Wow, what a journey! My Cold Steel 4 play-through was completed just over a week a go, and I wanted to get my thoughts out on it in a video for you guys. This is not a review, and there will be NO CS4 SPOILERS, but I will be drawing on previous events (some of which will be specific but not too plot intensive) to back up points in the video. I would also ask as well that even though I love your comments, and I invite discussion, please do not spoil anything for Cold Steel 4, as many people watching this video will likely have not played it. If you do feel the need to spoil anything from the game, please mark it in advance. Hope you enjoy this one guys! :)
Later this year we'll have new Arc.. i really curious to see how long can Trails series goes.. i wonder if the next one is Calvard Arc are just a mini duo-logy like Crossbell arc
This is basically our Avengers: Endgame and no our game hasn't been done that way. Which is the main reason I'm excited for this game. Fall can't come quick enough.
I had much fun with CS 1-3 and i also feel i have this with CS4 after seen some things, Nihon Falcom made the games, that you really never feel dull, self when talk with many of the NPC characters is not important is nice to talk with all the peoples.
I bought the Japanese version recently from a seller and have just started playing it. I'm glad you only talked in broad strokes during this video but am happy to hear that you feel it was a worthwhile experience and a satisfying finale. I'll be playing through it steadily leading up to the end of the year when I hope to have finished it by. I'm in two minds about getting Hajimari no Kiseki as although Falcom has tried a different structure with that game's story progression I think they should have put a full stop on ToCS with this one, put some of the characters on the bench and had fans wait until they revealed whatever the next proper Trails game will be titled. Chances are I'll cave though at some point and give that one a go as well.
The Trails series is like having a spouse. You know there are flaws that you wish they just stop showing, but deep down, you love the hell out of him/her for who they are and wouldn't have it any other way for the rest of your life.
@@Fabio-ql5yf Sometimes they talk a little weird, and don't always think things through. And are a little clumsy in moments but you love them all the same.
@@Fabio-ql5yf Your spouse will have quirks and foibles. Talks to loud, clumsy, etc. Trails as a series has quirks and foibles, espeicaly cs4, weird writing, not completely thought out things, but they are not problems, just the little things in a relationship that make them real.
@@Fabio-ql5yf As someone who can see the flaws in and still love something like Final Fantasy 13, No Trails game i have played (CS 1-4 and Sky 1, working on sky 2) have even remotely come close to that level of flawed. Honestly, i love the big dumb stupid, my friends are my power moment at the end of Lightening Returns, and its really stupid. And with all the drama around Trails and NIS/Falcom/Xseed, I will never let it diminish the love i have for these games, for I love them, warts and all.
An entire 18 minute video about CS4 without any CS4 spoilers...?! You da man TKN! I analyze my experience with games very similarly to you. And Ao is also my favorite game of the series so far, so your thoughts on CS4 is getting me really pumped! Especially your description of the interconnectivity of all the different nations and how it capitalizes on everything that has been established in the games so far. Can't wait to see how not just the Erebonia saga, but the entire series so far, is wrapped up~ Thanks for doing this TKN and congrats on being caught up on the entire series haha.
Think ToCS3 had one of the most bastard cliffhanger ending in anything I've ever played or watched. I spent that last hour nervously sweating. My main concern is the huge cast in ToCS4, accidently spoiled a bit of that for myself, but found juggling in ToCS3 a task and a half
@@Ghalion666 thats probably what I'm gunna play alongside ToCS4, not actually played that and this channel has kinda made me want to. On a glance it looks too ild to be interesting but so did ToCS 1 when i tried that and got a back handed slap to the heart for my snob attitude
You really get Rean and why hes great as a character his guilt complex that makes him feel like a burden to everyone and he drive to pursue paths of discipline like learning the sword or going to a military academy so he can get control over his inner demon is something I really love and relate to. He doesn't help people it's some job he was raised to do or because their is some great cause for independence he has to uphold. He does every sidequest and main quest he's involved in because he feels like he owes something to everyone seeing himself as that burden. Joining Class 7, helping the student council, everything goes back to that feeling like a burden and an unstable bottle that might explode with a beast like instinct not fit for civilized society. I almost want to cry when I think about what fishing must mean for him to slow down in the middle of all this trying to pretend everything is alright by taking a break to cast a line instead of running errands constantly.
I want to say 3 things. 1) All I need to know at this point is it's a Falcom game and that will instantly make me more excited for it than anything else, still watched the video though. Also how could you not be excited after that cliffhanger 2) Honestly just thinking about coming to the end of this journey that I spent hundreds of hours on with all these characters that I've become so attached to that they feel like close friends at this point alone almost brings me to tears, so I KNOW I'll cry when I play the game...Probably multiple times lmao. 3) I really greatly look forward to seeing how Rean develops and how his arc ends. I may be in a minority, but as the Erebonian arc has gone on Rean has become my fave protagonist. He is a very well written, complex and realistic character to me. Between his major self-esteem issues, lack of confidence, abandonment issues and generally just feeling lost in life and how he states he doesn't want to be a leader in the first 2 games despite constantly getting thrust into that role to how he gradually comes to terms with his role as a leader and becomes an instructor in Cold Steel III all the while learning how to cope with the aftermath of Cold Steel II which basically gave him PTSD and a major guilt complex. All that made the ending of CS III hit so much harder because this guy was just finally getting over a lot of stuff and then all THAT happens. I can only imagine how emotionally and mentally broken he is in CS IV dealing with those repercussions.
i literally just finished CS3 just now and oh my goodness the ending I tell ya! and yes I do agree with you about Rean's development I really hate his 'optimistic' traits so much on CS1 & CS2 but after I had started CS3 he became way better. really cant wait for whats in store for CS4
I am beyond excited for this game and also for Hajimari no Kiseki after this XD I am one of the people who played all Kiseki games and I am not surprised that you have Ao no Kiseki as your favorite. I loved both Zero and Ao no Kiseki (personally liked them more than Sky and I consider them on par with the CS games). Highly recommend people checking them out once they finally find their way to the west officially.
I had to laugh a bit when you mentioned that Cold Steel IV starts and feels like copy paste from a previous game. Due to lock down I currently play the complete Trails series in one go (almost done with Cold Steel 3 now) and while I really love all the games a LOT of things repeats itself, be is the overall structure, quests, side quests, locations... there have been several side quests between Cold Steel 1 and 3 that were 1:1 copies of each other. So I am not surprised that the same will happen again in IV. Looking forward to it already.
Saw the video when first released, and now appearing again in suggested, i decided to rewatch since i've played the CS4, made a friend of mine a fan of the series (only cold steel games), then he made fan of two more people again only cold steel, and then a third played the entire series and now is up to Cold Steel 4 in two months, and all the feelings you describe is exaclty what everybody has felt, whenever i watched the finale tears will come up, more with the timing of the music which helped, but happiness from just the fragment part, or the intermission, and as you said some quest like the third city from act 1, it put a smile on my face to continue some of the stories i left in all those games. These have become my favorite RPG series overall, and hoping willl gain the backing of all the new fans and more that it desearves
I'm glad that loads more have come in to the Series! No other group of games can evoke emotion like these ones can, there's a reason why I dedicate so much of the channels content to them!
This game is phenomenal. Currently playing NG+. Everything from the OST to the ending was amazing. One of my favourite segments from the game has to be fragment. That part was epic. I can't give details because of spoilers, but you will know what I mean when you play it. And then there was the ending. OMG, talk about a feels train. I could review this game for hours and still have great things to say about it. I urge anyone who plays this to know the stories of Sky and Crossbell. It makes the experience a million times better. This game easily makes my all-time top 3 alongside Final Fantasy IX and Persona 5.
Do I need to play all the Crossbell and Sky arc in order to understand the story in CS4? I have played CS3, I found that it more like 'oh I know this character' and thats it because I only play Sky FC halfway through the story. Does CS4 also like that or will I miss some huge plot in the game? I would like to play Crossbell arc since I'm quite intrigued by the cast members as introduce in CS3 and CS2 but I found that you need to play Sky first to understand Ao and Zero. I don't know why but I didn't actually like Sky and playing the game kinda feel like hassle. I'm inclined to just read the story summary and started playing Zero.
@@haiqalamir2806 Well. CSIV is pretty much the endgame of the 3 arc. And Hajimari(the next game) will be the epiloge. Without playing the other games the emotional/hype level will be much lower. Like a single handshake can be so freaking awesome if you know the characters. At least watch some summary on youtube about Sky, then play Crossbell. There is a youtuber named LadyVirgilia, her summaries are pretty good.
Honestly, going in to CSIV without playing Crossbell is a detriment to your experience. You can enjoy CS4 with just the CS games, but I really think you need the full picture to truly appreciate it. As said above, it concludes not only Cold Steel, but also Sky and Crossbell (to a point), and a lot of what you see, hear or partake in might not have the same impact on you as it would do for someone who has experienced the previous games.
@@Ratorss I will try to finish Sky but the moment CS4 came out, I will jump right into it. As for the youtuber, I will check her later if I still couldn't manage to finish Sky
I only started playing Trails this year. Picked up TitS:FC and it snowballed from there. I’m heavily invested in the lore of this series. Just completed ToCS3 and now i’m hyped for End of Saga. btw Mueller Vander is bae
Many of us have similar stories of trying to find a game to fill the time, and then stumbling on Trails. Next thing we know, we're hooked for the foreseeable future.
I’ve only played CS I&II. I’m playing through 3 at the moment. After 3, I’m going to jump onto the older games. I hope I’ll make it in time for CS 4. I hear it’s coming in October? Yeah, I’m playing the series waaaay outta order, but at this point was so invested in Rean, I needed to know what happened next and jumped into II. I haven’t felt this invested in a character since the Yakuza series and me jumping in at Yakuza 0. Makes me wish I jumped in on the series sooner.
I just hope you really play the older games BEFORE Cold Steel 4. By playing Cold Steel 3 without playing the older games robbed you of its maximum experience already.
I'm looking forward to CS4's release. I'm also interested in forming my own opinion on the game after hearing various things about it from both sides of the argument. I'm curious as to how the Phantasmal Blaze arc (as I like to call the Crossbell and Erebonia arcs together) concludes and how it all will lead into Hajimari like how Sky SC lead into The 3rd. I'm also wondering what the casts of Liberl and Crossbell will do in this last chapter of Erebonia, and there are several other things I'm looking forward to. I'm going into CS4 the same way I went into Zero: not expecting anything in particular and just being there for the ride. Whether I'll find myself enjoying it or not I'll see while experiencing it, but I'm pretty optimistic in that regard. ...Now I'll just have to wait until it releases on PC. Heck.
I'm super hyped for cold steep 4, a while back i was thinking about getting the JP copy and playing it but i can wait till it comes out in the fall. Already preorderd my limited edition copy. Great video as usual!
Cold Steel 4 is easily my most anticipated game of this year (and that's saying a lot, as I bloody love Xenoblade Chronicles!). By the sounds of it, I am going to absolutely love this game as I am one of those fans who is really invested into the world that Falcom has built with the Trails series.
“No one does it like Nihon Falcom” couldn’t have said it any better myself man. I loved the story of this game, and that finale...holy hell, that’s the closest I’ve ever come to sobbing at any game. Just fantastic, it made me realize just how much I love these characters.
ngl, CS4 makes me emotional as hell, and the ending...oh, boy, the ending....I think I cried like a baby, and I can watch it now and still shed bunch of tears. So beautiful...so good.
Great video, can't wait to finally get my hands on this game when it finally releases in the west! Now that you've finished the Cold Steel series, you should consider doing a ranking of the characters like you did for Trails in the Sky. I'd also be interested in hearing the rest of your ranking of the Trails games in general, so maybe do that video at some point if you're up for it?
I've been getting a lot of people asking for another character ranking series, and it is in the pipeline. I've just got loads to go over, but I'd much rather have too many ideas that a dry well. :)
I just finished Cold Steel 4 and I absolutely loved it! These games have been excellent so far, and while it is not perfect it's still been a great ride.
Only one more year dodging spoilers before I can finally get to the end of the cold steel arc. I really enjoyed CS3, but dammit, the story line barely progressed at all, it just piled up more pressure on existing unresolved conflicts, and then it just ended (-_-).
It's just Ouroboros' weird septerrion summoning experiences again, from which we can see its powers. While the overall structure is a bit similar to a mix between CS and SC, the differences are glaring, the new class VII make for an interesting character dynamic, the somewhat even more tumultuous political climate of Erebonia in that period. However it feels more of the setup to what's coming next.
@@AAhmou yeah dodging the spoilers are hard to avoid, you might have to download a keyword filter from the google chrome store. That's what I do to avoid unwanted youtube videos. I didn't like CS3's plot very much either it was pretty much the exact same as CS2. Find all of your missing friends and by the time you find all of your missing friends the game is already halfway done 😢. At least CS2 had a fantastic ending, can't say much for CS3
@@trilfy Well Falcom uses one game to give you a conclusion that makes you eager for the next, then gives you the payoff in the sequel. It works for them from a business POV and also from a fan's POV. The only thing I'd say going forwards is I wish Falcom would spend less games getting there (I'm alright with them doing it in 1-2 but its their series after all).
I can totally understand why you would buy the Japanese Version while you didn't know the western version was coming. I don't own a ps4, so I had to wait for the pc version to play cs3. But thanks to that the Announcement for cs4 was already out there once I was finished with part 3. For a short time I actually considered to buy a ps4 just so I could play cs4 in fall xD. But unfortunately, my common sense prevailed. I just hope I won't get spoilered once the ps4 version is on sale. But still, I am SO hyped for this. My friends are almost sick of me always talking about the series, now they just listen and nod and wait for me to finish fangirling xD. One of the things I love most about Trails of Cold Steel is how each new entry makes you reevaluate the previous game. I started playing cs because my older sister had it in her JRPG stash and I liked how Rean and Class 7 looked on the cover. So when I played it, I was mainly focused on the characters. I mean, I followed the story, but I didn't really get the importance of all the conflict I saw during the field studies. Then when I played it again after finishing cs2, I really paid attention to what's happening openly and behind the scenes, and suddenly I could see the connections between everything. The same happend with cs2. The first time I played it, I felt Reans powers were awesome and thought it was so cool that he could finally use them willingly. Then comes cs3 and I started to think that it wasn't so great after all... I haven't played cs2 again yet, but I know for a fact that it will definetly feel worse to see Rean develop his powers because they were necessary and see him fulfilling his role during the civil war. Another thing I'm curious about is if I will be able to see the manipulations of the Chancellor once I play through everything again. And these were just the biggest examples I could think of. I'm already looking forward to how cs4 will change my perception of the other entries. I played Trails in the Sky 1 and 2, but they just didn't hook me quite as much. So I haven't really thought much about them. I also didn't get to play the Crossbell arc, but I would definetly play it if it got localised. Because of that I can't say much about these, but I imagine they have the same potential for reevaluating everything you know. And I just want to say: I want Rean to be happy. Please let him be happy, Falcom.
Let me first say I love trails the series and it's my favorite Jrpg My biggest critiques are how crow basically went from being batman a dark knight doing what needed to be done to becoming Robin which in my opinion killed his character also another thing is basically how friendship is basically the deciding factor in a battle which is utterly ridiculous my biggest gripe is how can new class 7 realistically stand up to legendary warriors when it took rean 4 years to be on the same level and it's kind of makes the original class 7 look incompetent in a way now I think there were some things that could have been explained better but it absolutely makes no sense that some of the new class 7 can fight on par with characters who utterly destroyed rean that makes no sense but Its hard for me to sympathize with them given how easy it has been now I do think certain characters have more aptitude or are more special in terms of combat than others but the scaling really bothers me
I already beat Trials in the Sky and SC. Getting into the Cold Steel arc just seems too similar and certainly more daunting as a whole to invest my time to play 4 separate games.
Can't wait for Zero and Ao no Kiseki releases in the West on PS4. Ao no Kiseki is not only my fav Kiseki game, it's in my top 10 jrpgs of all time. Nice seeing some Ys 8 love can't wait for Ys 9!
As much as I am looking forward to TOCS4 (which is easily my most anticipated game in a very, very long time) I do hope we hear some news on the Crossbell duology and Ys IX coming to the west soon. Ys VIII was indeed an absolutely fantastic game.
@@ashleyward3277 In a recent interview Kondo, the president of Falcom, said they ported Zero and Ao to the PS4 this year before the Sky trilogy because of the demand for the Crossbell games in the west. That suggests they are working on localizing it. That said, we probably won't hear much about it till next year and it almost certainly will be on PS4 ahead of a PC release.
@@brynphillips9957 whoaaa, for real?! I swear I'll scrape every mira I have to buy those two as soon as it's available on steam!! 😭 I almost finished SNK FC, and I'm planning to play all games in order, but the fact that Zero and Ao is not currently available in English actually bothers me... So it's a real good news then, and I'll be saving money like crazy if the news is actually truee ❤️❤️
@@brynphillips9957 I mean.. of course the availability on steam will have to wait much longer even if it's true, but at least that glimpse of hope will motivate me to save money 😂❤️
Mate, your video has made my weekend! After CS3 I sort of spoiled a few things for myself by watching CS4 S Craft compilations. As soon as you made your video about CS4 being announced I preordered immediately 😅 Touching on a couple of points in this video, my main four has been Rean, Emma, Jusis and Laura - with Fie always included and in place of Emma if I don't need a mage. Chapter 5 in Cold Steel with the attack on Garrelia Fortress was what sealed the deal for who I considered my favourites 🙂 As for the Trails games bringing oit emotions, I too have the British stiff upper lip and before I played any Trails games, the only game to make me cry was Final Fantasy IX (and I was 10 at the time...). Every Trails game I've played has made me cry, some more than once 😅 currently making my way through Sky SC after finishing FC last weekend. So much to catch up on before CS4! (Also I'd ask to be your friend on PSN, but I'd talk your ear off about the lore haha!) Hope you're well mate :)
Glad to hear you're enjoying the journey mate! These games really hit you in the feels. :) I appreciate the PSN invite as well, but I don't play on it enough to warrant adding anyone, and I kind of keep to myself anyway. Nothing against you, I'm sure you're an awesome bloke, but it's just me. :)
I love the Kiseki Series so much and i’m so excited for the release of CS4, my favorite Kiseki Game is Ao No Kiseki due to it having a bunch of great moments, twists, and also wrapping up character arcs and the Crossbell Arc with a fine bow, with this in mind i’m excited to finally be able to play as Lloyd, Elie, Estelle, and Joshua again
Totally agree that this game has the best standard battle theme in the series. I might even take it further and say out of any JRPG that I have personally played. It also has my favourite OP. Can't sing the praises of the OST enough honestly.
For you and this video i bought the japanese version, a finished a few days algo and a i hace the sale opinion as you, it was a nice adventure from start to finish and that ending was just perfect, its also my second favorite kiseki Game behind cold steel 2, i'm ready for hajimari at the end of this month, i follow your advice i bought the platinum edition with the bonus of juna, musse, emma and alisa picture
I'm super pumped for this game now, I've actually kind of avoided thinking about it being localized and coming out just so the wait seems shorter, but this is pretty good. I love the huge cast and seeing those who return make their entrances is something I've really come to look forward to as I play new games. Also, this was really well edited!
I just had to give in to my desires Blue, it was sat there and i couldn't just leave it be since I had all the components to give it a whirl. I'm really glad I did, now I can enjoy it for a second time come this Fall!
Really love the content, keep it up. I’m such a huge fan at this point I don’t think anything can make me hate this game. Crossbell arc is definitely the best, simply because of how different the setting was. Lloyd is personally my favorite MC simply because of his competence from the get go.
Thank you for watching, and glad that you're enjoying the series as much as I am! So many amazing characters and stories in this series, and we've still got so much more to see!
Great overview, i've never had so much hype for a game, i've even bought the limited edition, thing that usually i don't do. in the meantime i'm replaying the Crossbell ark so i can trick the wait a little.
Just finished CS3 first play through, about to start my 2nd play through platinum trophy run. Wow, that ending. You can tell the creators put a lot of love into creating the world of Zemuria. CS4 is sitting on my shelf ready to go, I’ll probably get to it come mid-February. The best part about CS3...Principal Le Guin. She is unreal.
As somebody who's played the Japanese version I can say with confidence hes right on all points. I pretty much felt the exact same while playing the game
I cant wait for this game to come out! I must see the conclusion to this wretched fairy tale being written in ink as black as despair as soon as possible. But I must see in English first so I'll wait.
I'm the same, after beating CS3, I was thinking "Nah Ima Wait" "Nah Ima Wait", then I caved in, bought a JP CS4 from eBay. Then, 2 weeks later on April 1st, we got the HUGE CS4 Announcement and Reveal. I'd since Ordered the Limited CE Edition, & Can't Fuckin Wait. But, I'm glad I didn't play the JP CS4...(mainly because I was unsure of how to get the spreadsheet overlay to work😂😂😂). But, yeah out of the fanbase, I'd seen ppl either Love It or Hate It, I don't know why. But there is 1 thing that I had a VERY Keen sense of: CS1 = CS3 & CS2 = CS4 in Linearity/Open-Worldedness. Basically, CS1 & CS3 are more Linear, meanwhile CS2 & CS2 have an Open-World Traveling Aspect. Another thing about CS2 & CS4, they have optional Mega-Bosses, that adds to that open-world identity. Me? I liked CS2 more then CS1, I Liked CS3 Alot more then CS1 comparatively, so if I already loved the Hell out of CS2, & CS3 was better then CS1, I think I'll LOVE TF out of CS4. Thanks for this Vid @The Kiseki Nut, the CS4 HYPE is REAL💯
@@TheKisekiNut Yeah Bro, it's Crazy. I DID NOT expect that announcement, but none of us did, straight up, it was so OUT OF THE BLUE, that many thought it was an April Fool's joke😂🤣😂. But here we are, both of us got the JP Version & we'll get the Western CE. & Yeah man, I'm Hella Hype for It, well like all of us🤝💯
The Trail Series... Unfortunately I start with Cold Steel because I don't have that motivation to play the old games with that kind of graphic. But when I finished Cold Steel 3, I feel empty. Now I need to wait for next year for Cold Steel 4 to be release on PC. Since I have all of these free times, I finally decided to play the previous Trail Series, and oh boi.... Done with Trail in the Sky, and now I'm currently on Trails to Zero. Probably gonna feels empty again after I finish the next one lol
Loved this video! I was originally gonna wait for CS IV release on 2021 for PC (since i've played them all on PC so far)...but last weekend I finished the 3rd game, and dear god... As of now, I've already pre-ordered the limited edition for PS4 cause there's no way I will be able to keep myself sane till 2021.
5:38 Hey, I'm actually really curious to know about that. To what game does it feel very similar? I'm guessing CS2? Although given the situation something tells me it might be sky sc. Either way I'm really curious to know and don't mind minor spoilers
Man it was rough this weekend because even though the consensus seems to be quite good on this game, this one negative review hurt to read. Not because i think it will be my experience, but because any time i see a trails fan distressed over the series i'm sad :( (I'm referring to rpgsite i believe is the name).
It's personal opinion. Everyone has their own thoughts on the game and I respect whatever view that is. The only judge who knows whether you personally will like the game is yourself.
@@TheKisekiNut Yeah, I'm trying to stay rational like that as well. I guess i'm just seriously invested in seeing 4 to its conclusion, so it gave me a bit of a mini heart attack haha.
@@TheKisekiNut I’m very excited! I just got so hyped from CS2, that when CS3 came out I was a little sad at how much ambition they held back. I understand why they needed to do it, but not being able to explore the world as openly, all the way down to things like only having one S-Craft again, I don’t know, it just made me feel a bit worried about CS4
I caved and watched this video and I loved it! You're low points actually gets me more excited to play CS4 later this year lol The story and character parts also get me hyped! Now I wish I had this game in my hands RIGHT NOW! Damn, maybe it wasn't a good idea to watch this video after all cause it just made me more hyped! Rean is my favorite MC of the group so far so I can't wait to see where he'll end up after hitting rock bottom and see if he'll finally get to smile from the heart and stay that way. I can't wait to all the other supporting characters too, even the Crossbell ones even though i haven't played their games but from what little I know of them make same want to see them even more! It took you around 100 hours soo that means it'll take me 200 hours to beat this game, especially since it has a lot of focus on side content and NPC talk like I'm sure it does. Damn, I'm super excited to play this game! ^_^
I think you're gonna love it my man, especially if you enjoy these games for the same reason as I do! Bear in mind, those 100 hours were basically with no minigames, NPC interaction or the like. Just the sidequests etc., so my second playthrough might be a heck of a lot longer!
@@TheKisekiNut No NPC interaction and no minigames?! Well, in that case that's even better! It's gonna be something for you to really forward to in your 2nd run. Man, the wait is killing me lol
This was a really great video, good work! CSIV is my 3rd favorite (1st: CSIII 2nd: AO) game in the series, and while I understand its flaws I was sad how much hate this game gets with almost no reason. I can't wait to experience it again.
See i got worried this week because of a REALLY negative review from rpgsite i believe? I know i'll love it regardless because i'm a positive fool like that but still >.
I have literally the same gripes about CS4 and at first I was a bit underwhelmed, but after a while it grew on me after I replayed the others. This game really does well with all that was set up, really excited to play it in English
I was already super hyped for CS4 after finishing CS3 last week, but now I'm still even more hyped! Zero and Ao (imo) are the masterpieces of the Trails series as well, with Ao being my fav JRPG of all time. Just love them to bits. And the fact CS4 is your second favorite in the series has me so excited! Loved the video, you kind of addressed all the things I was concerned about. With all that in mind, though... Do you recommend just waiting to play the localization? Or is it good (and easily playable with minimal effort :p) to buy a JP copy and do what you did?
So ready for that English release man! The overlay works very well, but I will say understanding the crafts and orbments is a struggle with no Japanese knowledge (I have basic knowledge, so that helped). I used a chart with the crafts to understand their effects etc. The most important thing though is a good internet connection. Since you're streaming from the PS4 to your computer, you need a solid connection to run it, or it'll just continually stutter and be unplayable. If you can't wait, and you have the means to do so, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't give it a go. :)
Random fact: I threw a pillow at my TV at the cliffhanger of Cold Steel 3. And trust me it was only a pillow because it was the closest thing to me other than my controller, thankfully I chose the pillow to throw, not the controller. Or else, my TV and my controller would be broken and I //would// send Falcom an invoice for the new ones.
Bro I just found out your channel. Thank you, thank you for this. As a big fan of the Kiseki series that only does have like 2 friends playing it and the others just ignore me, it really gives me joy watching this video as it feels like I'm talking to someone who has the same passion as me. Thank you TKN! From the Philippines!
Thank you for your support buddy! It's nice to see people from half way round the world enjoy the content. We as Falcom fans can even overcome international barriers.
As someopne who has only played up to Cold Steel 2, I feel for Rean. The poor boy feels like he is a burde to everyone. He thinks he doesn't deserve to have good things happen to him. He just really hates himself and is hella depressed. That boy is on so many layers of depression. My main wish for the rest of the series is to lessen Reans suffering. But I also know that the second half of Cold Steel is the start of Alisas suffering arc. It's almost as if suffering suddenly counts as plot. I hope Class 7 appears often enough in CS 3. I really like them. OG Class 7, not the new one. I am excited to play the second half of Cold Steel after I replay Crossbell. Zero has very very long cutscenes. Very, very long. But so does Cold Steel.
A lot of people said I'd love CS 1+2+3. Having loved Sky and literally playing CS less than a week after Zero+Ao, I'd say only 3 is "okay". The other two are just bad. I'm excited for 4 because it means it'll be the end of Erebonia proper, even though Rean will unfortunately show up in Hajimare, it'll probably be his last leading role, which can't come quick enough.
@@Caboozles Can agree that CS was a disappointment. Making a big cast and having 1 character having most of the focus was a terrible idea while also tacking on wannabe persona social links to make the rest of the cast even more of a group of tag alongs was terrible. Crossbell hit perfection with a 4 man party working on all missions together.
Well I officially messed up. I was in Florida last Christmas and I bought trails of cold steel 3 for the PS4 I live in the uk 🇬🇧......well recently bought trails of cold steel 4 and last night I completed number 3 and loaded number 4 and because they were different regions my save file from 3 couldn’t transfer to 4 I just want to know if that’s gunna ruin it for me with the narrative is it essential to have that file for the story to make sense around the relationships I’ve built with Alisa in 3
The moment I heard Blue Destination and Season of Departure, I cried because it gave me a flashback. This why The legend of heroes series is one of my most favorite games.
Can i be a pedant ? A masterpiece doesn't have to be perfect or be practically flawless. A masterpiece is something that has passed a crafting guild's exam/test for a member to be allowed to run their own studio. It is more like a thesis defense for a phd student. I think that calling something, many things, a masterpiece is a very useful thing to be able to do - which is impossible when requiring that a masterpiece be effectively flawless.
Pretty much. I've always maintained that everything has flaws, no matter what it is. It's no different in video games. A masterpiece for me will be a game which has flaws, but where those drawbacks don't detract from my experience. And that's why i consider the two Crossbell games to be masterpieces.
How did you feel about the other trails of cold steels? ATM i have 40h in CS3 and 10h and CS1 😅 Ok maybe I was a bit fast seems like that's the point what this video is about ❤️
CS4 was one of my biggest disappointments of all time unfortunately. Now playing through Hajimari hoping they fix some of the problems this series has developed.
cold steel IV is my anticipated game of 2020 ive heard its more like II and II is by far my favorite game in the series of the ones ive played which is all the localized games besides cold steel III and why havent i played III well because ive heard its like cold steel and cold steel is by far my least liked of the ones ive played and theres no playable crow at all in III so i ended up saying screw III and just watched all its story scenes on youtube lol
As excited as I am for Cold Steel 4, I am still frustrated by how arbitrary death is in the series. Some characters STAY dead while others benefit from the revolving door of afterlife. I can accept one telenovela resurrection for narrative purposes but when it happens again and again, I have to wonder if anything the protagonists do have any real bearing. I am so sick of fighting Duvalie and then turns out I cant kill her because "she wasn't using her full power" or some other such nonsense. And because of her waifu-plot armor she will probably be a recurring nuisance for future installments in the franchise.
I do have to agree here, it's one of the real weaknesses of the Trails series as a whole. The Sky arc had it just right, but now there's a bit too much of the Deus Ex Machina treatment. I'm hoping Falcom change that up a little bit for the future. They don't have to kill every character off, but one or two deaths that are 'really' impactful is all we need.
I am really excited for this game after playing the other 3 Cold Steel games especially after that emotional ride that was Cold Steel III. I have it preordered so I can start it on day 1. Currently playing through Zero no Kiseki (Trails from Zero) thanks to the ease of being able to purchase the JP version of it on PC + the wonderful Geofront translation (many thanks to them for that fan translation). I worry though that I will miss out on Ao no Kiseki though once I finish Zero since that one is very difficult to buy legally on PC since the JP version was never backported to PC, only Chinese which seem to have a ton of hoops to jump through to purchase. Also I do not want to take the “torrent” route because I prefer to buy my games legally, especially for this wonderful series. Also the PSP/PSVita route is out of the question because I don’t have a spare of either of those to sacrifice and hack to be able to play those with a fan translation applied. Hopefully Ao will get an official localization someday since it was released in JP on PS4 and Zero as well for those that don’t have a PC. Anywho, enough rambling by me, I will be playing Cold Steel IV when it comes out in NA whether or not I can play Ao before then.
Glad that you're enjoying the series as much as me! :) Fair play as well in regards to not torrenting the game, it is definitely a grey area to do so. However, with no other options available, I actually did download an ISO and played via a PSP emulator, and I'm glad I did to be honest because Ao is a masterpiece. However, I have bought both games to support the developer, and have also bought the Kai versions. I think it's not a pertinent issue as long as you're still supporting Falcom in another way.
The Kiseki Nut Well... It seems the Geofront team is working on a fan translation for Ao:). Furthermore from one of their posts, it seems they are researching the easiest way to get the game legally for when it’s ready (they called that “the elephant in the room”), it will probably be a while, but will be worth it judging from their translation of Zero, which was awesome.
This comment will have no spoilers of Cold Steel 4. Just finished CS4, and I have to say... Hi, I'm in the middle ground about CS4, at least in comparison with the rest of the Kiseki saga. Lets start by saying I did love the game. I've played every Kiseki game except for Hajimari, and I've absolutely loved every single one of them. If anything, my way to criticize these games usually is by comparison to some of the other Kiseki games I enjoyed the most. That said, in the end, Cold Steel 4 ranked as my 2nd favorite Cold Steel game (behind Cold Steel 3), and the Cold Steel saga as a whole ranks as my least favorite Kiseki saga. But again, more than a critic to Cold Steel, this is praise for Crossbell and Sky. Cold Steel 4 indeed does some great things, and if you're like me and have gone through the previous 8 games, then lets not deceive ourselves, you love the saga. You don't invest all those hours not to like it. And as TKN says, the game makes sure to reward you from playing all those games. There are not many RPGs with a cast of characters as big as this one. I won't give names or details, but I will say that for the grand finale, you'll have 39 characters to choose from (39!!). That's only comparable to pretty much Suikoden and Chrono Cross. A fair amount (Class VII) of these characters were obvious to be included, then there's a lot you're probably correctly expecting, but there's also some characters at the end I didn't expect to be playable, and it was a joy being able to use them. Not everyone is here, since the Kiseki franchise has a ridiculous amount of characters through all of its games, but there's a lot of them, and it feels great using them. It's not 39, but through most of the game you'll still have access to around 20 characters. For good and bad, these are 20 characters to build and this can actually be a struggle, but it's also incredibly fun. I never grinded so much as in this game to equip everyone, but I had a ton of fun coming up with quartz combinations and such for everyone, making different builds. I think I still miss the orbment lines from Crossbell and Sky, but this is fun too. There's references all over the place to previous games. And no, I don't mean getting to see the bracers from Sky or the SSS from Crossbell (which is still great by the way), but I mean in the small dialogues. Small talk between characters, things the NPC say, etc. Because of all of this, please, please leave this game for last. Because the game can and will spoil you every single other game... a lot, many times, over and over again. This happened a lot already in Cold Steel 3, but it's even more prominent here. All of that said, after 4 games being the main protagonist, I still think Rean doesn't hold a candle to Lloyd or Estelle. I agree that he is not a badly written character, and he obviously has a lot of development, but I don't think there's anything really special to him. He still feels like my run of the mill protagonist. This game also sometimes suffers a bit too much from the power of friendship, working miracles and everything just working out a bit too much. This is very noticeable in the true ending of the story. It would've been less of a happy ending, but in some ways, I would've actually prefer the normal ending over the true ending (well, with a bit more development, since this ending is fairly short because the game really ends when you get the true one). Also, I do think the big cast of Class VII is a problem for the narrative at times. As a matter of fact, New Class VII was the direct improvement on this. In terms of mechanic, the big cast is great since not only you get a lot of characters but they all play differently and they all work well, which is something amazing for me. In terms of narrative, this does give a sensation that some of them are almost unnecessary. Like them or not, New Class VII had 5 students and through both games they were all very developed and constantly interacted between them, something that definitely didn't happen with the original Class VII. This gets me to another point with the old Class VII. Precisely because Rean begins as a character without real goals and such, I feel his role as "leader of Class VII" was pretty much forced into him by the script just because he is the protagonist. I don't feel he evolved into that role. This is different at least in Cold Steel 3 because Rean at that point is a more developed character and the teacher in Class VII, but for the first 2 games, it felt unnatural, contrary to Lloyd who led the SSS because he was actually a qualified detective or Estelle who naturally became the center of the group. But I don't want to end this as a critic. Cold Steel 4 is still a very fun game and a great reward for us fans of the whole franchise. The ending credits after the true ending are pure joy. I adore them, and I'm talking about mostly a sequence of images of a certain events that's an awesome wrap-up for all the Kiseki games up to this point. As a whole, I think Cold Steel 3 and 4 (which could really be considered as one big game) are a definitive improvement from Cold Steel 1 and 2, and that in itself is something that makes me incredibly happy, and very much really looking forward to Hajimari no Kiseki. It's incredible how we are now 9 games into the very same story (going for 10 with Hajimari), something truly unprecedented in the gaming world I think (and by all means PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong). I consider myself extremely lucky for stumbling into The Legend of Heroes and for being here for the whole ride. At this point I feel as if I'm part of Zemuria. We know the main characters, we know the secondary characters and we even know the NPCs and what they've gone through. And I don't mean just guys like Anton, but even, for example the Bond family in Crossbell (and many others).
I kinda disagree about Rean feeling forced as the leader in the first game. While he's definitely not an amazing leader at the start of the game, I think he is without question the most qualified to lead the group out of the original members of Class VII. He has a far more balanced world view than any of his peers thanks to his background as a minor noble. Thus he knows about the culture of the nobility, but isn't so deeply entrenched in that culture that he can't still relate to the commoner students. The other members of the class are also lacking in certain key qualities that the leader for a group like Class VII absolutely must have. Just going down the list, Elliot is a perfectly nice guy, but lacks any kind of commanding presence when he isn't dealing with something music related, so he wouldn't be able to deal with the constant infighting that the group was faced with early on. Alisa has more of a backbone than Elliot, but her temper would make her a poor leader for the group in the early months. Rather than stopping the fighting, she'd probably just get swept up in it as soon as someone irritated her too much. Early on, she doesn't really have the patience needed to deal with a group like this and the class likely would have fallen apart because of that. It also doesn't help that Alisa's past has made it so she feels out of place with both nobles and commoners. So she would likely struggle trying to relate to her peers. Laura has an extremely limited world view thanks to her background. All she really knows at first is swordplay and it takes her time to really broaden her horizons and outlook on the world, so it would be rather hard for her to relate to many of her classmates early on and bring them together in times of crisis. Gaius has a similar problem with being a total fish out of water at the start. He doesn't really understand Erebonian culture at first, so it's difficult to imagine him being able to lead a class of Erebonian students and stop the infighting between class members of different social ranks when he can't even really understand why they're fighting in the first place and the history behind the conflict. Machias starts out hating nobles, Jusis especially. There's no way he would last as a leader when he has a personal bias against some of his peers and while he and Jusis were constantly at each others throats. Their hatred for each other would shred the unity of the class to pieces. Jusis would be a poor choice for leader for exactly the same reason. His poor relationship with Machias would always get in the way. Fie doesn't care enough about the class at the start to serve as an effective leader and Emma's secretive nature regarding her true past would make her a difficult leader to follow, especially in those early days after the class was first formed. Rean may not be a perfect leader at the start, but he's by far the most understanding of everyone's different circumstances. He keeps a level head for the most part, allowing him to calmly intervene with and diffuse conflicts between classmates. When he does make a mistake that creates friction in the group, he tries to correct it almost immediately. Out of everyone in the original Class VII, I'd say Rean is definitely the closest to being leader material at the start and while he does stumble in his role from time to time he does grow more fully into that role by the end.
I'm excited ever since I beat CS3. I even dreamed of being with the heroes and getting ready to kick Osbro's ass. I assume you're also gonna play Hajimari when it's released? If yes, then I'm all eyes.
I would have to wait and see if a spreadsheet will come out for the game. It's all on the fandom whether they will choose to do so or not, since let's be fair, it's a massive time sink.
Coming back again to your channel after keeping up with Cold Steel (finished CS3 today!) and man what a blast and CS3's climax/ending/cliffhanger made me tear up. Watching this video now made me hype more to play CS4, it's out in the PS4 for a while now but choosing to wait for the PC version because of fancy settings, lol. So far, the Crossbell arc is still my favorite in general. The soundtrack in CS seems a lil bland... it doesn't really stir my emotions as how it was with Crossbell's xD But I'm excited to see what CS4 will bring, you mentioned about the stage already laid down etc etc so I'm expecting the scenes to be relentless and ruthless when it actually starts. I massively agree about the huge roster - I love when I saw them in CS3 for many reasons, being able to play them again but omg sepith/mira poverty. My only wish is, and I hope, that story-wise, the characters are not holy and super forgiving or the villains actually face consequences? There are characters who obviously did something abhorring but by the end they will either get redemption or forgiveness. After what happened in CS3, it would really appear bad writing to me. Peace out!
Don't get me wrong, I am quite excited about Cold Steel 4. But what I am not excited about is to see all these antagonists that are assholes somehow got away with a slap on the wrist just because they had sad background story or "muh conflicting loyalty"
Huh. I was utterly disappointed by Ao. I don't know if it was because of just how hyped up it was by a portion of the fandom, or the state of the current translation, but it left me almost completely cold. The revelations felt like they were included for shock value, rather than being foreshadowed cleverly. As a result, I'll probably really enjoy the fact that the vast majority of the machinations are over and done with, because they've not been rushed. Also, I found Rean a vastly more interesting main character than Lloyd who was just a boring generic chick attracting jrpg protagonist who can do whatever he wants to because golly-gee he just wants it enough. So I'm really, really looking forward to CS IV now.
CSIV spoilers below.. Lloyd truly is "Determination" personified as his Quartz combination, craft, and Equipment show. His quatz combo is one that makes him harder to kill the lower his health gets, while CP builds every turn, so he could up his strength, def, and Spd and +1BP. It's amazing.
I've got it early, so thanks Base.com for that. 😁 Ultimately though I'm exciting because the Erebonia arc is finally going to be in its way out and we may see some changes to an arc that seems to have markedly improved in CS3, but is still really flawed. Hajimari apparently kills off bonding events, so that's a good start! The cast is just colossal now though and apart from causing character development issues (not to mention the nicknames are getting worse and worse - McBurn being the standout candidate here), it's also rather starting to impact on the overall story. Given CS4 is effectively going to cover a West Zemuria war and end the arc, if no-one bites the dust on the good guys side then that's just absurd. Still narked about Crow! 😂
Wait, you didn't have turbo in CS4? I was pretty sure it was only the Japanese version of CS3 that didn't have turbo. In fact I've seen Japanese CS4 with turbo
We're almost there. Just a few more days and I've been trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible...but I did learn that some VAs have been changed and it is noticeable. I won't say who. However despite that and no matter how noticeable the change i KNOW I'll still enjoy the game overall. More than likely I'll be so focused on the story and characters that I may even overlook most of the VA change...even though some of my faves were changed.
Am currently waiting for my switch version of the game even though i got cold steel 3 on my pc and had about 104 hours put into it but i wanna try it out on switch and am sure its gonna look great but man april 9 can't come enough i heard so many people say its one of their favorites and the ending was amazing i still have to play the crossbell game and others but when i played 3, idk but i felt so in love with the other game characters so fast which am sure for 4 am probably just gonna take the most time i can out of and my goal to play for sure more than the hours i played for 3 :D thank you for this video!!!
![ผัวเถื่อน - ยูริ โตเกียวมิวสิค [ OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/P08ORRVDGl8/mqdefault.jpg)
Wow, what a journey! My Cold Steel 4 play-through was completed just over a week a go, and I wanted to get my thoughts out on it in a video for you guys.
This is not a review, and there will be NO CS4 SPOILERS, but I will be drawing on previous events (some of which will be specific but not too plot intensive) to back up points in the video.
I would also ask as well that even though I love your comments, and I invite discussion, please do not spoil anything for Cold Steel 4, as many people watching this video will likely have not played it. If you do feel the need to spoil anything from the game, please mark it in advance.
Hope you enjoy this one guys! :)
Later this year we'll have new Arc.. i really curious to see how long can Trails series goes.. i wonder if the next one is Calvard Arc are just a mini duo-logy like Crossbell arc
This is basically our Avengers: Endgame and no our game hasn't been done that way. Which is the main reason I'm excited for this game. Fall can't come quick enough.
I had much fun with CS 1-3 and i also feel i have this with CS4 after seen some things, Nihon Falcom made the games, that you really never feel dull, self when talk with many of the NPC characters is not important is nice to talk with all the peoples.
I bought the Japanese version recently from a seller and have just started playing it. I'm glad you only talked in broad strokes during this video but am happy to hear that you feel it was a worthwhile experience and a satisfying finale. I'll be playing through it steadily leading up to the end of the year when I hope to have finished it by.
I'm in two minds about getting Hajimari no Kiseki as although Falcom has tried a different structure with that game's story progression I think they should have put a full stop on ToCS with this one, put some of the characters on the bench and had fans wait until they revealed whatever the next proper Trails game will be titled. Chances are I'll cave though at some point and give that one a go as well.
Btw did you hear about the wind, god I love the wind
The Trails series is like having a spouse. You know there are flaws that you wish they just stop showing, but deep down, you love the hell out of him/her for who they are and wouldn't have it any other way for the rest of your life.
@@Fabio-ql5yf Sometimes they talk a little weird, and don't always think things through. And are a little clumsy in moments but you love them all the same.
@@Fabio-ql5yf Your spouse will have quirks and foibles. Talks to loud, clumsy, etc. Trails as a series has quirks and foibles, espeicaly cs4, weird writing, not completely thought out things, but they are not problems, just the little things in a relationship that make them real.
@@Fabio-ql5yf As someone who can see the flaws in and still love something like Final Fantasy 13, No Trails game i have played (CS 1-4 and Sky 1, working on sky 2) have even remotely come close to that level of flawed. Honestly, i love the big dumb stupid, my friends are my power moment at the end of Lightening Returns, and its really stupid. And with all the drama around Trails and NIS/Falcom/Xseed, I will never let it diminish the love i have for these games, for I love them, warts and all.
An entire 18 minute video about CS4 without any CS4 spoilers...?! You da man TKN!
I analyze my experience with games very similarly to you. And Ao is also my favorite game of the series so far, so your thoughts on CS4 is getting me really pumped!
Especially your description of the interconnectivity of all the different nations and how it capitalizes on everything that has been established in the games so far. Can't wait to see how not just the Erebonia saga, but the entire series so far, is wrapped up~
Thanks for doing this TKN and congrats on being caught up on the entire series haha.
Thanks for watching, Lady! I really think you'll enjoy it when it comes out, get hype!
Think ToCS3 had one of the most bastard cliffhanger ending in anything I've ever played or watched. I spent that last hour nervously sweating. My main concern is the huge cast in ToCS4, accidently spoiled a bit of that for myself, but found juggling in ToCS3 a task and a half
@@Ghalion666 thats probably what I'm gunna play alongside ToCS4, not actually played that and this channel has kinda made me want to. On a glance it looks too ild to be interesting but so did ToCS 1 when i tried that and got a back handed slap to the heart for my snob attitude
You really get Rean and why hes great as a character his guilt complex that makes him feel like a burden to everyone and he drive to pursue paths of discipline like learning the sword or going to a military academy so he can get control over his inner demon is something I really love and relate to. He doesn't help people it's some job he was raised to do or because their is some great cause for independence he has to uphold. He does every sidequest and main quest he's involved in because he feels like he owes something to everyone seeing himself as that burden. Joining Class 7, helping the student council, everything goes back to that feeling like a burden and an unstable bottle that might explode with a beast like instinct not fit for civilized society. I almost want to cry when I think about what fishing must mean for him to slow down in the middle of all this trying to pretend everything is alright by taking a break to cast a line instead of running errands constantly.
I want to say 3 things.
1) All I need to know at this point is it's a Falcom game and that will instantly make me more excited for it than anything else, still watched the video though. Also how could you not be excited after that cliffhanger
2) Honestly just thinking about coming to the end of this journey that I spent hundreds of hours on with all these characters that I've become so attached to that they feel like close friends at this point alone almost brings me to tears, so I KNOW I'll cry when I play the game...Probably multiple times lmao.
3) I really greatly look forward to seeing how Rean develops and how his arc ends. I may be in a minority, but as the Erebonian arc has gone on Rean has become my fave protagonist. He is a very well written, complex and realistic character to me. Between his major self-esteem issues, lack of confidence, abandonment issues and generally just feeling lost in life and how he states he doesn't want to be a leader in the first 2 games despite constantly getting thrust into that role to how he gradually comes to terms with his role as a leader and becomes an instructor in Cold Steel III all the while learning how to cope with the aftermath of Cold Steel II which basically gave him PTSD and a major guilt complex. All that made the ending of CS III hit so much harder because this guy was just finally getting over a lot of stuff and then all THAT happens. I can only imagine how emotionally and mentally broken he is in CS IV dealing with those repercussions.
i literally just finished CS3 just now and oh my goodness the ending I tell ya! and yes I do agree with you about Rean's development I really hate his 'optimistic' traits so much on CS1 & CS2 but after I had started CS3 he became way better. really cant wait for whats in store for CS4
"Gaius has the ... wind"
lmao
ppl who have finished CSIII: "ACKSHUALLY..."
Gaius has an intact family. More than most in class 7 can say.
i dont need to know why because i am already excited
Same
I guess 2018 already been excited
same
I've heard people tell me this is the 'End Game' of the Trails series.
@@phantomslay5612 no, its the end game for cold steel i think. they still have hajimari no kiseki so there is still a lot to do for the series to end.
I am excited for Cold Steel 4 due to enjoying the previous games.
Just finished CS3 a couple days ago. Thank you for this video. It helps ease the pain of the wait.
Not long to wait now!
I am beyond excited for this game and also for Hajimari no Kiseki after this XD I am one of the people who played all Kiseki games and I am not surprised that you have Ao no Kiseki as your favorite. I loved both Zero and Ao no Kiseki (personally liked them more than Sky and I consider them on par with the CS games). Highly recommend people checking them out once they finally find their way to the west officially.
The word 'masterpiece' can be thrown around a lot nowadays, but the two Crossbell games deserve it. :)
I had to laugh a bit when you mentioned that Cold Steel IV starts and feels like copy paste from a previous game. Due to lock down I currently play the complete Trails series in one go (almost done with Cold Steel 3 now) and while I really love all the games a LOT of things repeats itself, be is the overall structure, quests, side quests, locations... there have been several side quests between Cold Steel 1 and 3 that were 1:1 copies of each other. So I am not surprised that the same will happen again in IV. Looking forward to it already.
Saw the video when first released, and now appearing again in suggested, i decided to rewatch since i've played the CS4, made a friend of mine a fan of the series (only cold steel games), then he made fan of two more people again only cold steel, and then a third played the entire series and now is up to Cold Steel 4 in two months, and all the feelings you describe is exaclty what everybody has felt, whenever i watched the finale tears will come up, more with the timing of the music which helped, but happiness from just the fragment part, or the intermission, and as you said some quest like the third city from act 1, it put a smile on my face to continue some of the stories i left in all those games. These have become my favorite RPG series overall, and hoping willl gain the backing of all the new fans and more that it desearves
I'm glad that loads more have come in to the Series! No other group of games can evoke emotion like these ones can, there's a reason why I dedicate so much of the channels content to them!
This game is phenomenal. Currently playing NG+. Everything from the OST to the ending was amazing. One of my favourite segments from the game has to be fragment. That part was epic. I can't give details because of spoilers, but you will know what I mean when you play it. And then there was the ending. OMG, talk about a feels train. I could review this game for hours and still have great things to say about it. I urge anyone who plays this to know the stories of Sky and Crossbell. It makes the experience a million times better. This game easily makes my all-time top 3 alongside Final Fantasy IX and Persona 5.
Do I need to play all the Crossbell and Sky arc in order to understand the story in CS4? I have played CS3, I found that it more like 'oh I know this character' and thats it because I only play Sky FC halfway through the story. Does CS4 also like that or will I miss some huge plot in the game? I would like to play Crossbell arc since I'm quite intrigued by the cast members as introduce in CS3 and CS2 but I found that you need to play Sky first to understand Ao and Zero. I don't know why but I didn't actually like Sky and playing the game kinda feel like hassle. I'm inclined to just read the story summary and started playing Zero.
@@haiqalamir2806 Well. CSIV is pretty much the endgame of the 3 arc. And Hajimari(the next game) will be the epiloge. Without playing the other games the emotional/hype level will be much lower. Like a single handshake can be so freaking awesome if you know the characters. At least watch some summary on youtube about Sky, then play Crossbell. There is a youtuber named LadyVirgilia, her summaries are pretty good.
Fragment was awesome man! Watching everything unfold in that short segment was amazing, all the feels at once!
Honestly, going in to CSIV without playing Crossbell is a detriment to your experience. You can enjoy CS4 with just the CS games, but I really think you need the full picture to truly appreciate it. As said above, it concludes not only Cold Steel, but also Sky and Crossbell (to a point), and a lot of what you see, hear or partake in might not have the same impact on you as it would do for someone who has experienced the previous games.
@@Ratorss I will try to finish Sky but the moment CS4 came out, I will jump right into it. As for the youtuber, I will check her later if I still couldn't manage to finish Sky
I only started playing Trails this year. Picked up TitS:FC and it snowballed from there. I’m heavily invested in the lore of this series.
Just completed ToCS3 and now i’m hyped for End of Saga.
btw Mueller Vander is bae
Many of us have similar stories of trying to find a game to fill the time, and then stumbling on Trails. Next thing we know, we're hooked for the foreseeable future.
I’ve only played CS I&II. I’m playing through 3 at the moment. After 3, I’m going to jump onto the older games. I hope I’ll make it in time for CS 4. I hear it’s coming in October?
Yeah, I’m playing the series waaaay outta order, but at this point was so invested in Rean, I needed to know what happened next and jumped into II. I haven’t felt this invested in a character since the Yakuza series and me jumping in at Yakuza 0. Makes me wish I jumped in on the series sooner.
I just hope you really play the older games BEFORE Cold Steel 4. By playing Cold Steel 3 without playing the older games robbed you of its maximum experience already.
I'm looking forward to CS4's release. I'm also interested in forming my own opinion on the game after hearing various things about it from both sides of the argument. I'm curious as to how the Phantasmal Blaze arc (as I like to call the Crossbell and Erebonia arcs together) concludes and how it all will lead into Hajimari like how Sky SC lead into The 3rd. I'm also wondering what the casts of Liberl and Crossbell will do in this last chapter of Erebonia, and there are several other things I'm looking forward to. I'm going into CS4 the same way I went into Zero: not expecting anything in particular and just being there for the ride. Whether I'll find myself enjoying it or not I'll see while experiencing it, but I'm pretty optimistic in that regard.
...Now I'll just have to wait until it releases on PC. Heck.
@@Fabio-ql5yf I wish I liked it more than I did. Alot of story beats just left a bad taste in my mouth. The final bits were great, though. Loved that.
and i just realize Price Olivert's seiyuu is non other than DIO HIMSELF
Thank u 4 this video. Very fair analysis and spoiler free! (Happy to see part of the intro video though). :)
Thanks for watching my man! The opening for this game is my personal favourite, not too long for everyone else to enjoy it.
I'm super hyped for cold steep 4, a while back i was thinking about getting the JP copy and playing it but i can wait till it comes out in the fall. Already preorderd my limited edition copy. Great video as usual!
Thank you for watching as always buddy! I too have the limited edition pre-ordered, gonna do an unboxing video when it comes.
Cold Steel 4 is easily my most anticipated game of this year (and that's saying a lot, as I bloody love Xenoblade Chronicles!). By the sounds of it, I am going to absolutely love this game as I am one of those fans who is really invested into the world that Falcom has built with the Trails series.
At least based on my personal opinion, if you like the games for the same reasons i do, you're gonna enjoy this one too. :)
“No one does it like Nihon Falcom” couldn’t have said it any better myself man. I loved the story of this game, and that finale...holy hell, that’s the closest I’ve ever come to sobbing at any game. Just fantastic, it made me realize just how much I love these characters.
Literally mate, NO-ONE does it like Falcom. Can't wait for Hajimari now, and I'm even more hyped after seeing the collectors edition clear posters.
ngl, CS4 makes me emotional as hell, and the ending...oh, boy, the ending....I think I cried like a baby, and I can watch it now and still shed bunch of tears. So beautiful...so good.
muzhi li my only concern does rein gets to be married
I already preorder my cold steel 4 limited edition from NIS Store. I am so fricken' excited.
pre ordered the limited edition!
this is going to be my very first limited edition when it comes to games lol
Our wallets cannot handle it!
@@TheKisekiNut my secret is that I sold some of my priced possessions LoL
I ve also played the japanese version and pre ordered the limited edition 😉
This is my second one lol
Great video, can't wait to finally get my hands on this game when it finally releases in the west! Now that you've finished the Cold Steel series, you should consider doing a ranking of the characters like you did for Trails in the Sky. I'd also be interested in hearing the rest of your ranking of the Trails games in general, so maybe do that video at some point if you're up for it?
I've been getting a lot of people asking for another character ranking series, and it is in the pipeline. I've just got loads to go over, but I'd much rather have too many ideas that a dry well. :)
@@TheKisekiNut Sweet, looking forward to watching it!
I just finished Cold Steel 4 and I absolutely loved it! These games have been excellent so far, and while it is not perfect it's still been a great ride.
"Ao No Kiseki and Zero No Kiseki is an example of masterpiece."
Okay, we done. Here's a like.
Just spitting the truth! Both games together represent the apex of JRPG's.
@@TheKisekiNut especially Ao which is my second favourite JRPG behind FF7
Only one more year dodging spoilers before I can finally get to the end of the cold steel arc.
I really enjoyed CS3, but dammit, the story line barely progressed at all, it just piled up more pressure on existing unresolved conflicts, and then it just ended (-_-).
It's just Ouroboros' weird septerrion summoning experiences again, from which we can see its powers. While the overall structure is a bit similar to a mix between CS and SC, the differences are glaring, the new class VII make for an interesting character dynamic, the somewhat even more tumultuous political climate of Erebonia in that period. However it feels more of the setup to what's coming next.
@@AAhmou yeah dodging the spoilers are hard to avoid, you might have to download a keyword filter from the google chrome store. That's what I do to avoid unwanted youtube videos. I didn't like CS3's plot very much either it was pretty much the exact same as CS2. Find all of your missing friends and by the time you find all of your missing friends the game is already halfway done 😢. At least CS2 had a fantastic ending, can't say much for CS3
@@trilfy Well Falcom uses one game to give you a conclusion that makes you eager for the next, then gives you the payoff in the sequel. It works for them from a business POV and also from a fan's POV. The only thing I'd say going forwards is I wish Falcom would spend less games getting there (I'm alright with them doing it in 1-2 but its their series after all).
I can totally understand why you would buy the Japanese Version while you didn't know the western version was coming. I don't own a ps4, so I had to wait for the pc version to play cs3. But thanks to that the Announcement for cs4 was already out there once I was finished with part 3.
For a short time I actually considered to buy a ps4 just so I could play cs4 in fall xD. But unfortunately, my common sense prevailed. I just hope I won't get spoilered once the ps4 version is on sale.
But still, I am SO hyped for this.
My friends are almost sick of me always talking about the series, now they just listen and nod and wait for me to finish fangirling xD.
One of the things I love most about Trails of Cold Steel is how each new entry makes you reevaluate the previous game.
I started playing cs because my older sister had it in her JRPG stash and I liked how Rean and Class 7 looked on the cover. So when I played it, I was mainly focused on the characters. I mean, I followed the story, but I didn't really get the importance of all the conflict I saw during the field studies. Then when I played it again after finishing cs2, I really paid attention to what's happening openly and behind the scenes, and suddenly I could see the connections between everything.
The same happend with cs2. The first time I played it, I felt Reans powers were awesome and thought it was so cool that he could finally use them willingly. Then comes cs3 and I started to think that it wasn't so great after all... I haven't played cs2 again yet, but I know for a fact that it will definetly feel worse to see Rean develop his powers because they were necessary and see him fulfilling his role during the civil war.
Another thing I'm curious about is if I will be able to see the manipulations of the Chancellor once I play through everything again.
And these were just the biggest examples I could think of.
I'm already looking forward to how cs4 will change my perception of the other entries.
I played Trails in the Sky 1 and 2, but they just didn't hook me quite as much. So I haven't really thought much about them. I also didn't get to play the Crossbell arc, but I would definetly play it if it got localised. Because of that I can't say much about these, but I imagine they have the same potential for reevaluating everything you know.
And I just want to say: I want Rean to be happy. Please let him be happy, Falcom.
Keep fangirling over the games! You'll eventually win them over, and they will join us on the Trails feels train!
Let me first say I love trails the series and it's my favorite Jrpg My biggest critiques are how crow basically went from being batman a dark knight doing what needed to be done to becoming Robin which in my opinion killed his character also another thing is basically how friendship is basically the deciding factor in a battle which is utterly ridiculous my biggest gripe is how can new class 7 realistically stand up to legendary warriors when it took rean 4 years to be on the same level and it's kind of makes the original class 7 look incompetent in a way now I think there were some things that could have been explained better but it absolutely makes no sense that some of the new class 7 can fight on par with characters who utterly destroyed rean that makes no sense but Its hard for me to sympathize with them given how easy it has been now I do think certain characters have more aptitude or are more special in terms of combat than others but the scaling really bothers me
I already beat Trials in the Sky and SC. Getting into the Cold Steel arc just seems too similar and certainly more daunting as a whole to invest my time to play 4 separate games.
Can't wait for Zero and Ao no Kiseki releases in the West on PS4. Ao no Kiseki is not only my fav Kiseki game, it's in my top 10 jrpgs of all time.
Nice seeing some Ys 8 love can't wait for Ys 9!
YS VIII deserves all the love! Such a stellar game.
As much as I am looking forward to TOCS4 (which is easily my most anticipated game in a very, very long time) I do hope we hear some news on the Crossbell duology and Ys IX coming to the west soon. Ys VIII was indeed an absolutely fantastic game.
@@ashleyward3277 In a recent interview Kondo, the president of Falcom, said they ported Zero and Ao to the PS4 this year before the Sky trilogy because of the demand for the Crossbell games in the west. That suggests they are working on localizing it. That said, we probably won't hear much about it till next year and it almost certainly will be on PS4 ahead of a PC release.
@@brynphillips9957 whoaaa, for real?! I swear I'll scrape every mira I have to buy those two as soon as it's available on steam!! 😭 I almost finished SNK FC, and I'm planning to play all games in order, but the fact that Zero and Ao is not currently available in English actually bothers me... So it's a real good news then, and I'll be saving money like crazy if the news is actually truee ❤️❤️
@@brynphillips9957 I mean.. of course the availability on steam will have to wait much longer even if it's true, but at least that glimpse of hope will motivate me to save money 😂❤️
Mate, your video has made my weekend! After CS3 I sort of spoiled a few things for myself by watching CS4 S Craft compilations. As soon as you made your video about CS4 being announced I preordered immediately 😅
Touching on a couple of points in this video, my main four has been Rean, Emma, Jusis and Laura - with Fie always included and in place of Emma if I don't need a mage. Chapter 5 in Cold Steel with the attack on Garrelia Fortress was what sealed the deal for who I considered my favourites 🙂
As for the Trails games bringing oit emotions, I too have the British stiff upper lip and before I played any Trails games, the only game to make me cry was Final Fantasy IX (and I was 10 at the time...). Every Trails game I've played has made me cry, some more than once 😅 currently making my way through Sky SC after finishing FC last weekend. So much to catch up on before CS4!
(Also I'd ask to be your friend on PSN, but I'd talk your ear off about the lore haha!)
Hope you're well mate :)
Glad to hear you're enjoying the journey mate! These games really hit you in the feels. :)
I appreciate the PSN invite as well, but I don't play on it enough to warrant adding anyone, and I kind of keep to myself anyway. Nothing against you, I'm sure you're an awesome bloke, but it's just me. :)
I love the Kiseki Series so much and i’m so excited for the release of CS4, my favorite Kiseki Game is Ao No Kiseki due to it having a bunch of great moments, twists, and also wrapping up character arcs and the Crossbell Arc with a fine bow, with this in mind i’m excited to finally be able to play as Lloyd, Elie, Estelle, and Joshua again
just finished III and I can't help but get excited
Totally agree that this game has the best standard battle theme in the series. I might even take it further and say out of any JRPG that I have personally played. It also has my favourite OP. Can't sing the praises of the OST enough honestly.
For you and this video i bought the japanese version, a finished a few days algo and a i hace the sale opinion as you, it was a nice adventure from start to finish and that ending was just perfect, its also my second favorite kiseki Game behind cold steel 2, i'm ready for hajimari at the end of this month, i follow your advice i bought the platinum edition with the bonus of juna, musse, emma and alisa picture
I'm super pumped for this game now, I've actually kind of avoided thinking about it being localized and coming out just so the wait seems shorter, but this is pretty good. I love the huge cast and seeing those who return make their entrances is something I've really come to look forward to as I play new games. Also, this was really well edited!
I just had to give in to my desires Blue, it was sat there and i couldn't just leave it be since I had all the components to give it a whirl. I'm really glad I did, now I can enjoy it for a second time come this Fall!
Really love the content, keep it up. I’m such a huge fan at this point I don’t think anything can make me hate this game. Crossbell arc is definitely the best, simply because of how different the setting was. Lloyd is personally my favorite MC simply because of his competence from the get go.
Thank you for watching, and glad that you're enjoying the series as much as I am! So many amazing characters and stories in this series, and we've still got so much more to see!
Great overview, i've never had so much hype for a game, i've even bought the limited edition, thing that usually i don't do.
in the meantime i'm replaying the Crossbell ark
so i can trick the wait a little.
We're all on that hype train mate!
Just finished CS3 first play through, about to start my 2nd play through platinum trophy run. Wow, that ending. You can tell the creators put a lot of love into creating the world of Zemuria. CS4 is sitting on my shelf ready to go, I’ll probably get to it come mid-February. The best part about CS3...Principal Le Guin. She is unreal.
As somebody who's played the Japanese version I can say with confidence hes right on all points. I pretty much felt the exact same while playing the game
*circles rean, laura, and fie*
Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well.
Too many playable characters ruined it for me.
Sad that the sequel suffers from this too.
I cant wait for this game to come out! I must see the conclusion to this wretched fairy tale being written in ink as black as despair as soon as possible. But I must see in English first so I'll wait.
I'm the same, after beating CS3, I was thinking "Nah Ima Wait" "Nah Ima Wait", then I caved in, bought a JP CS4 from eBay. Then, 2 weeks later on April 1st, we got the HUGE CS4 Announcement and Reveal. I'd since Ordered the Limited CE Edition, & Can't Fuckin Wait. But, I'm glad I didn't play the JP CS4...(mainly because I was unsure of how to get the spreadsheet overlay to work😂😂😂). But, yeah out of the fanbase, I'd seen ppl either Love It or Hate It, I don't know why. But there is 1 thing that I had a VERY Keen sense of: CS1 = CS3 & CS2 = CS4 in Linearity/Open-Worldedness. Basically, CS1 & CS3 are more Linear, meanwhile CS2 & CS2 have an Open-World Traveling Aspect. Another thing about CS2 & CS4, they have optional Mega-Bosses, that adds to that open-world identity. Me? I liked CS2 more then CS1, I Liked CS3 Alot more then CS1 comparatively, so if I already loved the Hell out of CS2, & CS3 was better then CS1, I think I'll LOVE TF out of CS4. Thanks for this Vid @The Kiseki Nut, the CS4 HYPE is REAL💯
It's sods law when you buy it and then get the announcement straight after, the world's messing with us!
Glad you're looking forward to it! :)
@@TheKisekiNut Yeah Bro, it's Crazy. I DID NOT expect that announcement, but none of us did, straight up, it was so OUT OF THE BLUE, that many thought it was an April Fool's joke😂🤣😂. But here we are, both of us got the JP Version & we'll get the Western CE. & Yeah man, I'm Hella Hype for It, well like all of us🤝💯
I loved cs4 tho lots of people say theyblike cs3 better. To me it felt like a love letter to kiseki fans
The Trail Series... Unfortunately I start with Cold Steel because I don't have that motivation to play the old games with that kind of graphic. But when I finished Cold Steel 3, I feel empty. Now I need to wait for next year for Cold Steel 4 to be release on PC. Since I have all of these free times, I finally decided to play the previous Trail Series, and oh boi.... Done with Trail in the Sky, and now I'm currently on Trails to Zero. Probably gonna feels empty again after I finish the next one lol
Yeah number 3 felt like it never took off until the very end
Loved this video! I was originally gonna wait for CS IV release on 2021 for PC (since i've played them all on PC so far)...but last weekend I finished the 3rd game, and dear god...
As of now, I've already pre-ordered the limited edition for PS4 cause there's no way I will be able to keep myself sane till 2021.
5:38
Hey, I'm actually really curious to know about that. To what game does it feel very similar? I'm guessing CS2?
Although given the situation something tells me it might be sky sc.
Either way I'm really curious to know and don't mind minor spoilers
yes, cs4 is pretty similar to cs4...you get home base like Ymir, Airship, trial chests, lost arts, shrines etc
I'd say Sky SC.
If you buy into it its a fantastic epic story. Buy in....it’s worth it.
Man it was rough this weekend because even though the consensus seems to be quite good on this game, this one negative review hurt to read. Not because i think it will be my experience, but because any time i see a trails fan distressed over the series i'm sad :( (I'm referring to rpgsite i believe is the name).
It's personal opinion. Everyone has their own thoughts on the game and I respect whatever view that is. The only judge who knows whether you personally will like the game is yourself.
@@TheKisekiNut Yeah, I'm trying to stay rational like that as well. I guess i'm just seriously invested in seeing 4 to its conclusion, so it gave me a bit of a mini heart attack haha.
I already completed it though, five times.
Played thru it twice and im stoked to play it a third time once it drops this fall
It’s out so soon! Is it more like Cold Steel 2? Or either 1 or 3?
You'll have to see when you get in to it! :)
@@TheKisekiNut I’m very excited! I just got so hyped from CS2, that when CS3 came out I was a little sad at how much ambition they held back. I understand why they needed to do it, but not being able to explore the world as openly, all the way down to things like only having one S-Craft again, I don’t know, it just made me feel a bit worried about CS4
I caved and watched this video and I loved it! You're low points actually gets me more excited to play CS4 later this year lol The story and character parts also get me hyped! Now I wish I had this game in my hands RIGHT NOW! Damn, maybe it wasn't a good idea to watch this video after all cause it just made me more hyped!
Rean is my favorite MC of the group so far so I can't wait to see where he'll end up after hitting rock bottom and see if he'll finally get to smile from the heart and stay that way. I can't wait to all the other supporting characters too, even the Crossbell ones even though i haven't played their games but from what little I know of them make same want to see them even more!
It took you around 100 hours soo that means it'll take me 200 hours to beat this game, especially since it has a lot of focus on side content and NPC talk like I'm sure it does. Damn, I'm super excited to play this game! ^_^
I think you're gonna love it my man, especially if you enjoy these games for the same reason as I do! Bear in mind, those 100 hours were basically with no minigames, NPC interaction or the like. Just the sidequests etc., so my second playthrough might be a heck of a lot longer!
@@TheKisekiNut No NPC interaction and no minigames?! Well, in that case that's even better! It's gonna be something for you to really forward to in your 2nd run. Man, the wait is killing me lol
This was a really great video, good work! CSIV is my 3rd favorite (1st: CSIII 2nd: AO) game in the series, and while I understand its flaws I was sad how much hate this game gets with almost no reason. I can't wait to experience it again.
I can see why it's a divisive game. I'm just happy I was able to enjoy my experience, I was worried initially while going in.
See i got worried this week because of a REALLY negative review from rpgsite i believe? I know i'll love it regardless because i'm a positive fool like that but still >.
I have literally the same gripes about CS4 and at first I was a bit underwhelmed, but after a while it grew on me after I replayed the others. This game really does well with all that was set up, really excited to play it in English
I have always been excited for every trail series game...Why? Becuz its the masterpiece in gamig world!
I was already super hyped for CS4 after finishing CS3 last week, but now I'm still even more hyped! Zero and Ao (imo) are the masterpieces of the Trails series as well, with Ao being my fav JRPG of all time. Just love them to bits. And the fact CS4 is your second favorite in the series has me so excited! Loved the video, you kind of addressed all the things I was concerned about.
With all that in mind, though... Do you recommend just waiting to play the localization? Or is it good (and easily playable with minimal effort :p) to buy a JP copy and do what you did?
So ready for that English release man! The overlay works very well, but I will say understanding the crafts and orbments is a struggle with no Japanese knowledge (I have basic knowledge, so that helped). I used a chart with the crafts to understand their effects etc.
The most important thing though is a good internet connection. Since you're streaming from the PS4 to your computer, you need a solid connection to run it, or it'll just continually stutter and be unplayable. If you can't wait, and you have the means to do so, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't give it a go. :)
Random fact: I threw a pillow at my TV at the cliffhanger of Cold Steel 3. And trust me it was only a pillow because it was the closest thing to me other than my controller, thankfully I chose the pillow to throw, not the controller. Or else, my TV and my controller would be broken and I //would// send Falcom an invoice for the new ones.
Bro I just found out your channel. Thank you, thank you for this. As a big fan of the Kiseki series that only does have like 2 friends playing it and the others just ignore me, it really gives me joy watching this video as it feels like I'm talking to someone who has the same passion as me.
Thank you TKN! From the Philippines!
Thank you for your support buddy! It's nice to see people from half way round the world enjoy the content. We as Falcom fans can even overcome international barriers.
M8 I saved in Spiral of Erebos....
Before fighting Arianrhod and Mcburn....
Im not finishing cs3 until iv comes out
As someopne who has only played up to Cold Steel 2, I feel for Rean. The poor boy feels like he is a burde to everyone. He thinks he doesn't deserve to have good things happen to him. He just really hates himself and is hella depressed. That boy is on so many layers of depression. My main wish for the rest of the series is to lessen Reans suffering. But I also know that the second half of Cold Steel is the start of Alisas suffering arc. It's almost as if suffering suddenly counts as plot. I hope Class 7 appears often enough in CS 3. I really like them. OG Class 7, not the new one. I am excited to play the second half of Cold Steel after I replay Crossbell. Zero has very very long cutscenes. Very, very long. But so does Cold Steel.
I played the hell out of sen no keseki 4 typo 4 times play though its so damn good
"honestly its not that good"
-some people
A lot of people said I'd love CS 1+2+3. Having loved Sky and literally playing CS less than a week after Zero+Ao, I'd say only 3 is "okay". The other two are just bad.
I'm excited for 4 because it means it'll be the end of Erebonia proper, even though Rean will unfortunately show up in Hajimare, it'll probably be his last leading role, which can't come quick enough.
@@Caboozles Can agree that CS was a disappointment. Making a big cast and having 1 character having most of the focus was a terrible idea while also tacking on wannabe persona social links to make the rest of the cast even more of a group of tag alongs was terrible. Crossbell hit perfection with a 4 man party working on all missions together.
@@Caboozles I love rean xD.
Well I officially messed up. I was in Florida last Christmas and I bought trails of cold steel 3 for the PS4 I live in the uk 🇬🇧......well recently bought trails of cold steel 4 and last night I completed number 3 and loaded number 4 and because they were different regions my save file from 3 couldn’t transfer to 4 I just want to know if that’s gunna ruin it for me with the narrative is it essential to have that file for the story to make sense around the relationships I’ve built with Alisa in 3
The moment I heard Blue Destination and Season of Departure, I cried because it gave me a flashback. This why The legend of heroes series is one of my most favorite games.
I was hoping the song choices would resonate with someone!
Other people's reason for playing cold steel: story rich jrpg series with action packed gameplay
My reason: sylphid
Can i be a pedant ? A masterpiece doesn't have to be perfect or be practically flawless. A masterpiece is something that has passed a crafting guild's exam/test for a member to be allowed to run their own studio. It is more like a thesis defense for a phd student. I think that calling something, many things, a masterpiece is a very useful thing to be able to do - which is impossible when requiring that a masterpiece be effectively flawless.
Pretty much. I've always maintained that everything has flaws, no matter what it is. It's no different in video games. A masterpiece for me will be a game which has flaws, but where those drawbacks don't detract from my experience. And that's why i consider the two Crossbell games to be masterpieces.
I'm gonna literally die before this game comes out on Steam, and I've never been hyped for a game as much as I am for CS4 rn :'(
At least you have something to look forward to my man! :)
meanwhile im exited Hajimari use motion capture for animation dude the movement, expresion and camera angle is awesome
I just burst out laughing when I saw the VR. That was the last thing I expected for a Trails game!
@@TheKisekiNut lol yeah crow try that out
How did you feel about the other trails of cold steels?
ATM i have 40h in CS3 and 10h and CS1 😅
Ok maybe I was a bit fast seems like that's the point what this video is about ❤️
CS4 was one of my biggest disappointments of all time unfortunately. Now playing through Hajimari hoping they fix some of the problems this series has developed.
I am attached to the characters...
So I will enjoy it then?
I'd like you think you will!
@@TheKisekiNut yes
cold steel IV is my anticipated game of 2020 ive heard its more like II and II is by far my favorite game in the series of the ones ive played which is all the localized games besides cold steel III and why havent i played III well because ive heard its like cold steel and cold steel is by far my least liked of the ones ive played and theres no playable crow at all in III so i ended up saying screw III and just watched all its story scenes on youtube lol
The cliffhanger from CS 3 definitely help and also all of my favorite characters from the other arcs are here as well
Im the hypest person around for cold steel 4
Just to be clear is it on ps5 or ps4 i am currently at the duology(Trails fromazure) and looks like i am gonna depend on emulator
It'll be on PS4, Switch and PC.
I am ready for CS4 and I pre order it. I love the music in Trails. I love Rean.
Can't wait to get my hands on that limited edition!
As excited as I am for Cold Steel 4, I am still frustrated by how arbitrary death is in the series. Some characters STAY dead while others benefit from the revolving door of afterlife. I can accept one telenovela resurrection for narrative purposes but when it happens again and again, I have to wonder if anything the protagonists do have any real bearing. I am so sick of fighting Duvalie and then turns out I cant kill her because "she wasn't using her full power" or some other such nonsense. And because of her waifu-plot armor she will probably be a recurring nuisance for future installments in the franchise.
I do have to agree here, it's one of the real weaknesses of the Trails series as a whole. The Sky arc had it just right, but now there's a bit too much of the Deus Ex Machina treatment. I'm hoping Falcom change that up a little bit for the future. They don't have to kill every character off, but one or two deaths that are 'really' impactful is all we need.
Lol i did the same thing, i bought it a week befroe the announcement
one of the best endings to any game ever
the True ending, not that downer Normal ending.
I am really excited for this game after playing the other 3 Cold Steel games especially after that emotional ride that was Cold Steel III. I have it preordered so I can start it on day 1. Currently playing through Zero no Kiseki (Trails from Zero) thanks to the ease of being able to purchase the JP version of it on PC + the wonderful Geofront translation (many thanks to them for that fan translation). I worry though that I will miss out on Ao no Kiseki though once I finish Zero since that one is very difficult to buy legally on PC since the JP version was never backported to PC, only Chinese which seem to have a ton of hoops to jump through to purchase. Also I do not want to take the “torrent” route because I prefer to buy my games legally, especially for this wonderful series. Also the PSP/PSVita route is out of the question because I don’t have a spare of either of those to sacrifice and hack to be able to play those with a fan translation applied. Hopefully Ao will get an official localization someday since it was released in JP on PS4 and Zero as well for those that don’t have a PC.
Anywho, enough rambling by me, I will be playing Cold Steel IV when it comes out in NA whether or not I can play Ao before then.
Glad that you're enjoying the series as much as me! :)
Fair play as well in regards to not torrenting the game, it is definitely a grey area to do so. However, with no other options available, I actually did download an ISO and played via a PSP emulator, and I'm glad I did to be honest because Ao is a masterpiece.
However, I have bought both games to support the developer, and have also bought the Kai versions. I think it's not a pertinent issue as long as you're still supporting Falcom in another way.
The Kiseki Nut Well... It seems the Geofront team is working on a fan translation for Ao:). Furthermore from one of their posts, it seems they are researching the easiest way to get the game legally for when it’s ready (they called that “the elephant in the room”), it will probably be a while, but will be worth it judging from their translation of Zero, which was awesome.
14:07 Majestic Roar for the win.
Me with one answer: Cuz is a Legend of Heroes Game. 😂
The 9th one in this epic adventure.
Speaking the truth! :)
This comment will have no spoilers of Cold Steel 4.
Just finished CS4, and I have to say... Hi, I'm in the middle ground about CS4, at least in comparison with the rest of the Kiseki saga.
Lets start by saying I did love the game. I've played every Kiseki game except for Hajimari, and I've absolutely loved every single one of them. If anything, my way to criticize these games usually is by comparison to some of the other Kiseki games I enjoyed the most. That said, in the end, Cold Steel 4 ranked as my 2nd favorite Cold Steel game (behind Cold Steel 3), and the Cold Steel saga as a whole ranks as my least favorite Kiseki saga. But again, more than a critic to Cold Steel, this is praise for Crossbell and Sky.
Cold Steel 4 indeed does some great things, and if you're like me and have gone through the previous 8 games, then lets not deceive ourselves, you love the saga. You don't invest all those hours not to like it. And as TKN says, the game makes sure to reward you from playing all those games. There are not many RPGs with a cast of characters as big as this one. I won't give names or details, but I will say that for the grand finale, you'll have 39 characters to choose from (39!!). That's only comparable to pretty much Suikoden and Chrono Cross. A fair amount (Class VII) of these characters were obvious to be included, then there's a lot you're probably correctly expecting, but there's also some characters at the end I didn't expect to be playable, and it was a joy being able to use them. Not everyone is here, since the Kiseki franchise has a ridiculous amount of characters through all of its games, but there's a lot of them, and it feels great using them.
It's not 39, but through most of the game you'll still have access to around 20 characters. For good and bad, these are 20 characters to build and this can actually be a struggle, but it's also incredibly fun. I never grinded so much as in this game to equip everyone, but I had a ton of fun coming up with quartz combinations and such for everyone, making different builds. I think I still miss the orbment lines from Crossbell and Sky, but this is fun too.
There's references all over the place to previous games. And no, I don't mean getting to see the bracers from Sky or the SSS from Crossbell (which is still great by the way), but I mean in the small dialogues. Small talk between characters, things the NPC say, etc. Because of all of this, please, please leave this game for last. Because the game can and will spoil you every single other game... a lot, many times, over and over again. This happened a lot already in Cold Steel 3, but it's even more prominent here.
All of that said, after 4 games being the main protagonist, I still think Rean doesn't hold a candle to Lloyd or Estelle. I agree that he is not a badly written character, and he obviously has a lot of development, but I don't think there's anything really special to him. He still feels like my run of the mill protagonist. This game also sometimes suffers a bit too much from the power of friendship, working miracles and everything just working out a bit too much. This is very noticeable in the true ending of the story. It would've been less of a happy ending, but in some ways, I would've actually prefer the normal ending over the true ending (well, with a bit more development, since this ending is fairly short because the game really ends when you get the true one).
Also, I do think the big cast of Class VII is a problem for the narrative at times. As a matter of fact, New Class VII was the direct improvement on this. In terms of mechanic, the big cast is great since not only you get a lot of characters but they all play differently and they all work well, which is something amazing for me. In terms of narrative, this does give a sensation that some of them are almost unnecessary. Like them or not, New Class VII had 5 students and through both games they were all very developed and constantly interacted between them, something that definitely didn't happen with the original Class VII. This gets me to another point with the old Class VII. Precisely because Rean begins as a character without real goals and such, I feel his role as "leader of Class VII" was pretty much forced into him by the script just because he is the protagonist. I don't feel he evolved into that role. This is different at least in Cold Steel 3 because Rean at that point is a more developed character and the teacher in Class VII, but for the first 2 games, it felt unnatural, contrary to Lloyd who led the SSS because he was actually a qualified detective or Estelle who naturally became the center of the group.
But I don't want to end this as a critic. Cold Steel 4 is still a very fun game and a great reward for us fans of the whole franchise. The ending credits after the true ending are pure joy. I adore them, and I'm talking about mostly a sequence of images of a certain events that's an awesome wrap-up for all the Kiseki games up to this point. As a whole, I think Cold Steel 3 and 4 (which could really be considered as one big game) are a definitive improvement from Cold Steel 1 and 2, and that in itself is something that makes me incredibly happy, and very much really looking forward to Hajimari no Kiseki.
It's incredible how we are now 9 games into the very same story (going for 10 with Hajimari), something truly unprecedented in the gaming world I think (and by all means PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong). I consider myself extremely lucky for stumbling into The Legend of Heroes and for being here for the whole ride. At this point I feel as if I'm part of Zemuria. We know the main characters, we know the secondary characters and we even know the NPCs and what they've gone through. And I don't mean just guys like Anton, but even, for example the Bond family in Crossbell (and many others).
I kinda disagree about Rean feeling forced as the leader in the first game. While he's definitely not an amazing leader at the start of the game, I think he is without question the most qualified to lead the group out of the original members of Class VII. He has a far more balanced world view than any of his peers thanks to his background as a minor noble. Thus he knows about the culture of the nobility, but isn't so deeply entrenched in that culture that he can't still relate to the commoner students. The other members of the class are also lacking in certain key qualities that the leader for a group like Class VII absolutely must have. Just going down the list, Elliot is a perfectly nice guy, but lacks any kind of commanding presence when he isn't dealing with something music related, so he wouldn't be able to deal with the constant infighting that the group was faced with early on. Alisa has more of a backbone than Elliot, but her temper would make her a poor leader for the group in the early months. Rather than stopping the fighting, she'd probably just get swept up in it as soon as someone irritated her too much. Early on, she doesn't really have the patience needed to deal with a group like this and the class likely would have fallen apart because of that. It also doesn't help that Alisa's past has made it so she feels out of place with both nobles and commoners. So she would likely struggle trying to relate to her peers. Laura has an extremely limited world view thanks to her background. All she really knows at first is swordplay and it takes her time to really broaden her horizons and outlook on the world, so it would be rather hard for her to relate to many of her classmates early on and bring them together in times of crisis. Gaius has a similar problem with being a total fish out of water at the start. He doesn't really understand Erebonian culture at first, so it's difficult to imagine him being able to lead a class of Erebonian students and stop the infighting between class members of different social ranks when he can't even really understand why they're fighting in the first place and the history behind the conflict. Machias starts out hating nobles, Jusis especially. There's no way he would last as a leader when he has a personal bias against some of his peers and while he and Jusis were constantly at each others throats. Their hatred for each other would shred the unity of the class to pieces. Jusis would be a poor choice for leader for exactly the same reason. His poor relationship with Machias would always get in the way. Fie doesn't care enough about the class at the start to serve as an effective leader and Emma's secretive nature regarding her true past would make her a difficult leader to follow, especially in those early days after the class was first formed. Rean may not be a perfect leader at the start, but he's by far the most understanding of everyone's different circumstances. He keeps a level head for the most part, allowing him to calmly intervene with and diffuse conflicts between classmates. When he does make a mistake that creates friction in the group, he tries to correct it almost immediately. Out of everyone in the original Class VII, I'd say Rean is definitely the closest to being leader material at the start and while he does stumble in his role from time to time he does grow more fully into that role by the end.
I don't know why but one song in cold steel 3 reminds me of a track from Nier automata.
Hearing you talk about how long story points draw out, as I just finished the game today boy god did it fuck up my sleep schedule.
I'm excited ever since I beat CS3. I even dreamed of being with the heroes and getting ready to kick Osbro's ass.
I assume you're also gonna play Hajimari when it's released? If yes, then I'm all eyes.
I would have to wait and see if a spreadsheet will come out for the game. It's all on the fandom whether they will choose to do so or not, since let's be fair, it's a massive time sink.
@@TheKisekiNut Ah I see, that makes sense. Regardless, always looking forward for your contents!
@@TheKisekiNut kitsune said he was going to make one but that mean waiting about 3 to 4 months probably
no need a reason, i am already excited about cold steel 4
Coming back again to your channel after keeping up with Cold Steel (finished CS3 today!) and man what a blast and CS3's climax/ending/cliffhanger made me tear up.
Watching this video now made me hype more to play CS4, it's out in the PS4 for a while now but choosing to wait for the PC version because of fancy settings, lol.
So far, the Crossbell arc is still my favorite in general. The soundtrack in CS seems a lil bland... it doesn't really stir my emotions as how it was with Crossbell's xD But I'm excited to see what CS4 will bring, you mentioned about the stage already laid down etc etc so I'm expecting the scenes to be relentless and ruthless when it actually starts.
I massively agree about the huge roster - I love when I saw them in CS3 for many reasons, being able to play them again but omg sepith/mira poverty.
My only wish is, and I hope, that story-wise, the characters are not holy and super forgiving or the villains actually face consequences? There are characters who obviously did something abhorring but by the end they will either get redemption or forgiveness. After what happened in CS3, it would really appear bad writing to me.
Peace out!
Don't get me wrong, I am quite excited about Cold Steel 4. But what I am not excited about is to see all these antagonists that are assholes somehow got away with a slap on the wrist just because they had sad background story or "muh conflicting loyalty"
theres also a freaking curse that make people of erebonia more prone to folly, thats the whole point of cold steel 3 technically.
Huh. I was utterly disappointed by Ao. I don't know if it was because of just how hyped up it was by a portion of the fandom, or the state of the current translation, but it left me almost completely cold. The revelations felt like they were included for shock value, rather than being foreshadowed cleverly. As a result, I'll probably really enjoy the fact that the vast majority of the machinations are over and done with, because they've not been rushed. Also, I found Rean a vastly more interesting main character than Lloyd who was just a boring generic chick attracting jrpg protagonist who can do whatever he wants to because golly-gee he just wants it enough. So I'm really, really looking forward to CS IV now.
Heh...
Why should you NOT anyway?
Those who already fall to the hole of Trails series will always be excited for this
CSIV spoilers below..
Lloyd truly is "Determination" personified as his Quartz combination, craft, and Equipment show. His quatz combo is one that makes him harder to kill the lower his health gets, while CP builds every turn, so he could up his strength, def, and Spd and +1BP. It's amazing.
I've got it early, so thanks Base.com for that. 😁
Ultimately though I'm exciting because the Erebonia arc is finally going to be in its way out and we may see some changes to an arc that seems to have markedly improved in CS3, but is still really flawed. Hajimari apparently kills off bonding events, so that's a good start!
The cast is just colossal now though and apart from causing character development issues (not to mention the nicknames are getting worse and worse - McBurn being the standout candidate here), it's also rather starting to impact on the overall story. Given CS4 is effectively going to cover a West Zemuria war and end the arc, if no-one bites the dust on the good guys side then that's just absurd. Still narked about Crow! 😂
Wait, you didn't have turbo in CS4? I was pretty sure it was only the Japanese version of CS3 that didn't have turbo. In fact I've seen Japanese CS4 with turbo
Nope, definitely no turbo mode on the PS4 version. I played via RemotePlay and it was pretty much normal pace all throughout.
We're almost there. Just a few more days and I've been trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible...but I did learn that some VAs have been changed and it is noticeable. I won't say who. However despite that and no matter how noticeable the change i KNOW I'll still enjoy the game overall. More than likely I'll be so focused on the story and characters that I may even overlook most of the VA change...even though some of my faves were changed.
Am currently waiting for my switch version of the game even though i got cold steel 3 on my pc and had about 104 hours put into it but i wanna try it out on switch and am sure its gonna look great but man april 9 can't come enough i heard so many people say its one of their favorites and the ending was amazing i still have to play the crossbell game and others but when i played 3, idk but i felt so in love with the other game characters so fast which am sure for 4 am probably just gonna take the most time i can out of and my goal to play for sure more than the hours i played for 3 :D thank you for this video!!!