I'm getting Xenogears vibes here, that game (story and characters) had me scratching my head... I'd need to finish that game sometime, I'd probably have to replay it from the start anyway, I don't think the saves on the Playstation memory card are usable anymore. Plus I would have probably forgotten all the characters and their connections by now anyway, so it would be super confusing to return to the game midway.

Is your suggestion more like playing in the release year order, and were those different story arcs developed and released in parallel? Even by different companies?

General question: if you want the complete sense of the series at least as far as gaming content goes, what are the editions and DLCs you should consider?

The first game was easy to buy as it didn't even have any additional DLCs (and because it is rather cheap nowadays anyway), some of the later games make my head spin with their various editions and DLCs, making buying them almost as confusing as Europa Universalis IV and many other Paradox games, and making it seem you are not even supposed to try to buy "everything", but surgically just pick that and that DLC (in Paradon games like EUIV).

I would suggest playing Azure before CS1 even if it technically happens later in the timeline. Going per original release order is likely the best way. The only reason I played the Crossbell duology late is because of its belated Western release.

Whatever the order is... just play it: Guess this is the general recommendation for this entire "break my nut-ideology" which in the end could lead to unnecessary confusion and many people not even dare "playing".

Of course, in the past this was not recommended because way to many "new titles" was not translated and not released outside Japan, so it was difficult keeping track of the entire "past" or there was years of waiting time needed... and in the end half the story has already become forgotten.

Right now, as we finally got the major load of the series released... finally... up to "Daybreak"... it is much easyer enjoying the series now and not to lose track of all the "happenings" in the series; so now it is a great time to play it in all its glory, from the very beginning up to Daybreak.

Personally i was playing The first 3 "Trails in the Sky-titles" long ago and i enjoyed it a lot. However, at this point i noticed it would put to much troubles on my emphasis to "put all my energy" into this game as the missing new titles would become a hinderance on my way of enjoying the series as a "whole" and in all its true glory. So i stopped playing this series after... for countless of years. Yet, i was collecting all the "new titles" from GoG, release after release, up to the point i finally had in mind it is "on its full glory", which is now the case i guess.

And again this is way more expensive here. Fuck NISA.

From what I see DLCs are cosmetic and items that I imagine make the game easier and spare the grind, don't think any are actual game content. That said, don't have any, just going from what I see.

Don't get the wrong idea, Trails gets two types of DLCs: item packs (which are just bundles of potions, ingredients, materials etc) and costumes/accessories

There are no "content" DLCs with new quests or anything substantial

Standard Edition: (simply the game... could not care less cosmetics)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak (Base Game)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Free Sample Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Mini Art Book

Deluxe Edition: (best value, i do recommend)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak (Base Game)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Costume Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Voice Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Free Sample Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Bonus Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Mini Art Book
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Art Book
(The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Soundtrack)

Ultimate Edition: (support or i get it because "i can", not really worth it)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak (Base Game)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Costume Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Accessories Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Voice Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Starter Consumable Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Advanced Consumable Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Free Sample Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Bonus Set
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Mini Art Book
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Art Book
(The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak - Soundtrack)

Best Version which may make sense is the Deluxe Edition. Because with the pricey Ultimate Edition the only noticeable content vs. Deluxe Edition is the "Accessories Set", although this is purely cosmetics with pretty low "appeal", some stuff may even feel tasteless. Some of the costumes may be more appealing for most of us, as there is a high dominance in looks.

All the other bonus content is barely worth it... two kind of "consumable item collection sets", which can be considered "cheat sets" of items able to be farmed ingame. The soundtrack, as a broken piece, is not much value at all. The Mini Art Book is basically a "downgraded Art Book" as far as i can say.

I was highlighting the additions of the "higher tier" vs. the "lower tier". In my mind, the Ultimate Edition is some sort of support edition, but best value for many of us is probably the Deluxe Edition.

Of course, if something might still become interesting at a later point, DLCs can be gotten individually too... although at a "salty" price.

Compared to the previous title, "Trails into Reverie", the "loss" Ultimate vs. Deluxe Edition was higher because more "cosmetics" would have gone missing: The Standard Cosmetics and SSS Summer Splash, both would be missing there, which should be more (can not remember) than just "accessory".

However.. "Trails into Reverie" had a way bigger "Ultimate Edition"-price... the biggest price i was ever able to gaze at. Actually the most expensive digital game price i ever paid for... this time i will not anymore support this and Deluxe is good enough for me. I am not cheap... not my nature... yet the content should reflect the price. In this case... the Ultimate Edition should get the full soundtrack (Trails into Reverie as well, never happened of course).

One for the whales

I really don't even get the point to these cheat DLCs. On normal, these games aren't particularly hard. Even if one should get temporarily thrashed in a boss fight the game gives you the ability to knock down the difficulty. Hell, it will directly ask you if you want to do just that should a player die repeatedly in a given fight. As far as JRPGs go, these are not super grindy unless you want them to be. *shrug*

US gamers surely can be glad they are not my country, unless they want to pay more for nothing more:
The Deluxe Edition price for US is 81.19 USD, for me it was 89.89 CHF, according to the official conversion (everywhere on the net) it is 99.52 USD. In a percentage it is still a price increase of close to 20%, on GoG.

However, at least my download speed on GoG is very fast, i can not complain. In US there is apparently many issues with slow downloads for many users.

Although, the ones with highest issues seems to be the users from Brazil. I can not say whats actually "fair and reasonable" there, but clearly, on other platforms it is much cheaper for them.

Checked now:
That other platform, Deluxe Edition is 227.78 Real (BRL) = 40.72 USD.
Or they could get the entire Nihon Falcom bundle (all Legend of Heroes and YS games ever released) at a bargain of 1425.21 Real = 254.79 USD, which is indeed very cheap for me. So, of course the Brazil people are confused, as they got the "rich county treatment here". Compared to my country it is around 2.5 times cheaper..., but the keys generated from Brazil are useless on any other location, as they are not "global", specified by the industries rule.

Yes from NIS America of course, as they got the license.

I can not verify a "income level" because a income is always individual. What is the best comparison is for example how much they have to pay for a car compared to my country... and i did not take a luxury car because unrealistic... simply a "every day car in Brazil"... compared to a every day car in my country... in order to calculate "whats actually fair according those different economies":

This popular car is a VW Polo, i read... and it costs about 15 000 USD, a very popular car... nothing special.

Now i compare it with one of the most popular in my country, which is a VW Golf (even same brand). this car will cost around 35 000 USD for a "basic model" which most people are using. So the real price difference in this case is about... well a bit more than 2 times... although in Brazil people rather would buy a new car than anything else... and in my country there are surely more "freaks" or "geeks" paying a lot for games.

Ultimately... the price difference is maybe 2 to 3 times... this i would consider "fair", if i take the "buying power" into account, with a pretty easy calculation, not unnecessary complicated.

For the industry, however, this is no matter at all because all they care about is "what they can actually charge, simply the stuff that seems to work for them".

And nope... i do not even own a new VW Golf or VW Polo... i paid 3800 CHF for my car, probably lesser than many people in Brazil... yet my game was 2.5 times more expensive... this is simply "how stuff individually may work"... there is no straight calculations... only in our dreams. Besides, yes... i think my car is driving better than many expensive new cars... so, price does not always mean better, a price is simply "what is it worth it to you", nothing else. People do not pay more for the better stuff, they pay more if they think "it is worth it to them"... which is a very individual thing.

I'll check the base version, not deluxe, GOG via API vs. Steam via SteamDB, for currencies supported on GOG:
US: 59.99 / 59.99 USD
EU: 59.99 / 59.99 EUR
CH: 65.99 / 65.99 CHF
BR: 293.09 / 162.00 BRL
AU: 61.89 / 89.95 AUD
CA: 79.99 / 79.99 CAD
CN: 425.00 / 330.00 CNY
GB: 49.99 / 49.99 GBP
NO: 638.30 / 670.00 NOK
PL: 237.19 / 274.99 PLN
DK/SE: 54.69 EUR / 59.99 EUR [picked the EUR price on GOG to compare, since SteamDB doesn't list a separate DK or SE price]
For good measure, adding:
UA: 59.99 / 27.76 USD [picked converted USD price since GOG doesn't support UAH]

Ah yeah... something has been miscalculated on my end for whatever reason but now it has been fixed.

So, the actual price difference is about 2.5 times vs. my country, which is... if we take the buying power into account "fair"... at least for the Brazil people. Because i still do not get a VW Golf for 2.5 times the price... still the "almost" same VW Polo, although my VW Polo is "global", yet this is only useful as a key.

Sure, on GoG they have to pay around 10% below US price, yet still 30% below my price, no matter GoG or Steam. Sure, on the other platform they get a almost 50% cut, not just 10%... So it may look unfair or overpriced, but compared to the highest prices... it is still somewhat gentle.

Sure, the price difference vs. Steam is about 40% as it looks... but to me, used to this sort of treatment... the difference is not high enough of making me "jump in fear... going crazy about"... so i guess some people are a bit spoiled, i dunno.

So just to recap, from all the "Legend of Heroes"-games available on GOG (correct if I've understood something wrong):

Trails In The Sky (1, SC, 3rd):
- These three games have no different editions nor DLCs. Simple.

Trails From Zero & Trails To Azure
- These two games have no different editions nor DLCs either.

Trails Of Cold Steel 1-3
- These three games have no different editions, but they have several cosmetic or "cheat" DLCs that you can buy separately, also some free such DLCs?
- Correction: TOCS 3 seems to have a separate Digital Limited Edition too, which includes two of the cosmetic/consumable DLCs.

Trails Of Cold Steel 4
- This has two "cheat" DLCs you can buy separately.
- This also has two editions... but it is unclear what is the difference between them? They both claim to include "Lossless Audio Pack", and that's it? Huh? What is the point of the more expensive "Digital Deluxe Edition" if the only difference is a 10€ higher price?

Trails Into Reverie:
- Has three different editions which are not sold through the same game item page where you could select the edition, instead they are presented as if they were three different games.
- Has several cosmetic and "cheat" DLCs to buy.
- The Ultimate Edition includes all the DLCs, right?

Trails Through Daybreak:
- Has three different editions which can be bought from the same game page (dropdown menu to select the edition you want).
- Has several cosmetic or "cheat" DLCs to buy.
- The Ultimate Edition includes all the DLCs, right?

Just so that I understood right:
1. In North America and Euro-EU countries, the price is the same between GOG and Steam.
2. In some other European non-Euro countries (e.g. Norway, Poland, Denmark etc.), it may be cheaper on GOG.
3. Latin America, Middle-East, Asia, beyond the Moon: the GOG version may be more expensive, sometimes very much so (e.g. Brazil).

Just, not to go into false conclusions: This is the NIS price for this game nothing else. Other publishers could price stuff pretty different, but in general i think GoG will be more expensive.

What clearly can be said... looking at the "whole cookie"... there is just few similarities with "buying power"... as, some countries with higher buying power could even be "cheaper priced" than a country with lower buying power. So, in the end... it is the publishers very own "calculation" based on many, to us gamers... hidden factors... but ultimately simply "what works best for them".