The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III Reviews
Trails of Cold Steel III is everything I want from an RPG with a world that fully sucks players in, amazing music and locations in which one can just sit and relax, and a twisting and fascinating story involving incredibly deep characters that are easy to get attached to.
JRPG fans who can look beyond the dated graphics will discover a tremendous wealth of characters, gameplay, story, and an overall world that you can happily dive into for dozens of hours.
Trails series is quite possibly the best modern JRPG series we have today, and Trails of Cold Steel III finally gives us some more, and more is exactly what we needed.
I honestly doubted that Trails of Cold Steel III could topple the incredible experience I had with the previous two games, oh how I was wrong. Taking everything which made the last two games great, Nihon Falcom has created a more advanced and enhanced version of the game we all know and love. There’s little to fault when a game manages to keep me invested and hooked for over 120 hours on my first playthrough, sat on the edge of my seat with each and every revelation and event, both cheering and getting emotional along with the characters. JRPG fans have to buy this game, it’s mandatory if you’ve played the previous two and enjoyed them as you’re guaranteed to simply love this game without any doubt.
Whether you’ve been a fan from the beginning or you’re starting out now, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is a fine JRPG. It may have an overwhelmingly rich history, but there’s plenty of elements in place to help newcomers.
Trails of Cold Steel III is a fine sequel, although the game often seems to struggling beneath the weight of its growing cast of characters and intersecting stories. As a continuation, it’s a game strictly for existing fans, who’ll get a lot out of it even if they haven’t consumed every last tidbit of Trails content.
Trails of Cold Steel III is an excellent game that, once again, takes the foundations of the previous ones and builds on them a better, more mature and refined experience. Its main problem is the plot barrier with which you can find yourself if you are new to these leaders. Nothing, of course, that is not solved with a good afternoon of Wikipedia. So, for the third time, I have no choice but to recommend it as strongly as possible. If you like the genre and have no problems with English, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is a game that will have you dozens of hours diving in one of the best built universes and with greater continuity and coherence that I remember. See you, for the third time, at Thors Academy.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is a wonderful game. None of the bad parts combined would ever hold a candle to the sheer amount of joy and fun I had exploring every single corner of this world.
Trails of Cold Steel III is a must play if you enjoyed the first two games in the series. The game is not radically different from the previous titles, so if you didn’t love them or just do not like JRPGs in general, it won’t change your mind.
The Legend of Heroes - Trails of Cold Steel 3 is the perfect continuation for the series. With the first two chapters telling their story to completion it could be hard to see where things go next with the same protagonist but with his new direction in life? It works really well. From learning in the classrooms and the battlefield to teaching students about both, the only thing left is to wait for Trails of Cold Steel 4 and not spoil it for yourselves as it was released last year and it could be some time before we get our hands on it.
All in all, Trails of Cold Steel III is an excellent Legend of Heroes game that brings the series to a more modern standard. The graphics are a lot better, the battle system is a lot more in-depth if not easy to break and the story is intriguing throughout. If you’re new to the series or have only played the previous Cold Steel games however, you’ll find yourself lost at times with the overall plot and many of the new areas and characters introduced here.
It has some solid mechanics, tells a great story, and is really well structured. It’s just not for me.
Trails of Cold Steel III is a must for all fans of the series. Despite some improvements on the more powerful systems, the graphics can no longer impress as much as on the small Vita screen, but it is technically solid and again a top RPG in terms of content. But be careful: interested players should definitely play at least the two direct predecessors beforehand, and ideally even the sister series Trails in the Sky. The more you get to know the world and characters beforehand, the more you can enjoy Cold Steel III.
Review in German | Read full review
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III may not be a good place to start for the newcomers but it is a great JRPG title nonetheless. The story takes some time to get in a good rhythm but when it really starts it hits the ground running, the visuals may not be the best thing out there but the developers have made some improvements compared to the previous titles in the series and the gameplay is better than it has ever been.
Review in Persian | Read full review
GREAT - Trails of Cold Steel III is a lengthy and fun JRPG that’s bound to get lost in the sea of competing titles. It doesn’t help that Switch owners have to jump in with the third in the series, especially since the story and characters are directly connected to the previous games. However, if you stick with it you’ll be rewarded with a fun combat system, endearing characters, and an entertaining adventure.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the first, second, or tenth time that I’m playing this game; my opinion of this game is always going to be the same. Building upon an already impressive legacy, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III continues to live up to—and in many cases—exceed my expectations of what a contemporary JRPG masterpiece aught to be.
Nihon Falcom are the best at what they do; creating the finest JRPGs. If you've dreamed of recapturing the feeling of JRPGs from the golden days, don't overlook this game. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is everything you want in a JRPG, yet gives you more with great attention to detail. The characters, writing, story, gameplay, and music are all high notes. Even if you must start with this one, then do it. There's no JRPG like Trails of Cold Steel 3. It's a masterclass of its own.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is among one of Falcom's strongest JRPG games yet. The story of Rean Schwarzer heats up while bringing past characters into the present story, setting up an epic conflict across the world of Trails. Coupled with an excellent soundtrack, fun combat system and insane story twists, Trails of Cold Steel III is a shining example for JRPGs going forward.