The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III Reviews
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is a narratively rich role-playing game, with deep and well-drawn characters and stories ranging from epic to tragic, without dwelling too much on stereotypes, an almost physiological element of this genre. Too bad for the absence of the first two chapters in Nintendo Switch's game library. Though exhaustive and rich in detail, in fact, the various summaries in the start screen can not make up for the lack of "playful experience" that only a direct use can return.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 is an excellent role-playing game of classic style, absolutely unmissable for the veterans of the saga. Everyone else may find themselves overwhelmed by excessive references, compromising the experience.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Legend of Heroes - Trails of Cold Steel 3 is the perfect continuation for the series. With the first two chapters telling their story to completion it could be hard to see where things go next with the same protagonist but with his new direction in life? It works really well. From learning in the classrooms and the battlefield to teaching students about both, the only thing left is to wait for Trails of Cold Steel 4 and not spoil it for yourselves as it was released last year and it could be some time before we get our hands on it.
Trails of Cold Steel III is an excellent game that, once again, takes the foundations of the previous ones and builds on them a better, more mature and refined experience. Its main problem is the plot barrier with which you can find yourself if you are new to these leaders. Nothing, of course, that is not solved with a good afternoon of Wikipedia. So, for the third time, I have no choice but to recommend it as strongly as possible. If you like the genre and have no problems with English, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is a game that will have you dozens of hours diving in one of the best built universes and with greater continuity and coherence that I remember. See you, for the third time, at Thors Academy.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Trails of Cold Steel III is a phenomenal RPG that genre fans need to play. After completing it and watching how it ends, I absolutely cannot wait to play the fourth and final game in this incredible series.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is one of the best entries in the long-running series. It has a very good, complex and balanced combat system. It continues the epic and massive story of Erebonian Arc and will be an experience with lots of references to previous installments. Despite the very beautiful art design, the technical aspect of the visual is outdated and doesn’t look very good. At all, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 is a must-buy for the series fan but if you didn’t play previous games, to completely enjoy the epic and complex story of this franchise, I think it is better to start with them.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Trails of Cold Steel III was a very fun RPG, containing all the good parts from II which I loved, with better pacing thanks to the Turbo Mode, and a story that sets up the next entry rather well. The story’s the main draw for returning fans, and newcomers are better off starting from Cold Steel I, but if you can only join in on this entry due to the Switch exclusivity, then you will still be able to get tons of fun from this game. Just be absolute sure to beat this before starting Cold Steel IV, as that’s definitely not a game to make your first under any circumstance, recaps be dammed. Thankfully, Cold Steel III is well worth a full playthrough, even if it’ll take you quite a bit to do so.
Apart from the typos and framerate issues near the end of the game, I don’t have any other grievances. Well, besides Millium’s voice actor being recast, but no one likes a recast voice actor when it comes to their fave characters. Overall, I adored Trails of Cold Steel III. Even without any experience with earlier story arcs, as a Cold Steel fan, this game felt like it was just for me. All of the characters are overflowing with charm and personality and the continuation of Rean’s journey one-hundred percent sucked me in. Honestly, I think this is the most well paced title in the Erebonia arc so far. It didn’t feel like it dragged on forever in the beginning and it kept a good pace the majority of the time. CS3 is around a hundred hours long when doing optional quests but rushing through battles. It’s just as long if not longer than CS2, which I admittedly complained a bit too much about in my previous Cold Steel review. In the end though, I had a ton of fun and suddenly realized that I’ve found myself having to wait for the next game, which is going to be quite agonizing. I only hope I get the chance to play it eventually and then I can finish this series of Trails of Cold Steel reviews. Don’t let the change in localization companies scare you away. While it isn’t ideal, if you’re a fan of The Legend of Heroes, or Cold Steel alone, I highly recommend picking this one up anyways.
Trails of Cold Steel III is a fantastic RPG with deep gameplay mechanics and a dense world to explore, but not one I’d feel comfortable recommending to those unfamiliar with the series.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is among one of Falcom's strongest JRPG games yet. The story of Rean Schwarzer heats up while bringing past characters into the present story, setting up an epic conflict across the world of Trails. Coupled with an excellent soundtrack, fun combat system and insane story twists, Trails of Cold Steel III is a shining example for JRPGs going forward.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the first, second, or tenth time that I’m playing this game; my opinion of this game is always going to be the same. Building upon an already impressive legacy, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III continues to live up to—and in many cases—exceed my expectations of what a contemporary JRPG masterpiece aught to be.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is overall a great game and a good port.
Trails of Cold Steel III is one of the best games of the year and a must-play for RPG fans everywhere.
If you like JRPGs, this is another one you don't want to miss—just hope that Cold Steel IV gets a Western release before too long, because this one ends on one hell of a cliffhanger.
Trails of Cold Steel III is an important title for both Falcom and NIS. For Falcom, it's the penultimate entry in a story arc half a decade in the making - and an incredibly engrossing one, at that. For NIS, it's a step in the right direction after Ys VIII, and proof that The Legend of Heroes' localization is still in good hands moving forward. This is a continuity-heavy RPG with 13 years of video game history, and seven titles building up to it, but the combat and world are strong enough where even newcomers can enjoy the ride. Trails of Cold Steel III is the Erebonia arc at its best.
The only real fault you can attribute to Trails of Cold Steel III is how it doesn't quite match the lofty heights the previous two titles deservedly reached.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III brings the Erebonia arc of the Trails series to its second half - under a new western publisher, no less. Here are our thoughts on the game:
As the third game in a set of direct sequels, tied into several other games set in the same world and timeline, it’s simply amazing those creative juices are still flowing and coherent. It’ll be over soon, but jeez, hell of a run.
Nihon Falcom has delivered yet another stellar entry in the Trails of Cold Steel series. If you're a newcomer, you'll need to start at the beginning to genuinely appreciate the whole package. However, if you're a long-time fan of the franchise, then you'll love every thrilling second of it.
Trails of Cold Steel III is the best game in the series so far. You're going to have to play the first two titles to get the full picture, but you'll be rewarded with one of the most enjoyable RPG sagas in modern gaming. This latest entry strikes a near perfect balance between story and gameplay, all while juggling an ever-growing cast of great characters and an in-depth, hugely rewarding battle system. Cold Steel III is JRPG joy from start to finish, and it sits alongside the likes of Persona 5 and Dragon Quest XI as one of the PS4's finest.