Topic: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3

Hey all, first off I should say i'm not promoting someone's youtube channel or anything, but for those looking for a good way to watch Cold Steel 1 and 2, search up pafdingo and hit up the CS1 and CS2 playlists (youtube). No commentary and minimal filler, basically just story to the point that you can almost turn off the screen and listen to it like an audiobook (except for less important periods that aren't voice acted). Will say again (because it might violate some rule) that I have no interest in the channel other than it's the best option i've found for kickin' back with some Trails and thought it might help those jumping into CS3.

Also, I ended up caving in and playing the demo and I gotta say i'm a little less confident about my previous comments. This one definitely plays on your nostalgia for the series than the other entries. For instance, seeing Agate and Tita for the first time in a loooong time, and being voice acted (especially Tita, who is no longer a little kid but at an age relative to the usual protagonists in the series), really hits ya if you've spent the time with these people. Haha, it seems totally rediculous saying that these characters are like old friends but these games aren't short, and the world building aside, the character development is what makes this series so special. Though I still feel you can always go back and treat the older entries as backstories or prequels and still get the same effect.

Anyways, thought i'd attempt an honest opinion after playing through the demo. I still say, if CS3 is you're only option and you're enjoying, get into it. Though from what I know about CS4, it pretty much ties all the 3 arcs together, so 3 and 4 are sort of it's own arc, which is kinda a finale. Fairly sure CS4 has almost every character from the whole story. I think that might be something to keep in mind when getting into the series.

Have fun!

@JaxonH since finishing Xenoblade I’m about 25 hours now into the first game and I’m really enjoying it so far.

I’m glad there will be a few games to try. The main strength of the series seems to be the world building, but it’s good they make it as accessible as possible to jump in anywhere.

@C-Chakra
I don’t think anyone cares if you link the videos- it’s self promotion they care about. I post vids all the time.

I may go back and play the previous ones some day on Steam, after I finish 3 and 4. If they had released on switch beforehand I would have done them in order but, I just don’t have the patience to go play them on a non-hybrid system. I’m playing Persona 4 Golden on Steam, and I haven’t made nearly as much progress due to that. Maybe if it was like, one game. But two games is really pushing it- I can barely finish Xenoblade and even put a dent into Persona.

Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but those 2 characters weren’t even in the previous two Trails games. They were from the previous trilogy, right? Because I didn’t see anything about them in the story summary and now that I’m looking it up in the wiki it’s saying they’re from the previous trilogy. That’s a pretty cool callback for sure, a nice bonus for anyone who’s played all the games.

edit
I managed to grab Trails From Zero with the English fan patch and add it to Steam with custom banners. The other one, Trails to Azure, has a new fan translation from the same team that is finished and 75% through first pass edit. So I’ll grab that one when it’s done too, and will have all the games on Steam (since I already have the Sky Trilogy and first two Cold Steel games, waiting for deep deep sale for Cold Steel 3 and 4 on Steam since I’m buying those on Switch).

Also, Last Call on the Collector Edition. Down to 6-10% stock levels.

https://store.nisamerica.com/preorders/trails-of-cold-steel-i...

@JaxonH yea, Agate and Tita are both playable (kinda secondary main characters) throughout the Sky trilogy. They haven't made an appearance since Sky the 3rd, so it was pretty special to see them again. Also really cool to see Randy from Crossbell too, Randy is a rad dude, the Crossbell cast is great in general.

@C-Chakra
You play all of them? Like, every single precious game, even the Crossbell duology?

@JaxonH I've got The Sky trilogy along with Cold Steel 1 and 2 on Steam (waiting for the Switch version of CS3 though). And I played the rough fan translations of the PSP versions for the Crossbell games, which I thought were fine.

However the Geofront crew recently finished their translation for Zero no Kiseki and it is apparently pretty amazing work, they spent years on it. Definitely check out the Geofront's version if you want to play the Crossbell games (will probably be a fair while until they finish Ao no Kiseki though). But they are translations up to quality with Xseed's and they went the extra mile even adding graphics options and all sorts of bells and whistles. They did it all for free too, so in my opinion they are absolute legends. But yea, definitely check out that Geofront version.

Unfortunately, until Falcom decide they want to localise Zero and Ao, that's the only option. It's VERY easy to be able to play them though, which is all i'll say further about that. And neither game had any game breaking bugs or crashes, just some dodgy dialogue here and there. They are definitely worth playing though, tbh I think the Crossbell duology is my favourite in terms of setting (definitely) and cast of characters (maybe? That's a tough call hehe).

Edit - Ah, just read back on you're comment and it looks like that version you got for Zero is the Geofront version, awesome! (Those versions are renamed 'Trails from Zero' and 'Trails to Azure' for others looking to play them). I'm pretty tempted to load it up and replay Zero now since my playthrough was with a dodgy old rough translation.

@C-Chakra
Ya I even have custom Trails From Zero artwork for Steam, and a custom banner for Steam Big Picture mode. Looks just like an official Steam game. Holding off on Trails to Azure until the translation is finished. But I hear the PC version isn’t perfect, screen flickers that requires a certain fix using a window borderless program, may just hold out for official translation. I heard they hinted at it happening.

@JaxonH yea, it looks like there could be a pretty decent chance for them to finally be localised. As remastered PS4 versions just recently got released in Japan with full voice acting, higher rez graphics and characters from Cold Steel being added in (Juna from CS3 is one, which is pretty cool because you will have a bit of backstory on her now).

Also with Falcom president making a statement about regretting that they haven't yet been localised in the West and also with Xseed not owning the rights to the Crossbell games. Looks like the perfect opportunity for NISA to get to work. Lol, feel pretty bad for that Geofront team though, that was one massive unpaid labour of love they put into that. I guess that's just how things go though.

Nearly 24 hrs to go.

I’m wrapping up Xenoblade right now, too. At the end of the game. Perfect timing.

Just got my order for the Extracurricular Edition from NISA.

$40 over msrp was a tad steep, but the steelbook and campus dossier are quite nice.

Guess what arrived a day early!

First Review

@JaxonH Very nice! Enjoy! I'm in Australia and have had mine pre-ordered from EB Games.. Says release date is the 10th of July here. Same with the NIS store for Australia.

-Edit I just managed to find a store here, which already have it and has an expected delivery of the 3rd-7th.. Bit better.. Will be absolutely stoked if it arrives on Friday.

@C-Chakra
Huh... that's odd. Never did understand why different regions release within 10 days apart but cant seem to coordinate the same day.

I'll probably hold off for about 10 days anyways to play Xenoblade Future Connected. Beat the main game last night and would like to play the expansion before diving into Trails full tilt. I did import my demo save though and play a bit tonight.

So that'll line up nicely with when other regions are getting it. Always hate playing a game alone, having nobody to discuss the game with as the community makes progress together.

@JaxonH I'm pretty keen to give the original Xenoblade a go at some point. I wasn't a fan of XC2 at all, heheh, which I know isn't a very popular opinion. The original looks a lot better from what i've seen.

Fingers crossed, I may have CS3 by the weekend now! lol i've been waiting years for it. Well since Feb 2018. I never expected it to come to Switch either, so the wait was well worth it.

@C-Chakra
I just gave a mini-review for Xenoblade Chronicles in the Switch thread, complete with screenshots from my playthrough and everything.

I loved it made than any other JRPG I've ever played. I did love XC2, which gets really good toward the end, but it definitely had flaws with the super long battle system and weaker story in the first half. Xenoblade X was amazing too, but the first tops both by quite a bit. Check out the Switch thread on the most recent page (or perhaps a page back by the time you read this) for the breakdown

Downloaded this myself...now just to get to it with all the other RPGs. I'm looking at you XC, Moonlighter, and others....

First game in the series I’ve played and I’m absolutely loving it. Contrary to the naysayers, this is a story that is easy to get into if you pay attention.

@scoobdoo that's awesome to hear, totally stoked you're loving it! It's hard to get a proper perspective on how newcomers will take to the series starting with this entry. As someone who's played them all, with silly minor things in the demo tugging on my nostalgia heartstrings already (Agate and Tita!), I can relate to people who warn not to start with CS3. But it seems like the general consensus is that it's fine to jump in here. Haha, I'm super stoked that you all are loving the game because (unless you haven't already noticed) this series is pretty special to me.

There aren't many (if any) franchises that I can think of that don't push the viewer (or player) with a binary good guys/bad guys scenario (at least to this scale with nation states/cults/sects/militias/corporations etc. all battling it out). Almost all 'bad' characters in Trails have reason behind their actions and sometimes the 'good' characters do 'bad' things. i.e in the demo it refers to how Rean was a part of annexing North Ambria, which he isn't proud of (not a spoiler because it happened off-screen between CS2 and 3).

It's that kinda depth that puts this series up a fair few notches for me and much better than franchises like Star Wars for instance (Rebels = good, Empire = Bad). The older I got, I started thinking. How did the Empire become so powerful if nobody in the freakin galaxy agrees with them!?! Are they just purely bankrolled by corporations? They never explain that. Trails does explain things like that, and that's why I dig the series, it digs deep below the surface to get you to sympathize with even the characters you are fighting against, let alone people you are on the journey with. Falcom's character development is as good as the world building, both are fantastic.

Anyway... enough out of me. Super psyched you're all diggin CS3. Have a great time!

Just went through the story and character summaries for ToCS I & II that are included in this game. It took a while! Now I'm ready to start playing!

@scoobdoo
That’s awesome. Did you go through the story recap first, just out of curiosity?

@Quarth
Ya it took me a little bit to get through it too. But it was well worth it. By the time I was done I was thoroughly invested in the story before I had even begun to play. Guess it did it’s job well then.

There’s a whole HOST of lore and records to read about Erebonian history in-game, too. You could spend hours in the school library just reading excerpts and history books.