The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III

Trails of Cold Steel 3 is a masterclass in storytelling that improves nearly everything in the franchise's history.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III continues to craft an excellent story with solid combat and is handled with enough care that fans can rest easy when it comes to the series’ future.

The only real fault you can attribute to Trails of Cold Steel III is how it doesn't quite match the lofty heights the previous two titles deservedly reached. Even so, for those who can look past the microscopic excursions into overdrawn dialogue, technical hitches and a less-than-focal attention to the characters it introduces, as opposed to those it brings back, there is still so much to admire and respect about Nihon Falcom's craft. A combat system, packed full of mechanics and systems at play, that still finds ways to improve and enhance the opportunity for a sound strategy. And above all e...

I could practically trace my whole writing career via Falcom’s The Legend of Heroes series. As a whole, it’s been around since before I was born, but I was right there hustling as a budding games critic when Trails in the Sky dropped for the PSP. It wasn’t the first to be localized, but it was the first to really find an audience. Nearly a decade later, this world’s story is still being told. Spanning across multiple continents and real world gaming platforms, we’ve finally landed on the first native PS4 entry. Trails of Cold Steel III is the latest in one of the biggest epics in JRPG history ...

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III brings the Erebonia arc of the Trails series to its second half - under a new western publisher. Here's how everything turned out:

It's best to get this across right away - Trails of Cold Steel III isn't the best entry point for the "Trails" series, which first saw an English release back

The Trails series has managed, not without some difficulty, to become one of the most beloved JRPG series in the West still running today. Most of its success is thanks to excellent worldbuilding and writing, which makes the series fell more like a novel than a video game. The world feels more alive than any other JRPG setting, and even regular NPCs have their own personal stories that evolve throughout the games, helping to make the world feel alive and not centered on just the main characters.

All in all, Trails of Cold Steel III is an excellent Legend of Heroes game that brings the series to a more modern standard. The graphics are a lot better, the battle system is a lot more in-depth if not easy to break and the story is intriguing throughout. If you’re new to the series or have only played the previous Cold Steel games however, you’ll find yourself lost at times with the overall plot and many of the new areas and characters introduced here.

Fans of the original Trails of Cold Steel will want to pick up this second entry, but newcomers might want to get up to speed before diving in.

Trails of Cold Steel III doesn’t do a whole lot with the transition to more powerful hardware, but it doubles down on everything that made the first two games great. The story and characters are the best they’ve ever been, the already excellent combat has been refined even further, and the stylish new battle camera and presentation overhaul give the experience much more character, even if the game is still held back by stiff animations and dated graphics. Cold Steel III is still a niche JRPG, but it’s time that more people gave this series a shot, especially with this game’s incredibly detaile...

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III the third 80-hour RPG in a series of equally lengthy games. If you're a newcomer, it's a daunting and probably foolish task to try and play this game. If you're a die-hard fan of the Cold Steel series already, you'll get plenty of satisfaction out of the continued plot development and engaging combat. Even the most dedicated of fans, though, are likely to be turned off by the dated visuals and confusing Legend of Heroes crossovers that mar an otherwise impressive story-driven JRPG.

Ultimately, these are straight ports and while they don't feel entirely necessary, it's the definitive way to play two solid RPGs. Cold Steel 3 sets the stage with a gripping story and entertaining gameplay, while Cold Steel 4 delivers an exciting conclusion that sometimes strains under its ambition. Together, they finish an integral part of one of gaming's most compelling sagas, and while I'm ready for the next adventure, revisiting Erebonia brought me no end of joy.