I was hyped for Trails of Cold Steel 3: But according to fans I shouldn't play it...

[Bomblord]

Well at least can't play it without being left an utterly confused mess without the context of 5 other games 2 of which have no English localization (Yes I'm aware of the fan-translation I'm not buying a Japanese game, modding a console, and then applying a fan-translation patch just to meander through a potentially spotty translation of 2 50+ hour games in order to get context for a single game).

I've had this discussion multiple times and to this day it vexes me. Trails of Cold Steel 1/2 are in my top 5 JRPG's and I discovered them basically by accident on the Vita and I desperately want to finish the story. But what's the point if I'm going to be left confused and incapable of following the story I'm seeking to finish? On the other hand NISA and some less serious fans have made claims that this is a bit overblown and all I'm losing out on is backstory detail and some character motivations. I'm wondering if I can get a strong consensus on if it is really impossible to understand the story of Trails of Cold Steel 3 without having played the Crossbell games?

Edit: I personally have no direct way to play the PC versions as of now.

Yes, I know this is basically me seeking external affirmation on if I should buy a game and yes I'm aware my desire to play is probably tinting my proverbial glasses

 

[WarpSpeedMolasses]

Do you have a PC you can play on? From what I understand, the fan-translations are supposed to be fairly easy to acquire and get going.

 

[Theswweet]

Bookmarking this for 12:01 AM.

 

[chandoog]

Also interested in the replies in this thread and if any fans want to share good youtube plot summaries of those games.

 

[Deleted member 60096]

I mean you could look for a summary of the story from the previous games, pretty sure theres a few on youtube, if you want to play cold steel 3 on release since there wouldn't be time to squeeze the previous ones in on time otherwise. But if you're fine with waiting, just play them would be my advice

 

[Deleted member 71]

trails from zero and ao's fan translations both work far better on the PC versions anyway, so I have no idea why you would mod a PSP to play them anyway, unless you really value portability.

All Geofront's Zero translation will require you to do is buy the Japanese copy digitally, install it and apply their patch.

For context, I have no idea of how much they're required for CS3, as I'm only on Trails in the Sky Second Chapter at the moment, planning to have SC and 3rd wrapped up by the time the translation patch for Zero releases.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

if you really don't want to play the other games;

Try pafdingo story walkthroughs

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbGzf6rrEIvnp0LbrOFG9IA

Or lady virgilia story summaries

LadyVirgilia

Lady here! Symbolism and character studies of Persona series. Recaps/summaries of the Trails series games. I love analyzing the philosophy & psychology withi...

www.youtube.com

Click to shrink...

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I'm in the same spot OP. I want to play cold steel 3 when it releases on PC but knowing that I have to play all these other games when I do not have the time as is to devote to 3-4 other 50+ hour rpgs is depressing lmao. My work is long hours and I barely have time to devote to one major rpg at a time for months. And older rpgs especially have certain outdated designs I struggle even more with my limited time.

I wish someone had a freaking "what you've missed so far" 2 hour movie for each game so I can at least do that instead haha.

 

[Maxina]

I thought you were going to jump into the series with Cold Steel 3, and i'd agree that you'd be confused doing so. Though, since you already played the previous 2 Cold Steel games, you'll be fine. You'll miss references to past games here and there, but i'm sure you encountered that as well playing Cold Steel 1/2.

Imho, having played the Trails in the Sky saga/Crossbell saga before playing the Cold Steel games, definitely heightens the experience, but they're not necessary to enjoy the Cold Steel games. You'll be fine.

 

[kosmickitten]

I'm basically in the same boat. I'm nearly finished with ToCS 1 on PS4 (and loving it), and just found out I might need to play the Crossbell games before 3. I am not sure if I should skip picking up 3 for the time being because of it.

 

[PK Gaming]

If you want to play it, then play it

Cold Steel III barely spoils events from Trails of Zero & Azure in a meaningful way

Yes, Cold Steel III will immediately spoil the conclusion of those games, but you'll still be able to go back and appreciate the older games after beating Cold Steel III. There's enough recapping to get you up to speed as well.

What you miss out on, are the characters, their arcs and history. But, Cold Steel III doesn't star them. It stars Rean, a character who is in a similar boat. When he meets these characters, he's meeting them for the first time, just like you. Additionally, you're already aware of the big spoiler by virtue of beating Cold Steel II

Spoiler

Crossbell's occupation.

So you should be fine.

 

[Pikagreg]

I have seen a few people say that the games are fine without them but it feels like the majority of Falcom fans will tell you otherwise. My guess is it is like playing Cold Steel first before Sky.

 

[Lord Vatek]

You should absolutely be fine, you'll just miss some context here and there.

You should play the other games anyway because they're great games but they're not required.

 

[Alucrid]

I have seen a few people say that the games are fine without them but it feels like the majority of Falcom fans will tell you otherwise. My guess is it is like playing Cold Steel first before Sky.

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i did that. i guess i'll play this and never play the other ones to be the ultimate monster.

 

[Rotobit]

For what it's worth I always view it as being fine to jump into later games in a series if it's a new main character. Rean for the most part has no idea what happened in the previous games outside of vague outlines, so if they write it well they can fill in the gaps with exposition. If anything I think it can enhance the experience once you get back to those games, it's kinda like playing through prequels.

Spoiler: Re: Olivier

I played Trails of Cold Steel first and went back to Trails in the Sky and slowly realizing Olivier's identity was great

So yeah don't worry about it too much, just be sure to get around to them eventually. If people are being gate-keepy just ignore 'em.

 

[shimon]

I say it's more pertinent to CS4 than CS3. You will absolutely understand the story. At the same time some things will simply fly over your head for obvious reasons.

As for the claim from NISA that you can jump in with CS3...We all know why they are doing this. Playing CS3 without CS1/2? Well, good luck.

 

[Dogui]

2 things.

If you really don't care about the Crossbell games, i don't think playing Cold Steel III will be a problem. You will be spoiled about stuff that's happening in those games and that will hurt your experience with them, which is not a problem if you're not planning to play the actual games.

But being really honest here, tho it's subjective and all, imo the Crossbell games are easily the best ones in the series. You're pretty much sacrificing your future experience with potentially 10/10 games because you really want to play this maybe 8,5/10 game at release.

 

[hans_castorp]

Playing CS III without Ao and II isn't a good idea.

 

[jman2050]

I certainly hope you aren't listening to fans who conflate "It'd probably be a lot more fulfilling playing CS3 after you've played the Crossbell games because of how it references and builds off those games" with "DON'T BOTHER PLAYING THIS UNTIL YOU PLAY CROSSBELL OR YOU'VE SCREWED UP THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE" nonsense.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Just do whatever you want man, it's your money.

 

[Alucrid]

2 things.

If you really don't care about the Crossbell games, i don't think playing Cold Steel III will be a problem. You will be spoiled about stuff that's happening in those games and that will hurt your experience with them, which is not a problem if you're not planning to play the actual games.

But being really honest here, tho it's subjective and all, imo the Crossbell games are easily the best ones in the series. You're pretty much sacrificing your future experience with potentially 10/10 games because you really want to play this maybe 8,5/10 game at release.

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so they're going to eventually translate and release them elsewhere?

 

[Tohsaka]

I'm not sure why you're so adamant about skipping the older games since you seem to care about the plot, and the overarching plot and worldbuilding are one of the main draws of this franchise. You are 100% going to be missing out on a lot if you don't play the older games, anyone who says otherwise is being dishonest. You don't need to mod any consoles if you play Zero/Ao on PC anyway, which is the recommended option.

 

[Deleted member 60096]

I'm not sure why you're so adamant about skipping the older games since you seem to care about the plot, and the overarching plot and worldbuilding are one of the main draws of this franchise. You are 100% going to be missing out on a lot if you don't play the older games, anyone who says otherwise is being dishonest.

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Might want to play it on launch? Which is like a week away

 

[Yunyo]

(Yes I'm aware of the fan-translation I'm not buying a Japanese game, modding a console, and then applying a fan-translation patch just to meander through a potentially spotty translation of 2 50+ hour games in order to get context for a single game).

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I knew this quote seemed familar.

A lot of time, money, and effort required to purchase and ship a foreign copy of a game, mod a system, rip a game, patch the game, and then play it for a fan translation.

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C'mon dude. You were even given advice in that thread.

You need to make up your own mind what to do.

 

[Palette Swap]

Voted Yes but.

You've already played CS1 and 2, so you'll get the continuation of that story.
You'll be in the middle of things when it comes to Sky and Crossbell characters and references, but you've already have a taste of that with CS1 and 2, and the CS3 demo, which introduces from the beginning a ton of characters from other games. If the prologue is anything to go by, the interactions and nods won't be as meaningful, and you'll lose some depth, but the stakes should be pretty straightforwardly exposed. Combined to the encyclopedia, I don't think that's a no.

Jumping in with 0 Trails experience at all would be a huge no OTOH.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I certainly hope you aren't listening to fans who conflate "It'd probably be a lot more fulfilling playing CS3 after you've played the Crossbell games because of how it references and builds off those games" with "DON'T BOTHER PLAYING THIS UNTIL YOU PLAY CROSSBELL OR YOU'VE SCREWED UP THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE" nonsense.

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Last few times I've asked nobody was like aggressively saying I'd be lost but most seem to agree, some a little bit more 'putting their foot down' - y than others, that they cannot recommend playing the games without all the other ones.

 

[Tohsaka]

Might want to play it on launch? Which is like a week away

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You don't need to play every game at launch, especially if you actually care about the plot as OP claims. By the time he plays through the older games CS 3 will probably be on sale anyway. I don't want to be accused of "gatekeeping" or anything like that, but if someone wants to just play the Cold Steel games and not bother with the earlier ones they're only doing themselves a disservice since Falcom has been continuing the overall plot for many years now. Would you recommend someone to start a story-heavy novel series in the sixth volume? I know I wouldn't.

 

[Lozange]

I made a chart a couple of days ago exactly for this sort of question, based on my understanding of CS3:

If you want to play the older games, do that. If you don't want to, don't, but just be aware that you're missing some context. Easy!

EDIT: I should probably clarify though that "missing some context" varies in severity depending on how many games you're skipping. OP is probably just about fine, but someone starting with CS3 and avoiding the recaps would be playing for the gameplay and not much else. If that sounds like your thing, cool, if not... consider starting with a different game (that will be shorter than this one anyway)

 

[illmatic22]

I've only played the PS4 remasters. I'm just gonna play Cold Steel 3 anyway.

 

[Dogui]

so they're going to eventually translate and release them elsewhere?

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Maybe, maybe not. They know fans want them, but as far as we know, there's a chance even Cold Steel IV doesn't get a western release.

Right now there's no other way beyond importing + fan translation.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

Voted Yes but.

You've already played CS1 and 2, so you'll get the continuation of that story.
You'll be in the middle of things when it comes to Sky and Crossbell characters and references, but you've already have a taste of that with CS1 and 2, and the CS3 demo, which introduces from the beginning a ton of characters from other games. If the prologue is anything to go by, the interactions and nods won't be as meaningful, and you'll lose some depth, but the stakes should be pretty straightforwardly exposed. Combined to the encyclopedia, I don't think that's a no.

Jumping in with 0 Trails experience at all would be a huge no OTOH.

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CS3 isn't a continuation of a story, it's a reboot that also starts to function as a midseason finale tying up all nine games by the end of CS4

 

[Morrigan]

All Geofront's Zero translation will require you to do is buy the Japanese copy digitally,

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Where can one do that? Serious question, I don't actually know. >.>

 

[Bomblord]

I knew this quote seemed familar.



C'mon dude. You were even given advice in that thread.

You need to make up your own mind what to do.

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My desktop is a Raspberry Pi 4. So yes that's necessary without using a roommates computer which I'm not going to do. I specifically mentioned I've had this discussion before in the opening of the OP I'm not hiding that fact, that I can't make up my mind, or have failed to make up my mind over an extended period of time.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

Where can one do that? Serious question, I don't actually know. >.>

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dlsite frequently puts on sale for $7, there's also a good guide for it on r/falcom

 

[Basileus777]

To be really honest, you should never ever trust fans of a series when they give you advice about how much of it you need to experience to understand X. You always get bad advice. There are very few pieces of media in this world that really require you to know everything that comes before.


The Crossbell games aren't even available in good English. The zero patch out there reads like a cleaned up machine translation, it's not worth bothering with.

 

[NZerker12]

I started with CS1 and 2 and played TiTS FC and SC after. A certain character appears in CS that also appears in the Sky yet when seeing that character in Sky I still had a smile on my face and had that "OMG that's that character" reaction. My point being is these sort of stories go both ways you play it the normal way (in order) and see the conclusion or you go back play an older game afterwards and see just how big the conclusion was. Hell I started the MGS series with MGS4 but still got the story and appreciated everything after playing the old games so you should be able too with this game.

 

[Theswweet]

...alright, I'll say this for now. I don't care what NISA says, you 100% shouldn't start the series with CS3. That's a big no.

 

[Palette Swap]

CS3 isn't a continuation of a story, it's a reboot that also starts to function as a midseason finale tying up all nine games by the end of CS4

Click to shrink...

Honestly, if it's not a continuation of Rean's character arc and questions left dangling at the end of CS2, as well as touching on the intermission of CS2, I don't know what business it has being called CS3.
That's what I meant by a continuation of CS2: you keep characters and plot lines from CS, even if others from other games are there.

 

[Famassu]

People always exaggerate these whole "you must experience everything before X" stuff. I'm sure you'll be fine. If there's something that confuses you or an important name/character you do not know, you can just ask here or elsewhere and continue on.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

To be really honest, you should never ever trust fans of a series when they give you advice about how much of it you need to experience to understand X. You always get bad advice. There are very few pieces of media in this world that really require you to know everything that comes before.

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you sound like a kiseki stan

 

[Deleted member 11413]

Just play it, you'll be fine.

 

[Korigama]

You'll be lost with a lot of references and reappearing characters, and as such they won't resonate with you. Prior experience with Cold Steel I and II is at least something, though. Absolutely no one should start with III.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

Honestly, if it's not a continuation of Rean's character arc and questions left dangling at the end of CS2, as well as touching on the intermission of CS2, I don't know what business it has being called CS3.
That's what I meant by a continuation of CS2: you keep characters and plot lines from CS, even if others from other games are there.

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the biggest open plotline that dangles before CS3 is Crossbell's liberation being timed by Ao though

 

[Deleted member 11413]

...alright, I'll say this for now. I don't care what NISA says, you 100% shouldn't start the series with CS3. That's a big no.

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OP already played CS1&2 though

 

[Tohsaka]

Honestly, if it's not a continuation of Rean's character arc and questions left dangling at the end of CS2, as well as touching on the intermission of CS2, I don't know what business it has being called CS3.
That's what I meant by a continuation of CS2: you keep characters and plot lines from CS, even if others from other games are there.

Click to shrink...

It does continue Rean's character arc and story, he's still the protagonist and his stuff wraps up by the end of IV. It's just the old Class 7 that's not the focus anymore, they are still in it though.

 

[Deleted member 721]

zero is about to get released by geofront, i would play it before personaly, and they are the best games of the series, so its not something bad to do

 

[Apollo]

If you're definitely not going to be able to play the other arcs, you just have to ask yourself: is it better to play and be out of the loop for characters, places and contexts not introduced in the first two CS games, or just not play it at all? Even if the CS3 experience is different for you than it is for a fan who's played all the games, as long as you can find some value in your own playthrough, then I think it's worth it.

 

[Kalor]

You can play it with just CS1 and 2 fine. You'll miss out on some stuff but playing the first two Cold Steel games is enough for most stuff.

 

[Morrigan]

dlsite frequently puts on sale for $7, there's also a good guide for it on r/falcom

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Thanks

But uh, apparently it's best to wait for the Geofront localization instead of the current existing fan translation? Any ETA on that?

 

[CrazyDude]

zero is about to get released by geofront, i would play it before personaly, and they are the best games of the series, so its not something bad to do

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Just about could be months from now.