Thoughts on Trails of Cold Steel III and IV

2026.02.18

Note that this page contains spoilers for the entire Trails game series.

I said that I'll probably write another one of these once I've finished Trails of Cold Steel IV or Trails into Reverie, so here I am. I haven't finished Reverie yet, but at least I should be able to share my thoughts on Cold Steel III and IV.

The short version is that my opinion is a bit torn over the second half of the Cold Steel/Erebonia arc. For the longer version, well read on if you'd like.

Did I enjoy the games? Absolutely, I wouldn't have bothered spending so much time (hundreds of hours at this point) on the series if I didn't find it somewhat fun or enjoyable. However, I didn't find myself liking my experience with Trails of Cold Steel III and IV as much as I would have liked to.

First off, I still find that there is too much filler throughout the games. I know that generally JRPGs follow a certain kind of formula, and that is especially the case with Nihon Falcom titles, but I'm not talking about that here. To me, I don't mind having predictable events and outcomes in a RPG that much, in fact I find them actually kinda funny when they are used so regularly, like how old Class VII members always come to Rean for the rescue in Cold Steel III.

I just find that there are too many events that happen in the game which don't really add that much value to the depth of the story and characters overall. I wouldn't call them completely "filler", since Falcom games, especially the Trails series, have some of the best and interesting side quests I've ever experienced in RPGs. The side quests in Trails actually do add more insight and lore to the characters and world, and aren't just your typical collect X items or kill Y monsters type of missions.

However, even if this might sound a little contradictory to what I've just said, it still feels to me that sometimes you end up spending way too much time as a player doing similar tasks repetitively, albeit in a different location or with different characters, and at some point, that can get annoying and tiring in a way. I genuinely like the quests and dialogues that make you learn more about the different NPCs and the world itself, but everything else, not so much.

I'm still not a huge fan of the bonding system and events, but at this point I feel like it's whatever. I don't really mind it that much anymore, I think it's just a nice added bonus that lets you see more scenes with your favorite characters if you're into that. I'd go so far as to say that some of those are really well written, and play a big part in the overall experience of the games, but the way that they're designed means that you won't be able to see all of them in one playthrough unless you do some manual save and reloading. I'm not sure how I feel about them as a whole though, to be honest, they really do add to the experience, however, at the same time they slow down the overall pace of the games a lot. This feels especially true when you're already near the final dungeon or boss and have to go through everyone's bonding event or dialogue.

There is also the problem of having too many characters on screen at the same time. A lot of them are important to the development of the story, so I don't mind it, but it feels like some characters appear in game at a random moment just for the sake of being there. It doesn't make sense that they are in this location at this point in time, but here they are. It's not a big deal for me personally, but that's not to say I like it. There are also a few important characters who are written as if they knew a lot from the beginning, but they never seemed to make the effort to tell Rean and his friends what they knew, which if they did, could have saved the main characters so much trouble! Of course, then the writers would have much less to develop on, since everything would be prevented before it could have happened... but I still think making characters appear dumb just for the sake of developing the story isn't a great solution.

I also think there are too many characters who "switch sides" if you will. Since this is a JRPG, there also aren't any real consequences for them. The game makes it feel like even if they might have done something horrible, after talking it out, everyone just seems to outright forgive them instantly. If you've played Cold Steel IV before, you'll probably understand what I'm talking about here. I guess it'd be okay if it only occurred once or twice, but I felt that it just happened way too often and was too overused.

Because of the large cast, not everyone gets their turn to shine in the spotlight. To be honest, some characters really felt like they were there just for the sake of appearing on screen, especially towards the end of Cold Steel IV. They don't really say or do anything important or meaningful, they are just... there. This is understandable though, and I don't blame the developers for this, since it's just a tradeoff you have to make if you want to write a story with such a large cast, but occasionally I wonder if this could have been handled better, to make it so that everyone has their moment to shine and do or say something more impactful.

The gameplay and systems have improved significantly compared to Cold Steel I and II, as well as earlier titles such as Trails in the Sky and the Crossbell games, but the core gameplay mechanics haven't changed that much. These are your typical JRPGs after all, and although there is certainly fun to be had in customising your party and challenging the bosses on harder difficulties, personally that's not what I'm looking for mainly when going through these kinds of games, so I won't comment much on that. Just know that Falcom is definitely trying to add more to the gameplay elements and improve them with every new release, while keeping the core systems largely the same.

The graphics have improved a lot compared to Cold Steel I and II, the character models do look a lot more modern and polished compared to the earlier games. They aren't amazing by today's standards for sure, but for games that are almost 10 years old by now they aren't too bad either. The animations aren't jaw dropping, but are decent enough for a small to medium company in the game industry like Nihon Falcom. Anyway, I don't think many people play Falcom games, or Trails for that matter, to enjoy the gorgeous and beautiful 3D models or in game graphics, especially if you started all the way back from Trails in the Sky. However, I have noticed that it is something that Falcom seems to be improving on with every new release, and even though they reuse a lot of assets and models throughout the games (Trails of Cold Steel III, IV and Trails into Reverie use the same character models as far as I'm aware), it's still something that I think I can commend them on.

The music still adds so much in my humble opinion, by elevating key impactful moments and tying everything together. I know that there is some controversy with how some old employees who worked on the music of Falcom games left around that time period, and how starting from Cold Steel III the Trails games have had much worse music and soundtracks because Falcom started to outsource their game music more and more. I wouldn't say the music after Cold Steel III is just worse, but I do notice the difference in maybe not quality, but style and overall feeling, so I can understand where some people are coming from. Are the newer tracks as good as the older music? I'm not sure, but I still think they contain some of my favorite music out of video game soundtracks. Truly, the Trails games would feel incomplete and likely be a totally different experience if not for the great music and soundtracks.

Overall, I don't hate Trails of Cold Steel, in fact I quite like it, but I think its biggest problem is just that it's split into four games, and that creates many issues including the pacing of the games. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been a much more enjoyable experience had the first half of the Erebonia arc been squeezed into one game, and the second half into the other, finishing the whole arc in just two games. That might actually be doable if you cut down all the unnecessary side content and filler throughout the games. The Crossbell arc consists of only two games, Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure, but I didn't feel like they missed a lot of storytelling potential or left many important aspects or mysteries unexplained, in fact it still felt like a complete experience. It proves that you don't need the games to be stretched out that long to write a satisfying story. Obviously, I know nothing about storywriting compared to the writers and developers, so this is just my unprofessional opinion, take it with a grain of salt if you may.

There seem to be a lot of complaints throughout this post, but I still love this series a ton, and it still remains my favorite RPG series overall to this day. Even though I mentioned that some old characters returning felt a bit too forced, it still felt fresh and exciting seeing Estelle, Joshua, and Renne appear together, or seeing Lloyd, KeA, and the rest of the SSS fight alongside each other again. That's really the unique charm of Trails, seeing someone that you didn't expect (or maybe you did) make a return from an earlier game, while also having a long interconnected story and attention to tiny details in the worldbuilding.

I think I'll follow up this post after I finish Trails into Reverie. Then I might continue with Trails through Daybreak or take a break from Trails altogether for a while, who knows...

I'm sure I'll definitely follow this series until the end, though. I still think that Rean's true love interest is Crow, at this point I guess it'd be hard for the developers to change my mind...