Do you like Rean?

[Villain]

I had decided to just stop at Trails in the Sky, maybe Azure once I can figure out which translation is the least memey and liberally done. Though, I wanted to ask fans of Cold Steel what they thought of Rean? He's one of the main reasons I didn't want to continue. I've seen screenshots, snippets of script, and read through discussion online a few times. It feels like at best people similar to me think he's lame, and at worst they wish he weren't the protag? Is he annoying in your opinion? "Haha..." what do ya think about his lines, the way he was written, and Cold Steel compared to Sky and Azure? I've seen people say they believe the series, while never bad, did drop in quality (if you don't mind the old art style) but did improve as the Cold Steal games went on.

[Garet-Jax]

He's a typical dense harem protagonist for the most part. He also gives friendship speeches a lot. If you don't mind that, then he is an ok protagonist.

[Koby]

The first two Cold Steel games he just kind of sits back and never decides anything for himself. He's pushed into things by his peers and always pretty much told what to do or gets into situations in which his friends just opt to take a third route instead of aligning with any party. In Cold Steel 3 & 4, Rean starts stepping up and taking on making decisions at least a little as an Instructor... but largely it still results in him being a puppet whose strings are pulled by others who seek to control him.

He has this entire harem where absolutely every female wants to jump his bones... But he comes across as a Beta male so you're left wondering just what the hell everyone sees in him... because the games certainly don't explain what is so fascinating about him. If anything it'd make more sense for Jusis, Gaius, and Kurt to have harems.

[jlawleraz]

Sure, he's fine as a protagonist. I like him a bit more than Joshua, about the same as Lloyd, a bit less than Kevin, and a lot less than Estelle.

He serves as a center that brings a lot of other characters together, many of whom I like a lot. He matures throughout the series and is able to overcome a lot of his mental/emotional baggage which holds him back. He seems to act according to his own beliefs for the majority of the four games, even if he has a hard time articulating those beliefs.

I'm a much bigger fan of protagonists who get to their goals through hard work rather than being the chosen one and he's definitely a chosen one in multiple ways. I don't think he has a strong personality, but he isn't a blank slate. He is as clueless as other fictional protagonists who have many potential romantic partners, but he isn't stupid in other ways.

The three "ending" games are my favorites in the series - Sky SC, Azure, and Cold Steel IV. My two least favorite games were Sky the 3rd and Cold Steel II. So, for me, the two sub-series that had more than two games had both a favorite and least favorite in their group. Because of that, I don't agree that there was an overall downward or upward direction. But I do agree that the two later Cold Steel games are collectively better than the first two Cold Steel games.

I heard someone say something once that I thought explained the series well. If you ask ten people to rank the games in the series, you'll probably get ten completely different answers. You may not agree with some of them, but you can probably see where they are coming from.

[Mr.Mostache]

Remove the harem aspect, and Rean (and the majority of Class VII) will become significantly better. That's really it.

[TallTitan]

I personally preferred Joshua, Estelle, and the Bracer Guild focus of Trails in the Sky compared to the military school aspect early on in Trails of Cold Steel. That written, Trails of Cold Steel is what introduced me to the series. I've found Rean to become more likable as Trails of Cold Steel progress onwards. Agate and Tita make a fresh appearance starting in Cold Steel III, and Joshua / Estelle / Renne make their appearance in full form in Cold Steel IV.
I should also note that Trails of Cold Steel not only has a new protagonist, but focuses on a completely new country in the game compared to Trails in the Sky.

[Yürei]

Originally posted by Mr.Mostache:

Remove the harem aspect, and Rean (and the majority of Class VII) will become significantly better. That's really it.

This. Rean actually grows over the course of the 4 games and it shows.

Since I haven't touch the crossbell arc yet, I can't really say which protagonist is my favorite yet. Outside of Rean not putting his foot down once a while and his harem bs, hes a pretty likeable character. Also, all the protagonists are dense when it comes to romantic interest and it certainly didn't help Rean somewhat needs to be due to having multiple options that the player can choose from.

[Sephilar]

No, but I could say the same with the rest of the main characters of Cold Steel, not just Rean. The only remarkable characters we got in Cold Steel are actually the antagonists/anti-heroes like Rufus, Vita and McBurn. If anything I would say Altina, Fie, Millium, Musse and Ash were okay, but that's about it.

[ping]

Rean is a goody two shoes character but there's nothing to hate about him, really. He's like that kind friend you can't hate.

[Truen]

I honestly like every character. There's not one I can't stand...maybe Elliot if forced to pick, but still--the game's cast are very interesting to me. To answer your question though: I like Rein quite a bit.

[LaneCM]

I feel Rean is one of the constantly good things in CS. His development is great and the conclusion to his arc in Hajimari is one of the best in the series.

Honesty usually the ones that harp on about Rean being a bad MC, typically didn't give him a fair shake.

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

I like Rean. Not as much as I like Estelle, though.

He's a fine protagonist, it's more that the army of waifus following him gets kinda silly by the end of the CS series, but Rean's a cool dude. Could stand to be a bit more self-assertive, but that's OK, and it's a hell of a lot better than the Edgy Mc Edgelord type of character that's so prevalent in games.

[Exarch_Alpha]

I mean, guy has the heart of an ogre

[Sephilar]

Originally posted by Cozzzy:

I feel Rean is one of the constantly good things in CS. His development is great and the conclusion to his arc in Hajimari is one of the best in the series.

Honesty usually the ones that harp on about Rean being a bad MC, typically didn't give him a fair shake.

I agree with you that Rean became a more likeable character in Hajimari, but to be honest before that he was always a good for nothing character, which I assume it's why most people can't really say he's a better MC than Lloyd, Estelle or Kevin. Personally I wouldn't say I hate him by any means, it's just that it's difficult for me to say I enjoy seeing a character where at one point I already know what he's going to say before he speaks because of him always acting the same. But I have hopes that Falcom might be able to make him even more likeable as a character once we get the Calvard arc.

[Alex]

He's ok, and even if he starts as no-brainer, he matures very fast throughout the story.
Certainly not a hateable character in my opinion.

[Legendary Mr. Tiddles]

I like him. No beef from me.

At some point in the first game, he says "no more heartfelt speeches". Years later, he's still making heartfelt speeches. Good times :).