Hoo boy, Cold Steel is definitely going to be my definitive example of having too much of a good thing going forward. Do be aware my rating is in the context of the whole series, stand alone I'd rate it 4 stars instead. That said, this game is long (100 hours for not even a 100% playthrough!) and it's easy to be exhausted by the Erebonia format in general by the time you reach it. Unfortunately it has a lot of the writing faults Cold Steel 2 had which is a problem because of how story heavy Trails as a whole is. Very strong opening act followed by a very aimless and poorly justified second act that just feels like filler, which this game DID NOT need. The ensemble cast is cool in theory, but some characters are starved for prominence and trying to give everyone at least one thing to say bloats the run time of every scene in this game to truly awful lengths. There were sequences that went on so long I legitimately had to take multiple bathroom breaks before they were over.
On the positive sides, all the moments meant to be cathartic do land pretty well, and the ending is definitely a heart warming capstone. While I'm not a fan of the harem nature, I do feel the romantic scenes feel a lot more genuine than the ones in the first half of the Tetralogy. Gameplay-wise it's also a step up from 3, balancing it's mechanics way better and not having the obnoxious "Rocket-Tag" style Cold Steel 3 had. The huge cast is something your mileage will vary on. I hated having to constantly move around equipment, equip people with limited resources, and constantly being forced into using certain parties. I can easily see how someone would like that, however, and it does keep some variety.
All said though, this is easily my least favorite game in the Trails series so far, and Cold Steel as a whole just felt like it got weaker with each installment. They're still very good, especially if you like this style of RPG, but I have no desire to play any of them again any time soon, and I might even just pass on Reverie since I'm so burnt out on Erebonia. Definitely looking more forward to the Crossbell and Calvard games coming Stateside.
On the positive sides, all the moments meant to be cathartic do land pretty well, and the ending is definitely a heart warming capstone. While I'm not a fan of the harem nature, I do feel the romantic scenes feel a lot more genuine than the ones in the first half of the Tetralogy. Gameplay-wise it's also a step up from 3, balancing it's mechanics way better and not having the obnoxious "Rocket-Tag" style Cold Steel 3 had. The huge cast is something your mileage will vary on. I hated having to constantly move around equipment, equip people with limited resources, and constantly being forced into using certain parties. I can easily see how someone would like that, however, and it does keep some variety.
All said though, this is easily my least favorite game in the Trails series so far, and Cold Steel as a whole just felt like it got weaker with each installment. They're still very good, especially if you like this style of RPG, but I have no desire to play any of them again any time soon, and I might even just pass on Reverie since I'm so burnt out on Erebonia. Definitely looking more forward to the Crossbell and Calvard games coming Stateside.