The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Reviews

The Trails series makes an exciting return to portable consoles.

Overall, the differences between the PC and PS4 ports are minuscule. The game plays very well on both with little to no lag. This title is now available for $49.99 USD and released on the PlayStation 4 on June 4th, while the PC version has been available since 2018. If you want to play a good JRPG series for less than the price of a new 60.00 game, then these are the games you want to play. Good story, great graphics, and well thought out characters.

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.

Overall, The Legends of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel is a very good introduction to the Trails series. It manages to get you invested into the main story, enough to make you want to know more without revealing too much that may affect story consistency. Throughout my playthrough, I would often get lost in trying to uncover more about each character, only to be stopped by the game telling me it’s not time yet or that’s all they can offer me for now. In regards to the battles, they added a Turbo Mode which significantly speeds up the battles, which saved me a couple of minutes from grinding. My only problem would be not being able to skip cutscenes, I encountered a situation where I wasn’t able to save before turning off my PS4 and had to go through the whole cutscene all over again. Pressing the Circle button does make the cutscene progress faster, but still, I just would’ve wanted them to add a skip function for instances where you didn’t save and have to go through the cutscene again.

Looking to immerse yourself in the world of RPG? Look no further than The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel because this here is a great JRPG. Initially released on PS3 and PS Vita in Japan in 2013, it’s now playable on the PS4. Here’s The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel game review.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel plays like a greatest hits compilation of JRPG tropes and mechanics, and that is (largely) a really good thing.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, or just Trails of Cold Steel as it's more often referred to, is a turn based, character-driven role-playing title from Japanese developer Nihon Falcom. It's a story of friendship and war, all told from the perspective of Rean Schwarzer, a newly enrolled student at the prestigious Thors Military Academy.

Cold Steel boasts strong music and exceptional voice acting, which livens up the story a decent bit. The soundtrack, particularly the battle themes, are catchy and add some real excitement to each battle. The voice work is a highlight of the game, as the English voices are fitting and full of energy. Each character’s voice lays the groundwork for their character’s emotions or characteristics, making them feel more robust and full of life.

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.

In the end, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel ended up turning into a pleasant surprise and one that took way longer to beat than expected. The game took a solid 50 hours to get through and was rushing through the game. An enjoyable story, decent gameplay, a wonderful atmosphere and more importantly, a change of pace from other RPGs we’re used to seeing on the PC. A worthy follow-up to the PC release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC that we received years ago.

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.

Battles and hormones rage in this fresh PC port of part one of the Trails of Cold Steel trilogy. A robust combat system and political intrigue make up the bulk of the game, with relationship building, fishing, and other pursuits help to support the main thrusts.

An unashamedly old school role-player that nevertheless does its best to attract new players and entertain existing fans.

Many traditional role-playing games get a bad rap for taking too long to let you experience the best they have to offer. Whether it's poor pacing, tutorial-heavy introductions, or a repetitious structure, the entry barrier can be difficult to overcome. With Cold Steel, I was eager to jump back into combat and exploration throughout the entire journey. That's what makes it such a delight - every component is so well-done and wonderfully paced that no part outstays its welcome, making The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel one of the most absorbing JRPGs I've encountered since Persona 4.

Despite my gripes with the game and the struggle to make it through achingly slow opening chapter, the care and detail that went into the game is clear to see, and I know there are JRPG fans that live to appreciate the kind of meticulous detail that this game contains. Trails of Cold Steel wants you to strap in for the long haul, and as the first of three chapters it’s not afraid to take its time. If you want a JRPG that isn’t afraid to soak you in story until you’re nothing but wrinkles, this is absolutely the game for you.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel follows a lot of classic JRPG conventions, and as a result, it doesn’t do a whole lot of things that haven’t been done before, and better elsewhere. But the combat system still holds up, and the characters are charming enough to see the story through until the end.