DLCThe Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - Rean's CasualsLoading store offers
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
School life, friendships within Class VII and tactical, turn-based battles give this role-playing adventure a distinctive focus. At the current low price of ≈ $8.42 from 
GOG, it is a timely entry point if you want to spend time with a story of political tensions and a varied student group. Single-player play and full controller support suit a self-paced journey through the academy and beyond. At $39.99 from GOG, the low price is an opportunity to follow Rean's school year and take on tactical, turn-based battles with Class VII.
GOGThe Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
GAMIVOThe Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel EN/JA Global-79%from~ $8.57(~ €7.67)ALL-TIME LOWBuy now
KinguinThe Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Steam CD Key
K4GThe Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Steam CD Key
GGselThe Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel РФ+СНГ+ВЕСЬ МИР Steam КЛЮЧfrom~ RUB 854.59Credit/Debit CardBuy nowAll-time low ~ $15.99across Steam & third-party storesat the recorded all-time low
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Price History
Past 36 months · Updated dailyHistorical Low~ $9.632026-07Current Low Across Stores~ $39.99Kinguinvs. Historical Low+315%
Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.
DLC
01About The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
At Thors Military Academy, Rean Schwarzer joins Class VII, a group of students from varied backgrounds caught up in the political tensions of the Erebonian Empire. Attend school, build bonds with classmates, and fight tactical, turn-based battles using the ARCUS system. Steam player rating: 94%% positive from 5,144 reviews. Release date: August 2, 2017.
Credits
T
PRODUCER
Toshihiro Kondo
president of Nihon Falcom
Developer
Nihon Falcom
Publisher
XSEED Games · Marvelous USA, Inc.
Lowest recorded in 36 months
$9.632026-07-30 · KinguinBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.Language support
| Language | Interface | Subtitles | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Yes | — | Yes |
| Japanese | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Steam PC edition data · 2026-11-02
02Before you buy
Play and control
The Steam PC version is single-player and has full controller support.
Language
English and Japanese full audio are listed; supported interface languages are English and Simplified Chinese.
03Frequently asked questions
What is the story about?
Rean Schwarzer joins Class VII at Thors Military Academy, where students from different social backgrounds face tensions across the Erebonian Empire.
What is combat like?
Combat is tactical and turn-based, using the ARCUS system and links with allies that can provide combat benefits.
Where does the game take place?
The story takes place in the Erebonian Empire on the continent of Zemuria, amid political conflict between noble and reformist factions.
Popular Steam reviews
Native-language selection · 10 reviewsSelected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.
RecommendedSteam player
This is an amazing game from an amazing series. However, newcomers should note that this is not the first game in the Trails series. I would urge folks to play earlier games before starting with this one. The release order and best play order is: Trails in the Sky Trails in the Sky SC Trails in the Sky the 3rd Trails from Zero Trails to Azure Trails of Cold Steel Trails of Cold Steel II Trails of Cold Steel III Trails of Cold Steel IV Why is it worth starting from the beginning? Trails is not like other JRPG series you've played, like Final Fantasy or Tales or Dragon Quest, where the games have some thematic connections but generally stand alone. Rather, Trails tells a single, incredibly intricate and interconnected story, of grand scope and continental scale. The nine games listed above all take place within a five-year period of in-game time, and share the same lore and many of the same characters. Trails is almost unique among games in the extent of its ambition to build such a consistent and finely detailed story over such a long period of development, and it succeeds brilliantly, with an incredible sense of continuity and verisimilitude, building a coherent world and weaving countless character threads into a rich tapestry. As a result, while it's certainly possible to start with Trails of Cold Steel, you'll be missing references and allusions and deep cuts and often poignant connections in almost every scene of dialog. So rather than thinking of Trails of Cold Steel as Part 1 of 4, it's better to think of it as Part 6 of 9. Some will say Trails in the Sky is a more difficult entry point with its slow start and older graphics, but I'd say the gameplay holds up, and Trails of Cold Steel frankly also is a pretty slow-paced game with dated-looking graphics. The Sky arc and the Cold Steel arc are both slow burns with big payoffs. So you might as well start from the beginning; the story, characters, and worldbuilding are what make the series worth playing. For those who have already played and enjoyed the Sky and Crossbell arcs, Cold Steel is a really enjoyable continuation that exceeded my expectations. Before playing it, I somehow had the impression that Cold Steel was kind of dumbed-down and more action-oriented relative to the earlier games, but that turned out to be untrue. Cold Steel sticks to what the series excels at: gradually building a detailed world with a cast of major and minor characters, slowly making you love them, and weaving their fates together via a compelling story filled with mysteries that grab your curiosity. It certainly has plenty of things you can complain about—a sappy protagonist, uneven pacing, tropey characters, an irritating final boss battle—but there's so much to love in this unique series that it's easy to forgive its faults. I also don't mean to imply that Cold Steel is merely rehashing ideas from the earlier games in the series. Thematically, the game feels quite different. Setting the game in Erebonia, the big bad expansionist empire, brings issues of social class and imperialism to the forefront. The game manages to deliver incisive commentary on this dark side of Erebonia while also showing enough of the goodness of its people to make you care about what happens to them. And the game succeeds in making Erebonia feel much larger than Liberl or Crossbell, for example by making train travel a big part of the narrative (as opposed to Liberl and Crossbell, which are walkable). It's also even more of an ensemble game than its predecessors, with a big party of playable characters with compelling interrelationships and tensions. Some of these party members seem pretty annoying at the start, but the game digs deep into everyone's story and gives enough background to make the character development believable. Overall, this is a great story and a worthy continuation of the Trails series. I couldn't stop playing it once I started.Show moreShow less
129.6 hours at review228 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Trails of Cold Steel isn't a good enough game. It sounds harsh but given the fact that the overwhelmingly positive reviews played with my expectations, -for the worse-, I felt the need to get right down to business. It irks me that this is considered one of the best JRPG's out there; surely the bar can't have sunken so low that it truly is the case?! Forgive for sounding harsh, but I honestly feel trolled, or mislead, as if this was a joke that went over my head. I had to rewatch some of the reviews that convinced me to buy the game, just to make sure I wasn't missing the irony of it all somewhere. Clearly, it's my fault: I don't "get it". The game is praised for its story, its character and the world building. Meanwhile, I see a schizophrenically divided game, trying political world building through the scope of anime high school tropes, memes and clichés that then doubles down on the inane and overused story elements. The tension of the plot is regularly undercut by story elements best found in anime of poor quality. There really is nothing positive to say about the juxtaposition of a story that goes from narrowly preventing a massacre through weapons of mass destruction, leaving deadly looming threats all over the world, to… planning a high school summer festival… Really? You just fought cyanide swallowing terrorists on top of a giant gun, why do you care about a stupid high school play? Worse, for all their infuriating talk about playing songs, when the playable cast finally does so… it's the battle theme… You know, the one you've had the 'pleasure' to hear since the beginning of the game, over and over again… And that's just one example, I'm not even going to discuss the "love" from the 'totally not blood related step-sister' part that saps the story of all its narrative coherence every time she is on screen. (How to even start to describe this? After the fourth or fifth misunderstanding between the main cast, she runs away into the decrepit haunted old building, 'cause, why not, right?-, and takes the suspicious but highly technologically advanced elevator down to get jumped by a hidden boss monster. Which unlocks your hidden saiyan potential. Because, clearly, great world building and characters, right? Right?!) The issue isn't the high school setting; it's the vehement adherence to all the tropes and clichés that are usually associated with said setting, to the point where you start wondering if there is an actual law in Japan that forces you to use these overused and contrived elements in your video game. The story introduces all of this world's players and actors, trying to set the stage for something big, only to drag it all back down to high school drama. And when the story reaches the final act, it all gets thrown out the window anyway to introduce… giant piloted robots… Yes, 'cause we needed that in this trope-fest, mechs! And no, the mech's aren't foreshadowed (for once) or even hinted at before the last part of the final chapter. And even in other games of this series, mechs aren't present (I checked – there is only reference in one other game that never was released outside of Japan). Why they felt the need to introduce this story element, to force this onto the main character, -who already was a 'chosen one' with a side dish of super saiyan powers-, is beyond me. Did they have a quota of stuff to reference or did they just threw darts at anime genres and ended up picking them all before throwing them in a blender? Sure, overall, the combat system is pretty good, but it does have some balancing issues (ie. you curb-stomp mobs but can get wiped by the bosses if you aren't careful). The inventory management could be better (ie. why are party members automatically unequipped? But only halfway to: why do they keep their "normal" materia but not their "rare" ones? It's like the "worst" of both worlds in terms of a solution). The music is average (ie. only one song stood out for me). But that's about it. I wouldn't consider this "the best thing since sliced bread", it's not even enough to save this, especially… Especially… with that ending… Well, people called it a cliffhanger for a reason, but that's really a euphemism. Luckily, ToSC had already more than overstayed its welcome in my eyes, so I was just glad for it be finally over. So, yeah, no, I didn't like it.Show moreShow less
104.6 hours at review157 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
How can one game have so many best girlsShow moreShow less
76.1 hours at review116 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
I liked this game, but it is really slow burn. If you have all the time in the world and like JRPG, then I recommend it. If you actually have life and work, then I dont. If you, like me, can spend just 1-2 hours a day to play it and maybe have a bigger gaming session durring weekends, it will be hard to play. This game is segmented into chapters, which start with some bonding moments with your classmates, some school errands and school dungeon, then it moves to the school trip to some city which has again some errands, dungeon or explorable area with monsters and end up with some revelations and plot twists. And repeat... Each chapter can take 10+ hours if you take your time, 6 hours if you start to use turbo mode and skip whatever possible. There is a lot of panning shots and useless cutscenes without any value (characters switching trains, trains moving, or walking from one place to another without anything story revelant and what we are usually being told in dialog, that this is what they are going to do) that again make this game longer than it has to be. If you dont have time to play in long sessions, it will feel like nothing is happening most of the time. Then bang, a few hours of some juicier story and then again hours without anything significant happening. This is my first Trails game and I will check out the others, but with all those positive reviews I expected a bit more. It is obviously a niche game, which is why those reviews are so good. I envy all the time some people have.Show moreShow less
68.5 hours at review76 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
I need Cold Steel II right now!Show moreShow less
149.2 hours at review113 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
I'm sad to say the nicest thing I could say about this game is I bet I'd be into it if I was 15 instead of 30, and 15 is probably much closer to what they're aiming for in the first place. I just didn't get anything meaningful or worthwhile out of my time with this game. The characters and setting felt recycled from a thousand other games, books and shows. I can't imagine getting through the dungeons and combat without the fast forward function. I will say this: this was the longest I've ever played a game I don't have anything positive to say about. I just kept hoping something interesting would happen.Show moreShow less
26.3 hours at review44 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Trails of Cold Steel I Story ★★★★★ Diversity of Characters ♥ Seem one dimensional at first glance, but really develop into their own characters as you progress the game Traveling Landscapes ♥ You actually get to travel to the lands that many of the characters come from, which adds a lot more background to the characters themselves and makes the game overall feel like one giant setup for the next one. ♡There is no way to travel back to the lands without going into new game + Lore ♥ Tons of books and characters help you unlock more lore about the world and the important figures in it Background Characters ♥ Tons of side missions that add to the backstories to alot of the citizens in the game, even if you don't directly get quests from them, they still have events in their lives they talk about and evolve on throughout the game as you progress. Concept ★★★★☆ Cooking ♥ Learn recipes from NPCS, and uncover many different forms from your cooking successes and disasters Fishing ♥ Fishing Fish a wide variety and get reward points ♡FISHING IS LIMITED TO HOW MUCH BAIT YOU HAVE AND YOU CANT EASILY RESTOCK AS MUCH AS YOU WANT, IS THIS HELL? Mini-Games ♥ Fishing/Whack O-Mole/Cards, and a few other mini games sprinkled across the game ♡These games are normally limited to certain sections of the game Collectibles ♥ Books help expand the lore of the game ♡Some items you can totally miss and will have to replay the game just to get them all DLC Items ♥ At least the clothes was well worth to me though sadly I only decided to buy it after I beat it once. It really makes the group look more individualistic and have this campy feeling about it that just is so great New Game ♥ You are able to pretty much carry over everything into new game+ ♡You are limited in what can carry over by points that stack up the more you beat the game Gameplay ★★★★☆ Turn-Based ♥ Great turn based combat, that allows you to take a break for the bathroom at any time without having to pause Arts ♥ Quite a variety of spells you can use to take out enemies, heals allys, and debuff foes. Links ♥ ]Fighting along with your team and developing your bonds with your friends strengthens the links you have and allows for new advantages in battle Movement ♥ Positioning matters weather its to avoid enemy area of damage attacks or buff your teammates to healing your group quickly, changing up how you position and link your teammates wins battleShow moreShow less
84 hours at review104 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
English voice acting onlyShow moreShow less
0.1 hours at review38 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
- I have NEVER heard of this game before.. - Never play The Legend of Heroes series .................... .................... yet... this is my best purchase on steam, Love the game so far. I'm not even beat this game yet. -Story rich -Awesome Music BGM -Very high quality port -A school setting -Interacting party members -Very cool MC and "lovely hard working Seito Kaichou" ❤ plz port more sequel "Trails of Cold Steel II and Trails of Cold Steel III" and take my money. Best JRPGs I've ever played. Better than Final Fantasy / Tales series / Persona. (For me) ∞❤ / 10 ------------ after beat the game, I never sleep in peace until Trails of Cold Steel II come out. TTShow moreShow less
78.5 hours at review103 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Now. This review says Not Recommended, but I don't think you shouldn't buy this game. I WOULD like to say that this game has faults that no other review I saw was talking about. One of which being, this game is Trope Central. If you've watched any highschool anime or any anime with a class divide as a setting, you can guess every step of this game as it goes along. The only trope I haven't seen in my incomplete playthrough so far is the Running With Toast In Mouth trope. The second reason, and why I'm writing this before finishing the game, is because most of these reviews are misleading in how positive they are. The percentage of people who received the achievement for progressing past Chapter 2 is %55.7. Now, this is not a number to be taken as it is, as people could pick up the game and never play it, or buy it, try it, then drop it. Still. Just under HALF of the people who played this game haven't progressed past Chapter 2. That is very telling. And there is good reason to why. This game isn't bad, but it is about as ambitious as toast with peanut butter on it. The combat's kinda fun, sometimes difficult, mildly tactical, and has enough flash to keep from getting too boring. The towns are bright and nice to look at. The world, so far, has a decent setup to it that, if done right, could eventually lead to some interesting drama. The problem is, and why %55 of people stopped playing by this point I'm sure, is by Chapter 2, you've already played the game as a whole it feels. It's the same thing month after month after month. Get a 2-3 quest list of tasks from the Student President (one of which is always the old abandoned schoolhouse), take a practical test, get new mission, get a 2-3 quest list of tasks from the people in the mission area, do those tasks, get 2-3 more quests, witness some government corruption, fight it with no consequences, happy hug time with teammates, repeat. Month after month after month. This game is like a nice piece of fruit in your mouth that, instead of swallowing it, you just keep it in your mouth until it starts going sour and soft until you can't remember what it was that made the fruit so nice to begin with. Now. Again. This game isn't BAD. It's a sweet little game with endearing moments and tropey, but fine characters. And if the worldbuilding actually pays off eventually, it could get interesting dealing with the pros and cons of this society. I'm writing this to just warn people that the OVERWHELMING POSITIVE of the reviews is not earned. Either it's fan appreciation only, or people being VERY generous. This game is an "OK" at best. I just don't want people to be misled like I was. I'm going to keep playing it, but I'm on the fence of whether my time would be better spent trying some other RPG. Edit: I will be discontinuing my playthrough. The game is getting lazy in it's combat encounters, design, and philosophy. I am overleveled and have been for a while so that I could hopefully get through this game faster. The came a boss called Unsurtr. I only beat this boss due to RNG. God knows how I would have beaten it if I wasn't overleveled. On top of that, the animations and story structure has only degraded as I've gone on. It was bad enough having one character's special move to T-Pose and spin the model, but now I just had a story even where the act of Dodging was just shifting the model slightly left and right. This is unacceptable, even for 7 years ago. The story is boring and nothing has consequences. Everything is just given to your characters and they are the best because they are the best. It's all talk, no knowledge. My favorite so far is a moment when your character pulls out some Berzerker mode that your whole class sees and right after the battle, you skip forward 3 days. No talking about it. No answers. No letting sink in what just happened. No checking to see if your sister is even alive really. All drama skipped. I've changed my mind. Skip this vapid story. The music is good, check that out, but the plot and storytelling structure is unacceptable.Show moreShow less
30.2 hours at review35 people found this helpful
Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.