<P> The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is a role - playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom . As a part of the long running The Legend of Heroes series, it was first released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in Japan in September 2013 . Xseed Games would later localize and publish the game in English regions in 2015 . A port for Microsoft Windows was also released by Xseed in 2017, which included additional English voice acting not seen in the original release . A remastered version for the PlayStation 4 was released in Japan in March 2018 . A direct sequel, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, was released in 2014 . </P> <P> The basic gameplay is similar to the previous Trails in the Sky titles with some changes . The biggest change to the battle system and also counting as a brand new feature is the "Tactical Link System", which allow players to follow up with three different kinds of link attacks, dealing additional damage and providing various other benefits . Tactical Links becomes a more useful asset to the player as the story progress and characters level up their "Link Levels" with other characters . Another change is the Orbment system . Trails of Cold Steel inherits the "Master Quartz" system from Ao no Kiseki . The game features 360 degree camera control, fully 3D character models, and voiced conversations between characters during major story moments, all of which were new features to the Cold Steel series . Players can also transfer save data between the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions using the cross-save function . </P> <P> The game is set in the Erebonian Empire and takes place after the Trails in the Sky series of games and during the same time period as the Crossbell series of games . The game's plot is centered around Rean Schwarzer and his fellow "Class VII" at Thors Military Academy, which is a newly formed class composed of both Erebonian nobility and commoners, being the only one at the entire academy that does not segregate based on social class . The game follows Class VII throughout the school year from March to October, primarily focusing on their field studies that takes them to various cities and areas across Erebonia . The primary purpose of doing so is for the class to witness first hand the reality of the empire, as the power struggle between the nobility, led by four great aristocratic Houses, and the working class reformists led by Chancellor Osborne, which threatens to lead to a civil war . </P> <P> During their time at the academy, Class VII also are tasked with investigating the "Old Schoolhouse", an unused mysterious building on campus that changes its internal layout monthly . At the bottom of the seventh and final floor, they discover an ancient mecha known as Valimar . The story comes to a climax with the assassination of Osbourne in the capital by the terrorist known as "C", who is revealed to be fellow Class VII student Crow Armbrust . Alongside the assassination, a coup lead by the noble faction leads to Thors being occupied by forces led by Crow piloting his own mecha . Unable to fight it with normal means, Rean calls Valimar in order to fight Crow with it one on one, in which Rean is defeated, leading directly into Trails of Cold Steel II . </P>

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