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.