Going into cold steel 1 honestly my outlook was somewhat bleak considering the reputation it had prior to me playing it, but after completing the game i'm happy to know that the hate for it is so OVERBLOWNNN. And i assume most of the hate for it is either unmerited or from people who got into the series with this game without prior knowledge.

I think this game is pretty solid, taking it's time to explore Erebonia and building it up which is the massive appeal of the series for me. This is a given to any intro trails game so i didn't particularly feel it was 'slow' as i'm used to the formula. Albeit at first it may seem formulaic but it works well and Erebonia is so damn INTERESTING!

I Kind of had some concerns about the cast size being so massive and how they were gonna handle 9 whole characters but i believe CS1 handled it pretty well to build up the foundations for alot of these characters. I'm actually pretty invested into Rean as a character and i think he could be pretty amazing down the line.

Besides the usual shit, Trails games always have amazing soundtracks and this game is no exception. First time hearing 'Oinaru Chikara' is an experience plus the gameplay is as fun as it's always been.

THE ENDINGGGGG UOGHHHHHHHHHH. I'm hyped for the rest of the Cold steel games man