Since you’ve read this blog before, you might know that I played through the first and second arc of Falcom’s Trails series and also started the Cold Steel arc. Earlier this year I finished Trails of Cold Steel III & IV, the last two games of said arc, and now I’ve finally found some time to write down my thoughts on them.
In other words, it’s time for another Trails edition of Game I Play!
Released in the west in 2019, Cold Steel III & IV were the first games in the series developed primarily for PlayStation 4. In a desperate move to grow their player base, Falcom and new publisher NIS America marketed the games as a perfect entry point for new players to the Trails series.
They lied. Oh, how they lied.
Trails of Cold Steel III & IV are, as you might expect, direct sequels to the first two games in the Cold Steel arc. We’re still following Rean Schwarzer and Class VII, but it’s not the Class VII you know. Set two years after the events of Cold Steel II, Rean’s now an instructor for a brand new Class VII at the newly formed Thors Military Academy’s Branch Campus.
In typical Cold Steel fashion, the new students are simultaneously fantastic characters and almost entirely reliant on being anime tropes. If you can see past that, you’ll quickly come to like Juna, Kurt, Altina, Musse, and Ash—the students of new Class VII—just as much as you liked the original cast of Cold Steel. At first I was worried I wouldn’t get to meet my old classmates again, but this is Trails and everything eventually ties together.
As Cold Steel III & IV progresses, both characters and story from the previous games become relevant and interesting again. New revelations, twists, and turns show up at an even pace and reaches a fever pitch towards the end of Cold Steel III. Since Trails games are so interconnected I always avoid story spoilers in these write-ups, but I can assure you Falcom’s still got it in this department. If you’ve played all games in order, the pay-offs are huge—even though Cold Steel III acts more like a runway to it.
In fact, the real highlight is Trails of Cold Steel IV in particular. It doesn’t only tie back to the first Cold Steel games, it ties every game together. You’ll meet more returning characters than you thought was possible and story beats from the first games are well-integrated into the overarching plot. It’s here that the vision Falcom has for the Trails series becomes tangible, admirable, and—above all—really enjoyable. Riveting stuff!
Systems-wise, these games are very similar to the first two games in the series. This, of course, is not a problem at all. Quite the opposite! The turn-based combat is as good as ever, with rewarding customization and interesting systems to interact with. As your character roster grows you’ll have more options than ever. Even though the choices can feel overwhelming at times, it also means you can often just pick your favorite characters and make it work.
The bonding elements are still here and the sprinkle of dating sim is welcome. It’s like Persona Lite, less crucial for the gameplay elements but still fun to interact with. Since Falcom’s writing is so good and characters rarely “disappear” from the franchise, getting additional context for your favorite characters feels worthwhile. Though, as always, I question how appropriate some of these relationships actually are in terms of character age…
The step up to PlayStation 4 also came with an improvement of Falcom’s ability to make decent 3D graphics. While the first two games in the arc were made for PS3 and could look truly ugly, Cold Steel III & IV are at least fine. You’re not playing these games for the graphics, but every little bit helps.
It’s been a while since I finished these games. Since many elements are similar to the previous games and the story should definitely not be spoiled, I’ll end this write-up here. The Trails series is still great and still severely underrated. I recommend everyone with an interest in Japanese RPGs to give it a try. With the recently released remake of the first Trails game, there’s never been a better time to jump in either.
For me, the next step is to wrap up the first three arcs with the “epilogue game” Trails of Reverie. As soon as I find 140 hours to spend on that. I’m really looking forward to it.
Things I liked:
- Great writing, as always
- Cold Steel IV really ties the room together, man
- New and returning characters are all interesting and keep developing
- Solid turn-based combat and mechanics—why change what works?
- Fun side missions and tons of content
Things I didn’t like:
- The Cold Steel arc as a whole is more trope-y than the previous games were
- Cold Steel III is a bit slow to ramp up the story