Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

[Commander]

I don't have much to talk about for this game as I've only just started playing it, but I must say that it's quite the gem. I don't want to jump to a conclusion but this game does have potential to be my favorite game of the year...despite how much I really liked other games such as Xenoblade X and Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon.

I'm only actually getting into the Legend of Heroes series, but I can see why people talk about it. The games are actually one really big lore world that connects which is rare for video games entirely. It's my own personal opinion but the text and story are very well written and this game I can already tell will be text/cut-scene heavy but not Xenosaga cut-scene heavy.

As far as combat goes...it's best to describe it as a mix of tales of symphonia, fire emblem awakening, and xenosaga. I know that makes no sense, but it's kind of interesting and hard to explain. It's really simple to learn though mastering it will save your butt. I'm still in chapter one...and I've struggled with a few of the enemy encounters on normal mode. Bosses are on the easy side, but I'm terrified of what they'd be in nightmare as they hit pretty hard.

I can't give a better review of it because I'm not that far plot wise, but I really enjoy the characters and the military setting. The truth is that I don't have much to complain about other than stuff being missable or exclusive...which reminded me of Persona 3/4 type deal. I also had the ordeal of almost missing out on it as my Gamestop only had one copy left. It's pretty cheap for a PS3 game so if you're on the border, I'd give it a go.

[Chevaleresse]

What systems has it come out on? I really want to play it after accidentally stumbling across the OST, but can't really afford a new console at the moment.

[Stalkerkain]

Stop giving me games to play. I haven't even started Xenoblade Chronicles X.

[Felicity]

I've played maybe the first 5th of the first trails in the sky chapter. Thus, I'm not exactly an authority on the games. Still, the game did have it's own charming feel to it. Some of the combat was kinda lack luster to me, as unique as it is, but that probably comes down to how limited the skill system was. Again, only had a small amount of experience with that one segment of the franchise, so I'm going to give the rest of the series the benefit of the doubt and hope it was fixed.

[Commander]

Stop giving me games to play. I haven't even started Xenoblade Chronicles X.

You probably do not want to see my backlog of video games/RPGs. I just stumble upon them somehow. Don't worry, the game ain't going anywhere soon, but I still haven't gotten far so I can't tell how much to recommend it. It's just a very well written story so far is all I can say.

What systems has it come out on? I really want to play it after accidentally stumbling across the OST, but can't really afford a new console at the moment.

This game is for PS3 and I believe the sequel is also on PS3 which is planned for the summer. It's a really good swan song for the PS3 similar to Xenoblade Chronicles was for the Wii. TBH, I don't even know if they'll port it to the PS4 or not.

I've played maybe the first 5th of the first trails in the sky chapter. Thus, I'm not exactly an authority on the games. Still, the game did have it's own charming feel to it. Some of the combat was kinda lack luster to me, as unique as it is, but that probably comes down to how limited the skill system was. Again, only had a small amount of experience with that one segment of the franchise, so I'm going to give the rest of the series the benefit of the doubt and hope it was fixed.

I can't really judge Trials of the Sky as...I only got through the first dungeon and that did drag on for a little bit trying to learn the controls. I'll likely get back to playing that game, but I really do enjoy Cold Steel. I'd go with Normal Mode if you don't care for combat or difficulty that much as it's kind of the perfect difficulty to enjoy through the story while enjoy a slight challenge. Enemies hit hard though just a warning. Like one enemy attack will make you lose 1/4th or 1/5th of your hp and sometimes there will be 8 or 9 enemies in one encounter. I like it, but I could see people feeling it a little lackluster (though from what I read most people play sky for the story, not the gameplay). Most battles are really quick so it's pretty enjoyable.

[Commander]

I swear to god I need to stop playing insanely long RPGs.

I quite literally have been playing the game since the 22nd and just beat it today. I can already tell you my opinion of the game from the start is actually very different than from the start of the game. I must say that you really cannot judge this game until you see that the end (which is technically a to be continued screen). And trust me when I say you're probably going to be buying the second game if you play this one. Anyways, I'll actually give a thorough review of this game starting with the negatives which you'll understand.

There's really nothing that particularly sticks out in the game aside from a massive amount of lore due to six games taking place in the same world. LoH Trails of Cold Steel focuses on Erebonia and gives quite a bit of detail. With that said, this story does drag on and feels a bit tedious and very linear when you do that side stuff such as quests, but fortunately quests aren't all bad, but it's definitely a ton of filler if you don't care about learning backgrounds of characters and the world. Most of these will take ten minutes the most if they're optional. There's also a bit of lag and freezing, but I only noticed it closer to the end of the game (I have no idea what caused the freezing, but it's probably just my game or PS3 and it only did it starting the game up). The game is also very text heavy and there will be many scenes without voices (the only ones that bothered me were the areas a character would talk, but Rean wouldn't). Then there's tree graphics. The trees look ugly in this game and the graphics aren't the greatest in the world, but they work.

Despite all of that, it doesn't hold the game back at all. This is a very story driven RPG so combat isn't the greatest, but it's definitely a lot of fun as it promotes going over the top against enemies. There's a lot of little things and some of the late game bosses (and a certain dungeon's enemies) will give you a bit of trouble, but it's very enjoyable for someone just joining in on the franchise like myself. I really like the Arcus link system as it can pull you out of some very dangerous situations (and once in a blue moon screw a certain protagonist over). It takes a while to get used to, but it's fun. The only gripe I have is that you can't have any more than Seven characters in a party at once (though you'll be limited to just 4 until chapter 2). And I'll just say that Laura is a freaking god at the start of the game and Fie is kind of bad, but in later chapters, Fie is probably one of my better characters (though I still use Laura due to her bulk). All the characters are different which makes using them a bit more fun. Just don't expect the greatest or most well thought out system and you'll be fine.

I suppose I should talk about everything else before going into the story. The music in this game is great and I love the boss themes. (I'll link one below the paragraph to give you and idea). There's a ton of music and it just always fits the mood. I also really enjoyed the voice acting (especially a certain instructor with a love of beer). I think a couple character voices pretty much make the character, but there isn't anything cringe worthy (though sometimes Alissa's voice irritates me, but only in battles). The graphics look pretty good, but the hair is a little odd and trees. The only other issue is that this game has very linear maps and won't be much outside of straight lines so don't expect too much from it. There are a couple cool things, but I'm sealing my lips as you'll have to play the game to find out about them.

Now for the story and I want to get something off my chest. The first 20 minutes of the game are complete shit and pointless. Seriously, removing them would've made it so much better. Basically, they open the game to a later part in the story for traveling back to the beginning like a certain game called Chrono Cross. Unlike Chrono Cross...dammit that might be a spoiler, but they had little reason to put that there in a nutshell. If you remove that section out, the story is very solid and really well written. The game is basically divided into 6 chapters plus a prologue where they go through a pattern of school life-exam-field trip in that order. While they do repeat, all 6 chapters build up into what I would call a finale for that chapter, but the bigger focus is building up characters for the most part. Speaking of characters, I should tell you that the writers really don't belittle any character. I hate the whole name thing (you'd understand what I mean when you see it), but if they have it, expect to see them again such as Claire aka the Icy Maiden.

I said earlier this game has a lot of lore going for it and I'm not kidding. You can actually read about it from newspaper articles, books in the library, and there's even a novel about a vampire (haven't read it). You even get to visit a couple hometowns of your party members in which you learn a bit more about them (though that doesn't always mean they're the star of the chapter). The only thing I'll say is that this game is for development and buildup so yeah it might be a little slow, but it was enjoyable due to that. Seriously, I loved this game and I don't know why. And just a warning DO NOT WATCH ANYTHING FROM THE SECOND GAME AS IT HAS A HUGE SPOILER!

As for closing thoughts, I want to give this game a 9.5/10 as it really deserves it, but I would say it's more of an 8.5 or 9 due to its faults. You'll have to push through the start but after a point the story gets really good due to that slow building. If you enjoyed games like Tales of Symphonia, Persona, or even Xenosaga (or really classical rpgs FFs) you might want to give this one a shot (it's 40 dollars on PS3 and totally worth it). Just a warning though: the ending of this game only marks the halfway point in the story and not a complete wrap up. I'll be playing other games in the series while I wait for this game's sequel to come out.