The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki

The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki
N/A
Metacritic
93
Steam
85.462
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Release date
27 July 2022
Developers
Steam reviews score
Total
93 (984 votes)

The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki is finally coming to Steam®! The sprawling Republic of Calvard is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom brought on by post-war reparations. Here is the beginning of a new "Trails (story)".

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The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki system requirements

Minimum:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows® 10
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-3470 or AMD Ryzen™ 3 1200
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB or AMD Radeon™ RX 560 4 GB
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 12 GB available space
  • Sound Card: Onboard
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Denwa Renji
Denwa Renji

I haven't played the NISA version of this one to compare, but it has significantly fewer bugs than the NISA Cold Steel/Reverie games. The English patch is trivial to install and is almost certainly a better translation than the official one will be, judging by past experience. (For instance NISA translated Ken no Otome as "Beauty's Blade" instead of "Sword Maiden" when it's (1) clearly a reference a reverence to the Steel Maiden and Lance Maiden and (2) they literally call her "Sword Maiden" in English at one point.)

Akeno Belladonna
Akeno Belladonna

I've really enjoyed this series ever since i started playing trails of cold steel and this entry really shakes things up with the field battle mechanics and the choice of turn based battles or not. But i will say for this game, you really should consider making sure you have the recommended requirements for this game otherwise it run really slow and everything will feel very stiff and barely feel like your moving or doing anything at all when you actually are. When running it on the minimum requirements just to start the game. But other then that it really is a great game and really fun to play.

Torchick
Torchick

I cannot recommend this game enough. It is so refreshing and such a great start to a new arc. Although it is good practice to play the previous games since you will meet old and new and things are referenced from earlier games, I still believe you can absolutely enjoy this game even without having played the previous ones. English patch is super easy to install and I personally only encountered one or two NPCs who were not translated, and I am the kind of person who likes to talk to all of them!

Shin Cyberboi
Shin Cyberboi

There's a lot of similar beats to the Crossbell games and it seems like they fixed the "too many characters" issue Erebonia was plagued with. Calvard and the Kuro gang really felt home-ish and close similar to Crossbell and its characters. It has an even more vulgar Randy.
10/10 Haven't felt this good since Azure

JoeDowntown
JoeDowntown

This is the tone shift needed coming off the cold steel arc. Darker stories more serious, and more grown up. Renne being involved was really important I think. Tying a longtime character as beloved as Renne a pre cold steel era character also provides additional story to longtime fans. I really hope people who left the series of the cold steel arc will give this game a chance. I think it will be just what they are looking for.

OneManCast
OneManCast

I do have some general gripes about this game:

A)You cannot carry the "Buy all movie pamphlets" data. You have to get the movie pamphlets from the movie when you do more than one playthrough. Making the act of getting Jet Blade Ore aggravating.
B)The new battle results multiplier can suck a you know what.
C)The new CP system makes healer S Crafts completely redundant. With Cold Steel and Reverie, you can stack certain healing/ buff S Crafts.
D)Another issue is that the S Crafts not only do not boost with max, not only restrict it by tying it to the BP system, but ultimately restrict how many S Crafts you can use as a result. This is a big mistake.

That being said, Kuro is, by far and large, the superior Trails experience. It has the best story, narratives and dare I say character dynamics. It has some of my favorite tracks. Old Edith Town probably is the single sickest town theme in existence.

I say its the best narrative experience due to it hitting in ways I never expected it to hit me. Its also far subtler and more mature in its subject matter. Despite my gripes with certain parts of its mechanics, I now use Kuro 1 as the standard bearer for any company wanting to mix both ARPG and traditionally turn based JRPG elements into their mechanics system.

While the Orbment System has always been ridiculously robust, Falcom decided to say "To heck with it all" and add more convoluted systems in their Orbments in ways I didn't expect, but entirely respect. This is what happens when you know and respect your audience.

I rarely repeat myself, but it bears repeating:

Kuro 1 is the superior Trails experience.

Elaine sucks tho. XP

RedBen
RedBen

Great game, love the Legend of Heroes series BUT. As a paying customer I'm PISSED OFF that you will not add an english translation patch to this version of the game but the Daybreak version of this will... way to spit in the face of loyal fans. With all due respect, SCREW YOU!

mimizukari
mimizukari

Everything you expect from a high quality JRPG; but not much extras like how the rest of the series does things.

It has no minigames but the story and in-depth combat, as well as all the additional sidequests and lore make up for that shortcoming.

The story is as high quality as ever, and the combat is a unique experience unlike other JRPGs that came before it, with weaving between real-time field combat and the more tactical turn-based modes with each having their advantages/disadvantages, everything feels deliberate and intentionally crafted for this system.

The soundtrack is great, and it's one of the first times that I want to experience everything the game has to offer, with all the side-quests and additional content in addition to the main story, I also feel the need to explore and talk to every NPC to see what they have to say, there's never a dull moment as the game pretty much plays out like a lengthy anime. The expressions, voice acting and everything are up to par with some of the greatest JRPG titles, or even anime that exist today.

Currently the game is only available in Japanese (NISA), Korean and Chinese(CLE, or this version), however there are ways to patch either game with English text, and the fan translation team has done a fantastic job, I've only noticed a couple of spelling errors throughout the 60+ hour journey (still haven't finished as of this review), such as one instance of Afterwards being spelled Afterwords, but aside from that it's a very high quality translation and very faithful to what's being said in dialog from what I can understand.

If you're looking for something akin to what feels like the Grand Theft Auto of JRPGs then I'd completely recommend this game, the world is fleshed out, there's people walking around/conversing and you feel like the world is alive. Not only that but the combat, while being unique and something I've never seen before is very interesting and feels balanced throughout the entire game with you needing to actually strategize with your equipment and skill usage to get through parts of the game. So far it's one of the better JRPGs I've played and I hope the quality continues through not only the end of this, but to the sequel as well.

BigBoyAlarm
BigBoyAlarm

Characters, some were good some were bad... Judith is hot. Quatre and Feri are annoying... I liked the story but it felt unoriginal, very much like cold steel. Travel around, kill big demon guy at the end idk.. they should try something new :)
I completed it on nightmare difficulty, and I had no problems, one shotting all the trash mobs with just a S craft.. it felt way too easy and braindead. We didnt get special bonding moments like we usually do aswell. Also no english support, needed to download a patch.. hmm..

I like this game series but this one kinda let me down. Ill give it a 6/10.

not Poland
not Poland

Finally got all achievements, I think I am worthy to review this one, it's my favorite on Trails/Kiseki franchise right now. In terms of content, it got a lot more than the previous arc around 1,5x or almost 2x, TLDR at the bottom.

Story and Characters:

A much needed breath of fresh air to the series, not only new casts and new Calvard region. It's how the story unfolds which isn't afraid to touch on some topics that previous arc were afraid to touch upon like death, the underworld and the adult industry, these make Kuro’s story darker than Trails to Azure, so the flow is unlike J-RPG I play so far. If you at least play one trails game you should know Falcom standards are pretty high. Unlike crossbell and cold steel games that forgive villains like naughty boy/girl like your usual J-RPG games there are consequences for the villains on Kuro, falcom finally do them justice like killing them or turning them into underworld organization, ended without cliffhanger too. Side quests got more weight to them too, Van doing it as a job and not acting as an errand boy like Rean but he always investigates more of what actually happened, that is when most quest turns around giving plot twists. Side activities like watching film are fun and connect events with NPCs that not only romance interest makes it more interesting, gourmet system on food items which each level raising some stats so there’s an encouragement to collect them. Being in the first title of Calvard arc it starts like previous arcs which are exploring the region but with a lot more places and cities to visit, solving problems in a particular place, and finding actual plot-related stuff for the whole arc, it is still really fun nonetheless and the formula still works for the veteran and newcomers.

8 Main Casts of kuro no Kiseki are amazing from Van to Bergard with their own unique personality. Van is a really complex but at the same time easy liked protagonist, he is mature before the game even started, unlike other protagonists, he is on gray side and not acting like goody two shoes, unconditionally funny and instant-liked based on how he act, he like sweets too but I think that Falcom way of ‘moe gap’ that he is actually serious, not naïve and mature. He is on par or maybe even better than Estelle on some parts. Agnes while seeming naïve and sheltered girl becomes more adapted to how spriggan (3rd party fixer) works as the game goes so she is not only acting as the main heroine and eye candy, unlike *cough* Alisa from cold steel. Aaron with adult jokes which made me burst laughing and complementary of Van since their age are almost the same. Feri is an innocent little kid with jaeger (hunter) experience because their parent’s work. Risette looks cold and unexpressive but is actually very social and drops some unexpected jokes. Quatre is diligent and looks girlish but actually boy (it’s a trap!) so he got personal problem with that. Judith looks mature and sexy but easily flustered and panicked. Bergard is the wise old man at the party. Elaine while she isn't in the main party she has great older sister personality and good characters design, she and Van are childhood friends that like ‘frenemies’, since they work on the almost same field as the time goes the interaction gets funnier it hilarious. NPCs got their own story to tell, correlated to each other and some closure like a girl who always studying on school days then complaining she doesn’t have any friend. In the final chapter, suddenly a cat comes up and accompanies her.

While Kuro marketed as soft reboot and Falcom claimed made it from scratch in an interview that happen end of 2020, those aren't what happened in the game. So many casual mentions and some parts of the story still correlated to the previous arc, I collected around 100+ screenshots for something like this. They are not straightly mentioned by name or event and usually use words like “certain people i know” or “that event x years ago” only veteran fans understand. Beyond I made an easy comparison for each arc, remember I only compare based on the first game :

Which better and story weight: Kuro no Kiseki > Trails from zero > Trails in the sky > Trails of cold steel
Newcomers to enter the series: Trails of cold steel > Trails in the sky > Kuro no Kiseki > Trails from zero
Main characters of each arc: Estelle = Van > Lloyd > Rean

Gameplay:

To be honest, Falcom can do same and no innovation to battle system every release, they entitled to do so because their budget is really limited and actually an indie studio, I am sure the fan will keep buying it like some AAA games such as *cough* EA, Ubisoft, and Activision. And yet they experiment, overhauled, and did high-risk high-reward moves by changing their whole battle system with hybrid of action and turn-based, they did great, and feels great to play. The difficulty feels more balanced and harder on nightmare than previous arcs. Some equipment in the previous arc that obtained mid-game, on Kuro it can be obtained early in the game, and it still feels balanced. Surprisingly for the first game of the Calvard arc, there are not many strategies that can be exploited.

I also appreciate what Falcom did on some things, this is only noticeable if you play previous arc that the special attack (crafts) and spells (arts) feel less repeatable sequence and faster, with arts actually not feeling like a video playing but happen on combat field too, everything becomes much more seamless. Lots of new crafts and arts not all copying from the previous arc. They made mechanics which move characters not using turns, because of this they can add new area of effect (AoE) on some craft and arts also make character's positioning actually matters. No loading screen when battling, changing from action to turn-based, and entering the building unlike previous arcs, for veteran fan like me this is actually a mindblown experience.

If you optimize orbment so it fills shard skills requirements, the game becomes deeper and adds complexity such as counter attack, counter spell if enemy spell misses, additional attack when the enemy is stunned, auto status buff, auto arts buff, replenish mana and hp, resurrection one time when got killed, and many more. Though for the first game, it's hard to fill the requirements due orbment limitation the game gives and most obtained in-game achievement prize, I need a lot of hours tinkering with it. Because it’s highly customized you can make each character become DPS, tanker, healer, caster, etc.

Graphic and OSTs:

The graphics got noticeable improvements from the character's model are better and not too white like Genshin impact (I like what falcom did with this one!), the field area looks good and beautiful, and shadows not only on the characters but on buildings and trees, new assets, new crafts and arts are done nicely and different, beautiful city design like chinese town and science city with vertical design because it’s on the plateau, more NPCs for immersion so the city does not feel deserted, interaction like falling down when party or enemy got hit pretty hard. So the overall graphics fidelity are better. The UI while personally looks and feels nicer still needs some time to get accustomed to.

OSTs are the Kuro biggest criticism. It is either good or not leaving much impression, I like it because they tried to change and bring something new, and they deserve handicap since one of their veteran composer out, the new composer instead copying he bring his own style while still maintain falcom OSTs soul and trademarks.

TLDR:

Long story short it’s trails I know and love while getting more better, it scratch so many itches you can think of on J-RPG such as grand scale lore and world-building, previous event mentioned, returning characters that got older, overhauled combat making it more fun, improvements to graphics fidelity, and many more.

Toethumbs
Toethumbs

Goddamn, this game goated with the sauce. Van is such a fun protag and scaling down the main cast really does wonders for everyone in the squad plus action combat dramatically increases the pace of the game making it kino. Only downsides were some technical issues and freezing : (

Pure
Pure

Great beginning to a new arc of Trails. It was very refreshing to have a main party of 8 characters instead of like 50 in Cold Steel, and they're (mostly) all very likeable characters. The protagonist leaves a very good impression for their first game too, especially compared to Rean in Cold Steel who took me until the 3rd game to start actually liking. He definitely has potential to be the best protagonist in the series.

The story around the main characters and their relationships is generally good but I found the villains to be quite weak. There's only really 1 that I found likeable but they only have about 10 minutes total screen time. There are some pretty shocking moments though which I thought were generally done pretty well, apart from some pretty bad music choices. I especially liked the end of the intermission and chapter 5 as a whole.

The combat is fun but it feels pretty underdeveloped compared to how Cold Steel ended up. The new systems are fun and interesting but it can feel like boss fights have way too much health sometimes, though this is mainly in the early game. The real time combat aspect especially feels underdeveloped because all you do is attack to fill up a stun gauge and repeat it over and over. Thankfully Kuro 2 seems to improve on this by allowing you to use arts.

The soundtrack is pretty good with some standout tracks but I found most of the boss themes to not be memorable. Unfortunately in this series there seems to have been a bit of a drop off in quality of the music after Cold Steel 2.

eromaster
eromaster

Overall, I love how Falcom added more adult content into the game since Kuro. Also the graphics, animation, character models and more really improved a lot. Van is gonna be Top 3 in my personal trails protagonists ranking cuz hes the person who would burden all the pain on his own without involving anyone, such a loner like me.

PogCheng
PogCheng

Long but good for JRPG enjoyer, imo better than Tales series. Well fleshed out characters development like any title in the series before, well-rounded game systems with not much to pick on. Team composition matters only very little given the highly customizable Orbment system, which means you can build any character into DPS, tank or supporter. Characters positioning could use more specialization. Late game wise most of the time around end game it's stun locking then S-skills spamming.

遊戲90小時左右完成1周目,角色發展很豐富,客易共情,整體遊戲系統高分。由於戰鬥系統允許自由配置晶體,角色特化不足,全部都是萬能型,並且後期戰鬥小許乏味,多數打昏敵方後用S技碾壓,有點單調。

Soc
Soc

Kuro no Kiseki, the latest entry in the Legend of Heroes series, is an absolute must-play for both longtime fans and newcomers. This game offers a compelling storyline, engaging gameplay, and a vibrant world that will keep players hooked from start to finish.

The narrative takes place in the Calvard Republic, introducing a fresh setting filled with political intrigue and a mysterious underworld. The story unfolds with twists and turns, keeping players captivated and eager to uncover the truth behind the web of secrets.

The gameplay mechanics in Kuro no Kiseki strike a perfect balance between accessibility and depth. The turn-based combat system is intuitive, allowing players to strategize and make tactical decisions. The addition of the "Tactical Link System" adds an extra layer of strategy, making battles even more exciting and rewarding.

The world-building in the game is impressive, with beautifully crafted environments that bring the Calvard Republic to life. The attention to detail in the visuals and character designs is commendable, immersing players in a visually stunning experience.

The soundtrack of Kuro no Kiseki deserves praise as well. The music perfectly complements the atmosphere of each scene, enhancing the overall immersion and emotional impact.

While prior knowledge of the series enhances the experience, newcomers can still enjoy "Kuro no Kiseki" as a standalone game. The developers have ensured that the story is accessible and engaging for all players, making it a great starting point for those new to the "Legend of Heroes" series.

In conclusion, "Kuro no Kiseki" delivers a captivating storyline, engaging gameplay, and a visually stunning world. Whether you're a fan of the series or a newcomer, this game offers an enjoyable and immersive experience that should not be missed.

Elektrolysis
Elektrolysis

The first game in the Calvard arc, Kuro no Kiseki is yet another excellent entry in the Legend of Heroes franchise featuring a new engine and a hybrid combat system featuring action/turn based command all in one. The new engine in particular really feels a lot more fluid, which is particularly evident in cutscenes that feel a lot more dynamic compared to the previous arc. The game is darker than previous arcs featuring a morally gray MC with a tighter cast of characters that are all well developed compared to the bloated Cold Steel roster. That said, the morality system, while interesting in concept, isn't an ideal fit for a linear JRPG franchise such as this so hopefully it is not a thing in the second game of this arc. The soundtrack is as always, great, but I will say that some of the lesser OST's are some of the lowest of lows while the higher quality ones are some of the best I've heard in all the Legend of Heroes games to date. All in all, this is an easy recommendation for any Legend of Heroes fans, even those who were turned off after playing through the Cold Steel games.

Hououin Kyoma
Hououin Kyoma

Another fantastic entry in the Kiseki series. The potential for this chapter in the world of Zemuria is quite high and I'm excited to see where they take it from here. The added lore in this one all but confirms a few theories but leaves more questions than answers as per usual. Characters are great and the story is interesting from start to finish with a few twists and events that I genuinely didn't see coming. Hopefully the localization for Kuro will proceed smoothly once Reverie comes out so western fans won't have to wait too long to experience this one. Falcom once again proving that you don't need AAA budget to make incredible games. I do hope these games continue to sell enough so they can keep improving and molding the series to make it even better. The QoL and graphic improvements are nice and the sheer number of npc's around Calvard make wandering around the cities and villages a joy as they feel more alive than in the past. I had fun seeing all the different variations of character models and animations they had.

TesseracT
TesseracT

Immediately I realize that the gameplay is much greater than its predecessors. The long, relatable conversations remain. YES! Will update my review but based on playing the rest of the series, we are in for their strongest entry yet. Get it...get it NOW! And add me if you need help with translating to english.

Squirrel
Squirrel

After playing through all of the trails game not once that a trails game disappoint me .

Story

This game took place after the great war with Erebonia in the capital of calvard where we play as Van Arkride . The story in this game is doing a good job at introducing the new cast of member and olso at the same time introduce us to the new region that is calvard while olso given us a compelling story to enjoy .

Gameplay

I really like the new gameplay style this game is taking . I really like that they bring back the value system for the orbments with new skills . The spells and s-craft is as flashy as usual . The new on field combat is a first for this series and it works perfectly it changes the way we play this game compare to the old games where the only things that we can do before engage in combat is hitting the enemy in the back and stunning them . In this game you get to actually deal damage to the enemy before engage in turn base combat which is pretty unique and fun .

Im really looking forward to play the next part of kuro no kiseki . Highly recommend for new and old trails fan to try out this game .

Saul Goodman
Saul Goodman

Another amazing game in this series, great port and added turbo which the original ps version didn't have originally.

The addition of an injection patch which allows you to play this game with a great translation in ENG saved my life.

FEGuy
FEGuy

Not the greatest porting job, but still a passable effort. Runs well both on Windows or Linux at 60FPS, and the Steam Deck can usually hold its own at 30FPS. However, some graphical effects will tank the framerate. This version of the game doesn't natively support English, so if you want to play in English before NISA gets around to their port in 2025 or so, you'll have to track down an unofficial patch.

As for the game itself, it still feels like a Trails/Kiseki game while at the same time trying to reinvent the wheel. The core gameplay loop feels pretty similar to the school arcs of the Cold Steel games - do some quests and sidequests around town, hang out with your friends or party members, go to another city and do some quests there, maybe grab a new party member or two, come home, rinse, repeat. Throw in the protagonist's obsession with hot baths and it's almost like nothing's changed.

On the other hand, the combat portion of the game has been largely overhauled. Most generic mobs can be fought and defeated directly on the map, with some light ARPG combat, rather than engaging in full battle, which can become tedious after a while. The turn-based system has also received a facelift, with (limited) free movement around the field, changes to attack ranges, a new link system, and some limits on how you're allowed to spam S-Crafts. Orbments have also received a massive overhaul, potentially the largest since Azure introduced Master Quartz, allowing for more customization, Another new battle mechanic is introduced and used mostly just for boss fights, although it's a much less extreme departure than Cold Steel's entire second battle system.

In terms of tone and plot, the game is mostly fairly standard Trails fare, but it becomes somewhat interesting when factoring in the new alignment-based choice system, which allows a number of sidequests to play out differently and even opens up a number of (only slightly) different story routes for a late-game chapter. A number of familiar faces return; given that this game is set in Calvard, most of them are from the Sky and Crossbell arcs, although Cold Steel fans aren't left entirely out in the cold. If you're worried about the game ending in a cliffhanger, leaving you waiting years for a resolution, don't worry too much - while Kuro 2 is already out and picks up on some plot threads from this game, this game ends on a fairly final note compared to Trails in the Sky FC or the odd-numbered Cold Steel games.

As far as audio and visuals, there's not a whole lot to write about. The game does look pretty nice compared to even the newer Cold Steel games or Hajimari/Reverie, in part thanks to the new engine and UI, but it's still solidly a PS4-level game. The soundtrack is somewhat hit and miss - there're a few bangers and a handful of completely forgettable tracks. The quality of the voice acting is about the same as it has been for the last few games, although a number of players will quickly recognize protagonist Van's voice actor as Daisuke Ono (Jojo's Jotaro, and Umineko's Battler). Overall, though, there's nothing that really sets the game apart from anything that came before it.

Kuro no Kiseki is a moderate change of pace from the earlier games in the series, and frankly it's a pretty welcome one, but it's by no means something new. If you're a fan of the series, it's an easy thumbs-up. If you're not, I don't think this is going to do much to change your mind, although in terms of everything but overuse of anime tropes, I'd still solidly put it above Cold Steel I and II at a bare minimum; if those were your only exposure to the franchise, or your breaking point, I'd say give Kuro a chance, at least when there's a decent sale.

Giliath Osborne
Giliath Osborne

11th entry in the series and so far, best entry point for newcomers

First of all, I would like to thank amazing group of hard working translators (zerofield team) and people who made the patch based on their translation. You did a great job and showed the love and passion for this series.

PC port - this time, Clouded Leopard Entertainment made the port even better, as features like ultrawide support are here, straight out the box. Game runs very well and framerate is solid (if you've played PS4 version, here you won't have FPS issues). Loading times are also minimal and game doesn't really heat up my system, like for example, latest Star Ocean. There is a native support for dualsense, if you have it - no need to worry, it will work.

Game itself - darkest since Azure, with most mature protagonist so far (okay, let's not talk about his obsession with sweets). The whole school/academy setting with romances all over is dropped (FINALLY!), and protagonist character isn't black and white. Some of decisions we have to make during quests can be difficult to pick, but again - it is not Rean, it is not Lloyd or Estelle. Van is balancing on the side of dark and light. And that's one of the reasons why I like him so much.

Story is well paced and interesting. Not to mention, THE BEST introduction of new character to the series (yes, I'm talking about Risette, and her entrance was just golden). It's like Falcom returned to form! Quests are not overwhelming and rather short this time. Everything is shown on the map and it's easy to find.

Gameplay is another aspect where this game shines. At the beginning it was difficult for me to get used to new system, but now, I can't live without it. Mixing field attacks with standard battle system known from the series works perfectly fine. I like all of the additional tweaks included here.
Notable change - there is no fishing this time. But don't worry, you can go to the cinema and watch movies from time to time!

Music - do I have to convince any fan of the series? Okay, it's not peak of JDK, but it's still a solid soundtrack and stands out from the crowd. Check "Unmitigated Evil", "Rise of the Grendel", "Hard Desperation" or "Resonance of Ray" on youtube...you won't be disappointed.

Overall my opinion on Kuro is very high. Definitely better game than Cold Steel arc, character roster is smaller but more fleshed out and if that is direction that Falcom is going now - I am all into it! Solid 9/10

Oh, did I mention Risette? She's just...Falcom knows how to raise my blood pressure!

Zlare
Zlare

Another great jrpg from falcom. It shares the strengths and weaknesses of the other trails of games. The only exception is that gameplay and graphic did really get a nice increase.
If you consider yourself a jrpg fan, than its a must play.

michaellochlann
michaellochlann

The same Trails goodness, with much better graphics on the character models, some interesting new characters, and some very interesting changeups on the mechanics of the quartz in particular that breathe much-needed new life into the well-worn but beloved systems while retaining what made them good. Oh, and about the realtime battles - it's just for trash mobs that you would just only attack anyway, and it adds a little bit of variety and refreshment to the turn-based battle, which you can choose to go into at ANY TIME. So if you're worried about that at all, don't be. As a guy who has played ALL the JRPGs and found most of them to be hot garbage, Kuro is scratching that itch for me just as Cold Steel and Zero did, in ways even Final Fantasy and Tales just can't seem to do these days.

(Very light spoilers may follow.)
20 more hours in, on chapter 3. A little more feedback for the developers.

-Please give the characters (especially villains) more than 1 or 2 personality traits. Especially when multiple titles follow the same formula. For the villains, you have the crazy one, the effeminate one, and the manly one. People aren't a list of traits...they have motivations, and they have roles to play, and what they do is a lot more important and telling. Even Van, who I like and who is pretty well-written, seems to have the repeating trait that he likes sweets. Is that really all there is to say about this guy? The red-haired guy announces twice that's bisexual in his introduction, yet it doesn't seem to impact his life at all. The Jaeger girl has to say Oorah every five seconds to remind you that she's a Jaeger. Etc. This is standard anime/game writing, I understand that, but try breaking out of that mold a little bit. Try writing some characters with layers, like The Wire or Breaking Bad. And no, adding plot twists to a character doesn't count. That's a plot mechanic, not a replacement for a personality. I do like how Van, Agnes, and Elaine are written in general though. They all have a great chemistry together and feel like they really know each other. It reminds me of the great chemistry in Zero.

-When you have 13 year old mercenaries and 16 year old schoolgirls who can fight Mafia enforcers, it breaks immersion. You're not going to hurt the story any by having people be a decent age; in fact, it hurts the story for them to be so young, because Van wouldn't realistically bring them anywhere, and the story acknowledges this and dodges around it constantly. Just make everybody 20 - anime people all look the same anyway, you won't lose any teenagers or preteens. Magic and even giant robots are part of the setting, but the human stuff in any story always needs to be right.

-Add in another attack move button for the realtime combat. While it synergizes well with the turn-based combat, and alleviates some of the boredom of spamming attack or S-craft on easier map enemies, it gets a little repetitive hitting X X X X R2 over and over. Yes, you can dodge, but most of the enemies can't hit you if you run around anyway.

-I enjoy the new skill system with the quartz, however, there doesn't seem to be many useful skills you can get with lower level quartz. Maybe add more weaker skills you can get at the beginning of the game so that the skill system feels more useful. I get excited to spend 480 sepith of each element to unlock the last slot on the character, only to find, the Tier 1 and Tier 2 quartz don't have enough power to get me any more skills, even when I stack them or match them with the other necessary elements.

-Consider adding some more weapon and armor modification stuff, or having some random traits added to weapon/armor drops, like Diablo does. There is no "choice" in the weapon and armor system...you just buy them from the store and upgrade them with U-material. It's a no-brainer to equip the weapon with the highest attack. Diablo, for example, adds random attributes to the weapons, so even if you pick up two of the same one, you have to pick if you want the one that adds poison, or the one that adds speed. This would let you increase weapon and armor drops/chests too without breaking the balance of the game too much.

-I like the new boost system, preventing you from killing the bosses just by spamming S-crafts, and also adding choice of whether to power up the regular attacks or use the S-craft. Though as of Chapter 3, the bosses feel pretty easy - though I am doing all the sidequests.

-A lot of the sidequests lack urgency compared to the main mission, or seem kind of lame or unimportant. For example, helping a guy find his bike. Even as part of the main plot, it was a groaner moment. As an example, Ghost of Tsushima has a ton of sidequests, but they all tie into the main conflict of helping the people of Tsushima get rid of the Mongol invasion. So every sidequest feels related to the main story and feels important. Because so many Trails games focus on being "general problem-solvers" rather than being laser-focused on the main antagonists and main conflict, it makes a lot of the games feel like filler and takes them a while to heat up or get to the "good" parts. It also makes the main conflict sometimes feel disjointed as it only shows up in small pieces amidst all the unrelated sidequests. Try to relate your sidequests to the main conflict/story as much as you can, and perhaps more importantly, try to keep their stakes relatively high so they don't feel like busy work. Helping an old guy teach a karate class was NOT what I was excited to see when I got hired by the Heiyue syndicate to wipe out the enemy mob.

-Can we stop also the anime/game tradition of having the problems solved by the character yelling out an emotional monologue. The entire end of Chapter 2 had my eyes hard rolling into the back of my head.

-Also can we stop just having characters randomly turn into monsters or get superpowers with no explanation, leadup or reflection afterwards. Again, it's an anime/game thing, but it's just poor writing. To me Van was way cooler before he turned into a monster. Same thing with the redhaired guy. The characters are already strong and cool, they don't need some arbitrary thing pulled out of nowhere added to them. We also like to see characters EARN their abilities, too, by the way, not get them randomly for no reason. Rean getting the Sword Master thing was a lot more satisfying than seeing him turn into the monster at random times or randomly get a giant robot.

-Finally, please translate these games faster for the west. You can just translate the text and then do the voices in a later DLC - I'm sure most of the fans would be fine with that. You're leaving money on the table and driving fans crazy when you only release the game in Japan and don't translate it for several years. If your existing translation company is too busy...you know there ARE other companies right?

This game is still scratching my "Good JRPG" itch that seems like it can never be scratched anymore. I just wish the writing in Trails games in general was a little more realistic, particularly in regards to the characters, and a little less over-the-top, melodramatic, anime/game style. The moments where it IS realistic, like Elaine's dialogues with Van, or Van's dialogues with Yume and the mom, really suck me in and make me feel like these are real people that I can relate to and follow closely.

also, maybe have S crafts be on their own bar, like a limit break, which they essentially. are. And have them be available far less. I barely use the Crafts because I'm saving for the S Craft, and then I spam S crafts and win the game. Separating S crafts and normal crafts into their own resource pool would encourage us to use the normal crafts (and arts) more and bring much needed strategy into a game. Strategy = choice. The s craft for healing is also (always) broken. The only time I had trouble was without Agnes

Closenq
Closenq

first entry into the new arc and an absolute banger.
revamped combat system that feels rlly satisfying to play.
characters u can fall in love with once again, a whole new region to explore taht only got talked about before.
it feels good to be a trails fan.
i cant wait to play crimson sin and see how it develops.
a great experience through and through.

HawaiianBuffaloCollector
HawaiianBuffal…

Game is great. Great protag, great cast. Fun new battle system. Great new best girl (Elaine).

Port is decent for how quick it was (big improvement over the disaster that was their Hajimari port). Only a couple of pop-in issues on fast travel.

EN patch is great. Credit to CLE, Zerofield (RIP) and some randos on 4chan for doing in a year what official localizers are gonna take 3 to do.

Reii
Reii

Finally, the game that got me into the entire TRAILS series. I saw a random video about Kuro no Kiseki on youtube last year and the gameplay was fascinating, the graphic, the bgm/voice, the combat system etc. KNK just released and was available for JP players only, so I got disappointed a little bit but then I saw the CN trailers and thought it was coming and my chance is here, but little did I know that it was only for PS4 version and my hope was totally shattered.

Until April 2022, once again, I saw the trailer on youtube and thought it was weird to see the trailer up again, but at the end of the video, IT SAID ITS GOING TO BE RELEASE ON STEAM. God help me, I got so hype and instantly wishlisted KNK on steam and waited until today. Finally, I can play till I die. (But then there's KNKII: CRIMSON SiN...)

Of course while waiting for KNK releases, I did some research and found out that KNK has sequels and unexpectedly, a bunch of them: The Sky series, the Azure/Zero series, the Sen series. I decided to buy the Sen series to get to know a little bit about the world building but oh gosh, it was amazing, I was speechless when I finished the quadrilogy of Sen no Kiseki. The story is so unforgettable, but sad news is that Trails into Reverie (which is the final game of Sen no Kiseki?) does not have an EN translation yet, coming out on 2023. I decided to hop on into this one first, Kuro no Kiseki which will most likely distract my attention until Trails into Reverie comes out.

I would like to say that I am kinda braindead guy when it comes to gaming stuff, so is it worth to buy this game? Well yeah, I am gonna tell you that I enjoyed it's prequels and I definitely will love this one even more because it's the game that got me into this whole rabbit hole. Try it yourself, you will like it for sure, I guarantee. When I finished it, it's time to wait for Trails into Reverie and Kuro no Kiseki II: CRIMSON SiN.

Joe
Joe

云豹这次终于没翻车了,进游戏很顺畅, 目前没出什么幺蛾子。超过1080p,贴图正常没模糊,21:9正常。唯一的缺点就是不能超过60fps,改配置文件也没用。

道具的DLC就别买了,等修改器吧。

通关回评: 这次绝对好评,剧情有零的水平,毕竟第一做不能搞太多。着一做终于死人加各种开车了。支线任务有点烦人,终章战斗有点烦人,但是最后剧情还是很不错的。坐等黎2了。

不能理解为什么本作销量轨迹最差, 是不是因为PS4的体验太差?

Vighkael
Vighkael

THE BEST!!! KURO NO KISEKI AND ALL TRAILS GAMES ARE THE BEST!!! :DDDDDDD

IF YOUR A HARDCORE JRP FAN, THIS IS A MUST PLAY AND ALL OF THE OTHER TRAILS GAMES!! OTHERWISE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR MISSING OUT ON!!!

10/10!!!!

Aevis
Aevis

First glance review of the port.

The sprite in the equipment menu is missing in the resolution tab. (Blurry mess)
That sprite looks like it only has Full HD 1080 and forgot the existence of higher resolution.

Normal game mode when moving around, the graphic models looks a little blur, i guess there is a hidden depth of field in place where players cannot change.

No borderless display, only full screen and window mode, anti liasing with only FXAA, SSAO and SSR.
FPS highest available 60 FPS, screen resolution can at least go up to 2k and it has 21:9 and 16:9 display.

No sudden FPS drop observed yet

Conclusion:
Not recommended if you are waiting for the english release.
Recommended if you do not want to wait for years on the english port.
This feels like the PS5 release with FPS being fixed and resolution fixed (PS4 release has very unstable FPS). But menu resolution is weird, not sure if it happens to PS5 players too.

Hopefully NIS can hasten up their release with better quality.

Edit - Update:
Gameplay 9/10
They have revamp the gameplay system entirely, and with the achievement system rewards, the pacing of nightmare gameplay is very smooth now. No more endless hours of grinding the same map for materials to upgrade equipment.
Instead the difficulty is reflected on the battle itself which should have been the case for past entries.

For the first 2 chapters, def and evade stack has been nerf and arts that is way too overpower has been reduced. (the moon shield thingy, no more magic and physical def up + magic reflect, best buff in past series)

Orbment system change allow arts and skills to be mixed and match.

Story 8/10
Better than previous trails of cold steel as the cast is more lively but certain side quest and story still lack logic.
Nevertheless this is one of the better entry in the series.

pmemer
pmemer

Once again, I have to thank CLE for quickly porting this game to PC. It's nice to have a publisher that treats these games with respect and also sells them at a decent price, unlike NISA. But we all know NISA sucks already so I'll stop there.

Port wise, this is a massive improvement over Hajimari. FPS is still locked to 60 FPS (as expected) but the image is much crisper at higher resolutions, it runs better, it lacks a lot of the bugs and loading issues Hajimari had. Overall it's a solid, well made PC port by most standards. Even has ultrawide support which was a nice surprise.

As for the game itself. it's a nice change of pace compared to previous titles. The story is nice and portrays a different side of the Trails universe as you play as someone who walks the line of legality. It's a massive improvement over Cold Steel in terms of writing as the core cast of characters is smaller and more well developed, the protagonist is a lot better and there are ACTUAL STAKES. Just to give you an idea, within the first hour or so of the game, someone gets their throat cut open by the mafia. Can you imagine anything like that happening in Cold Steel? It seems Falcom learned from their mistakes with this one

The gameplay is different too. Combat starts out in Ys style action combat, and you press a button to switch into turn based. Outside of boss fights, you can switch between turn based and action any time you want. The point is to speed the game up a bit. You are recommended to use action combat for small enemies, and turn based for bigger/stronger enemies and bosses. The new orbment system feels like a bit of downgrade over what we had in Cold Steel/Hajimari, but everything else is an improvement so it's not a big deal.

Overall, another solid game (from what I've played). Of couse, my review or any other doesn't matter because if you've made it this far into the series, you're probably going to play this regardless.

davidsherry11
davidsherry11

请大家一定把画质调到高,否则贴图会一团糟。游戏的动作水平比之前高了不止一个档次,闪轨菲和劳拉的决斗都算大制作,创轨的打戏有提升,但也是中规中矩,结果黎轨里面打戏超厉害,而且还有高速公路飙车,提升真的很明显!

NessKarma
NessKarma

IF YOU'RE AFRAID OF THE WORDS PEAK FICTION, GOAT, RAW, FIRE, THEN DONT PLAY THIS GAME
yeah its peak lol cant wait for kuro 2

Erratic
Erratic

There is an English patch out in the wild, so do not wait for this to be localized. Otherwise, don't expect to play this until around 2024 or later.

Anyway.

Now that I've finished the game, I can confidently say it's my favorite game in the series, in my opinion. Just like with previous Kiseki titles, the world-building continues to be stellar.

Van, the protagonist, is a breath of fresh air for me. He's very wise, pragmatic, and goofy all in one. Without going into too much detail, his perspective on things is a welcome change compared to someone like Rean or Lloyd.

With this being a new Arc, there are, of course, changes to the combat system. Combat consists of an action phase and command phase (Turn-based), with the idea being to stun your enemies and then swap to command mode to burst them down. Overall, I greatly enjoy the new changes to the combat system, though some things need more work (the UI is atrocious).

I can't recommend this one enough. If you're a fan, you need to hurry up and take the dive!

Skaven Yes-yes
Skaven Yes-yes

黎之轨迹评价
2022.8.1
只能说可惜最后一章究极拉胯,让我都没啥心情写评价了。到最后一章之前我都觉得这一作的故事站起来了,摆脱了闪轨以来的战力崩坏和谜语人叙事,结果最后一章打完当我没说。。。删了最后一章这部将绝杀

1.角色塑造很不错(最后一章除外)

最后一章之前,主角是一个有能力的普通人,很适合玩家视角。主角在各地到处跑,解决不同的问题,遇见不同的帮手。每个帮手都有独立的章节,因此也性格各异,不像闪轨那么同质化。而各色配角也给我留下了比较深刻的印象,不管是新角色还是老朋友。有不少前作的角色在这部打酱油,比较遗憾的是戏份不算太多。整部剧情的高光可能是金和瘦狼的两次黑芒街比武,非常有轨迹特色,笑出声。

而最后一章的走向引出了一个巨大的问题,主角的过去。与此相关的是主角的儿时好友三人组,这两个朋友对主角的过去有着重大影响,但从头到尾都没细讲发生了什么。最后一章之前,我一直想的是,“这两个人确实不在主角团里面,这一作的故事确实和主角的过去无关,可能过去的故事会在下一作有解释吧。”到最后一章,surprise,主角的过去才是剧情的关键。。。更无语的是,最后游戏里所有角色好像都知道点什么,但全憋着,就玩家完全不明白发生了啥,站在最终boss面前才开始说,啊过去怎样怎样。体验极差。

2.战斗创新很多,是个好的框架,还需加更多细节

战斗可以说有极大创新,不管是伊苏式的动作还是原本的回合制内容。回合制比起创轨非常完善、算得上臃肿的系统来说简化了不少,配回路的系统又回来了,很不错。最惊喜的是对于 移动 这个指令的处理,变成了任意调整位置加上其他行动,对于整个玩法的改变很大。比较可惜的是整个战斗系统还只是个框架,没有很多可以研究的内容,希望之后有改观吧。

最大的问题在于敌人的重复程度吧,就那么几个敌人翻来覆去每章打,最后一章拉所有人再打一次,这是否有点。。。

黎轨上pc的时间恰好和异度神剑3冲突了,现在我还没怎么玩异度3,不过已经被异度的超长播片折磨到了。不知道相比之下如何。异度2的战斗绝对是jrpg中最好的之一,但整个异度2的游戏节奏、剧情、养成太扯淡,可惜。对我来说黎轨对于移动指令的处理可以算是回合制的未来,像ff7re直接转动作了有些遗憾,ff16应该也不是回合制的吧。

我电脑上现在有空轨sc,3rd,创轨和黎轨,如果我评价感觉黎轨好像要垫底hhh

ArkadicCal
ArkadicCal

Looking for the Injection patch but cant find it? https://mega.nz/folder/AYthzT6C#CzegMJ8nUEDi3HhsqYd2Aw ,you can either use this link or go to 4Chan and find it there, its the same link!

Directions
1.Download the ENG Patch only
2.Make it into a Zip file
3.Open the Kuro no Kiseki files (you can use steam to find the local files)
4.Copy and paste whats INSIDE the ENG PATCH Folder into the Kuro no Kiseki files and then hit Replace
5.Play the game and enjoy

Not all side Npc's are translated as they only focused the main story and side mission stuff so unless u want a full translation you want the ZeroField Overlay but that has text over the in game text.

Edit: They are still working on Translating the game so eventually the injection patch will translate everything

Edit#2: ZeroField Overlay has been shut down unfortunately so i would recommeded updating the game often to ensure you get as much things translated before the injection patch might get removed

Ransetsu
Ransetsu

Honestly, what can I say? This new Arc was truly spectacular and a fresh breath of air since the previous iterations and I can see that they have taken quite a different approach in this game's theme, making it certainly unique and charming in its own way.

Honestly, while I do find some minor faults here and there regarding the current Orbment system (which I still haven't fully grasped) as well the villain's motives feels kind of shallow (which I hope to be rectified in the upcoming Kuro 2).

Obviously other than the enticing storytelling, the thing that stands out to me the most is the new cast which I enjoy learning about a lot, and most notably, Van, who is easily one of my favorite MC as his perspective and stance is unique that is not often seen elsewhere. From my perspective, this definitely also had moments that made me laugh, surprised, shocked, shudder and so on, and its no exaggeration to say that I'm so looking forward to the sequel.

ExtremelyTired
ExtremelyTired

"So if you're not a fan of the words, PEAK FICTION, GOAT, RAW, FIRE, click off the review. Cause those are gonna come up 50 times in here man"

jameymcrandall
jameymcrandall

I've been a fan of the Legend of Heroes series for years now, ever since they started coming out in English. This one is introduces some new changes tot he traditional combat system and menu systems that i really like. Falcom has even started using they're own graphics engine which looks really nice! If you're a fan of the series, and have been along for the ride this whole time, you'd be silly to skip this one! I highly recommend it!

\o/
\o/

The best trails game so far in my opinion.

+ Van, the protagonist this time around isn't lawful good like Estelle, Lloyd, or Rean are and is more neutral aligned.

+ Storywise, as many others have said have a darker tone than what trails games usually have and has killed more side characters than any other trails game.

+ An alignment system has been added. Van will have different alignments depending on player choices during side and main story quests. While this has no major impact, it decides who you can choose to ally yourself with in chapter 5, who comes to help you in a cutscene before the last dungeon, and you need to have an alignment at level 5 if you want to fight its respective boss in the final dungeon (each boss drops an ore that you can craft into the bis weapon for a character).

+ Combat is majorly revamped and feels a lot more modern. Enemies feel less hp spongy and deal more damage, resulting in faster paced combat. The overpowered order system has also been removed, enemy S breaks are a lot more threatening. A couple bosses will also use their S breaks multiple times and one of them spams it every 2 or so turns

+ You now not only have to take the stats/effects of quarts into consideration as each quartz has elemental values that will "unlock" different passive effects depending on the line you put it in. If you've played the Sky trilogy, it's exactly that but with passive effects instead of arts.

+/- A new "achievement" like system that rewards players with sepith mass, U-mats, and certain rare quartz added. However, the chance of sepith dropping quartz and master quartz do not exist (the sepith turn bonus and bonus sepith upon killing enemies quartz still exist though).

- Arts are still largely dominant as certain ones have an extremely high combo count(which has a damage bonus multiplier up to 2.5 times depending on your combo), cannot miss, and most importantly, the drive line has that overpowered arc feather follow up attack that not only deal a ton of damage, has a high combo, has a chance to delay, and will hit every single enemy the art itself has hit. This meant "meta" changed from the arts spamming we had in hajimari to arts spamming to get your combo multiplier high then s break to finish it off.

- You can expect to "recruit" a new character every chapter. This kinda makes it so that you won't get to play around with some of the characters as much as you would like to.

Flan
Flan

Just chilling in the game...
I still didn't beat the game yet.
But holy god, I LOVE the gameplay so far, mix between Ys and cs are mega superb.

Dethstroak
Dethstroak

I've finished the game and I can say I was very skeptical going into this game after CS4 and Hajimari, but Kuro has been such a breath of fresh air.

It's up there between Zero and Azure in terms of my enjoyment of the game. 100% recommend

Jimmy FireCracker
Jimmy FireCracker

came for the big tiddied and big ass waifus got a chad MC and a great story 10/10 would masturbate to again

dolen
dolen

my overall rating 8.5/10

Music: 10/10 - trails music never disappoint

Story: 7.5/10 - I would personally rate this low because I really want a bit more answers by the end of story even though it did answer major plot point, but as a common rule for trail games, the first game into the arc is usually more about world building and characters, so I think it's acceptable.

Pacing: 9/10 - this game has a lot of side quests, that might sounds overwhelming, but In my opinion, those side quests are done much better than any other trails game overall, and I don't feel bored switching between main and side quests.

Gameplay: 8/10 - the combat difficulty is probably on the easier side compare to past series, but it has some good improvements. such as you can move and attack on the same turn.

Character development: 9.5/10 - this is pretty common rating for trails game, and kuro is no exception.

Recrees
Recrees

Overall, this is a solid start to a new Trails arc that serves as a great introduction to the new set of characters for the future entries, but underdelivers story-wise.

First off, Kuro has a brand new engine that unfortunately isn't a massive step up visually from the previous entries, but there are some improvements to the fighting system that are welcome. Especially ability to fight enemies outside the turn-based system more akin to the Ys franchise is a great change of pace, and eliminates some really tedious grind that you had to deal with in the previous entries. Admittedly, very simplistic in nature, but still a very welcome change.

However, the strongest point for Kuro are without a doubt It's characters. These are a vast improvement over the Cold Steel arc. All of the main cast you'll encounter are lovely folks that I'm looking forward to spend more time with, however the same can't be said about the villains that fall completely flat and overall felt very two dimensional. Credit I think also should go for the side quests, that usually have interesting premise, and tend to be unique and enjoyable enough to be worth completing this time around.

Which leads to more unfortunate part of the game that is the story.
Before playing the game I heard lots of praise about It's supposed darker tone compared to the other games, but beyond few deaths that never felt substantial enough for me to genuinely care beyond a surface level, I genuinely struggle to find this supposed darker tone. Plus, the story peaks too early, and overall the stakes did not feel interesting enough for me to really get invested in. This also isn't helped by somewhat horrendous pacing, which brings me to my important point - the final chapter. I'll keep this spoiler free, but this might be one of the most boring, tedious finales to a video game I've ever seen. And I can't shake off the feeling the developers had two different endings in mind, and for some reason they decided to go for both... in subsequent chapters... huh? It's an unfortunate mark on an otherwise perfectly enjoyable game.

Despite that, Kuro is still a fun game that does not try to reinvent the franchise, but brings couple of meaningful improvements and lovely cast of characters alongside a story that you will probably forget in 2 minutes.

Aru
Aru

One of the best of Legend of Heroes series. You can even start this as your first game into the series.

K4153R
K4153R

It has a better story than cold steel and also a better main character, Rean was a fine character for the first two cold steel but i found that he becomes annoying in the 3rd and 4th game, Van is an amazing main character his interaction with the rest of the character feels natural and funny at times, and he himself has an interesting backstory.

The game also feels more mature than cold steel which i really like since i found cold steel especially the 4th one doesn't make sense at all at times, the concept of a grey protagonist and not a full hero was also what contribute to my positive review on the game, Van has a lot of interaction with both side of society the good and the bad which makes the story feels alive and believable since his role is a fixer.

LastSharpTiger
LastSharpTiger

New arc for the Trails series, and a refresh of the various mechanics. Some are good, some I'd have preferred to stick with the older ones. Still, it's a good place to jump into the series, as arc-starting games are, and I'd encourage those who are hesitant to do so. Some say you have to play it in release order, and while I think that's a great way to do it, I'm not nearly so strict. Get stuck into Trails with the start of any of the arcs and then work forwards or backwards from there!

DJ Pierce
DJ Pierce

I finished this game on the the PS5 with the overlay translation, so I'm just doing a replay here with the amazing injection patch. So this short review will just be about my thoughts on the story and characters

After thinking about it, I can say without a doubt this is my favorite first story arc game in the series thus far, (dethroning Zero in the process) and exactly the sort of direction I've wanted them to take the series in for awhile now. The writers seemed to have finally gotten the hint of their mistakes in the Cold Steel saga, because there were quite a few moments that were really shocking. The main party members were all really likeable, and had their great moments.

Van was also really refreshing as a protagonist. He's a good guy, but also isn't a starry-eyed youth that thinks everyone can/should be saved/forgiven. He has his fun quirks (mega sweet tooth, car nut, sauna lover) that is a nice offset to the darker more serious vibe he gives. He looks out for others but in more subtle ways and helps guide the outcome rather than sticking his neck into every problem.

As for gameplay, I was a bit skeptical on the idea of an action battle system in trails at first. But it's really fun once I got used to it, it's a bit limited rn because falcom's obviously just testing the waters, but it has potential to be something more.

4.5/5

Decaptcher
Decaptcher

I wish they added support for obliterating cats. I swear...If I have to go through another lost cat quest...

I was skeptical at first since I've rashed Hajimari due to the overlay (Super awesome, but also a chore, especially in battle).

I'm playing Kuro with the ENG patch and don't regret it, beats waiting two years (Will also support the translations when they come out).

I like the story so far. Is more mature, which is a breath of fresh air for the series, so I hope they keep taking risks.

Is a good entry point for first timers?

Kinda. You can certainly enjoy it, but there are plenty of references to previous entries. I think the story will have more impact for you knowing the characters backgrounds. In that regard, I think that Cold Steel 1 might be a better entry point for newcomers if the graphics of Sora No Kiseki or Zero No Kiseki (Which are awesome games) discourage you.

Blue
Blue

Story

Calvard In the city of Edith, a young man known as Van Arkride works as a Spriggan in his Arkride Solution Office, which is a mix of a bounty hunter and detective. One day, Van is approached by Agnes Claudel, a high school student. That leads him, and the player, to face the dark side of the Republic; murders, mafias, corruption, strange experiments, nationwide threats.

Characters

Van is easily fresh and smart move as MC in the series now, and I really like the main cast in general. Story really highlights all the "darker tune" for main cast. They're not allies of justice, but they can be cooperated with on rational terms depending on goal alignment. I wasn't sure what to think of returning cameo characters, but I ended up really liking them too because they are not the spotlight thing in this story.

Areas & Music

Calvard is actually a really interesting setting, one spot in particular is probably my favorite town area in the entire series. Music is one of the best what trails games have.

Combat

Its fresh and fast in Kuro no Kiseki, you actually roam and fight like in a Ys game, with direct strikes and sidesteps, until the moment when you decide to deploy what is called the Shard, a tactical zone where the battle shifts to turn-based control.

I played this on Nightmare mode and now difficult mod

Kuro alleviates a lot of the issues I had with Cold Steel, and even some of the major ones I had with Sky and Crossbell. This game has best opening arc to new story in any The Legend of Heroes games
10/10 Good job Falcom!! + Fuck you NIS America.

vincentcch12
vincentcch12

Yes it's a great game and a refresh story line for the series, interesting new characters and lovely old faces. Better battle system but lack of variety of enemies / monsters. Story almost perfect unfortunately down by last chapter where the final scenes is kind of anti-climax and obviously feels too familiar liked trails of cold steel (Big bad boss trauma).

As for the PC port it really should have been better, Cloud leopard should add more quality of life (e.g. better anti-aliasing and 120 FPS). This is the only reason where I could not recommend for this version unless for those long time fan liked myself who wanted to support Falcom.

Do appreciate the publisher to bring this game to PC, still...It really could have been better experiences

Bri
Bri

Great game in the series- it's a better experience overall than the trails of cold steel series, having a more mature protagonist helps, and the new battle system (while not perfect) is pretty good and makes the game more enjoyable! Story is top notch, characters are interesting, great start to a new series!

Don't hold out hope for an english release, it'll be years (might as well just buy this version)

Nuage
Nuage

best game since ao no kiseki
not as good as sky/crossbell arc but still a lot better than coldsteel
thanks to CLE for this great port and for allowing me to play this game in english thanks to a fan-translation.

wcpex
wcpex

Better than Sen No Kiseki
Still rooms to be improved
Especially the last chapter

Ignis
Ignis

Excellent addition to the trails series and a major step up in writing from the cold steel games, will note I have not play CS4 yet but doubt it will do much to raise my opinion of Rean the walking friendship speech. Van is a fantastic protagonist and the story so far has not dragged, just started chapter 4. The party members so far are much more interesting that the over crowded Class 7 of the first two games and still a step above the new Class 7 of CS3. Did play this through a fan translated english patch but have had a great time and absolutely love the changes to combat making it feel quicker and more fun as well as the changes to the quarts system. Would strongly recommend for any fan of the series .

MetaLmonEmblem
MetaLmonEmblem

goat raw peak fiction and more etc etc

25chestnut
25chestnut

Another fantastic outing for the Kiseki franchise, of the entry titles for an arc, its definitely shines bright. The only real gripe I have is with the gameplay. A fair amount of consolidation among previous staple mechanics and outright removal/trimming of a lot of fat. Overall I think the gameplay is still solid and I like how they are evolving the field mechanics, but if you were to contextualize it with Hajimari. Kuro unfortunately is a major step back. Though overall, its still a phenomenal game that I can't recommend enough for any Kiseki game and narratively it is a breath of fresh air after the Coldsteel/Hajimari saga. 25/25 Chestnuts

sevynwarr
sevynwarr

Has anyone gotten this to work on Steam Deck? If so, what settings did you tweak to get it to boot up?

Edit: I got it running on Steam Deck by deleting the Xaudio9.dll file from the main game folder, and running it on Proton Experimental.

Anyway, I mean, if you're 11 games into this series, you're going to buy and play it regardless of what I say about it. The game has a much needed graphics and gameplay overhaul. The characters are fun, the story is intriguing, and leaving Erebonia and Crossbell (as much as I love them) behind for somewhere new is like a breath of fresh air. Also, it's a really refreshing change of pace to finally have another morally ambiguous protagonist after so many goody two-shoes. The last one was Kevin like 7 games ago.

I installed the 8/28/22 version of the English patch, so far I've run into 1 or 2 NPCs that were untranslated, and a few random untranslated lines in the main story, nothing big. but everything else is great. Menus, items, tutorials, notebook, side quests, everything except books/newspapers seem to be done. The quality of this patch is a bit higher than the Hajimari one, I think. Fewer typos, less clunky translation, etc. Admittedly, I haven't played much, but what I have has been very well done. I could kiss whoever got this patch up and running so quickly, so I don't have to wait 2-4 years for NIS America to get around to it.

regalia
regalia

Friendship ended with NIS America. Now CLE is my new best friend.

dbarr42
dbarr42

One of the best Trails games IMO, solid cast, good ost, great worldbuilding, and nice darker story than the previous games. Also a pretty solid port by CLE, playable with the separate English patch. Can't wait to play Crimson SiN! (whenever that may be)

wings
wings

One of my favourite trails games thus far, having played all of Sky and Cold Steel, this entry is right in the middle between those two for me in terms of how much I like them.

Highly recommended even for those who are new to the Trails series, this is a very solid entry point to get you interested into the series, although it might be a bit rough to go back to older graphics and game play styles of the older games afterwards.

C Man
C Man

props to CLE for being able to translate this game in 2 other languages and then port it to PC before NISA's able to port a psp game

Audrey
Audrey

Just play it with english patch from mega now u can save up to 2 year waiting. p.s fk NISA, CLE our friend

Ztekor
Ztekor

Ive played almost all of the entries in the trails series and in my opinion Kuro no Kiseki is overall the best trails game in the series so far. Although the story is in my opinion pretty average, the overall execution is considerably better than the few previous entries and Kuro no Kiseki has by far the best story pacing in the series. Van is undoubtedly the best trails protagonist also at least imo. He's full of personality and is WAY LESS CHEESIER THAN previous protagonists. Kuro no Kiseki also has a wide range of likeable and good side characters and returning characters, it is not an exaggeration that Kuro no Kiseki has the best side characters in the series. Gameplay is also really refreshing compared to how all the previous entries plays out. they changed a lot of mechanics and introduced new ones. The gameplay is definitely one of its strong points. That said, although the main casts are all likeable the story itself (atleast so far) havent put much into delving their individual stories and developments, since this entry mostly focuses on Van and Agnes. The soundtrack although amazing like always, also has a few shortcomings where some can be really good and some really bad.

Pros
-Main character
-Side characters
-Gameplay (Field action, LGC Alignment System, etc)
-Pacing
-Writing

Neutral
-Story (Although i like the direction they are going for in this entry)
-Soundtrack (Inconsistent)

Cons
-No english release at least for now
-Times where it felt like they refer to past games only for the sake of it
-Graphics (Although still looks really nice it really falls behind on current generation graphics)

Score: 9/10

Stєphαиє Guєиєttє
Stєphαиє Guєиєttє

Love the changes to the battle system, so far so good!
All Japanese JRPGs should come out with english dialog subs for people who like subbed over dubbed.
Thank you to the translators out there!

Aeon
Aeon

I finished the game in 74 hours with the English fan-made patch! I played Trails of Cold Steel 1/2, but honestly I find this game to be superior to those games. The plot for this game is darker than I expected, which was a pleasant surprise. The characters are memorable (despite leaning on many anime tropes). Although playing previous Legend of Heroes games probably would give you a greater appreciation of the lore, I feel like as someone who only played TOCS 1/2 and nothing else, this is still a decent entry point. I highly recommend giving this game a try!