I’ve come here for you, Estelle Bright. My absolute beloved. I missed you so much, and I better see you again soon. I hope they give lots of love to the Liberl gang, cause I know the SSS gang is definitely going to receive a lot of focus in here and Hajimari and I love that! But it makes me sad that Sky doesn’t hold the same relevance it used to
I’ve heard a lot of bad things about CS4. In my earlier posts, I already made more than clear my fear towards the Cold Steel saga, and thankfully CS2 and CS3 were brilliant even though they had their own downsides. All in all, I’ve heard CS4 is probably not gonna wrap up this whole arc nicely, but welp, here we go…
Gameplay
I’m writing this section of the post like… 80h into the game and I’ve mostly forgotten what this game does to innovate in this aspect in comparison to CS3. To be fair, the combat in CS3 is pretty good and brought a lot of very good new ideas to the general feeling of the gameplay
Regarding the additions, I wish I could remember more but I swear I cannot think of anything relevant…
The amount of playable characters this time around though? I already thought it was WILD in CS3, but this one aims to make it even bigger and I’m not complaining. I wish they allowed us to build the characters in an easier way though, cause it’s such a pain to think of the orbments and equipped items for each that I just ended up running the same team for most of the story
Story
Of course, spoilers alert!
Huh, the prologue starts by showing us more consequences of that black wind, and apparently the main Thors campus has moved to Leeves now, where… FUCKING SHIRLEY IS ENROLLED NOW? HUH? WHO ALLOWED THIS
Anyways, it seems they are going all out in showing us old Thors graduates, like Bridget, Rex or even Instructor Makarov. That’s cool
SCHERAZARDDDDDDDDDD GODDAMN, AT LAST, AT FUCKING LAST SHE’S BACK!!! I MISSED HER SO MUCH, AND THEY TEASED HER SO BAD DURING THE ENTIRETY OF CS3, MANNNNNNNN. So much at once, between Vandyck back as the Commander and announcing more of the war, Jona, Imelda, the Hayworths, Sully, Grace, Cao… They’re going all out, huh?
DAMNNNNNN THEY ARE SETTING ALL UP FOR LIBERL AND CROSSBELL TO TAKE ACTION HUH? I’M SO HYPED MAN, THEY BETTER NOT SCREW IT UP
AND OH BOY THEY’RE GOING ALL OUT FOR THE PROLOGE. ESTELLE, JOSHUA, RENNE, LLOYD, ELIE, KEA, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I’VE MISSED ALL OF THEM SO MUCH MWAH MWAH MWAH MWAH MWAH. THEY ARE TWO FAMILIES, TWO LITTLE FAMILIES AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Oh boy, for a moment there I almost forgot that the SSS and the Bright family already know each other. It’s pretty dumb of me to forget that, knowing how significant their arc in Crossbell were. ANYWAYS, I’M LOVING ALL OF THESE INTERACTIONS AND THROWBACKS, I LOVE THEM ALL SOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH FOR REAL
Now the situation gets serious, and Claire and Black Alberich appear to stop us, accompanied by the new Anguis that replaced the Faceless: Mariabell the fucker. DAMNNNNNNNNNNN IT’S SO HYPE TO SEE THIS BITCH BACK, AND CLAIRE HERE…. THE ANGST GOES SO HARD. It seems Ouroboros has surrendered to Osborne, and they’re both our enemies again. Incredible first boss battle, things are in full motion
Also, Claire checking her orbmail and breaking down when seeing Millium’s email… I’M SO SADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD. Anyways, opening presenting characters roll (huh, where’s Schera… they better not forget her)
AAAAND, now we get some kind of strange dream with Juna as protagonist where both Thors campus merged and Cedric and his two lapdogs join Class VII, but Rean is forgotten by everyone. Is this a dream whey are forced to live while they are taken as hostages after what happened in Heimdallr?
Huh… So we finally learn what happened at the end of CS3, and apparently Emma teleported everyone outside the Spiral of Erebos since it was collapsing. However, Rean was taken by Osborne, and Crow… kinda disappeared on his own too? It’s so weird that he didn’t decide to help or anything. And also Musse, she disappeared with a feather of Vita’s familiar saying her final goodbyes, as she has a role on the Great Twilight. What the hell…
It seems Randy being here was also by chance, and the rest like Tio, Towa, Tita, Agate, etc… got left behind in that distorsion. They’re definitely doing okay knowing this franchise but :((( I miss them
Hm, I don’t like the reasonings they are giving us for why New Class VII has gotten weaker, they are not novices anymore and has faced bigger challenges than any of this. The whole mana and curse thing feels cheap, but oh well. At least Randy is finally back to being playable, so that’s cool. And Roselia as a boss was fucking cool, I love the new camera angles they are playing with for crafts, they make them look much more dynamic
As for the outdoor bath scene… I’ll just pretend I haven’t seen anything, sigh, this fucking game.
Anyways, we arrive to Saint-Arkh and the old field camp. A new black Plemora has appeared on the Empire, and we can call our mechas on the battle like we could call Valimar back in CS2, cool! I didn’t notice how many little mechanics were missing in CS3 in comparison to CS2, just like this or overdrive. It’s just a funny realization though, cause if I didn’t miss them in CS3 it’s cause I didn’t use them that much
Ough, Vantage Masters is back. It’s a bit of a pain in the ass of a game, but welp, time to get every card again. Uhg, between Rex and now Margarita, they’re just bringing back all the most boring Thors classmates, huh? The ones we met again in CS3 were mostly great, but here… fuck them so bad. AND NOW ANTON TOO, I WANNA DIE
Also we’re now in the Liberl border and… I’m so mad we don’t even get to do anything there. I wanna see Liberl in 3D so bad, but all the love and fanservice goes mostly to Crossbell (+Erebonia technically), so it’s so sad
What I’m not liking about CS4’s start so far is how it’s leading us to the exact same places from the beginning of CS3, with little to no changes. I mean, this has been happening all the time on Trails games, but it’s the same starting places
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GILBERT IS BACK, I CAN’T STAND THIS FUCKING GUY BUT THIS IS SO FUNNY, he even recalls Phantasma and how it made him stronger. Though, all this in front of Hamel? Even Shirley had more respect than this
Right after, we get a tough battle against Zephyr, but luckily I managed to get that extra AP as usual. Not only that, but we battle against his Divine Knight at last, so that’s kinda hype. HOWEVER, WE GOTTA LEAVE RANDY BEHIND AND IT MAKES ME SO SADDDDDDDDDDDDDDD I WANT HIM TO STAY FOR LONGER WITH MY PARTY
Ohh, we meet Elie’s mother, Diana, as a little easter egg in Milsante. I almost didn’t recognize who that was.
Also, damn, Erosion of Madness, aka McBurn’s theme, plays for the Trial Chests? Does that mean we are not getting that theme again against him? Bummer
Anyways, the whole thing about Musse is… so creepy. She has been able to predict so much shit across the events of Cold Steel, and hasn’t even put a finger to try and stop, for example, Olivier’s death. I know she probably couldn’t or had the means to, but at the same time, her goals and objectives are so strange and it doesn’t make sense how she separated herself from Class VII on purpose when it’s a given that they’ll be a key to stop Osborne (and if it’s on purpose, what’s even the point). Honestly, having a character that can predict and foresee the future this way, even if it’s just by calculations, is so hard to write well into a story, and they are definitely not doing a good job at it. If she’s so smart, could predict even the curse and war, and her only possible plan involved the sacrifice of millions, how is Class VII gonna change anything? The power of friendship? Oh come on, I’m sick of that
And on the middle of gettting Musse back… the detested main Thors campus appears, with Michael and Cedric leading it and… FUCKING SHIRLEY AMONG THEIR CLASSMATES LIKE IN THE PROLOGUE, the hell is she doing here. THE RED CONSTELLATION TOO AGAIN?
Anyways, just a little talk and Musse’s back on our side… God, I’m starting getting tired of Trails building up important moments just for them to be solved in the most unimpactful way. Between Musse’s secret identity and Ash’s shooting, what was even all that work and secrecy during CS3 if they weren’t even gonna treat it as the big events they deserve to be? Like, it’s not a problem coming from CS4, it has been happening since forever. And the same goes for character arriving at the last moment to save the day, though it has never been SO overused as it has been during the CS arc. How many more times am I gonna see Class VII come out of nowhere to save the day with no build-up, foreshadowing or importance…
We have to choose between Alisa or Rufus to take to Crossbell and… knowing the implications of Rufus, and the high likelyhood of finding Sharon, I don’t get why I can’t bring both. Anyways, I also brought Gaius with me instead of Laura or Emma cause I’ve been ignoring this dude too much, and I know he’s pretty darn good now
ALSO, JOSETTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE MY BELOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD, I CAN’T BELIEVE WE ARE GONNA RIDE THE BOBCAT, THIS IS SO GOOD
IS AN CARVADIAN AIRSHIP LITERALLY CALLED BATEN KAITOS LMAOOOOOOOOO
Glad to see Crossbell once again! This time they added the Entertaiment District and Back Alley so I’m excited to look around! ALSO OMG THE JUKEBOXES PLAY THE OLD THEMES, I’M SO NOSTALGIIICCC. That reminds me, I wanna see Trinity and Wazy again…
We finally meet old faces again, such as Grace who had to relocate to the old Grimwood office, and the cocky bastard Jona alongside Sully, who I didn’t expect to receive importance after the Crossbell arc so I’m happy to see her again!
You can’t examine the pizza? Flop. Anyways, why is Heiyue in cahoots with Ouroboros… I don’t get it. Wait, with Rufus??? Why?
A
A
A
ESTELLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
ESTELLE BRIGHT MY SUN MY SUNSHINE MY BELOVED, I CAN’T BELIEVE WE GET TO SEE HER AGAIN SO SOON AGAIN. I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. ELIE IS ALSO HEREEEEEEEE. I would have liked to play that boss fight against Cao using Estelle though… Bummer…
We are back in the SSS building, and we can look at Lloyd’s room alongisde a picture of the SSS…. All the flavor text of how each member is doing makes me so sad, I miss them a lot
St. Ursula Medical College… How I’d missed this place, and Cecile!!! Anyways… Trails post-Sky REALLY can’t handle death, can they? Not even the fucking Emperor ended up dead, gosh
They nerfed Misheland 😦 The Castle of Mirrors was so beautiful back in Zero/Azure, but I’m not complaining since it’s just a quick visit. Would’ve loved to see it big in 3D though
Oh boy, here we go… more questions: why the fuck is Lechter helping Campanella, and WHY IS SHARON’S NEW OUTFIT SO UGLY. I’m glad to see them back though and… oh. It’s all because he and Claire don’t want to let Millium’s sacrifice go in vain, and that’s quite a fair point. But at the same time… the Great Twilight can’t be the only way to stop the Curse, and they’re smart enough to know… I think…
Holy fuck, it’s kinda dumb, but Juna snapping at Campanella for how he puts a grin on his face to make things worse for everyone while having no personal matters at stake or struggles, was a really good scene in my opinion. Plus, Campanella FINALLY losing his composure and getting a little more serious while giving us a hint of his role as Enforcer No. 0 was so interesting as well after so many games of knowing nothing about this little fucker. It really is a dumb interaction to take note of, but it really struck me as interesting
Oh shit… oh fucking shit… Rufus has the final Divine Knight too now, that means huge trouble for us. Boss battle time, and the Dark Dragon’s dungeon theme is playing, I didn’t even notice the Spiral of Erebos traces until now!
FUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKK, AN ALL-OUT ENTRANCE OF ESTELLE, JOSHUA, LLOYD AND ELLIE WHILE THE DECISIVE COLLISION SUPER ARRANGE IS PLAYING? THAT’S SO FUCKING HYPE MAAAAAAAAAAAAN. RENNE AND KEA ARE HERE TOO!!! AND HOLY FUCK, THAT ONE NPC WE MET BACK IN CS3 WAS BLEUBLANC ALL ALONG TOO. IS HE ON OUR SIDE???? I CAN’T EVEN TELL ANYMORE BUT THE HYPE IS CONSUMING ME
Also this might be a good moment to remark it, but I’ll never forgive Falcom for doing Kevin so dirty and never bringing him back again after Azure. I’ve made peace with it since it’s such a hot topic on the fandom, so knowing already I won’t see him again even though we are pretty much seeing a reunion of major characters reduces my expectations. But holy fuck, I wish they remembered him and it makes me so angry
uHHHHGGGGG, they appear and leave again. I’m getting tired of them pulling the same move over and over to create artificial hype so they can keep teasing us. Just let them unite forces with us already what the hell. At least Renne and KeA are coming with us, so that’s positive
The Black Workshop is finally located, and everyone puts together a big portal to go there. During it, we finally see again some familiar faces such as Towa, Tita, Tio, etc… Though, I don’t understand what’s Randy doing with Agate and Thomas since, technically, Randy was able to escape and Agate was still trapped. Weird
LMAOOOOOOOOO, I FUCKING KNEW THEY WEREN’T GONNA BE ABLE TO KEEP IT ON THEIR PANTS AND LET CELINE JUST BE A CAT. OF COURSE. OF FUCKING COURSE THEY’D GIVE HER A HUMAN FORM, I’M SO SICK (she’s so pretty though but please don’t turn her into harem content). Anyways, corrupted Rean goes hard af even though he’s a walking shonen cliché. ALSO WOOOOOOOOOO, CS3’S OPENING
AND WE GET CS3’S FINAL BOSS THEME FOR THIS, WHICH SUITS CORRUPTED REAN SO MUCH, LET’S GO. AND CELINE IS PLAYABLE?!?!?!?! HELL YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, NO MORE COMPLAINS ABOUT HER HUMAN FORM FROM MY PART
HOOOOOOOOOOOOLYYYYYYYY FUUUUUUCK, WE FINALLY GET TO USE CROW ONCE AGAIN, BUT THAT’S NOT EVEN ALL, WE GET TO PLAY AS DUVALIE TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY BELOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like how one of Duvalie’s crafts was taught to her by Loewe, even though he’s gone, his spirit still lives in this series through a lot of aspects. Anyways, I REALLY REALLY like Duvalie’s character development and how she’s beginning to doubt her master, I think she’s a great character to give more depth and THANK GOD some villain is out here doubting themselves after bringing forth the possible end of the world
Before facing Angelica and Georg, we learn some VERY interesting pieces of knowledge. The gnomes can manipulate minds, and George’s trigger was Crow’s death, so he was acting genuine during the earlier games. As for Angelica, she hasn’t died and her soul hasn’t changed the way Crow’s changed, and apparently the Divine Knights are regarded as “Immortals”
After those three great fights, now it’s Class VII’s turn to reclaim their lost instructor and beat Rean. I think it’s the first time we get a full opening with lyrics for a fight, that’s so cool!
Everyone reunites in a wholesome moment to save Rean from the curse, even Towa from far away, and honestly, if you told me this was the segment right before the finale of the game, I would believe you. It was a beautiful moment, though it didn’t really get to me tbh. THOUGH, WHAT DO YOU MEAN VALIMAR’S THINKING CORE IS GONE??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I LIKED HIM SO MUCH, DON’T DO THIS TO ME
ANYWAYS, AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH, THE ARIANRHOD & OSBORNE FIGHT HAD ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT CAUSE I WASN’T SURE IF I WAS PREPARED ENOUGH TO GET THE EXTRA 10 AP. THANKFULLY I WAS ABLE TO GET IT, BUT MY LORD I WASN’T ABOUT TO RE-DO ALL FIVE FIGHTS ALL OVER AGAIN. On that note, I don’t like how they are kinda overusing Arianrhod at this point. She’s supposed to be this holy extremely-rare-to-fight-and-beat character, but by now we’ve beaten her a few too many times, between the SSS, Aurelia and this time
Well fuck, the Fragments chapter has been pretty much amazing, and a great appetizer so I don’t get bored before reaching the finale. The game started off slow, and the pace at the beginning was repetitive and tiresome, but thankfully this chapter has been worth the build up
Goddamn, Crow and Duvalie left already again, I’m so saaaaaaaaaaaadddddddddddd. At least Vita’s finally reunited with her family… even though it’s only gonna last for a few minutes, aaarrhhggg, why can’t all these fuckers just come back with us and stop being edgy asses
Anyways, we’re back to the boring part, aren’t we? It’s sad to be hyped this much just to see you have to spend another 30h for the good stuff, welp
Being inside Gaius’ Merkabah feels so nostalgic… reminds me so much of being inside the Courageous in CS2, since they are using that same theme
Oh shit, Rean’s new Awakening is now his Berserk state, that’s fucking cool though I don’t like how he looks this ominous and intimidating while… his voice clips are THE SAME TONE OF CALMNESS, but oh well
We meet my beloveds Crow and Duvalie in Sol Shrine and we learn about the Rivalries, which seem to be a extremely important concept that has been in play ever since CS1. From what I’ve gotten, they are a struggle for power between the Divine Knights, which are put in deathmatches. Vita tried to trigger a pseudo Rivalry in CS2, while Ouroboros’ Aions were to trigger artificial ones
I’m having a hard time grasping this, but apparently the current state of Erebonia and the war have been the stage for the Rivalry of the Seven to occur, and a battle royale between them to begin. So… Crow wants to fight Rean now before the war begins full force to derail the Gnomes’ plans? God, all of this plot now is so confusing…
So if Rean doesn’t do it now, he’ll be consumed by the Curse as a Sacrifice and go berserk and engage in the Rivalries against his own will? Even sealing his memories? Where was all of this lore and plot even explained lol, they just be dropping it at us like nothing
I WAS EXPECTING BLUE DESTINATION, BUT BELIEF SUPER ARRANGE FROM CS1 IS PLAYING FOR THIS BATTLE, HYPE. Honestly, at the end this is just an excuse to throw a Crow and Duvalie battle at us at least once during this game, but you won’t find me complaining
As expected, next step is Divine Knights battle, and they finally confirm that the Awakeners are kept alive simply because of the Curse and Rivalries, so it’s unknown what would happen to Crow after this battle (spoiler alert: absolutely nothing cause they NEVER commit to anything, not a single death except Loewe’s has been forever or held value in this franchise)
Fuck,,, Crow is trying to die out here once again, but Rean slaps some sense into him and reverses the flow from Ordine to Valimar. I know they weren’t going to commit to the death, but THAT HUG………. THAT CROWREAN HUG……. SO MUCH ANGST BUT IT FINALLY FUCKING HAPPENED, I LOVE GAY PEOPLE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
So Crow is now living on borrowed time… Are they going to commit to that? I could see them actually finally saying fuck it and let him die at the end of Cold Steel IV. It’d break my heart, but at this point how many times are they going to put Crow through death? I can’t tell what the ending of this is gonna be
Anyways, so Rivalries are supposed to hand over the mana and life of the Awakener to the winner? That’s fucked
AND DUVALIE’S JOINING US, LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I LOVE THIS GIRL SO MUCH, I’M SOOOO HAPPY SHE’S COMING WITH US. Oh brother, I’m putting both of them in my party SOOOOOOOOOOO FAST
It seems it’s time to rescue everyone that is missing. I… don’t particularly like the idea that, instead of being missing because of some concept related to the Curse, they were just being held hostage in different parts of Erebonia. Feels like a cheap way not to bring them back until later to create a bit of artificial hype, plus makes for some boring ass segments for rescue (…just revisiting the same locations again)
Anyways, Patrick and Ferris are finally back, and we get our first battle as Crow & Ordine!
AND TOWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I MISSED YOU SO MUCHHHHHHH, AND I’M SO HAPPY SHE’S FINALLY REUNITED WITH CROW SOBSSSSSS, NOW WE JUST NEED TO BREAK THROUGH ANGELICA’S CURSE AND BEAT GEORGE’S ASS
And as for Machias’ dad… He’s been a little suspicious ever since the beginning, and it’s been confirmed in the past that he had a hand in some unpleasant events, but it seems that here more than ever he’s acting wrongfully as a accomplice…………….. And nevermind, I was wrong, he is not here out of his own will, but still following his own convictions against this wretched war
AND CLAIRE… GOD I MISSED HER TOO… It’s so sad seeing how she has to be on the opposite side as an Ironblood, against her own deeper wishes. And the mark of the Ironbloods let them pull power from the Great Twilight itself, huh? It’s not merely a boost of power, and it’s what allowed them to corner the SSS, Yin and Arios. Makes more sense now in retrospective
As expected, Angelica is finally back to us (god I so wish they hadn’t made you creepy, you had so many chances of being one of my favs but Falcom decided to play into stupid stereotypes)
After a zzz part of quests and free time as usual, we go back to Saint Arkh to save Alfin and Tita. I really really liked the callback to Sky when they infiltrate into the fortress, since it happened pretty much the same way as Estelle and the gang infiltrated some base thanks to Albert’s invention, and using Celine instead of a random cat though. The Dreknor Fortress infiltration is kinda cool, and battling Reinhardt and Olaf was a nice ending, though not worth the time the subchapter took
…Phew. I accidentally took a longer break from Cold Steel 4 than I expected. Ever since Feb 17th, I haven’t booted up the game again, so my memories of what has been going on in the game are a bit hazy. Today is April 4th, a few days after I finished Chaos;Head Noah and my brainrot of it is still going on strong, so hopefully I can get back on kiseki mode now. AND HEY, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT? IT’S MY BIRTHDAY ON KISEKI, 24/8, thank god they didn’t skip it
Anyways, time for bonding events and boring side quests. Alfin’s event is centered around Olivert and, while seeing her and Rean play his old lute and song is moving, I just can’t feel the emotion knowing how this fucking series never kills anyone off for good. Laura’s bonding event was genuinely good though, and it showed a layer of Rean that I love when they explore: he can’t forgive himself, searching for a place to die, but this is never shown in his exterior character with others
Huh… Who would have thought that the banger ‘Seductive Shudder’ would play again against… a bunch of dolls of a side quest. Oh nevermind, they are fucking Mariabell’s dolls after all
Time to get back to the main story. We get back to Leeves and, tbh? I kinda missed this place, it has a very heartwarming feel to it. AND AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, THEY GOT RANDY’S JUKEBOX HERE WITH THE YS’ THEME
https://twitter.com/susatoss/status/1646878909953105920?s=20
As I expected, the final goal will be infiltrating the branch campus and facing the main campus’ students and instructors in order to save Elise and Tio. That sounds kinda hype, actually
Though, huh… I didn’t expect to face Instructor Mary here at all, but I love her so hell yeah! And, of course, it wouldn’t be complete if Makarov wasn’t here as well. And huh, it seems Altina going out of control when piloting a mech back in CS3 is finally making sense: the curse is “injected” in the pilots of these. I must say, I didn’t expect them to ever explain it or to be more closely tied to Altina’s past
It’s kinda funny they try to build up Ada and Fritz as worthy final obstacles, I couldn’t care less about them lol. Michael, however, is a little more fitting. And… did any of them even have a S-Craft?
After a few nice and weird bonding events and sidequests, it’s time for… a reunion in the Pantagruel? Oh my god please tell me I’m going to see again most of my beloveds… AND YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, LLOYDDDDDDDD ESTELLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE RENNE ELIE JOSHUA KEA
FINALLY WE GET TO SEE THE REUNION OF THE ORIGINAL SSS, PLUS TITA AND HER FAMILY, I’M TEARING UP I LOVE THEM
And… the big shots from Calvard and Remiferia are here as well as expected, and it seems the girls we met back at the inn are related to them
FUCK
FUCK
FUCK
KLOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 CASSIUS TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I MISSED THEM SO FUCKING MUCH OH MY LORD
Huh, so Kilika taught Taito to Angelica? I did not expect that callback. And ah fuck… Joshua and Ash finally get the chance to talk together about Hamel, this kind of thing always gets me. Gosh, they even brought back the flashbacks from Sky. AND HELL YEAH THEY MENTIONED ANELACE
There’s so many cute interactions in here between all of the characters man, I wish I could write down every last one of them, but alas, I will restrain myself and only write down the interesting ones. For example, Elie and Aurelia are distant cousins? I did not expect that. LMAO GRACE OF ALL PEOPLE MENTIONED KEVIN AND RIES’ EXISTENCES
They keep mentioning Scherazard and, man, I hope they bring her back soon. It makes me sad Olivier and her are not here to complete the gang, as well as Zin, Kevin or Ries… And that’s not to even mention the SSS’ missing members, but I know they are making an appearance at some point, probably Hajimari, so I don’t mind as much as I mind with the Liberl characters. Also lmao, I didn’t expect them to remember Luciola, that poor girl has been forgotten so bad until now, but apparently she’s been in a “missing” state ever since the events of SC
AND HUH….. WAIT…. THIS LUCY IS THE SAME LUCY WE MET IN JENIS SCHOOL? DAMN THAT’S A SHOCK, I DID NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE HER. I swear, the entire student council of that academy ended up all being big shots. What happened to the blue haired guy tho?
https://twitter.com/susatoss/status/1648341804201263104?s=20
Anyways, they finally explain a little bit about Mille Mirage and how it’s supposed to counterattack against Erebonia’s Operation Jormungandr. What I did not expect is, aside from so many parts of Zemuria joining forces, is Cassius being its Supreme Commander. Shit, the stakes are getting higher to the moment, will the game be able to live up to it? Still, it seems everyone opts out of this plan as expected to find their own way to resolve things without so much bloodshed, but it’s definitely going to backfire
Ah fuck, of course. Ouroboros was too quiet all this time, but OF COURSE they managed to infiltrate in here even though we count with the most brilliant minds of the Zemuriaverse. And goddamn, EVERYONE is here, even fucking Cedric. FUCK AND THE OUROBOROS SHIP IS HERE, THE GLORIOUS, AND THERE’S A HYPE ASS TRACK PLAYING FROM THE SAV, I THINK IT’S ATROCIOUS RAID. AND WE HAVE SO MANY FUCKING MEMBERS AVAILABLE FOR BOTH TEAMS LMAO
(They split in boys and girls and Campanella is on the girl side, trans/enby rights)
AND HERE IT IS. FUCKING DECISIVE COLLISION. HOLY SHIT FOUR CONSECUTIVE BATTLES WITH DIFFERENT TEAMS AND AAAAAAAAAAAAHGGGG IT WAS SO HYPE WITH MY FAVOURITE CS TRACK PLAYING, I LOVEE ITTTTTTTTTT
HOLY SHIT AND THE THREE AIONS FROM CS3 ARE HERE TOO, THEY ACTUALLY TIED THAT KNOT THANK GOD. VALIMAR AND ORDINE VERSUS THE BLUE AION AND CEDRIC AND RUTGER? DAMN THIS IS GOING HARD. A RIVALRY, HERE AND NOW, FUCKKKKKKK… oh nevermind we need to be in a shrine for that
OKAY.
OKAY.
ALRIGHT.
I KNEW THIS WAS COMING SINCE THE BEGINNING, I ABSOLUTELY KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN SOONER OR LATER SINCE THEY WERE BUILDING UP TO IT, BUT AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S STILL SO FUCKING HYPE TO FINALLY SEE THE WINGS OF THE THIRD PATH COMING BACK. I MISSED OLIVIER SO MUCH, I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M SAYING THIS
VITA, BLEUBLANC, PATRICK, SCHERA, TOVAL, ETC… AND MUELLER!!!!!!!!! MUELLER IS HERE THANK FUCKING GOD!!!!!!!!!!! HE WAS WITH HIS BOYFRIEND ALL ALONG, AND THEY’VE COME TO SHINE THE WAY FOR EVERYONE. I know that, at the end, they are massively overplaying their force and influence, and that a lot of this was bad fanservice but… goddamn I still can’t help but be so happy to see them again and get hyped too. Like, there’s no logical way for someone like Musse with such omnipotent abilities not to expect or predict this after all the hints given, but welp! I didn’t come into this game expecting a great writing!
Uh oh! Osborne is here for a message too! And he brought Claire, Alberich, Rufus, McBurn and… Irina and Schmidt too, huh. But they have a surprise guest for the Rivalries. Who could it be? I’m trying to think of who before they announce the surprise, but I’m drawing a blank. Someone from Crossbell couldn’t possibly be it, right? Viscount hasn’t appeared yet, but I don’t think he could have joined. Oh, LMAO, I was right, he has been controlled by the gnomes too, or not…? It’s the curse? And the cloning in Phantasma is related to it? God, what. And the explosion from CS3 seems to have been an act of mercy by Georg, who actually tried on purpose not to kill the onboarders. What’s with this man and his mixed signals?
Welp, it seems this reunion is over. It specially pains me to see Kloe and Cassius leaving, I wish they could stay with us, but it seems Mille Mirage has other plans. Gosh, this hasn’t been a high point such as Rean’s rescue part, but it definitely has been pretty fucking good. If they don’t decrease the level from now on, CS4 might be on its way to become my favourite game of Cold Steel above CS2. We’ll see. I kind of just can’t wrap my head around all of my thoughts, it has a lot of very good points and a lot of bad points, so I can’t really say. Nevertheless, it’s an amazing fucking game that is going to brainrot me for long
https://twitter.com/susatoss/status/1648381179052130326?s=20
AAAAAAAAAAAA god I love the new Courageous! It feels great seeing the ship that accompanied us during CS2 again in high definition and with all its callbacks! AND HOLY SHIT IT WAS BUILT IN OUROBOROS’ RESEARCH FACILITY IN LIBERL? That’s such a cool detail!!
The way Olivier, Toval and Arseid survived the explosion is also explained, and while I didn’t quite get what happened, it seems Georg and Bleublanc were responsible for helping them, huh…
And huh, Roselia knows of Ragnard (the dragon from Liberl) and Zeit, who are both missing. What are the divine beasts cooking? AND THEY MENTIONED KEVIN AND RIES AGAIN WOOO, WAZY TOO, but they are out of Erebonia driving away Ouroboros forces in secret… goddamn. And it seems that, in Arios, Noel, Dudley and Rixia’s examples, they are dealing with Sigmund and Red Constellation. Welp, it feels like a cheap way to keep them away from this game’s main conflict, but we already have a MASSIVE cast so I am not complaining
GODDAMN THEY ARE ALL SEPARATING AGAIN, JUST LET ME PLAY AS ESTELLE AAAAAAAAAAAAAHGGGGGGGGG
BRUH THEY JUST CONFIRMED OLIVIER’S PHONE DURING SKY ARC WAS AN ARTIFACT? THAT’S FUNNY ACTUALLY. It feels nice to see all of our old Thors classmates too
Time for Luna Shrine! We face FUCKING VITA FIRST?!?!?!?! God I love her so much, and I love that they keep using ‘Seductive Shudder’ for the witches, it’s so fitting. AND DOES THIS FUCKING DUNGEON THEME (PERFECT STAGE) HAVE SPIRAL OF EREBOS ON IT? I KNEEL. And next is… Aurelia, goddamn we are fighting some huge names huh? For her, ‘Endure Grief’ plays, so once again I like the distinction in the themes.
HUH, so Roselia is a HOLY BEAST??? That’s wild, actually. She’s like a cat with wings, so that’s where Celine and Grianos came from. She’s the Holy Beast of Fire? Or she fused with it? I don’t really understand it, but she definitely is the disappeared Holy Beast, and she used to be a familiar like Celine until she assumed the first Roselia’s memories and mission. And in the worst case, Celine will be her successor
As aftermatch, we get to see the full history behind the visions we’ve been seeing all across the Cold Steel saga. For example, during Xeno and Leo’s vision where they are in front of their boss’ grave, the Black Alberich appears with a proposal. He was the one pulling the strings all along, including the place and confrontation of Rutger and Red Constellation’s boss, just to set him up as one of the Divine Knight pilots
There’s also the darkness/curse involving Emperor Dreichels and Lianne’s revival. As for Georg, his memories were replaced while he was at school and used the Faceless’ hypnosis techniques on him to make him report back. That’s… fucking wild actually, given that they tied Joshua’s situation in Sky to Georg’s situation here and it actually makes sense.
We also get a flashback of Rean’s birth and… Lianne makes a comment on how Dreichels’ soul found its path back to its world through OSBORNE? Oh my fucking god, and it’s that same worry of Lianne about the darkness hanging over him that makes her join Ouroboros?
So the curse was the one controlling Osborne and Franz’ fates, and turned them into what we know today? Again, fucking weak motivation but alright, I’m sick of this curse thing. But, holy fuck, it’s wild how the Curse set up Osborne’s life until the moment where his wife and son are attacked, and he has to relinquish his life in order to save Rean. It’s almost tragic how all of this hasn’t been brought about because of pure malice, but because of a higher being controlling everything or… Ishmelga, the Ebon Knight?
One thing I don’t have clear is: is Franz being controlled by the soul of the chief of the Gnomes? And is Osborne being controlled by the soul of Ishmelga and Dreichels? And are they really pinning EVERY tragic event taking place in Erebonia to the Ebon Knight? That’s weak as hell, but I’m not entirely unhappy. And it seems the gnomes are this Knight’s brainwashed minions
Valimar appears to calm Rean down, and explains how the Ebon Knight is not entirely the one to blame for all these tragedies (thank god), but rather that mankind’s weakness contributed to them. I’m still not happy about it, but I prefer that over the curse plot device for everything. And it seems that one of the current Divine Knights will have to win over the Rivalries in order to obtain the power to confront the Ebon Knight
Anyways, time for bonding events and sidequests. I liked Alfin’s about Cedric and Towa’s about how she has lost so many loved people to her, and Rean and Crow’s fate after this is over is still not clear. Anyways, after a million sidequests, time for Draco Shrine!
We first have to infiltrate the ship that is making the barrier. It seems Theresia and Emily from Thors are in here too, and we get a 2vs2 with Alisa and Angelica. And, final confrontation with Sharon and George I presume? The build-up is a bit shaky and after how long Sharon has been against us, this doesn’t sound like a huge turning point. Eh. I don’t know. This resolution feels lacking for their characters, when the only thing that has changed is Franz’s origin. At the very least, it seems Sharon is back with us, and George will have to find his own way from now
Draco Shrine time! We face Leo and Xeno individually, which is cool, until we reach Rutger for the second Rivalry at last. Belief SAV here too huh? Fucking awesome. Wait, he actually dies? This feels so wrong after how hard everyone tried to save Crow. This is just so unfitting for our party, even if Rutger wanted to die since he had already died before. I… I honestly don’t know how to feel, this feels like terrible writing. They FINALLY let someone die and they do it contradicting everything that came before? Alright man
…Sigh, time for a million sidequests and bonding events again. The Free Eryn quest is cool though, I like that we get to control a party of guest characters, but… is Olivier really not controllable? Lmao that’s actually sad, given that he had a full moveset on CS3. Also, Crow’s bonding event has us talk with Scarlet, which apparently is with the church right now
Time for Crossbell! Huh, so we are getting the Arc en Ciel back to put a distraction? This is gonna be boring man, but at least Schera my queen gets to dance as one of the mains, AND SINCE WHEN DOES ESTELLE KNOW HOW TO DANCE??? AND VITA AND BLEUBLANC COMING OUT OF NOWHERE LMAO. Huh, but in between all this, we get to see Renne interacting with her old family, even though the secret is still up
OH PLEASE, THEY ARE GOING WHERE THE PROLOGUE STARTED
PLEASE TELL ME THERE’S A MYSTIC CORE REMIX
I’M BEGGING YOU
HELL FUCKIING YEAHAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AND IT’S NOT INTERRUPTED DURING THE BATTLES!!!! THIS IS PURE BLISS. GOD I DON’T WANNA GET OUT OF THIS DUNGEON EVER
https://twitter.com/susatoss/status/1650255097237053440?s=20
Sadly, it’s time for the boss battle, and we face the brainwashed Viscount and McBurn. We also get… Singa’s disastrous Carnival theme. It feels so wrong to see Viscount missing one of his arms though
But… wow, Viscount’s arc has been solved uhhh pretty fucking quickly don’t you think? Literally no build up and somehow the whole curse over him is over, what was even the point of it in the first place then… AND WHY ARE THE VANDERS HERE OF ALL PLACES LMAO. Anyways, it seems McBurn is teasing his final form for the final day, so I’m excited to see that
Back to the Corageous to prepare ourselves to face the Steel Maiden, and I’m liking how everything’s setting up. I love Duvalie SO MUCH and I can’t wait to see this unfold between her and her lord. As expected, we face Ennea and Ines individually. Though, they did not even give these poor girls a S-craft? Bruh. Though I liked knowing of their origins, Ennea being one of the test subjects children of the DG cult and Ines being a bracer
Time for Arianrhod… God, I love her so much, but she feels “overused” between CS3 and CS4, honestly. I still get super hyped to see her every time though. And while at first I did not understand why we even had that Ariandrhod + Osborne fight, after knowing the truth of Dreichels it all makes sense. And her reasons for joining Ouroboros were because she was told of the catastrophe that would come, and she intended to win at the future Rivalries to defeat the root of all this evil, Ishmelga
I’m not sure what to think after all of this, honestly. It does feel like she could have brought about her objective without joining Ouroboros at all. But her goals have always aligned with us. Even Roselia is here, since she has an history with Lianne and Dreichels
Andddd of course after those battles, she’s on her way to “die” but, unlike with the Jaeger King, they actually try to convince her to live! What the fuck is this writing! Uhg. BUT WAIT WHAT THE FUCK, RUFUS JUST KILLED HER?????????????? AND ABSORBED HER POWER? HUH????????????????????
Arianrhod is fading and saying her goodbyes, even telling to Duvalie and the other girls that they were like daughters to her. This would be extremely sad… if it weren’t for the little fact that I know death means nothing in this fucking stupid CS saga. She’s coming back, I just fucking know it, and they’re gonna force me to “lament her death” just like they did with Crow, Olivier, Toval, Viscount, etc…
Well… AT LEAST VALIMAR CAN TALK AGAIN!!! MAN, I MISSED HIM SO BAD!!! AND MILLIUM TOO OMG. A few of Ouroboros come to say their words too, even Joshua or Renne included
Okay so… no time to grief huh? Strange buildings start appearing all over Erebonia, and the citizens are more brainwashed by the curse than ever. This is pretty much how I expected Erebonia to be right after CS3 and not now, but goddamn this is getting serious. One of them is the “Empyreal Fortress” they say, built by the gnomes 1200 years ago. It’d seem the Ironbloods have gotten themselves new outfits too, in a white tone just how Azure’s villains started wearing white during the end. And with that, end of Act 3. It’s time for the finale it’d seem
Oh but of course! It wouldn’t be a Trails game if the pacing of the finale wasn’t terrible and didn’t take even longer than the last. Time to relax at Mishelam it seems…
Anyways, Operating Shining Steel. Liberl team, SSS and Stahlritter + Zephyr will each be taking one of these Salt Pale towers. One of the other teams is funny though, having Sharon, Angelica, George and Roselia, what a strange lineup. On the other, Aurelia, Vita, Toval and Viscount, huh. I wonder if they’ll even let us control any of the teams, given some of them are full of controllable characters and others have never been playable before.
Anyways, having such a huge celebration in Misheland right while shit is hitting the fan harder than ever is kinda funny and extremely anticlimatic, ngl. Anyways, ignoring the timing, it sure is a very wholesome time seeing how everyone is spending their time
Ahhhh, now I gotta choose who I want for my bonding events and honestly? The only people I ship Rean with are Crow and Towa, so I don’t really care about the rest. Most of these possible relationships are WEIRD as fuck. Like, who would pair him with Elise? Altina? Literal children? His students? God fucking damnit I hate the romance aspect of these games, they always gotta make it as uncomfortable as possible. I’ll probably just go with some of the Old Class VII and, I wish I could bring Duvalie too, but I didn’t manage to get her to full points
Anyways, between this, it seems Cassius is going to put Rean’s Eight Leaves One Blade to the test. Cassius even borrowed Richard’s sword for this. Rean is facing what he fears most: himself, losing control to the curse. His new S-Craft goes HARD as FUCK. AND HE’S A DIVINE BLADE NOW??? THAT’S HUGE
OLIVIER PROPOSED TO SCHERA?????????? OH MY GOD IM SO HAPPY FOR THEM (EVEN THOUGH OLIVIER IS MUELLER’S BF TOO)
Ah… Renne met his father too. This sidequest, Ghosts of Hamel… finally a Liberl-focused event. We are in a Phantasma-like place, where the souls of the deceased cannot rest like in Kevin’s Genneha. Oh god, even Joshua’s and Ash’s parents. At the end, we are rewarded by being able to hear some of Loewe’s words for them… God I miss him so much
There seems to be another quest that is, in this case, related to the SSS and Elie’s mom. It’s related to disappearances but the general approach of the quest is similar
Anyways, this is probably the last day, and I’m liking how a lot of sidequests from CS3 are becoming relevant too. We get a cute quest for Olivier and his hometown too.
I managed to complete all recipes with all the different kinds, all the Vantage Masters opponents and defeating Arseid, all Pom Pom Party opponents defeated, all kind of fishes (it’s so funny how Estelle, Lloyd and Rean are now all “Divine Anglers”), all photos, all sidequests, max Thors Unity and AP, all Trial Chests, all Lost Arts, all master quarts, etc… Profile notes were a lost cause sadly, since it is not possible to get them all in one playthrough
Now it’s time to unlock the True Ending. It begins with a Toval sidequest, and a new shrine. DAMN, TOVAL JOINED OUR PARTY? WE HAVEN’T CONTROLLED HIM IN SO LONG. Inside, we find an echo of the Nameless Holy Beast of Earth, the same beast Rean destroyed when he lost control. After defeating him, we get to know his name is Argres and gives us the last of his power to rival the Great Twilight in our hands
Time to start the final day and dungeon. Hey! They showed Cid and Julia, my forgotten beloveds. And holy shit, they actually remembered Kevin, Ries, Zin and Anelace to the point of showing their artworks, huge
Okay Trails. Both Operations are in motion and thousands of lives will be lost. PLEASE don’t underplay it or go back on your actions now
The five teams infiltrating the Pale Salts are on their way and… ARE WE ACTUALLY GOING TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL THEM ALL? huh, WE DO ACTUALLY PLAY AS THEM, THAT’S INCREDIBLE, although they are limited and some do not even have a S-craft, but for example for Roselia they implemented her boss battle crafts and she has a really cute victory pose
Also, I love how Sky the 3rd keeps being the most relevant entry in the series even to this moment, explaining how the Pale Salts use as guardian the strongest being nearby
After getting rid of the towers’ barriers, the Courageous is on its way to get to the main building. Crow and Rean… defeat the Aions with their Divine Knights even though we had so much trouble with them in the past? Welp, okay
https://twitter.com/susatoss/status/1650929722199515163?s=20
Final dungeon time! I thought they would use “To the Future” here, but it seems not? What a shame. First big battle is with Lechter and Claire, and it seems Belief SAV is gonna be the boss fight around here huh? After the battle’s over, they try to kill themselves but they are quickly stopped. Will they ever learn?
So we are using the garden as hub for now? And we have optional chats with everyone? Uhg, what a pain and what a way to kill the pacing, but alright
Next up are Shirley and Cedric. What a weird combination still, huh? Cedric gets an earful from the party and blablabla he’s a stupid kid that is doing whatever he wants. And fuckkk they are gonna pull another Franz and just say he was under the control of the Ebon Knight all along and I hate thissssssssssss, stupid ass writinggggggggg. Thank god Shirley’s talk about how this is what he wanted and etc makes up for it, but damn. Anyways, his ass is beat and since he is not an Immortal, he gets to live (sadly). Shirley is bisexual, huh? And sees Cedric as a little brother
Next up, the Ouroboros fuckers Mariabell and the Fool. Eh, the more I think about it, the less “punch” I see in this line-up of enemies in comparison to past entries. It all feels like a weird mix that doesn’t mesh with each other and… it is purposefully the case, but doesn’t make for a good line-up. Anyways, they bring up some interesting points about Ouroboros that I’ve been forever been curious about, but they don’t confirm anything
So it seems the Phantasmal Blaze plan is still in effect, and it will be complete once the Rivalry of the Seven is over. Weird, given how its name is so tightly connected to CS2’s final dungeon and how Osborne took it away from them. Ouroboros main goal is… observing the path each of the seven Sept-Terrions take when dropped into humanity’s hands *in this world*. Huh………… A dead professor from long ago, Epstein, and Orpheus Final Plan third stage… WHAT ARE THEY COOKINGG…..
Next, Rufus and Black Alberich. What a strange combination of two twisted fuckers. Anyways, Nosferatus are dead Awakeners? And the swords in the final boss’ stage of CS1 mark a defeat of a Divine Knight? Raw. Dayummm Jusis also got the last hit on Rufus in my playthrough, so cool. Now, what does Rufus mean by trascending humanity, becoming an Immortal? And goddamn, poor writing strikes again and now suddenly the Black Alberich is reversing to Franz
Rufus is defeated, and he’s shocked. The reason they give him is… because he relied on no one but himself, lol. However, Jusis’ punch was so satisfactory
https://twitter.com/susatoss/status/1651030308865622016?s=20
AWWWWWWWWWWW YEAH, HERE IT IS, HERE’S FINALLY THE GOOD FUCKING THEME I WAS LOOKING FORWARD, ‘TO THE FUTURE’!!!!!!!!!! THIS FINALLY GETS ME HYPED. McBurn is coming next, and just as it was hinted since the beginning, he is not from this world. They could FUCK UP real badly if the explanation for this stuff goes wrong, and given the poor writing so far… I don’t have much faith. They explain how the Divergent Laws set by Aidios govern what we know about this world and Zemuria, but beyond that inexplicable phenomena happens, like McBurn or Salt Pale. Beyond those laws, there is a lot still unexplored to this world. They even tie the DG cult as one of the pursuers of the truth behind the inexplicable events, Gnosis being a drug that frees you from the shackles of this world (holy fuck)
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLYYYYYYYYYYYY SHIIIIIIIIIIIT, THEY’RE USING ONE OF SKY’S SUPER ARRANGE THEMES FOR THIS BATTLE, THIS GOES SO FUCKING HARD. McBurn’s new form is… ugly as hell, but holy shit this battle is giving me the chills. That form reminds me a bit of the special gimmicks of Kuro no Kiseki, which are demons like that, but who knows if it’ll be related
THE WAY MCBURN JUST CURSES CAMPANELLA AND GOES BACK TO HIS NORMAL FORM WHILE SAYING SORRY FOR THE TROUBLE LMAOOOOOOOOOOO, that was actually funny. The way he gives his goodbyes in a casual way and leaves a parting gift for Rean and Valimar… damn I love this guy so much
https://twitter.com/susatoss/status/1651038542401871872?s=20
All chests collected, time for the final boss. Three different teams, it’s time to kick Osborne’s ass. Three fucking phases and the toughest Divine Knight yet, but it has been done. However, the resolution… Black Alberich and the Ebon Knight disappear, just like that. And Rean is overtaken by the curse (he is not gonna die lol). And not only that, but Millium and Crow are going to accompany him in “””death””” too
OKAY FUCK, SEEING THEM SOAR UP TO THE SKY WHILE THE ENDING SONG PLAYS AND EVERYONE LOOKS UP TO THE SKY ACTUALLY KINDA GOT ME, SOBSSSSSSSSSS. The fucking credits………… and the Rean, Crow and Millium art in the background with falling leaves… GODDDDDDDDD IT’D BE SUCH A HEARTBREAKING ENDING IF IT ACTUALLY WAS TRUE BUT, NO, I KNOW THEY ARE NOT SETTLING WITH THIS, THIS SUCKS SO MUCH
Oh wait, there’s the True Ending too, but… which is the canon one? What’s the point in two endings then? Anyways, this True Ending begins with Franz actually freeing himself and saying to use the Holy Beast’s gift. Rean encounters in this space Rutger, Lianne and Osborne, and destroys… the curse through his Void Form
Now we hace to face Ishmelga’s astral form, huh? Three teams, but this time we can choose EVERYONE, LIKE FUCKING EVERYONE. This is it. Gosh, that’s a fucking epic final boss with To the Future playing, even if it’s not meant to be as a boss theme
Rean destroys the curse’s core, brought about by humanity in its purest sense for desire to bloom and prosper, and infected the Ebon Knight’s logic system. Osborne, probably now the true one, has one final talk with Rean about their father son bond and their tendency for self-sacrifice
Rean’s hair goes back to normal and… THEY TRY PULLING A CROW DEATH ON US *AGAIN*, AND MILLIUM’S???? Oh I’m gonna laugh at this point, the Divine Knights reunite to save them but Alisa’s father is an Immortal too and since he’s not plot relevant they’ll probably leave him to die. AND YEAH LMAO, they just sacrifice Franz for Crow and Millium since they pull a “I’ve been dead longer so I can’t be revived”. And all of the Divine Knights are sacrificed too… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I DONT WANNA SAY GOODBYE TO VALIMARRRRRRRRRRRR
Lmao and Cedric joined Ouroboros??? Did this fucking guy learn nothing from his discussion with Kurt???
Rean tells us the events that take place after the ending, such as the war’s aftermath, the situation in Calvard or how Crossbell was freed once again by the SSS. Rufus went to prison, the Guild is back on the Empire (THEY SHOWED ANELACE AND ZIN IN THE PHOTOS). And, the moments where Black Alberich was Franz, he was working on a backup unit for Millium (how does any of this make sense? but aight), and just like that, Millium has been brought back cause of course death means nothing
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THE CREDITS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL AND ALL OF THE PICTURES ARE SO CUTE, I’M GOING INSANE. BEING ABLE TO SEE EVERYONE DRESSES NICELY BECAUSE IT TAKES PLACE FOR OLIVIER AND SCHERA’S WEDDING… PLUS, THEY ACTUALLY SHOWED EVERYONE HERE THIS TIME, WE COULD SEE KEVIN, RIES, ZIN, WAZY, NOEL, RIXIA, ETC (where the fuck are Anelace, Richard or Zeit). WAAAAAAAAAAA IT’S JUST SO GOOD I LOVE IT
…Though, this brings up the question: what does Hajimari do then? Is it like Sky the 3rd? I’m assuming the Cold Steel saga is completely over here, but I can’t wait to see what Hajimari will do, assuming it will work as an epilogue and bridge between Sen and Kuro
https://twitter.com/susatoss/status/1651088059117584385?s=20
WAIT! Hold your horses, there’s another additional scene at the end. It’s about Ouroboros, and the information we get from it is: Second Anguis is on her leave, McBurn is on a self-discovery journey and Stahlritter haven’t come back and branched on their own, they lost Arianrhod as Seventh Anguis. As for total dropouts, we have Renne, Joshua, Loewe and Sharon. The Grandmaster’s appearance is revealed, with a long blue hair and white/black clothes. According to her, everything’s been according to plan, and this world’s lifespan extended by three years. Next is the third stage of the Orpheus Fianl Plan: Eternal Recurrence Plan… Welp, that’s a huge bomb if I’ve ever seen any, I’m so incredibly excited for the future of this franchise
WAIT, SO THE GRANDMASTER IS THE CHARACTER THAT APPEARED IN HAJIMARI’S COVER ALL ALONG??????????????????????????????????
Characters
Spoilers during this segment too!
Okay, you know what? There are TOO many characters this time around, I’m simply going to make a tier list because I’ve talked more than enough about most characters during the ramble
Music
A bit weaker in comparison to past entries, but it still has that distinct seal of quality of Falcom Sound Team. As usual, Trails’ soundtracks are fucking amazing, but oh my god Singa this also has some of your worst themes to date. Regardless, solid as always, it’s still one of the biggest reasons why I love this franchise so much
Conclusion
Spoilers during this segment too!
I quite literally do not know how to feel. Not even about the Cold Steel saga as a whole. I’d say the curse is probably the worst fucking plot device possible they could have ever come up with after SO much build-up spanning across several games. I’ve said it a million times during CS3 and CS4, but the curse is such an extremely cheap way to justify inexistent characters’ motivations, stupid drama and pointless conflicts. It makes the villains seem EVEN weaker too, and for such a big cast of villanuous characters that could have shone a lot brighter, they end up completely left aside
Cold Steel is truly where Trails went downhill. The plot has become so incredibly worse that I had to ignore their terrible decisions at times just so I could sit and keep enjoying the ride. They love creating hype, and they succeed! But after the recency bias and more time to reflect back on the scenes, it becomes apparent the terrible plot that holds Cold Steel together. As for music, it’s still great! It’s incredible! But now many tracks feel soulless and messy, and most of them belong to Singa. He has good tracks, but also the worst ones in Falcom history.
As for characters, I feel nothing for the New Class VII. I barely got attached to any of them and they felt bland. Musse, if anything, was one of the most interesting ones that I liked, but in the end she’s held back by the shitty stereotypes. As for Old Class VII, I felt a lot more attachment but having so many members held them back so much, and so half of them end up very underdeveloped. Across CS3 and CS4, they pretty much pretend they are still relevant and it’s just sadder seeing how badly they are handled
Rean is… strange. I love him. I really do. But the shounen stereotypes and terrible power scales ruin him. The inconsistency of his character at times is painful, but in a deeper analysis he truly is a really good character, just ruined by plot convenience. LIKE, I REALLY LIKE HIM!! I REALLY LIKE A LOT SOME OF WHAT COLD STEEL HAS DONE, but it’s undeniable that it’s done more harm than good to the franchise and hasn’t lived up as the “big closure” of the previous arcs. At least there’s Hajimari to look forward, and I heard it fixes a few of these problems, so we’ll see
Gosh, can you believe what would have happened if they actually went with the Normal ending route? They would never, but holy fuck it would have made for such an infinitely more interesting stage for Hajimari. Too bad they have a severe fear of killing off any character. I wouldn’t have enough fingers to count how many times they’ve tried to kill Crow
Regardless of this entire rant in the conclusion, I can say I’ve enjoyed Cold Steel 4 a lot. I’ve truly loved a lot of its moments and it knows how to generate hype. Mainly, it succeeds in shocking me every time they tie past events as back as in Sky to the present. I’ve said it before on my Twitter, but the way Sky the 3rd set everything up so nicely for Crossbell and Cold Steel is simply jawdropping. There were SO many things thought of in advance, and so many hints and nice build ups to a lot of events. Sadly, the execution is very poor in some of them, but it’s still incredibly impressive how well thought out this franchise has been from start to its future end
Its use of characters is also genuinely praise-worthy. Even though it fails sometimes due to the sheer amount of new and returning characters, it does an excellent job in building the bonds between them, making them still feel relevant and, overall, making Zemuria feel TRULY alive. In any other RPG series, I wouldn’t have ever expected to be able to control again so many many returning characters once again, or even get to see their parties reunited once again (like in the ending, kinda). Of course, it still has its problems, but Trails is the only franchise where, since it uses its characters so well and I’m attached to so many, they would make me even consider complaining about not bringing back MORE characters. And on that same topic, I really dislike how some of the returning characters have been handled. They are just there to fanservice, don’t honor their past histories and characters arcs correctly and overall, don’t contribute much to a plot that tried to be completely centered on Class VII. For example, back in Crossbell, Estelle, Joshua and Renne had an essential role to the plot, and had their own obejctives and goals that were set up ever since Sky
Now, the future is Hajimari and Kuro, and I’ve heard many good things about them, so I must applaud Trails for not getting stuck in CS and still be able to deliver fantastic new arcs. This is the first time in all these years since I started Sky FC in September 2021 that I have had to wait for the release of the next Trails game. Thankfully, in this case, Reverie is coming in just a few months, but the wait is going to be painfully long
You know, it would be great if they canonize both endings the same way they used KeA back in Azure to change the outcome of the SSS’ battle back in Zero. I’m praying that something like that happens in Hajimari to make up for it. It would even explain why Estelle and Lloyd are here, even though they’re handled so… bad, since back in Zero, Estelle and Joshua appeared because of KeA. Overall, while the Normal ending would have hit a LOT harder, it doesn’t fit Rean’s character arc about self-sacrifice and relying on others
Cold Steel 4 is a good game. It’s not terrible by any means, even if the plot has considerable issues. It could have been infinitely better, and it could have easily become my favourite in the series if it tied up nicely all the knots between all the previous arcs, but alas, it’s an incredibly hard thing to do. I really liked it, and I can’t wait to play more and more of this beloved franchise of mine
Silvy 