The Trails series (also known as the Kiseki series) is an ongoing RPG franchise in which every game is directly connected in a grand overarching narrative. Some games are grouped together in smaller story arcs, but older arcs remain important to modern ones. This has resulted in most players binge playing the series from the first installment to the latest.
There are currently 12 main installments, however, only 10 of them have been localized so far. As a result, this list will only be ranking the first 10 games (up to Trails into Reverie). This list will be ranking games from worst to best.
Trails of Cold Steel 1
The sixth main installment in the Trails series offers a brand new cast of characters. It also changes the atmosphere quite a bit from what was seen before. Instead of being a bracer or police officer, the new cast is a group of school students.
This arc has more social interactions and a different approach to storytelling than what came before. In some ways a change of tone can keep a series fresh, but unfortunately this title somewhat abandons the qualities that made previous games interesting. The story isn’t nearly as engaging or plot twist heavy as other installments. All of these factors make Cold Steel 1 the weakest installment in the franchise.
Cold Steel 1 logo.
Trails of Cold Steel 2
The climax of this follow up game is the best part of the early Cold Steel arc, but this game has one major issue in the form of its map. It makes you revisit a lot of locations from the first game without adding much additional value to them. Large empty areas especially feel bland to re-explore.
The Sky and Crossbell arcs of the Trails series have storylines that peak in their second games, yet Cold Steel still has a lot of story left even after this game concludes. It’s a much longer arc, so the second game already feeling repetitive and less interesting than older games makes the arc harder to get into.
Cold Steel 2 logo.
Trails of Cold Steel 3
The third Cold Steel game turns the protagonist, Rean, into a professor rather than a student. It introduces a new cast of characters that have better character interactions with each other. These changes make character interactions more interesting, and ultimately improves how good CS3 is from start to finish.
CS3 feels a little less repetitive than CS2 did, but even with three games this arc has yet to surpass the quality of writing that the Sky and Crossbell arcs had. It’s most certainly a step up from what came before, but not enough to rival the writing of older games.
Cold Steel 3 logo.
Trails in the Sky the 3rd
Sky the 3rd is an epilogue kind of game. It exists as a fan service title that allows players to take control of an incredibly large roster while exploring a mysterious pocket dimension. The protagonist is a fan favorite despite almost never appearing again in the franchise after this title. This setting and less focus on narrative does make Sky 3 a little less important than its predecessors, but it does reveal some additional backstory for a lot of characters from the previous two installments.
Sky 3rd logo.
Trails of Cold Steel 4
The finale of the Cold Steel games is easily the best part of the story arc. All the plot build up from CS1-3 and returning characters from other arcs come together to form an engaging finale. Still, a part of what makes this game good is other games that came before it. It relies on the effort of past games for nearly all the best moments. That is part of the charm of the Trails series, since it’s one massive story that spans over a dozen games, but each installment should still hold its own weight while having cool references to past titles. That’s not to say nothing in CS4 is unique, but it simply relies on past titles too much when it comes to generating hype.
Cold Steel 4 logo.
Trails in the Sky FC (First Chapter)
The original Trails game is important since without it the other games would not exist. It should be noted that Sky FC and SC were originally meant to be a single game, so the fact that this game mostly just sets up what is to come and doesn’t have too many crazy plot twists is forgivable. It still manages to have many memorable moments, a great cast or characters, and excellent world building despite technically only being half a game. Estelle is a very charming protagonist that makes Sky 1 a charm to play regardless of its story not being as dynamic as later titles.
Sky FC logo.
Trails into Reverie
Reverie is similar to Sky 3 in the sense that it’s an epilogue game. Reverie has one route that pays tribute to the Crossbell arc, another route that pays tribute to the Cold Steel arc, and an additional route with a mysterious new protagonist. All three routes are filled to the brim with playable characters. In fact, there’s over 50 playable characters in this game. Very few other RPGs have a cast this large.
Reverie logo.
Reverie doesn’t progress the overarching narrative too much, but having one massive fan service game in the middle of a massive series helps players feel rewarded for making it this far. This is especially rewarding since Reverie was stated to be the halfway point of the franchise’s story. The combat is also easily the best that the first ten Trails games have to offer since it uses and improves mechanics that were made in past titles.
Trails from Zero
Zero is one of three prologue games in the franchise. Each story arc likes to begin with a prologue game that sets up the characters, setting, and other aspects of the arc before the follow up game uses those attributes to tell the best part of the narrative. Trails from Zero does its job as a prologue game excellently while also still having a good story. Rather than being a slightly slow burn like Sky 1 and Cold Steel 1, Zero makes sure players know the Crossbell arc does actually have an interesting story right from the start.
Zero logo.
Trails in the Sky SC (Second Chapter)
Every good quality mentioned under the Sky 1 section applies to this game ten fold, and without some of the flaws that Sky 1 had. This isn’t a build up narrative anymore, this is the grand tale that was planned from the start. Sky 2 is the reason to play Trails. It’s filled with neat sci-fi lore, great character backstories, has a larger cast than the first game, and is all-around still one of the best installments in the franchise.
Sky SC logo.
Trails to Azure
Azure is the one game in the first half of Trails to surpass Sky 2. Its story is equally as plot twist heavy, but now with even more ambition. Trails didn’t have too many plans after Sky 2 when the series first began, but it continued thanks to its success. As the series progressed games started to lay out groundwork for future games better. Sometimes that can be a flaw, as seen with early Cold Steel games, but sometimes a game comes along and represents what Trails is all about perfectly. One such game is Azure.
Azure logo.
Azure‘s plot is full of new revelations that not only wraps up the Crossbell arc perfectly, but also establishing new lore that stayed relevant for multiple games thereafter. Crossbell may be shorter in scale and less popular than other installments in the series due to how long the official localization for these games took, yet that hasn’t stopped Azure from being one of the most incredible experiences Trails has offered fans this far.
