Nihon Falcom’s JRPG series The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel has found a passionate audience in both Japan and western markets. Focusing on a band of military school cadets, the squad faces off against ever-growing threats across a wartorn land, while slowly building up their skills in combat and forming greater bonds of friendship. While Trails of Cold Steel 3 dropped for PlayStation 4 in the west last October, NIS America has revealed to GameSpot that the series will be making its debut on the Nintendo Switch next year.
Coming sometime in Spring 2020, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 will launch on the Nintendo Switch in the U.S. and Europe ahead of the Japan release–which is something of a first for the franchise. Earlier this year, Nihon Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo stated that he hoped to get more games on the Nintendo’s portable console following the Switch release of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Published by NIS America, a Switch demo for Trails of Cold Steel 3 will also be available shortly around the time of the game’s launch.
Now Playing: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 Dungeon Gameplay On Switch
We recently spent some time with the Switch port and saw how the third game had made the transition to the new platform. In comparison to its PlayStation 4 counterpart; The Switch version runs at a locked 720p resolution and 30 frames-per-second in both docked and undocked modes. Just like the PS4 release, the Switch version of Trails of Cold Steel 3 will also launch with special editions of the game. With the Extracurricular Edition, you’ll get the base game, a 20-page art book, and a reversible cover. Whereas with the Thors Academy Edition, it comes with everything in the previous collection, along with a box set including a steelbook, game soundtrack, postcards, and a Mishy plushie. All versions of the game, including the standard release, will also have all Trails of Cold Steel 3 DLC items packed in as well.
Though the west just got the third entry in the series, the final entry–Trails of Cold Steel 4–has been out in Japan for over a year. As of this time, the developers at Falcom are already looking ahead with the Legends of Heroes franchise, teasing a new storyline focusing on another group of characters. Just before the western PS4 release of Trails of Cold Steel 3, GameSpot spoke with Kondo about the JRPG series, and why it takes so long to release the games in the west.
“As creators, we would love for everybody to be able to play the game as soon as possible but the reality is, because these [games] are so story focused, we’re actually still fiddling with the text up until the very end, and we won’t let localization partners work on it until it’s complete,” said Kondo. “These games are known for their very luminous stories, and it takes a long time to translate. This one, for example, has 2.4 million Japanese characters, and it just takes time.”
For more on Trails of Cold Steel 3, including our full interview with Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo, be sure to check back with GameSpot for more on the game.
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