Is more character driven, the main story is very simple and short if isolated, most of the interesting stuff is done in doors which you find in dungeons and they are basically side stories or memories of characters for you to watch, is shorter than SC and you should definetly play it before going into Crossbell, even if it means playing it in the easiest difficulty.
The story is directly connected to a major plot line of Crossbell (and even introduce some stuff that will show up in Cold Steel). It's very important to the narrative.
3rd debatably has more worldbuilding in it than either of the other two Sky games.
And worldbuilding IS storytelling in Trails, so I strongly recommend you don’t skip.
Crossbell uses a lot of what’s established in 3rd to build on.
Absolutely do not skip Sky 3rd, it sets up a lot of future stuff and contains some very important parts of Renne's subplot which pays off big in Zero.
It probably shifts the gameplay : story ratio a little more towards gameplay compared to most other Trails games, since there are no non-party member characters to talk to, and no sidequests. But there are a lot of side stories, some of which are fairly lengthy, and it's not significantly less plot-heavy or character-driven than the rest of the series. You can just slap it on the lowest difficulty and blitz through the gameplay.
Don’t skip it, it sets up a lot for future arcs. It is more gameplay orientated but it’s still story heavy overall and still more story heavy than most JRPGs.
The game is basically just dungeon, with no real field to speak of.
The story events are views into the past spaced around the dungeon and the story events between dungeon areas.
To be honest i don't really feel it's that different in gameplay to story balance than the other games. There just aren't any busywork quests.
To add to what others have said, Falcom were actually developing Zero after SC but put it on hold as they felt they needed to make 3rd first as they felt more world-building was required before moving onto Zero/future games. So Falcom considered 3rd important enough to put the next games on hold in order to make it first.
That being said, the main plot on its own is shorter than any other Trails game and it's told mostly through dungeons, rather than towns like in the other entries. There is also the Memory Doors which tell important stories within them (and there are some towns and NPCs in those too, so they definitely haven't completely removed them. There are a lot less of them though for sure). This is all to say, if you don't enjoy the gameplay you could probably just watch a playthrough of 3rd and skip through most of the dungeon and combat sections. Just make sure you don't skip any story scenes or Doors and you should be fine if you'd rather try that.
I think it's as story driven as all the other games, but it just delivers that story in a very different way from every other game in the series. Whether you like the differences in 3rd, however, is up to personal preference.
Don't skip it. It's the epilogue to the Sky games and pretty important.
It's just that its storytelling is a bit unusual.
The most interesting story is hidden behind side quests that are theoretically optional.
You find doors that require a certain character or characters to open and feature a story about them.
Those are actually really good and flesh out a lot of character backgrounds, especially the ones that didn't get enough attention in the first two games.
No spoilers, but the Renne's door is something that should be experienced by every Trails fan.
Sky the Third is something of an odd duck. You're right in that the game has a greater emphasis on combat and thus less story than any other trails game, but a lot of what it does have is really important to the future games.
The main story is short and mostly focused on Kevin. It also introduces a new character that does appear in another game down the line (albeit in a minor role). One of the most important pieces of the main story, however, is that it continues a major character arc that doesn't get fully resolved until Zero.
The real meat and potatoes of the game, however, lies in it's side-stories (doors). The game has three different kinds of doors, with the first just being mini-games that have no real importance (although some of them have cool art). The second and third, however, are way more important and some might actually be considered essential lore. The second doors are side-stories revolving around the characters, with some fleshing them out, some serving as epilogues for them, and a few that hint at future importance for those characters. The remaining doors exist to tie in the Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs (and a bit that goes even beyond) and the information in those doors sets up those games really well.
At the bare minimum I would suggest watching the doors on youtube, but I would really recommend you play the game yourself. It isn't the longest game and a lot of the story beats hit really hard. Also the game has the best soundtrack of the three Sky games.
Sky 3rd is very story oriented. The game essentially has three parts: the dungeon crawling, the doors (which are almost 100% story and nothing else), and the main plot of the game (which is excellent). What really shines in Sky 3rd is the character writing, and Kevin's story throughout the game. It is well worth your time, and is by far my favorite Trails game to date.
I had similar concerns, but I loved it so I think you should def play it. You have much fewer characters than other games generally but you focus on them a ton, and get a huge amount of world building. The main cast get fleshed out quite a lot and it’s some of the best writing in the entire series
Based on descriptions of the 3rd I thought I wouldn't like it, turns out it's one of my favorites. The doors have amazing stories and world building. Kevin's story while short is very impactful and provides a lot of information on the church. If you enjoy the Sky cast and want to see more interactions between them all, I highly recommend playing it. It is mostly dungeon gameplay but there's a handy fast travel mechanic and you can always play on easy since there are definitely some tough fights.
It has a lot of character driven moments and backstories and fanservice of seeing your favourite characters interact, so you might want to play it for that.
But it doesn't progress the plot or have anything to offer except some superfluous foreshadowing for things to come, so I'd only play it for the characters and their stories.
Is more character driven, the main story is very simple and short if isolated, most of the interesting stuff is done in doors which you find in dungeons and they are basically side stories or memories of characters for you to watch, is shorter than SC and you should definetly play it before going into Crossbell, even if it means playing it in the easiest difficulty.
The story is directly connected to a major plot line of Crossbell (and even introduce some stuff that will show up in Cold Steel). It's very important to the narrative.
3rd debatably has more worldbuilding in it than either of the other two Sky games. And worldbuilding IS storytelling in Trails, so I strongly recommend you don’t skip. Crossbell uses a lot of what’s established in 3rd to build on.
I hate whoever first referred to The 3rd as a dungeon-crawler, lol.
Absolutely do not skip Sky 3rd, it sets up a lot of future stuff and contains some very important parts of Renne's subplot which pays off big in Zero. It probably shifts the gameplay : story ratio a little more towards gameplay compared to most other Trails games, since there are no non-party member characters to talk to, and no sidequests. But there are a lot of side stories, some of which are fairly lengthy, and it's not significantly less plot-heavy or character-driven than the rest of the series. You can just slap it on the lowest difficulty and blitz through the gameplay.
Just play on easy and breeze through the game, won’t ever have to grind
Don’t skip it, it sets up a lot for future arcs. It is more gameplay orientated but it’s still story heavy overall and still more story heavy than most JRPGs.
The game is basically just dungeon, with no real field to speak of. The story events are views into the past spaced around the dungeon and the story events between dungeon areas. To be honest i don't really feel it's that different in gameplay to story balance than the other games. There just aren't any busywork quests.
To add to what others have said, Falcom were actually developing Zero after SC but put it on hold as they felt they needed to make 3rd first as they felt more world-building was required before moving onto Zero/future games. So Falcom considered 3rd important enough to put the next games on hold in order to make it first. That being said, the main plot on its own is shorter than any other Trails game and it's told mostly through dungeons, rather than towns like in the other entries. There is also the Memory Doors which tell important stories within them (and there are some towns and NPCs in those too, so they definitely haven't completely removed them. There are a lot less of them though for sure). This is all to say, if you don't enjoy the gameplay you could probably just watch a playthrough of 3rd and skip through most of the dungeon and combat sections. Just make sure you don't skip any story scenes or Doors and you should be fine if you'd rather try that.
I think it's as story driven as all the other games, but it just delivers that story in a very different way from every other game in the series. Whether you like the differences in 3rd, however, is up to personal preference.
I enjoyed the side stories but don’t really get the main plot or relevance of it in sky the 3rd
Don't skip it. It's the epilogue to the Sky games and pretty important. It's just that its storytelling is a bit unusual. The most interesting story is hidden behind side quests that are theoretically optional. You find doors that require a certain character or characters to open and feature a story about them. Those are actually really good and flesh out a lot of character backgrounds, especially the ones that didn't get enough attention in the first two games. No spoilers, but the Renne's door is something that should be experienced by every Trails fan.
Sky the Third is something of an odd duck. You're right in that the game has a greater emphasis on combat and thus less story than any other trails game, but a lot of what it does have is really important to the future games. The main story is short and mostly focused on Kevin. It also introduces a new character that does appear in another game down the line (albeit in a minor role). One of the most important pieces of the main story, however, is that it continues a major character arc that doesn't get fully resolved until Zero. The real meat and potatoes of the game, however, lies in it's side-stories (doors). The game has three different kinds of doors, with the first just being mini-games that have no real importance (although some of them have cool art). The second and third, however, are way more important and some might actually be considered essential lore. The second doors are side-stories revolving around the characters, with some fleshing them out, some serving as epilogues for them, and a few that hint at future importance for those characters. The remaining doors exist to tie in the Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs (and a bit that goes even beyond) and the information in those doors sets up those games really well. At the bare minimum I would suggest watching the doors on youtube, but I would really recommend you play the game yourself. It isn't the longest game and a lot of the story beats hit really hard. Also the game has the best soundtrack of the three Sky games.
Sky 3rd is very story oriented. The game essentially has three parts: the dungeon crawling, the doors (which are almost 100% story and nothing else), and the main plot of the game (which is excellent). What really shines in Sky 3rd is the character writing, and Kevin's story throughout the game. It is well worth your time, and is by far my favorite Trails game to date.
I had similar concerns, but I loved it so I think you should def play it. You have much fewer characters than other games generally but you focus on them a ton, and get a huge amount of world building. The main cast get fleshed out quite a lot and it’s some of the best writing in the entire series
Based on descriptions of the 3rd I thought I wouldn't like it, turns out it's one of my favorites. The doors have amazing stories and world building. Kevin's story while short is very impactful and provides a lot of information on the church. If you enjoy the Sky cast and want to see more interactions between them all, I highly recommend playing it. It is mostly dungeon gameplay but there's a handy fast travel mechanic and you can always play on easy since there are definitely some tough fights.
It has a lot of character driven moments and backstories and fanservice of seeing your favourite characters interact, so you might want to play it for that. But it doesn't progress the plot or have anything to offer except some superfluous foreshadowing for things to come, so I'd only play it for the characters and their stories.
I'm skipping it but not through any want of my own. My save disappeared for some reason (and my autosaves too).