Recent reviews by Asyda

This is the beginning of a new saga. We enter the Calvard saga and I am so excited! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥'s been so long since I wrote a review that I might be out of touch. But I’m here to spill some tea and give my insight (Big Spoiler Warning)

This is the eleventh instalment of the Legend of Heroes, and I recommend that those who want to enter this game follow the story in order: This is a new region and saga but you will miss too much context and pivotal story points if you don’t……

Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trail in the Sky the 3rd,
Trails from Zero,
Trails to Azure,
Trails of Cold Steel 1,
Trails of Cold Steel 2,
Trails of Cold Steel 3,
Trails of Cold Steel 4,
Trails into Reverie.

There is one optional thing to know going into Trail through Daybreak. There is an old book called Gambler Jack. It’s a story about two gamblers who will appear in this game.
Read it here or not. It’s not that important honestly.
https://kiseki.fandom.com/wiki/Gambler_Jack

This story introduces a new main character and takes place a year and half after reverie. Van Arkride is what you call a spriggan, he accepts work from any client. This includes work even the police or bracer guild can handle as they can not be discussed in public. You walk a fine line between law, gray and chaos throughout the journey. A freshman at Aramis named Agnes Claudel, heads to Van’s office to enquire about an artefact that belonged to her great-grandfather. As you gather a team of different circumstances and stories to find these 8 Genesis artefacts and uncover the story of our characters. Along the way, you will meet a fairy holo core named Mare who will pretty much be another pivotal point throughout the story. You also have a mafia group called Almata who are your bad guys in this game and have the genesis to bring chaos. There are a lot of factions in this game and you are given a lot of difficult choices in this game that can have an impact during your playtime. It’s extremely interesting than previous games because this game plays more heavily into a dark fantasy/grunge theme than previous sagas. There are also some serious returning characters, some you expect, some you haven’t seen since the Librel saga and some you just don’t expect at all.

They bummed up the camera angles, cinematics and cutscene even better this time again. Their experimental phase during trails into reverie showed in this game and it’s refreshing and beautiful to watch. I wished they played more into the animated cutscenes because there wasn’t much and they were always a treat. But I have to do with the direction they are going forward with these games and it’s looking nice.

The character roster is like the beginning of Trail of Cold Steel 1. You are introduced to a set of lovable characters that will be with you for the rest of the saga and more to come. However, these characters grew much faster on me than Trail of Cold Steel. Maybe it’s because they came from different settings and you can tell through their environment and story that just makes each of them interesting.

The combat system has drastically changed. We are introduced to two combat systems called field battle and command battle. Field battle is your stand-alone full-action hack and slash where you can go out on the field and start hacking at the enemy health bar. (Kinda barebone Xanadu ex game). You can kill them or you can stun them for a benefit in command battle which is your normal turn-based combat. It is entirely original than previous games but I can’t help but wonder how lacklustre the command battle was. SCLM is pretty much linked and the same with burst being ways to utilise S craft and buff yourself. It’s a small pet peeve with SCLM having to be close to each other and how there is a lack of position mapping in the game which is a huge bummer. I hope to see more in the next game. We were also introduced to the Xipha system which is honestly a better quartz system than Trail of Cold Steel by far. You can manually set arts as its own section (arts driver) and add in different quartz to diversify the build even more(Holo Core). You also play into the classic line system from older games with the introduction of shard skills. The amount of diversity in creating a build using shard skills(passive skills) along with what you want your character style to be is crazy gameplay building. If they actually lean into more mechanics in Trails through Daybreak 2 and improve more on command battles and field battles. You got a contender for best gameplay of the series. (Bring back field orders lowkey and team attack pls)

This game got rid of the abyss mode from the last game and we have a nightmare difficulty as usual. Honestly, it wasn’t that hard because there is some cheap stuff you can abuse. The issue is that fights are drawn out for so long that it is pretty much necessary to speed up fights. Unless you are a masochist and love to suffer through hours of farming and battles.
The music is alright as usual. I actually do like some of the music in some areas and even throughout the city. I wish the battle music was better though, I miss the music from Crossbell Saga and I don’t think we're ever gonna get that feeling of music ever again. Unless the goat comes back, they have done some decent music in trails into reverie so I have to hope harder again.

Sidequest in this game is actually insanely interesting. When you finish a sidequest your choices will cause Van’s three alignments of LAW, GRAY and Chaos to fluctuate. They not only affect your combat stats but also plot points and abilities in later chapters. Along with that, you have probably the most interesting sidequest lineup of all time. You really get to do quests from police, bracers, mafia, ouroboros and other faction members throughout the game. Along with that, you have some pretty fun side character affection stories and bonding events that really had me invested throughout the game. If you combined all that with how the game rewards you for doing them actually made sidequesting one of my personal favourites.

The gifting system is still in the game which is fine and all…… BUT THEY GOT RID OF FISHING!!! (It’s in the next game). ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, how the heck am I gonna fill my craving for fishing now that I have to wait until 2025 for the next game. Not only that, it lacked any minigames whatsoever besides a battle simulation and team cinema session. I riot at the fact they made a game solely to not add many fun elements into doing side content. It was just doing sidequests, talking to everyone, buying stuff and finishing the day. Sometimes I just want to chill and play card games or fish on the side you know? On a serious note: I was actually surprised by a lack of them, I heard it will bring it all back in the next game but I have to see.

Before I recommend the game. There is a big spoiler con, and that spoiler con is the misuse and building up of Van’s character arc. I feel like it gave way to so many hidden secrets and future setups that we will overcome, and face. But it felt like a shot in the face when it abruptly ended with the power of friendship to fix everything. I hope there is more building to Van as a character because it made me feel like there is not much for the character Van in the next game. But I have two other games to worry about till I have a final say on that.

I do recommend this game because it is a new saga in the mix that plays heavily into dark settings. I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ love that and I actually do love the overall cast of the game. Their new combat system is great along with the xipha system. I look forward to seeing how they expand on it even more. I still hope we get to see a danger that will persist as the overall true saga villain but we have to see. I am looking forward to the next game. I will see you all over in the next upcoming Legend of Heroes game:

THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS THROUGH DAYBREAK 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The finale to Librel, Crossbell and Erebonia Saga. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, this was so long. I’m left defeated after knowing that I caught up to every English version of the games so far. ♥♥♥♥ got me tearing a bit in some scenes…. (Big Spoilers Warning)

This is the tenth installment of the Legend of Heroes, and I recommend for those who want to enter this game to follow the story in order: This is the finale so it makes sense to do so.

Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trail in the Sky the 3rd,
Trails from Zero,
Trails to Azure,
Trails of Cold Steel 1,
Trails of Cold Steel 2,
Trails of Cold Steel 3,
Trails of Cold Steel 4.

There is one thing you need to know from Trail of Cold Steel 4. And that is reading the three and nine book series. This is the backstory of both Swin and Nadia which would rarely be explained in the game (Kinda stupid)

Summary version
https://kiseki.fandom.com/wiki/Three_%26_Nine

The story takes on 3 main protagonists. Lloyd, Rean and the mysterious C. The story begins on Crossbell Independence Day. Until it is interrupted by Rufus Albarea, who broke out of prison to revolt against independence. The SSS loses the fight and are forced to reclaim their land again. Rean's story will connect with Lloyds except it begins with the investigation into the disappearance of Olivert and Scherazard. As they deal with the mysterious C message of capturing them. C story is centred around a doll named Lapis, who becomes a driving force in the story. Alongside new characters like Swin and Nadia, two escaped assassins from an organization called Garden. In their attempt to uncover the overall truth. This game follows the purpose of who you are, what you are doing this for and goals that ain’t really needed to explain. The antagonists were pretty lacklustre in my opinion but what made the game positive for me was that C is an amazing protagonist in my eyes. C and Lapis has been my favourite duo interaction since Lloyd and Kea and Rean and Altina. The plot twist in this game is something else, some amazing, some really random. But I enjoyed it. C is just Lelouch with friends lmao and I love it.

Camera angles, cinematic and cut scenes are so much better in this game. Their new engine was used here and it really shows, it was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ amazing. There was dialogue with some goated camera angles that I could greatly appreciate and the action scenes were saucy af. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ splendid work on this game, it caught me off guard and it was sick af. They also played around with CG animation which is a new delight to the series. I am looking forward to the future of Legend of Heroes.

The character roster is even bigger in this game. Like 51 characters to play through (There are so many characters and some very unexpected ones too) and the orbment got a massive upgrade. There is some strong af quartz this time and sub master quartz restrictions are lesser in this game which is great. The one thing I want to talk about is the united front. A new mechanic that is really really broken. I don’t wanna go too much into it except at delay with that and status ailment about to be a field day. Evasion builds are even broken in this game which is funny and master quartz combos are broken when they are stacked.When I said “Bring back the old mechanic” from my TOCS 4 review. I didn’t mean, let’s bring it back and break the game. They do some real ♥♥♥♥ lol. Everything is back. Brave orders, burst, etc. And the introduction of tag-along, reverie, etc. But too much info and it is a spoiler lol.

There is a new difficulty called Abyss mode which was designed to be soul punishing. Enemies have like 4 times your average speed and they hit for one shot the majority of the time. It gets easier later on, the beginning is so brutal, fights took a long time to end out. ♥♥♥♥ was cool and fun though lol. 10 / 10 recommendation. Extra RP point requirements in battles are still there except less prominent so thank you Falcom.

Music is lacking as usual. TOCS 4 had better music, this game didn’t have much great music until the end. The battle theme is so boring, I wish they brought back the spark from older games and just went ham on it. The music is a big part of the game and to see it end the three main sagas off with lacklustre music is disappointing. I am looking towards the next games to be even better on this aspect of the game cause I miss it a lot. Despite that I did like two tracks

Life Goes On
Entrusting Kindness to the Future

Specifically Entrusting Kindred to the Future. That track was so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ good during the scenes, it got me hyped, sad and feeling all types of motivation emotions.

There isn’t much side-quest, except it’s substituted with the Reverie Corridor. It’s like Phantasma from trail in the sky 3rd but the sub story is lacking a bit. Master mission is your way of earning rewards and rp. You can play mini-games like pom party, vantage master, (vr mode beach event………..) etc. You unlock characters while just like Phantasma, you can see the behind the scenes of certain characters and what happened between TOCS 4 and Trails into Reverie. You go through floors and dungeons to uncover the truth. The daydream event are really fun and nice to watch though (Some of them are spoilers for the next game: Post game content) I do recommend doing post game content as well (They are big story plot for Trails to Daybreak, specifically ouroboros plans, upcoming characters, Rean and Renne plot points)

Collectables are the same. Get the fishing, get the books, get the recipes, etc. The standard stuff, there isn’t any gifting system in this game which is pretty sad. And there is no bonding system in this game so you are pretty much in it for the story with growth of specific characters.

I recommend this game to end the saga off. It isn’t in my top 5 favourite trails games so far but it did give me a bit of satisfaction. I am more sad that the saga has ended and we have to say goodbye to Rean, Lloyd and C for now. I am at the end of the road. But I still got the next game to play. I have begun my new journey over in Calvard where we will find our next protagonist of the series. And finally exploring the highly anticipated region after so long of knowledge and lore. I will see you all over in the next upcoming Legend of Heroes game:

THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS TO DAYBREAKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jesus Christ. Completing this journey was an honor. This is the end of the Trail of Cold Steel saga. And I am so glad I was able to make it to the end of it. ♥♥♥♥ got me left in tears and crying. It was so emotional, story-driven and just made my whole experience fully satisfied. This was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ peak.

This is the ninth installment of the Legend of Heroes franchise, and I recommend for those who want to enter this game to follow the story in order: This is pretty much got some Marvel Endgame level of lore and characters that this review will contain huge spoilers. The following games are played in order

Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trail in the Sky the 3rd,
Trails from Zero,
Trails to Azure,
Trails of Cold Steel 1,
Trails of Cold Steel 2,
Trails of Cold Steel 3.

There is the anime called Northern war which explains the North Ambria War and Rean involvement. You can watch it before Trail of Cold Steel 3. However there is also a mention of two specific people who are only shown prior from the Zero manga and the Cold Steel 2 Steel Drama CD. You can read them both here:

Manga: https://mangadex.org/title/7145da84-8be7-4a82-8d91-4b3d872ac9d1/eiyuu-densetsu-rei-no-kiseki-prestory-shinpan-no-yubiwa

CD Drama: http://www.trailsofcoldsteel.com/cs2/memoirs2.html


Now where do I start. If you reading this review, spoilers. Big spoilers. This story takes place after TOCS3, where Rean is captured within the Black Workshop. He is powerless and running amok due to his curse / power. After escaping the events of TOCS3. Juna, Kurt and Altina are tasked alongside old class 7 in finding their classmates and fellow new class 7 members while finding a way to rescue Rean. This game seeks to tackles a lot of emotions, fears, reunions and barriers which you have to face while going through the story. While going through the story you will meet and reunite with protagonist from Librel and Crossbell saga. Lloyd, Ellie, Tio, Randy, Kea returns to the stage alongside them are Estelle, Joshua, Agate, Scherazard, Josette to help finish off the finale of Trail of Cold Steel. As you will see them all reunite and interact with those in the Trail of Cold Steel series. You can't get better than this, there are so much more including side characters from returning sagas who come back to bring this huge saga to a conclusion. This is probs my favourite legend of heroes game or on par with Trails to Azure. This story was so jam packed with heart wrenching, heartwarming and filled with satisfaction that you won't get from previous games. While also concluding some characters stories with full satisfaction. What a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game.

The characters roaster for this game is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ huge. If you really think and add it all together (You are playing about 40 different characters) like holy ♥♥♥♥. Some of them may have some dumb down crafts and all. But it's so good to get to play some of the returning characters again after so long. You get to use them quite a few times and some almost all the time and it's fulfilling. They brushed up on the Graphics this time around, the first time I haven't crashed so it's a big plus. You could spend hours just immersing not just the characters but also their lore they provide. While concluding their arc. Felt like a 5 star restaurant. I was eating well while hyping and crying my eyes out.

The gameplay in this game go crazy. I do wish they brought the old burst mechanic from Trails to Azure back. But I can understand that is broken af lol. However that doesn't mean it wasnt good. IT WAS REALLY GOOD. Brave order this time around was diverse and absolutely fantastic. You pretty much form different strategies and builds to accommodate different ways of battle and this game goes all out. THERE IS NO SECONDARY MQ RESTRICTION TOO. What an insane change, that gave me full creativity over what to build on different characters. I haven't had this much fun with making op or dumb builds since Trails of Cold Steel 2. Although ♥♥♥♥ can get pretty busted later on and makes things annoying or easy.

Which leads into nightmare difficulty being ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ annoying. There are certain requirements in getting extra AP (Academic Points) that make fighting some bosses really horrible. Sometimes I want to take my time fighting the boss but I'm scared I will lose out on rewards. It wasn't too hard but I don't know what it would be like for a casual player tackling the hardest difficulty while trying to 100%. I manage to just think a bit and use strategies culminated from previous games to push through. But at a certain point: ♥♥♥♥ gets too easy lol. I did follow a guide so I suggest looking up one from Zoelius to go through if you need to 100% and understand some strats.

Music as usual is bussin. It's not better than Crossbell saga but there are some music that just slaps. Like the overworld music is just an absolute banger. There are some battle themes and location themes that just really hit your soul at times. I just wanna fish and just chill while listening to some of them lol. You will eventually get returning music from previous saga although not the popular ones but the side themes that fit the environment you are going back to.

Sidequest is VERY IMPORTANT. There are literally sidequests that conclude the story of specific characters like Renne and her real family, Ellie and her mother, Joshua and Ash. While there are some that just make funny interactions or even combine characters from all 3 sagas in jam packed sidequests. You also have to do every side quest to unlock the TRUE ENDING OF THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ GAME. I almost missed one and thank god I didn't. There is the true ending and the post credit which is (♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ IMPORTANT AS ♥♥♥♥ ALMOST IMPORTANT TO THE ENTIRE STORY). Idk why they are hiding it as you have to load an epilogue save after watching the true ending. Stupid and its important as ♥♥♥♥. True ending is unlocked once you have done the normal ending and have Gotten the quest called ??? from Toval via orbmail. You just load the clear before state and the true ending is yours. The sidequests are so good and amazing that honestly, I'm glad I didn't miss one. It was worth it and got me ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ emotional. Some side quests even change the way your characters are feeling and some even get characters something new to wield or wear throughout their journey.

Wooo collectibles. A lot of them as usual. There is actually a book series called Three & Nine. Which spoilers It's literally a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ true event from the next game Trails into Reverie, detailing how Swin and Nadia killed the emperor and escaped garden. Absolutely wow. It is best that you collect gifts, photos, etc throughout your journey as they can get you some god level rewards later on. Some of them are also tied to special events and secret events that can be lore and nice to watch. It's annoying but if you do it, it will be worth it.

I recommend this game because it's my favourite game so far. This is the end of the Trail of Cold Steel saga. I am sad as ♥♥♥♥ that it's over but I'm also happy that I got to experience it for the first time. This game answers a lot of lore so bare with the game.It's definitely a knowledge check of a game so make sure you are up to speed / date with every lore you can think of. Everyone came back and reunited. My three favourite protagonists interacting was just all I needed to say about this game.

I have concluded Trail of Cold Steel but it isn't the end. There is still one final game before we reach Calvard Arc. I am so ready to play this game as I have been holding it off until Kuro no Kiseki comes this year. The game that will sum it all up. Everything has led me to this point. I am finally going to be up to date with the series for the first time ever. I will see you all over in the latest Legend of Heroes game:

THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS TO REVERIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to preface that this game just absolutely ripped me to shred. I ain't felt like this since playing the Crossbell Saga. This is the eighteenth installment of the Legend of Heroes series. This game is essentially the beginning of the time skip within the Trail of Cold Steel / Erebonia World. This means that this game and review will contain many spoilers and knowledge required from previous games.

This is the eighteenth installment of the Legend of Heroes franchise, and I recommend for those who want to enter this game to follow the story in order. This is essentially the marvel cinematic universe. And this is pretty much: Marvel Avenger: Infinity War of this entire game series. You do not want to lose out on various key information has it's a big part of the connecting lore of the 3 sagas. The following games are played in order:

Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trail in the Sky the 3rd,
Trails from Zero,
Trails to Azure,
Trails of Cold Steel 1,
Trails of Cold Steel 2.
( There is an anime called Legend of Heroes: Northern War which further explains the North Ambria War and what centered around the time Rean became the Ashen Chevalier. ) It isn't required, however, it gives an insight into some crucial parts.

This story takes place 2 years after TOCS 2. Rean is older now and has taken a job as an instructor in Thor's Branch Campus. He is tasked with instructing a new class 7 who will be the center of the last two Trail of Cold Steel games. You will be familiar with the unique setting from TOCS 1 as you are back within the school arc. However, there are key notes including that Rean has become a hero, original class 7 have made it big in the world and returning characters from Crossbell and Liberal saga will be returning to this game. Rean during the events between TOCS 2 and 3 has essentially been bossed around by the Blood and Iron Chancellor, Osborne. As he fought to annex Crossbell and North Ambria while minimizing casualties. This story takes place after as you will be going along with New Class 7 to see the post aftermath of the Noble War and Annexation of two major cities. As this is the calm before a big ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ storm, you will slowly begin to unravel the mysteries behind the Phantasmal Blaze Plan, the secrets behind the Black Workshop, Ouroboros and The Imperial Government. The key characters in this game have been probably one of my favorites so far, especially with the return of my favorites including Altina, Tio, Tita, Agate, Randolph. This story is heartwarming, heart wrenching and filled with lore that you won't find in any other Legend of Heroes game so far. I have cried a few times playing this game which I haven't done since Ao no Kiseki / Trails to Azure.

The characters being memorable and amazing has now been further enhanced by the crazy upgrade to the Art style and Graphics. I have to take this part to talk about it because it's a HUGE STEP UP from the last game. The UI is clean, the crafts are nicer and the environment in this game is absolutely stunning. I do have problems in 1 - 2 areas that have FPS drops but it was worth it taking in everything. This accompanying the new music has been such a delight lately. This is probably my most spent hours on any Legend of Heroes game so far primarily because of everything that it gives. I have yet to start TOCS 4 yet and I will keep you posted in the next review for that. So far, everything has been such a delight to my eyes that it left a genuine tear.

Now the gameplay is amazing. What I really mentioned before was how diverse the game can be when you are testing out new builds on various characters. Tanker, debuffer, cp battery, damage dealer, arts spammer, etc. This game has really outdone themselves with the new introduction of Battle Orders and Double Master Quartz Equip. I think this is one of the greatest directions they have done so far in the series as it allows us to pick and choose different strategies when playing this game. And I think that's extremely important, the versatility it can give and the sense of thinking has left me with nothing but praise. Thank you Nihon Falcom. I do also want to briefly mention that tactics have been so much nicer now that you can adjust your party anywhere in the grid, which further enhances the diversity and flexibility of this game.

The difficulty is actually challenging. It does still have some things that can be easily abusable if you really look for it. However this game actually has a really nice nightmare difficulty. It can get pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ridiculous if you not farming constantly or building your character. I followed a guide on what to build which you can find here if you are lost like me when starting out:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/204985-the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-iii/faqs/78073/builds-and-team-comp

I also followed a guide from Zoelius which I think the community should give a round of applause for the handwork that Zoelius has done for our community with these guides. But not just Zoelius:. Zennvirus, TheDarkn1ght and Berserker Blade deserve props too. The difficulty helped promote building around certain scenarios at times and also gave you a diverse amount of setups and a range of teams that can really give you a run for your money.


Music choice in this game this time was actually really nice. It really fits the game atmosphere and as you go onward towards the final chapter, you really feel the setting that they were trying to portray. The battle theme isn't that bad either and I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ love it when they pull out the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ opening theme during battles. ♥♥♥♥ got me hyped the ♥♥♥♥ out. Cities have wonderful music, the environment has calming themes, everything that this game has done continues to improve with each game. And I know that people complain about the lack of good music recently, but I think they are trying their best to keep on improving and I really appreciate their efforts.

We are back again with collectables. And a lot of books then before, you will be collecting recipes, black records, chronicles, etc. While getting bonding gifts for old and new class 7 characters along with additional characters. The gifting system and bonding events in this game has made a lot of them deeply memorable and (Some of them are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ amazing). The side quests in this game are actually quite nice too because you will be able to see returning characters from previous games and previous antagonists come back during the story and side quests. This game pretty much rewards you well for keeping up with the series through these side quests while also giving you pieces of lore of side characters from previous characters. In case people were always wondering what happened to this or that person. Again turbo mode is of course back and it's really nice to have with us again. I have 100% the game now and man doing playthrough after playthroughs because I missed one and two things sucks. This is why I decided to look at a guide for TOCS 4 now.

I recommend this game to those who are continuing to support and follow the game closely. We are reaching the end game of the Trail of Cold Steel saga. The unique and insane story is slowly taking a major turn and you definitely wanna play this game out to finally get the answers you've been slowly looking for. This game will bring in the 3 sagas into the settings of Erebonia and begin to unravel the mysteries of the biggest antagonist yet. Be sure to go back and play the previous games to keep yourself updated because the next game is Marvel's Avenger: Endgame. Everyone is coming back including your favourite protagonist from the previous game. To finally conclude the Trail of Cold Steel Series. I have been following and being a fan of this game for a long time and I am proud of it. I'll finally get to see you all over in the next game:

THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS OF COLD STEEL 4: THE END OF SAGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welp it's me again with another Legend of Heroes review. This is the seventh installment of the legend of heroes series. This game contains heavy spoilers from TOCS1 and previous games as this game takes place at the same time as the Crossbell Saga. While developing the plot past the Crossbell saga with additional information. Please be advised when tackling this game.

This is the seventh installment of the Legend of Heroes franchise, and I recommend for those following the story to continue in the order for story and connecting dots. Just like a marvel cinematic universe. The following games are played in order:

Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trail in the Sky the 3rd,
Trails from Zero,
Trails to Azure,
Trails of Cold Steel 1


Going into this game. I was sorta lost, I was lost because I originally only played TOCS 1 before moving into TOCS2. And oh boi, a lot of the plot points got me very confused. And was shocked that there were 5 games before Trail of Cold Steel 1. I ended up buying Trail in the Sky series and buying the Japanese version of The Crossbell Series straight away before continuing TOCS 2. My ass finally understood the plot afterwards. The plot leads into the war of Erebonia where you will be going around recouping with your Class 7 to fight against the everlasting force of Ouroboros, Nobels, etc. You will discover secrets with everyone and yourself while developing your skills as an awakener. Following the previous game, you are a piloter to the ashen knight valimar, as you use it to drive the centering plot of TOCS 2. This story will summarize the first half of Trail of Cold Steel surrounding the rise of Class 7 and the ending of the Erebonia war. Additionally characters will help you along your journey to reuniting with favorite characters and introducing new and old antagonists from previous games.


The gameplay in this game is still pretty light. You are pretty much able to abuse a lot of the gameplay this time around which makes nightmare mode a complete joke. Nightmare mode in TOCS 2 literally can be made pointless if you build right while knowing what to do. Again the crafts applied in this game were very nice to the point that some could be overloaded with how much range it has and versatility it can give you. There is a new introduction to bursting which people may be familiar with, Trails to Azure / Ao no Kiseki. Where you are given the opportunity to go absolute crazy. This as well as the introduction of new quartz / lost arts that can pretty much be overloaded to the max. You will have an easy time if you take the time to get and do everything the game has to offer.

Again I actually recommend doing it on Nightmare difficulty if you are experienced at JRPGs. This difficulty is a literal cakewalk and there are far too many things that can be abused. I think as far as I know, I have only lost once in battle and that was because I wasn't even paying attention most of the time. I can only say that there are certain boss fights that I do recommend thinking over as you go on or at least take the time to respect some of the bosses before you get one shot lol.

Music choice is alright. As I said in my previous review, TOCS1 has some nice overworld themes / music. It's kinda like chilling in a meadow of Armorica Village. Except you just walk around mindlessly getting stuff and chilling in town. It's pretty underrated. The battle theme I lowkey couldn't bare after listening to it for so long. It isn't empowering nor is it catchy. It's just a mediocre theme that will become brain numbing over time. A lot of the battle themes are like that, which I was disappointed in the end.

Welp there are books to collect and a lot more to collect. The issue I always had with book collections in this game is that you can't collect a specific book series until you do a second playthrough. It then unlocks and it also gives you a crucial plot point to the game which is completely stupid to hide it away in a second playthrough. You will be collecting colours for specific reasons and you mostly be going around back and forth endlessly looking for all of them. The side quests in this game were actually okay to do because it was paced out well. There weren't as many side quests as the previous game or at least it didn't feel that much. A lot of them could be done in minutes which was nice. Again turbo mode is there if you guys are tired of doing them while wanting to complete the game 100%. There are just some things that are too boring to even bother noticing / paying attention.

Well I recommend this game to anyone who is following the Legend of Heroes Series closely. This is a great game which is further enhanced by the gameplay, story, flexibility and genuinely fun challenge if you were to consider either modding difficulty or intentionally making it harder for yourself by not cheese strating. This wraps up the first half of Trail of Cold Steel. If you have only played the first 2. I highly suggest going back and trying out the Trail in the Sky and Crossbell games as they will be required in the next 3 games after TOCS 2. Trail in the Sky is a great series that centers around Estelle Bright who is a young fresh bracer, I highly suggest as the characters are lovable, the gameplay is refreshing for old JRPG style gameplay and you see how the series all started. The crossbell arc follows Lloyd Bannings who is a detective and leader of the Special Support Section. He is my favorite main character in all of Legend of Heroes so far and the story surrounding Crossbell is my favorite story of all time. It's so emotionally driven that it is arguably my favorite JRPG of all time. The gameplay continues the traditional style look however, the versatile in this game favors arts systems. Where Trail of Cold Steel got rid of having a ♥♥♥♥ load of arts (Even going as far as pointing it out in this game). Crossbell saga literally goes insane on it which is probably one of my favorite forms of gameplay in Legend of Heroes other than TOCS 3 - 4 and onwards. I recommend for everyone to go back and try them out or at least if you don't want to, you can just watch a recap to be up to speed. IT IS VERY CRUCIAL TO DO SO OR ELSE YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND THE REST OF THE GAME. I have been a fan for years as usual and it is the best JRPG series / stories I have ever played. I will keep preaching, supporting and saying till this day.

Anyways as I always say for every Legend of Heroes review. I'll see you over in the next game:


THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS OF COLD STEEL 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello again on another Legend of Heroes review. This is the sixth installment of the the legend of heroes series. Where I would say that this is probs the best entry into the legend of heroes series. This gives you a baseline of whats to come in the future and the past of the game series as everything ties together.

This is the sixth installment of the Legend of Heroes franchise, and while I highly recommend playing the following games in order for the story and connecting dots like a whole marvel cinematic. I also highly suggest you start here before making your next game choice:

Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trail in the Sky the 3rd,
Trails from Zero,
Trails to Azure.


I wanted to start by saying that this was my first Legend of Heroes game I played. I played this and then Trail of Cold Steel 2 before realizing that I didn't understand some parts of the story. So I went back. This game involves a number of story elements that you may catch early if you played the other games, however it also introduces the new area of Erebonia. The two countries / states we have explored were Crossbell and Librel. Following the previous two protagonists all stories will eventually tie together and this stands true here. One of the key elements is definitely showcasing the events of Trails to Azure as TOCS 1 & 2 takes place at the same time as Trails to Azure with a different party and protagonist. However this focuses around the Erebonia arc and the looming darkness that takes place for our new protagonist. Following along a group of classmates in Class 7 will lead you around the country to witness different events and stories of Erebonia past, future and present. While discovering secrets of your classmates and the future of the story. The protagonist holds many stories as he hopes to unravel the mysteries of everything including himself. While the game is pretty cheesy in terms of some cringe dialogue, I enjoyed a few of the dialogues that were with returning characters, side characters and class members. I think it is nice to bring in the school system into this game to keep up with trending JRPGs where it was the biggest formula at the time.

Gameplay in this game is very light. Compared to Trails to Azure, you will be getting lesser arts on your character however this is always like that at the start of a new continent saga. The crafts were honestly pretty nice, I am glad that they included more support crafts in this game then before. I feel like a lot of the crafts lacked some sort of AOE support in previous games due to the gameplay mechanic. However the arts were similar to this. Master quartz makes a return of course in this game as it will be a front runner from this point on. I actually respect and love that they did this because it allows us to explore different builds with different characters while discovering a new way to play. However there are a lot of cheese strats you can do in this game. If you were ever to take the easiest road in this game on nightmare difficulty. Just spam at delay LMAO.

The difficulty is easier this time around, while requiring thinking again, this time you have so much decent aoe support arts and craft that you will be fine with anyone in your team as long as you have one support. Arts in this game actually do respective damage now and impede / at delay are pretty broken in this game. One advice for future nightmare playthroughs is to build an evasion character (just like Trails to azure lmao). This will make things easier.

Music choice is okay in this game. I actually really like the overworld themes in certain areas of the game. They are absolute relaxing and dope pieces of music. Battle theme is alright however after my 6th playthrough, I just muted it and listened to my own music lmao. Honestly I miss a bit of that godly music from Crossbell saga. I think this is fine for this saga.

Collectibles are quite boring in this game. You have to collect books and there are quite a few books to collect. They do serve a purpose as you read them as of other books in previous games. Side quests in this game are fast. Like really fast, and my god I am glad because most of them don't really interest me too much of the school quests. I really didn't enjoy a lot of them because there were a lot of side quests that required farming monster materials or maybe traveling from point a to point b to point d or some ♥♥♥♥. Very tedious work. I think that's why they have turbo mode for all legend of heroes games and I'm glad this has it as well. Doing numerous playthroughs, hearing numerous dialogue while handling cheese / cringe dialogues got me ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up this time around lmao. That's the protagonist for you.


Anyways I recommend this game to anyone who wants to start the Legend of Heroes series. It's the best entry to the game series and it helps establish the world of Erebonia and brief mentions of previous games. I do recommend playing them after Trail of Cold Steel 2 as the rest of the games after that will be the beginning of essential (Marvel Avenger: Infinity War) level plot. The game got a good story, characters and amazing combat that only gets better from here. I have been a fan for years and it is one of the best JRPG stories / series I have ever played. And I will continue to keep preaching, supporting and saying that till this day. Worth every dollar I have. I brought all the dlc for this game back in 2019 and I still haven't financially recovered since buying every Legend of Heroes dlc and collectors editions. Someone please stop me 😭.

Anyways as I said for every review. I'll see you over in the next game:

THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS OF COLD STEEL 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the best JRPG I have ever played. I originally played the Japanese version of it and fell in love with this series forever. I don't think I will ever find a game again that has given me this level of emotion and hype again.

This is the fifth installment of the Legend of Heroes franchise, and I highly recommend playing the following games in order:

Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trial in the Sky the 3rd,
Trails from Zero.

Crossbell and the returning characters of the Librel saga blessed this game with an insane level of lore. This game invoked so many emotions that I had to put my controller down and rethink how crazy the plot was getting in the story. Following the intertwining and interaction of all these characters got me watching an avenger ass movie. This ♥♥♥♥ was the first Avenger movie in a crazy form.

Master quartz. This one thing introduced following burst mechanics got this gameplay hitting a 10 / 10. While burst mode was something that was pretty busted, master quartz was an amazing introduction to mixing a variety of builds for different characters. I enjoyed this more than (TOCS 1 however that was an experimental period of time which they later cooked harder in later games). I really enjoyed this gameplay a lot and as people who are looking at gameplay, this has a lot more depth than people think.

The difficulty was actually not too bad. Nightmare mode is still a pain in the ass that requires a lot of thinking. A lot of thinking to the point you're gonna be sitting thinking about how long and tedious this gets sometimes. But that is a part of the challenge, the game needs you to know your ♥♥♥♥ to get over the barrier.

The collectibles and side quest of this game was actually quite light. The collectibles weren't that much more than I remember but it worked out to be quite nice and the character bonding from these events was actually really nice. Some quests actually seem important to a few aspects of plots or future plots which I highly suggest you do if you wanna be up to date on your lore mind. Also the bonding points in this game with your party members, side characters and extras is a nice touch to this game which has a special impact on your gameplay or story. As well as BP system which is points that you gain while making the right decision, choice during detective investigation, perspective or dialogues.

Now the music. Whoever did the music for this game was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ COOKING. COOKING SO ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ HARD. This has the best music out of any Legend of Heroes so far. Hayato Sonoda; Takahiro Unisuga; Saki Momiyama; Masanori Osaki, etc. Thank you. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ thank you. The battle theme with the mix of getting over the barrier and the bells was a very nice touch to the gameplay. Someone was absolutely laying the works on this game. Certain boss themes and cinematic themes were absolutely breathtaking and exhilarating that I was just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up on my seat in a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ turn based ass game lmao. Certain sad and heartwarming scenes got me in tears and I don't think I ever wanna take those tears back, ♥♥♥♥ deserved it lmao.

I highly recommend this 10 / 10 game to anyone who wants a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ experience. While it's not the best entry to legend of heroes because you have to know what is happening and who certain characters are from other games. Which I can understand that it sucks but you have to treat it like you are watching from the beginning of the marvel cinematic universe towards the Avenger endgame where everything matters. This game is literally the marvel cinematic universe of JRPG. I have been a fan for six years now and it is one of the best JRPG stories / series I have ever played. Worth every single dollar I have, worth every box set, collection and dlc I have ever brought. W series. The more recognition this game gets, the faster and better we can get localization for future games. So please support them along the way if you enjoy their games. Well worth the experience. Anyways, once again. I'll see you over in the next game:

THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS OF COLD STEEL 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was initially hesitant to buy the game at first, having purchased the Japanese copy a few years ago with the Geofront translation. However, when I heard about the localization efforts for the western world, I decided to buy it again. Despite the game being expensive, especially where I am, it is worth the full price. I usually follow a trade of 1 dollar - 1 hour, and I have exceeded it with this game.

This is the fourth installment of the Legend of Heroes franchise, and I highly recommend playing the following games in order:

Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trial in the Sky the 3rd.

I absolutely love this game. The Crossbell saga is probably my favourite arc of all the Legend of Heroes series. The characters are fantastic, and the four main characters have taken me through a roller coaster of emotions. I teared up on a few scenes and got hyped as ♥♥♥♥ at the coolest ♥♥♥♥. I appreciate how the side quests are relatively small in comparison to the story. However, some of the side quests hold significance towards the future of the story or the past. It's the first time I've enjoyed doing a side quest in a long time. I highly recommend doing as many as you can, or at least the important ones.


The game still has the best music of any Legend of Heroes game. The battle, rescue, boss, etc., themes of this game were so exhilarating. I have the soundtrack in one of my playlists to this day.

I loved the gameplay. While many people got sick and tired of the gameplay from the Liberal arc/trial in the Sky games, I did not mind it at all. One of the key things that was nice began with the creativity in S crafts. It was a nice touch-up and introduction to this game. I enjoyed the quartz system as usual in these games and especially enjoyed the orbal arts/range it introduced again. However, one word of advice:

DON'T PLAY IN NIGHTMARE MODE ON YOUR FIRST PLAY THROUGH!!!!!!!!!!!

I nearly broke my controller just getting constantly one-shotted while trying to 100% complete the game. It is unfair, the scaling is ridiculous, and you should only tackle it if you know what kind of art, game play, and 'barrier' is required to 'overcome' each battle.

Other notable things include the collectables, which are reasonable, not too much, which isn't too great, but Trails to Azure is going to have a lot, so I'm not sad about it. The Western Port is fantastic, despite being a PS Vita kind of game; it outshines a lot of JRPG to this day.

Overall, I highly recommend this game, even though it's not the greatest entry to the Legend of Heroes series. It's honestly a fairly great shout, and you can always go back through the games to get an understanding of the rich lore and additional main characters and side characters that will appear later on. I have been a fan of the series for nearly six years now, and it is one of the best JRPG stories I have ever played. It is worth every dollar, and the more recognition this game gets, the faster and better we can get localization for future games. Anyway, I'll see you over in the next game:

THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS TO AZURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!