I finally reached the first Cold Steel game. Coming into it I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, because it seemed it was low ranked for many people who are into the Trails series. Having finished it now, I can safely say I do not agree with a lot of things those people say. What's more, I legit don't even understand how you can rank this game low, unless I'm missing something coming in the future. The amount of improvements in gameplay over the previous 5 games is insane, so much that I don't even know if I'll ever go back to the previous ones unless it's for the story (which is amazing in those games for sure!). I had a phenomenal time, an engaging experience pretty much all thoughout, and the story was great. Pretty much a perfect setup game. Here are some more thoughts I wrote down:
- Transition into 3D. The graphics are pleasant and have a non generic art style. Rudimentary but nice to look at with good colors and lightning. The environment and world design is good and cozy.
- The combat feels like a BIG upgrade! It's more engaging due to Link attacks and C Skills being more interesting. Status effects are not useless anymore (every boss in most of the previous games were immune to everyting, which made half your moves useless...) as now enemies/bosses have % based resistance to those effects instead of only 0 or 100% resistance. The movement Grid is removed allowing for full movement which honestly felt great. Combat was FUN! Loved it.
- The Quartz system has been revamped with Master Quartz having a bigger role due to it also giving arts in itself. The Elemental Jewel Art System is removed. Characters don't all have the same arts anymore or useless arts either.
- The new cast is great and fun to get to know. Like them more than the previous arcs cast already.
- The fast travel system is improved, and together with the fast forward mode, it makes for a smooth gameplay experience.
- The 3D movement looks and feels awkward, due to the move left and right buttons (A and D) forcing the camera to turn with the character, as well as clunky running. This is not a problem in battle, just when exploring. Honestly it was more annoying at the start, you kinda get used to it.
- The Persona series has definitely influenced the game, as there's now bonding events, day/calendar cycle, and the main cast are highschoolers. I'm not even a Persona 5 fan (I liked 4 way more), but still will admit all these elements feel like a + to what Trails already had to offer, and improves variety.
- Feels like there's way less voice acting overall, and it's mostly reserved for main story important cutscenes. That the player has to do a lot of reading without any voice over is a shame.
- The music is some of the best music so far for a Trails game, a collection of everything from chill town tracks to epic battle tracks.
- Overall a great first game to setup the story. The story is good, and the overarching plot thickens.
- Important if you are playing with keyboard and mouse, turn off camera auto adjust in the Launch Settings for the game, as it even says there it's recommended.
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Here is my current game tier list:
S- Sky SC
A- Sky 3rd, Cold Steel 1, Azure
B- Sky FC, Zero
C-
D-
Honestly, this game is WAY over hated for some reason, maybe just because it was the most popular idk. People say "the game is a slow burn" but then they somehow rank other slow games at the top, games were doing sidequests is way slower, and also the speed up button does exist here, maybe they played without it i don't know. I guess this is the game that makes me realize everyone values different things in these games and that's why community rankings are all over the place, which is not a bad thing. For my own preference, playing Cold Steel 1 made me realize how little I missed the Zero-Azure cast, compared to how much I missed the Sky cast when starting Zero. The gameplay of Cold Steel 1 made the game way more fun than any other game in the list so far, and the story and characters were very good. It's the first game of several in the arc, but a great game on it's own!
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Next up is Cold Steel 2, more of the same I hope!
