There is a series called Legend of Heroes: Trails of Something for those of you who do not know. This is a nine-game series that has spanned over the better part of a decade and is still technically going. However, the original nine games Trails in the Sky 1, 2, and 3, Trails from Zero, Trails to Azure, Trails of Cold Steel 1, 2, 3, and 4 have concluded this arc of the series. Since I have managed to beat all eight games that have come out in English, I might as well do a bit of a review on the series as a whole—starting with the learning curve.

Sadly this game has a pretty steep learning curve, especially in Sky, where you have to properly slot all your quartz and gain magic from them. This can be somewhat hard to balance out since all the quartz both reduce and increase various stats. So when you are brand new to the game, you will likely not get it, and it takes time to adapt, especially early on since the game does not give you much in the way of quartz in the beginning. It can be tough to tell who is a mage character. Sadly while the quartz system changes in Steel, it is no less complex. In a lot of ways, the simplistic nature of it makes it even more useless. Add the difficulty curve to it, and this game is punishing.

Another huge problem with the game is the difficulty of the game. Sky 2 can be particularly brutal. The game slowly gets nerfed over time, making the normal mode less punishing. It is possible to beat nightmare mode in Steel 3 and 4 without a new game plus if you like. However, get ready to lose a lot and strategize. Granted, in normal mode, whenever you retry a battle, the difficulty falls. Still, it will be a long slog if you want to try not to lose. I know I have had battles last between 45 and 75 minutes because I refuse to lose or use S-Crafts. Which generally do not change much through the series. This is another problem this game is pretty repetitive.

With Sky 1 and Steel 1, they both felt like incomplete games. Then Sky 2 and Steel 2 came along and fleshed everything out and felt like complete games. Sadly Steel 3 and 4 followed this pattern as well. I feel like I have been scammed in a lot of ways because after playing the first games and the second games, I feel like they just stopped halfway through and sold me the game. So that is a bit annoying, but to be honest, not enough of a deal-breaker for me. If there is one redeeming quality for this game, it is the story.

The story is very anime, and friendship overcomes all. However, it is also very intricate and keeps you guessing. A lot like anime, the story tends to take a wild turn about halfway through the game. Maybe I enjoyed the story so much I am just believing this happened. However, it feels like they put a lot of effort into connecting the stories of all the different, I guess volumes, together. Each affected, however, small, on later games. They do a pretty good job, so much so that when you get to the most recent entry, Steel 4, it does not feel like they have to force anyone in or do anything like that to make the game work. All the characters are pretty organic and can move in and out as they see fit. So yeah, I still say buy these games.

This game is not for low-level gamers. This game hits you hard right from the outset and can be extremely frustrating at times with learning stuff and figuring out the flow of the game and characters. However, it tells a great story and overall is a lot of fun to play and replay to see if you can do better on a harder difficulty setting. So yes, I still say pick up this franchise if you are into that kind of thing. Well, do not pick up Sky 3. That game was pointless. You have no reason to buy it. Save yourself some frustration and pretend like it is not there because it holds no real point in existing other than to bleed a couple of extra bucks from you.