The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Reviews
I was elated to complete my journey through this arc, but was saddened by the thought of it all coming to an end. A relatable connection made in each character’s resolve, and will to persevere. A determinable outcome, but a parable that exceeds legend. A must play for the JRPG devout.
Let’s be honest, if you haven’t been sold on the Cold Steel series by this point it’s unlikely the forth game is going to change your mind. If you’re new and the Switch is your only option I would suggest picking up the third entry first (or waiting and pray that the first two games get localized for Switch in the West). While more of the same, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV really stands out as one of the best jRPGs I’ve played in a long time, even if the story got a little much at times. Falcon have done a stella job as always and hopefully the fans will enjoy the experience as much as I did. Now I think I need to go lie down.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is a great finale to what has been a memorable four game journey. It’s got so many great moments throughout and many of the characters we’ve grown to love get to shine. It could’ve done with a bit better pacing though as I felt like I was just doing busy work quite a bit of the time. The Switch version doesn’t look or perform as well as the PlayStation version that released last year but what you lose in visuals you make up for in being able to pick up and play portably. It also is disappointing that Switch only owners can’t experience the full four game story on the platform currently with only the third and fourth entries being available. I can’t say much else other than if you’ve been invested in this story so far, you’ll be very happy with the payoff and if you haven’t yet jumped into it yet then you’re missing out on one of the best JRPG franchises out there.
Starting with Cold Steel III is fine, but hopefully we'll see all four games on Switch eventually. For those who already know and love Trails of Cold Steel, it would seem worthwhile to seek out the other two Trails series to really appreciate the richness of the world of Zemuria and the scores of character interactions and references that come up in Trails of Cold Steel IV, an excellent bookend to the incredible journey of Rean and Class VII. I've always said that the mark of a great role-playing game is in that bittersweet feeling you get when it's over. I'm happy to have seen this story to completion, but for a while I'll be sad that my adventures with this likeable and colorful cast have also ended.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV doesn't have the same narrative depth as its predecessor, but it remains a solid, long-lived JRPG with a significant amount of characters and things to do.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you already invested more than 500 hours to the previous instalments of Trails of Cold Steel series, you would definitely enjoy seeing familiar faces and you would love the overall experience. But as a newcomer you should probably try earlier games first, just to see if you want to get invested in the whole franchise.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Trails of Cold Steel 4 is a decent payoff for a story that spans multiple games, even if suffers from a bloated story and lackluster character development. The gameplay mechanics are still solid making it a great JRPG provided you have the time to come prepared for its massive narrative.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV pulls off a highly satisfying conclusion to this long running saga but character bloat and lack of improvements hinder the experience.
Does The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV have a great story that's a worthy capstone to a ten-year JRPG saga? No, it doesn't. As a standalone experience, it's an impenetrable mess of fizzled out character arcs and bloated cutscenes. Despite all that, Trails of Cold Steel IV has addictive gameplay, dope music, and gorgeous character designs. If you want a fun and grind-heavy JRPG with a wild amount of options and battles, but don't mind turning your brain off to ignore the story and glaze over poorly-written cutscenes, then this is one's for you.
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
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
All things considered Trails of Cold Steel IV is one of the best JPRG experiences you can buy and a must buy if you're invested in the Trails franchise.
Trails of Cold Steel IV is a solid JRPG that entertains, throwing a great cast of characters with strong story arcs your way, and worth every second of your time.
Review in Persian | Read full review
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.
A finale that only exacerbates the faults of the series up till now but the sheer audacity of the storytelling, and the goodwill built up over so many years, pushes it over the finishing line.
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.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is a rather bloated blockbuster crossover event that's shaped like a JRPG. If you're a die-hard Trails fan with a deep love of the franchise, then seeing your favorite characters interact will probably make up for the somewhat disappointing story. Anyone else should stay far away until they've played the first three Trails of Cold Steel main games in the series, and looking up the other games in the franchise couldn't hurt. I had fun with ToCS4, but it's a bit of a mess, and your enjoyment will depend on how much that mess appeals to you. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the series, but I can only hope the next game is more focused than this offering.
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.
Really, the Trails of Cold Steel series is like one of those favourite fantasy books that you can read and re-read over and over again. Whether that be Lord of the Rings, Magician, Thomas Covenant, Drizzt Do'Urden's novels, Earthsea or Game of Thrones, they (and Trails of Cold Steel) all share a quality that makes them eminently relatable and comfortable. There are some excellent themes scattered through the game with regards to the impact of conflict, political and moral relativism, individual heroism and the strength of the group. Unfortunately, all the strengths of this series are tied up with its narrative, and we're at the point where it's hard to discuss the narrative without giving important moments away, so my review can't really reflect just how enthused I really am about Trails of Cold Steel. All I can say is that the fourth chapter is, if anything, even stronger than what came before and so while you should play all four in order, this is the one to look forward to the most.
Really enjoyable in some respects, but very disappointing in others, Trails of Cold Steel IV is overly long considering the story it wishes to tell.