[LEARN THE DIFFERENCE]
Has politics (BAD)
Don't has politics (GOOD)
Thank goodness they will never put politics in my beloved Kiseki games.
Has politics (BAD)
Don't has politics (GOOD)
Thank goodness they will never put politics in my beloved Kiseki games.
This review contains spoilers
VALIMAR THE ASHEN
It's peak.
took me a while to beat, but what an insane ending bro
rean schwarzer literally js like me fr
Fantastic game that takes time to build just like the other legend of heroes games. Only thing I can repeat is please play them in order from trails in the sky through crossbell. If not some of things mentioned are lost. The story was much more meaningful having played them all. Olivert is a favorite of mine and having played the others his character means more. The trails in the sky version of him is the best but this game is more about Rean. This is a long game. I spent 83 hours so be prepared.
Along with Sky FC this is probably one of the worst games in the trails series but its not ALL bad
however, the awful bosses and mediocre pacing really screw this game up as much as i like the cast
Even though it was my first, i aint gonna let nostalgia blind me
however, the awful bosses and mediocre pacing really screw this game up as much as i like the cast
Even though it was my first, i aint gonna let nostalgia blind me
This is good but what I don't understand is why you spend so much time at the swimming club with a bunch of young girls.
Going into cold steel 1 honestly my outlook was somewhat bleak considering the reputation it had prior to me playing it, but after completing the game i'm happy to know that the hate for it is so OVERBLOWNNN. And i assume most of the hate for it is either unmerited or from people who got into the series with this game without prior knowledge.
I think this game is pretty solid, taking it's time to explore Erebonia and building it up which is the massive appeal of the series for me. This is a given to any intro trails game so i didn't particularly feel it was 'slow' as i'm used to the formula. Albeit at first it may seem formulaic but it works well and Erebonia is so damn INTERESTING!
I Kind of had some concerns about the cast size being so massive and how they were gonna handle 9 whole characters but i believe CS1 handled it pretty well to build up the foundations for alot of these characters. I'm actually pretty invested into Rean as a character and i think he could be pretty amazing down the line.
Besides the usual shit, Trails games always have amazing soundtracks and this game is no exception. First time hearing 'Oinaru Chikara' is an experience plus the gameplay is as fun as it's always been.
THE ENDINGGGGG UOGHHHHHHHHHH. I'm hyped for the rest of the Cold steel games man
I think this game is pretty solid, taking it's time to explore Erebonia and building it up which is the massive appeal of the series for me. This is a given to any intro trails game so i didn't particularly feel it was 'slow' as i'm used to the formula. Albeit at first it may seem formulaic but it works well and Erebonia is so damn INTERESTING!
I Kind of had some concerns about the cast size being so massive and how they were gonna handle 9 whole characters but i believe CS1 handled it pretty well to build up the foundations for alot of these characters. I'm actually pretty invested into Rean as a character and i think he could be pretty amazing down the line.
Besides the usual shit, Trails games always have amazing soundtracks and this game is no exception. First time hearing 'Oinaru Chikara' is an experience plus the gameplay is as fun as it's always been.
THE ENDINGGGGG UOGHHHHHHHHHH. I'm hyped for the rest of the Cold steel games man
my first trails game no clue why it hooked me probably the soundtrack and that I hadnt played a game in such a long time but man I really enjoyed this game. This would suck to hop into after azure, I think its the slowest and most underwhelming of the arc intro trails game.
When I heard that Trails of Cold Steel had the weakest reception for a Trails game I was curious as to why that is. It's the first game in the Trails series that reaches AA level in terms of production quality, so you might assume that the overall experience would be better as a result. Other people probably assumed the same, as apparently it's popular to skip over the Trails in the Sky games and the Crossbell duology in favor of starting with this game.
After playing Trails of Cold Steel myself, I think the upgrade from a small-scale series to AA levels of production quality drew in a lot of unfavorable comparisons to contemporary games. Instead of being impressive for a small series, Trails is now underwhelming for AA standards. Trails of Cold Steel is a bit ugly. There's pop-in, ugly textures, way too many low-poly objects, stiff animations, and it all unfortunately gives off the appearance of a cheap looking game. And personally, I think the new presentation loses a bit of the charm of the older games. Trails of Cold Steel uses 3D character models instead of character portrait artwork to accompany its dialogue. The faces of the character models are way less expressive than the character portraits, so it sometimes feels like this game has less of a personality than the older ones. Speaking of lost personality, the treasure chests no longer talk to you when you check them twice. I'm aware that's something that was only in the English translations of the older games, but it was one of my favorite things about those games so it's unfortunate that it's not here.
The presentation is one thing, but I think the big reason why this game has a mixed reception from fans is its story. After Trails to Azure we've now reverted to a Trails in the Sky style setup game where very little happens for the majority of the story's duration. But where Cold Steel differs from Trails in the Sky First Chapter is that FC managed to have a self contained conflict that was resolved by the end of the game. The late stages of Trails in the Sky are about stopping a military coup. The late stages of Trails of Cold Steel are about putting on a school festival - with some random ass-pull final dungeon and final boss in the mix that come out of nowhere and don't push the story forward much. The climax of Trails of Cold Steel actually happens after the final boss... but there's no real additional final boss, just a series of gimmick fights before the game ends and tells you to play Trails of Cold Steel II. Don't get me wrong, the ending was actually my favorite part of the game, but I can't say this trend of making an uneventful 80 hour RPG where the ending is the only time something significant happens is something I'm very fond of. But I will say the ending definitely saved the game for me.
Trails of Cold Steel feels a bit like a Persona game, as it takes place at a military academy. There are school life segments in addition to the field studies which advance the main story. This is fine as a setup, but what I think Trails of Cold Steel gets wrong about this formula is that there's no sense of looming danger while the school life segments are going on. In the Persona games there's always a countdown until something bad happens while the school life segments are ongoing. In Trails of Cold Steel there's no danger during these parts so it just ends up feeling like a life-sim cozy game that drags the pacing of the story down. This is still the case even though the life sim elements of Trails of Cold Steel go by fairly quickly. Contextualizing the gameplay loop back into the main story is important. Also I just have to say... At this point in the Trails series I am really starting to get sick of all the busywork sidequests that are required to advance the story. It looks like the sidequest doors of Trails in the Sky the 3rd will remain unmatched.
If the purpose of this first Trails of Cold Steel game was to get the player to like the main cast, then they did a passable job. I liked how certain characters were antagonistic toward each other but became better friends due to the events of the story. But I will say that for all that effort in trying to make the characters likable, there are a number of characters that I straight up dislike. As far as first games go, it seems like Trails From Zero accomplished a lot more with its characters without any life sim elements and without a plot with the pacing of molasses. Also, because of certain characters, Trails of Cold Steel is the most cringeworthy game I've played since Xenoblade 2.
It might just be stockholm syndrome as a result of trying to play all the Trails games in sequence but I actually enjoy the combat of this game a fair bit. It's the same combat as in the previous games but the addition of link attacks is pretty fun. Combat is where the the upgrade in production values really shines. Having full character models instead of chibi sprites allows for attacks to have more impact with the increased animation quality. However, I'm not a fan of the changes to the orbment system. In previous games maximizing your orbments to get the best possible arts felt like a satisfying puzzle, but in Trails of Cold Steel the system has been dumbed down to just allow you to choose what arts you want directly. Lame.
My favorite thing about this game aside from the combat system is the music. Is it a hot take to say that Trails of Cold Steel has one of the best selections of music in the series? Every battle theme is good - even the normal battle theme, which is something I can't say about some of the other Trails games. It's my favorite normal battle theme in the series because it actually pumps you up for battle. And you can definitely tell that the sound team has gotten a lot better with JRPG town and field music since Trails in the Sky FC. I think Cold Steel I and Trails in the Sky the 3rd are my picks for best overall soundtrack so far. But I'll have to give them all another listen to be sure.
I don't hate this game. But there are a good amount of things that I don't like about it. I'd be a lot more negative if the game just ended after the final boss without the events that take place afterward. I think this could be the start of a good story arc but I'm a little concerned that the other Trails of Cold Steel games seem to have somewhat lower reception from fans as well. But one thing is for sure: don't start the Trails franchise with game. Not only does it spoil the events of Trails to Azure, but the slow pacing and uneventful story might be enough to make you disinterested in the franchise.
After playing Trails of Cold Steel myself, I think the upgrade from a small-scale series to AA levels of production quality drew in a lot of unfavorable comparisons to contemporary games. Instead of being impressive for a small series, Trails is now underwhelming for AA standards. Trails of Cold Steel is a bit ugly. There's pop-in, ugly textures, way too many low-poly objects, stiff animations, and it all unfortunately gives off the appearance of a cheap looking game. And personally, I think the new presentation loses a bit of the charm of the older games. Trails of Cold Steel uses 3D character models instead of character portrait artwork to accompany its dialogue. The faces of the character models are way less expressive than the character portraits, so it sometimes feels like this game has less of a personality than the older ones. Speaking of lost personality, the treasure chests no longer talk to you when you check them twice. I'm aware that's something that was only in the English translations of the older games, but it was one of my favorite things about those games so it's unfortunate that it's not here.
The presentation is one thing, but I think the big reason why this game has a mixed reception from fans is its story. After Trails to Azure we've now reverted to a Trails in the Sky style setup game where very little happens for the majority of the story's duration. But where Cold Steel differs from Trails in the Sky First Chapter is that FC managed to have a self contained conflict that was resolved by the end of the game. The late stages of Trails in the Sky are about stopping a military coup. The late stages of Trails of Cold Steel are about putting on a school festival - with some random ass-pull final dungeon and final boss in the mix that come out of nowhere and don't push the story forward much. The climax of Trails of Cold Steel actually happens after the final boss... but there's no real additional final boss, just a series of gimmick fights before the game ends and tells you to play Trails of Cold Steel II. Don't get me wrong, the ending was actually my favorite part of the game, but I can't say this trend of making an uneventful 80 hour RPG where the ending is the only time something significant happens is something I'm very fond of. But I will say the ending definitely saved the game for me.
Trails of Cold Steel feels a bit like a Persona game, as it takes place at a military academy. There are school life segments in addition to the field studies which advance the main story. This is fine as a setup, but what I think Trails of Cold Steel gets wrong about this formula is that there's no sense of looming danger while the school life segments are going on. In the Persona games there's always a countdown until something bad happens while the school life segments are ongoing. In Trails of Cold Steel there's no danger during these parts so it just ends up feeling like a life-sim cozy game that drags the pacing of the story down. This is still the case even though the life sim elements of Trails of Cold Steel go by fairly quickly. Contextualizing the gameplay loop back into the main story is important. Also I just have to say... At this point in the Trails series I am really starting to get sick of all the busywork sidequests that are required to advance the story. It looks like the sidequest doors of Trails in the Sky the 3rd will remain unmatched.
If the purpose of this first Trails of Cold Steel game was to get the player to like the main cast, then they did a passable job. I liked how certain characters were antagonistic toward each other but became better friends due to the events of the story. But I will say that for all that effort in trying to make the characters likable, there are a number of characters that I straight up dislike. As far as first games go, it seems like Trails From Zero accomplished a lot more with its characters without any life sim elements and without a plot with the pacing of molasses. Also, because of certain characters, Trails of Cold Steel is the most cringeworthy game I've played since Xenoblade 2.
It might just be stockholm syndrome as a result of trying to play all the Trails games in sequence but I actually enjoy the combat of this game a fair bit. It's the same combat as in the previous games but the addition of link attacks is pretty fun. Combat is where the the upgrade in production values really shines. Having full character models instead of chibi sprites allows for attacks to have more impact with the increased animation quality. However, I'm not a fan of the changes to the orbment system. In previous games maximizing your orbments to get the best possible arts felt like a satisfying puzzle, but in Trails of Cold Steel the system has been dumbed down to just allow you to choose what arts you want directly. Lame.
My favorite thing about this game aside from the combat system is the music. Is it a hot take to say that Trails of Cold Steel has one of the best selections of music in the series? Every battle theme is good - even the normal battle theme, which is something I can't say about some of the other Trails games. It's my favorite normal battle theme in the series because it actually pumps you up for battle. And you can definitely tell that the sound team has gotten a lot better with JRPG town and field music since Trails in the Sky FC. I think Cold Steel I and Trails in the Sky the 3rd are my picks for best overall soundtrack so far. But I'll have to give them all another listen to be sure.
I don't hate this game. But there are a good amount of things that I don't like about it. I'd be a lot more negative if the game just ended after the final boss without the events that take place afterward. I think this could be the start of a good story arc but I'm a little concerned that the other Trails of Cold Steel games seem to have somewhat lower reception from fans as well. But one thing is for sure: don't start the Trails franchise with game. Not only does it spoil the events of Trails to Azure, but the slow pacing and uneventful story might be enough to make you disinterested in the franchise.
This game's goated except for:
The new orbment system
The Nord Highlands
That FUCKASS mecha battle
That it's way way easy (even on hard) except for maybe one boss in the early game
The new orbment system
The Nord Highlands
That FUCKASS mecha battle
That it's way way easy (even on hard) except for maybe one boss in the early game
Loved and enjoyed this games so much (i love every Trails game i have played so far).
To begin with i will say all the good things that it has for me, first the combat, its practically the same as the previous Trails (not bad since i love so much trails turn based system), but better and more polished, with small aditions that really made the combat even funnier and interactive. The cast its probably my favorite aspect (class VII) from this game, mainly because how differents they are from each other and how good their overall chemistry is (especially in the last chapters), even if in the beggining some of them didnt have a good relationship, as a result of certain key moments, they solved their problems in a very natural and good way (for me at leats).
I think i have only one minor issue with this game, beeing this probably the story, because it doesnt seems that something interesting happened at leats till chapter 3-4 and specially in the finale chapter (with this one i have no issue at all, since i loved it so much, specially the last 2 hours, where all the plot twists happened), and its a minor issue because i understand that its probably a set up for the next games, since Cold Steel its the longest saga, it has 4 games, while Sky has 3 (2 of the "main" story) and Crossbell saga has 2.
As i said in the beggining of the review, i loved this game and it got me so hyped for the next games.
To begin with i will say all the good things that it has for me, first the combat, its practically the same as the previous Trails (not bad since i love so much trails turn based system), but better and more polished, with small aditions that really made the combat even funnier and interactive. The cast its probably my favorite aspect (class VII) from this game, mainly because how differents they are from each other and how good their overall chemistry is (especially in the last chapters), even if in the beggining some of them didnt have a good relationship, as a result of certain key moments, they solved their problems in a very natural and good way (for me at leats).
I think i have only one minor issue with this game, beeing this probably the story, because it doesnt seems that something interesting happened at leats till chapter 3-4 and specially in the finale chapter (with this one i have no issue at all, since i loved it so much, specially the last 2 hours, where all the plot twists happened), and its a minor issue because i understand that its probably a set up for the next games, since Cold Steel its the longest saga, it has 4 games, while Sky has 3 (2 of the "main" story) and Crossbell saga has 2.
As i said in the beggining of the review, i loved this game and it got me so hyped for the next games.
somehow manages to maintain an awful shallow cast and uninteresting shallow story for like 60 hours
This review contains spoilers
that ending still raw af dc what people say man, prob my 3rd/4th favorite moment in any trails game
Very slow but better than FC.