The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II Review

cre: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II Review

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II on PlayStation 4

If you ask any hardcore modern JRPG fan who makes the best games in the genre today, they’ll offer you a short list of developers, which will no doubt include Atlus and Square Enix. Keep scrolling through this hypothetical list, though, and you’ll likely find one of the Trails games, a criminally underplayed (genre veterans aside) series of staggeringly good quality from Nihon Falcom.

Similar to how the Persona series was before it exploded with Persona 4: Golden, it still seems like the Trails games are just one big outlet to break into the mainstream. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will happen with the Cold Steel Trilogy, simply due to the time it takes for the player to get up to speed.

Set on the politically complex continent of Erebonia, it follows a group of students enrolled in Thors Academy, a prestigious graduation school for military cadets. Assigned to Squad VII, you play as Rean Schwarzer, a sympathetic young swordsman who suffers from disturbing flashbacks that hint at childhood trauma.

The rest of the team is well written and everyone has plenty of room to grow. There’s Machias, a commoner with a chip on his shoulder regarding the inequality of society, serving with Jusis, a blue-blooded nobleman who doesn’t quite fit the decadent stereotype.

There’s Fie, the slacker with terrifying hidden potential, Laura the perfectionist swordsman, and Alisa, the daughter of a Tony Stark-esqe defense contractor. There’s Elliott, son of a famous general, and Gaius, a once emigrant from the steppe tribes. Rounding out the core group is Emma, ​​a straight college student whose past is key to the central plot.

If that sounds like a lot, frankly, it is. Cold Steel II’s greatest strength is its complex and mature story, but if you haven’t spent more than 50 hours playing the first game, I can’t imagine how confusing this one must be.

If you did, however, you’re in for a treat. It’s a series that treats its players with respect, telling a sophisticated story of geopolitical machinations. What starts out as a fairly generic anime plot (high school kids from all walks of life trying to get along) quickly turns into something much darker.

Exploring themes like civil war, patriotism, industrialization, and ever-growing class division, Cold Steel II pulls no punches. I particularly like that our heroes are often far from their depth, able to turn the tide of a fight due to their own training, but woefully ill-equipped to handle a larger conflict.

With Cold Steel II being a direct narrative continuation of the first game, it picks up moments after the first’s explosive finale. Without giving anything away, you spend a good chunk of the narrative tracking down the characters from the first game and catching up on what they’ve been up to in the meantime.

Apart from the captivating story and world-building, Cold Steel II stands out for its unusual combat system. It’s a turn-based affair, but combat takes place in circular arenas where positioning is crucial to maximizing damage and surviving the devastating onslaught of stellar boss encounters.

Your characters level up the traditional way and are even more powerful using the Arcus system, reminiscent of Materia from Final Fantasy VII. You acquire skills and place them in slots, and using them long enough unlocks other perks. It’s an engaging system that hasn’t been significantly improved over the first game, but it’s a testament to its depth that it was engaging for a second.

Your party members can be bonded, allowing them to support each other with additional attacks and stat boosts in battle. These follow-up attacks are flashy and add a bit of randomness to the trick. Turbo Mode was added to the PC version and present in the PS4 version, making roaming in large environments much more player-friendly. This is, of course, a blessing when it comes to grinding, and something every modern JRPG should include.

The graphics have received a nice update, although Cold Steel II was originally released on PS3/Vita, and it shows. Oddly, there are some pretty significant frame drops during some attack animations, especially when using magic. I reviewed this game on a PS4 Pro and couldn’t understand how it was possible. Certainly not a deciding factor, but disappointing, of course.

The music is stellar, with the fight music, in particular, being outstanding. The majority of the game is now also performed by voice, previously it was only the opening line or during crucial scenes. Each character has a lot of personality through their voice, whether it’s Rean’s stoic optimism or Fei’s selfless sarcasm.

Trails of Cold Steel II is a stellar entry in one of the best JRPG series in years. Its rich narrative and deep combat system means players have plenty to sink their teeth into. The PS4 version comes with the bells and whistles that were present in the PC version, with Turbo mode in particular being a godsend.

Unfortunately, some of the technical issues present in previous iterations are still there, and it’s practically mandatory that you play the first game. and intimidating for the uninitiated, and make it very difficult to recommend to a newcomer.

But for those caught up, Trails of Cold Steel II is a fantastic continuation of the series that improves on the foundations of its predecessor that leads to a narrative crescendo. With the third iteration slated for the west in late 2019, we won’t have long to wait to see how this epic trilogy ends.

Rating: 4/5 – Excellent

For more information on how we review games, see emagtrends’ Review Policy here.

source: gameplaytrick.com -

from gameplaytrick.com https://ift.tt/sbh9wMz
via gameplaytrick.com