OP
OP
Yeah Trails From Zero is the first time it's really worth being excited about the series for newcomer Switch fans which is why it is a big deal. Cold Steel III and Cold Steel IV are basically the Avengers Infinity War and End Game of the series and were thus horrible places for newcomers to start and why they went largely unrecommended. I do think sadly we will not be getting Cold Steel and Cold Steel II on Switch because Falcom had a messy fallout with XSeed who handled those two games in the West. The Switch versions were handled by another company too, not Falcom themselves, so there's even less incentive for XSeed.
Trails From Zero however is the start of the second story arc of the series and is the most standalone game in the series aside from Trails in the Sky. While it forms a duology with its sequel, Trails to Azure, Zero is surprisingly self contained. The games are set in the fictional continent of Zemuria that is undergoing a technological revolution which leads to upheaval between nations. Zero and Azure cover the Crossbell nation state that is wedged in between two superpowers, the Empire of Erebonia to the West and the Republic of Calvard to the East. Trails From Zero tells the story of Crossbell's Special Support Section, a unique division of their police department, coming together for its first major case and does not end with a big cliffhanger of any sort. There are characters from the first few games who show up, but its not essential to the experience that you've played them, even though obviously there's cool stuff for having played the first three games. Seriously it is about 98+% new characters versus less than 2% returning.
In general for the series, the Trails games are the closest thing to the SNES and PS1 JRPG classics I loved growing up. If you love turn based combat systems. which here is like a mix of Final Fantasy X, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy Tactics, and really getting to know characters and the world they inhabit, Trails is absolutely worth checking out. If you end up liking Zero, Azure the sequel should be coming early next year and is overall one of the best in the series, and then you can always go backwards and forwards from there to enjoy the greater saga. The old games in particular will run on basically any PC / laptop from the last few years no sweat.
Edit: If this helps the series greater order is Trails in the Sky, Sky SC, Sky the Third, Trails From Zero, Trails To Azure, Trails of Cold Steel, Cold Steel II, Cold Steel III, Cold Steel IV, Trails into Reverie, Kuro No Kiseki, Kuro No Kiseki II. Boundless Trails is thus far an unconnected spin off.
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