The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Reviews
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.
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.
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.
Closing out the tale of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel saga has certainly been one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I’ve had in my life. Seeing how far everyone in Class VII has grown and remembering all the trials they’ve had to overcome to reach this point in their lives has been an incredibly amazing journey. They are characters that we’ve grown attached to and we wanted to see how their journey plays out and how it’ll end and we got just that in this final game and one can’t help but probably become a bit emotional over that. While the saga may be over, they still have a part to play in the grand scheme of things which we can definitely see more of them in the next Trails series.
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.
The train of Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV has reached its final destination with flying colors. A thunderous applause can be heard and the guests can leave the train confident and satisfied. The same was my feeling when I finished the final epic. The series has accompanied me for many hours and I wouldn't want to miss any of them. Also the end was not the actual end. If you really want to know everything, you have to make certain decisions that I don't want to go into here, but it's worth it in any case. Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is the perfect end of the series. A thrilling story right to the end, forces every RPG lover to play the game to the end, even if it can take up to 100 hours. The sound is well done and makes fun to listen to. Especially the variety of different sounds made me add the tracks to my spotifylist. The only downer remains the look. The look has improved over the last seven years for the series itself, but is still not state of the art. I also really liked the combat system with the new features like Auto Battle or the huge Mechs that can be summoned. Everyone who played the series until the third part is forced to finish the final part. If you have never played an offshoot, you will have a hard time finding your way into the game. While it's not a bad idea to rework the story so far, it doesn't replace playing the series.
Review in German | Read full review
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!
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.
Trails of Cold Steel IV is as much of an epic as its predecessors in just about every way.
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 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
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.
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.
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.
Ultimately, if you are an existing Trails of Cold Steel fan and you want to finish the story, you have no reason not to pick this game up. This is the ending you’ve been waiting for and more of what you love. If you’re only a returning Cold Steel III fan, you also might as well finish the story and see where Class VII ends up and what happens next. Despite not surpassing the greatness that was CS3, I had a fun time with Trails of Cold Steel IV. It’s a ton of content for the money and well worth playing at least once.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is an exceptional title in the series. The cast of characters is immense and interesting while the story follows it up with bombshells. An already great turn-based combat system is refined and enhanced. This is a must play for RPG fans who have already played Cold Steel games.
Trails of Cold Steel 4 is far from the best of the series, mainly because it loses some of the impact of what it presents us, but it is still a great conclusion to a captivating story with an extensive and well-characterized group of interesting characters. Make no mistake, we are undoubtedly facing one of the greatest sagas of modern RPGs. Anyone willing to spend 300 or 400 hours playing Trails of Cold Steel 1, 2, 3 and 4 will be enriched by this experience with a lasting rewarding feeling. It is truly a title that denotes greatness and that has taken on without any fear the difficult task of being able to deliver to its fans a captivating, emotional and different ending. The feeling that will last in the minds and hearts of the players is that we are part of that group of friends and we will truly feel sorry that we will not return to that world again.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Trails of Cold Steel IV is a turn-based RPG with the best combat system created until the date and every player of the genre should try. At an argumentative level, it is a superb game with very well-designed characters, which to top it off is finished with an artistic design. However, the game has an important flaw: as no time has passed between this title and the previous, the novelties are almost non-existent, taking its toll on visual level and especially on a sound level.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite the slow start, Trails of Cold Steel IV delivers a conclusion worthy of the series' 16-year legacy.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV builds off of the previous three entries and finally brings a conclusion to the long-running Erebonian Arc.