The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is a 2013 role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom and Radical Entertainment. As a part of the long running The Legend of Heroes series, it was first released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in Japan in September 2013. In 2015, Xseed Games and Activision announced they would be localizing the game English, which released at the end of that year. A port for Microsoft Windows was later released in 2017, which included additional voice acting not seen in the original release. A version for the PlayStation 4 is also planned for release in Japan in March 2018. A durect sequel, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II was released on September 25, 2014.

Gameplay
The basic gameplay is nearly identical to the previous "Kiseki" series entries with a few changes. The biggest change to the battle system and also counting as a brand new feature is the "Tactical Link System". The "Tactical Link" allow players follow up with three different kinds of link attacks, dealing additional damage and providing various other benefits. "Tactical Link" becomes a more useful asset to the player as the story progress and characters level up their "Link Levels" with other characters. As the link levels increase, you will obtain new link abilities such as healing the link partner or increase the CP gain of the partner. Another change is the Orbment system. Sen no Kiseki inherits the "Master Quartz" system from Ao no Kiseki. However, the Quartz system has been revamped. Sen no Kiseki does away with the sepith count associated with quartzes, which means orbal arts no longer depend on the overall sepith count on a single line but is instead based on the quartz you equip (EG: Equipping the Fire Bolt quartz allows your character to use the art Fire Bolt. Equipping HP1 only increases your HP and does not give you any arts because the sepith system is not in place). This game is also the first game in the series that was developed for the PS3. The game features 360 degree camera control, fully 3D character models, and voice conversations between characters on the overworld map, all of which are brand new features to the Kiseki series. Players can transfer save data between the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions using the cross-save function.

Falcom has also introduced downloadable content to the game in forms of items that can be used in battle and cosmetic changes like everyday clothing for the characters. A "teaser site" for the game was released on December 20, 2012, and includes screenshots of the game.

Plot
The game is set in the Erebonian Empire and takes place during the same time period as the Trails in the Sky and Crossbell series of games. The game's plot is centered around Rean Schwarzer and his fellow "Class VII" at Thors Military Academy, which is a newly formed class composed of both Erebonian nobility and commoners, being the only one at the entire academy that does not segregate based on social class. The game follows Class VII throughout the school year from March to October, primarily focusing on their field studies that takes them to various cities and areas across Erebonia. The primary purpose of doing so is for the class to witness first hand the reality of the empire, as the power struggle between the nobility, led by four great aristocratic Houses, and the working class reformists led by Chancellor Osborne, which threatens to lead to a civil war.

During their time at the academy, Class VII also are tasked with investigating the "Old Schoolhouse", an unused mysterious building on campus that changes its internal layout monthly. At the bottom of the seventh and final floor, they discover an ancient mecha known as Valimar. The story comes to a climax with the assassination of Osbourne in the capital by the terrorist known as "C", who is revealed to be fellow Class VII student Crow Armbrust. Alongside the assassination, a coup lead by the noble faction leads to Thors being occupied by forces led by Crow piloting his own mecha. Unable to fight it with normal means, Rean calls Valimar in order to fight Crow with it one on one, in which Rean is defeated, leading directly into Trails of Cold Steel II.

Development
The game was also localized into Chinese and Korean with the assistance of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia. The English localization was handled by Xseed Games and Activision, who also ported the game to Microsoft Windows in 2017, with the latter including additional voice acting not seen in the original release. A remastered version for the PlayStation 4, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel I: Kai -Thors Military Academy 1204-, is also planned for release in Japan in March 2018. It will include many features seen in the PC release, such as support for 4k resolution and a "high speed skip" combat feature.

Music

 * Main article: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (soundtrack)

Christophe Beck will compose the music for the video game The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel. Later the additional music was composed by Jake Monaco, Joseph Trapanese, Paul Mounsey, John Van Tongeren and Benjamin Wallfisch with the additional arrangements provided by Matthew Margeson. The orchestra was conducted by Tim Davies and Nick Glennie-Smith when the score was recorded at Warner Bros. Eastwood Scoring Stage and The Fox Newman Scoring Stage and mixed at JCB Studios and Remote Control Productions (Hans Zimmer's music company) by Casey Stone with the additional recording by Alan Meyerson (who mixed the additional music) and Slamm Andrews while the additional enginerring was provided by John Witt Chapman and Seth waldmann in October 5, 2012. A soundtrack album was released on September 26, 2013 by WaterTower Music.

Reception
In Japan, Famitsu gave both versions a review score of 34/40. The game received a generally positive reception, according to review aggregator Metacritic, making it the highest-rated PS3 game of 2015. PlayStation LifeStyle said it is "a role-playing masterpiece with all the right stuff: Xseed’s superior localization, which bypasses anime cliches in favor of real depth; an addictive set of life-sim mechanics, from bonding with the lovable cast to cooking a bevy of dishes; and a combat system that rewards customization and cooperation between party members." Hardcore Gamer said it "is hands down the best JRPG this year" and that if "this is what’s in store for us with future Legend of Heroes titles, it’s safe to say that the JRPG genre has a bright future ahead of it." Kimberley Wallace of Game Informer stated that, with "fun combat, interesting twists, and a cool social system, Trails of Cold Steel is one of my favorite recent RPGs". Adriaan den Ouden of RPGamer said it is his favorite RPG of 2015. Multiplayer.it said it is "complex, deep and varied, and sports surprisingly realistic and mature storyline and setting" and an "unforgettable cast of characters." Destructoid said it "follows a lot of classic JRPG conventions" and "doesn't do a whole lot of things that haven't been done before" but concluded "the combat system still holds up, and the characters are charming enough to see the story through until the end."

During the first week after release, the PlayStation Vita version outsold the PlayStation 3 version, placing second place in the Media Create software sales charts with 81,622 copies sold, compared to the 67,718 copies sold for the PS3 version in fourth place. The game resulted in significant profits for Falcom, with 1.9 billion yen in net sales, and 700 million yen in operating profit. The game was awarded during the Japan Game Awards 2013 during the Tokyo Game Show by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association, as one of eleven titles within the Future Division winners.