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[Sub_Level]

What do you all think of it? Currently 15 hours into Part 1 and having a blast. Its low budget & extremely tropey, but its got heart. Most would agree it has Persona DNA due to the link system, but I actually am finding some FFVIII similarities as well with the whole teenage military academy setting, the trains, the card minigame, e.t.c.

Do later installments get better? Can you export your save data for romances or bonus items?

 

[NomadicAsiatic]

Trails Of Cold Steel is legit one of the best RPGs I’ve played. I have barely scratched the surface with the sequels tho.

 

[Punished Miku]

I've played JRPGs my entire life. I've also read accounts from people that like this series for probably over 10 years.

I still have never actually tried it though for some reason.

 

[VALCON 82]

I've played I, II, III, and currently in progress of IV.
The overall presentation improves as you go through the next installments. i believe when you load save data the successors give you unique items/ or cosmetics... can't remember exactly
Its one of the best RPG's I've ever played and I still haven't gotten to play the Sky or other series in the Saga. Reverie can't come quick enough

 

[Mister Wolf]

The Trails franchise has overtaken the Xeno franchise as my favorite rpg series. If you are gaming on PC make sure you pick up the Trails In The Sky trilogy which takes place before the Cold Steel games in the timeline. There is an interconnected story that is spanning through all the Trails games. Think of the Cold Steel games as a story arc thats a part of a much bigger story.

 

[AmuroChan]

Trails have become one of my favorite JRPG series in recent years (along with Persona). The Trails series is basically the MCU of JRPGs. The world building is incredible and all the interconnected storylines across all the games make this franchise unique. Cold Steel IV is easily one of the best JRPGs I've played in recent memories.

 

[Graciaus]

I'm waiting to play cold steel until the other games are brought over. I played for a few hours and put it on hold. But the series has excellent overall reviews. The Sky arc was amazing.

 

[Zenaku]

Played maybe halfway through Steel, but knowing characters from previous series appear in the later Steel games has killed my desire to go on until I play the previous series.

Sadly can't play Sky with japanese voice and text, unless I get the Vita versions, and not interested in playing with english text and japanese voice (every time I've been forced to do so I've found multiple translation errors, not going through that shit for a story heavy game series).

I can hack my old PSTV so maybe if I can find the Vita versions on Amazon or elsewhere, I can rip them and play on an emulator, but until then I won't be going back to Trails.

With luck they may port the older games to Switch at some point.

 

[DragoonKain]

Two big JRPG series I've never played were this and Ys. I'm going to start one next year. I researched both and Ys seems more my cup of tea. But as a collector I do own all the Trails games, so I can start them whenever. It just seems more story driven and more tedious where Ys is more exploration and action based.

 

[Punished Miku]

It just seems more story driven and more tedious where Ys is more exploration and action based.

Yeah, that's just not my main interest these days. Gravitating more towards uninterrupted gameplay, more and more.

 

[jshackles]

Played the first 20 hours of this on the Vita. Really enjoyed it, but I was playing it around the time the Switch came out, and I haven't gone back to it.

Wish we got the Switch release of the first two games in English.

 

[Huevos de Oro]

I own the first two Cold Steel games for Vita and double dipped on Steam. Still haven't played any. I played about 10 hours of TitS and I thought it was great, but also long and deliberately paced. Then I got sidetracked like I usually do.

 

[SantaC]

What do you all think of it? Currently 15 hours into Part 1 and having a blast. Its low budget & extremely tropey, but its got heart. Most would agree it has Persona DNA due to the link system, but I actually am finding some FFVIII similarities as well with the whole teenage military academy setting, the trains, the card minigame, e.t.c.

Do later installments get better? Can you export your save data for romances or bonus items?

Yes CS3 is the highlight of the arc. CS1 is the worst game but still good.

1. CS3
2. CS2
3. CS4
4. CS1

 

[JayK47]

After 200 more hours you may begin to tire of it. I loved the first 2 but got tired of it by time I played 3 and 4. A case of forcing myself to complete it since I had already invested so much time. Too many cameos.

 

[DragoonKain]

Yeah, that's just not my main interest these days. Gravitating more towards uninterrupted gameplay, more and more.

Back in the day I could sit there and hit X to go through hundreds of text bubbles in RPGs and not bat an eye. Hell, I wouldn't even try to speed them up. Nowadays? Forget it. I don't have the time or the patience to enter a town, read 20 minutes of text. Then walk 50 feet... trigger another scene... 5 more minutes of text. Enter the shop, listen to their pretentious banter... another 5 minutes of text. Buy an item, watch tutorials on how to use equipment. Go to the main castle... 20 more minutes of text.

Next thing you know you spent an hour in the town and didn't even start exploring yet. Uh uh. Not happening these days.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Played through the first game and while not bad, it was so, so, so, so tropey, and just full of filler dialog and forced tension and drama that was pointless because you could immediately tell it was forced and there were actually no stakes. Everything would end up ok at all times due to varying levels of bullshit.

 

[Punished Miku]

Back in the day I could sit there and hit X to go through hundreds of text bubbles in RPGs and not bat an eye. Hell, I wouldn't even try to speed them up. Nowadays? Forget it. I don't have the time or the patience to enter a town, read 20 minutes of text. Then walk 50 feet... trigger another scene... 5 more minutes of text. Enter the shop, listen to their pretentious banter... another 5 minutes of text. Buy an item, watch tutorials on how to use equipment. Go to the main castle... 20 more minutes of text.

Next thing you know you spent an hour in the town and didn't even start exploring yet. Uh uh. Not happening these days.

psst ... Dungeon Encounters, get it on sale.

 

[saintjules]

I've played JRPGs my entire life. I've also read accounts from people that like this series for probably over 10 years.

I still have never actually tried it though for some reason.

I have been playing through the first one, but stopped some time ago. It's a great game, but it does take a lot of time and patience to play. These are really, really long games. Who knows when I'd ever get to IV.

 

[Sub_Level]

After 200 more hours you may begin to tire of it. I loved the first 2 but got tired of it by time I played 3 and 4. A case of forcing myself to complete it since I had already invested so much time. Too many cameos.

Was planning on taking a long break between II and III. Did Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 back-to-back earlier this year and that got old very fast despite the games themselves being good.

Back in the day I could sit there and hit X to go through hundreds of text bubbles in RPGs and not bat an eye. Hell, I wouldn't even try to speed them up. Nowadays? Forget it. I don't have the time or the patience to enter a town, read 20 minutes of text. Then walk 50 feet... trigger another scene... 5 more minutes of text. Enter the show, listen to their pretentious banter... another 5 minutes of text. Buy an item, watch tutorials on how to use equipment. Go to the main castle... 20 more minutes of text.

Next thing you know you spent an hour in the town and didn't even start exploring yet. Uh uh. Not happening these days.

There have been times I get off work at 5 and manage to do a few cutscenes and half a dungeon before its already time for bed. It feels like you're going a centimeter at a time. You gotta just be in the mood for it. There's months where I just wanna pop in a shooter or racer and get to the damn point, but there's also months where I can wrap myself in a blanket while I read anime soap opera text bubbles lol

 

[lachesis]

The series is still on my cue to play...

I've enjoyed the Trails of Sky 1 & 2 a couple years back - and thinking about jumping in for the sky3, and remake versions of zero/azure before diving into the Cold Steel.
I liked the how the story progressed - albeit sometimes a bit too campy or predictable, and characters being so transparently typical/streotyped... but it did feel like I'm reading a long manga novela or something.

Come to think of it, I think my Steam deck would be pretty much reserved for all the Falcom games - Thinking of installing every single Ys game at least...

 

[jshackles]

Come to think of it, I think my Steam deck would be pretty much reserved for all the Falcom games - Thinking of installing every single Ys game at least...

Dude... I forgot I own all of these on PC. Now I'm even more hyped for the Deck.

 

[lachesis]

Dude... I forgot I own all of these on PC. Now I'm even more hyped for the Deck.

I'm hoping that the Deck being portable - I will be able to crunch in some playtime here and there with these types of long game.
I'll call my deck as "Falcom Trail machine" lol.

I hadn't acted soon enough, so my delivery is supposed to happen next Q2..

 

[mejin]

Played till CS4. Great fuckn Arc and CS2 is my favorite.

I am really disappointed I have to wait till 2023 to play Reverie (Hajimari). It just means the Calvard Arc won't come soon enough and worse, Falcom could release another one before Hajimari launches.

 

[Shouta]

They're good but overall kind of the weakest entries in the franchise. Cold Steel 3 is the best of these 4 games, second best if we count Hajimari/Reverie.

I highly recommend Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure when they come out in English as those are top tier games. I'd recommend Kuro no Kiseki as well but that isn't coming out in English until at least 2024 at this point.

 

[Merkades]

I replayed these this year, on III now. I don't like Rean. I didn't the first time around and I don't this time. I do mostly like the games though.

 

[JeloSWE]

I've been slowly going through the whole series from the start. I'm currently over half way through CS2 but put it on pause as I'm experiencing fatigue of the series, but I will definitely keep going once I've finished a couple of other games in my backlog. I think this series is one of the best JRPGs out there, it has a lot of heart and charm, great characters and writing, both dialogue and story. I love that they are turn based as well. Due to the over arching story since the first game, it's almost like playing the longest running RPG game ever.

If you can enjoy old-school 2D, it I'd recommend starting form the beginning so you can enjoy the over arching world plot and returning characters when going forward. And don't skip the Crossbell games either (Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure). They aren't legally readily available yet but will become in a year or so I think, however the sub group geofront did an amazing job translating the two games. I should say that I've managed to buy all games legally except Crossbell part 2 as it were just too complicated with a Chinese site and DRM and crap, but as I mentioned, they will be coming translated to the west in a year or so. In fact they did such a good job Falcom will have them do the official translation of those games.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Great game but the Trail In The Sky Trilogy are way better in the character aspect

 

[drganon]

I've enjoyed the games I've played in the series so far. I'd recommend the series to those that like turn based rpgs with a big emphasis on story.

 

[Sub_Level]

Finished the game last night. What a fun ride.

+ Likable cast. Tropes as far as the eye can see, but in an age of subverted expectations & meta narratives, it was actually nice to just play a normal fucking trashy anime.

+ EXCELLENT pacing. The nailed the formula. Spend a few hours of comfy schooltime with character bonding & laid back dungeon crawling -> few hours of heavy exposition & exploration of new town -> few hours of more challenging dungeon crawling & major boss climax. Repeat 7 times. The game never felt like trudging through mud despite you going hours and hours without major story developments.

+ Appreciated the level of worldbuilding in regards to the tech, military, and politics. Its neat to see the growing adoption of automobiles, the fledgling internet infrastructure, and the use of radio as a primary communication device. Similarly the conflict between provincial & imperial powers mimics state vs federal tensions here in the states (although Erebonia seems more influenced by Europe rather than America).

- Did not care for the fantasy elements introduced near the end. The magic & monsters in the rest of the game at least felt consistent for the game's setting (they straight up admit that swords can only do so much against tanks & artillery) whereas some of the later stuff felt random. I'm sure more context will help if I play the sequels.

Solid 4 outta 5. Ready for Part II. Final party:

 

[Shifty1897]

I really want to play this but there's no Switch version in the US and the PS4 version is $40, which seems like a lot of money for a 8 year old Vita/PS3 game. Should I just bite the bullet and buy on PS4 or hold out for a Switch release?

 

[Fuz]

Do you have to play them all or are the stories separated?

 

[TidusYuna]

I really want to play this but there's no Switch version in the US and the PS4 version is $40, which seems like a lot of money for a 8 year old Vita/PS3 game. Should I just bite the bullet and buy on PS4 or hold out for a Switch release?

Yes, bite the bullet, to be safe and guarantee yourself a copy. These games don't get lower than 30 new without being sold out immediately now, both because of new found popularity and scalpers of covid era. So if you miss it waiting for a deal too good, you may miss it completely or end up paying even more to get it. That really goes for all games from small Japanese studios these days.

I don't know the chances of 1 and 2 coming to the switch. Xseed did translations for part 1 and 2 while Nisa did 3 and 4. So chances are, they didn't bring it over to the switch because a deal between Xseed and possibly Sony. We don't know when whatever deal that is in place will expire or if they will even plan to port it. They could have made the decision not to port it because they assumed that portable gamers will have already bought it on vita. Not only that but Nihon Falcom has already announced are large list of upcoming games, so they will be very busy. I just picked up the switch versions of 3 and 4 from best buy for 40 a pop when I realized they were sold out on Amazon. Specifically Amazon and not a third party seller amazon which is still available.

 

[saintjules]

Two big JRPG series I've never played were this and Ys. I'm going to start one next year. I researched both and Ys seems more my cup of tea. But as a collector I do own all the Trails games, so I can start them whenever. It just seems more story driven and more tedious where Ys is more exploration and action based.

Agree. I still haven't finished the first Cold Steel. I love what it has to offer, it's just that these games are so long, I don't have the time. I don't know, but I want to see this part of the franchise through at least. Ys was also another one I wanted to play.

 

[Sub_Level]

Do you have to play them all or are the stories separated?

Only done one game so I'm still a newb, but my understanding so far is its all highly interconnected. The most common play order I've seen recommended on youtube is release order.

And of course it goes without saying but each subsequent game in an arc is highly dependent on you playing the previous entry. I.E. its a very bad idea to play CS II without CS I.

 

[Sub_Level]

Finished CS II yesterday. Clocked in at 70 hours. What a game. Some jumbled thoughts:

- Not so much a sequel; more like a disc 2. Gameplay changes were extremely minor so it felt very natural immediately going from I to II.
- The pacing is excellent in the beginning and ending, but suffers during Act 2. The major operations were all well & good, but having the player go through recycled areas 3+ times was really pushing it. The limited budget was evident.
- I like that tanks were still really useful, and often even more useful, than the anime mechs. Made the conflict feel a little more grounded.
- Hard mode felt really good. Dungeon crawling was easy but you still had to use strategy on bosses. I never had to grind levels; there was always a strategy available to clear a boss.
- Ending hit me in the feels. Didn't care for the dumb last-minute plot twists or the Crossbell fanservice section for a game I haven't even played, but that wasn't enough to sink the Epilogue which I felt was one of the stronger chapters. It really drives home the connection you grow to have with the setting & characters.
- Rean is such a bullshit donut steel anime protag and its fantastic. Haha....
- The absolute gauntlet of bosses they throw at you in the final castle was cool. Felt properly climactic. McBurn was probably the game's hardest boss.
- Laura is best girl and its not close.

 

[Shifty1897]

It sounds like PSN is throwing all the Cold Steel games on sale today or tomorrow as part of an "End of the Year" sale, so if you've been waiting for a sale to jump in (like me), now's your chance!

Edit: Sale is live, Cold Steel 1 and 2 are 20 bucks each.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Finished CS II yesterday. Clocked in at 70 hours. What a game. Some jumbled thoughts:

- Not so much a sequel; more like a disc 2. Gameplay changes were extremely minor so it felt very natural immediately going from I to II.
- The pacing is excellent in the beginning and ending, but suffers during Act 2. The major operations were all well & good, but having the player go through recycled areas 3+ times was really pushing it. The limited budget was evident.
- I like that tanks were still really useful, and often even more useful, than the anime mechs. Made the conflict feel a little more grounded.
- Hard mode felt really good. Dungeon crawling was easy but you still had to use strategy on bosses. I never had to grind levels; there was always a strategy available to clear a boss.
- Ending hit me in the feels. Didn't care for the dumb last-minute plot twists or the Crossbell fanservice section for a game I haven't even played, but that wasn't enough to sink the Epilogue which I felt was one of the stronger chapters. It really drives home the connection you grow to have with the setting & characters.
- Rean is such a bullshit donut steel anime protag and its fantastic. Haha....
- The absolute gauntlet of bosses they throw at you in the final castle was cool. Felt properly climactic. McBurn was probably the game's hardest boss.
- Laura is best girl and its not close.

Laura best girl. Aurelia best woman.

 

[Sub_Level]

Laura best girl. Aurelia best woman.

 

[ANDS]

I started the first one on NIGHTMARE and had to drop it because it's been so long I don't remember the mechanics of the game but do remember that if you aren't exploiting the DELAY mechanic you're basically punching air. My last save is in the basement of the Creepy House and at a boss and I'm just getting murdered and I just lose interest in relearning the game (also not gonna restart as I'm like 20 hours or so deep).

. . .other than that its a good game that does the "anime aesthetic" really well.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I started the first one on NIGHTMARE and had to drop it because it's been so long I don't remember the mechanics of the game but do remember that if you aren't exploiting the DELAY mechanic you're basically punching air. My last save is in the basement of the Creepy House and at a boss and I'm just getting murdered and I just lose interest in relearning the game (also not gonna restart as I'm like 20 hours or so deep).

. . .other than that its a good game that does the "anime aesthetic" really well.

Why not just lower the difficulty?

 

[ANDS]

Why not just lower the difficulty?

Don't think you can.

 

[Jennings]

I've never played the Trails games and I don't plan to, but my brother loves them and has played them all (as far as I know, all the Cold Steel and Sky games). The thing is that that they seem to be the only JRPG games he enjoys, for example he hated Xenobalde Chronicles because of the real time action-oriented combat, and he got bored of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Since I don't know anything about the JRPG genre, can anybody recommend a (Steam or Switch) JRPG series with in-depth character interactions/stories and a combat system similar to the Trails series?

I think Tales of Arise is also action based so he probably wouldn't enjoy that either.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Jennings]

Does he like Persona series?

If he likes Tactics games, there's Langrisser IV with translation patch (for PS1)
It is known for having multiple paths and endings for each character (also you can end up with different waifus)

I know he hasn't tried Persona, but if the combat is similar to Trails I'm sure he'll like it. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm out of my depth in this genre.

 

[German Hops]

I know he hasn't tried Persona, but if the combat is similar to Trails I'm sure he'll like it. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm out of my depth in this genre.

You can't go wrong with Persona 4.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Sub_Level]

I've never played the Trails games and I don't plan to, but my brother loves them and has played them all (as far as I know, all the Cold Steel and Sky games). The thing is that that they seem to be the only JRPG games he enjoys, for example he hated Xenobalde Chronicles because of the real time action-oriented combat, and he got bored of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Since I don't know anything about the JRPG genre, can anybody recommend a (Steam or Switch) JRPG series with in-depth character interactions/stories and a combat system similar to the Trails series?

I think Tales of Arise is also action based so he probably wouldn't enjoy that either.

1. He will like probably Final Fantasy X. It has a true turn based system like Trails, even showing the player the turn order in the corner of the screen just like Cold Steel. The pacing is also very good so he will not be bored; you never spend more than an hour in any given scenario. Whether he likes the story and characters, wellllll thats up to preference FFX’s characters have tons of fans and detractors alike. It has heavy focus on the characters tho so he will like the interactions berween them. Available on PS2, PS3, PS4, Vita, Switch, PC, and even Xbox.

2. Persona 4 as goo suggested. The social link system is basically a deeper version of the Cold Steel bonding events. The dungeon design is very boring but frankly Cold Steel dungeons arent anything to write home about either so he should have no issues. Available on PS2, PS3, Vita, PC, and soon Xbox.

 

[Jennings]

1. He will like probably Final Fantasy X. It has a true turn based system like Trails, even showing the player the turn order in the corner of the screen just like Cold Steel. The pacing is also very good so he will not be bored; you never spend more than an hour in any given scenario. Whether he likes the story and characters, wellllll thats up to preference FFX’s characters have tons of fans and detractors alike. It has heavy focus on the characters tho so he will like the interactions berween them. Available on PS2, PS3, PS4, Vita, Switch, PC, and even Xbox.

2. Persona 4 as goo suggested. The social link system is basically a deeper version of the Cold Steel bonding events. The dungeon design is very boring but frankly Cold Steel dungeons arent anything to write home about either so he should have no issues. Available on PS2, PS3, Vita, PC, and soon Xbox.

Great to know, thanks.

 

[AmuroChan]

Yes, each game gets progressively better. ToCS IV is one of my favorite JRPGs of all time. Trails is essentially the MCU of gaming in that every game is interconnected and takes place in the same world. Characters from the Sky and Crossbell games make appearances in Cold Steel, which contributes to the wonderful world building of this franchise.

 

[names are for friends]

I like Trails of Cold Steel and it's probably my favourite Trails series but the story absolutely gets more and more stupid as it goes on to the point where it retroactively ruins earlier games.
The battle system, character customisation and stuff is great and I like the characters for the most part. Laura x Rean is best pairing obviously, you get the sense at least early on they tried to make Alisa like the default choice but nobody likes her lol

I started the first one on NIGHTMARE and had to drop it because it's been so long I don't remember the mechanics of the game but do remember that if you aren't exploiting the DELAY mechanic you're basically punching air. My last save is in the basement of the Creepy House and at a boss and I'm just getting murdered and I just lose interest in relearning the game (also not gonna restart as I'm like 20 hours or so deep).

. . .other than that its a good game that does the "anime aesthetic" really well.

Funny enough the first game is the hardest because there less exploitable shit. 2–4 get really ridiculous with exactly how many systems you can abuse to stop the enemies from ever getting a turn or even killing bosses in one attack (before getting the obligatory cutscene where your party is on their knees from how difficult the fight was and the villain is like AHHH THIS ISN'T EVEN MY TRUE POWER fuck you mcburn)