The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Reviews

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is ranked in the 86th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2020

It's taken a long time to get here but The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4 is a well-rounded experience, brimming with memorable characters, storylines and world-building. Despite a few stumbles in pacing and localization, not to mention performance issues, it's an incredible role-playing experience.

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4 / 5.0
Oct 27, 2020

Though it may feel like a case of "more of the same" as opposed to some grand, fourth-and-final leap forward, Trails of Cold Steel IV just about manages to achieve success in maintaining that kind of familiar yet high standard the saga has satisfied long-time fans with.

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8.5 / 10.0
Apr 29, 2021

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is massive. It's massively fun and massively rewarding. Fans of JRPGs can get delightfully lost in its deep story, its numerous characters, and its battle system that provides a ridiculous amount of options for customization. Just make sure you've played Trails of Cold Steel III (and have at least read up on I and II).

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8 / 10.0
Feb 9, 2024

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4 rises above some of its story and pacing issues to deliver a compelling end to the Erebonia saga.

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Unscored
Mar 3, 2024

It's not clear why a new fan should start their journey from the third chapter of the series, but Trials of Cold Steel III and IV are still enjoyable and a must play nonetheless.

Review in Italian | Read full review

100 / 100
Oct 23, 2020

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is an excellent JRPG and easily one of the very best the genre has to offer in a generation which was rich with great experiences. Its turn-based combat has been finely tuned to perfection and its narrative is a fantastic example of how to reward players for investing time throughout multiple games, ending the metaseries and setting the stage for the future in the best way possible.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

Oct 23, 2020

Trails of Cold Steel 4 brings the Cold Steel series to a spectacular conclusion with some of the best storytelling in the genre and improvements to every gameplay system.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 27, 2020

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. 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.

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Oct 30, 2020

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.

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7 / 10.0
Nov 2, 2020

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.

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8 / 10
Nov 13, 2020

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

8.5 / 10.0
Apr 8, 2021

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.

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8.5 / 10.0
Apr 8, 2021

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.

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8.5 / 10.0
Jun 16, 2021

Very impressive ending of JRPG saga.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

9 / 10
Nov 16, 2020

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.

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8.7 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2020

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV is an awe-inspiring love letter to loyal fans of the franchise. The enormous cast of characters, grand-scale story, and memorable adventure makes for a wonderful conclusion to this epic long-running tale.

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Noisy Pixel
Kevin Mai
8 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2020

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.

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5 / 5.0
Oct 23, 2020

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.

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10 / 10.0
Oct 23, 2020

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.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 24, 2020

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.

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