Lol I feel like they added it simply because of all the people saying that of all Midgar enemies, there’s no way it’d fit in. Tbf, they truly jumped the shark with this one out of spite for what they could or should do in their game.
Sorta. It’s so loosely connected to the Dragon Slayer and contains almost no reference back to anyone before Trails actually started in 2004. Yes, I know, these are the origins, but saying “it’s not just any JRPG” makes it sound like the preceding series would be relevant to Trails too. I would say that the only games that you’ll ever see meaningful references to would be the Gagharv trilogy, but even then, not canon to Trails.
I think the more impressive thing is that Falcom has been making RPGs since before “JRPG” was a used term. Before Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy ever took the stage.
Either way, loving the remake, it’s truly one of the most faithful remakes of any games I’ve ever seen, regardless of genre. It’s insane that at a glance I recognize literally every area compared to the original.
Yeah the reason for the naming is that the original games were Trails in the Sky FC (First Chapter) and SC (Second Chapter) because it was supposed to be one game. And the scope of the story got so huge that it would never have been reasonable to release it as just a single game. FC was a 40-60 hour game while SC was 60-80 hours.
The 20 hour gap on each is really how much a player dug in because nearly every single NPC has their own story going on in the sidelines and some people (myself included) actually end up following them all at every story transition. They reoccur throughout this game and later games too, so the attention to detail to keep an these things happening is fairly incredible.
To further answer your original question though, FC really does need SC to get a satisfying end, but FC is a beloved entry anyhow from all the world building it provides.
The series is currently 12 games and will be 13 soon. That’s 4 major story arcs that all connect, get referenced, have some reappearing characters and talk of those past events, etc. In comparison to more well known JRPG series, it’s not like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest because this is not an anthology series.
Another possible option if you’re on PC is using the mod that makes dodge/parry window bigger or smaller. I haven’t used it but I know people who have and it can really change your enjoyment of the game.
While I get that yes it’s often a money grab, especially when it’s a remaster of a game that’s less than 10 years old (sometimes less than 5 years), there are times where it’s completely valid and justifiable.
Let’s just look at the very recent Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter release. Yeah we could probably just call this a remake, but in this case it’s such a faithful recreation of the original, it’s like playing that original all over again. But this fixes the accessibility issue this first trilogy has in that the only way to play it in English is either: PSP, Vita, or 2014 PC release. No modern console can play it, and it’s a very important story arc. Now us rabid Trails fans can pretty unanimously say where the best starting point of the series is.