The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV

Though it treads familiar ground in terms of gameplay, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is a fantastic farewell to the saga and its cast of characters.

The Trails of Cold Steel saga has gradually become a mainstay of the JRPG genre. This last chapter concludes the series in an intelligent, sumptuous and hilarious way, as per tradition.

Cold Steel IV, for the best and for the worst, keeps all main characteristics from it's story arc and, finally, closes the Erebonia story for the Trails series. Here we have one of the best modern RPGs and the Switch's portability makes the game even better to be enjoyed.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is massive. It’s massively fun and massively rewarding. Fans of JRPGs can get delightfully lost in its deep story, its numerous characters, and its battle system that provides a ridiculous amount of options for customization. Just make sure you’ve played Trails of Cold Steel III (and have at least read up on I and II).

To enjoy The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV you must at least have finished the previous chapter: it's simply imperative. Recommendations aside, this is an excellent role-playing game, technically not up to date but demonstrating Nihon Falcon's mastery of the genre.

For those who already know and love Trails of Cold Steel, it would seem worthwhile to seek out the other two Trails series to really appreciate the richness of the world of Zemuria and the scores of character interactions and references that come up in Trails of Cold Steel IV, an excellent bookend to the incredible journey of Rean and Class VII. I’ve always said that the mark of a great role-playing game is in that bittersweet feeling you get when it’s over. I’m happy to have seen this story to completion, but for a while I’ll be sad that my adventures with this likeable and colorful cast have also ended.

Overall, I spent well over one hundred twenty hours playing the Switch port of Trails of Cold Steel IV. While I certainly felt that the game dragged at times, it was ultimately still a solid JRPG experience. At times, “the end of saga” might have felt like it was going out with more of a whimper than a roar, but the conclusion of the True Ending more than makes up for the game’s pacing struggles. I’m glad I got the opportunity to experience the ending of the Erebonian story arc, and even with some Switch-specific flaws, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is yet another truly solid addition to the console’s JRPG lineup. If you picked up the Switch’s port of Trails of Cold Steel III, then the fourth game is certainly worth playing on that system as well.

The only real flaw of the title is the inability to fully understand the complex and exciting story told by Nihon Falcom without first completing the previous eight episodes of the saga. A problem that on Nintendo Switch is further aggravated by the non-publication of the indispensable Trails of Cold Steel I and II.

The finale of the civil war drama might have an outdated presentation, but relies on a deep story as well as faceted turn based tactics as well as character development.

A long game, with a lot of investment on its plot and an improved combat system, it may not look the best but its simple visual outlook won't be an issue for longtime fans. Although not all its elements are essential, those who were looking forward to the conclusion of the series will be more than satisfied with Trails of Cold Steel IV.

Trails of Cold Steel IV is the climax that fans of the series deserve, comprehensively delivering on its promise as the end of a saga while setting up future plotlines that are sure to affect the lore in all kinds of fascinating ways. That said, this is also a rather weird game to recommend. Newcomers absolutely should not play this game first, given that it’s a concluding chapter to an ongoing saga years in the making. Longtime fans, on the other hand, don’t need any convincing, as they’re going to get this game if they’ve already invested the hundreds of hours of legwork that set it up. Assuming that's you, Trails of Cold Steel IV is a spectacular RPG experience that no fan of the genre will want to miss out on, and we can comfortably say that it’s worth your time.

Overall, Trails of Cold Steel IV is a great portable experience but a subpar one docked. Having experienced Trails of Cold Steel I and II originally on PS Vita before replaying them on PS4, I'm glad that fans of portable gaming can now play the entire Trails of Cold Steel saga on the go. Trails of Cold Steel IV brings Falcom's massive JRPG to a portable for the first time offering a great experience when played in handheld mode and it is easily one of the best JRPGs on the system.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV doesn't have the same narrative depth as its predecessor, but it remains a solid, long-lived JRPG with a significant amount of characters and things to do.

At the very least, you should start with the original Trails of Cold Steel, something that isn’t possible on Switch right now. But when I think of all of the time and effort you’d have to put in to get to the ideal state to enjoy this game, all I can conclude is that it’s probably not worth it. If you’ve come this far, by all means: this is an ending, and you might as well experience it. But had I known back in the day how it all would turn out, I’m not sure I would have gotten into Cold Steel in the first place. I was really hoping for something better than “well, it’s fine". Well… it’s fine.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is yet another Falcom production overflowing with good ideas, interesting characters and a very solid world-building, which clashes with the harsh truth of a limited budget that cripples the production quality and, overall, the variety of the experience.