The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Lore & Background

The game is set in the Erebonian Empire and takes place after the Trails in the Sky trilogy and concurrently with Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure. The plot centers on Class VII at Thors Military Academy in Trista, a newly formed class not segregated by social class, composed of both Erebonian nobility and commoners. The class includes protagonist Rean Schwarzer, Alisa Reinford, Elliot Craig, Laura S. Arseid, Machias Regnitz, Jusis Albarea, Emma Millstein, Fie Claussell, Gaius Worzel, and instructor Sara Valestein, later joined by Crow Armbrust and Millium Orion. Throughout the school year, Class VII undertakes field studies across Erebonia, witnessing a power struggle between aristocratic nobles and the Reformists led by Chancellor Giliath Osborne, which threatens to escalate into civil war. They also confront the terrorist group Imperial Liberation Front, secretly backed by the Noble Alliance and led by the masked "C," while investigating a mysterious schoolhouse that changes layout monthly. At its bottom, they find a Divine Knight mech called Valimar. During a speech by Osborne, the Imperial Liberation Front attacks, and Rean awakens Valimar to fight a giant robot, but the mech goes berserk and attacks the crowd. Rean regains control and defeats the robot, but the Noble Alliance uses the chaos to seize control of the empire, forcing Class VII to go into hiding.

Reader's Guide

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is notable as the first entry in a four-part arc within the long-running Trails series, marking a shift to fully 3D character models and free camera movement. Its battle system retains the AT (Action Time) turn-based system while introducing a Link system for follow-up attacks and cooperative benefits, and streamlines the Orbment system from previous games. The game received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising its combat, character interactions, and mature storyline. It was named among the Future Division winners at the 2013 Japan Game Awards. The English localization by Xseed Games was noted for its depth, though some reviewers observed that the lack of English versions for the two prior titles made the narrative harder to follow for some players. The game was commercially successful, with the PlayStation Vita version selling 81,622 copies in its first week in Japan, contributing to significant profits for Falcom. Subsequent ports for Windows (with additional English voice acting), PlayStation 4 (remastered with 4K support and high-speed skip), and Nintendo Switch extended its reach.

Did You Know?

• The game was developed using the PhyreEngine game engine.
• The Windows port released in 2017 includes additional English voice acting not in the original release.
• The PlayStation 4 remaster supports 4K resolution and a high-speed skip combat feature.
• The game's player base in Japan was mostly in their late teens to early 20s, according to Falcom CEO Toshihiro Kondo.