Game review: Legend of Heroes – Trails of Cold Steel an eclectic RPG that adds to series’ mythology

Released in Japanese and Chinese in 2013 and 2014 respectively, Sen no Kiseki of Nihon Falcon’s long-running The Legend of Heroes series finally came out in English over Christmas in the US (January 29 in Europe), under the title Trails of Cold Steel. It was one of the most anticipated turn-based Japanese role-playing games of 2015 and is at the top of GameFAQ’s PS Vita chart, trailing just behind the phenomenally popular Persona 4: The Golden.

Known for its sprawling narrative that mixes politics with mythology, The Legend of Heroes is as much about the storytelling as the gameplay.

The saga began in 1989 with Dragon Slayer, but it wasn’t until the release of Sora no Kiseki, or Trails in the Sky, in 2004 that it caught the attention of video gamers outside Japan. This trilogy – First Chapter, Second Chapter (2006) and The 3rd (2007) – marks the beginning of a saga set in a fictitious continent called Zemuria.

While the Trails of the Sky trilogy takes place in the Liberl Kingdom, the following Trails of Zero (2010) and Trails of Azure (2011) move the action to the small state of Crossbell.

Like Trails of the Sky, Trails of Cold Steel is a trilogy and is the latest instalment in this saga, revolving around the happenings in the Erebonian Empire, Crossbell’s formidable neighbour.

Here, Rean Schwarzer is the protagonist and one of the latest recruits at the prestigious Thors Military Academy. At the beginning he seems like another average student fuelled with teenage angst, but it soon becomes apparent that he – and indeed most of his classmates in Class VII – are anything but ordinary.

Any more on the plot will edge into spoilers territory but suffice to say Class VII is soon embroiled in the politics of its country and the game ends on a massive cliffhanger.