So Trails of Cold steel i got the first 2 a while ago and been just holding onto them on PS3 for the longest and i waited and waited for those to come out on PS4 and it wasnt until i got it on that they finally confirmed it. It took ages for those to get localized and released in the west and than they finally did and announced 3 and 4 a long side. I finally decided to play them once i beat Tales Of Arise and i knew since Falcom made it and i love YS 8 and Tokyo Xanadu i knew it will be good but not this damn good.
This is honestly and i say this a lot but these maybe the greatest RPG series maybe game series i ever played, even you guys are probably like "yeah whatever lol" its understandable i say that a few times with Witcher and Nier and Bayonetta 2 but Bayonetta 2 is an action game and im talking RPG but Bayonetta 2 is still the best action game ever made. I also said it with Final Fantasy X and Persona 3 and i love those two games and they were my top games for the longest but i think Trials might have exceeded that and is my number 1 game of all time as a series as a whole. Im gonna tell you why this isn't a review but there will be some spoilers.
There are certain things i like in games and anime and stuff and Trials mixes pretty much everything i love, one being the school setting. For the longest i thought Persona series was the best at it- you know 3 and 4 and 5. It had where you go to school go to class and than hang out with people and raise your social link and that was my favorite thing about it. This isn't a knock on Persona 3 or 5 i think there still great Persona 3 being better than 5 because it did different stuff and Persona 5 was the same throughout. This isn't about that this is about the school stuff and how they do it and i can honestly say Trials is the best game with a school setting maybe the peak of a school setting. The more i played Trials the more i looked back at Persona and i realized the school itself is really not all that important in the game. Persona 3 had the School turning into Tartarus at midnight so it made it some what important but the students were never all that important, like going around the school was not needed, the whole thing with Persona was you go to school after class you choose a character to spend time with. Certain characters in the school are important the ones with the social links but everyone else is not most are generic in the school.
Tokyo Xanadu which is also made by Nihon Falcom was also a great school setting and they did what persona didnt and made exploring the school important and even people outside in towns had names and were all designed and not generic looking. Trials however goes above and beyond this though and makes the school an actual character if that makes sense, with actual history behind it and a purpose behind. Trials Of Cold Steels school is a military academy people that graduate from it can join one of the armies if they so choose. The school also has a very important history in game and the person who built it which is a War hero called Emperor Drecihels and its motto is (to become the foundation of the world)
The first thing the school has is something Yu-Gi-Oh GX had of course not in the same vein but- Yu-Gi-Oh GX had classes that were seperated each class had there own unique kind of color, There was Obelisk blue, Ra yellow and Slifer Red these were based on rank how high in the class you were.
The classes each have an instructor to so think Naruto the sensei's for the classes. Like Kakashi, Asama, Kurenai, Guy. The instructor for your class is reminiscent to Minato the 4th Hokage. They call her purple lighting like Minato,s name yellow flash both have crazy speed so shes awesome.
Back to the school so it has where the school welcomes people from all families, so nobles and commoners, the nobles have white, the commoners have green but theres a special class which is the class your part of and that color is Red and that is Class 7 which is a special class. The nobles and commoners are often seperated but Class 7 being special merges the two so all kind of different backgrounds and unique characters are welcome if they are compatible with something called an Arcus unit.
The Arcus thing is the next thing that mixes something of my favorite and that is Power Ranger or Sentai in japan. Its the importance of team work.
In order to utilize it to its potential the whole class has to be in sync with one another it kind of allows them to to act all in tandem and its very important for the battle system where you link up with a party member and this allows follow up attacks and others. If the class mates dont get along than the link with be severed and they won't be able to fully work 100% with one another which is what a lot of the first game is about.
The people in the school and im talking the entire school, everybody is important the student, the teachers, the staff and not just the school either the entire freaking town as well. This is where this game puts all the damn Personas to shame. The school students all are designed, they all have characters, they all have stuff there going through, they all have names and some even have problems there dealing with. See Persona a lot of the time you leave the school a lot especially in Persona 5, but Trials every day after school you can go around the school and talk to the entire school and teachers and they actually talk about important stuff and sharing stuff from there lives or talking about things they will do like shop after a school and they actually do it. Some you talk to foreshadow maybe a side quest or main quest with them. Like characters in the school might be going through something in there lives or worried about something and everytime you go and talk to them there problem might get worst and worst and you may or may not get a quest for it, or they might just solve it themselves.
They make going around the school so important because there are a lot of interesting cool characters in it, but like i said the town itself is the same way. Some in the town could look generic but some also are designed very well but even if they look generic they still have there own characters so its not a waste to talk to them. They also have names and everything to. The writing, the care about the school and the town Nihon Falcom puts into this game is incredible. They have done it as well with YS 8 to with the Island stuff characters on the Island and Tokyo Xanadu but Trials is on a whole other level when it comes to that just insane levels. Persona is lazy with this i was hoping the 5th Persona would change things but it stayed the same so it was disappointing, you know i wanted it to evolve the school but i didnt know exactly what i wanted until i played Trails now.
If you thought these characters in the school where one and done you'd be wrong because there actually in the other freaking games as well like the 2nd one put all them in different roles and stuff, now not all of them but most are, and if there not they are mentioned. Its funny cause Trials 4 there was this part where the students are all there but people were missing and im like where are these characters, but sure enough they actually got mentioned or popped up so if that doesnt tell you how much care they put in all these characters i dont know what will lol.
I never knew how amazing it is when games are just connected with eachother and not like games that switch the world everytime or put years into the next story. Since Trials basically takes place is the same world and keeps the same characters it has the best writing and world building in a game. There is so much growth in these characters between the school characters the main characters and characters you meet in the games it feels like a journey of growth. Now most things would time skip and your characters would be all powerful and different, not Trials though you are there on the journey with those characters you see there growth, you see there struggles or things there worried about, how there views in the world change, what they want to do after The Academy when they graduate and ive never seen this in a game.
The main characters didnt get along with eachother which is again a Power Ranger and Sentai element, some characters just dont agree with other characters views, or they hate the nobles or commoners so they have to learn to get over that.
Or in two female characters case she couldnt get behind how the others did things one characters is a loyal swordman and worked hard the other is not she barely tries but shes still skilled because her life is very different from the other so this causes a problem with combat because they dont trust one another so they cant link and utilize the arcus until they get over whatever there dealing with so this is why this game just masterclass because the story telling the time they take to tell the
characters story you probably won't find in any other game except a japanese RPG, but not even Persona the characters didnt feel that united to me, but Trials these characters as the games go on and there bonds get stronger and stronger and you look back to the first game and so does the characters when they remember how they were its just so great.
The next thing this game has that i love is relationships and family. Its a weird thing but i like characters that have relationships and i like when they mention there family members, and there so many games that mention family like someones mom and dad or sister or grandfather but there never shown or nothing there just mentioned, well not Trials. All the characters have family members in game, main characters and also the students and some of the characters you meet as well, and you meet all of them or most of them which is freaking cool and some are designed characters some are generic but it still is good. Man in game you kept hearing about a certain characters father and hes supposed to be one of the strongest in the entire game, so im expecting never to see this guy at all because i played so many games that just mention stuff and dont show shit you know? Well to my surprise you meet. him and the daughter sees him again and its great. The main character talks about his sister alot so again im thinking im not ever gonna meet her at all im just gonna see her as a photo the characters has or someone he writes to in letters, but again you see her later. So Trials does not lie to you it mentions stuff and it always delivers and i am not used to that.
Another thing thats not in a lot of games are you just dont feel it in a lot is affection and care between characters. I really loved in Final Fantasy 15 the characters in game how much they feel like best friends and the way they were with eachother they feel thrown together they felt united. It was the same for Final Fantasy 7 Remake how much more of a team they felt however Trials exceeds this as well. The main character cares a lot for his sister and it is very well known shown a lot of touching moments with them and how much they care for one another the powerful relationship they have, so much tears shed for one another and embracing like hugging and stuff. Trials creates these touching moments that actually have feeling behind it, this ain't like Resident Evil 2 Remake with Ada and Leon how weak that shit was and rushed or RE7 with Ethan and Mia which felt like they didnt care at all about one another lol i mean Ethan didnt even cared he might have killed her at the beginning of RE7. Like man i never seen so much hugging and embracing in a game before between characters. Theres one part where the characters get reunited and there all just hugging everybody and shedding tears.
When you romance characters since there so damn close with one another and they share all these moments it doesnt feel like its just thrown in just to have like in certain games. Thats because the main character is so great and how everyone feels towards him and how organic and real it is. Theres games like again Persona where they just call you a leader for whatever reason and its not really organic.
Even the side characters like the Instructors get into relationships, they could have easily done the lazy thing which everybody else would do like animes and movies which is time skip but as your exploring and talking in the school you start seeing there relationships forming with somebody and you see that grow and grow and stuff its just awesome.
Now the main character he is just great, hes not perfect hes not the strongest, hes not a bad ass hes trying to find himself by Attending the academy. Hes trying to grow as a person trying to to find what he wants to do after he graduates. He struggles with a lot, he doesnt believe in his self alot and he tries to handle everything by himself all the time, he tries to protect his classmates thinking hes helping them by going it a lone, the relationship with his sister and things he wants to do for her and how he throws himself to protect her but doing so she gets hurt over him hurting himself. There are layers and layers to the main character and his story is one to remember and his growth seeing him not confident in his abilities or his Sword. The great thing is the main characters see his problems to and call him out on it and they easily learn how to read him. Than he has a comedy aspect with his sister which is a sister complex and doesn't even realize it and thats great lol he wants to murder people if they get close to his sister just some of the things that make him amazing but theres so much more.
Next is the World Building and the actual Lore in the game. The world is Zemuria and the country you in is Erebonia, this world the world building in this game is insane, the amount of stuff thats in this game is so much, so much detail in it. They got these companies and factories in game that specialize in certain things, certain tech. Theres all these miltary factions and squads and units and police squads. theres all these noble families and important figures like Emperors, Governors, Princesses. Theres different combat schools characters families run or are apart of. All the characters have hometowns you go to and even side characters in the schools family are nobles so you go to there noble houses and meet them all and they all have characters and personalities. I just never seen a game with so much care and dedication put into the world they create. Most devs do one world and thats it, than they create a brand new world with new stuff but Trials builds off all there games, all the old ones as well and well as there old characters as well its crazy.
The closest i got to this was Final Fantasy X-2 where it was the same world and locations and characters and you see the aftermath of Final Fantasy X but it time skipped like 2 years or 3 where Yuna and Rikku are now sphere hunters but you never see her actually become it, it had already happened she already quit being a summoner and obviously we know why but it would have been cool to actually see it, to see her and Rikku become a sphere hunter. Trials you see everything you see the growth into what they become in the later games.
Moving on to the lore of the game you know books you read information you gain. I do not care at all about Lore and reading and trying to make sense of the story by reading stuff, this is what Dark Souls and Bloodborne are known for since they dont have a story, the story comes from stuff you read and characters you talk to. All the items have something about them all the people you talk to and even the bosses. Its like gathering pieces from a puzzle and trying to fit them all together i just cant be asked and its not something i enjoy, its because its not mentioned in game or in the story its just there to read. Trials however the lore of the game the books you read are even important to the current events that are happening in game. I didn't know this until later cause i saw these books and just skimmed through them, i figured eh there just there to give you something to read but theres a certain book you read about this ancient dark dragon that caused destruction years ago and you actually find the remnants of it the bones but something happens and it comes to life and you have to fight it, it shows you its name and i was like wait! Thats mentioned in that one book i actually read about a dark dragon. So i though eh maybe that book just important but than theres these books about these companies and factories in the game that specialize in certain weaponry and tech. These companies are mentioned all throughout the game. If you read these books you get knowledge about them and you also uncover new things about them as you go through the game. Even if you don't read these books its still explained in game as well, so even the actual lore is important to the game, its not just there to waste your time and thats just awesome. Its crazy how deep the story and the world in Trials is.
So now lets talk about something devs often lie about in these open world games, Trials aint open world but think about this, when devs make these open world games and there always like your choices matter and it affects the world around you and the events- its often bullshit its not really true at all they said it for Witcher 3 and it really doesnt they put all your choices together at the end when the credits roll and they will give you like a storybook kind of thing mentioning what your choices impact. It doesnt affect the game you don't ever seen the characters again after a mission or when you complete there quest or whatever, its 1 and done. Its the same for many open worlds i think the only game that to pulled your choices mattering off is Mass Effect. Your choices effect can occur in any 3 games like if you saved i think the Rachni queen in 1 she helps against the reapers in the 3rd one.
Why am i talking about this? The way Trials does there missions and side quest and characters you meet it makes everything matter to the games. There aren't any choices or anything in Trials, what it does do is it make every quest important and makes every character in those quest also important.
The Quest in Trials aren't just there to waste your time, these characters in the main quest and side quest aren't just there and than there gone. Those characters in those quest are actually very important and i mean important enough that there in multiple games! You maybe help someone and than they show up in the next game in a town and you remember that you helped them before. It gets deeper cause its like all these characters wither its side or main characters they all have a story happening with them. As you see these characters over and over again and talk to them throughout the games you hear what there up to or they may need your help again. There was a certain family you help and they lose there wallet which sounds like a lazy fetch quest but it wasn't. After you help them in that town there in, in the next game they are still there they might have another problem or you can just see how there doing, they also arent just stationary in that one town only they may go to a different town and you see them again.
Every single thing in Trials is worth doing, every single thing adds something, all these characters add something to the point your excited to see them or your excited to see what there up to and everytime you talk to them different stuff occurs with them they talk about different stuff. Okay so lets say you dont talk to them you'll miss out on there story going on in there dialogue. There was one character searching for a girl cause you set him up in a date in the 1st one, he comes back in the 4th one and hes searching for the girl again. You would only know this if you talk to him and its optional and its not even required. He shows up in different towns and everytime you talk to him you see how his search is going but it pays off later when you see he finds her, but you wouldnt have known this was all going on if you didn't talk to him in those towns.
The writing and character developement in this freaking game is unmatched i swear i have never seen anything like the writing in Trials before that i can think of. I never played a game where almost everybody in game is important and you may think they aren't but than the games surprises you when they keep having these characters pop up. Even the NPC town people some look generic but you talk to them and they all have different stuff and there connection to the main characters and how they react to them it just blows me away because it makes you like everyone in the town to lol. Like Tales of Arise people in those town i didn't care about them, they didnt have nothing important to add i didnt care to remember them. Witcher 3 i only remember the important people, same for FFX and FF X-2, Trials though you see them so much and learn about that people in the town so much you enjoy talking to them and remembering them, remembering there names.
Some characters you dont even see much of, its when you see them throughout the games it build and builds on them and they manage to become awesome characters. Even when there not in much they still are awewome. Like i said Trials isn't an open world choice based game or anything but it does things these open worlds try and fail to do time and time again and its making everything matter. Witcher 3 is still awesome in side quest and story but the issue is its one quest and its done you won't see those characters after the quest line and it effects a bit but not anything huge overall. Trials keeps those characters you help in those quest it makes them important even if its small and it creates surprising moments as well.
The villians in the game is next to talk about. So next things i love is Naruto and Kingdom Hearts and the two things i really like in that is the Naruto and Sasuke friendship and bond and Sora and Rikus. Naruto and Sasuke became friends but Sasuke betrayed him and the village and Narutos whole thing was he wanted Sasuke back and he wanted to talk and show his feelings with his fist with a fight and drag him back if he has to. Sasuke was kinda a villain and did bad stuff but Naruto didnt care he still wanted him back and that is the same with the main character and a certain character who is freaking awesome and hes like a mix of Sasuke and Riku in Kingdom Hearts. All ill say about that.
Anyway the villians in the game there freaking awesome guys. These arent Pure evil villians, these are villians that have compelling backstories in why they do what they do. There are some evil ones but the cast of enemies are very unique they are very cool, they are likable they each have there own way of doing things and there own purpose.
Its hard talking about the enemies without spoiling much cause they got different personalities and its like this big group but theres so many cool people in the group and you get to know them throughout the games and there stories build and build with the more you encounter them.
More about the Villians this game doesn't lie to you, one of the things i hate in these games or anime is when they say a certain character is the strongest in the world or whatever but the characters always overcome them when they fight. This ain't in Trials this game don't lie to you if someones strong they are strong. The game hides this by having boss fights and even when you win, the enemy wasnt using there full power they were just toying with or using a fraction of there power. Your no match for this group the main characters are inexperienced and are not strong enough but to tip the scales they get help by other strong characters in the game your allies. As you go through the games its awesome seeing the characters grow and grow and become stronger. To when there were no match for the enemies but than there are equal levels of strength. To when a monster took the whole team to take down but the characters grow in strength to the point where they can take them out single handedly, and even than the characters constantly say there still growing and there still trying to get stronger.
Back to the strongest character in the game one of the main party's father hes supposed to be the strongest Master swordman in the game world, but you think you'll only just hear about it and not actually see it but no Trials delivers on this as well and shows you his strength when he battles the strongest on the enemy team to save the party. He fights the stongest on the enemy team with ease but he wasnt using his full strength. He unleashes his full strength against him but the Master Swordman also unleashes his full strength and this duel is just an unhuman like duel they are both so powerful that there destroying the place and the pillars and walls and there evenly matched. Any other game you probably would just hear about a character and never see them or wouldnt havea chance to see them in action but Trials always delivers.
So many characters in Trials between 1 and 2 between main and side characters and allies but does it end there No. The 3rd one introduces even more characters a new cast of characters. So this means the old ones are gone right? No your wrong this games has the biggest party i think ive also ever seen! It combines the new characters with the old characters making the party huge! It even has guest party members that join you for a short time expanding that party even freaking more! You get so many surprise people that join you this was always so exciting never knew who would join next. They also do a brilliant job with the new characters as well. In the 3rd one you graduate and your older now but you become an instructor to a new school branch. So now your the teacher and you get your new class the new party, but even more new students. I was very worried characters would be just a copy of old ones but that was not the case they were all freaking awesome. Its a huge cast of awesome characters mix that in with old students and people and its a freaking massive cast of characters.
So how do they utilize all the party members? Its smart basically in 3 and 4 they give you these missions to do before you do the main mission. They have characters who will join that you can't change and guest characters but you choose the rest of your party.
Than when the main mission happens usually most of your team is choosen but you may be allowed to pick more. This is so in the story its an important plot point for those characters and it makes everyone shine and its a brilliant way to utilize every character to the fullest.
Lets talk about the failure that is Kingdom Hearts 3 and what a let down the game was, how many damn games did we play to build up to the 7 lights and 13 darknesses?
Kingdom Hearts 1
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts 351 days or whatever the Roxas game
Kingdom Hearts 2
Kingdom Hearts coded
Kingdom Hearts Recoded
Kingdom Hearts Birth by sleep
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
8 games you can even add the final mixes cause they got new scenes like 2.8 had a thing with Aqua before 3 theres also a movie they did. All this you have to play, and you have to play these in order. All this for the big huge climatic final war, a war these games been building up to in all these games. The Keyblade War a battlefield with a war with 7 lights and 13 darknesses all these games building up to this one moment all these characters the big pay off.... You get to this part and they ruin this entirely the pay off is so freaking pointless! Why did we spend all this time building up to this moment? When Sora needed help for this War he needed 6 people with him, you get this war and the characters you spend building up to where useless. Sora by himself fights everybody when there not his battles. Theres a story between everybody in this battle, each person should had its own fight but no Sora was the center of attention.
Why am i talking about Kingdom Hearts 3? Because the finale of Trials 4 is the most epic goddamn thing ever! It is so goddamn awesome. These 3 games were building up to that moment an epic battle. All these characters had a purpose all these characters had there own stories with the opposing side and they made sure to settle it BECAUSE IT WAS ABOUT THEM!!! BECAUSE IT WAS THERE FIGHT! Now its not like a one on one fight the main character is still there or theres still a party with some people but they understands its that particular characters fight to finish hes just there to help, so the character whos battle is there own they get the time to shine ( god its so hard trying not to spoil stuff) the payoff to Trials 4 delivers, it settles everything it ends all the stories. How Kingdom Hearts 3 ruined the payoff of that war is baffling they ruined it just to add more confusing crap to the story who cares about the next saga when the Xehanort shit was a lame ass rehashed end but The Final Part to Trials 4 ugh... Think Avengers endgame all ill say.
I know this is long but i wanted to talk about some brilliant things they do setting up to the next games. When you go to certain areas you'll find you cant go there in the game, but they set that up so you go there in the next game so they think that far ahead. Some characters can get introduced at the end of the game just to set up the next game. In story they might mention something but you dont find out until next game when it becomes important so they constantly set up to stuff. Even the end of 4 theres a final epilogue game to end the Cold Steel series but it even started leaving stuff open for that last game unanswered questions about certain things they may come to play in Trials Into Reverie
I love Trials of Cold Steel series so much all 4 games are a 10 to me i have never played any game like this before that i can think of. A game that makes its lore important every character important side quest that mean something, characters that stay throughout the series...unless they maybe die...or not lol a party of main characters like this a party that turn into a family that support each other and help each other, i never seen villians like what Trials has the moments in game are powerful. I got emotional a lot cause i never seen characters act this way in games, when they all cry and hug eachother and how the main character is with his sister and just so much stuff. A brilliant story that they took there time to, you cannot play this game and say anything is rushed. They spent so much time in all these characters in game, all this time building up, all this time figuring out how to keep making them important to the story, how to make them as important just as the main characters doesnt even feel right calling them side characters there all main characters even the instructors.
They plan ahead they know exactly what direction there going. I swear some stuff they set up could be 2 games ahead to when you look back on it your " like wow thats why this happened in this game" everything they do adds to something, it has a pay off and a purpose that is satisfying when you see how it comes to an end. At the end i was like wow... just blown away at those final moments when it all comes together.
Oh and last it has goddamn mechs as well which shocked the hell out of me but the story with the mechs is also amazing. So much stuff so many times i just kept saying " I love this game" all the moments in the game all the battles, even like the affection stuff cause thats how you get a love interest or whatever but these werent just thrown together either because it further dives into characters even more to learn even more about them and i found myself viewing them all cause you only get to view a number of them so i kept resetting to see them all. Musics great besides the 3rd one but they fix that in the 4th one.
Is it perfect? Well it is to me but im aware it takes long to build up so i can see people being bored, but once it picks up man it picks up! I can't see people hating any character to be honest.
Lets say if i was these other kinds of people... You know? The one that always look for that one game thats the peak like Red Dead 2 or Grand Theft Auto V the one game you compare everything to, and if it doesnt reach them levels than you don't care about any other game. Trials of Cold Steel 1 to 4 would be that peak for me. I would compare every RPG i played to it and none would measure up and i would be uninterested but thankfully im not like that- No RPG would measure up to its story or its characters, or its world and making everything important. Maybe Nihon Falcom is the peak, The Peak of RPG'S, The Peak of a School Setting, The measuring stick for all RPG'S, The example these devs should strive to be.
There unknown but they blew all other RPG'S out. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was awesome but even that compare to Trials world and characters it dont come close.... Of course the gameplay destroys it though like those bosses but eh.Persona 6 better do something different to the school cause if its the same man they done messed up. You know one thing i really want in these school games is when you join a club you can actually play the club, a game hasnt had that yet, where you join a tennis club and can actually play tennis or whatever in trials theres like a swimming club mini game but thats kind of it and your not really apart of the club. They also have mini games like 2 card games and a tetris like game that i could actually play
For the longest im trying to figure out what game had the affection stuff like Persona 3 social link, like it couldnt have been that game that started it. I tried to look that up and i kept seeing Tales that started it but i have no idea.
Anyway im rambling the next school game is Blue Reflection and i think its an all girls school so....lesbians lmao but Trials officially my number 1 Series of all time. all games are 10's or beyond lol was breaking my scale 20/10 Trials 4 /40/10. All these games are longer than the next as well there 100+ hours and beyond. Whats cool is they start you off at the same level you would be in the next games so it goes beyond level 99. Some games you'll start at 50.
