AdoMobA
Mar 21, 2023
Pros- a perfect send off to one of the most exciting arcs in this series- biggest playable cast in the series (39 playable characters with their own skills)- most complex main villain with my personal favorite right hand man- threat you can feel slowly encroaching on the world- stakes on an apocalyptic scale- beautiful OST- the end credits had me in tears as this series proved just how special it isCons- the worst iteration of the female social events in the entire seriesThe ninth game in the series and the finale of the Cold Steel arc, Trails of Cold Steel IV is one of the most epic culminations I have ever experienced. A culmination of not just the Cold Steel arc, but also the Sky and Crosbell arcs.Let me start with the one annoying thing I have against this game before gushing. The female social events are utter garbage and suffer the worst effects of Cold Steel's focus on fan service. For any of the homies: Ayo I got three social events dealing with me leading one quarter of the entire country. Oh yeah, I got three dealing with my music career. Sick, mine deals with me joining the IRS. Damn, mine is about how I became a black ops for the church.For the women? Each and every single one of them got three as well: Yo, I joined the Bracers but exactly half of each of my three events deals with me wanting to bang you. Accompany me to visit my dads grave but half of our time there let's spend talking about how much I want to bang you. I am leading the family company but hey how about we bang?I am stuck leading my house and teaching our sword techniques but heyyyy, bang? Like clockwork, all of them. Each of their three events is half and half. It is stupid and ridiculous.Luckily, the social events were never my favorite anyway. How about the story and characters? Oh. My. God. This game went far beyond anything I could imagine.The amount of characters would seem overwhelming to anybody who has only played the Cold Steel arc, but with the greater context, their inclusion is hype beyond hype. My god. The fact is, the returning cast doesn't do much growing here. They did it back in their games. They are here to give you themselves and their contributions to the story. I absolutely adore it.The main story starts slow, coming off of the cliffhanger in CSIII, but immediately kicks back in. The new Class VII is left to shine on their own, allowing them to show just how great they are by themselves. Rean is pushed to his absolute limits and finally gets an ending, where he is not suffering.The main villain is multifaceted and proven to be much greyer than what the series ever attempted. His right hand man, a walking ad for L'Oréal, is one of my favorite characters the Cold Steel arc produced. And overall, the gallery of villains in this game prove that not everyone fighting against the protagonist is an evil maniac. Some of them are indeed heroic from the right point of view.Combat was once again rebalanced. The Brave Orders are still kinda OP but breaking enemies was nerfed to be actually balanced in this game. As to the good old Arts vs Crafts, Arts started as laughably bad at the beginning of this arc. In Cold Steel IV, Arts are the hardest hitting abilities in the game. Not just viable, they make the game easier.I think the moment this game proved to be the most epic story I ever played was right before the final bossfight. You have to make three separate teams, each featuring four active and four support characters. Three teams of eight make 24 characters in total. And the pool you are picking from features 39 of them. 39 separate characters featured across the three arcs and I know and care for all 39 of them.Cold Steel IV is one of the greatest games and strongest finishes to an arc I have ever experienced. God damn does it make me hype for Reverie and Kuro. If you have ever wondered if it is worth it to take the plunge, yes. Head first. No looking back. You'll thank yourself.
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PlayStation 4