Huge strong main cast made up of many people from the last eight games in the series. Towns full of characters you've come to know, so while you may be revisiting most of the locations your frequently running into scenes with old supporting characters. Improved bonding events fleshing out the backstories and giving closure to your friends pasts/futures. Combat works well. Still has a fast forward button.
Major war mobilization and evil curse and I think we are in negative casualties. Way too much dumb anime shit, probably near dozens of uses of people always watching from afar saying things like, "Now we will see how you fare in this new test," "I suppose I shall let you pass, for now," "Yes, your power has grown, but it is not yet time to appear on this stage." Poor cutscene animations that have been with the series the entire time but still seeming like they would have to try to do such a poor job. Some of the old supporting characters have joined a world ending genocidal war just because they were in the military and it would be rude if they left, kind of killing any positive elements of their characters to any rational person. Main antagonists are mostly a bunch of uninteresting losers that you have been fighting for four games. Nonsensical DBZ style power levels where you can fight the most powerful things in existence only to later be held up by some random nobodies, and frequently has you in scenes where you would be fighting people 7-19 on 1-3 and the game constantly makes mention of that. "If we didn't outnumber you 14-2 I don't know if we could have won." Sometimes followed by a scene/battle where one person then beats them or an even stronger character.
Still has a terrible card game and a less relevant cooking system than the Tales series. Gets overly obsessed with boobs at some points.
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1335581507725889539
Major war mobilization and evil curse and I think we are in negative casualties. Way too much dumb anime shit, probably near dozens of uses of people always watching from afar saying things like, "Now we will see how you fare in this new test," "I suppose I shall let you pass, for now," "Yes, your power has grown, but it is not yet time to appear on this stage." Poor cutscene animations that have been with the series the entire time but still seeming like they would have to try to do such a poor job. Some of the old supporting characters have joined a world ending genocidal war just because they were in the military and it would be rude if they left, kind of killing any positive elements of their characters to any rational person. Main antagonists are mostly a bunch of uninteresting losers that you have been fighting for four games. Nonsensical DBZ style power levels where you can fight the most powerful things in existence only to later be held up by some random nobodies, and frequently has you in scenes where you would be fighting people 7-19 on 1-3 and the game constantly makes mention of that. "If we didn't outnumber you 14-2 I don't know if we could have won." Sometimes followed by a scene/battle where one person then beats them or an even stronger character.
Still has a terrible card game and a less relevant cooking system than the Tales series. Gets overly obsessed with boobs at some points.
Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/1335581507725889539
the best trails game. Absolutely riddles with issues, but the peaks are too high to ignore
Trails é literalmente os amigos que fizemos pelo caminho. Peak Fiction
This review contains spoilers
the good: cassius promoting rean to divine blade, anelace’s 2 seconds of her new design was good, every time when juna is the main character of the game, the divine knights’ farewell, everyone looks great in their wedding outfits, half the soundtrack is really good
the bad: half the soundtrack is pretty bad, the curse literally ruined this game for me, this game thinks i like millium more than valimar and i Do Not, seeing that little heart on altinas bonding event icon, arianrhod’s motivation being way lamer than she deserves, everyone that died didnt die, everyone that betrayed didnt betray, aberich is lame as hell, osbornes backstory and ending is stupid, why do rhey act like reincarnation means you are the same person???, ishmelga is truly the worst idea ive seen in a while (how dare you bring hamel back and give it such a stupid secret backstory), why does everyone give claire and lechter so many free passes, why does elie look like that
-
trails of cold steel 4 is a game with more lows than highs. its supposed to be a culmination of every game that came before it but some parts of this game made me so annoyed or angry that it sometimes had me feeling dumb for ever getting invested at all. even worse, i quite like cold steel 3, i even think its my favorite of the cs games! i liked the timeskip, i really liked how rean’s character and position changed, and i just generally enjoyed that game. but sadly every question it set up is answered in the stupidest ways in cs 4. every death is reversed, every betrayal was a fakeout to “scope out from the inside” while accomplishing nothing, every character is paid off with the stupidest endings and motivations, every woman and girl in erebonia wants to fuck rean even more than before, AND osborne has a new voice and its SO much worse that it sunk any chance of osborne moments working for me
i was spoiled on nearly every detail of this game because rarely have i seem a fandom that spoils every game so throughly 2 weeks after the japanese release, but im not sure what if any of this would have hit more successfully if i hadnt been spoiled, im inclined to think it wouldve been even worse for me honestly
-
anyway idk man ive heard several times that reverie is the best trails game i just pray i like it at all at this point (even with c’s identity being spoiled for me, of course :/)
ps the real curse of erebonia is the guy at falcom doubling boob sizes every game and vacuum sealing every womans outfit, please stop him he’s a menace
the bad: half the soundtrack is pretty bad, the curse literally ruined this game for me, this game thinks i like millium more than valimar and i Do Not, seeing that little heart on altinas bonding event icon, arianrhod’s motivation being way lamer than she deserves, everyone that died didnt die, everyone that betrayed didnt betray, aberich is lame as hell, osbornes backstory and ending is stupid, why do rhey act like reincarnation means you are the same person???, ishmelga is truly the worst idea ive seen in a while (how dare you bring hamel back and give it such a stupid secret backstory), why does everyone give claire and lechter so many free passes, why does elie look like that
-
trails of cold steel 4 is a game with more lows than highs. its supposed to be a culmination of every game that came before it but some parts of this game made me so annoyed or angry that it sometimes had me feeling dumb for ever getting invested at all. even worse, i quite like cold steel 3, i even think its my favorite of the cs games! i liked the timeskip, i really liked how rean’s character and position changed, and i just generally enjoyed that game. but sadly every question it set up is answered in the stupidest ways in cs 4. every death is reversed, every betrayal was a fakeout to “scope out from the inside” while accomplishing nothing, every character is paid off with the stupidest endings and motivations, every woman and girl in erebonia wants to fuck rean even more than before, AND osborne has a new voice and its SO much worse that it sunk any chance of osborne moments working for me
i was spoiled on nearly every detail of this game because rarely have i seem a fandom that spoils every game so throughly 2 weeks after the japanese release, but im not sure what if any of this would have hit more successfully if i hadnt been spoiled, im inclined to think it wouldve been even worse for me honestly
-
anyway idk man ive heard several times that reverie is the best trails game i just pray i like it at all at this point (even with c’s identity being spoiled for me, of course :/)
ps the real curse of erebonia is the guy at falcom doubling boob sizes every game and vacuum sealing every womans outfit, please stop him he’s a menace
For those of you who have known me for any period of time.. or it may be more accurate to say, for those who I trust enough to speak without reservation, you would know I have an incredibly complicated history with Sen no Kiseki IV. This game, since its release, has been the most divisive entry in this entire franchise for me. It should be of no surprise to anyone that I live, breathe and thrive off of Kiseki so I would imagine my words have some weight. However, I am writing this due to my selfish desire to leave some record of my thoughts in this infinite sea of data. Ultimately, when Sen no Kiseki IV is good, it is some of the greatest moments this series has ever produced but when it is bad, it is arguably the worst. But- I'm not really going to talk about that. I had an entire review written up to air out my thoughts regarding this entry in the franchise and- I think I'm alright. Genuinely speaking, I have went on for hours and years about how I find masks to be an incredibly contrived plot point that insults both the writers and the readers. I have went on about how I feel the "curse" is a joke outside of the main narrative. And I have went on about how I feel regarding some of the other pertinent negatives I experienced playing this game. But I want to talk about what I liked because I want to gush about my passion for this franchise, as I usually do.
To begin I would like to mention shifting the protagonist role to Juna. This was the best decision Falcom had made. Putting my absolute love and adoration for Juna aside, she best embodies both Lloyd and Rean's spirit. She possesses Lloyd's will to surmount even the most impossible of barriers and Rean's will to relentlessly move forward into the unknown. She is the bridge between Crossbell and Erebonia, and between Class VII and the SSS. She possesses the staunch stubbornness seen in Rean and Lloyd and the unrelenting drive to do the right thing which is precisely what Zemuria needed come Sen 4. To this end her desire to act, which has been shown repeatedly in Sen 3 stemming from her desire to protect Crossbell, snaps Class VII out of their stupor and pushes everyone to action. This allows the narrative to shift focus to New Class VII and provides them an opportunity to demonstrate their growth as Rean's students. I adore this shift in dynamic and feel it adds a breath of fresh air to the story. Of course, I am bias because this means more Juna and you can never get enough of Juna.
The last detail I would like to eagerly mention is the world-building and lore. Sen IV does an excellent job of executing on the lore we have been provided so far. I would even say this is when the game is at its greatest. Eryn is one of, if not, my favorite town in Kiseki. Saint Gral Labyrinth is one of my favorite dungeons. Hexen Breed are absolutely rich in culture and background and Eryn serves as an excellent hub for that first portion of the game to say nothing of the OST. Additional locations and their associated tracks are also simply beautiful, Alster, Osgiliath Basin, Tuatha de Danann, Sanctuaries, etc. etc. etc. all are wonderfully crafted and execute well on the "magic" aspect of Erebonia. It is difficult to find fault in this as there is passion and purpose behind each location in this game. I genuinely love the mythical, fantastical aspect of Erebonia and deeply adore how Sen IV melds such fantasy into the narrative. Additionally, it must be said that Act III and beyond in Sen IV are wonderful. The conclusion of Lianne and Rutger's stories, the determination and resolution demonstrated by Duvalie and Fie, the assault on the Pales and final confrontations at Tuatha de Danaan were all enthralling. Final chapter does an excellent job of tying up loose ends and bringing closure to Liberl as well as Elie's stories. And I think this is the important part. Every moment from Act III onwards, aside from those involving the absolutely inane masks, feels deserved, deliberate and satisfactory. It is filled with a genuine desire to bring to conclusion everything this series has been building towards and pave a new path for future entries. In this game, we see the culmination of two years of Class VII's struggle. Two years of pain, grief, sadness, anger, hate, pity and all the other messy emotions binding us to our humanity. We witness the realization of Olivert's dream and the conclusion of so many stories within Erebonia. As Sara mentions, and as Emma has mentioned previously, Class VII truly is the greatest class and they embody such pure determination and hope as they make their way into the future you can only cheer for them. And to that end, the emotion this entry provokes, the genuine familial bond demonstrated between Class VII and their desire to become the foundation of the world is nothing short of perfection. And I will never not be grateful for being able to witness such a beautiful story.
Class VII is the best class.
To begin I would like to mention shifting the protagonist role to Juna. This was the best decision Falcom had made. Putting my absolute love and adoration for Juna aside, she best embodies both Lloyd and Rean's spirit. She possesses Lloyd's will to surmount even the most impossible of barriers and Rean's will to relentlessly move forward into the unknown. She is the bridge between Crossbell and Erebonia, and between Class VII and the SSS. She possesses the staunch stubbornness seen in Rean and Lloyd and the unrelenting drive to do the right thing which is precisely what Zemuria needed come Sen 4. To this end her desire to act, which has been shown repeatedly in Sen 3 stemming from her desire to protect Crossbell, snaps Class VII out of their stupor and pushes everyone to action. This allows the narrative to shift focus to New Class VII and provides them an opportunity to demonstrate their growth as Rean's students. I adore this shift in dynamic and feel it adds a breath of fresh air to the story. Of course, I am bias because this means more Juna and you can never get enough of Juna.
The last detail I would like to eagerly mention is the world-building and lore. Sen IV does an excellent job of executing on the lore we have been provided so far. I would even say this is when the game is at its greatest. Eryn is one of, if not, my favorite town in Kiseki. Saint Gral Labyrinth is one of my favorite dungeons. Hexen Breed are absolutely rich in culture and background and Eryn serves as an excellent hub for that first portion of the game to say nothing of the OST. Additional locations and their associated tracks are also simply beautiful, Alster, Osgiliath Basin, Tuatha de Danann, Sanctuaries, etc. etc. etc. all are wonderfully crafted and execute well on the "magic" aspect of Erebonia. It is difficult to find fault in this as there is passion and purpose behind each location in this game. I genuinely love the mythical, fantastical aspect of Erebonia and deeply adore how Sen IV melds such fantasy into the narrative. Additionally, it must be said that Act III and beyond in Sen IV are wonderful. The conclusion of Lianne and Rutger's stories, the determination and resolution demonstrated by Duvalie and Fie, the assault on the Pales and final confrontations at Tuatha de Danaan were all enthralling. Final chapter does an excellent job of tying up loose ends and bringing closure to Liberl as well as Elie's stories. And I think this is the important part. Every moment from Act III onwards, aside from those involving the absolutely inane masks, feels deserved, deliberate and satisfactory. It is filled with a genuine desire to bring to conclusion everything this series has been building towards and pave a new path for future entries. In this game, we see the culmination of two years of Class VII's struggle. Two years of pain, grief, sadness, anger, hate, pity and all the other messy emotions binding us to our humanity. We witness the realization of Olivert's dream and the conclusion of so many stories within Erebonia. As Sara mentions, and as Emma has mentioned previously, Class VII truly is the greatest class and they embody such pure determination and hope as they make their way into the future you can only cheer for them. And to that end, the emotion this entry provokes, the genuine familial bond demonstrated between Class VII and their desire to become the foundation of the world is nothing short of perfection. And I will never not be grateful for being able to witness such a beautiful story.
Class VII is the best class.
This game is like... augh i want to love it bc it has some of the highest highs but also ughhhhh it has some of the lowest lows too... this game could have been so much greater but it ruins so much build up from previous entries :(
anyways did i mention that i hate crow armbrust
anyways did i mention that i hate crow armbrust
Erebonia Arc reached its conclusion, while playing I wished that normal ending had been canon ending because normal ending was too cool
The game suffers most from padding
HOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT
Oh, to be caught up on a long running series the week the newest entry is to be released. I struggled to get through Trails of Cold Steel 4 due to life commitments, but having finally completed it I'm immensely satisfied. The graphics are still Falcom level (mid), the music is still Falcom level (great), and the overall story is still Falcom level (great!). I've found myself annoyed and tired of a lot of the cheesy and anime trope-y parts of this series, but at the same time found myself loving it all the same.
This is a culmination of the previous 8 games and brought out all the stops. Overjoyed to see the Liberl and Crossbell crews again. I have a few gripes with the story, but damn was it bringing everything out and worked to leave me satisfied. Glad I managed to get this far, and excited to see the series continue. Reverie soon, and Calvard to follow! If you're a JRPG fan with a few hundred hours to kill, Trails will quickly rise through the ranks to become one of your all time favorites.
This is a culmination of the previous 8 games and brought out all the stops. Overjoyed to see the Liberl and Crossbell crews again. I have a few gripes with the story, but damn was it bringing everything out and worked to leave me satisfied. Glad I managed to get this far, and excited to see the series continue. Reverie soon, and Calvard to follow! If you're a JRPG fan with a few hundred hours to kill, Trails will quickly rise through the ranks to become one of your all time favorites.
This game lost the plot, but it's a Trails game so I had fun anyways
This review contains spoilers
The best part of this game is when it ends.
I'm still not quite sure how to critique this game. In some ways, this game is the natural followup to everything CS3 had built up. It represents the oversaturation of a series which spent over a decade and a half adding characters upon characters without knowing what to really do with them. The bottom line, is at the end of the day, this game is only one thing for certain: it's bad.
I, notoriously, hated Cold Steel III. The game that everyone said was the best Cold Steel game leading up to it. People conversely acted like CS4 was the worst piece of fiction ever made, so my expectations going in were very low. I already hated CS3, so you're telling me there's something even WORSE?
As such, this review might read like a comparison piece between CS3 and 4. I really don't know what to think about this game on its own since so many of its issues stem from CS3, and to go even further, how this game handles plot points from all of its preceding games significantly impacts my impressions of it. That might be part of the reason why this game felt like a load of nothing to me—it DOESN'T stand on its own. It doesn't stand up for itself. It has no merit without having played all the previous games prior to it, it is consistently only acting to bring Cold Steel to an end.
=ACT 1: Gameplay=
This game plays pretty much identically to Cold Steel 3, but gives you a lot more freedom when roaming the world—like in CS2. As someone who typically talks to all the NPCs in a Trails game, this can be overwhelming. However, the fast travel menu is incredibly robust and tells the player when there was something new to interact with in any particular area. For me, this made it easy for me to mindlessly do an NPC sweep without worrying too much about whether I missed anything. What also helps immensely is that hidden quests and hidden items (such as book chapters) are all marked on the minimap, although you need to actually travel to the area to be able to see it first. Thanks to this improved quality of life, however; it made the gameplay experience of Cold Steel 4 much smoother than normal. This is something I think Trails games have been consistently improving upon since Cold Steel 1, and I'm glad to see these have improved to this point.
I will say though, there was a sort of charm to finding a hidden quest or hidden item yourself without having your hand held by the game, so part of me is mixed on these improvements, but overall I believe they are for the better when the side content in these games are normally significant enough to be of value to your understanding of the world, story and characters... which is not something I can say about CS4's side content! Most of the side quests in this game are abysmal! I will touch on these later, however.
Battle mechanics remain the same as in Cold Steel 3 with very little change. For full disclosure, I played this game on the Normal difficulty setting.
The usual bell/cast spam works with arts, and craft spam is the way to go with this game as usual. Issues arise with the amount of party members you get in this game, since there's no realistic way you're going to be working on optimising the equipment and orbments of all 37 of them, so the game seems like it was balanced around that idea—it's piss easy. I quickly realised that it's not really worth spending much time in optimising or grinding since this game is so easy that just a modicum of optimisation into even just three main party members will get you through the entire game. I similarly began to run by enemies with frequency because levels don't matter either, you gain them fast enough to keep up if you're underlevelled and it's very easy to kill enemies while underlevelled anyway. S-Craft spam is a strategy that remains sound, especially when you sometimes have up to 4 support members who will come in and take the place of your main party if they were all K.O.'d.
Ultimately, the gameplay segment of this game is as mindless as it has ever been, perhaps even more so than CS3, but it is still a fair amount of fun to play, it's just not very deep so it can get boring very quickly.
=INTERMISSION: Music=
KINGA COOKED!!!!!!!!! DEEP CARNIVAL BEST TRACK IN THE GAME!!!! PEAK OST!!!!
Despite what they might say, I do think I enjoyed the new tracks in this game more than what CS3 had to offer, but I can't help but feel that Falcom OSTs are starting to, overwhelmingly, just be "there" these days. I am aware Falcom pretty much has no sound director role and the composers don't even have input on where their tracks are used in the game, but this is DIRE. I barely even realised that there was a new motif written for CS4 by Takahiro Unisuga and I only know that because my stream chat told me. There was nothing about this game's music usage that communicated this to me, and I almost think the soundtrack direction actively ruined the experience half the time. The reason this section of the review is so awkwardly put in between the gameplay and story segments is because I deadass forgot to talk about the OST... me, the OST guy. This is getting real bad guys.
=ACT 2: Story=
This game is split up into a prologue, three acts, an intermission, and a finale. It is pretty much identical in scope and structure to CS2, a game which I also wasn't a huge fan of at first but have come to like more in hindsight. In many ways, this game is just Trails of Cold Steel II-2. In execution, however, this game falls flat in comparison.
I enjoyed Act 1 of this game, I really did. I liked it way more than I had enjoyed almost any moment of CS3. I don't think much really happens in it, but making it such a relatively focused gameplay experience while taking the focus away from Rean gives such us such a unique lens to view the current situation of Erebonia, even if it's just taking a bite out of CS2's piece of the pie. I really do like Act 1.
However, that, is where my praise for the story ends.
Playing this game feels like going through a checklist of character moments organised in such a segmented fashion that there's barely a coherent plot. It makes for a hollow experience because by the time you're not even a quarter into the game you start to realise that all you're doing is getting everyone on your side before going to the final confrontation, including characters who were previously thought to be dead. Half of this isn't even necessary to do either, they artificially make more content by having characters change allegiances on a dime just so the main party has another character to seduce over to their side with an anime pep talk. In most cases, these only occur to give OTHER characters their 'character moment' for the game which usually amounts to just convincing their friend or relative to change back to the heroes' side. Most of this, is effectively filler.
On the flip side to this, you have the bonding events which probably feature some of the best writing this game has to offer, at least as far as the non-romance scenes go. Almost all of these felt like they had substance for each of the characters involved. The issue here then stems from the main story being predominantly filler—why wasn't this incorporated into the main story?
Similarly, most of the side quests in this game typically fall into one of two categories:
1. "oh no.... the curse got them...."
2. Appearance of a significant character with 'stakes'
I'll touch on the curse in a moment, but when you KNOW that it's a side quest and important main characters and even antagonists show up, you already know there will be no stakes. They can't do anything significant enough to affect the main story, otherwise they can't have their important moment take place when it REALLY matters. It just makes me wonder why a lot of this was shelved for side content rather than being meaningful content for the main story, because as it stands the plot is incredibly flat.
There really is no way to discuss this game's story without bringing up The Curse. The damage this single concept has done to this series in immeasurable. Not only is it inconsistent with itself, it actively ruins past parts of the series. There is no consistency to how it behaves, probably the only consistent thing about this curse is that it somehow respects state borders? As a result, the way it gets used also suffers. It actively goes AGAINST every single character motivation of Chancellor Osborne prior to this game and ruins his character. It'll rewrite memories to get NPCs to behave in a certain way, but it'll also physically force Count Arseid to comply without rewriting his memories? It's such a mess.
The curse is used well about... 10% of the time maybe? I think Ash beating the curse allegations at the start of Act 1 was fairly powerful albeit a bit abrupt, and Cedric's arc in the finale of the game was surprisingly engaging despite it all because it worked in tandem with his existing motivations from the previous games. I'm not saying the concept doesn't have potential on paper, however; in execution it caused irreparable damage to anything Cold Steel could have potentially achieved by the end of its life.
A Japanese review I read said the curse is a plot point "an elementary schooler could've come up with" and I don't think more accurate words have been said. This story is a meme and so are the characters.
=ACT 3: Legacy=
How does it feel seeing the characters you love having their personalities stripped to nothing?
This is the first game in the series to bring back so many characters in the series, but they really serve so little purpose in the story it's laughable. It's really sad to see that all these characters amount to are character traits now—some which even DOUBLE UP on characters we already have in Cold Steel alone, so having their presence even just for the party dynamic feels excessive. Any two characters meeting for the first time feels like "oh haha look we're similar" or "oh haha we have a mutual friend" and there's really nothing of substance here.
Some of these characters return specifically just to make other characters look better. Cassius came back JUST to make Rean into a divine blade, which, huh? Where did that come from? This was never a goal or anything of the previous games and suddenly I'm supposed to believe that Rean is on the same level as Arios or Cassius despite him being such a non-presence in the story of CS3 and 4, it's such a weird moment.
Getting to finally meet Elie's mum is cool, but seeing the ghosts of Hamel felt like an awkward re-appropriation of an old event just to milk a plot point that had already been tied up neatly in previous games. Not to mention, Loewe coming back from the dead to say 2 lines is comical. On top of that, WE PLAY VANTAGE MASTERS OVER LOEWE'S GRAVE. WITH JOSHUA.
I don't understand Lechter or Claire's motivations anymore. Lechter, a character who has been cooking since Trails in the Sky the 3RD even had nothing good come of him. He wanted to avoid a war in previous titles, so why were all his actions from CS3 onwards to instigate one? Nothing makes sense anymore. This is just but one of the many wasted setups from Sky 3rd. If they were going to retcon out Sky 3rd stuff, why didn't they cut out the Tita and Agate jokes?
There is nothing in this game that doesn't feel outright disrespectful to the series' legacy. I think it's outright blasphemy to even call it "fan-service", it actively depreciates everything that has been building up until this point and then proceeds to rub salt in the wound AND spit in its face.
=FINALE: Where to next?=
To my surprise, this game wasn't any worse than CS3, nor was it better. It was perfectly in line with everything I hated about CS3, but somehow managed to have moments that I did care about despite it all. I would describe this game as having higher highs than CS3, but ASTRONOMICALLY lower lows than CS3, but I'm not sure I could say which I hate less.
CS3 set CS4 up to fail. I am convinced this is the unadulterated truth about these last two games in this series. My expectations were already low because of CS3 and thus I was kinda ready for CS4 to also be a mess, but when everyone acted like CS3 was the best CS game and CS4 was the worst piece of media to ever be created, I'm not sure I was expecting to feel so much... the same about both games.
Falcom company president Toshihiro Kondo once said that part of Reverie's reason for existing is to try to make up for some of CS4's failings. I have heard nothing but praise for the game, and also that it tries to backtrack on a few points from CS4. I don't know how salvageable this series is moving forward, but I will let them cook and see.
Despite it all, I am just glad it is over and I can finally get onto playing good games again. Thank you for reading.
I'm still not quite sure how to critique this game. In some ways, this game is the natural followup to everything CS3 had built up. It represents the oversaturation of a series which spent over a decade and a half adding characters upon characters without knowing what to really do with them. The bottom line, is at the end of the day, this game is only one thing for certain: it's bad.
I, notoriously, hated Cold Steel III. The game that everyone said was the best Cold Steel game leading up to it. People conversely acted like CS4 was the worst piece of fiction ever made, so my expectations going in were very low. I already hated CS3, so you're telling me there's something even WORSE?
As such, this review might read like a comparison piece between CS3 and 4. I really don't know what to think about this game on its own since so many of its issues stem from CS3, and to go even further, how this game handles plot points from all of its preceding games significantly impacts my impressions of it. That might be part of the reason why this game felt like a load of nothing to me—it DOESN'T stand on its own. It doesn't stand up for itself. It has no merit without having played all the previous games prior to it, it is consistently only acting to bring Cold Steel to an end.
=ACT 1: Gameplay=
This game plays pretty much identically to Cold Steel 3, but gives you a lot more freedom when roaming the world—like in CS2. As someone who typically talks to all the NPCs in a Trails game, this can be overwhelming. However, the fast travel menu is incredibly robust and tells the player when there was something new to interact with in any particular area. For me, this made it easy for me to mindlessly do an NPC sweep without worrying too much about whether I missed anything. What also helps immensely is that hidden quests and hidden items (such as book chapters) are all marked on the minimap, although you need to actually travel to the area to be able to see it first. Thanks to this improved quality of life, however; it made the gameplay experience of Cold Steel 4 much smoother than normal. This is something I think Trails games have been consistently improving upon since Cold Steel 1, and I'm glad to see these have improved to this point.
I will say though, there was a sort of charm to finding a hidden quest or hidden item yourself without having your hand held by the game, so part of me is mixed on these improvements, but overall I believe they are for the better when the side content in these games are normally significant enough to be of value to your understanding of the world, story and characters... which is not something I can say about CS4's side content! Most of the side quests in this game are abysmal! I will touch on these later, however.
Battle mechanics remain the same as in Cold Steel 3 with very little change. For full disclosure, I played this game on the Normal difficulty setting.
The usual bell/cast spam works with arts, and craft spam is the way to go with this game as usual. Issues arise with the amount of party members you get in this game, since there's no realistic way you're going to be working on optimising the equipment and orbments of all 37 of them, so the game seems like it was balanced around that idea—it's piss easy. I quickly realised that it's not really worth spending much time in optimising or grinding since this game is so easy that just a modicum of optimisation into even just three main party members will get you through the entire game. I similarly began to run by enemies with frequency because levels don't matter either, you gain them fast enough to keep up if you're underlevelled and it's very easy to kill enemies while underlevelled anyway. S-Craft spam is a strategy that remains sound, especially when you sometimes have up to 4 support members who will come in and take the place of your main party if they were all K.O.'d.
Ultimately, the gameplay segment of this game is as mindless as it has ever been, perhaps even more so than CS3, but it is still a fair amount of fun to play, it's just not very deep so it can get boring very quickly.
=INTERMISSION: Music=
KINGA COOKED!!!!!!!!! DEEP CARNIVAL BEST TRACK IN THE GAME!!!! PEAK OST!!!!
Despite what they might say, I do think I enjoyed the new tracks in this game more than what CS3 had to offer, but I can't help but feel that Falcom OSTs are starting to, overwhelmingly, just be "there" these days. I am aware Falcom pretty much has no sound director role and the composers don't even have input on where their tracks are used in the game, but this is DIRE. I barely even realised that there was a new motif written for CS4 by Takahiro Unisuga and I only know that because my stream chat told me. There was nothing about this game's music usage that communicated this to me, and I almost think the soundtrack direction actively ruined the experience half the time. The reason this section of the review is so awkwardly put in between the gameplay and story segments is because I deadass forgot to talk about the OST... me, the OST guy. This is getting real bad guys.
=ACT 2: Story=
This game is split up into a prologue, three acts, an intermission, and a finale. It is pretty much identical in scope and structure to CS2, a game which I also wasn't a huge fan of at first but have come to like more in hindsight. In many ways, this game is just Trails of Cold Steel II-2. In execution, however, this game falls flat in comparison.
I enjoyed Act 1 of this game, I really did. I liked it way more than I had enjoyed almost any moment of CS3. I don't think much really happens in it, but making it such a relatively focused gameplay experience while taking the focus away from Rean gives such us such a unique lens to view the current situation of Erebonia, even if it's just taking a bite out of CS2's piece of the pie. I really do like Act 1.
However, that, is where my praise for the story ends.
Playing this game feels like going through a checklist of character moments organised in such a segmented fashion that there's barely a coherent plot. It makes for a hollow experience because by the time you're not even a quarter into the game you start to realise that all you're doing is getting everyone on your side before going to the final confrontation, including characters who were previously thought to be dead. Half of this isn't even necessary to do either, they artificially make more content by having characters change allegiances on a dime just so the main party has another character to seduce over to their side with an anime pep talk. In most cases, these only occur to give OTHER characters their 'character moment' for the game which usually amounts to just convincing their friend or relative to change back to the heroes' side. Most of this, is effectively filler.
On the flip side to this, you have the bonding events which probably feature some of the best writing this game has to offer, at least as far as the non-romance scenes go. Almost all of these felt like they had substance for each of the characters involved. The issue here then stems from the main story being predominantly filler—why wasn't this incorporated into the main story?
Similarly, most of the side quests in this game typically fall into one of two categories:
1. "oh no.... the curse got them...."
2. Appearance of a significant character with 'stakes'
I'll touch on the curse in a moment, but when you KNOW that it's a side quest and important main characters and even antagonists show up, you already know there will be no stakes. They can't do anything significant enough to affect the main story, otherwise they can't have their important moment take place when it REALLY matters. It just makes me wonder why a lot of this was shelved for side content rather than being meaningful content for the main story, because as it stands the plot is incredibly flat.
There really is no way to discuss this game's story without bringing up The Curse. The damage this single concept has done to this series in immeasurable. Not only is it inconsistent with itself, it actively ruins past parts of the series. There is no consistency to how it behaves, probably the only consistent thing about this curse is that it somehow respects state borders? As a result, the way it gets used also suffers. It actively goes AGAINST every single character motivation of Chancellor Osborne prior to this game and ruins his character. It'll rewrite memories to get NPCs to behave in a certain way, but it'll also physically force Count Arseid to comply without rewriting his memories? It's such a mess.
The curse is used well about... 10% of the time maybe? I think Ash beating the curse allegations at the start of Act 1 was fairly powerful albeit a bit abrupt, and Cedric's arc in the finale of the game was surprisingly engaging despite it all because it worked in tandem with his existing motivations from the previous games. I'm not saying the concept doesn't have potential on paper, however; in execution it caused irreparable damage to anything Cold Steel could have potentially achieved by the end of its life.
A Japanese review I read said the curse is a plot point "an elementary schooler could've come up with" and I don't think more accurate words have been said. This story is a meme and so are the characters.
=ACT 3: Legacy=
How does it feel seeing the characters you love having their personalities stripped to nothing?
This is the first game in the series to bring back so many characters in the series, but they really serve so little purpose in the story it's laughable. It's really sad to see that all these characters amount to are character traits now—some which even DOUBLE UP on characters we already have in Cold Steel alone, so having their presence even just for the party dynamic feels excessive. Any two characters meeting for the first time feels like "oh haha look we're similar" or "oh haha we have a mutual friend" and there's really nothing of substance here.
Some of these characters return specifically just to make other characters look better. Cassius came back JUST to make Rean into a divine blade, which, huh? Where did that come from? This was never a goal or anything of the previous games and suddenly I'm supposed to believe that Rean is on the same level as Arios or Cassius despite him being such a non-presence in the story of CS3 and 4, it's such a weird moment.
Getting to finally meet Elie's mum is cool, but seeing the ghosts of Hamel felt like an awkward re-appropriation of an old event just to milk a plot point that had already been tied up neatly in previous games. Not to mention, Loewe coming back from the dead to say 2 lines is comical. On top of that, WE PLAY VANTAGE MASTERS OVER LOEWE'S GRAVE. WITH JOSHUA.
I don't understand Lechter or Claire's motivations anymore. Lechter, a character who has been cooking since Trails in the Sky the 3RD even had nothing good come of him. He wanted to avoid a war in previous titles, so why were all his actions from CS3 onwards to instigate one? Nothing makes sense anymore. This is just but one of the many wasted setups from Sky 3rd. If they were going to retcon out Sky 3rd stuff, why didn't they cut out the Tita and Agate jokes?
There is nothing in this game that doesn't feel outright disrespectful to the series' legacy. I think it's outright blasphemy to even call it "fan-service", it actively depreciates everything that has been building up until this point and then proceeds to rub salt in the wound AND spit in its face.
=FINALE: Where to next?=
To my surprise, this game wasn't any worse than CS3, nor was it better. It was perfectly in line with everything I hated about CS3, but somehow managed to have moments that I did care about despite it all. I would describe this game as having higher highs than CS3, but ASTRONOMICALLY lower lows than CS3, but I'm not sure I could say which I hate less.
CS3 set CS4 up to fail. I am convinced this is the unadulterated truth about these last two games in this series. My expectations were already low because of CS3 and thus I was kinda ready for CS4 to also be a mess, but when everyone acted like CS3 was the best CS game and CS4 was the worst piece of media to ever be created, I'm not sure I was expecting to feel so much... the same about both games.
Falcom company president Toshihiro Kondo once said that part of Reverie's reason for existing is to try to make up for some of CS4's failings. I have heard nothing but praise for the game, and also that it tries to backtrack on a few points from CS4. I don't know how salvageable this series is moving forward, but I will let them cook and see.
Despite it all, I am just glad it is over and I can finally get onto playing good games again. Thank you for reading.
the climax of it all, the weakest parts of the game get easily compensated by the strongest, falcom you ROCKED MY WORLDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
the crying at the end wasnt me. it was the curse
burning throb is the best normal battle theme in any video game and you cannot convince me otherwise
This review contains spoilers
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV (CSIV) is truly an "Avengers" moment for the franchise. Honestly, I can't say much here without spoiling it, so all I'll say is go play the other 8 games in the franchise first before reading the rest.
Spoilers
Cold opening on the two protagonists of the previous two arcs, Estelle and Lloyd and their partners respectively, is a stroke of genius. The two groups already have their shared history, and using them to establish exactly where the rest of the world is at after the events of Cold Steel 3 (CS3).
However, my biggest criticism of the game is that after the incredible rush that is the prologue, the pacing takes an absolute nosedive. While not a horrible thing to slow things down, especially after the rush that is the finale of CS3, the bog that the game finds itself in at this point in the story feels almost ludicrous given the stakes.
That said, the opening act is not without it's merits. The character development on display is a lot of fun, and the stage-setting is pretty great in it's own right.
However, when you finally reach the intermission and begin the operation to rescue Rean after his capture at the end of CS3, the game starts to really pick up the pace. It feels a bit like everything in act one is just a warmup, and the real game begins 20 hours into the experience.
That said, nothing about this experience on it's own is really all that different from what was found it Cold Steel 2. What sets this game apart is everything from act 2 onwards. Once you board the Pantagruel and the "Avengers Assemble" so to speak, the game goes from an easy 7/10 to a 9/10 in a second.
Joshua sharing his story with Ash and the children of Hamel get to see some form of closure, Cassius and Rean sharing stories of their old shared teacher, Lloyd and Elie meeting up with the other members of the SSS, and the list goes on and on and on. The boss rush that follows is also one of the best "event battles" the series has ever seen, up there with the likes of the Loewe fight in FC and the Arios fight in Azure, and is definitely a series high.
While it does feel like a bit of a copout, I do enjoy the "reverse uno" Olivert hits the chancellor with, and feels thematic after Osborne was revealed to still be alive after CS2.
The event at Mishelam is a lot of fun, and getting to just "chill" with this giant cast of characters who all have their own things going on is not something a lot of franchises can just "do," but it feels right at home in Trails.
Rean being granted the title of Divine Blade by Cassius feels "right" in so many ways, and I'm excited to see if he actually does end up taking disciples in future games.
While I'm generally positive on the actual ending of the game, the final boss rush does feel a bit anticlimactic after the absolute highs of CS2, 3, and Azure. Half of the bosses either just fold and say "good job hope you win" or give the cast some vague hint about what's been going on (looking at you, McFireBro.)
That said, the "true final boss" of this game in Ishmelga is a great event and serves as an incredible payoff for putting in some work to actually earn the true ending.
And the final credit sequence is a real tear jerker, with Rean finally getting to have a happy ending after literally every other Cold Steel game ending poorly for him.
Definitely don't start with it, but the Cold Steel Quadrilogy is a great chapter in the Trails franchise. Can't wait for Reverie when it drops only two weeks after Final Fantasy 16 (it's been a busy 2023 for me.)
Spoilers
Cold opening on the two protagonists of the previous two arcs, Estelle and Lloyd and their partners respectively, is a stroke of genius. The two groups already have their shared history, and using them to establish exactly where the rest of the world is at after the events of Cold Steel 3 (CS3).
However, my biggest criticism of the game is that after the incredible rush that is the prologue, the pacing takes an absolute nosedive. While not a horrible thing to slow things down, especially after the rush that is the finale of CS3, the bog that the game finds itself in at this point in the story feels almost ludicrous given the stakes.
That said, the opening act is not without it's merits. The character development on display is a lot of fun, and the stage-setting is pretty great in it's own right.
However, when you finally reach the intermission and begin the operation to rescue Rean after his capture at the end of CS3, the game starts to really pick up the pace. It feels a bit like everything in act one is just a warmup, and the real game begins 20 hours into the experience.
That said, nothing about this experience on it's own is really all that different from what was found it Cold Steel 2. What sets this game apart is everything from act 2 onwards. Once you board the Pantagruel and the "Avengers Assemble" so to speak, the game goes from an easy 7/10 to a 9/10 in a second.
Joshua sharing his story with Ash and the children of Hamel get to see some form of closure, Cassius and Rean sharing stories of their old shared teacher, Lloyd and Elie meeting up with the other members of the SSS, and the list goes on and on and on. The boss rush that follows is also one of the best "event battles" the series has ever seen, up there with the likes of the Loewe fight in FC and the Arios fight in Azure, and is definitely a series high.
While it does feel like a bit of a copout, I do enjoy the "reverse uno" Olivert hits the chancellor with, and feels thematic after Osborne was revealed to still be alive after CS2.
The event at Mishelam is a lot of fun, and getting to just "chill" with this giant cast of characters who all have their own things going on is not something a lot of franchises can just "do," but it feels right at home in Trails.
Rean being granted the title of Divine Blade by Cassius feels "right" in so many ways, and I'm excited to see if he actually does end up taking disciples in future games.
While I'm generally positive on the actual ending of the game, the final boss rush does feel a bit anticlimactic after the absolute highs of CS2, 3, and Azure. Half of the bosses either just fold and say "good job hope you win" or give the cast some vague hint about what's been going on (looking at you, McFireBro.)
That said, the "true final boss" of this game in Ishmelga is a great event and serves as an incredible payoff for putting in some work to actually earn the true ending.
And the final credit sequence is a real tear jerker, with Rean finally getting to have a happy ending after literally every other Cold Steel game ending poorly for him.
Definitely don't start with it, but the Cold Steel Quadrilogy is a great chapter in the Trails franchise. Can't wait for Reverie when it drops only two weeks after Final Fantasy 16 (it's been a busy 2023 for me.)
....
Yeah it’s Azure good
Yeah it’s Azure good
Ignore the incest subplot part 4 also ignore the borderline pedophilia part 2 (just like in most anime shit) (and other stuff too but mostly that)
Also, i don't hate Alisa but her being the "canon" romance is dumb, Rean has more in common with almost every (age appropiate and not incestuous) romantic interest and seem more like a relationship
Also, i don't hate Alisa but her being the "canon" romance is dumb, Rean has more in common with almost every (age appropiate and not incestuous) romantic interest and seem more like a relationship
my disappointment is immeasurable
I loved the "having played all other games" payoff part, but no game should take 120 hours to be interesting
Act 1 was awful, Act 2 was pure filler, Act 3 was only good at the end and I did like the Finale but honestly it didn't hit as hard as I thought
I don't think it's a bad game but it will never be my favorite, and I don't plan on replaying it at all
I also fucking hated the game dickriding Juna, it was tolerable in CS3 (it wasn't) but god all that talk about being the SSS' voice and representative and being "the bridge between Class VIIs" when she's an absolute bitch all the time is just awful
Act 1 was awful, Act 2 was pure filler, Act 3 was only good at the end and I did like the Finale but honestly it didn't hit as hard as I thought
I don't think it's a bad game but it will never be my favorite, and I don't plan on replaying it at all
I also fucking hated the game dickriding Juna, it was tolerable in CS3 (it wasn't) but god all that talk about being the SSS' voice and representative and being "the bridge between Class VIIs" when she's an absolute bitch all the time is just awful
This review contains spoilers
I've been following the Trails series since the time when Falcom released Trails in the Skies FC back on the Vita years ago, though I did end up waiting for a decade for the release of SC. If I'm being honest, Estelle as a character does have more character development than Rean, but Cold Steel is still one of my favourites in the series, which is why I ended up double dipping for this game.
As is the norm for Falcom, the game has a strong story and plot, and even a great combat system, though I honestly could do without the whole harem aspect... :( Newcomers to the series would really be very lost when jumping in head first in this game without playing through Cold Steel 1-3 at the very least. Without playing those games, they won't know what the heck is going on, and who all those characters are, since CS4 easily has the largest cast ever in a Falcom game. Not to mention the entire build up to the story in Cold Steel 4 starts from Cold Steel 1, and really builds up Rean's relationships with those in Class VII.
As is the norm for Falcom, the game has a strong story and plot, and even a great combat system, though I honestly could do without the whole harem aspect... :( Newcomers to the series would really be very lost when jumping in head first in this game without playing through Cold Steel 1-3 at the very least. Without playing those games, they won't know what the heck is going on, and who all those characters are, since CS4 easily has the largest cast ever in a Falcom game. Not to mention the entire build up to the story in Cold Steel 4 starts from Cold Steel 1, and really builds up Rean's relationships with those in Class VII.
The game suffers most from padding
Before beginning, let me preface this by saying you don't need to play all the past Trails games to enjoy this one, but I feel doing so enhances the experience. Anyway, this game is the culmination of 8 games worth of characters and stories coming together, where big serious things happen due to the aftermath of what happened in Cold Steel 3. I'm saying it in that way to avoid spoilers.
Seeing characters from past games is always something I like in RPGs, and in this game, that's certainly a thing, but it is, in a sense, a double edged sword. There are two primary reasons why I'm giving this game a 4/5. One is related to the characters. The roster is fairly bloated in this entry. Old Class VII is given to you throughout Act 1 where you're originally stuck with just Juna, Kurt, and Altina (I'm not saying they're bad or anything), and by the end of Act 1, you'll have all of New Class VII and all of Old Class minus Rean for plot reasons. Sure, the game does give you situations where certain characters are mandatory, which gives you chances to take certain members off the bench, but there is still the leeway to use your favorites at times. For example, Musse was a mainstay in my party because of her arts nuking potential. I almost always brought her anywhere I went.
Then you have all the returning characters, the Liberl crew (plus Tita), the Crossbell crew, and some others you get to use once or twice in Act 3. There's a lot of characters to work with, and especially early on, it makes resource management not so easy. Then again, this is a second game in an arc, so they are more generous with Sepith than in Cold Steel 3.
Speaking of Cold Steel 3, because of how unbelievably broken Brave Orders were last time, the devs decided to nerf them. Some of the OP ones in the last game, like Juna's Sledgehammer or Sara's Lightspeed Flash got either BP increases or were directly affected by changes to delay. At the same time, once again, since this a second game in an arc, Trial Chests are back, and this time they upgrade your Brave Orders. I will admit, one Brave Order I found borderline worthless got a lot more viability in this game, and that's Musse's Arts Celebration. The higher elements (time, space, mirage) are in effect in all battles like Sky the 3rd, meaning the higher elements do play a role in combat now, and being able to decrease your EP cost AND nuke something with your arts is just a great combination. Also Millium's White Decoration and Towa's High Heavens are very fair and balanced.
As for that second reason, it's more of a "the lategame is very backloaded with side content" thing. Bonding events aren't avaliable until Act 2, and even then, some events must be skipped if you want all the Profile Notes. I wanted to do Emma's Bonding Event, but I had to skip it to get a page. In the end, I ended up getting nine of the final bonding event achievements and went with Musse in my canon run of the endgame.
So, side content. Vantage Masters is still here. It exists. Use the Bard for most encounters because making sure your opponent can't play is fun. Aside from that and fishing is a returning game from Azure, the infamous Pom Pom Party. It's basically Puyo Puyo with extra steps. Tio is supposed to be the hardest opponent, but Renne tore me apart more than even Tio did.
Now, the elephant in the room, the story. Being a continuation, I was already invested in the story. I don't really like how seeing the Normal Ending is a requirement to getting the True Ending, but because Reverie addresses the aftermath of that little...problem, I can let it slide. The real final boss making use of three teams in a different way from the last non mech boss was cool too.
Overall, if you like the series, you'll probably like this game.
Seeing characters from past games is always something I like in RPGs, and in this game, that's certainly a thing, but it is, in a sense, a double edged sword. There are two primary reasons why I'm giving this game a 4/5. One is related to the characters. The roster is fairly bloated in this entry. Old Class VII is given to you throughout Act 1 where you're originally stuck with just Juna, Kurt, and Altina (I'm not saying they're bad or anything), and by the end of Act 1, you'll have all of New Class VII and all of Old Class minus Rean for plot reasons. Sure, the game does give you situations where certain characters are mandatory, which gives you chances to take certain members off the bench, but there is still the leeway to use your favorites at times. For example, Musse was a mainstay in my party because of her arts nuking potential. I almost always brought her anywhere I went.
Then you have all the returning characters, the Liberl crew (plus Tita), the Crossbell crew, and some others you get to use once or twice in Act 3. There's a lot of characters to work with, and especially early on, it makes resource management not so easy. Then again, this is a second game in an arc, so they are more generous with Sepith than in Cold Steel 3.
Speaking of Cold Steel 3, because of how unbelievably broken Brave Orders were last time, the devs decided to nerf them. Some of the OP ones in the last game, like Juna's Sledgehammer or Sara's Lightspeed Flash got either BP increases or were directly affected by changes to delay. At the same time, once again, since this a second game in an arc, Trial Chests are back, and this time they upgrade your Brave Orders. I will admit, one Brave Order I found borderline worthless got a lot more viability in this game, and that's Musse's Arts Celebration. The higher elements (time, space, mirage) are in effect in all battles like Sky the 3rd, meaning the higher elements do play a role in combat now, and being able to decrease your EP cost AND nuke something with your arts is just a great combination. Also Millium's White Decoration and Towa's High Heavens are very fair and balanced.
As for that second reason, it's more of a "the lategame is very backloaded with side content" thing. Bonding events aren't avaliable until Act 2, and even then, some events must be skipped if you want all the Profile Notes. I wanted to do Emma's Bonding Event, but I had to skip it to get a page. In the end, I ended up getting nine of the final bonding event achievements and went with Musse in my canon run of the endgame.
So, side content. Vantage Masters is still here. It exists. Use the Bard for most encounters because making sure your opponent can't play is fun. Aside from that and fishing is a returning game from Azure, the infamous Pom Pom Party. It's basically Puyo Puyo with extra steps. Tio is supposed to be the hardest opponent, but Renne tore me apart more than even Tio did.
Now, the elephant in the room, the story. Being a continuation, I was already invested in the story. I don't really like how seeing the Normal Ending is a requirement to getting the True Ending, but because Reverie addresses the aftermath of that little...problem, I can let it slide. The real final boss making use of three teams in a different way from the last non mech boss was cool too.
Overall, if you like the series, you'll probably like this game.
I’ve said this a few times before but this time I am not joking. This is the worst gaming experience I’ve ever had. Hundreds of hours of solid build up, an amazing predecessor, all for this 100 hours of pure mouldy dick cheese.
I’m not even gonna tag spoilers because I genuinely hope I spoil you and put you off. Everybody you thought was dead, is still alive. Anybody that did die, alive. Anybody that was dead before the events of the first game, alive. Anybody that was evil, not actually evil they were just being controlled. Anybody that made a remotely bad choice in their life, it was the actions of some mystical dookie god fuck I hate this game oh my god
The game thinks it’s so much more mature and clever than it is, you have characters in these dire situations making decisions like 13 year olds it makes me physically sick. The only reason I picked up this entire franchise was because of the cover image of this game man I wanna die
Combat is so gas my favourite turn based system ever peaked here, Rean is gas too idgaf if I have to see Lloyd again after Reverie I’m ending it all
I sincerely believe everyone involved in the production deserves some form of punishment whether it be suspension from game development or jail time.
Thank you
I’m not even gonna tag spoilers because I genuinely hope I spoil you and put you off. Everybody you thought was dead, is still alive. Anybody that did die, alive. Anybody that was dead before the events of the first game, alive. Anybody that was evil, not actually evil they were just being controlled. Anybody that made a remotely bad choice in their life, it was the actions of some mystical dookie god fuck I hate this game oh my god
The game thinks it’s so much more mature and clever than it is, you have characters in these dire situations making decisions like 13 year olds it makes me physically sick. The only reason I picked up this entire franchise was because of the cover image of this game man I wanna die
Combat is so gas my favourite turn based system ever peaked here, Rean is gas too idgaf if I have to see Lloyd again after Reverie I’m ending it all
I sincerely believe everyone involved in the production deserves some form of punishment whether it be suspension from game development or jail time.
Thank you
A good conclusion for the cold steel series. It does have its flaws like certain parts of the game dragging a bit, a bloated cast, and forgiving characters that did fucked up shit but none the less still a solid entry for the series and graphically the best one to date. Sound track is diesel and if you played the trails in the sky and crossbell games you'll be seeing a lot of old faces. The romance tbh was very anti-climatic especially if you've stuck with the same person all these games. Go for the true ending (its canon) its may still have you draking but at least its not depressing af like the normal ending. If possible please don't play these four out of order I see people all the time asking if they can skip games and stuff just don't.
Although none of the trails games managed to be one of my all time favorites (Trails to Azure and Cold Steel IV got close, though), the Trails series is now one of my favorites overall.
Looking forward to Reverie and the Calvard arc now.
Looking forward to Reverie and the Calvard arc now.
lhe falta culhões nihom falcom, lhe falta culhõeeeeees, mas como sou mama bola da franquia e fã burro do tocs vou dar nota alta 🥰
While the plot has been improved and largely builds upon CS3, certain features of this game weaken this game. The haram aspects, the presence of 30+ cast within a single scene on multiple plot points, and the return of weird fast traveling instantaneously from CS2 weaken what would otherwise be a strong successor to CS3.
Even the worst Trails game is one of the more solid modern JRPGs out there. That said, as many have said before me, this is a game of high peaks and low valleys.
Off the top of my head, I quite liked the first arc putting Juna and New Class 7 in the leadership position (even if the content itself isn't the best), I liked that this game actually does make an effort to make it feel as though there is a conflict happening around Zemuria, and most of the finale is really solid. The gameplay also remains quite fun.
I won't bore anyone with yet another series of complaints about the curse, the mechanics of the plot, or even the fanservice, but I will say I was particularly disappointed with how much this game treads the same ground structurally as Trails of Cold Steel II. More than any other title in the series I was awash for most of the game with a huge "been there done that" feel, and that made it difficult to hit those points that made it all worth it. It's also just way too long for no particular reason.
Even with my gripes, I had a solid time overall. But definitely ready and excited to move on to Reverie.
Off the top of my head, I quite liked the first arc putting Juna and New Class 7 in the leadership position (even if the content itself isn't the best), I liked that this game actually does make an effort to make it feel as though there is a conflict happening around Zemuria, and most of the finale is really solid. The gameplay also remains quite fun.
I won't bore anyone with yet another series of complaints about the curse, the mechanics of the plot, or even the fanservice, but I will say I was particularly disappointed with how much this game treads the same ground structurally as Trails of Cold Steel II. More than any other title in the series I was awash for most of the game with a huge "been there done that" feel, and that made it difficult to hit those points that made it all worth it. It's also just way too long for no particular reason.
Even with my gripes, I had a solid time overall. But definitely ready and excited to move on to Reverie.
The graph of this game:
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