Over 15 long years, Falcom’s Trails series has developed a cult following in the West and for good reason. Set in the fictional continent of Zemuria, the Trails series is unique because of its overarching narrative within all of its arcs. Think of it like the Avengers: despite starring different protagonists in a variety of different settings, their stories often intersect and come together at certain points. The immense amount of detail that is put into world-building, lore, and callbacks to previous games have generated a cult following in the West.
In some ways, despite being the third entry in the Trails of Cold Steel series, Trails of Cold Steel III feels like a rebirth of sorts. NIS America takes charge of the publishing this time around and its the first time that XSEED has not been involved with a Trails game in any capacity. Along with these publishing changes, Trails of Cold Steel III features a revamped battle system, a brand new cast of characters, and another engaging story filled with twists and turns. Trails of Cold Steel III picks up where the last game left off as we see the Erebonian Civil War come to an end and our protagonist Rean Schwarzer graduates from Thors Military Academy. Soon enough, Rean is called upon to become an instructor for a new Class VII at the Thors Branch Campus and the game introduces us to his new students: Juna, Kurt, and Altina. With friends and foe both new and old, Rean and his class become embroiled in Erebonia’s political struggles once again.
For such an enormous cast, Trails of Cold Steel III manages to juggle its characterizations very effectively. Despite the anime tropes, Rean’s harem tendencies, and cheesy motivational speeches that the Cold Steel arc has become known for, the third game’s writing feels a lot more polished and intimate than previous games. With the bonding point system returning, players can once again choose to have heartfelt one-on-one conversations with their favorite characters. The growth of the characters feel more natural and Falcom balances the screen time of returning characters so that they don’t steal the limelight from our new cast. As always, it’s possible to play a Trails game without the context of its predecessors but the impact of returning allies and villains becomes dulled as a result. In that sense, Trails occupies a very specific niche of JRPGs. You need to play through all of its arcs to get the full picture and it requires a lot of time investment on the players’ end. However, it rewards your patience as it immerses you into its unbelievable world-building and attention to detail. Trails of Cold Steel III once again features evolving NPC dialogue, sidequests that are interconnected with different plot threads, and a multitude of references to old games.
Of course, no matter how great the story is, the gameplay needs to be up to par. In that department, Trails of Cold Steel III excels as it builds upon the fundamentals from the first two games and improves on them exponentially. It implements a number of new mechanics including the Brave Order system which gives party-wide buffs and the new Break system where enemies will become stunned and vulnerable once the break bar is depleted. Together with the old mechanics of Arts, Quartz, Battle Links, and Crafts, Trails of Cold Steel III is able to offer a combat system that is easy to learn but difficult to master. Timing and positioning are vitally important and the game requires a good amount of strategizing for its turn-based battles. Mech battles also make a return as a staple of the Cold Steel arc and they are much more exciting as the stakes become higher.
One minor gripe that I have with Trails of Cold Steel III (and indeed, the previous installments as well), is how easy it is to cheese the game. Assuming you have played the previous games in the series, there are quite a number of builds that make even the most difficult fights rather trivial. Unless you are playing on the Nightmare difficulty, builds like Evasion Tanking can simplify many boss fights and you might need to readjust your quartz setup frequently to give yourself a challenge. For newcomers this isn’t really a problem since they will probably skip the in-depth building aspect, but for a game that essentially demands you have played the other seven games before it, it’s hard to imagine that most players will struggle unless they play on Nightmare.
Despite the linear nature of the storyline, Trails of Cold Steel III also has quite a number of side activities to do. Sidequests and NPC interactions have become a staple of the series and they offer deeper insight into the Erebonian political struggle as well as continuing different plotlines from other games. The fishing minigame, cooking, and collectible books all make a return from the previous games. Vantage Masters replaces Blade as the new card minigame and it features surprisingly deep mechanics for a side activity. As with all Trails games, most of this content is optional but at this point, you’re probably seven games in so you might as well do them all.
Falcom Sound jdk once again scores Trails of Cold Steel III featuring a phenomenal OST that can hype you up for battle or deliver poignant moments with sincerity. The sound design is one of Trails’ strongest elements and it’s no different in Trails of Cold Steel III. Hearing “Spiral of Erebos” playing right before a dungeon gets your blood pumping like nothing else. The voice acting is also great with strong performances in the English dub. Though it’s not fully voiced because of the sheer size of dialogue, there are some incredible moments from the cast and Sean Chiplock once again gives a masterful performance as Rean.
At the end of it all, Trails of Cold Steel III stands as one of Falcom’s best entries in the series. Its deliberate, slow-burn pacing climaxes in an explosive cliffhanger that leaves players on the edge of their seat. Rarely do we see JRPGs effectively utilize casts of this size so well. Every character has something to contribute to the main plotline and as the story progresses, the tiny plot threads all converge into one big finale. The world-building and lore is phenomenal and Trails of Cold Steel III essentially improves on every aspect of its predecessors. Though it’ll be some time before we see the conclusion of the saga in Trails of Cold Steel IV, there’s no doubt that Trails of Cold Steel III has exceeded all of my expectations.