there is a large continent called the Zemurian. Several large states are spread over its expanses: the Kingdom of Lieberl, the Kingdom of Crossbell, the Erebonian Empire and the Republic of Calvard. Those of us who are familiar with The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky have already visited Liberle - or are in a hurry to do it after reading, and those familiar with the Japanese language could have already visited Crossbell with Erebonia. But today, a ticket to the latter is available to all residents of Europe who own the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita consoles. PlayStation Network Received Game Today The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, the first large-scale chapter, the continuation of which - Second Chapter - is at the stage of active translation. Of course, disc editions of the project are also available. And in honor of such an event, especially as a fan of both the series and the genre, I could not leave you without a review of this wonderful novelty.
As noted in our morning Trails in the Sky review, most of the games in The Legend of Heroes franchise are related in one way or another. Not always directly, but they divide a single and large world, sometimes referring to the same events, or introducing characters from different games, under business or casual circumstances. This has no critical impact on the perception of the plot, so if you are completely unfamiliar with the series, then you can safely begin acquaintance with Trails of Cold Steel. But, nevertheless, I recommend starting it at least with Trails in the Sky. Thanks to this, you will be able to understand some of the references and funny situations from Cold Steel. I repeat - the perception of the main characters and the storyline without acquaintance with the series, in this case, will not be distorted. After all, we have before us the first game of our own arc in a major franchise. An independent arch is enough.
Trails of Cold Steel's focus is on a group of cadets from the Thors Military Academy, led by the informal leader of the newly minted VII Class, Rin Schwarzer. Contrary to the rules and customs of the academy, which divide study groups by social class, special class VII is different from the rest. The students admitted to it were selected not on the basis of social criteria, but on the basis of the results of medical examination and their potential to interact with a new combat device - ARCUS. Thus, commoners and golden youth were in the same study group, because of which confident conflicts immediately began. Needless to say, in addition to social disagreements, the 7th grade cadets also have a bunch of various problems, mostly of a psychological nature. Someone is looking for themselves, for someone the principles press on the gray matter in the brain, someone lacks confidence in the future, someone feels like a brick floating with the flow, and so on. We have to face all these problems throughout the game, and, of course, solve them, turning class VII into a close-knit, friendly and fighting team.
The instructors of the academy and numerous non-player characters will help us in this, almost each of which, according to the tradition that has developed in Nihon Falcom, is a virtual person. Even the supporting characters in this game are sufficiently developed to have their own characters and even small stories or notes that gradually settle in the text notes of the protagonist. Our notebook, in which absolutely all game information is entered, from the bestiary and recipes to tasks and the contents of books, is our virtual Bible. This is an encyclopedia compiled by the player himself. A symbolic thing, frankly, the idea of \u200b\u200bfilling out a book, because the game we are reviewing now is a virtual interactive book that we can all plunge into. Here are crazy arrays of text and well-developed dialogues to the smallest detail. Sometimes you even naturally get tired of them, as well as of reading in general. I would like more action, a speedy resolution of the situation, but at the same time it is interesting to know as many details as possible. In such cases, it is better to save the game, since it can be done anywhere, with the exception of active dialogue and combat, and switch to something else, along the way taking a break from reading and digesting the flow of information.
Same-sex relationships are their own little world that many would rather not know about.
Gameplay Trails of Cold Steel is a third person RPG, in the best traditions Persona... There is not much in common between these games, but more than it might seem at first glance. For example, in both cases, the flow of the game is quite linear, and freedom is given to the players in portions. Since we are playing for the military academy cadets, we are bound by a number of rules and necessities. The plot develops throughout the year, so many days are simply skipped - the training routine - and we get control over the characters on days off from school, allowing us to go fishing, do cooking, prepare equipment and adjust the ARCUS quartz movement. Free days are followed by a practical test, after which we will have several days of field practice. This is where the real freedom is - every time we explore more and more new places, meet new people and fight new opponents. No one is stopping us from farming stones and experience, exploring the available areas of the location, completing side missions and looking for hidden events.
The combat system in Trails of Cold Steel has evolved somewhat from previous games. Now our heroes have not just a device with cells for quartz, but also their own master quartz, which is at the head of the circuit. It is gradually pumped and gives the character additional properties. For example, it can provide a certain percentage of the drop of additional energy crystals when striking an enemy, or save from death once or twice per battle. There are many effects and the higher the level of the master quartz, the stronger they become. Some master quartz crystals provide basic spells. Also, ARCUS devices at the disposal of seventh grade students provide unique combat capabilities - they link two characters, synchronizing them with each other and allowing them to act more effectively in battles. Gradually, new team abilities will open up - with progress in the plot and an increase in the level of bonds between the heroes.
Such reports IS A MUST! Plus they allow you to see that you missed some task.
But basically, the battles take place in a key similar to other projects in the series - these are team turn-based battles, where the order of actions of characters and opponents depends on their speed parameter. An interesting system of random bonuses has also been preserved here. An icon with some kind of effect may appear near the character or monster icon on the left side of the screen, in the manner of guaranteed critical damage. And in some places, like ancient ruins and caves, completely new effects can arise, both positive and negative. For example, the disappearance or death of the affected person. And it is better that it was the enemy, not a class VII cadet. As before, the order of moves can be slightly manipulated with the help of special arts - S-crafting, but unlike Trails in the Sky, students of class VII are in no hurry to develop these abilities. They appear for heroes with progress in the plot, and not at the expense of leveling up. This is due to the fact that the relationship between the characters is based on their personal problems and differences (in worldview, origin, and so on). Solving these problems step by step, revealing themselves to their classmates, the heroes reveal previously dormant powers - S-craft.
Another important point in the game's combat system is the gallery. Four fighters participate in the battle, and two more can be in the active reserve. They receive the full amount of combat experience and points for developing bonds with other characters, and can at any time enter the battlefield instead of one of their companions. To do this, just call the replacement menu and confirm the action. "Switch!" - the voice of Kirito is heard in my head, but we are not talking about Sword Art Online ... But the principle is partly the same. During the passage of the lion's share of the plot, the game itself will choose the team members - this concerns field practice, since the composition of the groups is formed by the instructors, and not by the students themselves. But during the fighting on campus, exploring an abandoned school building, the game allows us to choose our partners from the entire class of VII.
Together with the student environment, accompanied by the necessary examination tasks, which are provided by the instructors of the Torso Military Academy, in Trails of Cold Steel players will find numerous and varied side tasks, the flow of which is already provided by other students, in particular the president of the student council, and the inhabitants of the settlements that we will visit during the field practice. Additional tasks, including hidden ones, may require from us the most outlandish actions. For example, there is a task to check the quality of shoes, for which we need to put on one of the heroines in special shoes, and wind two thousand steps over the terrain. Something similar happened in Trails in the Sky, and curiously, shoes from the same company, Strega, are being tested. Estelle approves! Other residents may ask to find a lost kitten or several sheep, take photos of boutiques for an article, help solve love problems, and much more. Side quests are one of the sweet spots in this game that definitely shouldn't be passed up.
As with previous games in the series, not all side quests are easy to spot. Most of them come as an official request via mail notification, but in each chapter there are one or more tasks that do not manifest themselves in any way until the player speaks with the right character, or pays attention to some detail. Also, a hint of a task can flash in some kind of conversation. For example, in one of the chapters, the instructor will call Rin and ask him to go to the teacher's room if the guy has free time. His request can be ignored and then we will skip the task, to which it will be impossible to return later. Therefore, be sure to save your progress often, using at least ten different slots. When I went through the Japanese version of the game, I was mainly focused on the plot and cost a couple of slots, but in the English version I have about sixteen saves at different stages. Just in case…
However, not everything is so bad. If you want to get a platinum prize in Cold Steel, you will have to complete the game twice anyway, since there is a prize for passing on a nightmarish difficulty level. Particularly self-confident players can start right away on this difficulty, but I don't recommend it even for seasoned veterans from the JRPG front. Start on Normal difficulty, get used to the new combat system, enjoy a well-crafted story with cool dialogue and very good English translation, and only then start a second playthrough on a nightmare and clean up everything that you missed the first time. And I do not just advise this, since I myself will act according to this scheme. The path to local platinum is very thorny and does not forgive inattention - you need to complete all tasks, get all possible academic points, thus reaching the maximum rank, completely fill out the list of recipes and bestiary, collect all the books in the game, open all the chests in one playthrough ... you name it, we have it.
Fishing, maps while traveling by train, horseback riding - all of this brings the game to life.
Visually, Trails of Cold Steel looks normal. It's even good on the PlayStation Vita. But it is clear that we have a project that is already several years old. And when you play, you understand why the game took so long to get to our edges. The reason for this delay is the huge amount of text that a small team was working on. But she did a great job. The technical implementation in the game is rather excellent than vice versa. The PlayStation Vita version has occasional framerate drops, but overall it is very comfortable to play. Out of 75 hours in the game, 60 of them I spent in the portable version, rarely switching to PlayStation 3. By the way, the transition from version to version is implemented perfectly here. You can launch the game on two devices, save at any time, then upload the save to PSN directly from the game menu. In a minute, on another device, it is enough to download this save and the progress will be instantly updated. I don’t remember if any other game had such a cool implementation of a cross-save system.
The review is based on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions of the game provided by the publisher.
3
“Richardson, in fact, demonstrated (and this was confirmed by a small group of people who have continued his work for the last half century) that war is subject to a stochastic distribution: in other words, on the one hand, it is never completely random, and on the other hand, its the reasons and nature do not lend themselves to a single systematization. An abstract model exists, but it is impossible to derive a formula that would be applicable and correct in each specific case. In other words, the phenomenon of war is independent of the volitional element. It doesn't matter which one was - or whether - a rational decision was made: war, like the weather, just happens. "
John Brunner, "Everyone Stand in Zanzibar"
The past year will probably be one of the most exciting for the owners of the PlayStation Vita pocket portable system, which received a lot of great projects in 2016: from Ray Gigant, God Eater: Rage Burst 2, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, Grand Kingdom and ending with Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors, Yomawari: Night Alone, World of Final Fantasy. The list is supplemented by as many as two games from the popular in narrow circles series The Legend Of Heroes, which connoisseurs of Japanese role-playing games consider almost the best in their niche and are often cited as an example when disputes begin on various thematic forums that the genre has not been going through for a long time. their best times. We will not go deep into reflections on the well-being of Japanese RPGs, since this topic deserves a separate discussion - we are much more interested in the second game in the series The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel, which appeared on the shelves of European stores in November this year. only for PlayStation Vita owners, but also for PlayStation 3. This game is notable for the fact that it completes a large story arc in which the Erebonian Empire gradually moved from war with its neighbors to a bloody civil war, where everyone must choose their side.
The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II continues the story of the first part and begins with a crushing defeat suffered by students from the specialized "Class VII" of the Thor's Military Academy. Former students - to be more precise, since from now on the Erebonian Empire is burning in flames, torn apart by a civil war between the Noble and Reform, which young people from the aforementioned educational institution tried with all their might to prevent during their field assignments. Despite the fact that the leadership of the Military Academy tried to create a unique class in which representatives of the nobility and children from ordinary working families who had undergone non-standard combat training would simultaneously study, this decision helped to reduce the degree of conflict and had an impact on the political and economic situation. But only for a while, since the armed confrontation still found its way out thanks to a third party interested in civil strife, which constantly inflamed hostility between the factions. And now the Empire was divided into parts, the lion's share was grabbed by the Noble, who had more means, people, technology and power at their disposal. The first thing they did was to suspend the activities of the Military Academy, dismissing the teachers, students and the administration, and all those who disagree with this decision were taken into custody or put on the wanted list.
The last time we saw the protagonist of this mini-series, Rean Shwarzer, he piloted the huge combat robot Valimar along with Celine the cat, who unexpectedly began to talk and give advice. Summoning a robot, Rin won a landslide victory over Scarlet, but did not kill her, putting, as it seemed to him, a fat point in this conflict. However, another awakened divine combat robot, The Azure Knight, intervened in the battle, at the helm of which a representative of the liberal movement Crow was found. During the decisive battle, Rin was unable to defeat his enemy, and having received serious damage, he was forced to retreat. The robot sent the rest of its energy into the process of movement and went to the Eisengard Mountains, located near Rina's home village of Ymir, leaving his comrades far behind. Of course, Rin Schwarzer, as the leader and heart of the group, tried to resist this decision, eager to return to the battle and protect his friends, but Valimar had already begun to gain momentum, moving further and further from the battlefield.
After some time, Rin awakens, finding himself in the aforementioned mountains near Valimar and Selina, driven by a thirst for revenge, he tries to rush into battle in order to finish what he started, but to no avail, because the loyal Valimar has already moved them to a safe place away from the front line. Realizing the futility of trying to return and curbing his anger, Rin agrees to talk with Selina and in the course of the conversation learns that a lot of time has passed since the battle with the Azure Knight. All these months, the combat robot spent on recuperating after a severe injury, trying to heal not only himself, but also his pilot, and nearby troops and other robots scoured in search of Valimar and the one who is able to revive the divine mechanisms in order to end the possible forever threat. It is worth noting here that the world of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Cold Steel resembles a kind of cross between the late nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth: knights, ninjas, farmers, primitive industrial and highly developed manufactory production, there are cars, motorcycles, a printing house, peacefully coexist here, aircrafts, huge robots, computers, radios and even some analogue of a cell phone. But it all works not due to electricity or steam, but due to the magic emanating from the "Orbments" - special magic stones that endow their owner with special abilities, if, of course, they are used correctly. Class VII was also unique in that each of them carried the Arcus with him everywhere - a kind of portable device resembling a powder box into which these pebbles could be inserted. Arkus allowed the students to feel an inextricable connection with each other, communicate at a great distance and, of course, use magic, but more on that later.
Since the living and actively resisting students of Class VII are not convenient for a third party and for those who thirst for a bloody war, and there are enough such people on both sides of the conflict, they were hunted, including the leader of this small group. While exploring the mountain ranges for a road that would help them return home, Reena and Selina are caught off guard by the Dark Knights who set up an ambush. Hearing the call of the "awakener", Valimar flies out to help, but the combat robot, like its pilot, is still weak, and therefore the young cruiser Toval, Princess Alfin and Rina's younger sister, whose name is Alice (Elise). Bracers, if someone has forgotten or did not know, are young mercenaries who carry out assignments of ordinary citizens for a certain fee, in the games they are mainly presented to the series as positive characters, since their task is to make life easier for ordinary people and earn a little extra money ... But we got a little distracted. The Trinity arrives exactly at the moment when Rin was ready to go to the forefathers, and therefore the heroes deliver him half-dead to the village, where a motley company is already waiting for his father, mother and a large number of other villagers who know firsthand the son of the baron. Yes, Rin is far from the easiest person in this world, he and his family belong to the nobility class, but they show absolutely no desire to fight for territories with the Reformists, focusing on pressing matters, which, of course, is condemned by the first at all levels.
Unfortunately, the long-awaited family reunion did not last long, as Princess Alfina and Alice are kidnapped in an attack on the villagers. At the same time, there is an attempt on the life of the baron by the forces of the jagers, who received the order to shoot to kill any person who resists. The girls were stolen from the heroes from under the noses of the representative of the secret organization Auroboros Altina Orion and Vita Clotilde, who for a long time called herself Misty and lived next to Class VII, pretending to be the most ordinary school radio host. Without thinking twice, the main character says goodbye to his mother and other residents of the village and, having united with Toval and Selina, goes to look for other students from Class VII, in order to get into the enemy camp with them, find the missing princess, return his sister and punish everyone who was involved in unleashed conflict.
If, after reading the outset of the game, you are still wondering "Who are all these people and what is happening in general?", Then I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the first part of the series for a better understanding of the overall picture, or at least read our detailed review on it, which we published in early last year. The main thing that can alienate players in the process of getting to know the series, as in the case of its predecessor, is that the plot of The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II is very slowly gaining momentum, without even trying to introduce the necessary intrigue. If, after completing the first part, you were worried about the fate and well-being of Class VII students, to whom you have already become attached, then the new game almost instantly makes it clear that everything is in perfect order with them. The authors threw aside a very suitable chance to play with the expectations of the players and tickle their nerves: even if you made a discount on the commercials and the cover of the game, in which all the characters are alive and well, you could try to pretend that it was not quite so and not to disclose some plot details on the fly. Fortunately, the authors played this in a non-trivial way: for example, Machias Regnitz, one of the most vicious haters of the nobility, who harbors even greater dislike for her after his father was imprisoned, will need to be found, following his plan, which he personally drew on paper and tossed to the main characters through an intermediary.
An ordinary hard worker Gaius Worzel, who lives in the steppe zones with his family, who earns their bread by farming, flatly refuses to go with the main character until he helps to smoke an enemy from his native lands that threatens the lives of local settlers. And the son of one of the greatest and richest members of the nobility Dukedom Albarea - Jusis Albarea - will challenge the protagonist to a duel that will decide his fate. If the player wins, then Jusis will go after Rin and his team, if he loses, then the son of one of the representatives of the Four Greatest Houses of the Erebonian Empire will continue the work of his father. Even if he is guilty of the attack on the village of Rina and the attempt on his relatives. In general, as it is not difficult to guess, the players will have a protracted gradual reunion of the team, which is not devoid of its charm and a bit of emotion, but it should be noted that this process slows down the development of history for tens of hours. Yes, this was the case in the previous game, but this step was well conditioned by the plot, because, after all, Rin and his comrades were students of the academy, and therefore they had to return to their duties again and again, thanks to which the calendar system with constantly replacing each other a friend's recurring events, although it affected the dynamics of history, was still perceived normally. There is no explanation for this in the new game.
While The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II should be given its due, it really does feel like a coherent adventure game, not torn into separate episodes: the seams that connect the story are not immediately visible, and thanks to the variety of places and situations in which the heroes find themselves, it feels like scope. I think this is what Nihon Falcom was trying to achieve in the first place. Rin and his team will be looking for each other in the vastness of the same Erebonian Empire, which means that you will have to re-visit the acquaintances from the first part of the location, as well as many new ones, and follow how the war changed them. In fact, not much has changed in the game. For the most part, the settlements look the way you remember them: familiar monsters are wandering around, diluted with several new species; characters you already know are waiting in the cities; even secrets and bosses will lie where they were in the first game of this mini-series. But from now on, the territory of the Empire is generously occupied by troops from both sides, and the inhabitants, who had suffered from many hardships before that (especially on farms and in urban-type settlements), began to live even worse. In other settlements, people feel like real hostages, because their native land in the blink of an eye turned into places of accumulation of the reserve troops of the Empire, which are ready at any moment to move to the front line or start a defense. Why people living in such provinces have ceased to receive any income and even lost the opportunity to influence their destiny due to bans on entry or exit. In rich cities, purges are often carried out, people are stressed and experiencing difficulties, because they are in complete or partial isolation.
In the end, you guessed it, everyone suffers. People experiencing difficulties in their own skin do not know who to blame for this situation: themselves, for actively participating in inciting hatred; other factions, because they are easiest to blame for all mortal sins; or their own government, which left people without income, without the ability to make their choice and without any prospects for the near future. Only Rin and his team take the liberty of going on a long journey to find out many interesting details: for example, that the alliance's troops are led by Jusis's brother, Rufus Albarea, who seeks to remove Class VII from the road; that the Liberl Kingdom, with which the Erebonian Empire has been at war for many years, managed to join forces with the Reformists in order to balance forces in the civil war, and at the same time destroy its enemy from within; that Alisa Reinford, a local orbmental technician and archer rolled into one, has known Rein from an early age, but only now has it been discovered; that Rin gradually recalls some events that not he himself experienced, but other people, and, perhaps, only perhaps, it is in his power to change the course of history. And even though such events with the heroes usually happen completely by accident while traveling between regions, it is very interesting to follow them.
The main thing that makes this story unusual by the standards of other jRPGs is the well-written heroes, in fact, like the main parties to the conflict. Even if you have not played in the first part of the series, Trails of the Cold Steel II will definitely try to reveal the characters of the characters, their motivations and reasons for participating in the current conflict. To do this, it is enough not to miss the plot scenes and more often to contact the party members - to take them with you on assignments and communicate in their free time from sorties. As for the parties to the conflict, the game is designed in such a way that Rin and his team will have to visit many places and get to know many people, including the leaders of the factions, and this will allow you to look at the situation from different sides. And to find out that there are no right and wrong in this war, each side does what it thinks is best for its country and its people, even if it is necessary to take radical measures and put many people in a very uncomfortable position. The noble ones, for example, are trying to concentrate all their forces in their hands, summoning the most dangerous people in the entire Empire and gathering together all the Knights - Valimar and his Azure brother to solve the conflict not so much with blood as by suppressing the enemy on psychological damage. And the Reformists, who see the Alliance as a source of tyranny and threat, are actively beginning to cooperate with other factions, even with those that were previously considered ideological enemies, in order to suppress the nobility, take their lives into their own hands and distribute benefits among ordinary people.
At one time, many players more than once or twice criticized the latest projects of the Fire Emblem series for such an element of role-playing game as the development of personal relationships between the characters, which ultimately results in strong friendship or marriage with the subsequent birth of children. No criticism, of course, did not embarrass the developers from Intelligent Systems, since this option was liked by the lion's share of newcomers who had not seen the early games of the series in the eyes, and this, as you know, is the target audience. This is an element of the gameplay that has long settled in many role-playing games, causing resentment among some players and delighting others with its presence. However, Nihon Falcom prefers to avoid this topic, which is usually not typical for projects of the scale of The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II, and instead of demonstrating the chemistry between the characters, the authors often limit themselves to awkward moments with the resulting sexual tension. ... Don't get me wrong, such deep and versatile role-playing projects as the first and second The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel, in which a lot of events that are significant for a huge number of people are taking place on a large continent, at first glance, do not need romance. But since the developers themselves constantly touch on this topic, why not give the player their own choice: to develop relationships with certain group members or ignore this option? In this case, one part of the audience would get what they want, while the other calmly concentrated on the general story, without being distracted by such trifles. As you may have guessed, the authors do not plan to develop this theme, trying to sit on two chairs at once, not ultimately catering to either puritans or fans of virtual dating.
The combat system of The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II has undergone some changes compared to the previous part: not significant, since the authors did not need to change what works well, but tangible. Monsters in locations are still visible to everyone at once, everyone patrols their own piece of land, and the player, watching their movements, can hurry up and chop or shoot in the back, thereby gaining an advantage in battle. Some monsters, from such unexpectedness and injustice of life, get the effect of stunning, which gives the characters a chance to attack four times in a row out of turn, others are frozen for a very short time, thanks to which the player gets the opportunity to strike three times first, and it is pointless to try to outwit the third, since they stun effect does not work. All the player can do is to distract the creature, and when it turns around, not finding anything to eat, instantly crash into it in order to get the opportunity to attack first. Up to the heap, for the intercepted initiative, the player's party receives pleasant bonuses, for example, partial recovery of health or the "CP" and "MP" scales, the meaning of which is read further in the text. This is a fairly simple and straightforward system that requires careful attention. In the world of The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II, there are quite a few monsters that appear before the player in the form of flying evil dandelions, moving stones, luminous spheres and other faceless creatures, by which it is very difficult to visually determine where they are in front, and where is the ass. In this case, you have to drill with your eyes a map of the area in the upper right corner, where opponents who have come into view are marked. Fortunately, the badges of the enemies are made in the form of arrows, which, very prudently, have a sharp end, indicating the direction of a particular monster.
It is noteworthy that in a game such as The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II, the player most of the time cuts into rags and makes holes in the crowds of artsy fairy creatures that have nothing to do with the story told in the game, and do not fight to the death with soldiers armed to the teeth, while the plot is mostly devoted to the civil war between ordinary people. This, I must admit, greatly reduces the degree of interest in what is happening, since for a long time it seems that you are doing anything, just do not bring any significant contribution to the history of this state or the unleashed conflict. On the same topic, as the game progresses, the talking cat Selina repeatedly jokes, who constantly notices such inconsistencies and is almost the best character in this work. She snorts in displeasure when she notices unexplained borrowings that the scriptwriters didn't bother to explain, and illogical plot moves. For example, you will certainly be amused by the inexplicable appearance of old temples in unexpected places, which are a system of constantly changing magical dungeons that appeared in the first part. But there was one such place and you regularly turned to him to pump the game, and from the point of view of the plot, this process was presented as an integral part of the training of Class VII students, but here there are several of them at once and no one but you knows about them. Over time, you will have a strong feeling that the temples haunt you in every chapter, wherever your party is.
In general, Selina often kicks players, trying to get them to do something really important, because Rina's sister, the princess and the whole Empire in general are in danger. Instead, the heroes fish in ponds and rivers, descend into the dungeons, carry out assignments of local residents, discuss what they have seen for a long time, or even stand and decide what to do next. But in the absence of other heroes capable of influencing the situation, she can only patiently follow their quirks, restrainedly scolding Rin and his team for their slowness. And if, going through the first part, you gave preference to the instructor and part-time curator of specialized Class VII Sarah Valestine, who made your day thanks to caustic comments, ambiguous hints, showered with sarcasm and was generally harsh, but fair, then in this part you will definitely be pleased with the voice of reason named Selina, albeit not in full, since her influence on the group closer to the middle of the game will significantly decrease due to the large number of characters constantly flickering on the screen. The authors added some indecent number of heroes to the game, be it some regular student of the academy or the elder brother of the heiress to the throne of the Erebonian Empire, and the game tries to introduce each one as closely as possible, which is why Selina or her beloved instructor Sarah simply does not have enough time to attract more attention to yourself than a couple of remarks at a time.
But back to the combat system. After colliding with the enemy, you find yourself in a small arena, where your characters take their positions and turn-based battle begins. During a turn, a player can move his charges closer or further to the enemy's location, attack, use the skills of each class VII student, activate magic, use a consumable item, or escape. All graduates of the Thor Academy have their own unique abilities, fighting style and weapons, but formally they can be divided into melee and ranged fighters: magicians and shooters strike from afar and at several targets at once, and knights and ninjas with swords, katanas and spears at the ready prefer duels ... Obviously, both conditional groups are good against certain opponents: mages and archers feel great when attacking air targets, and swordsmen are good at dealing with ground targets. If you try to change something in this scheme, then the fighters will constantly miss, and misses in this game, in fact, as in its predecessors, are punished with a counter-attack. Unfortunately, one of the developers at Nihon Falcom came up with a wonderful idea to make every second foe flying, which makes battles with them long and boring, since most of the squad cuts the air with their sharp blades and constantly takes damage. In this case, magic and personal skills will help to defeat the enemy. And if for the former you only need a filled "CP" scale, then to activate the second you need a filled "MP" scale, moreover, it is better to first study the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy, as well as guess the moment for the attack.
Such conventions are explained by the fact that, firstly, any magic spell must first be read, it may take some time, so to activate the magic it is best to retreat further, thereby preventing the enemies from getting closer to the party and interfering with the player's plans. And secondly, many adversaries are not susceptible to some elements, but they easily give in to others. Equipping each hero with all the elements will not allow a limited number of cells in the Arkus, which are very capricious to a heap when it comes to Orbments of different colors in structure, placed next to each other, and therefore you have to find a balance and correctly distribute magical abilities between the members of the squad. If earlier players, as the game progressed, had to independently drill holes in powder boxes in order to insert magic stones there, then there is no need for this in the sequel; instead, the game offers to improve existing cells, giving the player the opportunity to use high-level Orbments. And yes, Orbments replace the skill tree for players, since these stones give both active magical abilities: open access to fireballs or stone blocks; and passive: for example, they can increase the health or defense of heroes. Unique skills are revealed as the level of the characters increases, and almost all of them have migrated from the previous part. True, thanks to the fact that the heroes in The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II appear before the player not as yellow-haired recruits, but as experienced warriors, they already have some knowledge and skills, in this case the player can only start improving that already available.
However, even if you previously took care of supplying the heroes with the best weapons, durable jackets, good boots and other accessories necessary to survive among the crowds of monsters walking around the Erebonian Empire, then in the continuation you will have to do this whole process again, looking for useful items in chests and shops. And yes, everything I've talked about before is already more or less familiar to the players, so it's time to talk about completely new things. If you remember, at the end of the last game, when the main character learned to summon Valimar, he had at his disposal the so-called “Bravely Points” or “Points of Courage”, which were spent in the process of activating the “Link” between the characters. Communication occurs periodically when one of the party members attacks, in which case the one with whom the communication was established can join and help his comrade. Communication in the literal sense of the word develops even after reaching the next level, if the stars converge in the sky, and on the mountain some cancer whistles "Moonlight Sonata" after a rain on Thursday, then your heroes will perform a chain of attacks that can significantly undermine the enemy's health. Courage points were given for each such completed chain, and were spent on an enhanced blow, which two or more party members could inflict. From now on, this function is available almost from the very beginning of the game: you accumulate points, and then lower them on bosses or mini-bosses, if you find them.
But this is not the only function that is assigned to the process of interaction between characters. Strong bonds allow heroes to automatically heal each other, restore magic or powers for deadly moves without spending any action points or mana. That is why it is very profitable to carry with you on sorties characters who know how to heal and restore strength. Since the list of heroes is quite impressive, moreover, it has also been replenished with newcomers, sometimes the player will have to choose who to take with him on a mission and who to leave to guard the house. In the first part, this was due to the fact that the leadership of the academy divided Class VII into groups and periodically shuffled them. Such manipulations were carried out in order to create a sense of competition, because grades were given for the completed tasks, as well as to teach the social strata that hate each other and some chronic loners of mutual understanding and team spirit. In the new part, you yourself, as a leader, make such decisions. This aspect is both an advantage of the new game and its weakest part, since the expansion of the player's powers is certainly great and thanks to this he has every chance to feel like a squad leader and strategist. However, the second part of the party is almost always idle and thrashes at home, instead of working in parallel with the first group, thereby speeding up the process of bringing the Empire out of the crisis. It would be really cool to let the players independently divide the entire team into small squads and send them out on missions throughout the Empire, while doing their own thing. If the authors took such a step, the player's sense of his own importance in the political arena would increase significantly, the opinion would form that he really influences something, and no one is taking him by the handle. But, as you understand, none of the authors dared to take such "drastic" measures. And, despite the fact that Rin and his team no longer study at the academy, being a practical and self-critical person, because these are the qualities of a real leader, he evaluates his own actions, independently setting himself marks in a special journal, which are calculated by the number of points for completed tasks ... Thus, the player gradually climbs the conditional table of ranks. There is not much sense and practical benefit in this, but perfectionists can wind up on their mustache.
The "Overdrive" function, which is a gradually filling scale on the right side of the screen, can help to successfully send especially dense comrades to the forefathers, and when it is full, the characters will enter the "Rage" state for a while, they will inflict one critical attack after another. activating communication along the way. This feature is also very useful when at the end of the next dungeon you come across some armored natural wonder, whose normal attacks are akin to tickling. And do not forget about the super attacks, which in the game are called "S-Break", each hero has its own unique move, during the activation of which we are shown beautiful breathtaking animation, just like in the case of "Ultimate Strikes" from Final Fantasy. And, probably, it makes no sense to specify what kind of damage such attacks inflict. The main problem is that by using "S-Break" you instantly completely empty the "CP" scale, leaving one or another member of the squad without the opportunity to use their skills, which, in principle, is not critical if the monster showed clear signs of weakness for magic or he likes to fight in splendid isolation. But when there are a lot of adversaries and they fiercely defend the boss, who has no weaknesses in front of certain elements, but has vulnerabilities to some status effects, then skills cannot be dispensed with, because these are often designed to destroy crowds of small opponents, as well as to apply some effect such as blindness, petrification, poisoning, or paralysis. In addition, skills can be not only offensive, but also defensive, since such a simple function as blocking is not welcomed in Trails of the Cold Steel. Therefore, you have to get out and constantly apply positive effects to your party, increasing stamina, increasing damage, and so on.
As a result, all these scales and points, when very harsh bosses appear on the horizon, often force the player to save up everything and everyone, in order to then spend the accumulated money on some miracle of nature waiting at the end of the road. This, of course, cannot be called a tactic, but if you think carefully and remember the past, then we can say that the games taught us to do this from early childhood - to gain more lives, bonuses, weapons and cartridges, so that at the end of the level the whole thing would be lowered, but on the other hand, he should pile on some villain properly. In this regard, the game has maintained continuity both in relation to video games in general and to games in the series in particular. And if you thought that we had already finished with the combat system and innovations, then you are deeply mistaken, because the authors decided to develop the idea with monsters and created chains of collisions that are activated instantly if you get involved in a fight with adversaries standing next to each other. In this case, after defeating one pack of monsters, you will be forced to fight with the second, and then with the third, if at the time of the attack they were standing at a distance. Some battles are complicated by the presence of modifiers that drop out randomly, like in board games, that is, they are distributed among all participants in the battle and are marked on the turn sequence in the upper left screen with special icons. Like the player's party, the opponents have the opportunity to knock out more gems (Quartz) from each other, which are necessary to improve the Arkus cells, if a special icon appears next to the battle participant's icon, the main thing is not to miss the moment. Sometimes the modifier is negative: for example, an instant kill, and the one who receives such an icon can take the life of the enemy with one stroke, regardless of the amount of health of the latter, unless, of course, he misses. Sometimes it can work into your hands, and sometimes it doesn't. Here, as I said, chance reigns.
If you played the first part of Trails of the Cold Steel, then you probably remember that Rin and his companions, in between classes, training and excursions outside the academy, had free hours at their disposal, which the main character was free to spend on communication with peers and completing secondary tasks. All these little joys in life were purely optional, but they were much more useful than it might seem at first glance. Completing side missions allowed you to get to know others better and get at your disposal a number of unique items, and communication with classmates strengthened the connection between Rin and the party members. The main problem was that the side quests were well hidden and they naturally had to be looked for, which ultimately became a headache for the player who had to run around the whole district, prying out local citizens, imposing himself and his help. In this regard, the situation has improved slightly in the sequel, as people will often transmit their wishes and requests through loyal officials, for example, through Prince Oliver Lenheim, familiar to players from The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, or a market manager. Celdic town called Otto, but there are still a lot of hidden missions in the game. The developers did not take away from the player the opportunity to strengthen the connections between the heroes in the sequel, and therefore allowed them to freely explore Yumir and other cities between sorties, fulfill the requirements of local residents and, of course, spend time with friends. However, you and I know that an invisible connection can be established not only between the leader and someone from the group, but also between different members of the party, and before the village there was no way to quickly establish contact between them.
In order to correct this oversight, the authors prudently added a new simple method to the game to increase the level of relationships among companions. I'm talking about special blue chests that will periodically occur as you progress through the game's storyline. It should be noted right away that there are three types of chests in the game: ordinary wooden, red marble and blue. The former are unremarkable and most often conceal consumable items, marble chests are guarded by a group of especially furious adversaries who zealously defend their goods, and the blue ones hide from the eyes of mini-bosses. And if, in the case of marble chests, the whole watering gang rushes into battle, then only two (and in some cases four) heroes selected by the game will kill mini-bosses. As a reward for the victory, they will receive some especially valuable Orbment, and at the same time they will strengthen the connection with each other. And this is a very important point, because in a natural way, that is, during ordinary battles, communication develops very slowly, you can naturally arrange a real genocide of local flora and fauna in a particular region, but at the end you will not get even a quarter of the next level necessary for pumping. In fact, the authors tell us that this aspect, like many others in this game, is optional and not required, but without it it will be very difficult for you in your future achievements. And you have to put up with it.
To the delight of fans of Japanese games, any story chapter in Trails of the Cold Steel II always ends with epic battles of giant robots in which Rin pilots Valimar and his comrades support him. For example, they restore the health of a robot, replenish reserves of magical abilities, or allow them to accumulate enough strength to activate skills. It is noteworthy that the player can independently choose a companion who will help him in the battle, and this makes sense, since the partners are very different from each other in the supplied spells and skills. Each battle necessarily begins with the summoning of battle armor, just like Sho Fukamachi did in the animated series Guyver: Bio-Strike Weapon, then Rin moves to Valimar's cockpit, after which the battle takes place. As you progress through the game, Valimar will have to face off not only with other battle armor, which is the work of the nobility after they have studied the Azure Knight, but also with other types of technology, for example, flying ships or even tanks. During such a battle, the player has the right to isolate certain "body parts" of the enemy robots, which should be attacked by the enemy, for example, he can try to decapitulate the enemy battle armor, hit him in the chest, where the cockpit is located, or slash at the limbs. And this is also important, since different types of opponents have different vulnerabilities that you need to find, and then focus all your attention on them. Over time, Valimar will be allowed to improve by inserting up to three special Orbments, created on the basis of ordinary stones intended for ordinary people, into different parts of the robot's body. This can be an increase in the endurance, strength or defense of the robot.
If you saw the first game of the series (and this was undoubtedly a large-scale project that could drag players in for tens, if not hundreds of hours, in fact, like its sequel), then you remember about the mini-games that entertained players between tasks. For example, they were allowed to exchange cards with classmates while traveling across the Empire, accompanied by long train journeys. It was purely optional, non-binding entertainment, which was replaced in the new part by snowboarding. From now on, you can brighten up your free hours in Yumir by going down the mountains on a board, fighting with the adjusting timer and picking up flags at high speed. For the fulfillment of certain conditions, players will be rewarded with various useful trinkets, for example, potions or pendants that give various bonuses. However, despite the fact that trains have disappeared from the game, other vehicles, such as horses or the famous motorcycle from the first part, have not gone anywhere. The technological miracle will even be allowed to compete in speed with Jusis, who will challenge Rin at some point. Later, the iron horse will become available as a transport anywhere on the map of the Empire, and it will also be possible to recolor it to your liking and improve it. For example, for ten thousand conventional units, which are called "Worlds" here, it will be possible to attach a sidecar to a motorcycle and put one of the party members in it. Those who like to explore the water surface for a long time will definitely be delighted to hear that Trails of the Cold Steel II has a mini-game with finding habitats and fishing, accompanied by QTE, as well as collecting various collectibles: food recipes, newspaper clippings, monsters (they will be entered in a special book), rare chests and the like, for the diligent collection of which players will be awarded food that gives all kinds of effects, details about the fate of various people and, of course, trophies. The game even counts the students of the military academy found by the player, who are not easy scattered throughout the Empire. Some of them, by the way, can and should be recruited aboard a combat flying ship called "Courageous" or "Brave".
Finding and rescuing students is a whole separate occupation with which you can entertain yourself between the main plot tasks, and players will have to return to the old, already studied locations over and over again in order to find all the students and persuade them to board the ship. These comrades inhabit even the most unsightly holes of the Empire and, despite the fact that they are wanted and may well be imprisoned or killed on the spot, all students of the academy wear their uniforms and never take them off. And this means that the warriors who blocked almost every road to every more or less large city in the Empire are blind and deaf, since they are unable to find and catch a handful of children hanging around right under their noses. It is especially surprising that the uniforms on the students are mostly green, apparently, the representatives of the nobility are no longer proud of their white uniforms and, leaving the walls of the academy, they preferred to immediately hang it in the closet and not remember it again. In general, this is a rather funny activity, since the authors here also tried to make the process of searching and collecting variable: some students will go with Rin's group only if there is the right person in the party, others will agree upon learning that you have already recruited someone from their old acquaintances , the third will ask to complete some assignment, for example, to find something or defeat someone, the fourth will accept the invitation just like that, because the authors still did not think of something better for them than to stand in some alleyway and look at the wall.
Slightly depressing with its implausibility is the fact that Rin perfectly remembers the names of all these students by heart, and there are a good hundred of them in this game, he knows every single one by sight, when he meets on the move, voices a lot of details about their activities within the walls of the academy and outside it , remembers perfectly who communicated with whom during his school years, and so on. It looks and sounds a little creepy if you think about it, and I swear that no one from the leadership of the academy can boast of such knowledge about their charges, while Rin is a real walking file cabinet. As mentioned above, the search for academy students is optional, but it adds a few points to the final grade at the end of each story chapter. Rin's group can and will freely move around the Empire on their flying ship, exploring separate regions, and, wandering around once studied locations, they may well come across giant Cryptids monsters, designed to make up for the lack of bosses in the game. Fights with these monsters are purely optional, but it is in the battle with them that players can test all their skills, since giants have exorbitantly long health bars and are able to deal with the best Class VII fighters in a few moves. At such moments, the help of Valimar is very useful, whom you can call exactly once per battle and use all his abilities in order to significantly undermine the health of your opponent.
From a technical point of view, Trails Of Cold Steel II has some problems, mostly related to the portable version, since the game periodically slows down a lot in large spacious locations. Moreover, what I find very strange is selective. What is the reason for this event is difficult to say, since the content and scale of large spacious levels are approximately the same, however, the authors here too approached the problem creatively: in those places where the game starts to slow down especially strongly, the plot makes a feint with their ears and the characters collide with some by an irresistible force that forces them to leave the zone and go to look for another way. However, this is practically the only drawback of the game, in addition to a strong drop in the frame rate when a large number of special effects are displayed on the screen. Otherwise, the PlayStation Vita version pleases the eye with beautiful graphics, a fairly diverse palette of colors and a large number of character animations. Although, of course, local heroes look more wooden and awkward than their counterparts from World of Final Fantasy, but we all understand perfectly that Nihon Falcom cannot part with its one and only engine, on which almost all three-dimensional games work. , released from the pen of this studio, and therefore have to be content with what is.
Publishing company NIS America gained valuable experience in translating and adapting the first part of the series, supplemented with information in the form of feedback from players and the specialized press, but for some reason it did not listen to them. We still have partial localization at our disposal, in which characters sometimes speak out loud, then suddenly jump to text in the same conversation. It looks comical, especially when one of the interlocutors, for example, the protagonist, talks with dialog boxes, while his comrades are trying to act out their roles. However, sometimes it becomes completely out of place for jokes, especially when the same character whispers with someone from the group, then begins to think to himself, and in either case, the phrases in the dialog box are separated by brackets, which greatly complicates understanding the situation. And we can only guess what from what was said his interlocutors heard, and what he decided to keep with him. The rest of the localization has remained approximately at the same level as in the case of its predecessor, it is good enough and pleasant to the ear, even if not everything is voiced in the game.
For those who have already completed the first part of the series, and I highly recommend doing this for a comprehensive understanding of the story told, the developers have prepared a surprise in the form of transferring progress from the first part to The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II in order to emphasize the importance of decisions and actions previously taken by players. My experience with this function was unimportant, because the European version of the game, purchased from the PlayStation Store, for some reason could not find the save from the first part on the memory card, despite the fact that there were such on it, in fact, like the game itself. However, this little problem does not prevent me from explaining how it works. By integrating their progress into the second part, players will receive expanded options for communicating with already familiar NPCs they have met during practical classes within the walls of the academy. Residents of cities and villages will recognize you by sight, rejoice at the meeting and are more willing to share details about the current situation in the political and social arena than without integration. Which in fact does not change the essence of the matter much if you play without this function, but it sounds rather strange, because unlike these characters, I, and any player who tried the first part and started the second, remembers them very well. Judge for yourself, some months passed between the events of both games, and not years, in fact, like between the release of both games of the series on the western market, and therefore the inhabitants of villages and cities simply could not forget those who distracted a big trouble from them and decided their personal problems. This, of course, is not a significant problem, and the idea with a bad memory and a pill for it in the form of saving integration sounds good, at least in theory, but in practice it does not work as it should.
Outcome: No matter how much you write about The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II, there is still a feeling of understatement: it seems that some important detail or an entire event has escaped our watchful attention, and, most likely, this is not far from the truth. But it should be so, since this work, and other games in the series, are woven from dozens of different mechanics, game features, large and small plot arcs that run in parallel, casually touch each other, intersect, merge together, and in general, are a large tangled web, consisting of a very decent number of colorful and diverse characters, as well as intriguing and exciting events. And in all this jumble of dozens or even hundreds of characters and storylines, players will have to understand, gradually studying the sides of the conflict, the world of Erebonia itself and how the actions of many people, including the protagonist, are reflected in the well-being of others. Trails Of Cold Steel II absorbed all the best that was in the first part, and was able to develop the ideas inherent in it, and some of them fit into the outline of the events that were taking place, some didn’t, but you cannot help but notice that on today, without any exaggeration, this game is the largest and most beautiful project of all that Nihon Falcom has ever done, and one of the best Japanese role-playing games on stationary and portable consoles.
However, despite the fact that the second part of this wonderful mini-series turned out to be very ambitious, it is noticeably inferior to its predecessor. This can be seen from a number of aspects: from the low degree of thoughtfulness of the secondary tasks, which in this game turned out to be more boring than in the first, and ending with the plot stuck in place with an episodic presentation of material that returned for no reason, which received no intelligible explanation ... And constant skirmishes with monsters, while a real civil war is taking place in the yard, and re-acquaintance with already studied characters may slightly disappoint those who expected a strong start from The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel II and gradually increasing tension due to the intrigue masterfully created by the scriptwriters. Unfortunately, there is nothing of the kind here. If, passing the first part, you felt tired of the general monotony and a slight protraction towards the end of the game, then know that the continuation of the series did not avoid a similar problem, but rather even exacerbated it, since this game is a sequel, therefore, it a priori cannot give feeling of novelty inherent in new projects in the series. And here the very short interval between the releases of the two parts of the series in the West may be to blame. However, if all of the above did not bother you at all, then feel free to drop everything and start your acquaintance with the game. It's worth it.
P.S. At the beginning of our review, we wrote that The Legend of Heroes: Trail of The Cold Steel II is completing a story acre dedicated to the attempts of Class VII to eliminate the people rocking the situation in the Erebonian Empire and unite their people. This was the case at the time of writing this review, but a few weeks ago Nihon Falcom announced the third game in the series, which for some reason bypassed the owners of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, despite the presence of a ready-made engine for these platforms and a user base consisting of fans of similar games. Why reinvent the wheel and aim at people who are not familiar with the series, as well as abandon the portable version, is a big mystery. But let's hope for the discretion of the studio management and fans of the series, who can defend their right to play The Legend of Heroes: Trail of The Cold Steel III in the subway, buses and trains.
And that's all for me, thank you all for your attention. Expect more materials in the very near future.
Xseed "s PC release of the original Trails of Cold Steel. Featuring a wide array of configuration options, a port clear of major (and most minor) bugs, the excellent Turbo Mode feature, and even additional lines of voiced dialogue, it set a high bar for future pc versions of the entries in the series to match up to. It's not surprising that the work done for Trails of cold steel ii'S PC release is equally impressive.
For the most part, Trails of Cold Steel II matches up to the level set by last year’s port of the original game, which in itself is a great success. We called the PC version of Cold Steel the “best way to play the game” and the same holds true for its sequel. Xseed included additional lines of voiced dialogue again for this release, similar to the original game, showing a degree of going above and beyond for the PC version that is for the most part unheard of. Unless you want official Japanese voiceover support, this is the definitive way to play Cold Steel II (and chances are you’ll be able to play in Japanese in an unofficial capacity at some point after launch as well).
We thought that Cold Steel II's original PS3 release was a second chapter of Falcom's ongoing series, but the game is definitely putting on its best face on PC. The convenient and comprehensive configuration menu from Cold Steel returns here:
The configuration menu for Trails of Cold Steel II is largely the same as that of the first game, and the bevy of options here is as impressive as it was last year. Most options will show a preview image in real time on the right-hand side, so you know exactly what each toggle will adjust in-game without having to boot in and out of the configurator. You can select the game’s resolution, display mode, a number of shadow rendering features, and the degree of anti-aliasing applied to the game. You can even specify which sort of button prompts you want the game to display if you’re using a controller. Even the amount of autosaves and the multiplier for the Turbo Mode feature are able to be tweaked. The only real differences between this and last year’s release is the option for using a specific PCSS shadowing filtering technique, and complete controller remapping options.
Another nifty addition to Cold Steel II is the ability to directly boot into your most recent save, which in my experience worked exactly as advertised - I was able to continue playing from exactly where I left off every time I'd open the game without ever needing to see the main menu. It’s definitely not something we expect or require but it’s a neat little feature all the same. Even if you decide to not use the quick load functionality, you can disable start up videos as before and loading times are very snappy.
While not a new feature, the Turbo Mode functionality is again the star of the show here. Both battles and cutscenes can be sped up to six times the original speed, which makes in-game backtracking and long-winded cutscenes go by as quickly as you want them to. The Turbo feature doesn’t introduce any audio bugs and all music and dialogue played at normal speed, only with the movement hastened. The Link and Burst mechanics in battle will automatically slow during Turbo mode to allow for the necessary player input, which is as impressive as it was in the original game.
The only minor issue with Turbo mode is that for some cutscenes, the music must change tracks before a certain event or dialogue occurs, so occasionally you'll have to wait for the current track to fade out because the scene commences, but this is a minor nitpick at most. The game did crash for me once while turboing through a bunch of scenes, but one crash over about 40 hours played with a recent autosave to catch my lost progress and I didn’t lose a large amount of sleep over it. Another small adjustment was getting used to Turbo Mode being set to L3 instead of the trigger, which meant that engaging the feature while simultaneously directing your character on the field took a little practice, but after a few minutes was completely doable.
The game also behaved reasonably well with other software on my PC. Whether in fullscreen or windowed mode I was easily able to tab into and out of the game or switch over to other application windows and the game would smartly mute and pause itself if it wasn’t the primary screen at any given time. I was also able to use the full Steam overlay features as well at OBS video recording. The only software I didn’t have success with right away was Nvidia’s suite of capture tools, unless desktop mode was turned on, which is far from a showstopper.
Cold Steel II is a direct sequel of the original game, and playing Cold Steel is essential to understand the narrative in II, so we definitely recommend newcomers to the series start there - it's another great port on PC. We have a video review of the game "s original PS3 release as well as gameplay footage of the PC version at max settings. It "s mostly just a touched up version of the original release, but it" s clean and sharp and looks good at 60 frames per second.
Cold Steel II is the latest game of the overarching “Kiseki” series of games that been localized for western audiences so the future from here on is a little bit murky. We know that the first two games are getting, but details concerning the future of the series for the west are sparse at best. We’re hopeful this isn’t the last time we’ll be able to write about the series for the western audience and that fans who invest into the games, on any platform, will be able to see the story continued someday soon.
Trails of Cold Steel II will be released very soon, the European release is scheduled for November 11, and we have not written about the first share, we are correcting it.
Released in January on PS3 and Vita, Trails of Cold Steel is a massive RPG set in Erebonia, a thriving land in serious trouble. You play as a group of elite students who roam the Erebonian towns and villages battling monsters, solving problems, and teaching the enduring class struggle that threatens to tear the country apart. Lots of cities to explore, an insane number of characters for lengthy conversations and a whole lot of side quests that allow you to distract a little on the line to the main goal.
In other words, this is a tremendous game, which has been done even more. The writers at Falcom should be reminded that concise is the sister of talent. Dozens of hours of playing time is not the limit.
However, there is a reason to love Trails of Cold Steel. Top-notch writing and character development, fully in line with the standards of the publisher XSEED and their RPG series Trails of the Sky. This is a sparse game where conversations with each NPC are really worth your while. At first glance, the main characters seem to be just tracing copies of those from anime series - an impudent class president, a close-knit handsome nobleman, etc. - but as the plot progresses, most of them show unexpected depth.
The game is structured very neatly, so all seven chapters will run in exemplary fashion in the same rhythm. It turned out to be something between Suikoden and Persona. In the beginning of each chapter, the main protagonist Rin will go to school, attend business, take exams and all that. In addition, each chapter will have one or two independent days that Rin can spend, firstly, completing side quests (ranging from untalented to insanely fun), and secondly, forging relationships with his classmates. This will strengthen Social Links (Social Links), and the more concentrated they are, the stronger the feeling of fellowship in battles with enemies. Free days end, as a rule, with a visit to the old school building, which serves as both a test site and a multi-purpose dungeon in Cold Steel. I repeat, you will visit this point more than once or twice.
In the second half of each chapter of Rin, the comrades go on an expedition through the Erebonian cities and villages - in fact, this is where the real action takes place. With a couple of exceptions (especially in chapter 3) these are the best parts of the game. Erebonian civilization is a pleasure to explore, especially if you've played Trails of the Sky, which takes place in the neighboring country of Liberl, where Erebonia is viewed as an enemy. But, as it turns out, the inhabitants of Erebonia are actually ordinary people with their own problems, many of which are related to the strained relations between the aristocracy and the common people.
While exploring the schoolhouse and being on expeditions, you will often fight monsters, and the local combat will be known to everyone who has played other games in the Trails series. There is a special panel (like in Grandia) that allows you to control the order in which the heroes will storm, as well as many different skills and spells. Boss battles will probably seem difficult, but never unfair, because you have a lot of strategies at your disposal that you can play this way and that in order to eventually find a winning combination. You can switch between heroes - usually, you always have access to at least six characters, but you can only use four - and you can also arm your students with the most powerful spells.
When playing on the Vita, you may encounter a positive drop in frame rates, especially in big cities. It's not a big deal, but it can get a little nerve-racking. In addition, it can be minimized by supporting, for example, fast travel.
The game ends unexpectedly and a lot remains unsaid, so if you do finish this game, be ready to take on Trails of Cold Steel II, which is due out on PS3 / Vita in early November.
Either way, the first Cold Steel is worth the time spent on it. Yes, sometimes it is slow, but certainly not boring. In a story-driven RPG, a good script can overshadow all other flaws, and Cold Steel is a clear example of this. If you are one of the breed of players who talk to absolutely all NPCs, like crawling through dungeons and taking part in field political research, then this game is for you.
Release date: January 29, 2016 Developer: Falcom Genres: RPG Perrons: PS3 / PlayStation Vita Ranked games: 342th place Editor's rating:
75 %
Is it worth cutting? (based on reader ratings) Yes
It is not always possible to clearly express their feelings from acquaintance with this or that work of human fantasy and labor. Sometimes a couple of hours is enough to be filled with a lot of different feelings and emotions, and sometimes you spend a lot of time on some product and realize that it hasn't given you anything. And in general, the result of immersion in this or that world is a very unpredictable business, it is rarely possible to clearly predict what you will like, and what will remain only a handful of not the most pleasant memories.
And sometimes it even happens that the product turns out to be very controversial, in other words, it is able to induce completely contradictory feelings inside you, but, on the whole, you will be satisfied. And more than satisfied.
This is how you can describe - if briefly, but not entirely clear - my acquaintance with the Legends of Heroes, namely - Traces of Cold Steel ...
The game is a representative of many beloved genre of Japanese RPG with turn-based battles of the party of characters. And I'll break the intrigue right away - everything is very good here. Except for a couple of points.
The game immediately offers a choice of the difficulty of battles, a choice of four modes. The first three I skipped right away, because why are they needed, if there is a difficulty mode "Nightmare" ... Sounds strong, on the faces of the heroes flies even stronger.
And, I will clarify again, everything is really good here. Almost every fight forces you not only to beat the opponent with your feet and hands, but to actively use almost all the means available to you for survival and, more preferably, victory over the enemy. Fights with bosses often appear as a real challenge for you, the resolution of which can bring a truly pleasant sensation from overcoming obstacles and obstacles.
But there is, as one very famous anecdote says, one nuance ...
Each enemy has its own characteristics and the degree of resistance to the many status effects presented in the game, which you can always see in the description of your chosen enemy. And the problem is that two different opponents with the same specified resistance to any effect will react completely, diametrically to your attempts to impose these effects. And this, often, leads to very disastrous consequences, because you, trying to coordinate your actions, relying on these information, fail and do not understand why this happened, because you seem to be able to distinguish between poisonous and stunning attacks and could not confuse the statuses ...
At some points, the game resembles some other products of the same Japanese digital industry. Before continuing the thought, I note that the main characters of this game are students of the military academy. And that's why it was quite funny to see elements of the latest games in the Persona series, when you are asked to correctly answer a question asked, which is closely related to the lore of the game itself. Knowledge of our own history or literature will not work here, so either memorize the information coming from dialogues and other sources, or rely on Ms. Fortuna.
Separately, I would like to mention the music, which is not to say that it evokes some incredible sensations, but some compositions definitely incite nostalgic notes and memories of completely different games. For example, the main melody in the city where your academy is located, to me personally, strongly resembles the adventures of the little black wizard Vivi from the ninth part of Final Fantasy, when he came to the capital of Alexandria, full of bright hopes to see the world-famous performance “I want to be your canary ". Another melody a little, but still, reminds of a not so long-time guest of the modern gaming world - Nier Automata. But that's just funny little things.
But now, following my own words about the duality of sensations, the following should be noted, but first, a small remark: the following things that I will talk about are not very serious, in other words, they do not reflect the quality of the game - a quality that, as many know, it varies greatly from person to person, because everyone has their own taste - this is just the result of my feelings. But, however, if you read what I am writing for you (well, for myself, what a sin to conceal) and this article is not the first for you from me, then you know that I am here and I am doing exactly what I describe your own feelings, which in no way should and should not arise when you get acquainted with exactly the same product of the gaming industry.
Well, back to our rams. No, I will not quote anything. And I'm not kidding. There is not always a desire to perceive the main characters in a different way. I cannot say that they are hopelessly stupid children, but there are two reasons for my reaction and my words. But let's, again, about everything in order.
Reason number of times - dialogues. In a nutshell, sometimes there is an incredibly strong feeling that you are playing a game about talking. The characters love to talk very much - but to me, as an introvert, who, often, can explain everything quickly and concisely (as, however, a person who cannot, well, just does not see life, does fill in the text, so as not to clog the text with huge amounts of definitely unnecessary turns ), it's very hard to listen to all this. And not always interesting. But this is not the main problem of dialogues. How to say ... The problem is that the characters are talking. And they do it not just always when possible, but even when it would definitely be worth shutting up and doing business.
No kidding, at some point in time I sincerely wondered why a footman with folding chairs, a table and a tea set did not follow the characters. A dangerous criminal took hostages and ran away? We need to chat with comrades! Are you surrounded by ruthless monsters and attacking you? It is necessary to talk about this. It certainly seems that the unfortunate kids outside of screen time are just being gagged and their talkativeness just can't find a way to be realized. Sometimes it breaks any limits of decency and at the moments when one single movement can save everything and everyone, the guys decide - are you ready? - they decide to arrange a delicious conversation, inimitable in its improbability and timeliness.
Point number two can be considered definitely less significant, but, to some extent, it is very related to the first, and if you think logically, it is the very reason for the problem I described above. So I'm talking about the intelligence of the heroes. And no, I don't mean that the characters here are downright idiots. But at the same time, I don't like it when the game thinks me an idiot. On the whole, blatant stupidity is not a pleasant sight. In general, I'm just talking about not the most logical and clever actions of in-game characters. Sometimes, looking at the screen, you seriously try to understand what went wrong and how it came to it. The illogicality of certain events almost shook me. As someone who is to a certain extent related to storytelling, I can understand the reasons for such circumstances - it is easier to develop a story and create a dangerous situation for the characters by doing stupid actions, which, in general, is not bad for a game that has a good, really good combat system. ... But I'm far from a child who takes everything at face value and you won't take me like that. And if a character, definitely deciding to play the fool, starts doing utter stupidity, I take it very, very badly. I would say even hot. The duck just burns.
Perhaps you, my dear readers, might have the impression that the game is hopelessly bad, terrible, unbearable ... But this is not entirely true. I'll tell you a secret, but I'm not writing about games that I didn't like. The reason for this is one and very simple - it will be offensively short texts, in which, by and large, you cannot say much, because a game that does not bring you pleasure can hardly boast that you have played it for a long time.
Based on what has just been said, we come to the conclusion that I liked the game. To be frank, there are few opportunities in it, but the combat system, which has challenged me for a long time of my practice in classic Japanese RPG games, has kept me in this world for more than a dozen hours.
Speaking about the lack of in-game features, I mean the following - the most commonplace that catches your eye is cosmetics. And I’m not talking about the costumes that are here, about the surprise, I’m talking about another, very important for me, details - weapons. The game features many playable characters, each of them has an individual means of self-defense and attack. But it doesn't change. There are a huge number of older and, at the same time, more famous games where this detail was given due attention - many parts of The Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, the same Person - the weapon changed its appearance when you found or bought a new one. This is not here and this is insulting. This is a trifle, but important for me personally.
There are also very no actions with the environment. And no, I don't think that fishing and a couple of clickable interior elements in the library can be considered a sufficient number of actions. I'm talking about more possibilities for the same search for objects. Let's remember the excellent in this regard, the eighth part of the Dragon Quest series - there you could come to someone's home and climb into the closet, shake everything out of the barrels, look into the chamber pot (no, I made it up), run your playful hands into the hanging on wall duffel bag. Well, it wouldn't be difficult to do that. In other games - also very old ones, one could simply click on every element of the environment in search of a cherished secret - the same endings, or, say, the Legend of the Dragoon ...
Perhaps I would have remembered something else, but I won't. For, if it did not strike my eye, then this is not such an important element, or, at least, a pleasant combat system is enough to close my eyes to many things. Yes, I think it is.
To summarize, I can say the following - someday I will get to the second part of Cold Steel Tracks. There I also, something tells me, will ignite for the same reasons that I described above, but I also think that the pleasure that I get from the game will cover all these unpleasant incidents. And even more, I hope that there will be so many pleasant sensations that an irresistible desire will appear in me to write about them ...
Well, class Seven, let's suffer some more, how do you like the idea? ..
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