The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV

 PlayStation 4
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Image
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81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 148 Ratings

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  • Summary: The Erebonian Empire is on the brink of all out war! Taking place shortly after the ending of Trails of Cold Steel III, the heroes of Class VII find themselves against the full force of the Empire in an attempt to stop its path of total domination. Further, the hero of the Erebonian CivilThe Erebonian Empire is on the brink of all out war! Taking place shortly after the ending of Trails of Cold Steel III, the heroes of Class VII find themselves against the full force of the Empire in an attempt to stop its path of total domination. Further, the hero of the Erebonian Civil War and Class VII's instructor, Rean Schwarzer, has gone missing. Now, the students of Class VII, old and new, must unite with heroes from all over the continent to create the only chance the world has to be spared from total destruction.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. Shindig
    Mar 10, 2021
    100
    The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is the dramatic conclusion to a grand epic that’s been almost a decade in the making. It’s another chance to spend time with a bunch of characters that have become like family across three prior games, and the culmination of a nuanced exploration of the many faces of war. Most of all, it’s the sort of payoff that only hundreds of hours of meticulous, thoughtful worldbuilding can lead up to.
  2. DualShockers
    Oct 26, 2020
    95
    A fantastic conclusion to the Trails of Cold Steel series, a highlight in the ever-impressive The Legend of Heroes franchise, and a must-play for JRPG fans.
  3. Multiplayer.it
    Oct 23, 2020
    87
    The journey of Class VII continues in the war-torn world. Let's find out together with the many characters of the game what it means to become older in the review of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV.
  4. IGN Italia
    Oct 23, 2020
    82
    Enjoyable in some respects, but very disappointing in others, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV does not fail to live up to the series’ legacy. Still, it's a little step back compared to the third installment.
  5. GamingBolt
    Oct 31, 2020
    80
    It's taken a long time to get here but The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4 is a well-rounded experience, brimming with memorable characters, storylines and world-building. Despite a few stumbles in pacing and localization, not to mention performance issues, it's an incredible role-playing experience.
  6. Noisy Pixel
    Oct 23, 2020
    80
    An epic conclusion to the series, but I’m partially glad that it’s over. There are many reasons to play through Trails of Cold Steel IV, from an engaging gameplay loop to an epic story. It takes some of the best elements of the series and combines it for one last hurrah aimed at those who stuck with it for this long. Still, what comes of that is a lot of filler leading to the climax, a lack of focus, and some flimsy themes. There is a satisfying conclusion that includes many of the best storylines and mechanics from the series but at the cost of a few missed plot points and a massive cast of characters with nothing to do but hang around.
  7. RPG Site
    Oct 23, 2020
    50
    I was, if not confident, hopeful that the lingering issues that I found myself grappling with in Cold Steel I and II had been mitigated when I played through Cold Steel III. However, now that I've seen the whole story, I can only say that those issues never went away. Even if they appeared fixed for Cold Steel III, they were always there, just below the surface. At this point, if I wasn't already in too deep, I'm not sure if I would even want to continue playing the Trails series. I have very little confidence that Falcom will learn their lesson with how to pace their games, and with the scope of both the world and the series as a whole constantly growing I have no confidence that future games won't run into these self-same issues, but to an even greater degree.

See all 33 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 72
  3. Negative: 4 out of 72
  1. millionaire
    Nov 6, 2020
    10
    I know that HAJIMARI NO KISEKI's story is more tighter and the motion has improved visually.
    CS4 is fun enough, but there are certain    I know that HAJIMARI NO KISEKI's story is more tighter and the motion has improved visually.
    CS4 is fun enough, but there are certain deficiencies compared to HAJIMARI NO KISEKI.
    I'll play again someday when HAJIMARI NO KISEKI is translated, but I need to clear CS4 completely before that.
    This is because the CS4 story serves as a turning point that is the foundation of the future story.

    Story and characters still have their cliches, but not as blatant as many others of its genre, and it was easy to get immersed into both while playing.
    Definitely play Cold Steel III if you want to play this one, as the story picks up immediately after CS3 and assumes you know everything that happened in it.
    Legitimately one of the few JRPG series that can keep me engaged to complete a full playthrough.    … Expand
  2. ThisisGame
    Nov 10, 2020
    10
    Okay, this is definitely better than previous part. Holy crap, what a game....
    It was a great journey once again together with Class VII. I    Okay, this is definitely better than previous part. Holy crap, what a game....
    It was a great journey once again together with Class VII. I love this game in so many ways, great characters and a lots of character developments which I love to see, great and challenging boss fights and a really well written story.    … Expand
  4. Gamingking007
    Oct 29, 2020
    10
    I truly love the trails of cold steel saga! The world is massive and the story is simply amazing ! You have to play all four to fullyI truly love the trails of cold steel saga! The world is massive and the story is simply amazing ! You have to play all four to fully understand and appreciate the scope this amazing world! The characters are amazing. Their unique abilities , personalities and traits makes each character feel unique and full of depth! One of my favorite jrpgs around ! What an amazing close to an amazing series! I can’t wait for the next project ! Thanks guys !… Expand
  5. omegamonV
    Nov 5, 2020
    10
    If you played cold steel 3 on hard and struggled a bit towards the end of the game, I recommend you consider downgrading to normal (not toIf you played cold steel 3 on hard and struggled a bit towards the end of the game, I recommend you consider downgrading to normal (not to easy, that is definitely overkill). This game`s bosses are harder than cs3.

    And if you're the type that likes to do everything possible, take it slow and do it in short bursts. Trying to do as much as possible in a single session WILL burn you out very easily, since there is a lot more to do in this game, including a LOT of reading, compared to the last one.

    And on the off-chance you didn`t play cold steel 3, go back-- you`d be missing out
    That aside, this is a great entry to a great series. I`m glad I started.    … Expand
  6. pride5123
    Oct 31, 2020
    10
    The true ending is fine, it definitely elicited some emotions out of me. I'm still definitely satisfied with the overall package, and lookingThe true ending is fine, it definitely elicited some emotions out of me. I'm still definitely satisfied with the overall package, and looking forward to where they take the series next.… Expand
  7. splendidly
    Oct 31, 2020
    10
    The best thing about the Trails series is its meticulous world-building. The high points of the story are great and make for a compellingThe best thing about the Trails series is its meticulous world-building. The high points of the story are great and make for a compelling tale. However, It's not a good place for new players to start. This is because it requires prior knowledge of the series.
    Cold Steel IV is a game of enormous volume. There's a good number of great moments in CS4. With a setting that large and bringing together main characters from all over the Trails series, not only united Class VII, but also Trails in the Sky and Zero to Azure, the game may have felt highly majestic.
    CS4 make for some of the best rpg experiences.    … Expand
  8. DreamCore
    May 23, 2021
    0
    Unfortunately the Cold Steel series is just an empty shell of the Sky and Zero/Azure games. They decided to split it into 4 games instead ofUnfortunately the Cold Steel series is just an empty shell of the Sky and Zero/Azure games. They decided to split it into 4 games instead of 2, filling it to the brim with filler content and cheesy repetitive dialogue. All 4 Cold Steel games have identical gameplay, and cheesy, often filler dialogue together with lots of bland fetch quests. The series has not evolved at all since Zero/Azure, but rather taken several steps back in order to make as much money as possible with as little effort as possible.

    I was hoping that the 4th game would step things up, but unfortunately 80% of it is just bland filler that doesn't add any value to the main story. It's just there in order to extend the gameplay and justify splitting it across 4 games. It has really overstayed its welcome at this point and I only finished it to get the story conclusion, more often than not using the "high speed mode" and even skipping the occasional repetitive dialogue.

    Sure, there is some nostalgia with characters from all the previous games coming together, but for people who didn't play Sky and Zero/Azure this means that they wont understand who most of these characters are which would completely ruin the experience. Couple this with the fact that there isn't even an official english release of Zero/Azure.

    They didn't even bother fixing stuff between the 4 games. For example enemies still doesn't path find and still try to walk through walls.

    If this low quality bar is what Falcom is going for from now on, this will be the last LoH game I play.    … Expand

See all 72 User Reviews

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#37 Best PS4 Game of 2020
39
#39 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020

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