The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

 PC
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Image
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80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 139 Ratings

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  • Summary: Among the nations on the Zemurian continent, the mighty Erebonian Empire has been quick to stake its claim militarily; yet politically, ugly bouts of internal conflict between the upper class and commoners struggling to rise to power have been steadily intensifying with each passing month.Among the nations on the Zemurian continent, the mighty Erebonian Empire has been quick to stake its claim militarily; yet politically, ugly bouts of internal conflict between the upper class and commoners struggling to rise to power have been steadily intensifying with each passing month. The Noble and Reformist Factions have been none too kind to one another over the years, and tensions between the two only stand to worsen if compromises aren't reached in the very near future.

    Rean Schwarzer, like any other citizen of the Imperial nation, is no stranger to these rising conflicts: the class system has been deeply interwoven into the tapestry of Erebonian culture since the days of old. As a seventeen-year-old student preparing for his new life at Thors Military Academy, however, he notices that his crimson uniform differs from the standard outfits issued to his peerstypically green for commoners, and white for nobles.

    Enter, Class VII of Thors Military Academy. For the first time in the prestigious academy's history, rank means nothing and skill means everything. With nine hand-picked students of various backgrounds and abilities, Rean included, Class VII readies itself to dive deep into the political quagmire that threatens not only them, but the very foundations of the Empire.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. RPG Fan
    Oct 9, 2017
    90
    In case I haven't said it enough already, the PC port of Trails of Cold Steel is quite simply the best version of the game you can get at the moment. It's also an excellent port on its own that brings many improvements and scales well between a dedicated gaming rig at max settings and an ultraportable laptop squeaking by on low. If you're a fan of the series, this is a no-brainer. If you've never played a Trails game before, this is an excellent place to start.
  2. DarkStation
    Aug 7, 2017
    90
    Nihon Falcom’s games have helped me to rediscover JRPGs which I had almost given up due to their often perplexing superiority complex. There’s this integrity towards the way Nihon Falcom makes their games, and it’s reflected in the gaming experience. What The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel may lack in production values, it makes up for in the richness and depth in its unpretentious and diverse narrative. That makes following Rean and his friends during their year of study uncannily engaging entertainment. I can’t think of any better way to get acquainted with The Legend of Heroes series than this. The only thing bothering me right now is how long I have to wait for the second part!
  3. Wccftech
    Aug 2, 2017
    80
    The Legend of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel takes the best of the Trails in the Sky games and enhances it to new heights. While the school setting isn't particularly innovative, all surrounding mechanics have been masterfully implemented, resulting in a game that's incredibly engaging despite the slow pace and a few other minor issues. Additional, the wealth of PC exclusive features make the game one of the best consoles to PC port ever released.
  4. Gaming Nexus
    Aug 3, 2017
    80
    Trails of Cold Steel is one of those games where you get out of it what you put into it. While it is playable for a rank newbie, there is far more depth available to the experienced player. There are some small rough edges, but it works very well overall.
  5. DarkZero
    Sep 5, 2017
    80
    In the end, Trails of Cold Steel is a game made for specific fans of the JRPG genre, but it also succeeds in nailing down all of its tropes and mechanics, rather than try to appeal to everyone with a bunch of pieces that don’t fit cohesively. Its emphasis on character development and skill trees prove that it has placed its priorities in the right areas, rather than blow its budget on visuals or other superfluous aspects. What it lacks in innovation, it more than makes up for in polish, and the result is bound to leave many fans hungry for the next two installments in the trilogy regardless of whether they play through the main story or follow every side character’s journey to completion.
  6. GamingTrend
    Aug 15, 2017
    75
    The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel has made its way to PC, but has made no changes to differentiate itself. This game overall is one that has definitely aged well and has grown on me as time goes by, and is a quality JRPG that any fan of the genre will enjoy. However, this re-release provides no incentive whatsoever for someone wants to double dip.
  7. GameSpew
    Aug 18, 2017
    70
    This is a game with a long, arcing story that takes some awkward, colourful teens through their turbulent teenage years with a fun and vibrant world to explore, charming characters to befriend and a turn-based combat system with a surprising amount of depth once you look beneath the surface.

See all 10 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 35
  3. Negative: 2 out of 35
  1. lord_batman
    Mar 7, 2019
    10
    If you like games with great worldbuilding, character development/interactions and a massive plot that spans over the course of several games,If you like games with great worldbuilding, character development/interactions and a massive plot that spans over the course of several games, you won't be disappointed. Oh, and I can't stress enough how amazing the soundtrack is. You'll be mind-blown playing this game for sure. Also try the previous Trails in the Sky series if you like this one, it's just as good.… Expand
  2. Ryphereon
    Mar 27, 2021
    10
    During my first playing session of Trails of Cold Steel, it left a bad impression on me. Mostly because of the outdated graphics and how theDuring my first playing session of Trails of Cold Steel, it left a bad impression on me. Mostly because of the outdated graphics and how the characters, at the time, seemed like walking stereotypes to me. As I progressed through the game though, I found myself becoming more and more entranced by its story, character writing and solid gameplay to the point where it has become one of my favorite games of all time.

    Trails of Cold Steel's strongest aspect is, without a doubt, its characters. All of the main characters get plenty of development throughout the game and it honestly surprises me just how much I've started to care about each and every one of them. The most impressive thing though, is that every single NPC in this game has their own story. There's multiple moments throughout the game where you're free to walk around the Academy and talk to people so you basically get to see "snapshots" of their life as the school year passes by. You see an insecure kid slowly grow more confident, rivals eventually becoming friends etc. All of these NPC conversations are completely optional, but they add a lot of depth to the world of this game. I've had times where I ended up just talking to people for 40 minutes on end, and genuinely enjoyed myself. The interactions you have with other characters do have some really silly tropes in them every now and then, but none of them were too bad in my opinion.

    The gameplay in Trails of Cold Steel is good. Combat has a typical turn-based format where each of your characters has a few unique moves called "Crafts" that they unlock as they gain more levels. The main novelty that Trails of Cold Steel brings to the table is that all the combatants can move around on the battlefield. Proper positioning on the battlefield can be important and you can choose to spend a character's turn on just moving to a better position. Something I also like a lot, is just how customisable your characters' movesets are. You can mix and match one "Master Quartz" and a total of 8 "Quartz" to give each character the moves and stats that you think are best for them.

    That said though, the combat is generally very easy once you get the hang of it. Even if you don't really spend time coming up with good Quartz combinations for your team, the majority of enemies will be very easy to defeat. It's only in certain bossfights and around the end of the game that things get more challenging, although even then there's a few strategies that you can use to make the fights fairly simple to win. This makes it so that I personally got burned out by the combat at a certain point in the game and mostly kept playing for the story.

    Lastly I should mention that the soundtrack is very good. Not just for the absolutely hype music that plays in specific battles, but also for the atmospheric music in general. The Falcom Sound Team did a great job making this world feel even more alive with their music. The voice acting, too, is generally good (I played in English). I wish there were more fully voiced conversations, but other than that I have no real complaints.

    In conclusion: Trails of Cold Steel is an incredible game mainly because of its story, worldbuilding and great character writing. The combat is fun at first with a lot of customisability for your characters, but it becomes too easy once you get the hang of it. This makes it so that I wouldn't recommend this game to people who don't care about the storytelling aspect of video games and only play for the combat. For everyone else: I definitely recommend you to try out this game if you've become somewhat interested in it.    … Expand
  4. Luigichief
    Feb 18, 2021
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I finally started the great Cold Steel Arc after its completion. This is perhaps the best paced 'starting game' of the Trails franchise, but there are controversies.

    That post-prologue I found it a bit unnecessary but okay. The prologue itself I liked and thought it was very clever, they introduced the characters in a really good and natural way. The first 3 chapters were very good (second and third in particular), they have a variety of gameplay and the story develops very naturally and with some of the characters, with a peak of tension at the end of the third chapter. Still in it, there are so many things going on in the background that it can be a little overwhelming.
    Chapter 4 already has an 'cimax' at the very beginning even before the 'field trip', focused on Rean and his sister, and he is very good by the way. His Field Trip is also really good, taking place in the capital of Erebonia, Heimdallr. The climax of chapter 4 is very interesting and we are presented with the Imperial Liberation Front (which was of great importance in Crossbell, even though it was not 'shown'). Chapter 5 starts very slowly, the Field Trip in Laura's homeland is cool and Rean's duel is very good. Besides, there are some mysteries there. But the second part of the trip on the Erebonia border is the good part, which is when the 'post-prologue' happened. Chapter 6 was good, but compared to the previous ones it is a little behind, the highlights were the focus on the relationship between Alisa and her mother and the climax in the mine with very tense and challenging Boss Fights. The final chapter starts very slowly (the presentation / introduction of his festival I thought more or less) but after the final dungeon of the game, it pays off. And the final sequence of the game is phenomenal; it has twists, unexpected, exciting and even epic events. The franchise's game endings are always exceptional (apart from Sky the 3rd), but this is the best so far.

    The game has several mysteries, even too many in my opinion, they held a lot of the answers for the sequence. As always the script for Trails is great, it's amazing for example, as nothing in this game happens without a reason behind it. Something that I find very interesting, is that depending on your exploration and actions, you have acquired knowledge about several things (be it characters or 'politics'), which affects some of your future dialogues whether you know a certain thing or not. Crow's twist I thought was really good, but if you really wanted to know who C was just by name (they gave it a go), even though Crow's personality was WELL different.

    Having these mechas in the story didn’t please me so much, it had been since Sky but nobody piloted the robots there, I’m afraid of the future of the series.    … Expand
  5. Lotex
    Jul 10, 2020
    8
    Pros:
    - Fantastic story
    - Character development - Different and very likeable characters Cons: - Not always good balance between spells    Pros:
    - Fantastic story
    - Character development
    - Different and very likeable characters

    Cons:
    - Not always good balance between spells and skills or even some stats

    Overall a very good with a fantastic story that more or less takes place over 9 different games. You can dive right into it with Cold Steel, but you'll have some spoilers about things that either happen in Trails of Azure and Trails to Zero as well as Trails in the Sky.    … Expand
  6. NateDalton06
    Apr 26, 2023
    8
    The starting point for the legend series. I went into this wanting to get into the series and I did just that. Despite being a little bit of aThe starting point for the legend series. I went into this wanting to get into the series and I did just that. Despite being a little bit of a slow burner but it does have its moments. I thoroughly enjoyed the slow parts though as it got me invested into its world and characters. The world building is honestly fantastic it is so thought out and gripping. Despite being dated (which I didn't mind at all) its combat was fantastic, it was the perfect amount of strategy and difficulty. I already all the cold steel series and I can't wait to play through them and the rest of the games in the legend series.… Expand
  7. Wondux
    May 23, 2023
    7
    As the first game of an arc in "The Legend of Heroes", this game was very slow. However, I still loved running around cities, interacting withAs the first game of an arc in "The Legend of Heroes", this game was very slow. However, I still loved running around cities, interacting with characters, and completing tasks given to me by the folk. I also loved the school feeling of the game, as a Persona fan. The social sim mechanics were also great. I absolutely love the world-building of this series and this arc does a great job showing the Erebonia part of the story.… Expand
  8. metathislazy
    Jul 2, 2021
    0
    Only didn't give it a 10 because I'm not the biggest fan of the harem aspect the game has going and how much I deeply hate Alisa's little hairOnly didn't give it a 10 because I'm not the biggest fan of the harem aspect the game has going and how much I deeply hate Alisa's little hair ribbons and boots. Otherwise there is no greater series for world building, difficult fights, excellent continent spanning plots, and some of the best characters you'll ever get to play with. The PC update added the turbo feature which really makes the game about 100% more playable because the original Vita/PS3 version was pretty meandering in the fights and establishing shots especially on replay.

    It's my favorite series by far and my favorite arc so far in the Trails series.    … Expand

See all 35 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

77
#77 Best PC Game of 2017
77
#77 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017

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