izigame.me

Hoo boy, this is probably the first time I’ve ever been scared of writing for something I love so much and being scared of not being able to do it justice with my words.
I will say this from the get go, Trails to Azure is my favorite piece of media of all time, one that lives near and dear to my heart, and I will try my best to explain why without spoilers on this absolute mess of a review that is coming.
First of all, while Azure IS a direct sequel to Zero, I highly recommend reading the drama CD “Trails to Azure - Road to the Future”, since it will be referenced at early parts of Azure and provides better context for why the characters are where they are now at the start of the story.
Azure tells the tale of a small state and its people, one that is not a large on the grand scheme of things by itself, where it inhabitants constantly gets tossed around and trampled over by others agenda and that, despite every odds being against then, each one of its people stands proud as part of Crossbell, trying everything they can to make the most of their situation.
And at the middle of this frenetic struggle we once again follow the Special Support Section, now revamped and bigger than ever, having finally won the hearts of Crossbell and gotten over one of the barriers that stood in their way. But now with the political dispute heaten up, new foes emerge to threaten Crossbell existence unlike any that ever came before, now from inside and outside the state borders.
Gameplay wise I’d dare say that Azure is the most enjoyable game in the series for me (yes even more then cold steel, tho ive yet to play hajimari).
We finally get the introduction of Master Quartz in the series, and ironically enough this is the last comically broken they’ve ever been to my knowledge at least.
Battles at the core functions almost the same as Zero, with a feel tweaks where and there, such as the new Burst mechanic, but I’d say where Azure shines on its own is the balance it made to some of Zero’s quite op crafts and how some of the boss themselves where designed, I played the game on the hard difficult for the first time and it stroke a sweet point for me of not being unfairly hard neither braindead easy, just a satisfying and fair challenge, especially the “optional win” fights, getting through those to this day is some of my fondest memories from this series. Or you can ignore all that and build an EVA tank Lloyd.
We also got a plethora of minigames this time, this game is packed with side content and has some of my favorite side quests in the series, not to mention the peak of Kiseki fishing (elite 4 my beloved). With Crossbell itself being full of new secrets to discover.
As usual this is the part I comment about how this isn't a reveal but just me rambling about random stuff about the game, but with Azure in special I really just cannot help it, this game means so much to me to a point I still vividly remember going through it for the first time even though it's been more than an year I played it, its themes still motivates me to be better, to try and not be afraid of taking the hard path, to not run way from adversity.
I can’t help but feel this is one of the most undercooked reviews I’ve ever written on Steam, I might even edit it later to be a more huh coerent semblance on writing (not like I’ve ever written anything deep here haha,), but really nothing I can possibly say will do this game and how much it means to me justice. If this is your first time on this game you are in for a ride, a really really special wild that everyday I wish I could experience for the first time again.
Also thank you Geofront and Scott, for allowing me to experience the piece of media of my lifetime, I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to play this game you guys gave me and many others through your hard work and effort. May you rest in peace.