I finished Cold Steel IV, great game as expected. Great way to end the arc, and had a lot of cool moments. One of my favorite parts of the game is when Rean mastered the Eight Leaves One Blade 7th form and got his new S-Craft. That was so awesome lol.

This game definitely had some challenging fights like Osborne and Arianrhod in the Black Workshop, and the Pantagruel boss rush. What really through me for a loop though was the rivalries. Especially the ones in the final chapter, what a nightmare lol. They were awesome though. They were fittingly way harder than any other mech fight in the series in my opinion.

Loved the soundtrack as well of course. My favorite new tracks were Lyrical Amber, Synchronicity #23, With Our Own Hands!, and Still to the Front. It was also cool that they gave remixes to some of the Crossbell tracks as well as them using the super arrange of The Enforcers from Sky SC for the final McBurn fight. It's so mysterious, threatening, and otherworldly, a perfect fit for that moment. It's also cool how he ends up helping you in the end by giving you a primordial flame (I definitely needed that btw with how ridiculous the Ishmelga rivalry was lol).

Funny timing that you just responded and about the multiple team stuff because I actually was just struggling with the Pantagruel boss rush, where you need to set up 4 teams of 4. What a nightmare lol. At least the guest characters have locked equipment, so you don't need to set them up, but at the same time that makes it a little harder when you can't use your own setup for them lol. Especially given the deathblow spam so you can't just prevent it on everyone. All the options are cool, but I think I prefer a more limited selection as well. It's a little overwhelming needing to set up a ton of characters.

I can't imagine the wait for the next Trails game after a cliffhanger ending. That's the benefit to getting into it later and catching up I suppose lol. Behind the Lore is really good. I'm glad they brought that track back and a lot of others for Cold Steel IV.

Yeah, I don't think CS I was that hard outside of a few problem bosses, but CS II and III were both harder than the entirety of Crossbell in my opinion. Although there is one fight in particular in Azure that is kind of a nightmare lol, don't worry about it though. I don't think weakening the enemies is anything to be ashamed of. I understand the feeling cause I've refrained from using that option so far myself, but at the end of the day they're long games with their main draw being their story so it's nice that option is there for the sake of progress.

I did end up switching to Normal in CS III btw, and even then there was a certain fight that completely through me for a loop, Zoro-Agruga, for a lot of reasons, but mainly since you had to set up and use three different teams. Made the mech fight against him afterwards all the more satisfying though.

Also, yeah I love how Juna tied Crossbell and Erebonia. Idk where she is in Azure, I didn't end up seeing her. Musse is quite amusing lol. Also, I love Altina's character development, her bonding scenes were too adorable lol.



The ending was insane. I don't think I've experienced an "everything goes wrong" ending quite like that. Everyone seeing The Courageous blow up and fall into pieces was so unexpected and powerful since it was the symbol of hope for Erebonia. Even had most of the antagonists going "wait wtf" lol. And then what happened Millium actually made me cry. That was one of the saddest sequences in a game I've experienced. Altina confused, Elliot crying, Rean and Jusis screaming, what a performance from the voice actors. Jusis's reaction was extra heartbreaking given Jusis and Millium's dynamic and development . Then tearing apart the holy beast with transformed Rean and Valimar and the other divine knights ganging up on Rean was the perfect way to end the game. You were right, what an evil cliffhanger lol. Can't wait to play Cold Steel IV after I finish the other game I'm playing right now.

One last note, the OST was peak as expected. Erosion of Madness, the Hamel remix, Lift Off, Doomsday Trance, etc. So many good tracks. Also, probably not surprising I'm going to mention this, but using the super arrange version of The Decisive Collision was so awesome. What better way to introduce it than fighting Arianrhod and Demon McBurn at the same time. They synced the intro of it perfectly with the cutscene too, so hype omg lol.

I've been a little slow with Cold Steel III myself given that I've have some time off right now and it's the only thing I'm playing, and I'm still in Chapter 2 lol. Part of the problem I think is that I chose hard mode because I seems that the general consensus was that the game was too easy...but I keep getting walled so I might lower it to Normal for the sake of progress lol.

Anyways, yeah I really like Altina. I like Kurt and Juna as well, but Altina has been my favorite new class VII member so far. I love her interactions with everyone, and I'm excited to see where her character goes.

I love Fie as well. Her new fit is indeed really good, Trails is really good at designs. I love her new S-Craft as well, it's so awesome lol. It was also cool seeing that she became a bracer as well. Also, I had no clue Randy would be an instructor in this game lol. That was a neat surprise. I like the dynamic between him and Rean and I'm interested to see what they do with him given everything going on.

It's alright lol.

The section with Lloyd and Rixia was indeed a really nice treat. The Geofront returning as well as fighting Rean and Altina at the end of it was really cool. About Rixia, they do more with her in the second half of Azure thankfully so look forward to that. Still though, I'm surprised they didn't give her as much attention overall as well, which is too bad, because I think she's awesome too lol. She's one of my favorite characters.

Yeah, we'll have to talk more after I play CS III. Have fun with the rest of Azure!

Hey, sorry for the late response. I didn't see it for a while, and then I thought I might as well finish the game before replying to give my full thoughts lol.

It was a great game! I totally agree about the new unique outfits for everyone. The designs are all so good and have way more personality than school uniforms.

The OST was incredible as expected from Falcom. You were right, it just keeps getting better lol. I love that some of the tracks were basically spiritual successors to past Trails tracks such as Law of the Battlefield paralleling Ferocious Beasts from Azure, Severe Blow to Fateful Confrontation from Sky SC, and more. Then of course there's Blue Destination, Remaining Glow, I'll remember you, etc., that use the same leitmotif from The Decisive Collision which are amazing. They are so emotional, and they use it at the perfect moments, easily some of my favorite tracks of all time.

The story was great, and the climax of the final chapter was insane. Fighting the final boss with Crow and Rean together in the third phase was awesome. Nothing could prepare me for the events afterwards though lol. A couple of the world events I essentially knew were coming because of Azure, but some of the plot twists such as Rufus being an Ironblood, and Osborne being Rean's father I never saw coming. The scene of Rean running up, grabbing Osborne, and yelling at him may be my favorite moment in the series now which is saying a lot. One revelation after another and then they hit you with the I'll remember you MV to top off the chapter which was incredible. I pretty much sat on the chapter complete screen for minutes just processing everything that happened lol.

Anyways, it was a great experience! I'll probably start Cold Steel III around the end of the month. Excited to see where the arc in Erebonia goes.

It was a great game, I really enjoyed it! I did go into it expecting that I probably wouldn't like the school theme, but I think they did a good job at not spending too much time on it as well as breaking it up with the old schoolhouse exploration. I do like the main cast quite a lot already, but I'm interested in learning more about some of them in the future. I loved watching them grow as a group, and the ending got me seriously emotional lol. The finale was insane, especially the climactic battle. The Decisive Collision is such an incredible track that was perfect for that fight. The OST in general was extremely good. I'll be taking a short break to ensure I don't get burnt out, but I'll definitely be starting Cold Steel II soon!

Yeah! I think a lot of people including myself was expecting Xenobalde 3 to be like what Future Redeemed is but the fact we got 2 amazing games out of it is a win win

Enjoy Future Redeemed one of the highlights of 2023 for me