The Legend of Heroes series.

[Gref]

@Val the Moofia Boss mate I have a question. lWhen we visit the blackworkshop first time, there is a white pod that we can check but we cannot open. We can see the whitepod when we do the bonding event with altina. They say it is familiar but cannot open again. What is that whitepod? I cannot understand.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

@Val the Moofia Boss mate I have a question. lWhen we visit the blackworkshop first time, there is a white pod that we can check but we cannot open. We can see the whitepod when we do the bonding event with altina. They say it is familiar but cannot open again. What is that whitepod? I cannot understand.

You'll find out later.

[Gref]

You'll find out later.

damn! thank you for that, I just thought we are done with that after seeing it 2 times.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

New trailer and famitsu scans are out.



Looks like the antagonists might be a mafia or triad? Strange that we haven't heard of this group before, given that Heiyue was a rookie power in Calvard and we heard about them 7 games ago.




*looks at last page*
Oh. Oh no. Noooooooo! So Van's orbment is inhabitated by a fairy named Mare. Darn. I hate video game fairy companions! They're always obnoxious, or too ditzy, or they're snarkers... ugh. I'd prefer to have her diced and served up as a stew, but alas.





Mare can merge with Van to transform into a demon called Grendel (the blue power ranger with the glowing mane of hair), which looks suspiciously similar to
CS4 ending spoilers

Spoiler: 

A certain man who can also transform into a demon, who comes from the Beyond.

Zin Vaythek
Voiced by Tetsu Inada

Psuedo S-rank Bracer who is a part of the Calvard Bracer Guild. Has the nickname of "The Immovable Fist". Is a master of one of the three Touhou Kenpo, the Taito style (so Taito is descended from a larger family of martial arts?).

He has contributed to the resolution of numerous major incidents such as the "River Incident" (this is new, I believe) and the "DG Cult Incident" (this is the incident that made Cassius an S-Rank Bracer, is detailed in 3rd and Zero), and was in charge of the operations of the Allied Forces in Great War two years ago (likely a mistranslation because Cassius was the commander. So Zin was probably just in charge of organizing Bracers in the East). Leading to an early ceasefire led to a recommendation to the S class, but declined and remained in the quasi-S rank.

He has high expectations for Elaine.

Fie Clausell
Voiced by Hisako Kanemoto

Sylphid, a B-rank Bracer belonging to the Imperial Bracer Guild. Visiting Calvard to assist with the shortage of Bracers. He has a history of living as a Jaeger in the Jaeger Corps "Zephyr" as a child, and has outstanding physical ability and advanced combat skills. A cool atmosphereMatoiMatoHowever, there is also a surprisingly friendly side, and it is possible to make a joke to the honor student type senior fighter Elaine.

Shizuna
Voiced by Maaya Uchida

The strongest samurai based in the devastated Eastern Zemuria. Is the deputy director/lieutenant of Ikaruga. Is called "Shirogane no Kensei" (Divine Blade of Platinum?). Practices the Black God One Blade-style of the Eight Leaves One Blade school of swordsmanship. She usually wears the latest reinforced suit and wields a jet-black Ōdachi, which is a "treasure sword" that is handed down to the east. Has an innocent look on her face, but when she crosses the blade with a strong man, she gives a glimpse of a dignified expression suitable for the name of Kensei. The sword muscle is reminiscent of "Yaba Ito-ryu", the culmination of Eight Leaves One Blade school of swordsmanship developed by "Kensen" Yun Ka-fai.

Shizuna talking to Kurogane (A character introduced in Hajimari/Trails into Reverie)





Ouroboros members. The man with orange hair is Walter. The woman is Lucrecia, Enforcer III. The middle aged man with black hair is suspected to be the 4th Anguis, the Thousand OathBreaker.




The village of Creil, located near Calvard's northwestern border with Reimferia and Ored state (map for reference). Since it's located near the border, Jaegers frequently pass by the inn. (I wonder which Jaeger Corps we will see? Hopefully not Red Constellation as they've been overexposed, IMO. And Zephyr just starred in CS. Hm... maybe we will get to see more of Nidhogg? Or will get to see a new, smaller corps?)




The village of Longlai, located in Eastern Calvard. Since the East has been becoming increasingly barren, fewer people pass through Longlai, but it still remains a tourist destination.



Promo material from the Chara-Ani store. I wonder if those scantily clad women were Scherazard's Troupe? Obviously they look 20 or younger so they probably joined after Schera left.

[Poppincaps]

I've only played FC so far, but I kinda imagined Zin to be bulkier.

[Swnem]

It's kind of sad for me to see Kuro stuff given we are many years from a release.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I've only played FC so far, but I kinda imagined Zin to be bulkier.

Maybe he lost weight? But yeah, a lot of the Sky characters were redesigned in future appearances, probably because each arc had a different character designer and trends change over the years. Estelle in the Cold Steel games suddenly has huge boobs, even though Olivier joked in Sky that she was underwhelming in that department, and she was still underwhelming a couple years prior in the Crossbell games. Cassius' mustache downgrades from being admirably bushy in Sky to looking like a teenager's pathetic stache in the Cold Steel games, which is pretty sad. Kevin in Crossbell has a chubbier face than he did in Sky.

- - - Updated - - -

It's kind of sad for me to see Kuro stuff given we are many years from a release.

If you have a PS4 and you're willing to play with English subtitles, you'll be able to play a month or two after Kuro releases in September of this year, if and Kitsune puts out a new fan translation (which you could overlay your TV). Kitsune hasn't decided if he's going to do it yet. But yeah, being so far out from an official English release is pretty demoralizing.

[Velshin]

Hmm is it me or Zin looks waaaaaay much younger than he used to be in Sky?

I know the design is different but they should at least make him looks older than this....

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Hmm is it me or Zin looks waaaaaay much younger than he used to be in Sky?

I know the design is different but they should at least make him looks older than this....

The Japanese do this all the time, for some reason. You can never accurately guess the age of an anime or JRPG character by looking at them.

According to the wiki, Zin was 29 in Sky (year 1202). Kuro takes place 6 years later (year 1208), so he should be 35, but lol he now looks like he is in his mid 20s now, not his mid 30s. Then again, this is the same series that tried to claim that Cassius was 45 in FC.



Does this man look 45 years old to you? Or, to use an example from the upcoming game:




Does this man look 46 to you? Yeah he looks like he might be in his mid 30s but no way he's 46.

Hardly anyone visibly ages up in this series. I think Tita and Renne are the only ones who do.

[Velshin]

The Japanese do this all the time, for some reason. You can never accurately guess the age of an anime or JRPG character by looking at them.

According to the wiki, Zin was 29 in Sky (year 1202). Kuro takes place 6 years later (year 1208), so he should be 35, but lol he now looks like he is in his mid 20s now, not his mid 30s. Then again, this is the same series that tried to claim that Cassius was 45 in FC.



Does this man look 45 years old to you? Or, to use an example from the upcoming game:




Does this man look 46 to you? Yeah he looks like he might be in his mid 30s but no way he's 46.

Hardly anyone visibly ages up in this series. I think Tita and Renne are the only ones who do.

Well Cassius is a bad example tbh because it is possible to have people in their 40+ and they still look young.

That is not my issue at all because we have people (in fact part of the family genes and members of our family we kinda look younger than our age)

My issue with Zin that in Sky he already looks like he was in his 30s but then here in Kuro he looks even younger than when he was in Sky? like you said in his 20s...

[blackpink]

The Japanese do this all the time, for some reason. You can never accurately guess the age of an anime or JRPG character by looking at them.

According to the wiki, Zin was 29 in Sky (year 1202). Kuro takes place 6 years later (year 1208), so he should be 35, but lol he now looks like he is in his mid 20s now, not his mid 30s. Then again, this is the same series that tried to claim that Cassius was 45 in FC.



Does this man look 45 years old to you? Or, to use an example from the upcoming game:




Does this man look 46 to you? Yeah he looks like he might be in his mid 30s but no way he's 46.

Hardly anyone visibly ages up in this series. I think Tita and Renne are the only ones who do.

I mean....asian people do tend to look young...myself included

[Toybox]

I really want to get back into Trails, but I know I'm just going to bounce off it again Trails in the Sky & SC are up there as some of my favourite games of all time, & I even enjoyed the 3rd for what it was, but every time I try & play Cold Steel I'm just put off immensely by the shift to 3D. In TitS, the art is just so charming, & really breathes life into the characters IMO, but whenever I try to play ToCS... It all just feels so lifeless aesthetically.

As an example, compare Estelle's facial expressions in this collection of TitS images to a pic from ToCS IV:





Is it just me? I know its shallow to be this hung up on the art, but I can't help it... Estelle goes from looking like an absolutely unique character to a random 3D mannequin devoid of personality. Worst thing is, I KNOW I'd really enjoy ToCS if I could get over this.

Damnit!

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I really want to get back into Trails, but I know I'm just going to bounce off it again Trails in the Sky & SC are up there as some of my favourite games of all time, & I even enjoyed the 3rd for what it was, but every time I try & play Cold Steel I'm just put off immensely by the shift to 3D. In TitS, the art is just so charming, & really breathes life into the characters IMO, but whenever I try to play ToCS... It all just feels so lifeless aesthetically.

As an example, compare Estelle's facial expressions in this collection of TitS images to a pic from ToCS IV:


Is it just me? I know its shallow to be this hung up on the art, but I can't help it... Estelle goes from looking like an absolutely unique character to a random 3D mannequin devoid of personality. Worst thing is, I KNOW I'd really enjoy ToCS if I could get over this.

Damnit!

I don't think it's a limitation of 3D. It's possible to do really stylized, expressive faces in 3D. It seems to be a deliberate art decision on the part of Falcom, which is a shame. The 2D sprites for the Crossbell games are likewise subdued compared to the Sky sprites.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

A bunch of characters were revealed. I'm not going to post them all. Some of them seem like minor side characters (feels like Falcom might be scrapping the bottom of the barrel for news here). Someone threw out a crack theory that the young associate professor is going to turn out to be our obligatory evil professor for this arc.





Dingo Brad (voiced by Tarusuke Shingaki)
Age 28

A handsome and intelligent reporter for gossip magazine Meld.

He is a lone wolf that travels around the Republic and does not hesitate to use any means necessary to get information.

He also has the face of a information broker, so he has connections with Spriggans and other underground organizations.

Gilliam Thorndyke GM (voiced by Ken Narita)
Age 35

The General Manager of Marduk Total Security Company.

He appears to be a reasonable man, but actually priorities his own gains, and acts as skilled entrepreneur at Marduk Total Security Company.

According to Van, who is contracted as a tester, Gilliam “is probably a dick.”

Kasim Al-Fayed (voiced by Yuuichirou Umehara)
Age 27

Feri Al-Fayed’s older brother, who is praised as the best warrior in the high ranking jaeger corps Khurga Warriors Clan.

He carries himself very naturally, though has no opening to be struck, and truly is a skilled fighter and tactician.

He has cut ties with the Khurga Warriors Clan and is now working as head of securities in Marduk Total Security Company in Ored.

I wonder if Kasim's giant blade opens up to reveal a cannon, like Rutger's weapon did.





Latoya Hamilton (voiced by Kikuko Inoue)
Age 74

A honorary professor at the College of Science in the engineering city Basel, as well as ex-lead advisor for total technology company Verne.

She is one of the “high apprentices” of the late Professor Epstein who lead the “Orbal Revolution.”

She believes “rural areas are where orbal technology is most needed,” and has achieved great success in the Republic.

She quit her post as honorary professor and adviser to Verne three years ago, and let her apprentices such associate professor Esmeray and Quatre take over. She now researches on her own abroad.

Albert (voiced by Souma Saitou)
Age 16

A first-year student of the prestigious Aramis High School.

He is the accountant of the student council.

He is a well-mannered young man who is also very good at his studies and sports.

He has been friends with Agnes Claudel since the later years of Sunday School.

He secretly admires Agnes and sometimes spends time with her.

He tends to become hostile around Van…

Welp. Van has two possible love interests: Elaine and Agnes, and both have have male suitors (Rene for Elaine, and now Albert for Agnes). Someone is going to lose. RIP. May the best man win.





Another school character.

I'm starting to dread that a lot of the screentime is going to be spent at the school. I liked the school stories in Cold Steel and Tokyo Xanadu, but we've done that for 3 games (CS1, TX, CS3) and now I want to move on.



More character reveals




Cao Lee
Age 29

I'm not too keen on Cao's return. He was the manager of the Crossbell branch. I would have rather he had stayed over there (and maybe pop up in Calvard for a guest appearance as he reports to the boss) while we get to meet a new Heiyue lieutenant (who runs stuff in Van's area).





Kurogane (man on the left)
Age 38

An antagonist introduced in Hajimari no Kiseki. Is a lieutenant of the group Ikaruga (another faction introduced in Hajimari).





Grimcats the Phantom Thief

A mysterious thief that has been the topic of rumors in Calvard for the past few years. Nothing is known about her, except that she is a woman with a slender figure and excellent combat skills.

She has become popular among the people since she takes from corrupt politicians and state officials, as well as corporations and mafias that profit from illegal operations. Some gossip magazines have even written special articles about her.

There are other rumored figures—like “Phantom Thief B” who appears all over the continent, and “Silver” the urban legend assassin of the Eastern Quarter—but there have been no notable sighting in recent years. Instead, plausible rumors about Grimcats have been the hottest topic.

Not sure why they are trying to hide this character's identity when we saw her character transform into her Batwoman costume in a prior trailer.

The interesting takeaway here is that "there have been not notable sighting in recent years" regarding Bleublanc. Hm. Maybe he retired, or he was captured? Or he is staying low trying not to catch the ire of someone?

[Tech614]

Is it just me? I know its shallow to be this hung up on the art, but I can't help it... Estelle goes from looking like an absolutely unique character to a random 3D mannequin devoid of personality. Worst thing is, I KNOW I'd really enjoy ToCS if I could get over this.

Damnit!

She has like a whopping 5 hours of screen time in 1 cold steel game and is completely absent in the other 3 games, kind of a weird reason to not play them.

[NightZero88]

Finally finished Cold Steel 4. I played a ton at the start, it was an instant buy, and then I just sort of lost interest for some reason around 85% through. Glad to finally be done, sad that it's over. I loved all the games. Enjoyed the story for the most part and look forward to the next game. Really curious about Ouroboros and the grandmaster after that ending scene.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Finally finished Cold Steel 4. I played a ton at the start, it was an instant buy, and then I just sort of lost interest for some reason around 85% through. Glad to finally be done, sad that it's over. I loved all the games. Enjoyed the story for the most part and look forward to the next game. Really curious about Ouroboros and the grandmaster after that ending scene.

What did you like? What didn't you like?

[NightZero88]

What did you like? What didn't you like?

Couldn't really say for sure. I just lost interest and couldn't bring myself to play it. I would sit at my PC and think about turning it on then just do something else instead. Think I went like 2 months in between before I finally finished the last part. Odd since I love the series and all the games.

[blackpink]

I think cold steel 4 lacked the intense build up to the ending that the other games had (I found it very lackluster and lame tbh) and the beginning was just terrible.

[Toybox]

She has like a whopping 5 hours of screen time in 1 cold steel game and is completely absent in the other 3 games, kind of a weird reason to not play them.

I was on about the art in general - Estelle was just the perfect character to make my point with. TitS has magnificent character art packed full of charm, while the art of ToCS just puts me off right from the get go.