Trails of Cold Steel: Great from Start to Finish

Image from Steam

Game: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Developer: Nihon Falcom

Publisher: Marvelous USA (XSEED)

Platforms: ps3/ps4/ps5, PS Vita, PC, Nintendo Switch

Reviewed on: ps5

Release Date: ps3 & PS Vita version December 22, 2015 (North America), ps4 March 26th, 2019 (North America)

Introduction

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is a great game that I enjoyed from start to finish. I literally could not stop playing this game. I bought the second one before I even finished.

Story

I think that the story is pretty good. There were some characters that I honestly didn’t like at first, but after I learned their backstories I changed my mind. I think they did a great job in how the characters were portrayed and why they act the way they do.

Game Play

The game play follows a set pattern. You usually have a field study that serves to progress the story. During those field studies you get paired with certain classmates. You have quests that you do during each study, with some being optional and others being mandatory. After each field study you have a practical. You’ll also have free days where you can bond with classmates and help the student council. There are also hidden side quests that you can find by talking with different NPCs.

I really liked the combat. Combat is turned based with a party of four characters. There are also backup characters that you can swap out with. Each character can equip Arts that let them use different moves in battle. This makes each character customizable in many different ways.

There are many different Arts that you can use. Some are combat oriented while others are support oriented.

One great feature is that if you lose in battle you can lower the difficulty of that battle. It’s nice to not have to change the difficulty back in forth because there are some pretty tough bosses.

Music

The music in this game is really good. The soundtrack is probably in my top 10. I like that the battle theme changes when the party is low on health, it adds a sense of urgency. Below are some of my favorite tracks. As always don’t look at the comments of the videos as they are filled with spoilers.

Positives

The biggest positives are the characters and the story. I literally bought the second game before I had even finished this one. As soon as I finished it I jumped right into Trails of Cold Steel 2. It’s been a long time since I’ve played a game that immediately made me play the sequel. I even bought the third one, but that’s to discuss at another time.

Negatives

The only negative I can think of is that I feel as though some of the bosses needed to be a little more balanced. Some times bosses would use a special attack that wiped my party because the damage was well over their total health. I wouldn’t bring it up if you could guard, but you can’t.

Other Thoughts

I will let you know in advance that this game has a lot of text. I didn’t mind, but I know that that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. The game probably took me about 43 hours to finish, just to give you a rough idea of play time. I certainly didn’t do everything but I did most of the side quests, I missed some of the hidden ones.

Conclusion

I’m really glad I decided to start this series. What did you think of Trails of Cold Steel? What did you like and not like about the game? As always thanks for reading and if you spot a mistake let me know.

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