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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel PS4 |OT| This should also fall under the scope of our field study!
- Thread starter Barrylocke
- Start date
For anyone who missed this game the first time around (PC, PS3, or Vita), get it now. you won't regret it. easily one of the best JRPGs out there.
Could never get that to work, any pointer to a website detailing the process ?
The Sky games (which take place before this) are referenced but I wouldn't really say it spoils much from them other than the identity of one returning character. The Crossbell games have events which take place at the same time as Cold Steel so you're going to spoil them to some extent whichever way round you play them
Cold Steel 1 and 2 are perfectly fine to play with no previous knowledge of the series, it sounds like that changes with 3 and 4 though
The OP discusses this and says it's a fine jumping on point.
Though I started playing the older games a few years ago(well, just Sky FC) as it's heavily debated as to how necessary knowledge of the Sky games are to benefit this one. Some argue the impact of major events is much greater, plus this game may spoil things in the older games if you do plan to play them. But others say it's not a big deal as the OP outlines.
I found FC a bit hard to get through though and quit about 30 hours in, probably under halfway through. The game is looooooong and paced a bit too sluggishly. Missable everywhere too that gave me anxiety as the big selling point is the interactions with the world, npc's, and how dense the writing is for character interactions.
So I hated feeling like I needed to backtrack after every event to see quests evolve and whatnot. It's all optional, but the plot is so non-existant for much of the first half that all you really have are the side quests and chatter. Just me though, but you miss so much if you merely move forward. Seems like this is a staple of the series, so be prepared. Some adore it, I was kind of hoping for a better balance between story and world building.
I've been tempted to pick this up but every review or mention I can find online talks about how it's basically essential that you play the first 3 games as well as seeking out fan translations for the Crossbell games. I don't know if I have the time or will to power through several RPG's before getting to the one I actually want to play.
Is there really a heavy necessity on playing at least the first 3 Trails games? I understand if it's story critical.
EDIT: Nevermind, I saw this has been answered a few times above :)
Is there really a heavy necessity on playing at least the first 3 Trails games? I understand if it's story critical.
EDIT: Nevermind, I saw this has been answered a few times above :)
You'll probably enjoy it more if you start with this one.
Rean is a very different protagonist than Estelle.
I'd count on that definitely being the case in the upcoming CS3 since it was also the case in the initial console versions of CS1.
It's absolutely not required per say... to begin with. CS1 and 2 both try and explain anything relevant to the Sky games that you're not familiar with, although there's one instance in particular where the explanation perhaps isn't as detailed as it should be. The real issue with playing the CS games first is that if you're planning to play the Sky games eventually (which you should), you'll learn stuff in these games that perhaps you really shouldn't for when it comes to playing the Sky games.
That being said, most of this information comes in one off lines and optional dialogue in CS2 (...mostly), so if you're not actively looking for information, you should be fine for most spoilers. My recommendation would be to play the CS games if you're interested in them but not necessarily the Sky games, and then whenever you feel like going back, do that. The earlier, the better, but there's no rush... yet.
CS3 is a different matter, and I'd call the Sky games recommended playing for that game specifically.
It's not required but it will spoil some stuff from the Sky games. I say go ahead and play this since I don't think the time investment needed to complete the Sky trilogy is worth the plot points that will be spoiled in Cold Steel 1 & 2
Cold Steel 3 & 4 are another matter.
Although I got my plat on Vita, I still enjoy this on PS4. Definitely runs and looks a lot better compared to Vita with some QoL stuff. My only gripe is the Left Thumbstick seems to have dead air or skips when moving at times. Otherwise, I am doing another full playthrough again with this.
I'm also new to this. I would like to try both series, what would be the release date order for the games?
Are you implying the Sky games are crucial to the plot of CS 3 & 4?
Dieing to get into this series but i really want to start at tits. I dont gave a PC though so I'm trying to decide what means more to me. Waiting to play this in order or just jumping here.
if you want to play all of them then start with the Sky trilogy, the Crossbell games never released outside Japan/China
The other games aren't necessarily crucial to understanding CS3+4 but there's a lot of plot elements and characters that come into play from past games that make it more enjoyable and easier to follow if you do. You can still 'understand' it but I don't know about how much you'd 'enjoy' it in comparison to having full knowledge
sky 1
sky 2
sky 3
crossbell1
crossbell2
steel1
steel2
steel3
steel4
I've only play the the sky games, and am currently playing the ps4 cold steel 1. I'll be going back to the crossbell games now that I have the fan translation on PC. Bu from what I've heard it doesn't really matter which arc you start to play after the sky games as both crossbell and steel spoil each other.
A question I have for vets though. How are those pre-sky 'Legend of Heroes' games thats on psp though? I didn't even know there were more games pre sky til I saw on wiki.
All the games worth mentioning are as follows:
Trails in the Sky
Trails in the Sky SC
Trails in the Sky the Third
Trails from Zero (Unlocalised)
Trails of Azure (Unlocalised)
Trails of Cold Steel
Trails of Cold Steel 2
Trails of Cold Steel 3 (Being localised)
Trails of Cold Steel 4 (Not officially announced, but if it isn't localised I'll eat a hat)
The absolute, ideal playing order is from top to bottom on this list. But obviously that isn't possible with two games missing. (Hopefully they happen eventually? There's a fan translation in the works, but who knows how that will turn out)
Therefore, I would recommend one of the following three orders, from best to least best.
Trails in the Sky, Sky SC, Sky the third, Cold Steel 1, Cold Steel 2
Cold Steel 1, Sky, Sky SC, Sky the third, Cold Steel 2 (If you're comfortable leaving CS in an awkward place once you're hooked)
Cold Steel 1, Cold Steel 2, Sky, Sky SC, Sky the third (What you'll realistically go for lol)
Any other orders just don't make sense, but all three of these are valid ways to go.
I wouldn't bother personally unless you've played all the others and really want more, the translations are awful and even ignoring that there's no great overarching stories like the later games
Kinda. Without running into spoiler territory, I'll just say that you will get a lot more enjoyment from certain characters and events if you've played the Sky games.
That said, if for whatever reason you just really hate Sky and Crossbell then the amount of extra enjoyment you get from playing them won't outweigh the displeasure of playing them.
It's a shame because they contain some of the best games in the series regardless but if that's the way you feel about them it can't be helped.
It's a shame because they contain some of the best games in the series regardless but if that's the way you feel about them it can't be helped.
Amazing responses, this helps a lot. I was already looking for the first Sky game but it seens there's only the steam version. I would prefer to play the PS3 version or PSP but I don't think neither of them released in english.
And I'm not sure why they skipped a series and went straight to the Cold Steel series.
By the time Sky 2 finally came out here they were 10 years behind Japan and the PSP was already dead
Trails in the Sky 1 and 2 both got PSP releases in English, not sure if you can buy them on Vita or not. The third one is PC only
Sky 1 and 2 are on PSP (I think 2 is physical only though?). And then Sky 3 is only on PC.
The first two sky games *are* on psp, but they're hard to recommend there. The localisation is severely outdated in some respects, and several features such as turbo mode are just entirely absent. Also, the third game is pc only in the west because it came out in 2017 when even the vita was on life support.
Get the Sky games on pc. If you can play pc games on your pc, you can play them, they're not hard to run unless you're on a literal potato.
As for why Crossbell was skipped... there's a number of reasons, but basically Sky SC went through the localisation equivalent of development hell, and took four and a half years to release after the first game. There's great Kotaku article about it, but it also has implied spoilers for the first game.
By the time SC was released, XSEED was forced to localise the CS games before the ps3 became irrelevant, because at the time ports weren't a surefire thing.
I hope they release them for PC eventually then at least.
Only physical is a problem. I'll try to get the first for PSP then.
Oh didn't know that. I will ignore the PSP versions then. The first one is also kinda cheap on steam so it's worth a try.
I think I ran by this Kotaku article but didn't read it.
I think I was mistaken, I missed SC when I searched for it because it was under 'bundles'.
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1023-NPUB50275_00-B000000000001452
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1023-NPUB50275_00-B000000000001452
Yes but I don't know how much myself since I try to avoid CS 3 & 4 media as much as possible, for spoilers.
Cold Steel 4 has been described as the Avengers equivalent of the Trails series where they expect you to have played all 8 games preceding it or at least be familiar with what has happened so far.
As a question to more knowledgeable Trails fans:
Aren't characters from the Sky and Crossbell arcs playable in Cold Steel 4?
I dont understand why they cant just release the Sky games on PS4 using the steam version? I don't get it.
Because XSeed only has the capacity to port console to PC, not the other way around, and porting the PC versions of the Sky games would be even more of a hassle for Falcom (who has limited staff and several other projects in the works at the moment) than porting the console versions since the PC versions are 15 years old and Sara did a crap-ton of tweaking on them in order to make them run well, but those tweaks might not necessarily agree with the PS4 very well, meaning it could quickly become more work than they'd be willing to put into it. They'd be more likely to try and arrange a PS4 port of the EVO games, though the licensing issues around those would in turn mean the resulting ports would remain Japan only.
Also got my copy today, the steelbook looks amazing! Newcomer to the series, really looking forward to it.
They absolutely are. CS 3 and 4 are a continuation of the plot of Sky and Cold Steel (and the Crossbell games that weren't localized)
O.M.G
That freaking sucks, I don't wanna play Sky.
T_T
Hopefully they'll include a Kingdom Hearts style recap video in CS3.
Why would you not want to play them? CS 3 and 4 assume you've played every prior game in the series, I wouldn't recommend playing them at all if you're not going to play all the earlier games. The whole appeal of the Trails series is that there is one continuous overarching plot despite there being three "main" arcs with a different protagonist. There are tons of recurring characters and plot threads throughout the whole series you're going to miss out on.
SC is way better than this game to me. I've played FC, SC, The 3rd (up to the final dungeon), Zero, Ao, CSI and CSII and SC is easily my favorite game in the series.
It's just so weird seeing people ask about skipping what I'd consider a superior game for an inferior one just because it's newer.
Hell this game is inferior to TiTS FC as well to me.
Quality wise I think this is compatible to say Star Wars. TiTS is the original Star Wars Trilogy and this is more like the new trilogy they're currently making. Your question is more akin to asking could one skip the original Star Wars movies and just go to The Force Awakens. I mean you could but why would you want to?
is the ps4 version the same as pc version or there's extra content to this edition that the pc version didn't have?