The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III

1. Sholva

   Mar 9, 2021

   10

   The Legends of Heroes series of games always do at least one very important thing that some other JRPGs or even regular RPGs don’t get right:The Legends of Heroes series of games always do at least one very important thing that some other JRPGs or even regular RPGs don’t get right: a story that spans and connects among different sagas, yet being able to tell us the origin stories of so many characters in every single of those sagas, while doing it correctly, and more importantly, consistently.
   
   With the Cold Steel saga, being composed of 4 games, things started a bit slow in the first game, it was the introduction of these so many important characters, with little references to the previous material we knew, which was the Trails in the Sky saga. A very good game still, with one of the most famous cliffhangers in the series, and overall it felt quite epic really.
   
   Cold Steel II was a big improvement in many fronts especially when it comes to character development and connection with other games in the franchise, you could feel things were starting to truly connect everywhere, also a really amazing game.
   
   And then here we are in Cold Steel III: this is yet another great evolution of the saga, and the series overall. The characters of older games are more mature now, and the new characters introduced have some of the most well written and complete developments in the series, in my opinion, for being just done in a single game.
   
   This is Nihon Falcom’s strength, story, character development and world building, and we get to care about every single one of these characters, even some of the casual NPCs we can find around, or interact and learn about their lives in secondary quests. It is Falcom’s seal of quality for these games, and we have tons of that in Cold Steel III.
   
   This game is probably the longest so far in the saga, maybe IV will be longer, it seems everything points towards that, which I’m happy about, there’s a lot to cover.
   
   I don’t do spoiler reviews but…yeah, I really enjoyed CS III’s story overall and that ending...I was expecting something like that, since this is Falcom we’re talking about, they had to set the stakes even higher for the last game in this saga, and they did.
   
   This is also a game that provides great legit good fan service moments, not just the cheap kind of fan service, but the one directed to fans of the series as a whole, not just Cold Steel fans. And those moments, some subtle, some more prominent, are all great and very well done.
   
   On the technical side of things, being used to the top notch quality level standards that the PC ports for CS I and II set, Durante and his team at PH3 Games set the bar even higher once more for CS III’s port: it is simply amazing and it really spoils the hell out of me having such high quality PC versions of these games, because then I go and play other PC ports from other games and the experience isn’t that great on the PC settings front in other games, haha :P
   
   I first played this game when it came out for PC on a R5 3600 and GTX 1070, and it ran pretty nice with everything maxed. Controls are nice, and the option to use either keyboard prompts or PS4/Xbox buttons is always welcome. There are a plethora of graphical settings to choose from, as usual, in the launcher, so you can expect to run being able to run this game in a wide range of PCs too.
   
   Now that the PC version of CS IV has a release date for April 9th, 2021, it is a good time to revisit these games once more, and as usual, keep on dreaming for what’s to come.
   
   Cold Steel III is a great game in the series, overall, which improves a lot on the new full 3D style this saga introduced, and that Falcom seems to have completely embraced in future games.
   
   I also want to give a big shout-out to the incredible job and performance of the English voice actors in this game, and the whole CS saga so far: without their great skills some of the characters wouldn't feel the way they do, I know they sound great in Japanese as well, but this English localization team did a very good job, there's a lot of incredible talent here and hopefully they continue using most of them in future games, they deserve it. The translation to English is also really good, kudos to the team them as well.
   
   Finally, reviewing a Falcom game not mentioning the soundtrack is absolutely epic and badass seems like sacrilege to me, and yeah in this game we get some very nice tracks worthy of the best Falcom games, I love listening to them even after playing their games, quite often in fact. Some tracks, especially for the break / slice of life segments in the game remind me a lot of another great Falcom game: Tokyo Xanadu, obviously since it's the same team making music for all these games, but it's so cool, really, I love their soundtracks.
   
   Playing these games just...makes me smile a lot, I feel so happy despite so many heart-wrenching moments too in these games, and I can only hope this continues to be the case in future games and sagas, and I can't wait.… Expand

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2. Xitomz

   Jun 7, 2022

   10

   10/10 a strong contender for the best Kiseki game. Incredible new cast of characters, better pace, more important stuff going on, several10/10 a strong contender for the best Kiseki game. Incredible new cast of characters, better pace, more important stuff going on, several plots unfolding at the same time, one of the best endings of the franchise... I'm out of words.… Expand

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4. Hasu20

   Mar 28, 2020

   10

   With its solid gameplay mechanics, excellent world-building and character development, The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel III is anWith its solid gameplay mechanics, excellent world-building and character development, The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel III is an excellent Japanese role-playing and a more than worthy new entry in the long-running series. Some small flaws like slow pacing do not impact the experience as much as the lack of knowledge about the entire series do, which lessens the impact of several events and plot development. This makes Trails of Cold Steel III a game that must be played only after the previous two entries in the series have been completed.… Expand

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5. Luigichief

   Feb 18, 2021

   9

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Trails of Cold Steel is not a quadrology, it is two duologies. And when you analyze the climax of each chapter you notice that this game is different, having fewer chapters and less 'climaxes' favored the game and its pace. What made this Trails more dynamic and full of action for the whole franchise.
   
   That 'post-prologue' wings Cold Steel I found a lot more or less. As for the prologue itself, I really liked it, it leaves some mysteries in the air and introduces everything in a very natural way. Chapter 1 starts very slowly, but then Ouroboros invades the base on the first night of the field trip, I didn't see this coming. What I found really bad was Rean sending the kids to school and calling true class VII to solve the problem. And finally we see Hamel for the first time, very exciting, the final climax is very good too and develops the characters a little thanks to the consequences of Rean leaving class VII behind. Other than that chapter 1 has several mysteries, they are all great and leave you stuck and involved in the story wanting more. Some of them are the past of Musse and Ash, what exactly happened to Rean in the war in North Ambria, who is that girl who just appeared to him, what are Ouroboros plans, how did they control that giant Mecha, like Jaeger God is alive, what his goal is and how he has a divine knight.
   Chapter 2 starts showing the daily life of Alisa and a little of Emma, ​​I thought it was good. The field trip was at Crossbell, I didn't expect to be back there anytime soon but it makes sense to be in Juna's hometown as the first was in Kurt's. The part in the Crossbell tower was very good. I didn't like the way the script 'organized' Juna's development, they cut the scene and then lost weight for me, it had to be just one shot. But the climax of the chapter was very, even the number of mysteries just increasing. And the outcome is exciting, in addition to some other moments scattered throughout the chapter. Too good indeed.
   The introduction of chapter 3 was much better than the previous one and gave a forshadowing monster. The letters that Rean receives from the master and the father are both very good and impactful. The first day of the field trip is cool, but the second much more. Not to mention the nights of the two days, on the first we have the past of Sara and Claire, both very good and exciting and on the second a focus on Ash and Musse, with emphasis on Rean talking about the students' influences on each other and all scene with Musse, seriously, who is she? On the third day some of this was revealed. But my god, this third day starts tense and goes until the end, controlling both classes at the same time was very interesting and as the script tied everything up it was very good, although a little anti-climatic on Zephyr's part, they were totally left out . And I hardly expected that Director Aurelia would be canonically stronger than Arianrhod. That 'epilogue' that generated George's twist, goddamn it, that was hard to predict but the 'dwarf boss' at the time I realized it was Professor Lughman.
   Chapter 4 starts well, but seeing that scene of Crow's tomb knowing that he was alive was very flamboyant, I totally disagree with bringing him back, now it seems that nobody will ever die and thanks to the Cold Steel arc the series will take this bad reputation. The meeting of true / old class VII was very good, closing the day very well, but I wanted a little more fan service. The mission of day 2 of the 100% ultra protective Rean in relation to the sister was very good. Final bonding events in general are very good, but some are not so good. The end of the chapter is phenomenal, several things happen and the dialogues between Rean and Osborne and the Emperor are very interesting. That whole curse theme that manipulated a lot of people in the country including Ash, I found it really cool and very impactful (despite having a certain fear about how they dealt with it in the future).
   The Final Chapter begins with Heimdarll open and we see the consequences of the declaration of war against Calvard. But here comes the scene in the church and a whole good **** lore is revealed, in addition to resolved mysteries we discover that all organizations have joined and are against us. And man, Alisa's story has improved even more, that Professor Lughman was Alberith I already knew, but that he was also Alisa's father, far from her. If Falcom had made Alisa the main canonical heroine, the final climax would have a lot more weight as you would go against her father. Anyway, the final climax is very impressive and the writers were brilliant, made the heroes lose (like Avengers only that was done before), in addition to having 'supposed' deaths of the main cast of the series, Cold Steel 2 had something slightly similar, the heroes have completed all their goals and overcame adversity, only to discover that they have been manipulated. But here it was a total failure.… Expand

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6. BiancoBoii

   Oct 13, 2021

   9

   This is easily one of the best entries in the whole series. They expand the combat to make It more 'spicy' with the guard mechanic andThis is easily one of the best entries in the whole series. They expand the combat to make It more 'spicy' with the guard mechanic and honestly its one of my favorite battle system mechanics. The pacing is almost a 10/10 where they leave the first 10 hours of the game pretty boring, it get better but it takes a while for things to really kick off. Overall a must if you like JPRGs… Expand

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7. Wondux

   Jan 3, 2022

   8

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Although this is the third game of the Erabonia arc, it acted as the first game of the Erebonia arc's second part that shows Rean as an older person. I loved seeing Rean become a teacher, and I also loved the new characters. Absolutely loved all of them. As the first game of adult Rean's arc, this game was also very slow, but it was very fun with the new graphics and combat mechanics. I loved the world-building again and again. I loved seeing places mentioned in the previous games. I also loved how there are characters from the other arcs in "The Legend of Heroes".
   However, it became really annoying how the game keeps killing people and bringing them back "with a plot twist". It stops being a twist when it happens a million times. Now, whenever a character dies in the series I biologically can't get sad, because I know that they will come back later again. This really weakens the storytelling, everything becomes very predictable.… Expand

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8. GreenMenace

   Jun 19, 2022

   5

   Trails of Cold Steel III is the very definition of a mixed bag. To enjoy it, you have to come up with a strategy to approach the game. It’s aTrails of Cold Steel III is the very definition of a mixed bag. To enjoy it, you have to come up with a strategy to approach the game. It’s a good game underneath its flaws, and from what I’ve read, several fans of the Trails series think this is the best one yet. If you can’t tell yet, I’m not one of those people.
   
   Pros
   Trails has never looked this good
   Good story, good characters
   Connections to past games
   
   Cons
   Pacing problems
   TMI
   Lacks its niche
   
   I’ve been hooked on the Trails games. It took a bit for Trails of Cold Steel to grow on me, but this one is a little rough around the edges. You can add two points to this review if you decide to skip the parts that are boring. I was always so worried I would miss something, I’d patiently sit through a monologue—only to realize that Rean was just reminiscing…don’t let the voiced dialogue fool you. Chances are, nothing’s gonna happen. The plot’s not thickening and characters aren’t developing. It’s just…there.
   
   This game has a lot going for it. I like the references to its past games—they are obvious, yet they aren’t alienating. Agate was my favorite character from Trails in the Sky and I was happy to see him here. At the same time, despite the turbo button (which is mandatory to cut down on time—60 hours is a long time), the game takes its sweet time panning across buildings and scenery, even on turbo. Yes, the game looks better than ever, but let that speak for itself. Oftentimes, there are pointless conversations and small talk. Small talk in video games should only be done as necessary—to smooth out conversations. It should NOT dominate the experience as a whole. Sometimes the characters discuss orbments and science. Rean regularly has to go dungeoneering for science. Characters react to Rean’s exploits. Rean talks about the good ol’ days with several of his classmates—each at different points in the game. Tita designs stuff. Characters try to act like a normal person oftentimes by asking “you still doing ______?” and forcing you as an outsider to watch small talk occur between NPCs that doesn’t really matter. A whole bunch of things were required for me to read this game, but not a lot of it was interesting or relevant. 100%ing this game would be a real chore because I didn't want to immerse myself in this game longer than I needed to.
   
   A part of me just wants this to be a new pair of games—separate from the previous two Cold Steel games. I didn’t really feel the need to get to know the new characters, but the old ones basically went poof, “we got other lives now.” The guys are too macho this go-around so I found the female characters to be much more enjoyable. There are less characters than Cold Steel I but it’s just as long of a game.
   
   What bothered me most about this game was two things:
   A) The game took twenty irl hours turboing for it to amp up its speed past a snail’s pace. And, B) The game’s plot strays too close to Trails in the Sky while maintaining the same formula for unraveling the story as the first Cold Steel game (a game that had almost twice the number of characters you had to meet).
   
   I can’t elaborate more because I don’t want to spoil either plot, but you can easily draw parallels between the plots of Liberl and Erebonia and how they play out. It’s nothing short of disappointing. Maybe they’ll be able to explain why in a future entry, but for now, I’m disappointed. Many of the plot twists were ones I saw coming a mile away. Like…it’s starting to get a little corny. Bracers knocking people unconscious I get. But military personnel charging armed terrorists and nobody gets hurt most of the time?? It’s not like I want people to get hurt, but it’s hard to feel immersed in the story when I have to pause for an eye roll.
   
   Orders are an interesting way to shake up the pace. Trails of Cold Steel outshines its predecessors in graphics and in combat. The game has its moments—but they are diamonds buried in the rough. This game is not what drew me into Cold Steel, or Falcom’s games in general. If this had been the first entry, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with the series at all.
   
   You have to find the game behind a wall of reminiscence. I’m not talking about the mentions of previous series of games, I’m talking about Trails of Cold Steel’s references to itself. Do yourself a favor and skip each one of those unless you felt attached to said referenced character. What sets Trails of Cold Steel apart from other JRPGs in general is the way it tries to develop secondary characters. It has a lot of them, and it tried a little too hard this game to keep up with Cold Steel I/II characters while developing a new batch. It was enough to make me take breaks from the game, but not enough to turn me away from the series as a whole. It was too much information, and not enough heart.… Expand

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