Here we are, a year later and the final entry in the Trails of Cold Steel series is upon us. I can still say that I haven’t played the first two, but after playing through the third, I had no doubt that I wanted to see this to its conclusion. Chances are that you’ve played the rest of these in some form or another if you care about this. If that’s the not the case, you can still pick this up and watch the previous games’ summaries which are included, but you really won’t get as much out of this game as you would otherwise. That said, if you don’t mind being a bit lost narrative wise and you enjoy JRPGs, this may be worth picking up.

Unlike the Persona or Final Fantasy series, these numbered entries are all directly connected. This one takes place shortly after the events of the last game, and follows a similar format in terms of introduction. Following an exposition heavy intro sequence, you start out with a high leveled group of characters in an end-game scenario and are basically just allowed to experiment with combat. There’s really no chance of you dying unless you’ve never played the genre before, and even then it’d need to be on the highest difficulty. Feel free to play with abilities and figure things out – following this you’re given control of a familiar cast from the previous game and go through a tutorial sequence. This is explained as the characters are out of sorts and need to get caught up in their combat skills, and this helps iron out what you may have experienced in the previous section, explaining all the nuances. After this, it’s time for the unnecessary fan-service, and then on to Act 1.

There’s a dated charm that comes with every Falcom game, and that’s certainly present here. Watching the cut-scenes I’m reminded of PS2 RPGs like Star Ocean: Till the End of Time while combat and other game features are much more current day. The story itself is also much more in-depth and cohesive; I’m not sure it would be as popular as it is to span four games if that wasn’t the case. As before, the game offers plenty of difficulty options, which makes it enjoyable for those that want a challenge, as well as players that just want to see the story. If you’re some sort of monster that doesn’t care about anything and just wants trophies (wrong genre if that’s the case), you can skip through all the dialogue with turbo mode, speed up movement around the world, and there’s even an auto combat feature that is highly efficient and speeds through most encounters, although you probably want to take control for boss fights unless you’re over-leveled.

As things progress, you’ll find the game opens up quite a bit, and the customization is grander here than ever before. Honestly, it’s a bit overwhelming and I skipped it for the most part, which means I probably had a more difficult time than others. I’m all about deep systems and building characters how you see fit, but I also want it to be intuitive and not seem like I need a degree in alchemy to do so – at a certain point I can’t be bothered. For those that love to sit in menus and tinker with stats, you are going to have a blast. There’s an assortment of ranks to increase, netting you different perks for the remainder of the game, and mini-games such as fishing make their introduction early on. I found myself spending a bit too much time with fishing, so that’s a sign of it being enjoyable enough, although I’d say Breath of Fire III is still the most memorable for me concerning this feature. The game also brings back the TCG that feels like Magic: The Gathering, and is still very easy to get sucked into. Triple Triad remains my favorite card game in a video game though. There are several other mini-games as well, although not all of them appealed to me.

Something that I don’t spend much time with these days is the music in games. I enjoy video game music, but most of my time playing is spent with the volume too low to really hear, as my free time is typically when my family is asleep. However, there were a few play sessions with this where I was home alone, and wow is that soundtrack excellent. The title screen is very serene and calm and something I could listen to on loop for quite a while, and the battle, field, dungeon, and town themes are all equally great. I couldn’t tell you how they go, as there’s no infectious hook (nor have I had the chance to listen to them at length, repeatedly), but it’s one of the few games I’ve found myself enjoying the volume up on. Well, aside from some of the voice acting. The VO isn’t bad, per se; some of the characters are great. Others add to that old school feel, as this doesn’t seem like their actual profession. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to hear Troy Baker or Nolan North in every game, but it’s hard going from such excellent performances to things that sound so amateur. For those that prefer to listen to Japanese, the game supports it.

The game encourages players to talk to the locales and actually experience everything it has to offer, opposed to just following the quest markers, although you certainly can if you want to. I actually didn’t make use of the game’s world map system until I explored what I thought was everything to progress the story, only to find I missed a seemingly obvious direction. Had I not done this though, I would’ve blown past a dungeon that I didn’t have to do. The game is kind enough to allow you to teleport to different sections of map you’ve been too, and even offers quicker travel with horses, assuming you’re in an area that allows for such mounts.

Combat is what players have come to expect. Turn-based with mild tactics, which I typically enjoy. This style of turn-based combat was first introduced to me with Arc the Lad: Twilight Spirits, a mostly forgettable experience in most regards, although I have fond memories of renting it from Blockbuster years ago. Naturally this is much more robust than that, with combat links, skills, arts, special skills, orders, and more. On paper, it sounds like it’d be too much to take in, but in practice it’s all pretty simple to grasp. There’s not much that’s changed from the previous entry, although I feel like some features are introduced earlier on this time around. The plot is also more compelling, at least for me.

If you’ve played the rest of the Trails of Cold Steel entries, there’s really no point in looking at reviews, because you’re going to buy this one. If you’ve never played any of the Legend of Heroes games and don’t mind being lost, this is as good as they get from my experience. It’s definitely not for people that are against the anime aesthetic, but if you’ve been searching for a JRPG that will keep you busy until the next Shin Megami Tensei game, you shouldn’t pass on this.

9 out of 10

Pros

• Deep Combat
• Huge Cast
• Wonderful Score
• Lots of Content

Cons

• Environmental Assets
• Some English Voice Acting

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV was developed by Nihon Falcom and published by NIS America. It will be available on PS4 October 27th, 2020, while NS and PC will be coming 2021. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV, check out the official site.

 

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