Title: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Genre: JRPG
Released: 2017
Rating: 8/10
Continue The Legend of Heroes saga with Trails of Cold Steel III. This time, you join Rean Schwarzer and his allies in Erebonia as Rean takes on a new job as an instructor at Thors Military Academy. But what starts as a simple school experience quickly spirals into real danger as Rean and his students uncover a deadly threat emerging from the shadows.
Pros:
Intriguing storyline
As the game progresses, you have a growing list of mysteries and questions. What caused the scar on Rean’s chest? What’s going on with his ogre power? What is this ominous presence that seems to be infecting Erebonia? Who is the main villain pulling the strings and what’s the ultimate goal? You’ll get some hints and answers to some of these questions but others are left unanswered waiting to be addressed in Cold Steel IV.
Interesting characters
Cold Steel III has some well-developed, interesting, and entertaining characters. And to be honest… my personal favorites are not Rean’s initial students. Kurt and Juna’s personalities were slightly annoying throughout the game. But I did meet some fantastic characters including Ash Carbide, Gaius Worzel, Agate Crosner, Tio Plato, and Wallace Bardias. I wish that we got more personal bonding moments with some of these fascinating characters.
Alongside the allies, we get some intriguing, morally grey villains. Lechter Arundel, McBurn, and Rutger Claussell were all oddly likeable characters and their interactions made me want to learn more about them.
Good gameplay balance
I think the game did a good job of balancing the main storyline with side quests and activities. I loved playing Vantage Masters and exploring towns to find hidden quests, fishing spots, gifts, and treasure chests. As mentioned above, the optional bonding moments were also nice to learn more about what each character was going through.
Dramatic, emotional cliffhanger
What a devastating and gut-wrenching ending to the game! I won’t go into any specifics but it epically sets the stage for the final Cold Steel game in this arc of the series.
Cons:
Forced parties
For some key battles, the game forces you to fight alongside specific characters and it can be very inconvenient. I spent time developing a few main fighting companions to make them as overpowered as possible. So when I was forced to use characters I hadn’t developed, it took blood, sweat, and tears to make them even remotely decent in battle. I had to use precious resources to get them better weapons, armor, and skills… all for a battle so they wouldn’t get absolutely destroyed. (For the most part, this is fixed in Cold Steel IV.)
Some creepy characters…
I gotta say… the obsession over Rean is, at times, extremely creepy. Especially from a couple specific characters. Rean’s sister, Elise, is romantically interested in him and it’s… gross. I know that Rean was adopted and that they’re not biological siblings. But it’s disturbing nonetheless. And Musse’s level of obsession is borderline rapey. For me, I dreaded any interaction with these two characters. Side note, I also didn’t like that Alisa was the “canon” romance. I did not like her personality or behavior at all.
Overall…
Trails of Cold Steel III was my first Trails game and it was a good experience. Would I recommend starting the Trails saga with Cold Steel III? Eh… it depends. If you’re not sure if the Trails games are for you and you value playing a recent addition with more modern graphics, then sure. But know that you won’t have much of an understanding of Rean’s past experiences and relationships with some of his older allies. Is that a huge detriment? No. But it can be a bit disorienting and inconvenient. For me, it was worth it to jump in at Cold Steel III because I didn’t want to spend hundreds of hours catching up with older games to fully understand exactly what was going on. I watched some summary Youtube videos and caught up in real time so for me, that was fine. But now after playing Cold Steel III, I can see myself going back in time to play some of the older arcs.
Caroline’s Library 