I wasn’t quite able to finish the game in time for the embargo, and I can’t exactly say that I’m shocked about it. Even considering the western release’s inclusion of Turbo mode, I’ve clocked just under 70 hours in the game as of the start of Chapter 4. Trails of Cold Steel III is an absolute behemoth of a game.

While on one hand players can certainly play and enjoy the game having only played the other two entries in the “ Cold Steel” arc of the series’, quite a bit of my own personal enjoyment of the game stems from callbacks to events and characters from the Trails in the Sky trilogy, and even the as-of-yet unlocalized Crossbell duology ( Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure). We, at RPG Site, have grappled with the inherent issues that arise when critiquing a series’ that so heavily relies on knowledge of previous entries in a franchise before – with this very same series, no less – and if anything, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is an even tougher nut to crack. I honestly can’t think of another game that I’ve had this much trouble reviewing.

Cold steel brave heart