JRPG fans who own a Switch are in for an absolute treat next year – with NIS America announcing The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III by Nihon Falcom will be released on Nintendo's system in Spring 2020.
This is the first title in The Legend of Heroes series to be made available on the hybrid hardware. Like the PlayStation 4 version of the game released in 2017, the Switch iteration will run at a locked 720p resolution and 30 frames per second in both docked and handheld modes (thanks, Gematsu).
Trails of Cold Steel III invites players to a world full of "intrigue and excitement" as they embark on a whirlwind tour through never-before-seen lands of the recently expanded Erebonian countryside, meet new faces and reunite with old friends.
The deep and engaging story pairs players with an incredible cast of characters and a combat system that has been refined over many years. Here's a bit more about the story itself, directly from the PR:
Nearly a year and a half has passed since the Erebonian civil war, and much has changed since then. From the shifting stances of countries to the internal politics of the Empire, and even the life of Rean Schwarzer, the shadows of the past have given way to the embers of a new chapter. Now graduated from Thors Military Academy, Rean has become an instructor at the Thors Branch Campus, a newly-opened academy that quickly finds itself thrust onto the national stage. It is here that he takes the lead of a brand new Class VII, and must guide a new generation of heroes into an unknown future. Though all is calm now, the nefarious Ouroboros organization continues to weave a dark plot that could engulf the entire continent in war...or perhaps something even more sinister.
And here are the key features:
Welcome to the New Class VII – Explore the newly annexed lands of the Empire with a brand new squad, and catch up with familiar faces from the past.
An Immersive Story – Experience an epic story developed across three titles, and crafted for new and old fans alike. Also includes an interactive introduction to catch up new players to the ongoing story so anyone can dive right in to the world of Trails of Cold Steel.
Combat Honed to a Fine Edge – Challenge oncoming threats with a combat system that has been refined over the course of decades. The addition of features like Brave Order and the Break System opens up new possibilities in battle.
Lastly is a bit of history about the game's developer Nihon Falcom:
Falcom is a game developer founded in 1981 that has created many titles for consumer game platforms and boasts an extremely enthusiastic fanbase worldwide. Notable titles include the “Ys” series, the “Trails” series, and Tokyo Xanadu.
Check out the trailer above and tell us if you're excited about this upcoming Switch release.
Comments 56
I enjoyed the first of 6 games, but never got myself to play through the rest. As I get older, I have less patience for long RPGs, even if the story is enjoyable. I did like their overall worldbuilding in that first game, but yeah...
Considering how continuity-heavy Trails is in general, starting the series with the third installment is a very strange choice. Ys could skate by because each game is just "Adol explores such-and-such a place" with just a few references to past adventures, but... yeah, Trails is a tough one to just jump into the middle of the plot.
Good to see this make it's way over... But I just bought all 3 Cold Steel games on the PS4 plus only just started playing the Sky FC on PSP so yeah, I think I'll skip this one.
Now we just need XSeed to give us 1 and 2
@Sabrewing Yeah Ys8 pretty much makes its fair share of references to Celceta and even a familiar face is on the island.
Wonder how many references to 8 I'll see in 9 once that comes out.
All year, since it was announced for PS4 the only video game news I really cared about was "Cold Steel 3 for PC!" Never considered that it would come to Switch. I am rediculously, goddamn, super freakin stoked about this! Bring the whole series!
Man I'm seeing a lot of people acting elitist about this game and not letting people enjoy it properly because of the continuity. I mean, it does suck that we're not getting any of the other games, but come on. People were super grateful that we got South Park: Fractured But Whole even though it was a sequel to Stick of Truth, and that was due to Obsidian not having the proper tools to port to Switch at the time. We eventually did get it, but only after a while.
And likewise with the recent announcement of Persona 5 Scramble and the fact that it's a full-on sequel to the main game, people don't seem to care all that much even though we'll be missing pieces there as well if we don't have anything but a Switch.
But now everyone is saying this is a bad move or something. Just wow. I've never seen people mad that a game is COMING to Switch before. You just never see that. I want to get this game but since I only have a Switch and nothing else, it's not gonna be as easy to understand, but it looks fun. Not sure what to do.
I've got the first two Cold Steel games for my Vita, obviously I'll need to work on finishing those, but it's exciting this game is coming.
I loved playing this on my psp back then
@PBandSmelly Here this is relevant LOL
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/001/168/038/aa5.jpg
@JR150 I haven't been able to play 3 yet so i'm not sure about this but... The series has a pretty massive overall plot, though each arc does have their own story and a set of new protagonists which learn from scratch (kinda) about the overall plot. So pretty much you can jump into any one of the first entries of each arc and you won't be lost at all (you sort of learn with them), just some things might not mean as much to you (like characters you haven't seen for a long, long time popping up).
This one is a weird one though because the main protagonist is the same from Cold Steel 1 and 2 but the others aren't. So, if 3 and 4 have their own new story enough to be considered its own arc, I would say there is nothing really wrong with jumping in here then. From what i've gathered though, 3 and 4 is the chapter that concludes all the three arcs. Hope this helps, tried to explain it best I can, someone whose played 3 might be able to elaborate on this.
@TechaNinja yeah but YS9 is very different. Saw the videos and it totally lost its charm. Not everything needs to be changed or come up with something new. The past YS games were a hit for a reason. I did enjoy the 8th game, but not as much as the previous ones and 9 completely changed into a different game with "YS" theme. It became assassin creed with all the jumps on high buildings etc... tha'ts not a typical YS game. I might skip this one to show no support to a such game that should've been like the old one that everyone loves. They made RE5 and RE6 move as Capcom. it won't be for the better. Mark my words
@JR150 persona 5 scramble is more like a spin-off.
@jobvd
Gameplay wise? Yes. However it's been confirmed that it's a direct canon sequel to the real P5 RPG game that's only on PS4. Meaning Switch-only users are left out to dry with no context of the events.
@JR150 This is not about being elitists, this is about letting people know that
CS3 doesn't even come close to being perfectly understandable without knowledge of the previous games, as much as NISA wants people to believe.
Constant callbacks, returning characters and a continuous storyline are the name of the game (or rather, of the entire series).
To make a very bad, cringe-inducing comparison, CS3 is like Infinity War, but instead of being the sequel to a bunch of 3-hour movies, it's the sequel to a bunch of closely-linked 50- to 100-hour JRPGs.
This game gives me a feel of Hybrid heaven.
Man loved that game.
Nice, but... Why just the third...?
Lol, flopped on PS4 so they try to recover the loss on Switch. No thanks there are better games of the genre to play on this machine.
@Alucard83 I'm playing Ys 9 right now and I'm nearing the end (I don't speak Japanese, so I can't comment on the story at all.) While there is wall running and a few other new abilities, it's still an Ys game, obviously more like 8 than any of the older ones. There are still big open areas with lots of monsters to kill and treasure chests to find, fun dungeons, great boss fights and a rocking soundtrack. The big main city can be a bit of a slog at times, but it's not like you're stuck there the whole game.
I just finished Trails of Cold Steel 3 the other day and absolutely loved it. I've only played ToCS 1,2 and 3 and I hope 4 comes over soon so I can finish that arc before jumping into Trails in the Sky trilogy and (hopefully) the Crossbell arc. I'm curious to see how people new to the series will fare with ToCS 3 as their entry point.
@JR150 I didn't say "bad", I said "strange". This is up there with EA only porting Mass Effect 3 to the Wii U, or if Spike Chunsoft somehow only decided to port Zero Time Dilemma to the Switch without 999 and Virtue's Last Reward to precede it.
Yeah, it's great the game is getting wider audience exposure, but it comes with the caveat that newcomers will be scratching their heads at why plot details are highlighted as important.
Pretty sweet, heard good things about this one. Not too bothered about not playing the previous games - the story summary seems decent enough.
Uhh... Cool I guess but shouldn't you release the first two games on the system first, as I've understood these games are pretty much straight sequels to each other.
I played the first Trails of Cold Steel on the PS3, personally I found it very underwhelming especially considering how much people seemed to hype this series. I failed to see the appeal at all.
Going to support this. I still need to get into the series properly, but it will be so much easier if they port the series to switch. My Vita is starting to struggle with life!
720p in docked mode with anime-style graphics seems a bit low.. It's literally PS3 era.
Hmm, I love the Trails series but it’s just nonsense to release CS3 when you basically need to play all the other games first. Here’s hoping they release Sky Trilogy, Zero, Ao and the first two Cold Steel then.
@Sabrewing @AXM
So what am I supposed to do then? XSeed has the rights to the first two games and it's on them to bring those over. And we've seen how developer Falcom acted when Ys 8 didn't sell that well on Switch and claimed making games for the system is too hard.
In essence, the best thing to do would be to buy Trails 3 to show that the demand is there so they'll bring the other games over. The Switch is the only platform I play games on so I literally don't have any better options.
Well, I've never played a Trails of Cold Steel game before but I am a big fan of Falcom's Ys series and am eagerly waiting and hoping for a Switch port of Ys 9.
So Trails fans, how does this series compare to Ys. Is it as good as that series?
@Nomad Comparing Ys to Trails is like comparing Zelda to Persona. Totally different game concepts. Trails is a slow paced turn based RPG with heavy emphasis on character development and world building and a complex battle system with tons of customization. Trails of Cold Steel uses the same engine as Ys 8 and 9 so the graphics are similar.
I'm very happy about this. I have the first two Cold Steel games on Vita, and again on PS4 along with this one. But I've never played more than the first few hours. Being on Switch and as a less rigid current gen entry means I'll be jumping into this one.
As for the story arc, the game includes an interactive (kind of) plot summary accessed from the main menu that expounds in great detail the events leading up to the present. The best part is the story summary which is told chapter by chapter with various characters appearing on screen as it explains past sequence of events.
Trails of Cold Steel Summary
Trails of Cold Steel 2 Summary
Character Profiles
World Introduction
And each of those topics have menus and submenus, with all people, places, things, events and ideas thoroughly explained. Obviously not preferable to having actually played other games, but for someone new jumping in, it'll at least ensure people know what's going on.
@JR150 It's not your fault so much as it is NISA and Falcom's for even thinking this was a good idea in the first place, especially for lying that this is a good place to jump in.
I genuinely didn't know that it had a plot summary like JaxonH mentioned, and hopefully it works well enough. Hopefully better than those pitiful 5-minute-long videos KH3 and DMC5 had.
@AXM
Being real. They probably knew how well JRPGs on Switch were doing but realized that since XSeed is too poor/stubborn to port the first two Trails, they rushed this out instead. Sucks, but hey at least they can expand the audience a little.
@JaxonH
Thank goodness. Now I'm less worried about being called a peasant for jumping in late. XD
I wasn't really expecting to see this on Switch. Nice. I haven't finished 2 yet, so I wasn't in a big hurry to get 3 when it came out on the PS4 a month or two back.
I really enjoyed the first one. It's pretty old-school, and kind of easy for the most part, but apparently that's what I like.
@alpha5099 True - I finished the first one but barely scratched the surface on #2 ... love the series since playing the first PSP release (only ever played any of them on Sony handhelds)
Nice. It reminds me of "RWBY" (with a bigger focus on mechs), which is certainly not a bad thing.
If thats the English synchro, I hope we will have the option to switch to Japanese dub
Cool, now they just have to port the other 2 and then I'll care.
really stupid choice bringing this but not the first two
@TobiasAmaranth @Sabrewing Yeah I played an beat Trails in the Sky and thought it was great but cannot make myself beat Trails in the Sky Pt. 2 and then theres apart 3 after that which all contribute to understanding more of the Cold Steel series! D=
Well, I'm stoked about this coming to Switch, especially after all that nonsense about Nihon Falcom not seeing its audience on Switch. It was always going to be down to NIS to bring this series over. I really hope they bring over Cold Steel I and II as well. I mean, they might as well, right, since they ported them to PS4 only this year?
Played Trails in the Sky (FC) for the first time this year, and have already got the Second Chapter ready to go on PSP, which I'll probably tackle some time in 2020. Great series, and deserves to be on as many platforms as Falcom and NIS can manage between them.
I hear this is a good series, but haven't checked out the others. Hopefully they'll work out any issues with the multiple publishers/Developers for the other entries and maybe we can see the rest show up. One of these days I may try out the series.
Really nice to see this coming to Switch, if this sells well I hope NIS brings the other entries too.
No, bring out part 1 in the series first dummies!
Would be nice if they bring over some of the Vita Japanese exclusive games but I'll take Ys IX.
Okay as someone who loves Ys 8, Persona 5, and Dragon Quest 11. However, got bored af of Octopath would I enjoy this?
Great game... and perfect for the Switch. Loved it... If you like turn based jRPG this is for you.
But just like The Witcher. Really should play the first ones to experience the full scope of this game and characters.
I have the first on on ps3 and found it underwhelming. I really haven't been impressed with any of Nihon falcoms more recent titles. I will most likely be sitting this one out.
@Krull
Xseed owns the rights to the first two, so it's up to them.
I really enjoyed Cold Steel 1, the characters and story were top notch. It's been a while since I cared about characters in an RPG the way I did Rean and the gang. Unfortunately I never had the chance to get through part 2 on Vita, but I think I will go ahead and just jump on part 3. I'm sure the game's internal recap will be enough. Gotta clean up my backlog so I can give the game my full attention when it's time.
@construx agree — I personally won’t support anything under 1080p. It’s almost 2020!!!
@mauhlin12 Ah, a JRPG then, I can dig it. How's the soundtrack on this one. I have always been impressed with the music on the Ys games.
@feder Ah, of course. I get really confused about the Trails games, because the publishing flits all over the place. I think NIS still handled publishing for Cold Steel I and II in the EU, even though Xseed did the translation and the US publishing. And, of course, NIS has taken over the licence now anyway.
@Nomad The music in Trails is still great, but it's not the in your face guitar shredding music from Ys (with the exception of a few boss fights.)
@Nomad like mauhlin12 said, the music in Trails is less guitar driven than Ys and more orchestral, but does have its moments. These 3 should give you a good example of what to expect for Cold Steel series. I'd say for me, old Ys tracks are the best. Trails in Sky beats Cold Steel but both were better OSTs than Ys 8, I think anyway. Hope that helps.
https://youtu.be/9JA_4eC4hQ0
https://youtu.be/b-EZsZHZOV0
https://youtu.be/79XUNj4UOL8
@C-Chakra Thanks for that. Yeah it sounds epic, like they put a lot of effort into making a very good soundtrack.
Falcom do good soundtracks, better then a lot of the big triple A developers IMO.
Man, I can see the coming back of many characters from Liberl and Crossbell just by the trailer. Surely bring back many old memories.
I completed all seven Kiseki entries (Sky triology, Crossbell Duology and the first two Cold Steel games) and honestly I feel lucky that I did it.
Each arc of this series reconnected each other to become a big and overall story of Zemuria Continent. Unlike Ys games, Kiseki series focus more on the depth story and developing the personality of not only heroes but also NPCs. That's why you need an amount of time to explore awa get closer with those characters.
As I become more busier with daily tasks, it's difficult for me to play JRPG games more than 3 hours a day or sitting on the big screen to play them.
Luckily, this announcement give me a chance immerse myself into the Kiseki world once again. Time for saving up and buy a Switch.
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