The Legend of Heroes Thread - Trails of Cold Steel in the Sky

[_Vic_]

And a clear evolution of the characters and the world itself. kudos to the writers.

 

[Valestein]

"Trains of Cold Steel III - The Bonds Between Us - Story Trailer (PS4)"

 

[Mark.L.Joy]

Playing Zero, if anyone can't stand RPGing walking speed and other minor time wastes such as bus micro cutscenes I've been using Cheat engine speed mult set to 4.0 abundantly even in combat and so far 0 problems I'm in chapter 4 with most quests done.
Edit: Oops ment 4.0 not 1.0 also finished zero.

 

[Endemic]

Behind the scenes interview and some new CS3 footage:

 

[HoboForEternity]

in other news the crossbell fan translation editing is 100% done.



now just a matter of insertion and testing

 

[MpuMngwana]

Just completed first Trails of Cold Steel. Really enjoyable 80-ish hours of buildup. This game truly has the pacing of a post-rock song.

I found low-key subplots with heavy accent on worldbuilding really fun in the first Sky game, and it was the same here. Background for most events I perhaps liked even better here - the whole nobles-reformist conflict, dramatic happenings in Crossbell, border tensions, it's all executed really well. The academy setting is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, spending most time in a single location makes minor NPCs more fleshed out and memorable, and by the end of the game I was really happy for them sorting their problems out. On the other hand, the developers for some reason had to cram every single anime high school trope in there, and IMO it clashes with the rest of the (mostly well thought out) worldbuilding. All this interesting stuff is going on, war is on the horizon, global economy is on the verge of collapse, and you're stuck preparing for the school festival. Since I like the cast, however, so I'm mostly willing to forgive this (except for the rock concert, that shit was cringeworthy).

Gameplay is nothing to write home about, turn-based, mostly on the easy side, gets the job done and paces out the story bits. Tinkering with the quartz setup is quite a bit of fun, but the weapons and armor are as boring as it gets. Music is, as expected, superb, as is the voice acting.

Also, the ending. Holy shit, the ending.

 

[Abu Antar]

There's apparently a demo for Cold Steel III on Euro PSN.

 

[Filthy Sauce]

I'm thinking about trying these games. What's better - sky or steel?

 

[HoboForEternity]

I'm thinking about trying these games. What's better - sky or steel?

imo, sky have loads of better main cast and plot, steel have better NPCs and worldbuilding and setting.

 

[eric__s]

Just completed first Trails of Cold Steel. Really enjoyable 80-ish hours of buildup. This game truly has the pacing of a post-rock song.

I found low-key subplots with heavy accent on worldbuilding really fun in the first Sky game, and it was the same here. Background for most events I perhaps liked even better here - the whole nobles-reformist conflict, dramatic happenings in Crossbell, border tensions, it's all executed really well. The academy setting is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, spending most time in a single location makes minor NPCs more fleshed out and memorable, and by the end of the game I was really happy for them sorting their problems out. On the other hand, the developers for some reason had to cram every single anime high school trope in there, and IMO it clashes with the rest of the (mostly well thought out) worldbuilding. All this interesting stuff is going on, war is on the horizon, global economy is on the verge of collapse, and you're stuck preparing for the school festival. Since I like the cast, however, so I'm mostly willing to forgive this (except for the rock concert, that shit was cringeworthy).

Gameplay is nothing to write home about, turn-based, mostly on the easy side, gets the job done and paces out the story bits. Tinkering with the quartz setup is quite a bit of fun, but the weapons and armor are as boring as it gets. Music is, as expected, superb, as is the voice acting.

Also, the ending. Holy shit, the ending.

Wow, I beat it last night too. It took months to complete because the game was such a slog that I had to put it down for months at a time. I became very, very frustrated with the pacing and structure of the game, especially how the game expected you to comb over an area and talk to every single NPC again after every single event, because one might have a new hidden quest. I found the world building to be interesting at times, but written with the understanding of a middle schooler. The anime tropes were also a bit much for me, I'm not an anime guy, and it turned into Anime Hell from the festival on (the rock concert was unforgivable). It also really bothers me that all these legendary warriors are in their teens and early 20s. Sara is 25, Captain Claire is 23, Fie is 15! The anime!!!!!!

But the game succeeds in two places. First, I enjoyed the battle system. I liked putting absurd combinations of quartz together and delaying enemies to hell. There were a handful of really tough battles (I was playing on nightmare mode) that I had real difficulty with, but the only battle I ever had to actually restart was the final one, which introduced an entirely new battle system out of the blue. I liked it though, fun and sometimes really challenging stuff.

It also does well with the story hooks, the way it keeps you wondering about things and hints at bigger mysteries. I continued playing because I wanted to see how a storyline resolved; what's the deal with this character, what is this character hiding, what's going on with the school house??? It's all pretty interesting and well done. I wish it wasn't hidden behind such a tedious gatdam structure. I don't want to reexplore a town I've explored 6 times because a new event has happened. It's such a pain.

But overall, I enjoyed it enough to want to start the second game, which I hear has a very different structure (I don't know what that means, don't tell me!), I want to see how storylines resolve and what happens with the war and the world.

Spoiler alert!

Spoiler

I also figured out C's secret identity pretty early on because Crow is the only guy in the game whose name starts with C. I knew it for sure when he disappeared during chapter 6 in the mines.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Trails from Zero: 100%
Posted on September 21, 2019

Author supremezerker
Well, we made it. For a while, I wasn’t sure if we would—yet here we are. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero’s first editing pass has been completed. It’s still a little weird to say. After sinking so much of my life into this project for over two years, it’s numbing to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Putting sentimentality aside for now, I suppose you’re asking what happens now? I’ll try to answer that.


The Plan
From here, we are going to run a proofreading/minor editing pass over the areas in the script that need it. This should take a fraction of the time that it took to edit the script, so worry not. Towards the end of proofreading, the testing phase is planned to start. Truth be told, I’m not 100% sure how long that will take, so Ribose will talk about that below! Either way, things are progressing at a rapid pace.

• 
• 

Testing Phase
Hello, Ribose here! The way testing will work is players will be given access to the patch (obviously), as well as a channel to talk to us with, and the issue tracker to report any and every issue found. The issue tracker also contains a wiki containing all of my technical notes for reference, such as a list of all of the quests (and notable optional interactions within them), the NPCs, the documentation of all debug functions (that we’ve found), and the things people are recommended to test.


Any and all terminology is being synchronized with Kiseki Wiki, such that an inconsistency between what the wiki says and what the game says is also considered a bug. Technical bugs, graphical bugs, scenario script bugs (typos, context, etc), inconsistencies, and anything else reported will be looked into and the team will attempt to fix it. Of course, the testers will be able to see reported issues and be able to talk with us and get feedback. Testing will begin soon and will be by invite. We hope it’ll only be a few months until release!


A Special Thanks
Zerker back. Before anything else, I have to thank our friend, Arvin. He has been an immensely huge help in finishing the first editing pass, and has grown to be an invaluable member of the team. Genuinely, I don’t know if we could have finished it (har, har) without your dedication.


Surprises?
On top of the patch, we also have a few mini-projects in the works—related to Zero, of course! Imagine it as the extra toppings on the pizza. Not necessary, but they’re nice to have! One is planned to be released before the patch, and the other concurrently with Trails from Zero.

• 
• 

also a little bird told me (he's very reputable so far) that the "extra" is you can switch OST with the EVO version. not the whole thing, but song to song basis. as in you cna use EVO battle theme, but vanilla town theme , mix and match what you want, etc.

 

[Jinn]

eric__s, have you played the Trails in the Sky Trilogy?

 

[Urthor]

Not sure how to feel about Trails from Zero.

On the one hand fan patch and fixing all the bugs will be the shit, on the other suddenly you have to emulate the PSP for Ao if you don't want to get massive blue balls for the next 6 years waiting for Ao????

 

[HoboForEternity]

Not sure how to feel about Trails from Zero.

On the one hand fan patch and fixing all the bugs will be the shit, on the other suddenly you have to emulate the PSP for Ao if you don't want to get massive blue balls for the next 6 years waiting for Ao????

iiirc Gu4n patch for AO works for pc version

 

[Urthor]

I became very, very frustrated with the pacing and structure of the game, especially how the game expected you to comb over an area and talk to every single NPC again after every single event, because one might have a new hidden quest. I found the world building to be interesting at times, but written with the understanding of a middle schooler. The anime tropes were also a bit much for me, I'm not an anime guy, and it turned into Anime Hell from the festival on (the rock concert was unforgivable). It also really bothers me that all these legendary warriors are in their teens and early 20s. Sara is 25, Captain Claire is 23, Fie is 15! The anime!!!!!!

Hidden quests are legitimately one of the most annoying things absolutely don't disagree, doing an unspoilt playthrough and missing out on 100% because of the NPC literally hidden behind scenery sucks.

IMO one of the greatest strengths of From the Sky is that it breaks the anime cliche in a lot of ways because it's not actually the happiest, good guy wins in the end story really and the world is relatively trope free for a JRPG.

Cold Steel series, especially Cold Steel 1 definitely seems like the slightly weaker game overall story wise because as you say, it's a ultimately school life game following Persona and ultimately that brings a lot of crap with it, even though the battle system/world/writing is good and an improvement on Trails from the Sky 2 where there were an awful lot of HP sponge bosses.

It's still a good game and one of the best RPGs going around because ultimately the strength of the series is that *the writing and narrative focus is huge* and *the battle system is not a straight Dragon Quest clone*.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Played the TOCS 3 demo.

Mostly it but can’t beat the last boss, I’m playing on Nightmare and you just don’t have enough items, quartz etc to get past him.

It’s ok though, when the full game arrives I will make sure I play on Hard instead.

 

[Somberlain]

What boss/area is in the demo?

 

[Deleted member 7219]

What boss/area is in the demo?

Spoiler

The area is the Keep at the new Thors Campus. The boss is a Magic Knight summoned by Professor Schmidt.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I grinded until my team went up a few levels - then the boss was really easy. Ready for the full game!

 

[Dodo1610]

Game informer review

https://www.gameinformer.com/review...the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-iii

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel III
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel III Review – A Satisfying Class Reunion
by Kimberley Wallace on Oct 15, 2019 at 02:00 AM
Publisher: NIS America
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Release: October 22, 2019
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4


The Trails of Cold Steel franchise continues to impress me. Whether it’s in the depth added to its fantastic turn-based battle system or the intriguing revelations tucked into its sprawling storyline, Nihon Falcom keeps taking the series in exciting directions. The way the developer has built up a massive world and its political tensions is fascinating, referencing events that happened way back in the Trails in the Sky arc. Seeing how all this history and lore unfolds has been an exciting part of the journey. Fans are constantly treated to callbacks and character reunions that feel like rewards for the long investment. While the narrative is certainly a big draw, Trails of Cold Steel III is also a solid RPG through and through, especially if you yearn for something with a classic feel and modern sensibilities.

As the third entry in this four-game arc, Trails of Cold Steel III sets the stage for the grand finale. Instead of narrowing the focus or dialing back, Nihon Falcom goes all-out, adding tons of new characters and retaining familiar faces. The story picks up about a year and a half since the last entry’s civil war. Protagonist Rean has since graduated and become a professor at a new branch of Thors Academy, one reserved for the outcasts and misfits. After growing exceptionally close to the cast of the past games (don’t worry you’ll see them plenty), I was worried about how I’d take to a new class, but the fresh faces bring a lot of interesting dimensions to the plot. For instance, gunner Juna formerly worked at the Crossbell police academy, providing a more personal perspective on how political events affected that area.

I grew to love most of the new students, but not all are great. Musse is just awful; her main shtick is constantly hitting on Rean, which is overplayed and gets grating fast. The coolest scenes in the story are the reunions with familiar characters from past games. Everyone reenters Rean’s life in an interesting or surprising fashion, making these moments feel super satisfying if you’ve been following the expansive plot through multiple games. If you haven’t, there is a backstory glossary that catches you up on everything from key characters to detailed summaries that break down each game. You can certainly get by using this, but this story is best experienced having played the previous two entries.

Trails of Cold Steel is content to keep its school-year structure, allowing you to guide the new Class VII on field assignments and socialize with them in your off time. The social elements remain a highlight, and this entry provides several opportunities to hang out with your new students or former classmates. You even have a camp where you can catch up, unearthing extra details or opening new side quests. But sometimes you have too much downtime, and the school aspects feel drawn out, creating busywork before you get to the good stuff. Just like previous entries, this installment is massive and slow-burning. I like how this builds up the relationships and world, but bloated dialogue segments and chore-like fetch quests test my patience.

The turn-based battle system remains one of my favorites in recent years due to its many options. You’re forced to use your head instead of spamming attacks and specials. While the system is still focused on enemy weaknesses, character placement, and timing, Nihon Falcom introduced some new elements to keep you on your toes. A break gauge causes enemies to cease all actions for a turn with lowered defenses. I loved saving all my specials for this moment so they’d pack an even greater punch, as watching the high damage add up is extremely satisfying. Another new addition is Brave Order, which allows you to activate tide-changing perks, such as reflecting damage or taking half-damage. Implementing them into my strategy quickly became a new wrinkle to conquer boss battles. You can also now perform a “Burst” with two linked characters, which multiples break damage by 10. All of these new mechanics play off each other wonderfully, and combining them at the right times is a recipe for devastation. They make you feel powerful, and the gratification from crafting smart strategies is hard to top.

While I enjoy the combat, the dungeons stand to be improved. For a good portion of the game, you revisit and run through trials in a bland practice dungeon. Outside of battles, you find switches and crawl through ducts to reach different places, with the latter being especially overdone, alongside the commentary about being able to see up the girls’ skirts every time you enter one. The dungeon design is simply uninspired; all the floors have a sterile feel, with only differing color schemes giving them any defining features. You also fight in other places such as forests, caves, and ruins, but they are pretty generic.

Trails of Cold Steel III’s strengths outweigh its weaknesses. While the story takes its sweet time to unfold, it offers a lot of shocking outcomes. I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that things just keep heating up and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead. There’s something special about following characters for so long across various games – that attachment makes these journeys matter so much more. I just hope the next entry addresses the more glaring flaws, because there’s too much good here for it to be bogged down by a few problem areas.



The Legend of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel III
With great combat, an engrossing narrative, and a charming cast, Cold Steel III has all the makings of a great RPG.

Score: 8

Concept: Put lead character Rean in the role of professor and introduce fresh threats to an all-new Class VII
Graphics: The visuals certainly have a dated look, especially the environments. However, the new designs for the returning characters look great
Sound: Repetitive music loses its appeal fast, and the quality of voice acting is inconsistent
Playability: Occasional framerate stutters and graphical hiccups aside, the controls are smooth and all the mechanics are well-explained
Entertainment: Trails of Cold Steel III marks another school year full of adrenaline-pumping battles, interesting new faces, and unexpected hardships amidst political turmoil
Replay: Moderate

 

[Endemic]

Hmm...

 

[Valestein]

First she needs to decide when to dry that dress.

 

[Harry Easter]

Is the Trails of Cold Steel - series now complete or are there hints for another continuation? I know that each game tells a complete story, but they tell one big story, so is it done?

 

[Ysaye]

Is the Trails of Cold Steel - series now complete or are there hints for another continuation? I know that each game tells a complete story, but they tell one big story, so is it done?

(Following on from Cold Steel 4) they are going to run a side story in the vein of Trails in the Sky The 3rd. It is not clear yet where the setting for that will be (it won't be Calvard yet) but one can imagine the next gen Class 7 getting more focus as part of it.

 

[aweigh]

i know i've asked this before many times but it's:

1. TiTS FC
2. TiTS SC
3. TiTS T3rd
4. TfZ
5. ???
6. ???
7. ToCS 1-3

...right?