The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Reviews
Overall though, and without too many other spoilers, I enjoyed, laughed, cried, and damn near yelled at the TV over the course of sixty plus hours for the normal ending before even starting to head back for the true ending and conclusion to Class VII’s adventures as we await what comes up next in The Legend of Heroes: Hajimari no Kiseki which released this year in Japan.
While The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV brings an epic conclusion to the saga, it's not without faults. The fantastic newer elements from the third entry return while this entry refines it into an ultimately better system. It also continues the use of a lot of strange presentation choices that feel almost archaic in 2020. Despite this, players will have an extremely large cast of heroes to work with in a fun setting. It's sort of like the Avengers: Endgame of JRPGs.
As a whole, Trails of Cold Steel IV’s repetitive nature and weaker writing made this grand JRPG series end on a bit of a disappointing note.
Trails of Cold Steel comes to an end in episode 4, after seven years of story, by bringing a satisfying conclusion to fans of the saga and bringing together dozens of characters we know throughout the games. Despite maintaining the same combat system with some balancing on specific things, the gameplay is fun and consistent. The game is a beautiful service to fans, delivering dozens of hours of content to end the story in a dignified way.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Legends of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV delivers the perfect conclusion to the epic saga of Class VII. All our questions are answered, we get to reunite with every character we’ve bonded with over the years, and it all comes together into a spectacular finale which won’t disappoint fans of the series. There’s so much to see, do, interact with, and ‘collect’, the world is massive and the game actively encourages you to explore and investigate every location as if it’s your last chance to do so – providing addictive mini-games and funny events to keep you occupied between slaughtering enemies. If you’ve played any of the previous games and you liked them, this game is an essential purchase.
Trails of Cold Steel IV is as much of an epic as its predecessors in just about every way.
Nihon Falcom’s Trails of Cold Steel proudly stands amongst the few which can truly be considered to be at the pinnacle of the modern-day, story-driven JRPG, and it was truly wonderful seeing the culmination of the series’ work within The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV.
All said and done, Trails of Cold Steel IV is more of the same from its predecessor last year while bringing in more of the wider Legend of Heroes series to light. Those without prior knowledge will certainly miss out on a lot but for those who have been around since the start, this is one finale you will not want to miss!
Trails of Cold Steel IV is to the Trails series what Avengers: Endgame was for the MCU, and I’m both happy and proud that Falcom had me along for the ride.
Few titles exist that feature one of the best combat systems ever created with a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Trails of Cold Steel IV is quite frankly one of the best RPGs I have ever played, and I cannot wait to see what the future of the franchise has in store.
For those who’ve stuck with Class VII through thick and thin over three games, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is the crowning achievement to an exceptionally well-written story with plenty of tears and laughter mixed together into a timeless package.
In the end, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is an epic conclusion to the series, but I’m partially glad that it’s over. There are many reasons to play through Trails of Cold Steel IV, from an engaging gameplay loop to an epic story. It takes some of the best elements of the series and combines it for one last hurrah aimed at those who stuck with it for this long.