Well, if you couldn't tell from the sub-heading, the next batch of characters revealed for The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV are pretty Bright! Yeah, it's Estelle, Joshua, and Renne. We knew about Renne since the beginning, but now we have profiles on her and and the bracer pair. Those who wish to avoid spoilers should be cautious as there are some, mostly from the Sky trilogy.

She's back. Estelle is a bracer from the Liberl Kingdom, daughter of General Cassius Bright, and the main character of the first two Trails in the Sky games. Despite only becoming a bracer at age 16, she has saved Liberl from multiple crises, including those caused by Ouroboros. After hearing rumors of a crisis in the Erebonian Empire, she takes action alongside Joshua and Renne to solve it.

Originally from the Erebonian village of Hamel, Joshua is a bracer working along Estelle as her partner and lover. Formally Enforcer XIII, tilted the Black Fang, Joshua is a skilled fighter trained in reconnaissance and assassination. After meeting Cassius Bright, he was adopted into the Bright family and eventually aided Estelle in stopping Ouroboros' activities in both Liberl and Crossbell. Along with Estelle, he acts as a bracer in western Zemuria while watching over Renne.

Formally Enforcer XV, titled the Angel of Slaughter, Renne is a prodigal youth with skill in both magic and in intellectual capability. After the events of Ao no Kiseki, she was adopted into the Bright family and currently attends Jenis Royal Academy in Liberl as a student. Having hearing the same rumors as Estelle about the crisis in Erebonia, she heads there not only to help her family but to check on the status of her close friend, Tita Russell.

Let's talk about keywords now as we have a couple.

Fans of Trails in the Sky know this place well. Liberl is a monarchy located in the south that is known for its liberal views, accelerated growth in technology, and skillful execution at peaceful foreign policy by its current ruler Queen Alicia von Auslese II. During the events of Trails in the Sky, a countrywide Orbal Shutdown occurred causing the entire country to lose power. However thanks to efforts of the Bracers, the Royal Army, and Prince Olivert, the shutdown crisis was solved.

A private organization of mercenaries whose main goal is peace and protection of individual civilians. Due to their duty to civilians, government officials see them as nuisances to their individual agendas. One example is in Erebonia where Chancellor Osborne restricted their activities following the Guild explosion incident. The Bracers are weak in the sense that they can't make arrests or investigate unless the incident puts the civilians in direct danger. Notable Bracers are Estelle and Joshua Bright, Agate Crosner, Sara Valestein, Arios MacLaine, and formally Cassius Bright.

If you look in the images, you can see a couple other Sky characters returning too but I'll let you look at them yourself. Falcom also had a livestream recently where they showed off the first footage of Cold Steel IV. While it is in Japanese, be aware that the clip does contain spoilers.

The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki (Trails of Cold Steel) IV ~The End of Saga~ will release in Japan this Fall for PS4. No word yet on a western release on it or it's prequel. Check our gallery for new screenshots but please be careful as these contain spoilers as well.

• Gematsu

• Trails of Cold Steel IV Screenshots