- The fan who took the reins at a JRPG powerhouse - 24 June 2021
There are beloved boutique Japanese studios, and then there's Falcom; a true grandee about to celebrate its 40th anniversary, the company traces its beginnings back to a hobbyist shop selling PCs and Apple IIIs as well as the curious games people were coding for them, before turning to making those games themselves. The studio has stayed purposefully modest ever since, still employing just over 60 people as it continues doing what it does best: making RPGs rich in character and story, with vast arcs that can span multiple games. Fans of Falcom are a dedicated bunch, then - like Toshihiro Kondo, for example, who took over the reins from founder Masayuki Kato in 2007. Since then, there's been a gentle push towards the west that's led to new audiences discovering the likes of Ys, the brilliantly breezy action RPG, and the ongoing Legend of Heroes series and its offshoots - a series that ri…
- Hot on the Trails of Falcom, Japan's longest-running RPG developer - 6 October 2019
Founded in 1981, Falcom is the longest-running RPG developer in Japan, even though it's dwarfed by its closest rivals in terms of size, production values, and international recognition. Today, the company remains a modest size of 62 employees, perhaps attributed to its founder Masayuki Kato, who often joked that he didn't want to make it any bigger because he didn't really like people. But when you've been through nearly four decades facing as much turbulence as the Japanese games industry has, there must be a secret to Falcom's longevity. For its president Toshihiro Kondo, it's definitely the company's dedication to story, especially for the Trails series (or Kiseki as it's known in Japan), with Trails of Cold Steel 3 arriving on PS4 this October 22nd. "When we started out, we had the advantage in terms of pixel art," he tells me through his interpreter. "But as time progressed, other…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.4.1 Patch Notes - 31 January 2019
We have released a patch that addresses the following issue: Fixed a bug where the following items will disappear in NG+ if you defeat the final boss with them equipped, even if you choose to carry over your inventory to NG+. Traveling Clothes Angelica's Habit Claire's RMP Uniform Elise's Casuals Alfin's Casuals Black Kitty Ears White Kitty Ears Ride-Along Bear Ride-Along Bunny Contact Lenses Thors Armband Towa's Captain Hat 本日修正パッチをリリース致しました。 修正部分は下記になります。 最終ボス戦で下記のアイテムを装備してクリアすると 周回プレイ開始時にアイテム引き継ぎを選択しても 装備していたアイテムが消えてしまうバグを修正致しました。 VII組メンバーの旅装 アンゼリカ・シスター服 クレア・軍服 エリゼの私服 アルフィンの私服 にゃんにゃんセット・黒＆白 ハグハグくまちゃん ハグハグうさちゃん コンタクトレンズ 士官学院腕章 トワの艦長帽
- Daily Deal - The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, 30% Off - 7 November 2018
Today's Deal: Save 30% on The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends November 12 at 10AM Pacific Time
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.4 Patch Notes - 5 November 2018
Hi everyone! We have released an update for Trails of Cold Steel II, bringing it to version 1.4. This version adds a highly requested new feature, some smaller bug fixes and improvements, and surprise leaderboards. New features: - Added an option for Japanese voice language. - Added 4 Steam leaderboards. Compare your scores against your Steam friends -- and everyone else -- in Total Battle Victories, Triple Advantage Battles, Angler Points and Academic Points. Note: if you already completed the game, you need to start it and load a save for your scores to be uploaded. (This is a Steam-only feature) Graphics Improvements: - Added a high resolution UI font option to the launcher. - Added the ability to natively load modded textures. (Check out BigHead's fantastic high-res UI texture mod) We hope you'll enjoy these improvements. パッチVer. 1.4リリースのお知らせ このパッチで要望の高かった要素、バグの修正、そしてサプライズとしてオンラインラン…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.3.1 Patch Notes - 25 March 2018
Hi everyone! This is just a minor update with the following fixes. Patch Notes for Version 1.3.1 Changed the formula by which the fishing minigame adjusts to framerate. The challenge should now be consistent across all framerates When playing in Japanese, display the correct Japanese name graphics in the camp menu. Version 1.3.1 is available now. Note on Reverting to Previous Versions While we of course aim for each new version to only solve issues and provide improvements over all previous ones, it is always possible for something to break on some particular configuration. Therefore, we keep all versions available as Beta branches in Steam. Should an update lead to issues on your system, you can revert to a previous branch by selecting "Properties" -> "Betas" in the Steam library and choosing a version from the drop down menu. If you can confirm that the new version caused a problem, p…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.3.1 Patch Notes - 25 March 2018
Hi everyone! This is just a minor update with the following fixes. Patch Notes for Version 1.3.1 Changed the formula by which the fishing minigame adjusts to framerate. The challenge should now be consistent across all framerates When playing in Japanese, display the correct Japanese name graphics in the camp menu. Version 1.3.1 is available now. Note on Reverting to Previous Versions While we of course aim for each new version to only solve issues and provide improvements over all previous ones, it is always possible for something to break on some particular configuration. Therefore, we keep all versions available as Beta branches in Steam. Should an update lead to issues on your system, you can revert to a previous branch by selecting "Properties" -> "Betas" in the Steam library and choosing a version from the drop down menu. If you can confirm that the new version caused a problem, p…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.3 Patch Notes - 17 March 2018
Hi everyone! With the help of the community, we have finally identified the underlying cause for several crash issues that manifested on some systems. 1.3 fixes this underlying problem (a synchronization issue between the rendering and main game threads), which resolves these issues. This patch also officially implements support for loading higher-resolution UI (e.g. modded) textures. As a consequence, you can now use the HD texture pack mod without requiring a special modified executable. Patch Notes for Version 1.3 Fix render thread synchronization issues which could cause several types of crashes on some systems. Implement support for handling higher-resolution UI images. Fix overdrive button prompt icon when playing with keyboard/mouse or xbox controller prompts selected. When playing in Japanese, use the Japanese logo images on the title screen and display Japanese names for all th…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.3 Patch Notes - 17 March 2018
Hi everyone! With the help of the community, we have finally identified the underlying cause for several crash issues that manifested on some systems. 1.3 fixes this underlying problem (a synchronization issue between the rendering and main game threads), which resolves these issues. This patch also officially implements support for loading higher-resolution UI (e.g. modded) textures. As a consequence, you can now use the HD texture pack mod without requiring a special modified executable. Patch Notes for Version 1.3 Fix render thread synchronization issues which could cause several types of crashes on some systems. Implement support for handling higher-resolution UI images. Fix overdrive button prompt icon when playing with keyboard/mouse or xbox controller prompts selected. When playing in Japanese, use the Japanese logo images on the title screen and display Japanese names for all th…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.2 Patch Notes - 2 March 2018
Hi everyone! In our ongoing effort to make Trails of Cold Steel II on PC as bug-free and appealing an experience for everyone as possible, we are publishing version 1.2 today. It includes several correctness fixes that should resolve crash bugs on some software/hardware configurations, a new caching scheme to reduce loading times, and several other improvements. This video highlights the loading time improvements. Complete Patch Notes for Version 1.2 Various optimizations to loading speed and caching. Fix memory allocation ordering issues, eliminating some types of crashes occuring on some sytems. Permanently cache battle UI images to improve battle loading speed and prevent some rendering issues. Correctly apply English localized textures for ARCUS covers when playing the English version. Reduce Z-fighting on support character cut-ins during Divine Knight battles. Fix flickering and sh…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.2 Patch Notes - 2 March 2018
Hi everyone! In our ongoing effort to make Trails of Cold Steel II on PC as bug-free and appealing an experience for everyone as possible, we are publishing version 1.2 today. It includes several correctness fixes that should resolve crash bugs on some software/hardware configurations, a new caching scheme to reduce loading times, and several other improvements. This video highlights the loading time improvements. Complete Patch Notes for Version 1.2 Various optimizations to loading speed and caching. Fix memory allocation ordering issues, eliminating some types of crashes occuring on some sytems. Permanently cache battle UI images to improve battle loading speed and prevent some rendering issues. Correctly apply English localized textures for ARCUS covers when playing the English version. Reduce Z-fighting on support character cut-ins during Divine Knight battles. Fix flickering and sh…
- 64 bit OS Requirement Update and Information - 23 February 2018
Today, we updated the system requirements for Trails of Cold Steel II to specify explicitly that it requires a 64 bit operating system. (I.e. specifically Windows 7 64 bit, Windows 8 64 bit or Windows 10 64 bit) For most of you this should not make a difference, but if you are affected please read below for how to obtain a full refund. If you are interested, you can also read a more detailed technical explanation for this change. The short description is that, especially in later parts of the game, playing on a 32 bit OS can lead to crashes, graphical issues, and seemingly inexplicable performance problems. I apologize for this oversight in the initially published requirements and our internal testing. Refunds for 32 bit OS users If you are on a 32 bit OS, then regardless of your playtime or purchase date, you can of course obtain a full refund for the game. Please point out this announ…
- 64 bit OS Requirement Update and Information - 23 February 2018
Today, we updated the system requirements for Trails of Cold Steel II to specify explicitly that it requires a 64 bit operating system. (I.e. specifically Windows 7 64 bit, Windows 8 64 bit or Windows 10 64 bit) For most of you this should not make a difference, but if you are affected please read below for how to obtain a full refund. If you are interested, you can also read a more detailed technical explanation for this change. The short description is that, especially in later parts of the game, playing on a 32 bit OS can lead to crashes, graphical issues, and seemingly inexplicable performance problems. I apologize for this oversight in the initially published requirements and our internal testing. Refunds for 32 bit OS users If you are on a 32 bit OS, then regardless of your playtime or purchase date, you can of course obtain a full refund for the game. Please point out this announ…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.1 Patch Notes - 17 February 2018
Hi everyone! I hope you are enjoying Trails of Cold Steel II. As is almost always the case, some issues managed to sneak into the final release, the most significant of which were crashes that can occur with non-default costumes and accessory attachments. The reason for these has been found and fixed in version 1.1, together with several other bug fixes and improvements. Complete Patch Notes for Version 1.1 Fix memory corruption issue when performing specific costume/accessory equip/unequip sequences (either manually or automatically in a cutscene). This fixes a variety of potential crashes. Fix launcher gamepad button rebinding interface to only allow rebindings that are 1 to 1 mappings of buttons to actions, as only these are supported by the game. If you have an existing rebinding which doesn't work, please revert it to the defaults first. Add around 25 additional voiced lines, which…
- Trails of Cold Steel II Version 1.1 Patch Notes - 17 February 2018
Hi everyone! I hope you are enjoying Trails of Cold Steel II. As is almost always the case, some issues managed to sneak into the final release, the most significant of which were crashes that can occur with non-default costumes and accessory attachments. The reason for these has been found and fixed in version 1.1, together with several other bug fixes and improvements. Complete Patch Notes for Version 1.1 Fix memory corruption issue when performing specific costume/accessory equip/unequip sequences (either manually or automatically in a cutscene). This fixes a variety of potential crashes. Fix launcher gamepad button rebinding interface to only allow rebindings that are 1 to 1 mappings of buttons to actions, as only these are supported by the game. If you have an existing rebinding which doesn't work, please revert it to the defaults first. Add around 25 additional voiced lines, which…
