After the frustrating mess that was Cold Steel 3's finale, I went into this game expecting it to be an even bigger trainwreck. And I wasn't... entirely wrong. Cold Steel 4 is a game that, while still overall fun and has its good moments, was ultimately sabotaged by the baffling writing decisions made by Cold Steel 3 and is nowhere near the masterpiece finale it should've been.
I would like to start off by mentioning the things I actually liked about this game. For one, the combat is as fun as ever. I played on Nightmare difficulty for this one and while it was still an incredibly easy game, I found satisfaction in watching the difficulty completely crumble with the amount of insane tools the game gives you. The game being so easy even on the highest difficulty lets you get away with using pretty much any character and strategy and still make it through. In typical Kiseki fashion there are still a ton of characters to get attached to, but that also leads to one of this game's biggest issues - character bloat. There are too many characters for the story to juggle that a ton either get nothing to do or are just horribly written. Nearly every returning character is a shell, just there to make the player point at the screen and go "Hey I know that guy!"
Another thing I want to mention is the game's pretty strong first act. Act 1 and Fragments are genuinely good. Having the new Class VII separated from Rean not only allows the class members to have more screentime, but also establishes a clear goal early on: get Rean back. This entire segment of the game, including its conclusion with Fragments, thoroughly surprised me with how good it was. Unfortunately, this is the best the game gets for a long time, which leads to the part of this review where i touch on the bad.
Right after the game's best part immediately comes the worst part of the game - Act 2. If there's one thing that I can say hurt Cold Steel 4 the most besides the obvious nonsensical plot points and revelations, it's the pacing. For being the start to the largest war in Zemuria's history, there is way too much of nothing happening for a good majority of this game, and Act 2 is why. It actually starts off pretty good with the first Rivalry, but after that it turns into a completely different game. The entirety of Act 2 is literally 30 hours of straight filler where all you do is visit town -> talk to NPCS -> solve the extremely minor issue in the area -> rinse and repeat. Padding isn't a new thing in this series at all but I feel like it's at its worst here considering how high the stakes SHOULD be. It's tedious as hell and I actually had to stop playing for a couple of days because of how boring it was.
Last thing I want to touch on is a feature that has existed since Cold Steel 1 and I have never been a fan of, but they're even more baffling here - the bonding events. Mainly with the female characters. The Erebonian curse is one thing, but the real curse in this game is every girl's inability to be around Rean and not want to make out with him. There are some genuinely good scenes between Rean and the female characters, but so many are also immediately undercut by the fact that every girl is in love with Rean. It can get really creepy considering that even characters like Altina and Fie are romance options when they have no business being there.
Thankfully Act 3 and Finale, while not amazing, still kept me entertained enough to want to see the game through to the end. While I can say this is the second worst Kiseki game only ahead of Cold Steel 1, I can also say that I do not regret my time invested into this series at all. A couple of letdowns isn't going to stop me from thinking about the hundreds of hours I've put in being invested in this world and the characters living in it. Reverie and the Kuro games are waiting, and I'm more motivated than ever to continue with this series.
I would like to start off by mentioning the things I actually liked about this game. For one, the combat is as fun as ever. I played on Nightmare difficulty for this one and while it was still an incredibly easy game, I found satisfaction in watching the difficulty completely crumble with the amount of insane tools the game gives you. The game being so easy even on the highest difficulty lets you get away with using pretty much any character and strategy and still make it through. In typical Kiseki fashion there are still a ton of characters to get attached to, but that also leads to one of this game's biggest issues - character bloat. There are too many characters for the story to juggle that a ton either get nothing to do or are just horribly written. Nearly every returning character is a shell, just there to make the player point at the screen and go "Hey I know that guy!"
Another thing I want to mention is the game's pretty strong first act. Act 1 and Fragments are genuinely good. Having the new Class VII separated from Rean not only allows the class members to have more screentime, but also establishes a clear goal early on: get Rean back. This entire segment of the game, including its conclusion with Fragments, thoroughly surprised me with how good it was. Unfortunately, this is the best the game gets for a long time, which leads to the part of this review where i touch on the bad.
Right after the game's best part immediately comes the worst part of the game - Act 2. If there's one thing that I can say hurt Cold Steel 4 the most besides the obvious nonsensical plot points and revelations, it's the pacing. For being the start to the largest war in Zemuria's history, there is way too much of nothing happening for a good majority of this game, and Act 2 is why. It actually starts off pretty good with the first Rivalry, but after that it turns into a completely different game. The entirety of Act 2 is literally 30 hours of straight filler where all you do is visit town -> talk to NPCS -> solve the extremely minor issue in the area -> rinse and repeat. Padding isn't a new thing in this series at all but I feel like it's at its worst here considering how high the stakes SHOULD be. It's tedious as hell and I actually had to stop playing for a couple of days because of how boring it was.
Last thing I want to touch on is a feature that has existed since Cold Steel 1 and I have never been a fan of, but they're even more baffling here - the bonding events. Mainly with the female characters. The Erebonian curse is one thing, but the real curse in this game is every girl's inability to be around Rean and not want to make out with him. There are some genuinely good scenes between Rean and the female characters, but so many are also immediately undercut by the fact that every girl is in love with Rean. It can get really creepy considering that even characters like Altina and Fie are romance options when they have no business being there.
Thankfully Act 3 and Finale, while not amazing, still kept me entertained enough to want to see the game through to the end. While I can say this is the second worst Kiseki game only ahead of Cold Steel 1, I can also say that I do not regret my time invested into this series at all. A couple of letdowns isn't going to stop me from thinking about the hundreds of hours I've put in being invested in this world and the characters living in it. Reverie and the Kuro games are waiting, and I'm more motivated than ever to continue with this series.