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| Jesse Woo |
Hello old friends.
05.21.17 - 11:13 AM
Falcom's Trails of Cold Steel III it not content to rest on its laurels. The third game in the acclaimed RPG series will make several updates and improvements to its combat systems to allow for more intuitive control.
Combat
Gone is the Ring Command system of prior games, replaced with the Direct Command system where each action is mapped to a single button input. Cooperative attacks between party members called Combat Links and powerful S-Breaks remain the same however. Battles will now transition seamlessly from the field map, and will incorporate the terrain and other map features.
Another new system, called Brave Orders, allows players to consume Brave Points to activate a character specific effect for the entire party without using that character's turn. For example, Altina's Noire Crest will reflect all attacks back onto the enemy, while Rean's Totsugekijin [Rekka] increases allied damage and CP. The former costs a large amount of BP to activate, the latter only a little.
One of the new characters, Juna, also has a new unique function. The young woman from Crossbell uses a weapon called a Gunbreaker that doubles as a melee attack (Striker Mode) and gun (Gunner Mode). Striker mode has strong attacks that focus on one enemy, while Gunner mode has weaker attacks that can hit multiple enemies. Striker mode also boosts Juna's stats so she can survive on the front lines.
Character specific Crafts are special skills that consume Craft Points. For example, Rean has a flame blade attack that can hit from a distance, while Juna can strike with electric damage that has a chance to seal enemy skills. Kurt has an attack that does high damage in a circle around him, while Altina summons a giant mechanical blade to crush her enemies.
Characters
As all of the Trails games take place in the same universe Cold Steel III some familiar characters from Trails in the Sky, as well as some new faces.
Tita Russell was a key character in Trails in the Sky I and II who has now enrolled at the Erebonian military academy. She is a genius orbol engineer who was caught up in the events that engulfed Liberl in Trails in the Sky when she was just a young girl. There, she met Prince Olivert, and came to the military academy at his request to investigate internal threats to the empire. She is the granddaughter of Liberl's premier orbital scientist, Dr. Russell. At the academy she studies with Dr. Schmidt to learn about Erebonian mech technology first hand.
Agate Crosner is an A-rank bracer who was also central to the events of Trails in the Sky four years prior. He earned the nickname "Heavy Blade" from the oversized greatsword that he fights with. He began to investigate the empire when he suspected the that the same forces that threatened Liberl were at work in there. He also worries after Tita, whom he considers like a younger sister. His concern is especially acute because as a young boy he lost his actual sister Misha in the Hundred Days War between Liberl and Erebonia. It was only by meeting Tita was he able to heal and move on.
G. Schmidt is the empire's leading orbal scholar who, along with Dr. Russell, studied with the man who introduced orbal technology to the continent, Dr. Epstein. He also studied orbal technology with Gwyn Reinford and as a result is responsible for much of the empire's advanced technology. During the Erebonian Civil War he sided with the Noble Alliance leader Duke Cayenne to design the Panzer Soldat mechs that are based off ancient technology called Archaisms. He now works at the military academy and trains Tita as his disciple, having lost his former student George Nome.
He also designed the Einhel Fortlet, the massive training facility that can transform using orbal technology to adapt to multiple different training scenarios.
First Print Box Set
It wouldn't be a JRPG without a special edition box set. The First Print Limited Kiseki Box will include:
- Limited Edition Mini Soundtrack
- Class VII: Special Duty Division rubber strap set
- 128-page Full Cover Art Book
- DLC "An Invitation from Thors Main School" to download the crimson uniform outlet
- 2017-18 multistand desktop calendar (pictured below)
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III comes out on PS4 in Japan on September 28th. No western release date has been announced.
