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I have to preface that this game just absolutely ripped me to shred. I ain't felt like this since playing the Crossbell Saga. This is the eighteenth installment of the Legend of Heroes series. This game is essentially the beginning of the time skip within the Trail of Cold Steel / Erebonia World. This means that this game and review will contain many spoilers and knowledge required from previous games.
This is the eighteenth installment of the Legend of Heroes franchise, and I recommend for those who want to enter this game to follow the story in order. This is essentially the marvel cinematic universe. And this is pretty much: Marvel Avenger: Infinity War of this entire game series. You do not want to lose out on various key information has it's a big part of the connecting lore of the 3 sagas. The following games are played in order:
Trail in the Sky FC,
Trail in the Sky SC,
Trail in the Sky the 3rd,
Trails from Zero,
Trails to Azure,
Trails of Cold Steel 1,
Trails of Cold Steel 2.
( There is an anime called Legend of Heroes: Northern War which further explains the North Ambria War and what centered around the time Rean became the Ashen Chevalier. ) It isn't required, however, it gives an insight into some crucial parts.
This story takes place 2 years after TOCS 2. Rean is older now and has taken a job as an instructor in Thor's Branch Campus. He is tasked with instructing a new class 7 who will be the center of the last two Trail of Cold Steel games. You will be familiar with the unique setting from TOCS 1 as you are back within the school arc. However, there are key notes including that Rean has become a hero, original class 7 have made it big in the world and returning characters from Crossbell and Liberal saga will be returning to this game. Rean during the events between TOCS 2 and 3 has essentially been bossed around by the Blood and Iron Chancellor, Osborne. As he fought to annex Crossbell and North Ambria while minimizing casualties. This story takes place after as you will be going along with New Class 7 to see the post aftermath of the Noble War and Annexation of two major cities. As this is the calm before a big fucking storm, you will slowly begin to unravel the mysteries behind the Phantasmal Blaze Plan, the secrets behind the Black Workshop, Ouroboros and The Imperial Government. The key characters in this game have been probably one of my favorites so far, especially with the return of my favorites including Altina, Tio, Tita, Agate, Randolph. This story is heartwarming, heart wrenching and filled with lore that you won't find in any other Legend of Heroes game so far. I have cried a few times playing this game which I haven't done since Ao no Kiseki / Trails to Azure.
The characters being memorable and amazing has now been further enhanced by the crazy upgrade to the Art style and Graphics. I have to take this part to talk about it because it's a HUGE STEP UP from the last game. The UI is clean, the crafts are nicer and the environment in this game is absolutely stunning. I do have problems in 1 - 2 areas that have FPS drops but it was worth it taking in everything. This accompanying the new music has been such a delight lately. This is probably my most spent hours on any Legend of Heroes game so far primarily because of everything that it gives. I have yet to start TOCS 4 yet and I will keep you posted in the next review for that. So far, everything has been such a delight to my eyes that it left a genuine tear.
Now the gameplay is amazing. What I really mentioned before was how diverse the game can be when you are testing out new builds on various characters. Tanker, debuffer, cp battery, damage dealer, arts spammer, etc. This game has really outdone themselves with the new introduction of Battle Orders and Double Master Quartz Equip. I think this is one of the greatest directions they have done so far in the series as it allows us to pick and choose different strategies when playing this game. And I think that's extremely important, the versatility it can give and the sense of thinking has left me with nothing but praise. Thank you Nihon Falcom. I do also want to briefly mention that tactics have been so much nicer now that you can adjust your party anywhere in the grid, which further enhances the diversity and flexibility of this game.
The difficulty is actually challenging. It does still have some things that can be easily abusable if you really look for it. However this game actually has a really nice nightmare difficulty. It can get pretty fucking ridiculous if you not farming constantly or building your character. I followed a guide on what to build which you can find here if you are lost like me when starting out:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/204985-the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-iii/faqs/78073/builds-and-team-comp
I also followed a guide from Zoelius which I think the community should give a round of applause for the handwork that Zoelius has done for our community with these guides. But not just Zoelius:. Zennvirus, TheDarkn1ght and Berserker Blade deserve props too. The difficulty helped promote building around certain scenarios at times and also gave you a diverse amount of setups and a range of teams that can really give you a run for your money.

Music choice in this game this time was actually really nice. It really fits the game atmosphere and as you go onward towards the final chapter, you really feel the setting that they were trying to portray. The battle theme isn't that bad either and I fucking love it when they pull out the fucking opening theme during battles. Shit got me hyped the fuck out. Cities have wonderful music, the environment has calming themes, everything that this game has done continues to improve with each game. And I know that people complain about the lack of good music recently, but I think they are trying their best to keep on improving and I really appreciate their efforts.
We are back again with collectables. And a lot of books then before, you will be collecting recipes, black records, chronicles, etc. While getting bonding gifts for old and new class 7 characters along with additional characters. The gifting system and bonding events in this game has made a lot of them deeply memorable and (Some of them are fucking amazing). The side quests in this game are actually quite nice too because you will be able to see returning characters from previous games and previous antagonists come back during the story and side quests. This game pretty much rewards you well for keeping up with the series through these side quests while also giving you pieces of lore of side characters from previous characters. In case people were always wondering what happened to this or that person. Again turbo mode is of course back and it's really nice to have with us again. I have 100% the game now and man doing playthrough after playthroughs because I missed one and two things sucks. This is why I decided to look at a guide for TOCS 4 now.
I recommend this game to those who are continuing to support and follow the game closely. We are reaching the end game of the Trail of Cold Steel saga. The unique and insane story is slowly taking a major turn and you definitely wanna play this game out to finally get the answers you've been slowly looking for. This game will bring in the 3 sagas into the settings of Erebonia and begin to unravel the mysteries of the biggest antagonist yet. Be sure to go back and play the previous games to keep yourself updated because the next game is Marvel's Avenger: Endgame. Everyone is coming back including your favourite protagonist from the previous game. To finally conclude the Trail of Cold Steel Series. I have been following and being a fan of this game for a long time and I am proud of it. I'll finally get to see you all over in the next game:
THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS OF COLD STEEL 4: THE END OF SAGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!