The story of Class VII and the Cold Steel saga has been going since the early PlayStation 3 days. With each entry in The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, the lore expands, and new consoles come out to experience that lore on. We’ve seen all four entries in the series come to Nintendo Switch recently after debuts on PS3 and PS4 – but now the last 2 entries in this JRPG epic are finally playable on PlayStation 5.
Something genuinely exciting about these re-releases of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4 is that they both bundle in every piece of DLC these games have gotten. These aren’t dense story-driven expansions, though, but rather oodles of cosmetic DLC to customise your many characters’ costumes and appearances with. It was a little hard to justify buying every single one of these on the original versions of the game, but having the entire suite of alternate costumes, funky glasses, and loud accessories to play around with from the jump is an appreciated bonus.
Both these titles, in their PS4 debuts, ran at a very noticeable 30FPS. Not bad at all, but certainly sluggish at times, especially compared to the higher framerates of their JRPG contemporaries. Coming to PS5, both games have gotten a boost to an unwavering 60FPS. On top of that, resolutions in both games have seen a noticeable upgrade as well. The lack of improvements in other visual departments is noticeable, but not awful. While some of the environments and textures clearly show their age, there’s something nice about being able to appreciate the aged nature of these games at such a crisp resolution and smooth framerate.
Nothing else has changed when it comes to The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4 – no extra scenarios or story epilogues have been included. If you’ve already played the games, there isn’t much here to sell you on doing another playthrough. If you haven’t gotten around to diving into the last two entries in the Cold Steel saga, though, then this is easily one of the best ways to experience both of them. As long as you’ve played The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2 first, that is.
The third game in the series does unfold in a way that explains a lot of the grander ideas of the world and onboards you a bit if you’re brand new to the games, but it’s still very much intended for fans familiar with the entire franchise. The fourth and final Cold Steel game is similarly rooted in nostalgia and pay-offs – the entire game is an epilogue to your journey across not only the last three Cold Steel games, but some other entries in The Legend of Heroes that came before them. Jumping in blind here doesn’t make any more sense than it did on PS4 or Nintendo Switch.
If the shoe fits and you’re a diehard fan that hasn’t gotten around to playing The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4, though, then these PS5 ports are the perfect way to experience them. Plus, with upcoming entries in the franchise like Trails Through Daybreak being PS5 releases as well, you can get in on the ground floor and begin your current-gen collection of The Legend of Heroes hits. What are you waiting for?
