After a horrendous Cold Steel 3, this new installment self described as the finale of Cold Steel Saga, will prove to be another disaster.
In the same fashion as its predecessor, Cold Steel 4 showcases Nihon Falcom's struggle to create anything new, Cold Steel 3 copied Cold Steel 1's formula, naturally Cold Steel 4 is a copy paste of Cold Steel 2 on many aspects, and just like its predecessor, Cold Steel 4 fails to match and replicate the original game greatness.
However, unlike its predecessor, Cold Steel 4 does have some improvements, even if it's only a few, credits where it's due. The gameplay is less repetitive than Cold Steel 3 with a sightly wider amount of possibilities. Story wise, after so much pointless hesitation in Cold Steel 3, they finally made the crossover a reality in this game, it's still badly written and was a terrible idea from the start, but at least now that Nihon Falcom achieved their fantasy, the post-nut clarity will allow them to move on, doing something maybe different than just brainless fan service, that was I thought until I saw Reverie trailers, oh well...
Cold Steel 4, is a prime example as to why quantity should never be prioritized over quality, the number of characters this game features is simply bonkers, but when there are too many people, nobody gets to shine.
This game does not do justice to any Trail cast and certainly not Cold Steel's cast which get all the developer's hate, predictable considering what they have done in cold steel 3. As if developers themselves couldn't accept Cold Steel was the one arc to make them more popular and they have the urges to tell the player : you're wrong, we do prefer the other arcs. If that statement was more subtle in the previous game, Cold Steel 4 at least is honest about it and give players a good old middle finger for playing Cold Steel 1 and 2.
How so ? Well, during the prologue of the game, Rean is still missing, and despite having recovered, the original Class VII does nothing to save Rean, no research, no planning, nothing. Instead, they wait until the new class VII's members wake up from their comas, just to talk and asses the situation.
And now quiz time, who would lead and motivate the others to save Rean, to provoke the change so they all escape their current slump which apparently justifies them to have done nothing for their leader for months ? Surely, it's a member of the OG class VII, the very people Rean shared 2 whole years with, grew up and fought during the civil war with, maybe it's Alisa the canon romance of the saga, maybe it's more fitting for Sara as their old instructor to take the lead ? Nope, Nihon Falcom went and chose Juna, the retcon character whose met Rean recently and spent her whole time insulting and belittling Rean.
The intention is crystal clear, the player is supposed to feel that the old class VII is trash, and the new one is badass, especially Juna. This is such a middle finger to anyone who played and liked Cold Steel 1 and 2, as if the hundred of hours they probably poured into those two games are worthless. Over the years, we've seen multiple instances of developers insulting their player base, but this one is a real contender.
But this middle finger alone, does not suffice to match Cold Steel 3's level of stupidity, Nihon Falcom couldn't leave at that. Heavily hinted in Cold Steel 3, confirmed in Cold Steel 4, Crow is back, revived from the dead.
It's dreadful practice to revive a dead character, doing so, the story cannot no longer be trusted, everything stated can be reverted, it nullifies any sort of stakes, intensity or tension. But Nihon Falcom doesn't seem to care as Crow isn't even the only one getting a revival.
As for the gameplay, as mentioned, it is slightly better than Cold Steel 3, however some points clearly are left to be desired. Many playable characters are actually considered guests, so you can't even fully customize them. On a similar topic, with that many characters, it would have been interesting to have some sort of ways to save an arcus setup with different quartz, and apply it with one button, in other word some sort of quality of life, but I should stop dreaming and proceed to end this review.
In conclusion, Cold Steel 4 is Nihon Falcom's fantasy, a crossover featuring an absurd number of characters. This is a game with so many characters that nobody gets to shine, with a story so badly written, it resorts to deads revivals, and abuse coincidences to advance the main plot. A game which structure is once again a copy paste of a previous title of theirs, highlighting Nihon Falcom's incapacity to create something new. Despite being ridiculed in Cold Steel 3 and 4, I ended up liking even more the original class VII, betrayed by its makers Rean Schwarzer, truly faces great adversity in Zemuria but also in our world, where he will eventually be pointed out as guilty by the mass if the Cold Steel 3/4 formula is milked one too many time.
Regardless of what happens, I have nothing but affection for Rean Schwarzer and class VII during the Cold Steel 1 & 2 era.
In the same fashion as its predecessor, Cold Steel 4 showcases Nihon Falcom's struggle to create anything new, Cold Steel 3 copied Cold Steel 1's formula, naturally Cold Steel 4 is a copy paste of Cold Steel 2 on many aspects, and just like its predecessor, Cold Steel 4 fails to match and replicate the original game greatness.
However, unlike its predecessor, Cold Steel 4 does have some improvements, even if it's only a few, credits where it's due. The gameplay is less repetitive than Cold Steel 3 with a sightly wider amount of possibilities. Story wise, after so much pointless hesitation in Cold Steel 3, they finally made the crossover a reality in this game, it's still badly written and was a terrible idea from the start, but at least now that Nihon Falcom achieved their fantasy, the post-nut clarity will allow them to move on, doing something maybe different than just brainless fan service, that was I thought until I saw Reverie trailers, oh well...
Cold Steel 4, is a prime example as to why quantity should never be prioritized over quality, the number of characters this game features is simply bonkers, but when there are too many people, nobody gets to shine.
This game does not do justice to any Trail cast and certainly not Cold Steel's cast which get all the developer's hate, predictable considering what they have done in cold steel 3. As if developers themselves couldn't accept Cold Steel was the one arc to make them more popular and they have the urges to tell the player : you're wrong, we do prefer the other arcs. If that statement was more subtle in the previous game, Cold Steel 4 at least is honest about it and give players a good old middle finger for playing Cold Steel 1 and 2.
How so ? Well, during the prologue of the game, Rean is still missing, and despite having recovered, the original Class VII does nothing to save Rean, no research, no planning, nothing. Instead, they wait until the new class VII's members wake up from their comas, just to talk and asses the situation.
And now quiz time, who would lead and motivate the others to save Rean, to provoke the change so they all escape their current slump which apparently justifies them to have done nothing for their leader for months ? Surely, it's a member of the OG class VII, the very people Rean shared 2 whole years with, grew up and fought during the civil war with, maybe it's Alisa the canon romance of the saga, maybe it's more fitting for Sara as their old instructor to take the lead ? Nope, Nihon Falcom went and chose Juna, the retcon character whose met Rean recently and spent her whole time insulting and belittling Rean.
The intention is crystal clear, the player is supposed to feel that the old class VII is trash, and the new one is badass, especially Juna. This is such a middle finger to anyone who played and liked Cold Steel 1 and 2, as if the hundred of hours they probably poured into those two games are worthless. Over the years, we've seen multiple instances of developers insulting their player base, but this one is a real contender.
But this middle finger alone, does not suffice to match Cold Steel 3's level of stupidity, Nihon Falcom couldn't leave at that. Heavily hinted in Cold Steel 3, confirmed in Cold Steel 4, Crow is back, revived from the dead.
It's dreadful practice to revive a dead character, doing so, the story cannot no longer be trusted, everything stated can be reverted, it nullifies any sort of stakes, intensity or tension. But Nihon Falcom doesn't seem to care as Crow isn't even the only one getting a revival.
As for the gameplay, as mentioned, it is slightly better than Cold Steel 3, however some points clearly are left to be desired. Many playable characters are actually considered guests, so you can't even fully customize them. On a similar topic, with that many characters, it would have been interesting to have some sort of ways to save an arcus setup with different quartz, and apply it with one button, in other word some sort of quality of life, but I should stop dreaming and proceed to end this review.
In conclusion, Cold Steel 4 is Nihon Falcom's fantasy, a crossover featuring an absurd number of characters. This is a game with so many characters that nobody gets to shine, with a story so badly written, it resorts to deads revivals, and abuse coincidences to advance the main plot. A game which structure is once again a copy paste of a previous title of theirs, highlighting Nihon Falcom's incapacity to create something new. Despite being ridiculed in Cold Steel 3 and 4, I ended up liking even more the original class VII, betrayed by its makers Rean Schwarzer, truly faces great adversity in Zemuria but also in our world, where he will eventually be pointed out as guilty by the mass if the Cold Steel 3/4 formula is milked one too many time.
Regardless of what happens, I have nothing but affection for Rean Schwarzer and class VII during the Cold Steel 1 & 2 era.