The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (2013)

This is likely going to be a long post about Trails because I'm a longform guy. If you can get through it I would like your thoughts, even if you aren't a Trails fan. I tagged Cold Steel because I'm currently playing it and loving it.

So despite being a JRPG fan my entire life, since before I even really understood what I was doing (I used to just grind levels for my big brother in FF1), I never played a Trails game until last year. I figured the release of the Chapter 1 Remake would be as good a time as any to finally take the plunge, though I have at no point even considered going through the entire series because it's just way too much. I just went and posted my review here of 1st Chapter that I had written on another site which goes into more detail about my experience with that game if you're interested. But basically, loved the gameplay loop because the combat was fun and it always felt like the game was rewarding me with shit (like perma stat boosts for cooking, constantly getting items, sepith, etc) but I had problems with its storytelling, though that eventually picked up and I ended up deeply caring about not only the plot but Estelle and Joshua. Estelle is such a real one. Loyal as shit. And I love how she's just like, "Yeah, whatever, I'm just going to beat you up now" when there's a problem. The final bit of the game was a 9.5/10 but I landed on an 8.5 because I couldn't just ignore that the beginning was a bit of a slog narratively.

So I played Beyond the Horizon even though I know it was a bad idea. I just had serious FOMO and wanted to play another Trails game. And logically, I could have went to Chapter 2 but knowing that a remake is on its way, I wanted to just hold out, play that, and then I'll probably play the original version of Chapter 3 because I don't know if I can keep waiting to see how that trilogy ends. Then I could proceed with the Crossbell arc if I want, though honestly, I like modern convenience (which is part of the reason I'm waiting for the Chapter 2 remake, because the first was so polished and smooth). With that said, I think Beyond the Horizon is great, even if a lot was lost on me. Did do a good job of trying to remind everybody of what the hell is going on, even if that's an impossible task.

So lately I've been trying out a bunch of JRPGs because I'm in the mood, but none are sticking, so I kept seeing that Trails of Cold Steel is not a terrible place to go even if you haven't played the previous games. And I've been loving it. I still get a little bothered by how these games waste your time a little bit. Like I know some fans love it for this, but we don't need to see EVERYTHING. For example, not everybody character has to get their shit in during a conversation--meaning when one person says like, "Okay, let's go," then another is like, "Yeah, gotcha," then another was like, "Cool!" I know that's not a literal interaction but you get my point. Or how often we need to watch glory shots of the places we're in. Dude, we're at an Inn sitting at a table. But the game also lets you speed up time. Actually, for some reason during 1st Chapter I didn't realize you could do that and then once I did the game did get better. So to their credit, even if the writers don't understand editing, the developers at least know enough to let us speed shit up. And don't get me wrong, the characters and world-building are awesome. I love Instructor Sara so far (I'm about 15 hours in). I imagine I will see the Erebonia arc through, though I fear burnout, which I don't want to do before Chapter 2 releases.

I've been a lot easier on the slowness of the narrative for Cold Steel than I was for 1st Chapter. I don't know if it's because the Cold Steel beginning is just more compelling, especially since it didn't have to do as much setup, or if I'm just more acclimated to the way these games tell their story. If the latter is the case I feel like I did 1st Chapter a little dirty. Would like to know your thoughts.

Just getting started. I'm about 10 hours in, and really enjoying this. I played Ys VIII last year, and it was one of the most enjoyable JRPGs I had played in a long while (I even completed it 100% -- a rarity for me). It was my introduction to Falcom and I told myself I would check out more of their library, so starting ToCS is the result.

I've now purchased Trails of Cold Steel 2 & 3, based on what Ive played so far, and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. I'm sure I'll be getting the 4th once it launches on Switch (I prefer having the option to play RPGs portably whenever possible).

i don't know about this game. i will finish it (I'm 50 hours into it at this point), but it's starting to become a chore. It's such a shame because the game does SO MANY things well (combat, world-building), but the things it does poorly (storytelling, pacing, repetitiveness) it does so extremely poorly that it makes it really hard to appreciate.

I'm reminded of the famous quote about Richard Wagner's operas: "Wagner has lovely moments, but awful quarters of an hour."