Game review: The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel comes to PS4

There are also no random battles, so you can actually see enemies moving around and attempt to avoid them if you’re not in the mood. Plus, a scaling system for opponents means there’s surprisingly little need for level grinding. The game even offers to swap enemies out with weaker ones if you get stuck at a key point.

Making purposefully old school gameplay as accessible as possible is very much Falcom’s speciality and for fans of the genre this is manna from heaven. But even though the story does drag on a bit the game is also extremely enjoyable for everyone else, with a fun battle system and a forgiving difficulty level that seems pleased you gave it a try – instead of trying to scare you off the minute you start.

In terms of this PlayStation 4 version, it really is more a port than a remaster and although the resolution and frame rate have been increased the texture work and object models betray its last gen origins. The attractive art design compensates for this to a degree though, and the game does include all the previous DLC, as well as the original Japanese voiceover track and an expanded English dub.

Trails Of Cold Steel was never going to change the world, even the ossified one of Japanese role-playing games. But it’s confident enough in its charms that it never feels the need to, and there’s something very appealing in that no matter what your history is with the genre.

The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel

In Short: An ashamedly old school role-player that nevertheless does its best to attract new players and entertain existing fans.

Pros: A great balance between genre conventions and more accessible, modern concepts. Fun, fast-paced, battle system and the Persona influence works well.

Cons: The plot often dawdles and prevaricates rather than moving forward. Battle system, and indeed the rest of the game, can be a little too familiar.

Score: 7/10

Formats: PlayStation 4
Publisher: Marvelous Games
Developer: Falcom
Release Date: 29th March 2019
Age Rating: 12

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