Can you start with Cold steel?

[kirokito]

Can you start with cold steel or is it recommended to play older entries first? thanks !

[Koby]

If you wish to start with Cold Steel, you can.

There will be of course some things you're missing out on, but it's still perfectly understandable and anyone you need to know is re-introduced as if the developers expected people playing it to be joining the series for the first time here.

I too started with Cold Steel and then went back to past games because I enjoyed the series enough to do so.

[Stabbey]

Cold Steel 1 is a perfectly fine starting point. That said, if a notoriously slow-paced story, older graphics, and less refined combat and systems aren't a complete turn-off, Trails in the Sky is the recommend place to start.

One advantage of starting there first is that the gameplay will only improve and get more refined. It could feel frustrating to start with refined gameplay from Cold Steel then go back to Trails in the Sky.

[kirokito]

Originally posted by Koby:

If you wish to start with Cold Steel, you can.

There will be of course some things you're missing out on, but it's still perfectly understandable and anyone you need to know is re-introduced as if the developers expected people playing it to be joining the series for the first time here.

I too started with Cold Steel and then went back to past games because I enjoyed the series enough to do so.

thank you for the comment :) Yeah I have some of the older games but I really wanted to dive into cold steel for my first time

[kirokito]

Originally posted by Stabbey:

Cold Steel 1 is a perfectly fine starting point. That said, if a notoriously slow-paced story, older graphics, and less refined combat and systems aren't a complete turn-off, Trails in the Sky is the recommend place to start.

One advantage of starting there first is that the gameplay will only improve and get more refined. It could feel frustrating to start with refined gameplay from Cold Steel then go back to Trails in the Sky.

I think I will start with this one then :)

[REVZ]

Many people recommend playing in the chronological order but it is perfectly fine to start with Cold steel 1 and 2 and then move on to the sky trilogy.

[Boone]

Yeah I personally played TOCS1 and 2, then when I reached the "Divertissement" mission in TOCS2, I realized that from that point on, knowledge of what happened in the two previous arcs would be required to enjoy the story, so I played Sky 1/2 then watched LadyVirgilia's recap of 3rd and Trails to Zero/Azure to get caught up. Overall, it's working relatively well for understanding everything that's going on

[Ashen.Awakener]

I'm at CSIII right now and played all previous games, but i'm used to retro gaming so much than the first hours playing the cold steel trilogy were really rough for me. But is by far the best of the arcs in battle mechanics.

In conclusion: if you are used to old games, play the cronological order, if not start for CSI.

[alumlovescake]

CS1 is 1000% fine. But every other CS game progressively gets more characters, call backs and story beats from previous games

[Exarch_Alpha]

I started with CS 3 (don´t remember why - guess I was looking for turn based after Final Fantasy XV) and did just fine. I only finished trails in the sky 1 however, I did start 2 but stuff happened and I lost interest with the game.

[Nowa]

It was my first Trails game as well (inmediately bought Cold Steel 2 to keep going), BUT in the third game I was so lost: many new characters, stores from the past I did not know and more stuff. I stopped playing it due to those reasons. I was lost. After that, i began with Sky and Zero series. So, right after I beat Azure, I will start a new playtrough of Cold Steel 3.

[Pencillus Sedatus]

Yes, start with CS I, try to understand the story structure and combat first. I spent 40 hours and get to the game half way. After that I decided to stop playing and start with trails in the sky series and play crossbell arc then coming back. Oh boy I can't tell you how much this is the best decision I have made. Took me 6 months to come back to CS 1 (I even start a new save) but I feel like I understand everything, I understand all the references and know what the story might be going, it is awesome!

[Exarch_Alpha]

Well not everyone has the stomach to play the old games. Good thing there is Youtube. Also for people who don´t, ahem use other means you are locked from Azure. Can´t wait to play it.

[tongii]

Originally posted by Stabbey:

Cold Steel 1 is a perfectly fine starting point. That said, if a notoriously slow-paced story, older graphics, and less refined combat and systems aren't a complete turn-off, Trails in the Sky is the recommend place to start.

One advantage of starting there first is that the gameplay will only improve and get more refined. It could feel frustrating to start with refined gameplay from Cold Steel then go back to Trails in the Sky.

Yeah… I beat the first game and hesitant to buy the second game because it looks like more of the same. I thought was just alright. I kinda zone out and sped through toward the end. I’m curious if that’s enough prerequisite and world building for me to just skip to this CS arc.

[Stabbey]

Originally posted by tongii:

Yeah… I beat the first game and hesitant to buy the second game because it looks like more of the same. I thought was just alright. I kinda zone out and sped through toward the end. I’m curious if that’s enough prerequisite and world building for me to just skip to this CS arc.

The ending section of Trails in the Sky FC is the most exciting part of the game, so if the cliffhanger of FC bored you, I'm not sure you'd enjoy SC. Sky SC is another game set in Liberl, but it continues the story right where FC left off, and the stakes get distinctly raised. Despite the same cast and setting, it has a different feel to it than FC.

Sky FC has world-building value for the overall setting yes, but Sky SC (and some of Sky The Third) is where the foundations for groups and organizations which carry on through the rest of the series starts. FC on its own is foundational largely for the Liberl Kingdom and the Bracer Guild.

As a fair warning, Cold Steel 1 is another opening entry, so it's going to start out with the same low stakes and calm pace of FC, and it takes a while to get going.

Cold Steel 3 will start to drop open spoilers for major plot elements and twists from both the Sky and Crossbell arcs. Cold Steel 4 has loads of characters from previous arcs re-appearing. You might be able to get the gist as explanations are given, but you may not have as strong an emotional connection without seeing the story. You could possibly get a feeling like "who are these people and why is so much time being spent on these scenes?"