The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II Reviews

Machiaz best grill

I JUST WANNA PLAY CROSSBELL DAMNIT, QUIT BREAKING MY LAPTOP ALREADY

really fun improved over cold steel 1 give it a play.

A great follow up to Trails of Cold Steel!

I do recommend this game. However I just tried to load a cleared Cold Steel 1 save to start a new game and it would not let me load the game.

recommend only for continuation of story. this one is as dry and boring as the first game. nothing interesting until very last two or three chapters like previous entries. Same dated gameplay and combat. First entry using 3d design but still a very dated game overall.

It's not as good as the first game but it's still pretty dang good. I already gushed over the story and gameplay of the first. Here is how things have changed slightly since then: Story: The story of this game takes place right after the first (or 3 months after I think? I forgot). It's divided into act 1 and act 2 with an intermission. Act 1 is peak. It really captures the same feelings that I had in the first game and really shows the consequences of the first game. Act 2... is alright. Once the band is back together the story devolves into a save the world type deal that's desperately trying to pretend it's not. So there's that. Gameplay: There are two distinct changes to the gameplay that leave me feeling mixed. The first is mech combat. The mech combat... is fine. It's basically rock-paper-scissors. Though there is the edition of more skills based on which party members you have which is pretty cool. I don't think it overstays it's welcome too, usually happening at the end of a chapter. The 2nd is overdrive. Overdrive is one of the most fun mechanics ever. In any jrpg. Why yes I do want 3 free turns back to back. That said it's also incredibly broken in favor of the paper due to the fact that it makes arts instant. There are some spells you get from hidden bosses and these are basically screen nukes with large cast times. Overdrive let's you do it instantly. That said it also can be used in different ways such as curing teammates of status conditions, but I still think it's too broken. Speaking of too broken. Rean suffers from some major protagonist privilege in this game. He get's a super mode (teased in the first game) and later you can even summon your mech to fight (albeit in non-story combat). I liked Rean in the first game and his focus on delaying enemies. But I could see myself not using him. Now there is no reason not to use him and I get annoyed when jrpgs have large rosters but one character you absolutely need to have all the time. Additionally, dedicated tanks feel like a thing of the past when Jusis can grant everyone physical and magical immunity on a craft. Misc: The now open map of Erebonia is great to explore since you only got to see snippets in the first game. Though it runs the issue of having too much to do when you reach the endgame. Hidden quests, quests that only pop up when you talk to a specific npc with no indication, become a chore to discover without a guide. So yeah. This is a solid 8/10.

Each arc seems to be a repeat of the last arc. But I enjoyed this one much more than the last Cold Steel and it's a great game if you can overlook the horrible combat, this one is so far the worst I have experienced. So many cool things you COULD do if the bosses didn't resist 100% of the time and you have 0% against all theirs. And how they can go turn after turn after turn until your party is wiped. I had the skill on one toon but you still have to wait to cast it and you only get 2 in a row so you then have to wait. Not these bosses...lol IN the end every battle is just spam the 'A' button over and over until you get an s-craft, then wash, rinse, repeat. That is the basic tactics. It's like someone just added all this cool stuff you *could* do and then someone above them said - "nah" but left it in like a carrot dangling over the jackass' head. The story was worth it tho and I overlooked the lame mechanics. Rean tho was just as annoying as the last one and the Peter Parker finish...it's why I hate Spiderman. "I'd rather go play with my toys..." seriously? And he lied too but I won't spoil it. The music I liked but even on 1, it's loud, the whole series is like that. This one gave you more chances to take a break too, not holding you hostage for a 3 hour quest that has no save chances like the last one. There is also plenty of time to explore and do your thing, you can go level up solo and the side games are cool too. Skiing, yes! ARCUS needs more room but then again, you are adding stuff that is going to just be resisted anyways so I guess that's why they give you 150,000 different quartz that you are never going to use (go back to my 1st paragraph) and the series so far has been leaning that way more and more as it goes. Another puzzling thing is, like the Crossbell arc - THIS IS THE BEST SWORDSMAN ALIVE but you never see the LAST best swordsman appear from the last arc. Yet, the enemy drags their aces from off the front lines miles away to face off with you but the last arc's guy's are like vapor in the wind. Speaking of Crossbell - how to you go from the baddest assassin that has ever lived to needing a refresh pot to get up off the floor? And I was REALLY wanting to see a certain someone and was disappointed they were merely mentioned...with the baddest swordsman that ever lived but disappeared when we needed the guy in this one the most. I still do not understand to this day why Estelle and Joshua were not just in each one progressing through the themes of each arc. I can only guess it's to give designers and artists more work since you CAN wear their gear but you get so much more. But, I mean, the extras could be in their party. All in all, it is a good game, much better than CS1 with some very cool additions, just not much of a chance to use them really and mira is better too in this one. Yet, the 1st Trails still outweighs it and I cared for those characters way more than these except Sharon and Millium. I would have been much more interested in following them and found myself wondering what Estelle was doing when I was playing. I guess paying that much attention to one or 2 things is too much for Nihon, idk. However, they have a great series and I am looking forward to Cold Steel 3. OH YEAH - and the fishing contest for Annabelle to catch the Noble Carp, dubyateef, what was that about??? The selection was jumping from button to button so fast, it wasn't on 1 long enough to even press it. Bros, some of us have been playing since Pong and just don't have the hands for that.

An amazing JRPG game and incredible series. Everything from world building to characters make it shine and lovable.

This video game was an impressive journey of emotions, I can say that it is the first video game that has made me cry for the death of a character, the plot twists and surprises have made it one of the best Trials so far, definitely this saga has become the best and my favorite so far. <3