The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Review (Sternidae)
TL;DR If you've made it all the way to this point in the series, i.e. you've played the eight preceding games from Sky FC through to CS3, then you should definitely play this game, even if just for closure. But while this review is ultimately a recommendation, I really wish there was a third path I could take instead of a binary do/do not recommend.
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Trails of Cold Steel 4 is a culmination and celebration of the entire Cold Steel arc, and also contains a lot of references to previous arcs. This game is a rollercoaster of quality. It can be incredible at times, but it also falls into the same bad habits that have plagued Falcom since Trails to Azure.
The game features a distinct lack of consequences for the actions of important characters (good or bad), employs plenty of crappy anime tropes, and is the ultimate dating sim. There are 11 romantic options with varying degrees of legality and ethics, so there's something for almost everyone.
The dialogue during story sequences can be terrible and cringey. For the majority of the game, there is an enormous cast of playable characters, and everyone has to get their two cents in about every little thing that happens. It gets old quick... But not as quickly as characters constantly finishing each other's sentences, which doesn't actually happen in real life. And while Falcom may have thanked me for playing this game, I should really be the one thanking them (Haha...) . It's also incredible how easily weird-ass technology and magic are explained away by slapping the word orbal or spirit onto the front. I have never been so unable to suspend my disbelief in a serious video game.
The good points of the game are typical for Falcom: Solid combat system, decent overall story and good music. I personally found normal difficulty to be a bit too easy, even with minimal grinding and cheese. Brave Orders are pretty busted. As per usual with Falcom games, the best part is the side content and NPCs. You can play minigames at incredibly inappropriate times, such as during an invasion or in the final dungeon. It's also fun to follow the stories of random NPCs throughout the game, and there are a lot to choose from.
I did enjoy the experience overall. When the game wants to be good, it can definitely be good. But CS4 certainly was not a glorious experience like many of the previous entries in the Trails series. While I think that Falcom was courageous to make some of the decisions that they did, the game (and really, the entire Cold Steel story arc) is too inconsistent to call it good by the standards of a Falcom game.