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The Legend of Heroes : Trails of Cold Steel 4brings an end to a story class in the making , and it does it with serious confidence . It feel more like a continuation ofTrails of Cold Steel 3 , especially consider how it builds off the gameplay ideas of the third plot , and even amend them .
With three protracted former games , Trails of Cold Steel 4isn’t incredibly accessible to newcomers . NIS America has let in an entire dossier of characters and premature event that can be get at from the main card to help combat this fussy problem . However , Trails of Cold Steel 4is a game that definitely resonate more with those that have been there every stride of the journey .
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Trails of Cold Steel 4picks up right where the previous secret plan ended , with the series ' chief character , Rean Swcharzer , missing in action . The franchise is known for lengthy slow - tan stories , andTrails of Cold Steel 4epitomizes that theme with a tale filled with political machination , secret plots , and plenty of late - secret plan twists . The tarradiddle is essentially split up into two unlike halves , with Rean not even recruit the mixture until a sound 25 - 30 hours in . The open act starts a picayune slow , but things slowly ramp up to a crescendo throughout the secret plan .
TheTrailsseries has someambitious JRPG storytelling , and a sight of it come to a head word inTrails of Cold Steel 4 . It ’s not just theCold Steelgames , however , as this is the title that finally brings the entire franchise together . The main characters of bothTrails in the Skyand the Crossbell arc of the big game universe are vitally important to the story , and they ’re also playable party members . There are few serial that can institute 17 yr of storytelling together in such an impressive manner , but by this full point , Falcom is confident in its storytelling , and it shows with the weave plot of ground threads ofCold Steel 4 .
Trails of Cold Steel 4is nothing if not ambitious , and this results in a whopping 39 playable political party members . Seeing all these disparate characters interact is a blast for sports fan of the series , but the plain telephone number of playable character can get incredibly consuming . It ’s impossible to get armor and equipment for every appendage unless players plan on fag out a lot of money , so prioritise sure characters and groups becomes vital . Trails of Cold Steel 4does help with this by forcing players to use mostly pre - set parties at magnanimous story moment and adding on a couple more of their choice . The plot does a serious job of still keep thing guided while permit as much freedom in party composition as potential .
This massive grapheme selection also ties into combat , which remains mostly the same fromTrails of Cold Steel 3 . ConsideringTrails of Cold Steel 4starts the party out around level 60 , players immediately have accession to a wealth of different Orbal Arts and Crafts . More are summate on as players level up , and the same orbment arrangement used in the series return yet again . There are a ton of options for custom-make characters , and fine - tuning each one to agree strategies . Trailsgames have always allowed for a lot of customization in combat , butCold Steel 4has refined the system even more . Interestingly , Cold Steel 4feels quite a bit more difficult than the previous secret plan as a solvent . Combat is more challenging , and it ’s not as easy for players to overwork the interruption system . There ’s a enough challenge throughout the entire experience , and it manages to find a sweet blot .
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The main difference fromTrails of Cold Steel 3is that Brave Orders have been tone up back a bit . Orders are less powerful from the get - go , but players can power them up by lease on Trial Chests . These thorax turn back fromTrails of Cold Steel 2and postulate the player to use specific case in a challenging fight . A nice new feature lets players instantly transport to any Trial Chest they ’ve establish , unlikeCold Steel 2,which need a lot of backtracking if player wanted to circle back to peculiarly difficult challenge .
Because of the nature of the story , Trails of Cold Steel 4has players visiting a mess of the same positioning fromCold Steel 3 . This is n’t of necessity a job , however , as the game savor the opportunity to show how places change and grow over time . Part of the attraction of theCold Steelgames is fancy how the land of Erebonia is influence by the events that happen , andTrails of Cold Steel 4nails that melodic theme by taking having players foregather intimate locals and face .
Minigames from the previous title regaining , too , like Vantage Masters and sportfishing , butCold Steel 4adds a surprising amount of novel ones as well . The Pom ! minigame returns from the Crossbell games , and it ’s basically theTrailsequivalent of Puyo - Puyo . While that ’s the big addition , there are a host of other smaller minigames scattered throughout , like the haunted rollercoaster at the Mishelam theme park .
Bonding events also take back , and there ’s a new set of events that help heighten the quixotic relationships Rean can establish with certain distaff company member . Like before , these bonding events are filled with good persona moments , and often facilitate drive laughable relief . The plot is never afraid to slow down and humanize its characters even in the thick of world - cease threats , and it ’s good for it . lead of Cold Steel 4is built on the same engine , and while there are n’t any drastic graphical improvements , the art design ofCold Steel 4really glisten through . Some of the novel location are gorgeous , with the hidden village of Eryn , situate in a magical forest , being a peculiar highlighting .
There ’s still quite a bit of voice playacting inTrails of Cold Steel 4 , but it complain in during all of the important chronicle segment , which means that the last stretch of the game has a lot . Unfortunately , the displacement forTrails of Cold Steel 4feels more rushed thanTrails of Cold Steel 3 . Overall it ’s quite good , but small errors systematically pop up , like a miss letter or a repeated word , and it ’s an unfortunate defect on a game that does everything else with self-assurance .
It ’s in spades possible to playCold blade 4without knowledge of the eternal rest of the serial , but it ’s unfeignedly a game meant for fans of the series . For anyone that ’s been succeed these part for old age , there ’s some serious excited payoff , andCold brand 4brings a satisfying tight to this arc while helping to prepare the point for the future tense . There are n’t any massive improvements fromTrails of Cold Steel 3 , butCold Steel 4refines virtually everything to create a smoother experience overall . The Legend of Heroes : Trails of Cold Steel 4is a finale that fans ca n’t miss , and the way the game weaves together tale thread from the last 15 years is truly impressive .
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The Legend of Heroes : Trails of Cold Steel 4releases on October 27 for PS4 . A PlayStation 4 code was provided for the purposes of this review .
