Search found 11 matches for NihonFalcom

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A Perfect Feeling of Reverie!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games and published by NIS America, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie is the continuation and ending point for the main plot from the Sky trilogy, Crossbell dualogy, and Cold Steel quadralogy, and boy does it live up to its hype! Continue reading our review to find out why we think Reverie is by far the best game in the entire series thus-far!



The story in Trails Into Reverie is peak fiction in so many ways, but without spoiling things or going into crazy details about the insanity that is this game's crazy-good plot, but we can tell you the way that it's handled is radically different from previously released titles in the series in the most interesting ways possible in our opinions!

The game's story is split into three split paths that converge at points which leads to some extremely stellar plot-twists and storytelling unlike anything we've seen before in the Trails series! The gameplay has several new nuances as well including a roguelike dungeon called The True Reverie Corridor as well as a new group skill feature that allows all party, reserve, and guest characters attack, use arts, or heal all at once! These new features add a new layer of complexity to the series' already brilliant combat which is fantastic to say the least!



The game also has self-contained minigames and fully voiced side-stories in the form of Daydreams, these mysterious tales must be unlocked later on in the game's story, but to detail how, where, and why would be delving into spoiler territory so we'll leave it up to you to find out!

The controls in the game are pretty snappy and easy to use which is always a good thing, of course and the game's difficulty is much more challenging than previous games in the series "especially at higher difficulty levels" so expect to struggle at times if you try to play on Nightmare or Abyss difficulty! The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie is also a fair bit shorter than other Trails games, clocking in at around 60 hours in length, however doing all of the side content, minigames, and post-game as well, will likely take 150-200 hours to complete making this a rather beefy game to say the least!



The visuals in Reverie are a HUGE step-up from the previous games in the series, with a better frame-rate, better lighting and shadow effects, vastly superior special effects, a decent jump in texture quality from Trails of Cold Steel IV. There's also a cutscene in the game that showcases Kuro No Kiseki's graphics engine which looks insanely good and pushes the PS4's capabilities much further than any previous game in the series that has been localized so far!

As for the soundtrack? It's filled to the brim with banger after banger of absolute ear candy and each and every track fits the game's mood perfectly! The voice acting is also superb as usual and most of the VA's from Trails of Cold Steel IV have returned with the exception a two. Both of the new VA's did a spectacular job as well, so we give the voice acting a perfect grade!



Bottom-Line: With an amazing story, flawless gameplay, superb controls, and a top-tier audiovisual-presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie will leave players in a state of reverie as it's easily the best game so far in the series and that's saying a lot! As such we give the game a perfect level of recommendation on the PS4!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #NISAmerica #NihonFalcom #Trails #Kiseki #Hajimari #JRPG #PS4 #Retail #PSN #Switch

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Soaring High In The Azure Sky!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom and published by NIS America, The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure is the thrilling conclusion of the Crossbell story arc in the long-running Trails series, and it might be one of the best on a storytelling standpoint! Continue reading the rest of our review to get the full scoop regarding our thoughts and opinions of this game and how it stacks up to its predecessor, The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero!



The story in The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure picks up a few months after the events in The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero, and is a substantial step-up in relevance to the Trails of Cold Steel series which most of you are likely more familiar with. This game will likely fill in a lot of the blanks that were caused due to the Crossbell games not being localized till now, and the new members of the SSS, Noel Seeker and Wazy Hemisphere really add a lot to the game with their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. This game ties up most of the loose ends and will set players up to be fully informed of the lore for when The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie releases in July in the Western Wazysphere, bad puns aside Azure has some of the finest storytelling in the history of the series and has enough twists and turns to keep players on the edge of their seats!

The gameplay in Trails To Azure is absolutely amazing and adds a ton of new nuances such as decking out and riding the new Orbal car. The origin of Master Quartz is revealed as the feature from The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel made its debut in this title, giving characters a much higher degree of customization which is always a good thing! In-terms of content, the game is loaded, taking 50-60 hours to beat, while completionists can expect around 100+ hours to see everything The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure has to offer! The controls in the game are intuitive and just as easy to use as they were in Trails From Zero.



As for the visual presentation of the game? The visual novel cutscenes look a bit more vibrant this time and the characters have a few extra expressions which is a nice touch. The rest of the game has a bit more polish in the visual department with extra details in the character sprites and textures, as well as a bit flashier special effects which add some extra flare to the overall nice looking game!

As for the audio presentation, Trails To Azure has one of the best soundtracks in the entire series, especially the battle and boss themes which are REAL bangers and set the mood for the entire game! The voice acting again is in Japanese with no English option which is a bit disappointing, but expected from a budget standpoint to make localizing these older games a bit more cost effective. The sound effects are quite good as well, adding to the overall audio presentation!



Bottom-Line: With an amazing story, excellent gameplay, and a flawless audiovisual-presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure is a masterpiece in every conceivable way and will draw in any player willing to give the game a shot and as such we give the game a perfect level of recommendation for all PS4 and Switch owners!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #NISAmerica #NISA #NihonFalcom #PS4 #PSN #Switch #eShop #JRPG #Kiseki

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Trails From Tio-Tot!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games and published in the West by NIS America, The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero is the first game in the long-awaited and previously skipped story arc in the series "at least outside of Japan" starring Lloyd Bannings, Elie MacDowel, Randy Orlando, and Tio Plato formally known as the Special Support Section A.K.A. the SSS. Their job is to restore the Crossbell PD's broken reputation and help civilians in need, but things aren't always so simple. There's a HUGE reason why the Crossbell games are so well-loved and are necessary to understand the series' overarching story in both Cold Steel III & IV as well as in Reverie, and Kuro I & II. Singularly Crossbell's storyline might be the most important one to the series' story as whole. While we obviously can't spoil major story content, we can at least give context as to why. As always continue reading our review to find out why and we hope you enjoy it!



The story in Trails from Zero is absolutely amazing, taking the storytelling of the Sky games and upping the bar several fold. It's an extremely important chapter for giving context in future installments of the series as well such as Trails of Cold Steel III & IV and it is recommended you play this and Azure first if you haven't played anything past Trails of Cold Steel II yet. The gameplay is quite interesting and differs quite a bit from the Cold Steel arc, but is also a bit different from the formula seen in the Sky arc as well.

The battles are also much improved over the Sky Trilogy's, but uses the same engine with grid based movement. There are a bunch of new nuances, but the UI and targeting are far better in Zero. It's really just a ton of small changes that culminate into a much better experience overall. The game even features a trophy system that pops a notification when you earn a trophy and is a nice touch for sure, something we'd like to see used more often in Switch games. The game also features a speed mode to increase gameplay speed from 2-8x normal speed which is a HUGE time-saver for sure, especially when the game itself clocks in at around 100 hours in length give or take 40 hours depending on your pacing.



The audiovisual presentation is really good in this remaster with sharp high quality HD textures, character models, and enemies, gorgeous special effects with equally good lighting and shadowing effects. It is honestly hard to imagine at its core it ever was a PSP title. And the music is exceptional as well with loads of bangers that fit the game like a glove! Overall the game's presentation is a HUGE step-up from the Sky games and looks gorgeous in this remaster!



Bottom-Line: With great gameplay and a ton of content, an amazing story, and a masterpiece of an audiovisual presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero is a nearly flawless game from start to finish, and just barely fails to reach the heights of the Cold Steel games "with the exception of Trails of Cold Steel I which we gave a 7/10 for being a SUPER slow burner in-terms of how quickly or lack thereof the story pacing was in the game". Overall we give this game a nearly perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★½ 9.5/10

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#Review #NihonFalcom #NISA #Kiseki #Trails #JRPG #Switch #Retail #eShop #PS4 #PSN #SpecialSupportSection #Geofront

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Monstrous Fun!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games and published by NIS America, YS IX: Monstrum Nox is the ninth main installment in the long-running YS series, ten if you count Ys Origins, but is this darker brother of the series worth a purchase? We think so and here's why:



The game has all the typical action-rpg goodness you've come to expect from the series with fast-paced battles, interesting and unique bosses, and a diverse cast of likeable characters. The formula is mostly intact including the raid battles from Ys VIII, but the puzzle-solving has been watered down quite a bit which isn't a good thing, but doesn't hurt the game that much either, much to our surprise. The story is incredibly dark this time around so expect some really sad moments during the game's 8 lengthy chapters!

The game is also a fair bit shorter than its predecessor clocking in at around 30 hours in length if you know what you're doing. The controls are quite responsive and easy to learn which is always a good thing, and the difficulty is fairly challenging even on the normal setting.



The audiovisual-presentation in YS IX is quite good with lush open-world regions, and fantastic special effects and character designs. The only downside visually is that the game doesn't quite look as impressive as its predecessor, YS VIII, but overall it's a really nice looking game. On the audio side of things, the voice acting is superb and the soundtrack is as good as you'd expect from a Nihon Falcom game, which is nothing short of perfection!

The Switch Difference:

There are two big things to take note about the Switch version of the game, and neither are particularly positive. First the frame-rate is quite bad on Switch, sometimes dropping to sub 20 FPS, but aside from those there are frequent smaller dips the cause the game to frequently stutter which is not great to be honest. The other issus is battery life in handheld mode which is quite bad. We only managed to get a paltry 1 hour and 35 minutes of play-time off of a full charge. These two issues definitely hurt the game's overall score, but it's still a worthwhile purchase if you don't own a PS4 or PS5.



Bottom-Line: With a dark and amazing story, excellent gameplay, solid controls and a top-notch audiovisual-presentation, YS IX: Monstrum Nox is a nearly flawless action-rpg that is an absolute blast to play, however the Switch version has frame-rate issues and drains the battery quickly in handheld mode and as such We give the Switch version a good level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10

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#Review #YS #NihonFalcom #NISAmerica #PS4 #Retail #PSN #Switch #eShop #ActionRPG #JRPG

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Monstrous Fun!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games and published by NIS America, YS IX: Monstrum Nox is the ninth main installment in the long-running YS series, ten if you count Ys Origins, but is this darker brother of the series worth a purchase? We think so and here's why:



The game has all the typical action-rpg goodness you've come to expect from the series with fast-paced battles, interesting and unique bosses, and a diverse cast of likeable characters. The formula is mostly intact including the raid battles from Ys VIII, but the puzzle-solving has been watered down quite a bit which isn't a good thing, but doesn't hurt the game that much either, much to our surprise. The story is incredibly dark this time around so expect some really sad moments during the game's 8 lengthy chapters!

The game is also a fair bit shorter than its predecessor clocking in at around 30 hours in length if you know what you're doing. The controls are quite responsive and easy to learn which is always a good thing, and the difficulty is fairly challenging even on the normal setting.



The audiovisual-presentation in YS IX is quite good with lush open-world regions, and fantastic special effects and character designs. The only downside visually is that the game doesn't quite look as impressive as its predecessor, YS VIII, but overall it's a really nice looking game. On the audio side of things, the voice acting is superb and the soundtrack is as good as you'd expect from a Nihon Falcom game, which is nothing short of perfection!



Bottom-Line: With a dark and amazing story, excellent gameplay, solid controls and a top-notch audiovisual-presentation, YS IX: Monstrum Nox is a nearly flawless action-rpg that is an absolute blast to play and as such we give the game a perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #YS #NihonFalcom #NISAmerica #PS4 #Retail #PSN #Switch #eShop #ActionRPG #JRPG

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The End of A Saga!

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NIS America recently announced that the fourth title in their Trails of Cold Steel sub-series will be releasing in North America and Europe on October 27th on PS4 and in 2021 on the Nintendo Switch! You can watch the latest English trailer above! Will you be purchasing this Japanese Role-Playing Gem? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in our comments section below!

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#Trailer #NISAmerica #NihonFalcom #TheLegendOfHeroes #TrailsOfColdSteel4 #ReleaseDate #News #JRPG

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An Off-The-Rails Epic Adventure With Class VII!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games, the developer best-known in the western hemisphere for its Ys series. We have recently fallen in absolute love with the Trails series which is one of the most well thought out series we've ever experienced! Does the third entry in the Trails of Cold Steel arc of the series live up to the previous two games? We think so and here's why!

After a nearly three year wait, Class VII is finally back in session, but this time you, as Rean Shwarzer take on the role of instructor of the class in the newly built Thors Branch Campus. The game starts off quite similarly to the first Trails of Cold Steel title, and there are tons of nods and parallels to the first game between the storytelling and the structure of the game's chapters.



the game is a whopper in length as it can easily take well over 150 hours to do a 100% run and nearly 250 hours minimum to earn the platinum trophy. Divine Knight battles return, but the system has been streamlined and is much more fun this time around!

Battles have also been revamped with new turn bonuses as well as the new order command system that allows you to use BP to issue orders that grant beneficial buffs and effects for a set number of turns which adds another strategic layer to the series' already deceptively deep battles! The menues have been streamlined as well both in and outside of battles and visually look much tidier which is a nice touch!



The controls are flawless in this game and the game's difficulty is well-balanced regardless of which level of difficulty you select, though Nightmare is not recommended during your first playthrough. The visuals in this game are by far more detailed and gorgeous than the first two Cold Steel titles, with excellent lighting, and amazingly detailed textures and character models! The music is amazing as well, though a few of the best tracks are missing from previous games which is a shame, but otherwise the audio-visual presentation is simply flawless!



The Nintendo Switch Difference: The Switch version of the game brings with it a slight visual downgrade, but this pales in comparison to the improvement of the frame-rate when compared to the PS4 version. Gone are the slight frequent dips in frames and jerky movement, but even better is that you can play the game on the go with almost no drop in resolution or graphical quality compared to playing in docked mode. Overall we'd say the Switch version is the superior port of this game, the only downside is parts I & II still aren't available on Nintendo's hardware which needs to be rectified at some point.



Bottom-Line: With an amazing story, excellent gameplay, flawless controls, and an absolutely fantastic audio-visual presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is one of the best JRPG's of the generation and there's really no reason not to add it to your Nintendo Switch collection of games. better frame-rate and almost no drop in graphical quality in handheld mode make this version the definitive port of the game! We do highly recommend playing the first two Cold Steel games first, however. Overall we give the game a perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #NISA #NihonFalcom #Switch #eShop #PS4 #Retail #PSN #JRPG #PerfectScore

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An Off-The-Rails Epic Adventure With Class VII!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games, the developer best-known in the western hemisphere for its Ys series. We have recently fallen in absolute love with the Trails series which is one of the most well thought out series we've ever experienced! Does the third entry in the Trails of Cold Steel arc of the series live up to the previous two games? We think so and here's why!

After a nearly three year wait, Class VII is finally back in session, but this time you, as Rean Shwarzer take on the role of instructor of the class in the newly built Thors Branch Campus. The game starts off quite similarly to the first Trails of Cold Steel title, and there are tons of nods and parallels to the first game between the storytelling and the structure of the game's chapters.



the game is a whopper in length as it can easily take well over 150 hours to do a 100% run and nearly 250 hours minimum to earn the platinum trophy. Divine Knight battles return, but the system has been streamlined and is much more fun this time around!

Battles have also been revamped with new turn bonuses as well as the new order command system that allows you to use BP to issue orders that grant beneficial buffs and effects for a set number of turns which adds another strategic layer to the series' already deceptively deep battles! The menues have been streamlined as well both in and outside of battles and visually look much tidier which is a nice touch!



The controls are flawless in this game and the game's difficulty is well-balanced regardless of which level of difficulty you select, though Nightmare is not recommended during your first playthrough. The visuals in this game are by far more detailed and gorgeous than the first two Cold Steel titles, with excellent lighting, and amazingly detailed textures and character models! The music is amazing as well, though a few of the best tracks are missing from previous games which is a shame, but otherwise the audio-visual presentation is simply flawless!



Bottom-Line: With an amazing story, excellent gameplay, flawless controls, and an absolutely fantastic audio-visual presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is one of the best JRPG's of the generation and there's really no reason not to add it to your PS4 collection of games. We do highly recommend playing the first two Cold Steel games first, however. Overall we give the game a perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #NISA #NihonFalcom #PS4 #Retail #PSN #JRPG #PerfectScore

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A Deserted Paradise!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games and published by NIS America Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is the eighth numbered entry in the long-running, exploration-heavy Ys series and is one of the best Action-RPG's available on the Vita in our opinions! Why do we hold this game in such high regards? Continue reading our review to find out!



Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is an Action-RPG at its core, much like previous entries in the series. The game emphasises on exploration and does an excellent job at puting player's into Adol Christin's shoes with its semi open world, complete with various vast ecosystems. The objective in this game is to find survivors from your ship that help you unlock new facilities in Castaway Village as well as helping you remove barriers to reach previously impossible to reach areas of the island!

Along the way you'll face many enemies and a seemingly endless barrage of bosses bent on ending your desperate plan to escape the island. Much like Zelda games you can obtain tools to solve certain issues or reach areas you couldn't before such as high ledges using the double-jump tool or walking across a swamp using a certain other tool. These tools are a core mechanic of the series and really add to the games and in YS VIII things are no different in this regard!



Ys VIII also adds various new minigames such as fishing and interception missions where you must fight off hordes of monsters in a raid-like battle to protect Castaway Village. These add quite a bit of replay value to the game which is always a good thing! Also Ys VIII is easily the longest game in the entire series and can take first-timers upwards to 50+ hours to beat!

The controls are decent, however you might want to remap some of the buttons should you decide to play the game on a PSTV. In-terms of difficulty, Ys VIII ranges from easy on the easiest setting to rage-inducing on the most challenging setting so expect to be able to play at your own level be you a pro or newbie to the series!



The visuals in the game are among the best we've ever seen on the Vita. The character models are gorgeous and unique with a ton of details while the world itself is lush and full of life. The game quite literally looks like it belongs on the PS3 which blew our minds.  We never imagined that such amazing graphics were even possible on the hardware so kudos to Nihon Falcom for pulling off this hat-trick!

The soundtrack is equally impressive as expected of the in-house Falcom music studio! While not quite as good as the music in The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, it's still top-notch and even has a cameo track from The Legend of Heroes: Trails in The Sky which is a nice touch!



Bottom-Line:

With highly enjoyable and nearly flawless gameplay, tons of content and fun minigames, good controls, and an excellent story, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA will have any fans of the RPG genre instantly hooked, and the difficulty options, gorgeous visuals, and top-notch soundtrack will keep you coming back for more! Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA is in our opinions one of the very best experiences available for the Vita and as such we give the game a nearly perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#NihonFalcom #NisAmerica #Review #YSVIII #Sony #Vita #Gaming #PSN

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Riding The Trails of Awesomeness!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games and published by XSeed Games, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II picks up where the first Trails of Cold Steel game left off and is much quicker to pick up in-terms of action, but is that enough to make the game better than its predecessor? We think so and here's why!



The story picks up shortly after the events at the end of the first game with the protagonist Rean being separated from the rest of his classmates. The story is actually much more fast-paced and dark than the original Trails of Cold Steel title, but does a great job throwing in some comedy and lighthearted shinanigans as well to balance things out!

The gameplay has been tweaked and modified a bit as well. Mech battles also play a bigger role in the game and the world is much more open than in the original ToCS title! Possibly the best aspect of Trails of Cold Steel 2 is the ability to travel across the world in an airship that you'll obtain in Chapter 2! Battle linking is still an important part of battles and you can now unleash a few new techniques further enhancing the series' already strategic battle system!



The music is actually even better in this sequel than it was in volume one which is quite a hat trick given how absolutely sublime the music was in part one of The Trails of Cold Steel trilogy. Some old music tracks return, but there are plenty of new ones added that are just as good! There are also many more voiced cutscenes in this game than there were in Cold Steel one which is fantastic news and adds alot to the overall presentation of the game!



Bottom-Line:

With excellent gameplay, a wonderful story, and a nearly flawless soundtrack, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II is one of the best JRPG's available on PS3 and we highly recommend the game to all fans of the genre! We give this game a perfect score!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#PS3 #JRPG #NihonFalcom #ToCS2 #Review

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Hitting The Trails of Adventure!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom and published by XSEED Games, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is a turn-based JRPG with a rich story, unique characters, and vibrant world. Does this mean that the game is worth your time and money? Continue reading our review to find out!

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Trails of Cold Steel is a very strategy oriented JRPG that emphasises teamwork between party members via the Arcus system. This allows players to use special skills during battles and activates certain random skills such as cover and counterattack depending on the party members. These skills can be unlocked by bonding with your party members in many various ways.

Battles themselves are pretty fun with very unique enemies and bosses. The most awesome feature, however isn't even unlocked until the last 30-60 minutes of the game which is definitely annoying and will make you want to race out and purchase Trails of Cold Steel II.



The game features a hodgepodge of mechanics from many classic JRPG's including weapon customization, guild-style quests, turn-based battles, formations, really it feels like it's inspired by the greats of the 90's and early 2000's.

The game's story is both its greatest strength and weakness. The story is very detailed with alot of backstory and lore and character plots and development are top-notch in the game, but story progression in agonizingly slow to the point that the entire 100+ hours in the first game feels like a mere prologue to the second Trails of Cold Steel. Pacing is important and Nihon Falcom failed stupendously with this game. We're not saying it's a bad game, far from it in-fact, however it is a serious enough issue to negatively affect our overall opinions of the game.

The controls are superb as expected and the audio-visual presentation is fantastic in the game! We were hard-pressed to find any songs that we didn't like and the boss theme is at Xenoblade Chronicles level of perfection! The voice acting is somewhat limited and is used mostly during important story scenes and during battles, but what is there is among the best voice acting we've heard from a JRPG in a very longtime! Visually the game looks pretty darn good for a direct port of a Vita title, but don't expect to be blown away.



Bottom-Line:

With excellent gameplay full of strategic possibilities, excellent controls and a nearly flawless sound-track The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel will draw most fans of the genre in and the superb voice acting will certainly keep them entertained, however extremely poor pacing of the story will likely be offputing to many gamers. If you have the patience Trails of Cold Steel will certainly be a worthwhile 100+ hour experience!

Price: $39.99

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Score: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7.8/10

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#Review #PS3 #ToCS #NihonFalcom #XSEEDGames

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