"The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV" Review

By JT

Player(s): 1
Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC (via Steam 2021)

Developed by Nihon Falcom and published by NIS America, the much anticipated "The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV" finally makes its way outside of Japan. The final installment of the Cold Steel series, and another notch in the beloved Legend of Heroes series. It has various different side activities to keep a person busy for multiple hours aside from the main story, a plethora of customization options, and lots and lots of characters. Trails of Cold Steel IV has the largest roster of characters yet. Is that too much for one game? Is the game itself any good? Well, let's see if Trails of Cold Steel IV was worth the wait. Also, while I don't like to give out spoilers, please note that there may be a sprinkle of it in this review.

Set a mere two weeks after Trails of Cold Steel III, Rean Schwarzer, a Class VII instructor, gets captured and it's up to the heroes to try to save him, with Juna taking charge of the new Class VII. Class VII is a socio-political experiment, placing both commoners and nobles alongside each other. Trails of Cold Steel I and II go further into detail about how this experiment was implemented. Everything is summarized in a pretty well put-together compendium before you even begin the game. So many newcomers, including myself, who read it will get some general understanding of the previous games. If you're looking to purchase and play the previous installments, it's recommended not to read the compendium, unless you don't mind all the spoilers.

With Trails of Cold Steel IV, having a previous games' save can result in different bonuses. Since there were no save files on my current generation console, I was unable to take advantage of this feature. This is confirmed to be the final installment of the Cold Steel series of games, so it was nice to add in this option for returning players. The voice acting, from what I could tell, was solid. The artistic choices between various characters, vehicles, and mechs looked good for what it conveys. The 3D graphics aren't all that great, but the 2D art is beautiful. The intro plays out just like an intro to an anime, and one can't help but get sucked in by the music and visuals. Not long into the prologue, you are greeted by a military parade, showing off all their might.

Trails of Cold Steel IV seems like a complicated game, and it can definitely be a bit overwhelming once you begin the game. Information is given out fairly quickly, having to know how to use Master Quartz, Sepith, Arts, etc. Even by the end of the first act, it's easy to overlook certain features of the game that allow battles to become much easier. Battle itself is pretty simple with Attack, Arts, and S. Craft being your main attacks. There are link attacks, and when engaged can unleash a devastating slew of attacks from all party member in the current battle. What can make battle a breeze is switching out party members on the fly. If someone is weak, or otherwise is at a great disadvantage in battle, you can replace them with another party member with one button. It's that simple! There is a Break Gauge that has been carried over from Cold Steel III, which unbalances an enemy and allows more damage to be dealt. In the event there is a possibility of something going wrong, feel free to save just about anywhere on the field, including various dungeons. The ability to pull up the map and teleport just about anywhere you have been previously is also a nice plus.

For those who don't mind beating a game two or three times to 100% trophy completion, you can pause and skip entire scenes. There are options to auto the whole game as well, allowing for characters to carry on conversations at a reasonable pace. This allows for good, hands-free dialog options. On top of that, there is an option for turbo mode. Your character runs around super quick, battles become extremely fast – blink and you'll miss it! If you use turbo with auto, there are no breaks between dialog. It's funny to see your character just zoom past all the enemies between sections without a care. Keep in mind, skipping smaller battles may cost more time during boss fights. Even in normal mode the game wound up becoming a challenge early on.

Having the largest roster of characters by far, many can get lost in the shuffle, and some arguably do. Revisiting most of the older characters from across the previous games in the series. This leads to many more hours of game time dedicated to their personal conflicts. Some of that time will be used to get to know entire groups of characters, wishing you could learn more. Some characters also show up and disappear without much reason, only to re-appear much later. The Arts and Crafts aren't as diverse enough to pick one character over the other in terms of skill, so it's mostly aesthetics as to who you choose to be in the party with you. Even comparing stats, it came down to how many times you brought them to battle. Here is also where the customization gets real deep, with being able to dress up all your characters in various different outfits. Orbment gives nodes, where you have the ability to slot certain Quartz that grant that character certain stat bonuses or abilities. Over time, as you fight enemies, you can learn from them, adding more depth to how certain battles are handled.

Aside from the story and various different quests, there are plenty of mini-games to also keep you entertained. From Blackjack to Fishing, and there is even a bit of cooking involved. They are nice distractions from the main game, especially when one would like to relax and enjoy the world. Collectibles are scattered throughout the various different locations, enough to stay busy for hours more on end, with possibly the Lost Arts being more prominant and most rewarding.

Let's discuss some things that were particularly distracting. One of which was during the prologue, with only the main roster of characters being voiced. It was surprising to hear, since villagers were mostly silent while others just suddenly chimed in with their voices. Even having a handful of extras could have sorted that out. The story takes a bit to get rolling, including some cringe dialogue that could have been scrapped. As mentioned before, the graphics weren't that good, so certain models looked pretty rough the deeper you looked. The music used during many story moments and during battle sounded a little off. I enjoyed the music just fine otherwise. The story, at least for the prologue, felt like it dragged. There were more moments that tried to come off as cutesy or fun/funny, but didn't land, at least not for myself.

​As far as end game goes, it's a satisfying conclusion to a great story. Again, if you have not played the first three, it's suggested you do. Reading up on it in Cold Steel IV and experiencing it are two wildly different things. For myself, playing the last of the series has cause my trigger finger to inadvertently click each of the games in the series into my cart for purchase. This includes the physical copy of Cold Steel IV. For the $60 price tag, the physical edition includes a beautiful art book and soundtrack. Is it worth the purchase price? Without a doubt, it is. For all the flaws, it makes all that up with a compelling story, plethora of customization options, and some really good combat.

For More On "Trails of Cold Steel IV":
http://thelegendofheroes.com/tocs4/

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Story: A
Gameplay/Controls: A+
Graphics/Art: B
Sound/Music: B+
Content/Value: A+

Overall: A

Pros:
+Compelling Story.
+Great combat.
+Customization.
+Gets newcomers up to speed, if they need it.
+Collectibles are hours worth spent.

Cons:
-Prologue could have been set up better.
-Silent villagers talking alongside voiced main characters was very distracting.
-Music sometimes felt off between field and battle.

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A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.