High-Speed mode is still here and as with most of the Cold Steel games, the animations are slow, especially in battle so it is welcome to have this feature still available. Further yet, there’s yet more troubling scenes of over gratuitous exposure to the female cast which really should not exist at all at this point.īrave Orders are toned down a little in Cold Steel IV with shorter durations.Īs with its predecessor, Trails of Cold Steel IV is using the same engine and as such, despite being one of Falcom’s best looking games, is still average when it comes to visuals on the PS4. Any involving the male characters are some of the best in the series but the ones involving the female cast does seem to suffer due to Falcom wanting to push the romance angle meaning that nearly all of the characters are focused on Rean. It does feel like most of the questions are answered, especially where all things Cold Steel are considered, and every character gets an important part of closure however, with that said, the Bonding Events are very hit and miss in terms of characterization. The game is certainly stronger in it’s final third as all of the plot points reach their conclusion and with the story complete, I was satisfied with the outcome while the few new mysteries are enough to keep you engrossed for what’s to come. It’s clear that Trails of Cold Steel IV does suffer some pacing issues, not too different from Trails of Cold Steel II, especially during the middle of the game, but there’s plenty of scenes mixed in during that time that really pushes the narrative forward. The burning question with Trails of Cold Steel IV’s story is whether it’s a satisfying conclusion to the Erebonian arc and where it takes The Legend of Heroes series from that point. …a lot of the plot points from the Liberl arc (Trails in the Sky) and Crossbell are resolved here and get some great screen time. At the very least, if you’re unable to experience those games yourself, I’d advise people to read up on the events of those games as characters, events and antagonists will all come up throughout the course of the game (and even some of the more minor plots with the NPCs in those games are referred to). On the other hand, unlike Trails of Cold Steel III, you are missing out on a lot of story and references having zero knowledge of that. For long term fans of the entire series, this is incredible to witness, your favorite characters all teaming up to tackle the larger threat and for the first time, seeing them in the Cold Steel engine is a sight to behold. Yes, Thor’s Class VII and Rean Schwarzer are still the focus but a lot of the plot points from the Liberl arc (Trails in the Sky) and Crossbell are resolved here and get some great screen time. Indeed, you can consider Trails of Cold Steel IV almost like an epilogue to all three series akin to a Marvel’s Avengers Endgame situation.Ĭharacters across the entire Trails series will have major parts to play here.Īs such, the cast in Trails of Cold Steel IV is staggering, one of the largest I’ve seen in an RPG and one that combines all of the heroes from the three subseries mentioned above. For the most part, you could have started with Trails of Cold Steel (or even III as Falcom claimed) and understood most of the game despite missing out on some references but that changes completely here with Trails of Cold Steel IV, a game that features massive references and characters from both the Trails in the Sky and Crossbell games throughout. ![]() ![]() ![]() As expected, you’ll at the very least need to have played that game and as touched on before with Trails of Cold Steel III, there were references to the previous subseries such as the unreleased (but fan translated) Crossbell duology due to the places you visit and people you meet. As you may deduce from the dropped subtitle, this is the final game in The Legend of Heroes’ Trails of Cold Steel subseries and it’s one of some great moments mixed in with some unfortunate pacing issues, not unlike Trails of Cold Steel II.Īs always with Falcom’s Legend of Heroes series, the best place to start is with the storyline and with the huge cliffhanger at the end of last year’s Trails of Cold Steel III, there’s a lot of ground to cover in the final game. ![]() Hot off the success of last year’s Trails of Cold Steel III, the Legend of Heroes series returns to Erebonia for one final hurrah in this year’s Trails of Cold Steel IV, dropping the “End of Saga” subtitle for its western release.
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