there is a huge difference in my eyes between "I think it would be an even better experience if you play some other games before" and "you must play xyz otherwise don't bother"). The proof they are wrong is all the people who said you can go ahead, there are more than a few here but they don't shout as loud.

P.S. - I just bought the game myself while I haven't played any of the previous games and am quite confident I will be just fine. So I will miss nuances and some impact, big deal, as I understand it the game is good enough anyway on its own.

 

[Chaosblade]

Just gonna add, if you're not looking at a game from a series standpoint but an individual game standpoint, you could literally play any game in the series and be fine.

Yes, SC. Yes, Azure. I still haven't played CS3 but I doubt it's any different, and I bet CS4 isn't either. No game in this series is so obtuse you will be completely lost having played nothing else. You'll miss context, you'll miss references, emotional moments might not hit as hard, but all the games explain enough you'll come away understanding the story of what you're playing. They all have tutorials. They all go out of their way to (re)introduce things.

People saying "yes you can start with [insert Trails game]" or "no you need to play these first" just value things differently.

 

[Nolbertos]

Sadly, its best you play the first 2 TOCS games on PS4 or Vita (I own them on Vita) before playing this on Switch. There's a petition to ask Xseed to bring TOCS 1 and 2 to Switch as they own the publishing rights for them.

 

[Einherjer]

I think what I'm finding most daunting about the huge list of games to catch up on is the fact that some of them are not officially translated -_-

It's nice that fans are doing the work, good on them, but I did some searching, and it only looks like Trails of Zero has a finished translation. I don't see anything about Azure though.

Plus, even if they are all translated, there's no other way to say this but I'm a console gamer. I just am...every time I try to play a game on my PC, i just can't do it. I tend to do other things on my PC when I'm playing a game, but when a game monopolizes the screen, it cuts me off. So instead I just play on the console instead. It's a stupid problem to have, I know, but it's just the way I've gotten used to things.

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There is allrdy a finished translation of Azure:

Trails to Azure: Collective Improvements Version 5

6227 views on Imgur: The magic of the Internet

imgur.com

It's very playable but it's mostly just a straight translation with only a bit of editing done to make it readable.

The fan group Geofront are doing a localization of it on the lvl of their Trails of Zero patch which is as perfect as it gets and since you have a lot to catch up on it will probably be allrdy out before you even get to Azure.
It's definitely worth it the Crossbell arc and especially Azure is probably the best written arc in the whole series.

 

[sanhora]

Don't listen to people who overblow the whole as all they're doing is constantly pushing away people from playing the series.
Beginning with sky 1, Zero, CS 1 or 3 is fine. Trust me.

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I don't think it makes any sense to start with Zero. Graphically and mechanically it's very similar to Sky, so if you're put off by Sky you're not going to suddenly love Crossbell. Also you probably won't care about the biggest payoff in the game if you haven't finished Sky first.
Not to mention you have to jump through hoops to acquire the game, whereas Sky is on Steam and GOG.

 

[Łazy]

I don't think it makes any sense to start with Zero. Graphically and mechanically it's very similar to Sky, so if you're put off by Sky you're not going to suddenly love Crossbell. Also you probably won't care about the biggest payoff in the game if you haven't finished Sky first.
Not to mention you have to jump through hoops to acquire the game, whereas Sky is on Steam and GOG.

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It was implied : "if you have access to the game".
It was a list of possible beginning not the easiest to access games.

 

[Helix]

Wait, what? o_O

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I feel your pain OP, it just makes no sense why they wouldn't port over 1 and 2 before 3.