Fans of Falcom's excellent Legend of Heroes series, rejoice – we're getting more JRPG goodness on the Switch next year, thanks to the fact that The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2 are both being released on Nintendo's console.
These two titles – originally released on Sony systems in 2013 and 2014 respectively – will be joining the already-available Trails of Cold Steel III and Trails of Cold Steel IV (the latter of which is out on PS4 currently and comes to Switch early next year.)
The catch? They're only confirmed for Japan at present, but given that the third and fourth games have been localised, there's a good chance that we could see these come to western Switch consoles in time – the translation already exists, after all.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel I is due out June 2021, while the second game is coming in July.
[source gonintendo.com]
Comments 42
Yes please! This is the main reason I’ve not picked up CSIII yet. Definitely up for this.
Fingers Crossed!!
I only recently got into the Trails series with Trails of the Sky on PSP / Vita. Want to get the full background before diving into the Cold Steel saga. The added portability of Switch versions would be amazing for me!
The anime highschool theme in the first entry turned me off this series entirely. As I understand the later games don't have that anymore but it's not as if I can just jump into the succeeding entries either since I would assume there are some pretty critical story moments in the first game as well.
It's a big reason on why I don't think games should go for so many straight sequels, even moreso on genres like JRPGs which also tend to be some of the most time consuming games to beat.
I'm very happy for this, will get them in Japanese if not released in English.
But now comes the part where I'll sound super entitled but... I really want Trails in the Sky too
They really should have done this earlier. I'm interested in trying the series but it made no sense to start with the third game so I passed on it when it released. I'll probably give the first game a go when it releases, which I assume will have English support.
Gimme gimme gimme!
I wanted to play them on vita but switch will be much easier!
I picked up and played through the first entry on Vita this year but the second is expensive to get hold of in Europe physically, so I might watch what happens.
The PSP/Vita were handheld JRPG powerhouses with so many games like Persona 1-4, Final Fantasy 1-9/Tactics/Crisis Core, etc.... I found that RPGs were a great fit for handhelds because of the instant-on/play-anywhere aspect. (Smartphones seemed like they would be good for RPGs and I've enjoyed a couple of games but I usually dislike touch controls and gacha.) Now of course we are stuck at home but fortunately the Switch can connect to a TV (much like the PSP 2000 or the PSTV, come to think of it...)
(erm...all I can think of to say is) YES PLEASE!
Like many I was put off of III without the background of I and II
Will definitely give the first one a try, and if it's half as good as people say, that's a guaranteed 4 buys from me
XSeed! Head my call!
They'll for sure come to the west at some point. The big question is: why didn't part 1 and 2 come out on the Switch before part 3? Or at least have all 3 launch around the same time (kind of like what No More Heroes is doing)?
Oh well, I suppose it doesn't matter at this point.
@Slowdive
Memories of Celcetta seems like it'd be very likely to get a Switch port. It's the only Ys game that's on PS4 but not yet on Switch.
Other than that, I'm not sure. I don't really see Falcom porting, say, Oath in Felghanna or Ys Seven, but what I do know?
I was thinking of picking up 1 and 2 on the PS4 and 3 on the Switch, but with this news I'll likely just wait to see if 1 and 2 get brought over to the west on Switch. Hopefully we get physical versions and it's not just digital only.
I just spent 115 hours going through all the content of Cold Steel III. Really great series, I'm glad the older entries are coming to Switch for those who haven't played them.
That being said, after beating Part III, I'm not sure I'm willing to wait for the Switch version of Part IV when the PS4 version is out now.
@JoeDiddley Same. It's just like the Sword Art Online games on the Vita. It's hard to find a copy of Hollow Fragment and it's not on the PSN Store.
@RushDawg The big answer to your big question is licences. Still not guaranteed that we will get ToCS I and II in the West, as Xseed has the licence for those first two, while NIS has the licence for III and IV.
The mere fact that I and II are coming out in Japan, though, showing the porting process works, gives us hope over here!
These need to come west.
Even though I already have the Vita versions...
YES. YES YES YES YEEEEEESSSSS. Please, please, PLEASE let these come west. I might even buy them myself for a second playthrough.
@Krull
That doesn’t really answer my question though, since there isn’t a licensing issue in Japan. Why didn’t Japan get parts 1 & 2 first or simultaneously with the release of part 3? Not that it really matters anymore, it’s just a very odd way to port these games to Switch.
As for licensing issues in the West, XSEED, Nis and Falcon figured out how to make it work on the PS4 and I’m confident they’ll come to a similar agreement for the Switch.
Do you actually need to play part 1 & 2 first or is it more like Valkyria Chronicles? That its more a shared world and history but you don't really need to play in chronological order to understand the story/reasons.
@RushDawg I hope you’re right!
You’re right about the Japan licence - but who is behind the Switch ports there? Falcom doesn’t do any development for Switch - which is why there was no news of Ys IX for Switch until NIS stepped in.
Maybe they were just testing the market with the most recent Cold Steel available, before jumping with both feet?
Hmmm. I was planning to play the Vita versions of these games that I already have, but now I’m wondering if I should wait. I wouldn’t mind not needing to bother using my Vita ever again, to be honest. It was a fine little handheld, but I like the Switch so much better.
I’ve played the first 10 hours or so of 3 on my Switch. You can definitely jump in from 3 as far as I can tell but I did end up getting 1 and 2 for the PS4 in the recent sale. Really want to start 1 but Persona 3 is capturing most of my time at the moment. It’s great these games might come to the Switch over here though.
@Mrrabbitpuncher The Trails series is three "arcs" (one of which is Asia-only at the moment, but has one excellent fan translation out and another in the works). The series as a whole is how you describe Valkyria Chronicles - you don't need to play the Sky trilogy or Crossbell duology to understand the Cold Steel quadrilogy, though it's recommended you do because it ties into both, ESPECIALLY THE CROSSBELL DUOLOGY - but each arc has to be started from its beginning, so yes, you do need to know what happens in CS1 and CS2 (at the very least, read CS3's in-game refresher).
Finally. The big hurdle was the work that needed to be put into a port, though. SOMEBODY will bring this over. I wonder if XSEED's Western distribution rights for the first two games extends to these new ports as well?
EXCITING!!! I really really hope they get english ported!!! Trails is my fav series & I would love that!
Nice, no reason to stick to the PS Vita versions anymore then.
@Retro_Player_77 That is assuming they get released in the west, since Xseed, not NISA, holds the rights. Then again, that didn't stop the PS4 versions from being released overseas, so IMO there is a decent chance they will be.
Good news indeed, though I wonder if these will come out in the West since XSEED has the license rights. Trails of Cold Steel III really interested me, but I passed on it as I was told that, even with the summaries of the first two games, it's best to actually play them. I also found the runtime (according to HLTB) a little alarming.
Great news, after 3 and 4 were released/announced for Switch, I felt the first two were inevitable on Switch. Its great that the whole cold steel series will be on Switch now. 👍
Nice! I'm playing Cold Steel IV on PS4 now, this is truly one of the best RPG series ever, especially when it comes to characters, world building, battle system and music. I was starting to think 1 and 2 weren't coming to Switch, but I'm glad I was wrong. Also 1 and 2 have already been localized by XSEED and they're excellent. I'd also recommend that if you're able, play Trails in the Sky Trilogy as well. I played them on Steam and my potato PC ran them just fine.
@TechaNinja Acknowledged!
We need the rest of the Japanese only games remastered and released in the west.
@Krull Same here, I was hoping this would happen so I hold off on gettin ToCS 3 for that reason. I was about to give up and get it for the PS3.
Honestly, I've never played a Trails game until CS3 and I was fine with the summary because it was fairly concise enough to the point where you feel familiar with the characters when you see them for the first time.
It will probably be neat to have the previous two games, but I have no intention of playing the previous games
I'm moving on to CS4
@Expa0 This series is really good at not overwhelming you in terms of gameplay. The story is absolutely insane, the worldbuilding and character development is awesome, and all of the games include a section in the options that gives you a recap of the characters and events of the previous game. You might still be a little lost (again, the story is absolutely insane), but these are easily my favorite RPGs of all time, so I'd recommend at least trying it. Working through 3 right now and loving every crazy second.
I knew I should have waited. I finished Trails in the Sky Series and Crossbell Series recently. I kept reading that they would most likely never bring Cold Steel 1 and 2 to the Switch. So I bought them on PS4 a couple weeks ago while they were on sale. Just beat the first one yesterday. Also picked up #3 for Switch last week. I hate buying games twice, but if these 2 come to NA I will end up getting them again.
Aww, those were the games I actually wanted.
I’ll give them a year for the western announcement and if we don’t get one I’ll buy it in japanese.
Gotta say I didn’t think that they’d work this out so I will double dip to show my support.
If priced accordingly, I'll check these two out. Wanted to get the third but I heard you really need to play the first two games first
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