The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Great messages: Be yourself, be loyal, friendships are important, be brave in times of trouble, don't kill the bad guys if you can help it, be appropriate Great role models: The characters are all very different, all with touching backstories. While everyone has some sort of flaw, they still try their best to work past their differences to save their world. Ease of play: Gameplay is rather challenging, but once you find a good method, it's not particularly difficult. The plot is very involved, but because the game is only partially voiced, there is a lot of reading involved. Violence: A couple characters do die, though no deaths are explicit. When enemies are defeated, they disappear in a flash of light. The protagonists are very careful not to kill the villains, although they may have to point a gun at them to make sure they behave. There is no gore, and blood looks like spilled soda - a bit unrealistic. Some characters have very violent backgrounds, and violent images in black and white are shown sometimes when a character is speaking of their background. However, when speaking of their past, almost all the characters explain that without that hardship, they would not be the person they were that day. Characters use swords, magical staffs, lances, guns, bows, and they control giant robots. Sex: There are a few innuendos, and two main characters have a bit of a rough start because they find themselves in an awkward position. One female character does tend to flirt with the other female characters, but she is a minor character, and the other characters never respond to her words in a positive way. Female breast size is mentioned, but it is not an ongoing subject. The girls' school uniforms have slightly shorter skirts, but nothing can be seen. Swearing: Characters do use the word d**n when something does go terribly wrong, and a character was called a "pompous a**" twice. One villain uses s**t toward the end of the game. D**n is spread a bit throughout the game, but considering the game has approximately 120 parts in it that each take more than three hours to complete, it is infrequent. Like real people, some characters swear more than others, while some never swear in the entire game. For example, characters with kind dispositions tend to swear less than snarky characters or villains. Consumerism: there are many references to characters and events from past games, Trails in the Sky (they talk about Cassius Bright and the Bracer Guild) and Trails of Zero (they talk about the Special Support Section during the annexation of Crossbell). Drinking/drugs/smoking: There are references to drinking, as Class VII's homeroom teacher, Instructor Sara, does drink in her free time, but she never shows up drunk in the game, and even if she does and I just failed to notice, she acts the same, maybe just a bit exaggerated - hilarious, witty, and talented. Overall: Everything mentioned above may make the game sound a bit harsh, but in all honesty, the game would lose its touch without some of those parts. The protagonists all have good intentions, even if they make mistakes, like all humans do, making many of the characters very relatable. Some of the dialogue is absolutely hysterical, and the voice acting is really done well, and it makes up for the slightly choppy animations. It makes the characters come alive. It seems a lot more like an animated tv show or movie than a videogame at points, because there will be thirty straight minutes of dialogue. It's a good game for teens who love adventure, friendship, and strategy. Plot that may contain spoilers: the students of Thors Military work together to try and prevent a civil war. The game ends at a cliffhanger and must be continued in Trails of Cold Steel II.

Light profanity is contained but minor. Violence is not too bad but includes mild animated blood. Sexuality is mild as they discuss female breast size.

You can only play it when you do homework