How I instantly knew this youtuber was a man of culture: he separates out women into two categories; either Towa, or not Towa. That is the only correct system.
I avoided Cold Steel for a long time because, given the name, I thought it was some kind of war game. When I finally tried it, I bought 2, 3 and 4 before finishing 1. Now I'm playing the Sky games on Steam and loving them!
To be fair, it kind of IS a war game, just not a strategy game lol. The second game has you take part in a Civil War, and the fourth involves a World War. War is an ever present theme in the game.
The Trails games are my all time favorite series of video games interms of JRPGs nothing comes close to the complex worldbuilding, deep lore, incredible character writing, banger soundtrack and beautiful storytelling. I can't gush about these games enough.
same. i played trails in the sky fc on psp emulator a couple years ago and have been in love with the series ever since. i've played fc, sc, and zero. haven't gotten to azure yet. i just recently started the cold steel series, i'm about halfway through the second game. idk why i waited so long to play cold steel, i kinda had a feeling they would ruin it in some way like they do with many more modern rpgs, but i'm happy to see they kept nearly the exact gameplay from the previous games, rather than turning it into a real time hack n slash game or some stupid shit like that. "if it ain't broke, don't "fix" it."
I'm not sure what my favorite part of the series even is; world building is probably the biggest thing that stands out, but in addition to that is characters, continuity, story, music, artwork, charming RPG vibes, detail, combat, exploration, everything! It's my favorite story of all time across mediums.
I just finished Trails in the Sky FC last month and currently on SC disc 2. Although the plots are slow at times, they really payoff at the end. Can't wait to finish Sky series and move on to Crossbell, then Cold Steel. Great review btw~
Im so glad people finally playing this game. I played cold steel 1 through 2 in one sitting and go back to liberl and crossbell arc and i enjoy every second of it. Im planning to pick up cold steel 3 and 4 but im still busy from my university assignment and ill definitely play it when i finish my college stuff
You played through the first 2 Cold Steel games...in one sitting...? Yeah, I don't believe you. LOL. They normally take about 100 hours each. Even if you mashed buttons during story scenes, and avoided talking to everyone, I still don't see how it would be possible in a single sitting for ONE of those games, nevermind two.
dont play CS3 and 4 without playing the crossbell arc, is like watching Edgame without watching the other character movies is best to play on release order, first the Sky games, then crossbell games and then CS1 or as I did, CS1 (I found this franchise with CS1 on ps4), CS 2, Sky trilogy, Crossbell Duology, CS3 and 4
It's funny how I brought Trails of Cold Steel I and II for PS3 back in 2017 and haven't really discovered its full potential until last year. I thought while playing CSI that all the confusing backstory and lore would present itself in the next game, but then, I stopped playing it. In 2019 I brought CS3 since I assumed the Trails series was like Tales or Final Fantasy. I didn't play the game until 2021, and I loved it. Then I realized how much it connected to the other two and I completed CS1 and played partway into part two, coming across the incident with Crossbell. Now I was confused. CS3 literally had me going into Crossbell but I had no connection with its characters and backstory, and CS2 didn't help. It wasn't until I realized all this entire series started as far back as 2004! So... now I have all nine games now. Geofront did an excellent job with their Crossbell fan translation, and I am having a blast with it. This series is something else, but as a note, the writing and development in Trails in the Sky, Zero and Azure are... on a different level than TOCS. Take it as you will, Cold Steel is still a great series and I enjoy them. Looking forward to Reverie and finally seeing the Calvard Republic!
I really love this video. And I'm right there with you with some of the criticisms of the game: I think inconsistent voice acting is a Falcom thing, since the Ys series does something very similar. Also, starting with cold steel and then playing the other arcs actually makes me appreciate where some plot points came from. For example, I wasn't sure why Laura would be so put off by Fie being a Jager, but seeing Jagers in the sky arc made me retroactively appreciate the world building. Also, seeing Rean as an eight blades one leaf practitioner and then seeing that Estelle's father was made me interested in the upcoming arcs after cold steel. Again, I love your work
Hey Lex, I just found your channel via your Earthbound review, one of my favorite games of all time as well and then immediately clicked on this video since I found the Trails series last year and it has become one of my favorites. Looking forward to Zero, I've only played sky and cold steel so far
Awesome video, man! I just stumbled across this video and your channel and am now subscribed. I have been playing through Trails from Zero as well as Trails of Cold Steel. Just pre-ordered Trails into Reverie Limited Edition today! I wish I would have been there earlier to get my hands on the other LEs but I can't wait to get my hands on that one! Thanks for the great insight on this and I hope your Trails adventure has been going strong in the year since this video was posted!
@@JoniWan77 Mainly because they are most easily accessible on PC. I'm not a fan of sitting in front of a computer and playing through games like this. These were built for handheld gaming in my opinion. I have been considering picking up the Sky games through PSN on the Vita, but I will miss the "fast mode" that has been implemented in some of the other versions.
@@JoniWan77 I don’t mind PC gaming in general, but that type of game is not what I want to play on PC, if that makes sense. Having a young family, it’s much easier to pick up the switch for 20 minutes when I have time than it is to sit down in front of a monitor and play, especially with how big (and awesome) the trails games are.
@@Fast_Travel_Gamer I totally get that now. Sounds like you would have good use for that steam deck idea if it weren't so unnecessary pricey. Especially since JRPGs are getting so many PC ports nowadays. I would probably never have played trails if not for the steam versions.
Marathoned the whole series starting from liberl. Man, definitely a fun ride. Top notch and immersive world building. That many twists about a certain villain in cold steel sealed the deal. Waiting for the ww release of reverie next year.
Enjoyed this video which explains your perspective on the Trails series & it seems cohesive / concise, my take (which I cop a lot of flak for) is that this series is the BEST JRPG in the modern era (even over Persona 5 & Dragon Quest 11) & it's a series that EVERYONE should look into because they'll be strongly rewarded for putting in the time.
I was looking for some reviews of the 1st game and stumbled on my good friend Lex's review. Good looking out man. I just bought 1&2 since you said the story carries into the 3rd.
Fine choice! Cold Steel 2 is my favorite of the series that I’ve played so far. Normally, you could get away with skipping entries in most series, but these games are so interconnected that it really does benefit the player to start at the beginning of one of the sub-series. I still haven’t played Cold Steel 4 yet because I wanted to go back and play the Crossbell series (Zero and Azure) to get a better understanding of the characters that were showing up in Cold Steel 3 from that series.
I don't know why everyone and their mothers are saying Cold Steel hooks you better than Sky. I think it's the opposite. I played the entire series in order starting with Sky. Sky was way more engaging than Cold Steel from the start. I also think Sky and Crossbell have the better characters. I like Rean, but he just isn't Estelle Bright. I played Sky in order with next to no break. I then played Crossbell. I am currently at Cold Steel 2 after taking a very long break in the middle of Cold Steel 1. I got a bit bored. Cold Steel feels way more linear than Sky and Crossbell, so it gets a bit boring after a while. Maybe that's just my perspective, but I think Sky hooks you way better than Cold Steel. I had a lot of fun with all the guys from Liberl. And Estelle really is the best Protagonist. And more importantly, Estelle has a canon love interest! Rean doesn't! Ok, technically he, does but most people treat him as a self insert so he usually never gets to be with the girl he likes. But yeah, play Sky. Sky is great and Silver Will is the best song in the series.
I agree Rean is literally the most vanilla main character ever and the CS series is predictable, but Estelle Bright has to be the most annoying protag i had the displeasure of meeting, hell I would have enjoyed FC, SC and Third if it was just Joshua as the main protag. I dont know why everyone and their mothers are saying Estelle got "so much character development" and this is coming from someone who has multiple plays on literally every English released game of each series. And FC was literally the slowest burn in the entire series with SC almost putting me to sleep till it started to pickup midway. Atleast compared to Rean and Estelle, Lloyd isn't vanilla to the point of boring or annoying, but in terms of protags thats not saying much.
On Azure now, and already beat CS 1 and 2…why are Shirley and Duvalie paying respects to the same grave Rean and co are….oh lord, don’t even wanna think about it. I’ll find out eventually…damnit Falcom lol.
i used to lookdown on these series, mostly bcs of the graphic. but once i started playing CS1, i just fell for it. it just got the whole jrpg package in it
Huge turn-based fan, but very new to the trails series. Haven’t played any but want to start. After examining all the parts of the series, the trails in the sky series looks the most interesting to me. Not sure if I’d commit to much else tho. Cold steel combat does look pretty sick but setting matters a lot to me, and I personally just can’t stand high school settings like this and persona. They eat at my soul
I always watch videos talking about trails even though I've long since played all the games available in English so far. It's a series that I'll never get enough of, and occasionally, I find a video that conveys my love for the series for newcomers I continually fail to convince to try this series to =P. That said I'm kind of annoyed at how virtually every single person complains about sexualization. It's extremely mild (except maybe a certain scene in CS3 which involves 1 antagonist harassing another), and I'm about as prudish as someone gets, and let me tell you, without participating into it even 1%, when I was in highschool, EVERYBODY was far far more open about discussing 'sexualization'. It would just be odd if it had LESS than it already does. Furthermore, western games (last of us 2 being the famous example) get to get away with far more sexualization, and oftentimes even perverse situations, and not get complained about as consistently. Let's not even talk about how actual schools in real life are escalating discussions of sex to even pre-tweens. But god forbid an anime character in a world where they are sent to battle in a military wears a swimsuit while taking swimming lessons, or dares to even mention boobs on occasion. I'm not attempting to dump on the reviewer specifically. It's just an unfair double standard at h ow openly critical everyone is about this wonderful series about something so benign when other fiction, and reality, is far more guilty of what this series is criticised for.
I thouht I did an alright job of explaining that, while it's not the worst I've seen, there is stuff in here that could make some people uncomfortable. Perhaps someone was harrassed by someone in school and overt tones of sexualization between a student and a teacher may be more triggering for them than it would for someone like myself, who had none of those problems in school. I agree that there can be a double standard with sexualization in video games and anime, but different people are going to have different comfort levels. A lot of people loved the American Pie movies, a lot of those people being in their 30's and 40's, and no one really saw that as weird, so I understand where you're coming from. Still, there are some uncomfortable moments in these games that feel like they come from tropes or even feel like perverted writing. I don't believe that should be enough to discredit the whole series, because it really is a great series, overall. However, it's something that I felt I should mention. I appreciate your comment!
Very true. My ex used to watch Gossip Girl and the stuff that used to happen was pretty wild. And now they have the show Euphoria. Those are shows aimed at teen girls.
can you help me understand: you say you got Trails CS 3 & 4 when you know you won’t be able to get to them for at least a year… if your a massive fan of the series why would it take that long to get through the first two when they’re 60-80 hour games? just curious. I really want to get into this series but I’m personally holding out until next year to see if Sky trilogy comes to Switch. if they do, I’ll drop everything and play all ten games in a row.. and if they don’t, I still might, I just would rather have an updated experience than playing the old ones on my laptop. thanks for the content! hoping to become a fan of Trails soon… you could say I’m a pre-fan 😅
Good question. Answer is kind of complicated. While I love these games, they're not the easiest for me to get through. My attention span can be pretty short at times, and these games require a fair amount of focus. What takes most people 60-80 hours takes me 100-120. I also have a lot of other games I play, so I usually take a break after I finish a Trails game. Some people can run through these games without playing anything else, but I'm a bit of a gaming nomad. So basically, your mileage may vary when it comes to these games. I don't think it would be a bad idea to wait for a possible Sky Trilogy release.
@@LexMarston that makes sense! I appreciate your response. I’m one of those marathon-gamer types; I can play the same game and knock out 100 hours in a week on top of working full time, _if_ it’s something I love. that’s why I feel it best to play the hope-and-wait card for a Sky Trilogy re-release/remaster/ whatever - I know it’s a series I could fall in love with and play 10 games straight through, but I want to have the best experience possible. either way, I enjoyed your video!
I enjoyed your video! I disagree pretty strongly with your play order suggestion, and am interested to see if it changes after you play the first two arcs. That said, if starting in the middle of the story makes the series more approachable for more players, that's great!
Thank you so much for the kind words! I 100% think players should start as early as they feel determined to, but I’d much rather see people jump in and stay hooked than give up because the older games aren’t as accessible to the folks who just play on consoles. I’m sure it robs the player of some really special moments not knowing the full breadth of the story, which is definitely unfortunate, but going back and getting the thorough context of the previous adventures, knowing what happens, is probably a special experience in itself.
@@LexMarston the good thing about it is that if console players fall in love with the series and have even a moderately modern Windows PC, they should be able to run the older games with no issues. Hopefully they do, because as much as I enjoyed Cold Steel, I felt it was the weakest of the three arcs released so far in terms of story, writing, and character development.
@@Psaurus81 For sure. The way I see it, there’s no way someone would get hooked on Cold Steel and NOT want to see what happens in the rest of the series. Hopefully, the Steam Deck will help people want to play Trails in the Sky a bit more.
The drawback is that the early trails in the sky combat is..... Bland. I enjoy jrpgs for combat mechanics as much as story, so it was a very deliberate march to get to story beats. That being said, the story beats pay off amazingly.
Honestly if we could only bring kiseki to the popular ones even for a week, we could expect a lot of players coming in = more money for the company = faster releases
It’s a shame you didn’t start playing from Trails in the Sky FC and played in order (at least it sounds like you didn’t). You get so much more from the story by doing that but most people seem to start with Cold Steel
@@GordonGordon wasn’t a huge fan of trails in the Sky fc and SC but I’m on Trails the 3rd and I love it! Cold Steel 1 was also my first game before I went back
I finished Asian version of Trails to Reverie on Steam. It fixes a lot of the issues that I had with Cold Steel. Korean fandom even voted the best trails series game ever. This is big because Korean fandom have really big love for Gagav triology (legend of heroes games before trails series) and tend to say Cold Steel series is Chuunibyo cringefest. Asian fandom generally agrees that the director Kusano Takayuki has really bad writing habits that are needed to be fixed. They constantly compare how big of a progress that every other part of the series drastically improved while the story part became nearly unbearable (Cold Steel 4 is rated 3 stars in amazon JP and top reviews harshly critiques repetitive dialogues and story structure). I spoke to a lot of American Falcom fans, and they get really defensive and outright aggressive to me when I relay this facts to them. I feel like I can't even talk to them anymore.
I think that’s fair, and generally speaking, it probably depends on how exposed you are to those cringe moments. If you’re constantly seeing them, then they’re probably more grating than someone who is experiencing that writing style for the first time. I believe nothing is absolute, so I take the bad with the good, and I feel the good far outweighs the bad in my experience, so far. But that can certainly change once I’m through all the games. As long as you’re talking about these problems in a way that isn’t antagonistic, I don’t think anyone should be upset with you for stating facts.
My psvitas joystick? Was broken the left one so I can't play on it but I got my first trails of game on it I was recently able to get all 4 on the PS4 😁✨
just played it recently and they are good... but after discovering some game breaking mechanics of the game im starting to loose interest to play the other games...
trails of cold steel 1 and 2 are the worst trails games but 1 is good while 2 is just straight up bad. all of the other trails games are just fantastic. i would say that the best game to start with is sky fc but cs 1 is fine too. i would say to never play past cs 2 without playing all of the other games
No, no please, start from Sky don't listen to him, please lol. I liked your review and I am happy you joined the cult but, please don't start from Cold Steel for the love of God 😂 Edit: please don't see this as an attack, I loved your video and welcome to Trails my friend but whoever reads this comment, if you have a PC it can even be a 10 year old grandma laptop, play Trails in the Sky, it will run it's a PSP game but if you don't have a PC at the very, very least start from Crossbell, Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure and then play Cold Steel, please I beg you!
>It’s so bad!!! Pick another game!!! >refuses to elaborate Right, I forgot that pretentious lore and one dimensional caricature tropes are better than fully fledged characters. Play the game before you insult it, and don’t give me the “gameplay is bad!!!!” shit cause if that’s the case then clearly you never gave it a chance.
