#The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel 3

[akiizayoi4869]

I need to talk about one of my favorite video game villains of all time for a minute.

This guy. The one who I'm pretty sure a lot of people who played The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel 3 and 4, probably ended up hating for how much of a dick he was in those two games. His change in behavior and attitude in the later games didn't make me hate him, though. In fact, it made me like his character even more because it was pretty easy to understand why Cedric ends up like that when you consider the events of the finale in the second Cold Steel game:

He was kidnapped by Duke Cayenne during the Civil War in Erebonia and was forced into one of the seven divine knights, Testarossa, which went completely berserk since Cedric was unable to control it's power at the time. As a result, he was forced to fight against Class VII, who ended up saving him, but at a great cost to one of their own classmates. Crow ends up dying, trying to break Cedric free from Testarossa. Cedric saw all of this happening before his eyes and couldn't do anything to stop it. So it's really no wonder that, when we see him again in Cold Steel 3, his demeanor has changed entirely, and he's obsessed with obtaining power. He goes from the sweet, innocent boy whom we are introduced to in the first Trails of Cold Steel game into someone who is pretty much unrecognizable and with his own little crew.

His sudden change was a shock to me at first. I really wasn't expecting it at all, especially since when he first appeared, he spoke politely. It wasn't until his conversation with Rean on the school rooftop later on that day that we see just how much he's actually changed. The conversation starts out well enough, with Cedric thanking Rean for saving him in the last game. We can clearly see what happened back then really took its toll on Cedric, and that it still weighed heavily on him.

He tells Rean that during the summer after that incident, he got very sick and, as a result, was unable to start school at Thors Military Academy until the following year. Nothing seems odd... until Cedric proposes that Rean should transfer to teahc at Cedric's school, the main campus of Thors Military Academy. This is when we see his demeanor start to change. He talks down about the branch campus and says that someone like Rean is better suited for the main campus, which Cedric holds in high regard in comparison to the branch campus. Rean's students eventually find them on the rooftop, and Cedric is cold towards them, especially to Kurt. He then leaves, but not before saying that he'll be back to hear Rean's response to his demands another day.

Over the course of the game, we see just how much Cedric changed. He's competitive, thinks that power is everything, and absolutely hates weakness. He constantly talks down to others and doesn't care how he makes them feel as a result. The end of Cold Steel 3 really showed just how far Cedric was willing to go to get what he wanted.

He attempts to kill another one of Rean's students, Altina, so that she could become the sword of the end, which was needed to bring about the Great Twilight. He was also completely ok with having his older brother and two other people killed to accomplish this goal (even though as we saw in the 4th game, he was relieved to see that his brother has survived). These two acts really shocked me, because not only did it show a stark contrast to who Cedric was before versus who he was now, it highlighted just how much the events of Cold Steel 2 really changed him, and not for the better.

Cedric becomes one of the main antagonists of Cold Steel 4, and he proves himself as a strong enemy to take down. He was way more of a jerk here than in Cold Steel 3, and it has really seemed as if he has gone off the deep end for good. Then we get to the final chapter of Cold Steel 4, where Cedric is one of the final boss battle fights. He's still the same condescending jerk that he's been for a while now, but everything changes when Juna asked him one question: "What are you so afraid of?" Then all of a sudden, the truth comes out: Cedric was being controlled by the influence of Ishmelga, thanks to Chancellor Osborne and Franz Reinford. Now, this certainly doesn't excuse what Cedric has done up to this point, but it certainly explained why he was willing to go so far all of a sudden, when he hadn't been like that before. It was as if Juna asking him that question had suddenly opened a dam though, because this was what finally made Cedric return to how he used to be. What I absolutely loved about this is that he doesn't try and use Ishmelga as an excuse for the things that he did. He owns up to his actions and sets out to atone for them.

What he eventually chooses to do though was shocking, but it made sense: he decides to join Oroboros, leaving his friends and family behind.

Just as he says, if he stayed with all of them, he knew that he would be forgiven in spite of everything and he wouldn't really have any consequences for his actions. So joining Oroboros as a way to atone for what he did was the right call imo. Cedric's arc is probably one of my favorite ones in Cold Steel 3 and 4. It was very well done and Falcom handled him really well, and I can't wait to see more of him in future games.

#The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel 3 #The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel 4 #sen no kiseki #Cedric Reise Arnor #the legend of heroes

[gzeidraws]

CS2 and 3 Rean-mashup, wielding a variant of Noah's Lucky Seven!

A commission for @crispytp (thank you!!)

#commissions #crispytp #rean schwarzer #trails of cold steel #the legend of heroes #kiseki #crossover #xenoblade chronicles 3 #lucky seven #valimar #artistree

[morgenstern16]

#trails series #kiseki series #trails of cold steel #trails of cold steel 3 #sen no kiseki #aurelia le guin #rean schwarzer #mmm crunchy jpegs #the legend of heroes #eiyuu densetsu #trails #kiseki

[appelsider]

POV: you pissed off Tio

Updated version! Print Available here

#trails from zero #trails to azure #tio plato #trails meme #trails shitpost #the legend of heroes #trails of cold steel 3 #zero no kiseki #ao no kiseki #my art #and thats nr 2 of my redrawn version down!! #its fun fixing them up tbh!

[marsaovo]

still so salty i didnt get to see them in cold steel 3

#olivert reise arnor #olivier lenheim #sherazard harvey #trails of cold steel #trails in the sky #the legend of heros: trails of cold steel 3 #legend of heroes #trails in the sky fc #trails #trails fanart #trails into reverie #trails series #olivert/scherazard

[inkedmyths]

The full con crew this time!

#trails of cold steel #emma millstein #sara valestein #mcburn #vita clotilde #the legend of heroes #cosplay #having sm fun :3

[kalaeda]

Looking for blogs to follow!

I left tumblr to move to twitter and now I’m back here again lmao please like if you reblog or post any of these! Feel free to talk to me as well! I’d love to make friends especially if you’re into the Trails series!

The Legend of Heroes/Kiseki/Trails series (especially Sky trilogy)

Fate/Stay Night

Yakuza

Splatoon

Animal Crossing

Zero Escape/Ai: The Somnium Files

428 Shibuya Scramble

Raging Loop

Fault;Milestone

Ace Attorney

Higurashi

NieR

Persona 2/3

Shin Megami Tensei

Final Fantasy

Pokemon

Danganronpa

Kirby

Puyo Puyo

Genshin Impact

Tekken

Chainsaw Man

Code Geass

Fullmetal Alchemist

Death Note

Spy x Family

Edit: Also sorry but I don’t want to follow minors! Thank you!

#the legend of heroes #trails in the sky #trails of cold steel #trails of zero #trails into reverie #trails to azure #yakuza #splatoon #animal crossing #zero escape #aitsf #ai the somnium files #raging loop #428 shibuya scramble #fault;milestone #ace attorney #higurashi #nier #persona 2 #persona 3 #shin megami tesnsei #ff #danganronpa #dr #puyo puyo #hoshi no kirby #chainsaw man #csm #tekken #code geass

[reveriecorridor]

Trails of Cold Steel II >> Reverie Corridor

#legend of heroes #trails of cold steel 2 #audio post #i was gonna queue this one but like <3 #for obvious reasons No I wont

[rehncohro]

My top 5 most played Steam games.

#steam #steam games #steam top 5 #trails #kiseki #the legend of heroes #danganronpa #persona #trails of cold steel #trails of cold steel 3 #trails of cold steel 4 #cold steel 3 #cold steel 4 #cold steel #danganronpa v3 #persona 4 #persona 4 golden #phantasy #phantasy star #phantasy star online #phantasy star online 2 #pso #pso2 #pso2 ngs #phantasy star online 2 new genesis

[nuka-zero]

Apparently I will get my copy of FFVII Rebirth tomorrow (:

Just a tad late for a pre order

Why am I cursed

#oh well #I'm currently fixating on legend of heroes trails of cold steel so will probably not play ff for a while #ive just finished first one #14 hours into the second #and i have 3&4 combo unopened for ps5 in my shelf #ffvii rebirth

[akiizayoi4869]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 英雄伝説 閃の軌跡 | Sen no Kiseki | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Series (Video Games) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Alisa Reinford/Rean Schwarzer Characters: Alisa Reinford, Rean Schwarzer, Juna Crawford Additional Tags: Sen no Kiseki III | Trails of Cold Steel III Spoilers, Not sure if I should use the spoiler tag, Since I'm sure everyone has played the game at this point, But I'll use it anyway Summary:

Rean notices that something has been bothering Alisa ever since they returned from Stargazer's Tower, and decides to confront her about it.

#The Legend of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel 3 #rean schwarzer #alisa reinford #My fanfic

[morgenstern16]

I knew the Cold Steel writers were afraid of making a point, but holy shit "everything wrong in the country is because of Robot Satan" is a incredible way to dodge talking about how nationalism, ambition, and greed can ruin a nation

#still haven't finished cold steel 4 yet but i just finished the start of part 3 with the Big Reveals #honestly undercuts so much of the story #and makes osborne a much less cool villain #trails series #kiseki series #sen no kiseki #trails of cold steel #trails of cold steel 4 #the legend of heroes #eiyuu densetsu #trails #kiseki #trails spoilers

[appelsider]

Don't get on Tio's bad side if u know what's best for u

#trails from zero #trails of cold steel 3 #tio plato #trails to azure #shitpost #trails shitpost #kiseki shitpost #meme fanart #nihon falcom #my art #zero no kiseki #ao no kiseki #sen no kiseki #shitpost fanart #trails from cold steel 3 meme #meme template #kiseki #the legend of heroes

[marsaovo]

Food :)

#olivert reise arnor #legend of heroes #trails fanart #trails of cold steel #kiseki #the legend of heros: trails of cold steel 3 #mueller vander #trails in the sky #olivert/mueller

[inkedmyths]

Assorted dump of silly Trails AU nonsense

#the legend of heroes #trails of cold steel #kiseki series #sen no kiseki #art #my art #ink arts #mcburn #crow armbrust #millium orion #rufus albarea #trails to catch 'em all #pokemon #jirachi #my first time drawing mcburn and its. as a frog. yeah. #that one was inspired by a silly conversation jfjdjkfs #everything else is from the strange inner machinations of my mind <3 #maybe i'll elaborate if u ask. maybe.

[smash-64]

2023 Game of the Year Countdown #1 The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie Nintendo Switch, 2023

For a fourth time since 2018, a Trails game takes my #1 for the year.

Breaking from tradition, this Trails game has no sidequests. It has a very linear story, although technically there are three linear stories and you can jump from one to another for most of the game. In many respects, this is the “Trails in the Sky the 3rd” for the Cold Steel series. Not only is the story more linear, but we get redemption arcs from past villains, and we also get an absolutely disgusting amount of playable characters. Chrono Cross has 45 playable characters, and people often say that’s too many. Well…Reverie has 50. And each of them gets at least a little time in the spotlight. It’s fantastic for Trails fans, and I adored it. I put 150 hours into this game and I’m not sure I could have put less time into it.

Playing the game on Switch, there were definitely a few times the game chugged, so I can’t give the game a perfect 10. Many of the cutscenes in Crossbell City were bogged down by the sheer number of NPCs, and was noticeable to me, a person famously unconcerned with performance. I can see why people advocate for playing this on PC or PS4, but the portability of the Switch trumps all else in my mind. This is really the only downside I experienced with the game, although it did not affect my enjoyment at all.

Having three linear storylines to follow in any order you want is phenomenal. You can keep going with characters you love, and are never forced to stick with the ones you don’t for very long. And with having a linear story, the pace of the game is potentially sped up a little bit from the traditional Trails experience where sidequests can often lead to very long delays in the main story.

The story itself offers a ton. Obviously I can’t spoil a game that is the 10th in an interconnected, on-going series, but I’ll just say that once the main story is over…the postgame story is equally as interesting and gives fans a peek at some of the series-long questions and issues brought up in previous entries. 

Combat is fairly standard as far as the Cold Steel games go. I love Trails combat and this game tweaks little, as nothing was broken. It’s perhaps a little bit more difficult than CS3 or CS4, since the Break mechanic was pretty OP in those two games and it has been toned down slightly, but you can still take full advantage of it if you’re smart and plan well. I also like how some of the accessories drastically increase specific stats, so min/maxing is actually fun in this game. I was able to get Tita Russell’s attack and HP to absolutely absurd heights in this game. She is no longer baby; she wants power!

As previously stated, almost every single character gets their time in the spotlight. Some more than others, of course, but the fact that we get 50 playable characters, yet every one of them gets a chance to shine is a wonderful piece of work by the developers and writers. I’d say that perhaps Musse gets very little, but she had more than enough focus in CS3 and 4. Even Machias gets his own episode, and he is so often forgotten that even I forget about him at times.

Music is good as always when it comes to Falcom. I appreciate some of the battle tunes, like Elegant Prowess, and the game has its own unique sound that sets it apart from CS3 and 4. Maybe not to the same extent that Sky the 3rd sets itself apart from FC and SC, but the tracks unique to this game sound different enough that they are easy to pick out. There are dozens of returning tracks as well, since we revisit quite a few places from previous entries. 

My favorite character is Estelle Bright, and I was glad to see a focused effort to put her in the spotlight more often. She wasn’t in CS1-3, and played a more supporting role in 4 than anything else. Meanwhile, Lloyd and Rean ran the show. Estelle is not one of the main storylines in this game, but it’s nice to see her back with some of her famous one-liners.

Overall, I can’t really say enough about the game. It’s an amazing JRPG experience, but one that requires playing the 9 previous games in the series. Maybe that’s a daunting task to some, but the good thing about trying out a Trails game is that there is always another one to play afterward.

#game of the year #goty #countdown #trails innto reverie #hajimari no kiseki #falcom #nintendo #switch #nintendo switch