The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - PlayStation 3 Game | JRPG Adventure | Perfect for Fans of Story-Driven RPGs

The Legend of Heroes is one of Falcom's well known franchises and I was introduced to it at the beginning of the year when Trails of Cold Steel was first localized by XSEED. Cold Steel 1, as I shall now refer to it, was one of the better JRPGs I've played in a while and rekindled my dying love of JRPGs (I tend to have a love-hate relationship with them). Moreover, the story in the first game, while sometimes a bit cheesy and often in the employ of fairly standard shounen anime troupes, was fairly satisfying. There was quite a bit of intrigue and questions at the end which motivated the player to anticipate the second title. Indeed, I was very much looking forward to the sequel as evidenced by my three playthroughs of the first game.While the potential possessed by the story at the end of the first game appeared to be rather lucid to me, I felt like the story in the second game was quite weak. Be that as it may, Cold Steel 2 was an immensely fun game to play and while I was annoyed with numerous aspects of the plot, it is certainly worth playing at some point, especially for those who enjoy RPGs or JRPGs.In the spirit of the game, I will assign a grade to both the gameplay and story components.GAMEPLAY: AI'll begin this section with the obvious disclaimer: if you don't like turn based combat, then it is pretty much a given that you won't care much for this game.With that out of the way, the gameplay in the second game was just as satisfying as the first. Falcom made several changes to the battle system, including Overdrive which refills some HP/CP and allows the linked users to act three consecutive times and cast arts immediately. At first, I thought it was a gimmick and that I would only be using it on occasion like S-Crafts. But alas, the Overdrive gauge fills up rather quickly (and fills up much more quickly if one has EXP multipliers) and I found myself using it often. In fact, there are plenty of great strategic uses of Overdrive, some of which can make an arduous battle decisively easier. One of my favorite uses is to save one slot for a "0 EP" turn modifier and then cast a lost art, which I will say something about shortly.There are certain "trial chests" littered throughout the world which are necessary to open so that other party members can use Overdrive with each other (typically, Rean gets to use Overdrive with others in the party immediately). There were also a variety of quartz, some of which are rare and obtained by defeating certain high level monsters at various locations in the world. Some of these so-called "lost arts" were quite powerful and added another dimension to the way in which one plays the game. Lost arts require full EP to cast but now, even characters with whom I don't typically use arts can act in this capacity.The divine knight battles were also improved (one gets a minor taste of this at the end of Cold Steel 1) and some functionality was added. Most notably, Valimar and Rean can now receive support from a single party member. The dynamic, however, is still basically the same as it was in the first game: the key to battle is to determine how to unbalance the enemy (this is especially important on more difficult settings). There were quite a few of these battles and I thought they were fun and broke up the monotony of the usual battle routine. One neat new craft in the game is that Rean can now call upon Valimar in "regular" battles at the expense of EP.There is more that can be said but this basically translates to the fact that that battles in Cold Steel 2 were incredibly fun and it was entertaining to try out a multitude of new additions and improvements to the battle system. The new changes provide the player with plenty of options and there are quite a few ways to actually play.One of my favorite aspects of Cold Steel 2 is that one now has an opportunity to fully immerse ones self in the world and explore Erbonia in a way one couldn't in the first game. As the story progresses, one can travel to more locations and may do so whenever one pleases for a large duration of the game. For completionists such as myself, one typically need not worry about missing a fishing location, a treasure chest, or even a monster entry for a good many monsters in the game (of course, it is still necessary to scan bosses and quest monsters immediately).With that being said, there was only one minor disappointment on the gameplay side of things and it may very well be that my preconception was simply a misunderstanding. It really isn't that upsetting but I was under the impression that one would gain a level advantage by importing a high-leveled character to the game (my imported Rean was level 86 in the first game). However, it appears that everyone begins at level 40 but receives an item bonus depending on level and AP from the first game. Near as I can tell, the best items are given to level 80+ characters and there is a bonus for A1 or A0 ranks (I was A0 and received an item called Golden Emblem). Practically no items from the first game carry over with the exception of DLC costumes purchased from PSN.The Orbments were changed quite a bit, which explains why none of the quartz from Cold Steel 1 would carry over. Whereas one simply needed to pay sepith to add new slots in Cold Steel 1, all slots are active at the beginning of Cold Steel 2. However, one pays sepith in order to upgrade each slot to hold more rare quartz. So in other words, certain rare quartz (including lost-arts) cannot be equipped unless a slot is sufficiently upgraded. In addition to this, most of the Master Quartz from the first game retain the same names but the leveled features of some of the Master Quartz now have similar but different, and sometimes improved, functions. Some, on the other hand such as Megalith were not nearly as good as they were in the first game.Finally, as is not terribly uncommon in sequels to RPGs, there were some adjustments made to the leveling system. I was level 86 in the first game after multiple playthroughs. After only one playthrough of Cold Steel 2, Rean was level 142 which translates to a 16 level gap after only one playthrough. I did do quite a bit of extra side quests and made an effort to find hidden quests. I also spent some time exploring so minimalists may not be as highly leveled.STORY: C-This can be a difficult aspect to judge especially since there are often elements of subjectivity that go into a story review. I've read other reviews from folks who've really liked the story and quite frankly, I'm pleased that these people enjoyed it. However, I simply was not one of those people. Perhaps spurred on by a fit of unmitigated emotion, I was rather tempted to give the story a D or worse but realized that this really wasn't fair. My primary problems with the story began to surface after roughly 2/3 of the game was completed and the fact that I didn't give the story a D or F indicates that there are some excellent aspects to it. Sadly, though, these are not the things which stuck with me.There are a few problems I had with the story that I will refrain from disclosing in the interest of minimizing spoilers. For that reason, I am going to try to be as vague as I can while still conveying my point. However, consider this a minor spoiler warning and read at your own risk. Moreover, near the end, I do reveal something that might be considered more of a major spoiler. So, you have been warned. Tread further at your own discretion.There are two aspects of the story that I will discuss.Firstly, the "big reveal" which came at the conclusion of the the civil war seemed a bit anticlimactic and parts of it were predictable. The astute player will observe that the game did foreshadow a few things early in the story and I remember thinking to myself that I hope I was reading too much into this. Now, I don't want to go into too much detail, but what puzzled me was the fact that there was quite a bit of potential for the story to do something interesting, unique, and perhaps even special but instead, it almost felt like a climax in a cliched shounen battle anime.Now, I've considered the possibility that perhaps I am in the wrong for having such high expectations. But taking into account the anticipation fueled by the prequel and the fact that this is a story intensive game (more so than other JRPGs I've played), one would think that there would at least be something more substantive in this regard. I've played enough JRPGs and watched enough shounen anime to know that some of these things are formulaic to the point that even the slightest deviation often feels like inspiration. But I was hoping... no, praying to the Goddess herself, that this would be more distinctive. At the end of the day, the first game really had quite a bit of potential on which the second game failed to capitalize. Sadly, parts of the story in this game seem to have been cosmetically spun by its predecessor.More fundamentally, some of what was revealed completely trivialized the war in virtually most aspects, not just from the perspective of individual characters, but also from the perspective of the many somber things which occurred during the war. To fully elucidate would necessitate revealing some fairly big spoilers but I will furnish a slight hint although it does not fully convey the full force of what I mean. Basically, I ended up feeling like a sucker and a pawn were I to vicariously put myself in Rean's shoes. Perhaps that was intentional on the game's behalf but if it was, I strongly feel like it was a liability to the story because I did not at all like how Rean's character turned out at the end (there were times I wanted to punch my TV).This can be rather subjective but I feel like part of role playing in an RPG is being able to sympathize with the characters one plays. This is why I love massively open world RPG franchises such as Fallout or The Elder Scrolls because one can play the character they want to actually play. If all the decisions stink, don't make one. If I were Rean, at the instant the final confrontation which concluded the civil war ended, I would have done the following immediately: (a) grow a pair, (b) give certain choice characters the middle finger and a “don't ever ask me to do anything for you ever again,” (c) take my robot – yes, it is basically my damn robot – and return home to Ymir and actually act like I give two craps about my adopted parents instead of droning on about leaving to find something I'll never find or end up letting go anyway, (d) marry the proper girl and actually cultivate a relationship with them (I mention more about this later) and finally, (e) spend my the rest of my life fishing. Yes, I finally determined Rean's real purpose in life and it came to me almost immediately. But, in all seriousness, that is really how I felt. The only thing that kept me going was the possibility that there was still gameplay left and perhaps I was getting ahead of myself. Needless to say, this made all the work, emotion, and progress in both games up to that point seem shallow and meaningless.This transitions me to the second problem I had with the story. There is more to it than this but I will furnish one major complaint in this regard. Be warned: this is a more major spoiler although it probably isn't all that unexpected in retrospect.It basically boils down to this: relationships appear to be a monumental waste of time in this game because nothing meaningful comes from any of it. Indeed, why cultivate a relationship over the course of two long games to get a lousy few minutes that don't actually mean anything anyway because everyone, with the exception of Rean, is going to leave Trista and drop out? All the characters were first year students in a two year academy and they just drop out?It is equally puzzling that the impetus in the majority of the game is to get everyone together. Certainly, part of the reasoning stems from Rean's concern as he is not aware of their status, but more than that, everyone wants to take back their home. For what purpose? So they can quickly abandon it or make new “homes” elsewhere? If you want to justify what you are doing, justify it in terms of ending the war; too much time was spent on sappy dialog about getting back together. What was the meaning of any of this? To make other people in the abstract feel "happy," whatever that actually means? Rean can't even find his own purpose or make any meaningful life decision but he can do that? Funny how everyone except the player gets to feel "happy" in these types of games.What is it with the massively overused "everyone leaves" ending? This basically happened in the last dusk sky Atelier game I played (Escha and Loggy). It even happens in very good shounen anime like FMA Brotherhood. I am to the point of completely giving up on ever finding a satisfying conclusion to anything that seems to borrow too many shounen anime troupes. Let me be clear: I am not necessarily asking for a happy ending. Of course in a game where whimsical concepts such as “preserving happiness” seems to prevail, is the player not entitled to experience at least some of what the characters preach? What I would like is a satisfying ending, whether it be melancholic, happy, sad, or whatever. I guess I just don't get it. Any perception of depth in any relationship in this game seems rather spurious regardless of whether we are talking about friendship or confessions of love. This is annoying because one spends copious amounts of time cultivating relationships in both games.In my playthrough, Rean confessed to the correct girl (hehehe). And, truly, I wasn't wanting to see anything perverted or R-rated. No, my mistake is that I had hoped to see something a bit more meaningful than the superficial and cliched drivel I got, which basically amounts to "Gee, I'll cherish the whole five minutes we spent together before the battle! Gotta go 'cause I gotta go 'cause that seems to be the thing to do in these situations. Have a great life! Really gotta go... see ya later... maybe ...(but don't worry, I'll think of you lots)."Two games and large amounts of time spent on dialogue and bonding events and this is it?I don't understand how this game, like many of its JRPG and anime counterparts, can drill the idea of taking responsibility without any of the main characters actually doing so or only doing so whenever it is convenient for the script writers. Relationships take time and effort to cultivate and should not be pursued, along that same line of "take responsibility" reasoning, if one is unwilling, unable, or unsure if they will be able to put the necessary time and effort into one. If Rean is content on being a lapdog for the empire, he ought not confess. Had I known this, I wouldn't have bothered. If he has no idea where his life is going, he shouldn't confess unless he is serious about it, which he didn't seem to be, at least in my playthrough. And of course, whenever a character in such a game says "I really hope our lives lead down the same path," this is really a failure flag. It essentially means "Fat chance." When I read that dialog, I had to force myself to finish the last part of the game because I didn't want to. I knew exactly what was going to happen. It's the same old thing I've seen before, packaged differently.Believe it or not, these are not the only complaints I had with the story. And let me say that this is not a jab at the good folks at XSEED. It is a jab at Falcom because while a third game is in production, I'm not sure I want to spend hours and hours of essentially the same basic story experience I've had over and over again. While this game is definitely worth playing, my second playthrough may not happen anytime soon. I've been let down one too many times.Trails of Cold Steel II is one of those games that really reminds me why I've always been such a huge (J)RPG fan. Bringing together the best aspects of the "old-school" RPG with newer genre innovations, the game delivers a pretty fun and intricate combat system and an extremely compelling story. Do note that if you haven't played the first game in the series, this one won't make a lot of sense and you won't be invested in the characters; the tale picks up one month after the cliffhanger ending of Trails of Cold Steel.If you played Trails of Cold Steel, nothing about the combat will particularly surprise or dazzle you, but it's fun to revisit nonetheless. It's a turn-based system in the ways of old, which will probably turn some gamers off immediately - but don't let it! There's certainly intricacy to the battle system, which is refined and polished; finding ways to plan out the right moves to delay/progress your turn is critical to beat some of the more difficult bosses, and learning how to unbalance enemies and optimize various weapon/character combos is similarly important. It's not always an easy game, and there's some grinding, but you know and expect this if you played the first game.The story is where this (and the genre) really shines. There's a shift, for sure, to a decidedly darker tone than that of the first game, but the discussion of major issues is really solid and the writing is excellent. Class conflict, filial piety, the horror of war, and taking ownership of our actions are several major themes, with a story that is borderline literary at times. I really love that you can immerse yourself in the characters as you get to know them better, the things that drive them, their hopes and dreams, strengths and weaknesses; you just can't get this from any other genre. That said, there is certainly a degree of cliche in the character development and the story takes a good 10 hours (give or take depending on how you play) to really take off. This should be obvious, but if you didn't like the characters when you played the first game, you probably won't like them here, either.I guess, if I think about it, the same things that were good about Trails of Cold Steel are good about this game, and the same minor flaws are still intact, too. We've seen what's going on in this game before, and not just in the previous entry; despite this, it still feels like a fresh experience. An attention to detail and a very distinct desire to wrap up loose plot ends make pursuing even the side quests an adventure, but there is some amount of grind and linearity to it all. Similarly, some complaint has been lodged against the fairly bland dungeon design and overly simple puzzles; while I don't necessarily agree 100%, it is a valid point, especially if you look at extremely modern RPGs that have done away with such genre standards.Despite these minor issues, I really like the game and have enjoyed my playthrough thus far. I can't recommend it as an entry point to the series, but getting Trails of Cold Steel, and then this title, will set you up for a real treat, and they're not even that expensive! All in all, an excellent title and a shining light for this niche genre on the PS3.Amazing game! If you liked the first one you will most definitely like this one as well. It's a continuation of the same story. The battle system is pretty much the exact same except for a couple of minor changes. The graphics and phenomenal audio are the same. The storyline is what makes this much different than the first game. The first game have a lot more emphasis on character development and this game has a lot more emphasis on storyline development. Also the first game was very linear, where you go from point a to point b right from the beginning to the end of the game, but this one is a lot more open and you eventually get control of an airship and you can go anywhere. Much like the first one the normal difficulty is very easy, so if you are a turn-based RPG veteran who likes a little bit of a challenge turn the difficulty up to hard otherwise you will breeze right through everything and just get to enjoy the fantastic storyline instead of gameplay.Just quickly, because truthfully I play this game for the story and not for the battles or other aspects of gameplay: I love how easy the Easy mode is and how hard the Nightmare mode is...you can really choose your poison, here, whether you want to concentrate on the story or be challenged in battle. Also, I actually kind of like fighting in the Cold Steel games...and even more in CSII than in the first one, because the crafts are better and the Overdrive system worked very well, for me. I got pretty good at tailoring quartz in the ARCUS units to give my characters the stats they needed to fight the way I wanted them to. And even so, Nightmare is so challenging (for me) that I don't want to tackle it until my third playthrough when the only fights I'll need to do are the boss fights.To me this is not a 'sequel' to Cold Steel, but its direct continuation. It certainly was not a disappointment. In fact, I stopped playing this for about half a year. I suppose that sounds like a bad thing, but...the reason I stopped playing is because I DID NOT WANT TO FINISH THE GAME. I didn't want to see it end, as I suspected that for good or ill, finishing this game would mean 'Class VII' would reach its end...and I was dreading that.Finally plucked up the heart to get through the Infernal Castle and the remainder of the game, and...well, I didn't cry when I played Journey. (I was called heartless for that.) Basically all the games that people claim to have cried over, I'm left largely unmoved.Not so for Cold Steel II. My face was all hot and sticky by the time the 'start new game' screen finally popped up, because I can just never be ready for the conclusion of the most intensely 'friendship is all' game I've ever played. (I never cry over romances, but the friendship stuff...ouch...it's like a gorilla is tugging on the old heartstrings.) These kids all found such a good place in the world, where no matter their differences or their faults, they've got people around them who love them and will go through any trial alongside them. I don't even know whether I should say that CSII had a happy ending or a sad one. *I* was very sad because it was over, even though I knew from the very start that the end had to come, but...I now desperately want Cold Steel III and have all ten fingers (and toes) crossed that it will come to North America, but I'm hesitant, too. It hasn't been released in Japan yet, so I don't know, but...I'm very tentative about finding out where everyone ends up and if they're still as close as before, and just generally wondering how things go after the whole 'Thors' portion of their lives has come to its natural conclusion. I want to see everyone back again in CSIII and I have no idea if that will happen or not. I am both eager for it, and dreading it.I think that shows just how much I loved the game, though, because I've become stupidly, painfully invested in these characters. CSI and II may be my favourite game ever. This story may even have edged out Xenoblade Chronicles, for me, though that was also so good of a story that it's pretty hard to judge. I got more warm fuzzies from the Cold Steel games, though, for sure. I will play both games many times. Made my bro-in-law and my sis play the games, too, and they also really loved them. I hope you will, too, if you decide to try it. :)No tenía expectativas de esta saga pero fue muy grande mi sorpresa al empezar a jugarlo. El gameplay es excelente, las batallas son de lo mejor y llega un punto donde la personalización del equipo y habilidades tiene bastante libertad con lo cual se crean personajes bastante poderosos. Lo estoy jugando en díficil.El único punto negativo es que algunas partes del juego llegan a ser bastante lentas.the legend of heroes trails of cold steel continua la saga de "Legend of Heroes" vista desde el punto del enemigo, un juego completísimo y de gran calidad, tanto el sistema de combate como los gráficos y la historia son excelentes. una gema que lamentablemente paso desapercibida por muchos pero si gustan de los jrpg seguro los enganchara desde el inicio, totalmente recomendado!I concur with what everyone else here has already said. This truly is a GREAT game!! Everything works so well, and I really enjoyed the bonus play with Lloyd and Rixia as well as the final 16 floors. I really hope they don't take too long making the 3rd entry.