When we last heard from The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, it left off on a cliffhanger of an ending. And you know what that means? Sequel. And not just any kind of sequel, but a sequel that directly follows the events of the ending to the last game and continues the story. Which brings us to this review of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II. A few things before we start: I will not be going over the graphics or the sound/music in the review because its pretty much the same as the first game with no real changes. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, just that I would be repeating myself from the first review. With that being said let’s jump right into The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II for the PS4.
Story(Spoiler warning pertaining to Trails of Cold Steel)
Trailer of Cold Steel II takes place directly after the ending events of Trails of Cold Steel. During the first game’s final battle against Crow Armbrust and his mech the Ordine, Rean defeats Crow with his own mech, the Valimar. Just as he is about to retrain Crow and take him back to the academy, Crow plays his trump card and the Ordine gets a second wind. Extremely exhausted and fatigued from using the Valimar for the very first time, Rean is helpless and right when Crow is about to give the final blow, his friends stand in his way protecting Rean. They urge Rean to escape and that they will cover his retreat. He tries to refuse, saying that they’ll die if they don’t leave. They tell him not to worry and after exchanging heartfelt words to him, the Valimar automatically retreats to safety, with Rean yelling in the distance to let him stay.
Trailer of Cold Steel II’s story begins as Rean wakes up in the middle of a mountain range. Thinking he’s been out for a few hours, he is told by Celine that in fact he was out cold for a month. After fighting off a few monsters and almost getting defeated by a Magic Knight, Rean and Celine are saved by Toval, his sister Elise and Princess Alfin. They return to Ymir to rest. Rean learns that the country has devolved into total civil war, with the Nobel Alliance occupying the capital city, capturing most of the Imperial Family and occupying both Trista and Thors Military Academy. He resolves to find his friends and to put an end to the civil war.
While the first game’s story has Rean and friends dealing with them trying to have a semi normal school life during an ongoing conflict between two social classes on the brink of civil war, Trails of Cold Steel II has Class VII in the middle of full blown civil war. Friendships and alliances will be tested among Class VII as they navigate this civil war. The story has a much more somber tone as Rean and friends are now in full fledged war.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Trails of Cold Steel II is the same as the first game, but with the new addition of Rean’s ability to use Valimar. Here’s a recap of the gameplay, since its the same as the first game:
The game’s battle system, though a typical turn-based system, also has some unique features to it. Instead of using a grid based system, party members are able to, based on their movement stat, run around and reposition themselves on the battlefield. This allows the player to be more tactical with placement of party members in gaining advantage. Speaking of placement, depending on where party members are placed and how high their bond level, party members are able to link using the ARCUS battle orbment. This lets party members pull off additional attacks on enemies, protect each other and pull off a powerful combo attack. Each party member has their own Craft (character skills) and Arts (magic) that they can cast as well.
The only difference between Trails I and Trails II is that in Trails II due to the civil war and Thors Military Academy being captured by the Noble Alliance, there are no school day sections. While this was the main way to interact and raise relationship links with other members of Class VII, this feature is still in the game, just minus the school and the links happening in the middle of a civil war.
I’m going to be honest here, I think Trails I and Trails II should have been one whole game since everything, from the graphics and sound to the gameplay, is almost the same. Even the story is an extension of the first game, literally happening after that game’s ending. I know the series has an over aching story but when it’s only been about a month time between the end of Trails I and the start of Trails II and it’s just a continuation of the story from the first game, they should have been combined to be one game. But then again I’m not a game developer so I don’t really know about the logistics that goes into filling up a Blu-Ray/digital download. What I do know is that it’s more of what I enjoyed about the first game and with a conclusion that doesn’t end on a cliffhanger. I suggest playing Trails of Cold Steel I before jumping into Trails in Cold Steel II, not only to understand what is going on in Cold Steel II but to also unlock a ton of extras for having a completed save file of Cold Steel I. Trails in Cold Steel II serves as a good ending to this half of the Erebonia arc as we get ready to be introduced to a new Class VII.
