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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

in library

4.4/5

( 53 Reviews )

4.4

53 Reviews

English & 1 more
39.9939.99
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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Description
Among the nations on the Zemurian continent, the mighty Erebonian Empire has been quick to outwardly stake its claim militarily; yet politically, ugly bouts of internal conflict between the upper class and commoners attempting to rise to power have been steadily intensifying day by day. The Noble an...
Critics reviews
69 %
Recommend
Game Informer
8.5/10
The Escapist
4/5 stars
RPG Fan
90%
User reviews

4.4/5

( 53 Reviews )

4.4

53 Reviews

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Product details
2017, Nihon Falcom Corporation, ESRB Rating: Teen...
System requirements
Windows 7 / 8 / 10, Intel Atom x7-Z8700 2.4 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Shader Model 5 (GeForce 400 / Radeon HD 5...
DLCs
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - Costume Pack, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Stee...
Time to beat
58.5 hMain
78.5 h Main + Sides
108 h Completionist
78 h All Styles
Description
Among the nations on the Zemurian continent, the mighty Erebonian Empire has been quick to outwardly stake its claim militarily; yet politically, ugly bouts of internal conflict between the upper class and commoners attempting to rise to power have been steadily intensifying day by day. The Noble and Reformist Factions have been none too kind to one another over the years, and tensions between the two only stand to worsen if compromises aren’t made in the very near future.

Rean Schwarzer, like any other citizen of the Imperial Nation, is no stranger to these rising conflicts: the class system has been deeply embedded into the hearts of every Erebonian since the days of old. As a seventeen-year-old student preparing for his new life at Thors Military Academy, however, he notices that his crimson uniform differs from the standard ones issued to his peers—typically green for commoners, and white for nobles.

Enter, Class VII of Thors Military Academy. For the first time in the prestigious academy’s history, rank means nothing and skill means everything. With nine hand-picked students of various backgrounds and abilities, Rean included, Class VII readies itself to dive deep into the political quagmire that threatens not only them, but the Empire as a whole.



Taking place on the same continent as the fan favorite Trails in the Sky offshoot of Nihon Falcom’s storied The Legend of Heroes franchise, Trails of Cold Steel (Sen no Kiseki in Japanese) is the first in the series to tread Erebonian soil and explore the inner political conflicts of this oft-mentioned powerhouse nation in detail. Delve into the expansive lore that has become synonymous with the series, enjoy school life and bond with fellow students to earn new abilities in battle, take advantage of speedy, tactical turn-based combat with the newly-developed “ARCUS” system, and uncover dramatic events that stand to change everything these two opposing social classes stand for.
  • A World Rich in Depth for Veterans and Newcomers Alike
    The events of Trails of Cold Steel are expertly told so that longtime Trails veterans and casual RPG fans alike can equally enjoy its detailed, highly nuanced storyline.

  • New Link System Adds Depth to Combat
    Take advantage of the Combat Link System by bonding with your allies throughout the school year, netting you a variety of combat benefits including healing, guarding and more.

  • A Sleek Update to a Classic Growth Mechanic
    Trails of Cold Steel streamlines the classic “Orbment” magic system from previous titles with new “ARCUS” units, allowing for more ready access to abilities and quicker customization.

  • Experience the Game as Never Before
    50% more lines of English voice-overs have been added to the PC release, bringing a fresh experience to even those who have played it before on console.

(c) Nihon Falcom Corporation. All rights reserved. Licensed to and published by XSEED Games / Marvelous USA, Inc.

Popular achievements
Goodies
avatars wallpapers
System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
Safety and satisfaction. Stellar support 24/7 and full refunds up to 30 days.
Time to beat
58.5 hMain
78.5 h Main + Sides
108 h Completionist
78 h All Styles
Game details
Works on:
Windows (7, 8, 10, 11)
Release date:
{{'2017-08-02T00:00:00+03:00' | date: 'longDate' : ' +0300 ' }}
Size:
12.2 GB
Rating:
ESRB Rating: Teen (Violence, Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)

Game features

Languages
English
audio
text
日本語
audio
text
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User reviews

Posted on: August 24, 2024

DontWantAName

Verified owner

Games: 89 Reviews: 1

Words, words, words

The game's all right, but it would be even better with about half as much text. Falcom has a pathological more-is-more attitude when it comes to dialog. The Gagharv Trilogy (Legend of Heroes III-V) was much better in this respect. I certainly wouldn't call those games laconic, but they didn't just pad for the sake of padding. The writers went totally off the rails with Trails SC, and never found their way back.


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Posted on: December 1, 2024

RedBourbon_

Verified owner

Games: 11 Reviews: 1

Slowburn but good story

Slowburn but good story if you let it grow. The ability to speed up combat is a great improvement from the original verision to console.


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Posted on: March 12, 2025

RileyInkTheCat

Verified owner

Games: 51 Reviews: 1

A fun and engaging turn based J-RPG

This is the very first Trails game I ever played and it instantly had me hooked by it's gameplay and story elements. The story spans a massive world with lots of interesting characters. These all have their own individual arcs that get quite a lot of detail and screen time. You can also opt to interact with your favourite characters to learn more about them, with lots of comedic and wholesome interactions between them. The turn based combat is both challenging and fun, with plenty of differing attack animations and epic special attacks. The sound track is also really good with lots of variety. Never have I felt tired listening to the combat themes.


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Posted on: March 1, 2018

DeathNeff

Verified owner

Games: 89 Reviews: 1

such an awesome RPG

this game reignited my love for JRPGs,loved the story,soundtrack and characters i Enjoyed the this game soo much. Thanks Nihon Falcom and Xseed for bringing this game on PC


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Posted on: October 11, 2020

TheUkuleleFanboy

Verified owner

Games: 288 Reviews: 2

Haha...

The character customization system (basically materia) is significantly dumbed down from the previous games, made shallow, restrictive, and boring. Characters are stock and completely uninteresting. The cast is bloated to the point where nobody has any room to grow or develop. You could remove like a third of the party members while changing very little about events. Use of tropes and cliches is very sloppy, the game opens with one typically associated with bottom of the barrel anime (haha the tsundere fell on the hero and buried his face in her boobies and shes upset for several hours!!!). The graphics are very ugly both technically and aesthetically. Whenever the game tries an action scene it’s usually embarrassing to watch. Problems from the previous games are doubled-down on. Pacing is sluggish, made excruciating by the school sections that you return to after every chapter and run through another floor of a filler dungeon. I would be OK with large stretches of nothing significant happening if I liked the characters, but I don’t because they’re boring. Combat is plain and very easy. Animations are slow to the point where holding the turbo button basically throughout is a necessity. The script is mind-meltingly repetitive, I took 2,265 screenshots of characters laughing at everything and that’s far from a definitive count. What moved this game from a 2/5 to a 1/5 is the ending. -vague spoilers for the ending follow- The ending is less a cliffhanger and more the story just stopping. The conflict that’s been building up all game starts, and then the game stops immediately after, find out what happens in Cold Steel 2! This is all revealed to you in an “epilogue” after the final boss where the game just dumps 3 hours of shit on you. -vague spoilers for the ending end- If you want a worthy successor to the Trails in the Sky trilogy, this isn’t it. If you just want a decent JRPG, this isn’t it. Would not recommend unless you want to waste 80 hours.


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