An astonishingly well-crafted game, Cold Steel 3 comes back onto the landscape as a worthy addition to the Erebonian Saga, boasting greatly improved graphics and general gameplay, while continuing its tradition of strong worldbuilding and intricate story. Taking place in the wake of the Erebonian Civil War of Cold Steel 2, Cold Steel 3 showcases the lives of both well-known comrades and fresh new faces in its aftermath. The saga continues in interesting and intricate ways, culminating in a complex tale that will grip both veterans and newcomers to the franchise, and leave you hungry for its conclusion in Cold Steel 4.

Please note that if you plan to play Cold Steel 3, you should have already played Cold Steel 1 and Cold Steel 2 . Cold Steel 3 is a direct sequel to those games, so knowing the context from previous games helps to understand the events and references in Cold Steel 3.

However, it should be mentioned that Falcom actually includes a Backstory section on their site for Cold Steel 1[www.thelegendofheroes.com] and for Cold Steel 2[www.thelegendofheroes.com], so you can view a summary of important events that occurred in the previous games, as well as learn important information on notable characters through the series.

Coming from Cold Steel 1 and 2, many characters will be familiar faces, with some new additions. Many of the old characters have now moved on, having their own lives and being individual, independent characters who are not reliant on our main character, Rean, to have signifiance. Most of the new characters have reasonably acceptable backstory and motivation to be part of the game's overall plot, and their development, while slow, does show progress.

Despite a colorful and well-developed cast of characters, Cold Steel 3 fails to utilize its full potential in character writing. Many characters fail to remain relevant throughout the entirety of the game’s runtime, and development of characters is unevenly spread. Many characters take the limelight for certain portions, only to disappear for the rest of the game; other characters’ development are either delayed until the end or essentially glossed over. The result is a rather enjoyable ensemble that still leaves the player somewhat wanting, especially if the player’s favorite characters drew the short straw.

Two words can sum up the one greatest improvement to Cold Steel 2's gameplay: Justice Bullet . Easily the most hilarious and best part of gameplay, this one attack is over the top in terms of humor, and you'll continue to use it for the entire game just to hear the dulcet tones of Machias saying "You've failed your inspection" over and over.

Veterans will feel right at home with CS3 and its familiar quartz system, which allows a player to add more artes (magic) or raw stats. The system, while a bit daunting at first glance, is well explained and easy for newcomers to pick up and build with. The Overdrive Mechanic from CS2 is gone, likely because Falcom realized that going first and being able to nuke your enemies down with multiple spells immediately was unbalanced to the point of steamrolling the game. In its place is a new mechanic named "Orders", which are party-wide, arena-wide buffs to your battle members that use Battle Points/Bravery Points for cost. These are much more balanced compared to the Overdrive mechanic; however, they retain the same problems as their predecessor. Some Orders can easily be abused to leave monsters with no turns to attack, even on the hardest difficulty.

The other new mechanic in Cold Steel 3 is Break, which helps prevent monotonous battles from extending too long for comfort. It as a secondary health bar, smaller in magnitude than the first. Upon reaching zero, the enemy is stunned and vulnerable to attacks. Again, combined with Orders, this mechanic can be easily abused to give enemies no chance of retaliation in battle.

Finally, Rean's Ogre Form Gale is horrendously overpowered beyond comparison. It is a basic craft that attacks twice and will end up doing more total damage compared to an S-Craft.

Cold Steel 3 also offers a couple of minor side activities to break up the main gameplay flow: fishing and Vantage Masters. Fishing is not very complex, and provides an easy method to gather materials, making it a welcome addition whenever a player needs to get more materials. As for Vantage Masters, it is a card game based on summoning monsters who have various stats, abilities, range, and elemental advantages. While entertaining, neither of these mini games are particularly engaging (fishing quickly becomes monotonous, and Vantage Masters is easily broken), and as such neither of them will take the majority of your time.

While in general gameplay has been balanced and designed better compared to the previous games, ways to completely break the game and to remove all sense of difficulty still exist. Overall, this game is not exactly well-known for its gameplay, nor should you expect fantastic gameplay mechanics.

Cold Steel 3's story has many high points with some scattered low points. The main drive of the story has the party take a whirlwind tour of Erebonia, giving the player both essential plot information as well as showing off the beautifully crafted environments of Erebonia's various locales. Both new and old friends alike await you at every twist and turn, simultaneously advancing old plot lines while beginning (and weaving in) new ones. This seamless intertwining and extension of the story is masterfully emphasized by the feeling of increased stakes in the story. With every new locale, the player can feel history being made, and the weight of every event and happening is apparent. Personally, I must congratulate Jusis's voice actor for doing a spectacular job in the final dungeon. That one voiceline still gives me chills whenever I think of it.

However, what would have been a masterpiece of a story is unfortunately hindered by confounding or tangential elements. There are several introductions of new variables, powers, and characters which can create confusion, as they continue to muddy previous historical power levels established in the past from previous entries in the Trails series. In addition, the game has not showcased how characters from the previous games (Trails in the Sky trilogy) compare to characters presented in Cold Steel. This is a vital missing piece in an otherwise exemplary feat of world building; indeed, it's somewhat baffling that they haven't, given their obvious skill in weaving together old and new within the Erebonian saga.

Finally, the story, while great overall, is ended with one of the worst cliffhangers imaginable. This cliffhanger is arguably worse than that from Trails in the Sky FC, and it will likely irk the player until Cold Steel 4 is finally localized and released.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a RPG that has been historically well-known for its effort in creating a giant world and establishing important historical events and figures, along with an enjoyable individual story, fantastic graphics, and likable characters, look no further than Cold Steel 3. While it is important to have played Cold Steel 1 and Cold Steel 2 , the Backstory section should suffice for giving a new player the context needed to understand events that occur.