The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (
Synopsis
Setting
Trails of Cold Steel II is a direct sequel to Trails of Cold Steel with an approximately one month interval. Following the Noble Faction's occupation of the Erebonian capital Heimdallr, a civil war has broken out across the empire. The provincial armies, loyal to the aristocracy and the Four Great Houses, have claimed many of the nation's great cities in the name of the Noble Alliance. The Imperial Army, called back from the four corners of the Empire, has only just begun sweeping its counterattack.
Plot
Prologue - The Depths of Despair
Trails of Cold Steel II starts with Rean waking up in the northern Eisengard Mountain range. With his Divine Knight, Valimar, and Celine next to him, he learns he has been unconscious for over a month. Worried about his friends, Rean makes his way downhill. The Magic Knight, a golem created during the Dark Ages, he runs into overpowers him. Toval, accompanied by Rean's sister Elise and Princess Alfin Reise Arnor, manages to save him in time. They escort him back to Ymir, his hometown, where they and Rean's adoptive parents, Teo and Lucia, update him on the situation.
As Rean, Elise and Toval check up on Valimar in the canyon, a hologram of Vita appears before him. That same moment gunshots are heard coming from Ymir. When they return to the town, they find jaegers hired by Duke Albarea attacking the village. Rean sees one jaeger mortally wounding his father, awakening the ogre power within him. Vita appears again as a hologram, casting a spell on the jaegers to return them hypnotised to their commander. Altina teleports into view and kidnaps Elise and Alfin, leaving Rean and Toval behind.
Act 1 - Ashen Chronicles
Rean and Toval use Valimar's Spirit Path to warp to Lunaria Nature Park. They make their way to Celdic, where Rean reunites with Machias, Elliot and Fie. They head toward the ruins of Garrelia Fortress, where they face off with Xeno and Leonidas, the regiment commanders of Zephyr and old companions of Fie. Their battle is interrupted by the arrival of a Panzer Soldat platoon of the Noble Alliance. Before Rean is able to summon Valimar, however, the 4th Armored Division under command of Lieutenant General Craig, Elliot's father, and the sniping skills of RMP's Captain Claire Rieveldt are enough to chase off the Noble Alliance squad.
After a short stopover in Ymir, Class VII make their way to the next destination: Nord Highlands. There they witness the 3rd Armored Division holding off another Panzer Soldat squad that has occupied the Watchtower. Rean manages to meet up with Gaius, Alisa and Millium. Together they infiltrate the Watchtower. At the top of the tower they are stopped by Enforcer Bleublanc and Altina. As the situation becomes dire and Rean wants to resort to his ogre powers, Class VII is saved by Sharon Kreuger, maid of the Reinford Group and Enforcer on leave. The Noble Alliance answers to Class VII's infiltration with another squad of Panzer Soldats, which Rean manages to fight of in Valimar. Together, the Class VII members return to Ymir.
To find their final classmates, Class VII heads toward Legram, where they investigate the oddities in Lohengrin Castle. There they run into with Laura and Emma, who are fighting off a cryptid. On the way back from the castle, Emma reveals herself to Rean as a member of the Hexen Clan. The group heads to Bareahard, the Noble Alliance's bulwark in East Erebonia, to find Jusis. When they find him aboard an airship, Jusis reveals that as the son of Duke Albarea he cannot return to Class VII as he has to fight on behalf of the Noble Alliance. Giving Rean the opportunity to change his mind through means of a duel in horseback riding and a sword fight, Rean convinces Jusis to return to Class VII. They reunion is interrupted by Enforcer McBurn and Stahlritter head knight Duvalie. Class VII ends up being saved by their instructor, Sara Valestein. Before they can settle on the definitive outcome, Duke Albarea commands them to stop and Jusis to return home. Ignoring his father's wish, Jusis joins Class VII as they return to Ymir.
Having decided on a third path that sides with neither the Noble Alliance nor the Imperial Army, the reunion of Class VII is interrupted by Vita Clotilde, who announces the arrival of the Noble Alliance in the airspace above Ymir. Outside they find the members of Zephyr, Enforcers of the Society, Rufus waiting for them. Ordine, piloted by Crow, is also among them. Class VII, however, learns that their capabilities fall short compared to their opponents. Duke Cayenne then appears as a hologram to invite Rean on board of the Pantagruel, hoping to persuade him in joining the Noble Alliance. Rean accepts the invite to board and pilots his Divine Knight toward the Pantagruel.
Intermission - Aboard the Pantagruel
Rean eats a burger.
Act 2 - The Awakening Lions
Rean boards the plane.
Finale - Forward, Relentlessly
Rean goes through security.
Divertissement - The Occupation
Rean goes down under.
Epilogue - Winter's End
Rean comes back up again..
Release
Trails of Cold Steel II was originally released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita on September 25th, 2014. Through a collaboration between Nihon Falcom and the Sony Computer Entertainment divisions of Taiwan and Korea, the Mandarin and Korean version launched alongside the Japanese version on September 25th, 2014.
On 5 June 2015, XSEED Games announced a localisation of Trails of Cold Steel and soon thereafter Trails of Cold Steel II for 2015 and 2016, respectively. Trails of Cold Steel II, as the localisation was named, was released on September 6th, 2016 in North America. NISA America was responsible for publishing the game in European territories September 11th, 2016.
A remastered version, titled The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki II Kai -The Erebonian Civil War- (英雄伝説 閃の軌跡Ⅱ：改-The Erebonian Civil War-), was announced by Nihon Falcom on December 12th, 2017 and released for PlayStation 4 in Japan on April 26th, 2018. The remastered version runs at 60 frames per second with compatibility up to 4K and features a higher quality of audio. The game includes all available 102 DLC items. This PlayStation 4 version is compatible with save data of the PlayStation 3 and Vita version through the cross-save functionality. Save data from Sen no Kiseki III can also be used to unlock the bonuses at the start of the game.
Gallery
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Japanese cover
Chinese cover
Korean cover
North American cover
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