It's meandering.

Fighting a faceless evil as an awkward group that have nothing to do with each other than an interest in preserving humanity.

David Gaider's razor wit and skill in writing characters can only go so far in a game collapsing under the weight of what it wishes to be.

I don't often remark on my time spent with the first Cold Steel, but I feel the need to put what little I have to say into writing.

What is Erebonia?

Oppressive might. The country your dad fought in the Hundred Days War. The military you stood up against at Haken Gate. Where the Capua's fled from. Home of the Blood and Iron Chancellor from star door 8. Stomping grounds of the Red Constellation your best friend belonged to. Hamel.

The opening hours of Cold Steel betray all expectations.

Arriving in Trista, getting settled at the dorm and attending the first classes at Thors, it was all so mellowing. A cozy, timeless town, no impending tragedy or looming threat. Spending the days and nights as you please while getting familiar with the character bloat. You run around every day making sure you spoke to each of the faces on campus, student and teacher alike, then being whisked away on a field trip to another corner of the country where you helped find a dog or changed a lightbulb, playing Blade against Fie on the train ride back. "I'm home."

Cold Steel does its best to capture the humble beginnings you fell in love with in FC, and again in Zero. And it does an okay job.