While the Doors are entirely optional events, they are exactly the sort of continuation of character stories that any trilogy would be expected to undertake. For instance, a Door might be just a cutscene without player involvement at all, and another Door will require navigating an optional dungeon with an unexpected set of characters. While the door types are loosely defined within the game itself (ie, "Moon" doors are longer events while "Sun" doors are minigames), the actual content of each area are highly varied. Some go back to the origin stories of characters like Estelle, Joshua, Schera, and other party members from the series and others introduce players to other components outside of the Liberl region. Many of these events take place during the interval between SC and the 3rd, but not all of them. Often these Doors cannot be opened at first glance and require specific characters, items, or other conditions to be met - such as specific quartz or number of battles fought. Inside Phantasma are two dozen or so isolated Doors that depict various events and stories throughout the familiar Liberl Kingdom, and even give a bit of a peek at the larger world of Zemuria. The remaining half comes in the form of "Doorways". While the game does offer a main plotline involving Kevin's backstory, that portion is only about half of the narrative told throughout the game. While I was initially disappointed by the extent of this departure, I found myself more appreciative of its deviation from the norm. While the origin and explanation for Phantasma are given in game, it serves as a mostly linear pathway for the story to unfold within. Phantasma is a single location comprised of various "planes" which serve as the game's chapters for the most part (in the same way the different Liberl cities served as chapters in FC). Focusing on the character of Kevin Graham, introduced in SC, and his new coworker Ries Argent, the 3rd forgoes the world of the first two games of the series and instead opts for one long continuous dungeon - Phantasma. While FC and SC were fairly traditional JRPGs with a turn-based battle system, an overarcing narrative, and the typical mix of dungeon exploring, plot exposition, and general questing, the 3rd is more of an anthology of sorts. While Trails in the Sky the 3rd is, for the most part, a direct continuation of the stories told in the first two games of the trilogy (First Chapter and Second Chapter), it does take on a different format in both the way the game is structured mechanically and how its story is told.
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