At the end of last year, Falcom announced its latest entry in the Legend of Heroes JRPG series would be coming to the Switch in Japan on 18th March 2021.
NIS America has now confirmed The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV will arrive in North America and Europe on 9th April. This will be followed by an Oceania release on 16th April.
The same title was first launched on the PlayStation 4 in 2018 and followed up with a western launch last year. Here's a summary of what to expect, from NIS America (via Gematsu):
The Erebonian Empire is on the brink of all out war! Taking place shortly after the ending of Trails of Cold Steel III, the heroes of Class VII find themselves against the full force of the Empire in an attempt to stop its path of total domination. Further, the hero of the Erebonian Civil War and Class VII’s instructor, Rean Schwarzer, has gone missing. Now, the students of Class VII, old and new, must unite with heroes from all over the continent to create the only chance the world has to be spared from total destruction.
Key Features
The Ultimate Class Reunion – Boasting the largest roster in series history, heroes from all over seek to join the cause! The heroes of Class VII unite with Crossbell’s Special Support Section and even the heroes of Liberl.
Battle Most Refined – New and returning systems join the already polished combat of The Legend of Heroes series, including the ability to summon giant mechs to the field for devastating attacks, use Auto Battle for more expedient combat, and utilize Lost Arts, the most powerful Orbal magic capable of turning the tide of battle.
Pursuits of the War Weary – In between epic battles, catch a breather with a number of mini-games including returning favorites like Vantage Master, fishing and puzzle games! And introducing new pursuits like Poker, Blackjack, and the Horror Coaster.
Is this a JRPG you would be interested in sinking your teeth into on the Nintendo Switch? Leave a comment down below.
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 26
Never played this series before. Is it good?
Good news, because I’m interested in this series...but I’d still like to play 1 and 2 first.
@Synecdoche @TriforceReturns This game ties together characters from 15 years of the series, with the characters from the Trails in the Sky trilogy and the Ao/Zero no Kiseki duology. Lord knows why they’re releasing these without the others being on Switch as I’d strongly recommend playing the previous 5 games before playing Cold Steel 1. It’s a mess and honestly you’ll be completely lost without watching hours of YouTube videos or playing the other games.
@nessisonett I mean, TitS and Crossbell aren't on PS4, and that doesn't seem to stop people from enjoying Cold Steel.
@TriforceReturns @Synecdoche Definitely start with Cold Steel 1 and 2 first, as this series is incredibly story-heavy. The games are already out on Vita/PS4/PS3/PC, but the first two games are also being ported to Switch in Japan sometime this year, so they'll probably come Westward at some point.
Great news! I hope we get I and II eventually!
@Ralizah Technically, the PC is the only platform where you can get the entire series in one place.
But @nessisonett has a point. While the games / sub-series' are good enough to stand on their own, it is a tightly connected, ongoing narrative from "Trails in the Sky" all the way to "Cold Steel IV"
It's a shame Falcom didn't make sure one of their most excellent creations stays easily available considering its lifespan (And their obsession with porting Ys Book 1+2).
Bundle the older games together, get someone to finally officially translate Zero / Azure (Or license the phenomenal work done by the Geofront) and port it to everything with a current!
It's a series that deserves to be enjoyed from beginning to end ^^
@Einherjar @Ralizah At this point it would be like the next Fire Emblem having characters and subplots from Genealogy of the Holy War tightly woven into the narrative. It’s fine for Japanese gamers and PC owners but Falcom have screwed this up royally by porting certain games and localising certain games.
@Einherjar I don't disagree, but telling people they need to play five 50+ hour JRPGs that aren't available on modern consoles before the series they're interested in is going to scare off everyone but the most hardcore of players.
They miss some references, but most people who enjoy the Cold Steel games do so without having experienced the previous Trails games.
@nessisonett I'm not even sure I'd say it's "fine" for PC owners considering you still have to jump through hoops to play the Crossbell games.
The issue is that Falcom seems content to stay a tiny, unambitious developer that caters exclusively to their hardcore fanbase in Asia. They seem totally uninterested in making their opus more accessible to new players and/or expanding their audience. The only reason these games are even releasing on Switch is because NIS offered to port the games over for them.
This is one reason why Ys is better. It doesn't really matter what order you play the games in. Also, Falcom continually remakes games in the series so that they're more palatable for modern audiences.
In the last couple of months I played the Sky trilogy, watched the Crossbell games in YouTube and played the four Cold Steel games. I really think that many events in Cold Steel 4 will make no sense if you are not familiar with the characters and their backstories since they are not summarised or explained in it. This game is the epitome of world and character building in the course of many years and I love it for many reasons but it is not an easy recommendation. The Switch version makes sense in Japan since many played the previous games on the PSP and the Vita that were highly popular there.
@Ralizah Agreed. Although it's somewhat of a special situation regarding Cold Steel IV, as it literally doesn't just wrap up the CS sub-series, but the entire saga as a whole.
But yes, it shouldn't stop anyone from at least getting into the Cold Steel sub-series, even though it's grand finale might lack the "grand" part for them.
I'm so pleased that Falcon and NIS are investing into he switch now. Played the first two of these on Vita and just finished the third in Switch with 170 hours clocked.
Totally get the argument that it's annoying the first two haven't been released on Switch yet, especially when they're so connected to the following two games narratively, but ultimately any series that runs for a number of years is going to cross console generations and its not always possible, realistic or economic to release older games in newer platforms. It's nothing new. I wonder how many people who begrudge the absence of the first two games simply don't own another platform they could play the games on? Realistically most of us do, and I suspect Falcom and NIS know that. There probably aren't many people who would be interested in a 100+hr epic JRPG whose only gaming platform they have owned in the last decade is the Switch. It's an inconvenience, but clearly isn't stopping people playing these brilliant games.
Didn't they already say they were bringing 1 and 2 to Switch? Or did I dream it lol?
@GrailUK You are correct but they're only available for Japanese audiences. They never confirmed it for anywhere else.
@Ralizah
We need TitS to be ported just so that we can talk about TitS more. 😉
Played through all of the Western games + Zero/Ao last year and was enamored by them. I'm excited to see this come to Switch like Cold Steel 3, but I hope NISA is seriously considering porting the Zero/Ao Switch/PS4 ports they're getting in Japan. Not sure if Cold Steel 1+2 still falls under XSEED publishing in the US though, but I'd love those as well.
While I haven't played the Trails in the Sky or Crossbell games, the Cold Steel saga was really really good!
I'm hoping for this next one they get the text right. I ended up rebuying TCS3 on PS because the text using the 720p UI on Switch when docked was just painful. The game looks basically as good docked and portable and the "native" 4K PS4 Pro version scarcely looks any better. But the text res on the Switch version of 3 shouldn't have made it to print for docked play. I can't imagine why they did that.
I get that it's all a connected universe, but the Internet exists, and 3 includes a big "the story so far" option, so it's not like it's going to be impossible to follow for newcomers. Going back and playing old games for the story is great, but the games are scarcely available, largely antiquated, and kind of clumsy to play at this point in time. Imagine if you had to play FFVIII before playing Dragon Quest XI? I ended up buying at least TCS1&2 on the PS4 ports, and they look really good, visually, but I can't really imagine enduring much of the gameplay. It's just outdated enough to be unfun if you didn't play when it was new.
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. Already played through it on PS4, but shall be adding it to the collection on Switch as I bought III there as well.
@Bizaster
Me, too.
Then, i'll buy all the chapters.
I am currently 3 quarters the way through the third game in the series. I love this series and played the first two on the vita. I would suggest that people need to play 1,2 before attempting 3,4.
3 is half-assed and semi-broken on switch. bad framerate, sometimes the game will randomly freeze. anyone in doubt, should go check r/falcom. quite a few people admitted CS3 was just a bad port on switch.
so what will CS4 be? the same? lazy, with lots of framerate drops and it will freeze too? i wonder
@GrailUK They are bringing the Trails of Zero games to the PS4, but once again it appears to be Japanese only.
@NEStalgia To each their own. I will admit ( in my personal opinion) once you have played 3 or 4 the combat system of the first 2 do seem pale in comparison lol, but sometimes old fashion is fun to go back and play sometimes.
I will also say trying to marathon the trails games ( playing) to me at least would get a bit boring as once you have played the first to TITS game ( haven't finished 3rd which is a breath of fresh air compared to the rest of the saga we have access to) you have seen the games formulatic foundation ( 1st game is linear ( do a job, then serious thing goes down), second game starts out linear then kind turns to open world) sadly all 4 Cold steel games follow this formula ( still love them, but it does kinda drain one at times and with the first two games I did have to take a break before finishing them lol).
@brendon987 as I read in a comment about a review a newcomer did for 4 ( the comment section roasted the reviewer for complaining about how he wasn't given enough backstory not to be lost lol) you can get away with starting at 3 since it is a break in the story introducing a new generation ( mostly) of characters.
Nice can't wait to play it again, hopefully we'll get the first two for Switch soon too.
@Vortexeo Ah, that would be why I'm hazy. Hmm...sure it's only a matter of when not if
Tap here to load 26 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...