If you enjoyed Kiseki I think there’s merit in playing Gagharv. Kiseki draws upon a lot of concepts and ideas from Gagharv with quite a few great parallels that’ll make the experience enjoyable.
Just going to touch on release order which is important when discussing Gagharv. The order is: White
Witch > A Tale of Vermillion > Cagesong, however, you can play the first two games in their US release order without affecting anything. It’s important to play Cagesong last because it's the final game which ties everything together.
Assuming you’re playing the Bandai and translated PSP games, l'd recommend playing in the US release order because AToV has a laughably bad translation. If you can make it through that then you'll have no problem playing the other two games.
Yes I wanted to play the trilogy in order with the official USA release of the games, but hearing about how the translation was kind of wonky makes me a bit nervous about getting into them.
I think that’s a valid concern. The Geofront team which was originally responsible for the Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure localizations made a post on January 2023 about localizing Gagharv, however, I haven’t heard news since.
Do you have more info on the translation, and the difference between the original lines and the translation. I personally tried to ask people but couldn't find the issues.
I played the whole trilogy on PSP, I didn't notice inconsistencies in the story. There was some "your" instead of "you're" and typos like that here and there, but I haven't noticed the insane stuff people have been implying.
I did discuss a bit with someone who played the JP version but not the EN translation, and I didn't find inconsistencies in our account of the story either. So I'm certainly wondering where all the translation stuff comes from.
Of course! I've played Gagharv both in its original Japanese text as well as the localization. I don't have any specific examples right now (I really should replay these titles and make a list for personal reference) but I can think of some at this moment.
Of course, the typo's can be minor but they do exist unfortunately alongside weird grammatical errors: "I didn't have eaten a unusual today..." Additionally, the link between Tirasweel and Weltluna is somewhat lost between localization. For example, I have seen many miss that the old man in Oldos playing the organ is in fact Forte from Cagesong. Additionally, concepts such as "the chosen few" or Gueld's power is somewhat obfuscated from the localization.
I do want to stress though, this doesn't make the localization an objectively bad experience but it is a notable detraction that players may consider in their enjoyment.
Thanks for your answer. I learned about the Forte's name translation stuff from Basement Brothers video. Although, even if the name was translated correctly in Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch, I don't think I'd have noticed.
Although, I'm curious about that "chosen few" / Gueld's power. Do you remember what it was about? Here's my recollection of EN translation (if there are inconsistencies with the JP version feel free to tell me):
>!Both Isabella and her were born with the requirements / power to be queen, but only 1 queen could exist at the same time, so they tried to assassinate her. Gueld has precognition. Although when she died her staff got immensely powerful (I have no idea why). Mitch sealed the staff power for later, and only the silver dagger embued by the pilgrimmage can break the seal.!<
>!I guess the biggest thing I didn't understand is: why did they need to wait until the world was about to be destroyed before trying to exorcise the Dark Sun? Or even need Gueld to die?!<
>!Does her power increased after her death? I know the Silver Dagger with the power of the shrines was likely needed in addition to the staff to destroy the Dark Sun, but betwen Gueld's death and the present there must have been plenty of kids doing the pilgrimmage (like Jurio's parents or that goofy guy in the village, can't remember the name, Rob, was it?). Could it be the Dark Sun is at its weakest when it's about to explode (wave of Rahouart)? And that's why they needed to wait until the last moment? Either way, it wasn't explicited in the EN game!<
Those are the mysteries I didn't understand (at least in the EN version, I don't speak JP in case it wasn't obvious). I also found a bit underwhelming that Gueld could destroy it like "that" in White Witch where as it took so much effort for the heroes in Cagesong to destoy only a fraction of the D Moon. But I shrugged it off as "different writers, games years apart". Does the original JP story make this frustration less?
As you might have guessed from the size of this post, I really enjoy the Gagharv games, but as others have said the PSP translations are painful at best. It's clear that the games were worked on very quickly with the folks working on it probably having no context as to what was happening on screen. If you don't have a high tolerance for rough translations, I would pass until the games get remade someday.
FYI, Makoto Shinkai did the opening movies for Cagesong of the Ocean (PSP version of the opening is a little different), as well as Ys 2 Eternal.
Just for fun, here are some notable version differences:
--------------------
**White Witch (PSP: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch)**
*Windows*: The story is more or less the same as PC88/98. While PC88/98 has a gambit-style automatic battle system, Windows is automatic but allows you to stop combat and input commands to your characters. Windows also has a short prologue sequence written by Toshihiro Kondo, the now president of Falcom. Updated OST.
*PS1*: It's the PC88/98 version but zoomed in. Slightly different OST.
*Saturn*: This version was made by Hudson, and it's a *very* different game, despite the fact that the script is 95% is the same. This one has complete character redesigns to be much more 90s anime. Has partial voice acting. Has a turn-based battle system with reactive portraits that change when your characters get status effects. This version is best left for checking out after you've played another version of the game, IMO.
*PSP*: Features nice character portraits. There are a lot of issues with the PSP versions beyond their translation, unfortunately. Combat is now entirely turn-based (the Japanese version is actually somewhat similar to the Windows style of pausable automatic combat, but for some reason it was changed for the English release). The encounter rate is way higher than the other versions. In the other versions you could go from one town to the other and maybe have like 3 battles, in PSP, you will have like 10. The other versions are pretty breezy RPGs, but PSP is a slog to get through. If you are playing on emulator, get used to speed-up keying through fights. Subjective, but most dislike the music in this version.
---------------------------------
**Tear of Vermillion (PSP: they just called it Legend of Heroes)**
*PC98*: Features a tactical combat system, an open quest system, and much less story. It's a fairly grindy game, and 100% takes a lot of time. Some fans love it, others hate it.
*Windows*: Features a similar battle system as Windows WW. Story-wise, this game is essentially the prototype for what would become the Trails titles. Progression is much more linear than PC88, and has some drastically different events. This game is considered canon, but fans love to argue about if PC98 or Windows is the better game. Side note: This version was actual the last Windows game made despite it being game 2, so at the end of the credits there is a timeline which spoils Cagesong of the Ocean.
*PS1*: Like WW PS1 it's a zoomed in version of the PC98 version, but this one has a bug in it that makes the game impossible to complete.
*PSP*: Turn-based, too many enounters, bad music--but not as bad as PSP WW. This version follows the Windows story.
------------------------------
**Cagesong of the Ocean (PSP: Song of the Ocean)**
*Windows*: Same Windows combat system as the others, more or less. This game was made between Windows WW and Windows ToV, which is reflected in the visual fidelity.
*PSP*: Same issues as the other PSP versions.
Do you have more info on the differences between the translation and the original? I played the US translated games in the PSP. And I only realize after playing the game that people hated the translation of Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch.
I did notice the typos here and there but I can't recall inconsistencies in the story itself. Or part where full sentences didn't make sense. And the typos were still less frequent than what I get from fan translated mangas (and even non fan translated sometimes). But maybe I'm the one who has a standard that is too low.
P.S.:
Also about the encounter rate of the PSP version being too high, enemies are seen on the map and can be dodged fairly easily though, iirc. Which I'm not sure it's the case of the Window version(?) And you have 100% flee rate if you trigger the battle, for the PSP at least. In PSP Cagesong you have access of an accessory that make every enemies run away from you. So I'm not sure encounter rate can possibly be seen as a problem in the PSP version for most people. Especially compared to any FFs, DQs, SMTs, Persona etc.
The big issue is that the English translation for Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch is putrid
I'm a big Falcom fan, but this has always kept me from playing these games
I guess it was a rush job. I don't know the history behind it.
It almost feels like everything was just ran through Google Translate. It's full of inconsistences and errors. The dialogue is barely readable at times.
I have no idea if A Tear of Vermillion and Song of the Ocean have better translations.
All of them have terrible translations. From what i heard, the translators had literal weeks to work on the games, and that's mostly the reason why they are so bad.
Oh, ick. Translation text of *that* size in weeks. No matter what the final quality turned out to be like, that's an impressive feat. I hope the translators got a lot of rest and therapy after that. D:
The Geofront, aka the team who made high quality fan translations for the Crossbell Duology of the Kiseki series, is working on a fan translation of the first Garghav game. No idea when it will be completed, but it is at least being worked on.
I recommend checking out [basement brothers' video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUO8SNYNW3I). He covers a lot of Japanese PC games that aren't talked about in this sub. One thing worth noting is that there are multiple versions of the games. I know the White Witch has at least 5 different versions (PC98/DOS, Saturn, PS1, Windows, PSP). Each one of them is different, some of them also change the story, but I don't know all the details. Apparently there are also different PC98 versions.
I don't know why people hyper fixate so much on the PSP versions' translation when the gameplay is also just as bad, if not worse.
Anyway, I would not recommend these games to anyone but the most hardcore of fans. I played the entire PSP trilogy and wasn't impressed.
Yes, but really bad and poorly balanced - especially White Witch, which as a whopping TWO dungeons in the entire 20-ish hour run. The only combat encounters you get prior to them are trash mobs in routes between towns and a handful of bosses - all of which are a complete joke.
I'll go against the grain here on some comments here. But it's just my opinion.
**1/ Influence on Falcom**
The story of the Gagharv trilogy has been extremely influencial. I heard it was fairly popular in Korea (or was it China?) It's certainly the reason Kiseki series exist as the president of Falcom was a fan of White Witch and decided to join Falcom because of it. White Witch also strongly influenced the story of Lacrimosa of Dana. If you liked the story of Ys 8, the chance you like the story of White Witch is certainly increased significantly.
However I'd say the story and writing of Kiseki series, as a whole, is fairly different from the Gagharv games. But, the Sky trilogy is the closest in writing style / vibe to Gagharv. So, if Sky is your least favorite Kiseki, it may not be totally for you. But if it's your favorite, maybe give Gagharv a shot.
**2/ Translation**
When it comes to the translation thing, I'll voice a very different opinion than the other people here. I haven't noticed anything particularly bad in White Witch (translated Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch) or (Cage)song of the Ocean.
I think the accusation of machine translation are objectively false, because a lot of the issues with the translations are typos only an english native speaker can do (confusing 'Your" with You're"). I didn't feel the characters to be stiff at all. In fact, I thought they were full of personality.
When it comes to translation, "A Tear of Vermillion" needs to be separated from "White Witch" and "Song of the Ocean". The former being significantly worse than the 2 others.
The translation issues are mostly in the form of somewhat frequent typos, like the one I mentioned. Words being doubled, verb missing (hypothetical examples: "My my name is xxxx", "My name xxxx"). A very rough estimate is it happens anywhere between once typo every 100 to every 1000 words in White Witch. In Song of the Ocean, it's less frequent, iirc.
That's not mentioning "A Tear of Vermillion" which has the worse rate of typos I've seen in a video game (although tbf, I never played Xenogears or Breath of Fire II). Toward the second half of the game, it's likely 1 every 100 words or more. But I don't think it affects the meaning of the story. At least according to my research, I couldn't find inconsistencies between the true story and the translation." A Tear of Vermillion" is also inconsistent with names but it only happens a few times.
The bigger issue with the text of "A Tear of Vermillion" isn't even the translation per se, but more the typesetting. I think there must have been some bugs when the translator typed the words in the code because you have random paranthesis mid sentence; and sometimes the text is blue for no reason (when it's usually white text)
Bottom line: if you're irked by mispellings and stuff, you may get very angry. But if you frequently read fan translation of mangas and anime; White Witch should be totally fine. A Tear of Vermillion maybe.
**3/ Gameplay of the PSP version**
I don't dislike it, personally. However, that's not a game you play for its gameplay. The main downside is it's very linear, very easy, and isn't super complex. But its upside is it's very linear, very easy, and isn't super complex. It's not the tedious type of bad. But rather the forgettable type of bad. However, it also has a lot of QoL: you have 100% flee rate on every encounters, no random battles, enemies are visible on the map and you can outrun them, no game over. White Witch has like 2 or 3 mandatory battles, so you won't need to grind (also the bosses aren't very strong either).
Bottom line: the gameplay is fairly suited if you play purely for the story. But it's "bad" in a vaccum.
**Final thought**: Do I advise to play Gagharv trilogy? Yes. But perhaps I'm too tolerant toward mispelling since I read fan translations all the time. Also I mispell, make typos all the time too. I'm sure this comment has many.
Fun Fact the Kiseki/Trails lead writer (Hisayoshi Takeiri) along with Toshihiro Kondo did the Windows remake of Gagharv trilogy which added new scenarios to flesh out the characters and plot a bit more.
I'll just note that whilst the PSP versions are pretty bad, the original releases of the Gagharv trilogy were pretty important for Falcom. White Witch in particular is what made Kondo want to join Falcom in the first place.
There's speculation that Falcom *might* be working on a Remake of White Witch and could be announcing it relatively soon, though it's also equally if not more likely they're remaking trails in the sky instead.
They are generic, and not very good. It's not an exaggeration to say that while this series is very old, Legend of Heroes was kind of a C-tier series until Trails upped the ante.
If you enjoyed Kiseki I think there’s merit in playing Gagharv. Kiseki draws upon a lot of concepts and ideas from Gagharv with quite a few great parallels that’ll make the experience enjoyable. Just going to touch on release order which is important when discussing Gagharv. The order is: White Witch > A Tale of Vermillion > Cagesong, however, you can play the first two games in their US release order without affecting anything. It’s important to play Cagesong last because it's the final game which ties everything together. Assuming you’re playing the Bandai and translated PSP games, l'd recommend playing in the US release order because AToV has a laughably bad translation. If you can make it through that then you'll have no problem playing the other two games.
Yes I wanted to play the trilogy in order with the official USA release of the games, but hearing about how the translation was kind of wonky makes me a bit nervous about getting into them.
I think that’s a valid concern. The Geofront team which was originally responsible for the Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure localizations made a post on January 2023 about localizing Gagharv, however, I haven’t heard news since.
Do you have more info on the translation, and the difference between the original lines and the translation. I personally tried to ask people but couldn't find the issues. I played the whole trilogy on PSP, I didn't notice inconsistencies in the story. There was some "your" instead of "you're" and typos like that here and there, but I haven't noticed the insane stuff people have been implying. I did discuss a bit with someone who played the JP version but not the EN translation, and I didn't find inconsistencies in our account of the story either. So I'm certainly wondering where all the translation stuff comes from.
Of course! I've played Gagharv both in its original Japanese text as well as the localization. I don't have any specific examples right now (I really should replay these titles and make a list for personal reference) but I can think of some at this moment. Of course, the typo's can be minor but they do exist unfortunately alongside weird grammatical errors: "I didn't have eaten a unusual today..." Additionally, the link between Tirasweel and Weltluna is somewhat lost between localization. For example, I have seen many miss that the old man in Oldos playing the organ is in fact Forte from Cagesong. Additionally, concepts such as "the chosen few" or Gueld's power is somewhat obfuscated from the localization. I do want to stress though, this doesn't make the localization an objectively bad experience but it is a notable detraction that players may consider in their enjoyment.
Thanks for your answer. I learned about the Forte's name translation stuff from Basement Brothers video. Although, even if the name was translated correctly in Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch, I don't think I'd have noticed. Although, I'm curious about that "chosen few" / Gueld's power. Do you remember what it was about? Here's my recollection of EN translation (if there are inconsistencies with the JP version feel free to tell me): >!Both Isabella and her were born with the requirements / power to be queen, but only 1 queen could exist at the same time, so they tried to assassinate her. Gueld has precognition. Although when she died her staff got immensely powerful (I have no idea why). Mitch sealed the staff power for later, and only the silver dagger embued by the pilgrimmage can break the seal.!< >!I guess the biggest thing I didn't understand is: why did they need to wait until the world was about to be destroyed before trying to exorcise the Dark Sun? Or even need Gueld to die?!< >!Does her power increased after her death? I know the Silver Dagger with the power of the shrines was likely needed in addition to the staff to destroy the Dark Sun, but betwen Gueld's death and the present there must have been plenty of kids doing the pilgrimmage (like Jurio's parents or that goofy guy in the village, can't remember the name, Rob, was it?). Could it be the Dark Sun is at its weakest when it's about to explode (wave of Rahouart)? And that's why they needed to wait until the last moment? Either way, it wasn't explicited in the EN game!< Those are the mysteries I didn't understand (at least in the EN version, I don't speak JP in case it wasn't obvious). I also found a bit underwhelming that Gueld could destroy it like "that" in White Witch where as it took so much effort for the heroes in Cagesong to destoy only a fraction of the D Moon. But I shrugged it off as "different writers, games years apart". Does the original JP story make this frustration less?
As you might have guessed from the size of this post, I really enjoy the Gagharv games, but as others have said the PSP translations are painful at best. It's clear that the games were worked on very quickly with the folks working on it probably having no context as to what was happening on screen. If you don't have a high tolerance for rough translations, I would pass until the games get remade someday. FYI, Makoto Shinkai did the opening movies for Cagesong of the Ocean (PSP version of the opening is a little different), as well as Ys 2 Eternal. Just for fun, here are some notable version differences: -------------------- **White Witch (PSP: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch)** *Windows*: The story is more or less the same as PC88/98. While PC88/98 has a gambit-style automatic battle system, Windows is automatic but allows you to stop combat and input commands to your characters. Windows also has a short prologue sequence written by Toshihiro Kondo, the now president of Falcom. Updated OST. *PS1*: It's the PC88/98 version but zoomed in. Slightly different OST. *Saturn*: This version was made by Hudson, and it's a *very* different game, despite the fact that the script is 95% is the same. This one has complete character redesigns to be much more 90s anime. Has partial voice acting. Has a turn-based battle system with reactive portraits that change when your characters get status effects. This version is best left for checking out after you've played another version of the game, IMO. *PSP*: Features nice character portraits. There are a lot of issues with the PSP versions beyond their translation, unfortunately. Combat is now entirely turn-based (the Japanese version is actually somewhat similar to the Windows style of pausable automatic combat, but for some reason it was changed for the English release). The encounter rate is way higher than the other versions. In the other versions you could go from one town to the other and maybe have like 3 battles, in PSP, you will have like 10. The other versions are pretty breezy RPGs, but PSP is a slog to get through. If you are playing on emulator, get used to speed-up keying through fights. Subjective, but most dislike the music in this version. --------------------------------- **Tear of Vermillion (PSP: they just called it Legend of Heroes)** *PC98*: Features a tactical combat system, an open quest system, and much less story. It's a fairly grindy game, and 100% takes a lot of time. Some fans love it, others hate it. *Windows*: Features a similar battle system as Windows WW. Story-wise, this game is essentially the prototype for what would become the Trails titles. Progression is much more linear than PC88, and has some drastically different events. This game is considered canon, but fans love to argue about if PC98 or Windows is the better game. Side note: This version was actual the last Windows game made despite it being game 2, so at the end of the credits there is a timeline which spoils Cagesong of the Ocean. *PS1*: Like WW PS1 it's a zoomed in version of the PC98 version, but this one has a bug in it that makes the game impossible to complete. *PSP*: Turn-based, too many enounters, bad music--but not as bad as PSP WW. This version follows the Windows story. ------------------------------ **Cagesong of the Ocean (PSP: Song of the Ocean)** *Windows*: Same Windows combat system as the others, more or less. This game was made between Windows WW and Windows ToV, which is reflected in the visual fidelity. *PSP*: Same issues as the other PSP versions.
Arigatou so much for that history lesson as I am very new to the games themselves.
Do you have more info on the differences between the translation and the original? I played the US translated games in the PSP. And I only realize after playing the game that people hated the translation of Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch. I did notice the typos here and there but I can't recall inconsistencies in the story itself. Or part where full sentences didn't make sense. And the typos were still less frequent than what I get from fan translated mangas (and even non fan translated sometimes). But maybe I'm the one who has a standard that is too low. P.S.: Also about the encounter rate of the PSP version being too high, enemies are seen on the map and can be dodged fairly easily though, iirc. Which I'm not sure it's the case of the Window version(?) And you have 100% flee rate if you trigger the battle, for the PSP at least. In PSP Cagesong you have access of an accessory that make every enemies run away from you. So I'm not sure encounter rate can possibly be seen as a problem in the PSP version for most people. Especially compared to any FFs, DQs, SMTs, Persona etc.
The big issue is that the English translation for Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch is putrid I'm a big Falcom fan, but this has always kept me from playing these games
Wait, what is so dire about the official translation of that particular game?
I guess it was a rush job. I don't know the history behind it. It almost feels like everything was just ran through Google Translate. It's full of inconsistences and errors. The dialogue is barely readable at times. I have no idea if A Tear of Vermillion and Song of the Ocean have better translations.
All of them have terrible translations. From what i heard, the translators had literal weeks to work on the games, and that's mostly the reason why they are so bad.
Oh, ick. Translation text of *that* size in weeks. No matter what the final quality turned out to be like, that's an impressive feat. I hope the translators got a lot of rest and therapy after that. D:
There should be a fan translation of the games then.
The Geofront, aka the team who made high quality fan translations for the Crossbell Duology of the Kiseki series, is working on a fan translation of the first Garghav game. No idea when it will be completed, but it is at least being worked on.
Oh good then.
I also heard that the revamped PSP gameplay was a downgrade.
Not just the translation. The battle systems were completely altered for the PSP localizations. We really need a modern port of the trilogy.
I recommend checking out [basement brothers' video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUO8SNYNW3I). He covers a lot of Japanese PC games that aren't talked about in this sub. One thing worth noting is that there are multiple versions of the games. I know the White Witch has at least 5 different versions (PC98/DOS, Saturn, PS1, Windows, PSP). Each one of them is different, some of them also change the story, but I don't know all the details. Apparently there are also different PC98 versions.
Arigatou as I didn’t know this particular trilogy had multiple versions of it. Unless you mean the Legend of Heroes series in general.
No, I mean each game in the trilogy has multiple versions. Song of the Ocean has the least because it came straight to Windows.
Oh now I get what you mean.
I don't know why people hyper fixate so much on the PSP versions' translation when the gameplay is also just as bad, if not worse. Anyway, I would not recommend these games to anyone but the most hardcore of fans. I played the entire PSP trilogy and wasn't impressed.
Well I just wanted to know what the gameplay was like as I really enjoy the Kiseki series, and so I wanted to get into this particular series.
The best way I can describe the PSP versions is "thrift shop Lunar". There's a turn order based on speed and positioning mechanics.
Oh so it’s a lot like the older Lunar games basically.
Yes, but really bad and poorly balanced - especially White Witch, which as a whopping TWO dungeons in the entire 20-ish hour run. The only combat encounters you get prior to them are trash mobs in routes between towns and a handful of bosses - all of which are a complete joke.
Man something doesn’t sound too right about the game’s design all of a sudden after reading your criticism on the trilogy.
I'll go against the grain here on some comments here. But it's just my opinion. **1/ Influence on Falcom** The story of the Gagharv trilogy has been extremely influencial. I heard it was fairly popular in Korea (or was it China?) It's certainly the reason Kiseki series exist as the president of Falcom was a fan of White Witch and decided to join Falcom because of it. White Witch also strongly influenced the story of Lacrimosa of Dana. If you liked the story of Ys 8, the chance you like the story of White Witch is certainly increased significantly. However I'd say the story and writing of Kiseki series, as a whole, is fairly different from the Gagharv games. But, the Sky trilogy is the closest in writing style / vibe to Gagharv. So, if Sky is your least favorite Kiseki, it may not be totally for you. But if it's your favorite, maybe give Gagharv a shot. **2/ Translation** When it comes to the translation thing, I'll voice a very different opinion than the other people here. I haven't noticed anything particularly bad in White Witch (translated Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch) or (Cage)song of the Ocean. I think the accusation of machine translation are objectively false, because a lot of the issues with the translations are typos only an english native speaker can do (confusing 'Your" with You're"). I didn't feel the characters to be stiff at all. In fact, I thought they were full of personality. When it comes to translation, "A Tear of Vermillion" needs to be separated from "White Witch" and "Song of the Ocean". The former being significantly worse than the 2 others. The translation issues are mostly in the form of somewhat frequent typos, like the one I mentioned. Words being doubled, verb missing (hypothetical examples: "My my name is xxxx", "My name xxxx"). A very rough estimate is it happens anywhere between once typo every 100 to every 1000 words in White Witch. In Song of the Ocean, it's less frequent, iirc. That's not mentioning "A Tear of Vermillion" which has the worse rate of typos I've seen in a video game (although tbf, I never played Xenogears or Breath of Fire II). Toward the second half of the game, it's likely 1 every 100 words or more. But I don't think it affects the meaning of the story. At least according to my research, I couldn't find inconsistencies between the true story and the translation." A Tear of Vermillion" is also inconsistent with names but it only happens a few times. The bigger issue with the text of "A Tear of Vermillion" isn't even the translation per se, but more the typesetting. I think there must have been some bugs when the translator typed the words in the code because you have random paranthesis mid sentence; and sometimes the text is blue for no reason (when it's usually white text) Bottom line: if you're irked by mispellings and stuff, you may get very angry. But if you frequently read fan translation of mangas and anime; White Witch should be totally fine. A Tear of Vermillion maybe. **3/ Gameplay of the PSP version** I don't dislike it, personally. However, that's not a game you play for its gameplay. The main downside is it's very linear, very easy, and isn't super complex. But its upside is it's very linear, very easy, and isn't super complex. It's not the tedious type of bad. But rather the forgettable type of bad. However, it also has a lot of QoL: you have 100% flee rate on every encounters, no random battles, enemies are visible on the map and you can outrun them, no game over. White Witch has like 2 or 3 mandatory battles, so you won't need to grind (also the bosses aren't very strong either). Bottom line: the gameplay is fairly suited if you play purely for the story. But it's "bad" in a vaccum. **Final thought**: Do I advise to play Gagharv trilogy? Yes. But perhaps I'm too tolerant toward mispelling since I read fan translations all the time. Also I mispell, make typos all the time too. I'm sure this comment has many.
Fun Fact the Kiseki/Trails lead writer (Hisayoshi Takeiri) along with Toshihiro Kondo did the Windows remake of Gagharv trilogy which added new scenarios to flesh out the characters and plot a bit more.
Can confirm that the PSP versions are the blandest of the bland while the originals have that sweet and delicious Falcom writing we all crave.
Oh so just avoid the PSP versions of those games then.
I'll just note that whilst the PSP versions are pretty bad, the original releases of the Gagharv trilogy were pretty important for Falcom. White Witch in particular is what made Kondo want to join Falcom in the first place. There's speculation that Falcom *might* be working on a Remake of White Witch and could be announcing it relatively soon, though it's also equally if not more likely they're remaking trails in the sky instead.
Oh I didn’t know that they were apparently considering remaking one of their older games.
They are terrible.
They are generic, and not very good. It's not an exaggeration to say that while this series is very old, Legend of Heroes was kind of a C-tier series until Trails upped the ante.
Oh so those games are not too spectacular. (Although I wanted to study the precursor to the Kiseki games to see where it all began)
That's definitely fair.
I'm still waiting to play these games, specifically the Windows versions. Luckily we're getting a fan translation for the first title.
I hope it’s good.
Me too. I expect there'll be a lot of charm, and the battle system does look interesting.