The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (PlayStation 3) Review

The Legend of Heroes is a series that takes a generic anime style game with a familiar setting and gives it a unique twist. Each of the eight main characters in Trails of Cold Steel attend Thors Military Academy. As an experiment, the school starts a new class with a mix of nobles and commoners, which is seen as taboo in this world; the class system is in full effect, meaning no mixed classes in the academy. As the game progresses, the character bonds change and their character traits develop a little; this is something that is often missing in JRPG titles. The premise is the same coming of age story told countless times, but it has its own certain flair and interesting plot twists that help keep you invested.

Aside from the story, the game takes quite a Persona-ish approach to its gameplay. To begin with, the battle system is turn-based and has an interesting setup. The characters, unlike in most turn-based systems, aren't locked down and have free roam of the battlefield (although no direct control). If a character runs forwards to attack, they will stop in the general vicinity of the enemy they hit. Dispersing the characters round the map with a mix of attack and move commands can lead to interesting tactical decisions that allow characters to hit multiple enemies at once using either crafts (attacks unique to the character) or art (magic attacks). The elemental properties of arts are dictated by a piece of equipment called an Orbment, and this device can be equipped with gems similar to Materia in Final Fantasy VII. Each gem has different elemental powers and, over time, the Orbment can be upgraded to carry more elemental gems, offering up more advanced and interesting combination arts.

Combat linking is a heavily-used feature in the combat and is a way to link two characters during battle, which allows for support attacking. After a successful staggering/critical attack, the linked character gets an extra attack in on the enemy. On each turn, the link can be changed to maximise the damage across the battlefield. It's far from a shallow experience, providing ample tactical options that many other games don't.

During each chapter, there is usually a chance to improve each character's relationship. This is done by spending Bond points and by completing side missions. The bonding events are usually pretty funny, from watching a character swim to having a chat over a coffee. It also draws a few more parallels to Persona here. Trails of Cold Steel is actually surprisingly captivating in its quieter moments, giving players time to enjoy the game world and explore the characters in a little more depth. It is during these sections that it is possible to go to the in-game library and read the books of lore. As character bonds improve, the game opens up more complex combat link bonuses and attacks, which is very satisfying.

It all looks fairly decent for a cross PS3 and Vita title, offering colourful visuals and characters with some reasonably good voice acting. The soundtrack is pretty heart pumping, although it does fall somewhere between generic and fun. With succinct storytelling, play time ranges from 50 to 60 hours, but it is also worth noting that it is not a difficult game, so RPG veterans will likely breeze through it.