Japanese developer and publisher Nihon Falcom released some new details and images for the latest title in its The Legend of Heroes series, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III. As the game is a sequel to Trails of Cold Steel and Trails of Cold Steel II, those who have not played both games should be prepared for some story spoilers in the details below.

Trails of Cold Steel III takes place in the year 1206 of the Septian Calendar, roughly a year and a half after the end of the previous game. It once again stars Rean Schwarzer, who has graduated from the Thors Military Academy but chosen to become an instructor at the new Thors Military Academy Reaves II Branch School in the capital of the Erebonian Empire.

Rean leads the Special Duty Division (Class VII), which only has three students. The first of those is Juna Crawford, who hails from the recently-annexed Crossbell State. The second is Kurt Vander, who is from a prestigious family and is the younger brother of Mueller Vander. Finally, there is Altina Orion, who appeared in the previous two games. Her motivations and the story behind her state-of-the-art combat shell called Claimh Solais remain a mystery.

Trails of Cold Steel III is planned for release in Japan for PlayStation 4 later this year. The previous two games were released by XSEED Games in North America and NIS America in Europe, with the second game winning RPGamer's Game of the Year award for 2016. XSEED Games is also releasing the third game in the Trails in the Sky trilogy, which takes place in the same world as Trails of Cold Steel, later this year.

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