It only seems appropriate that after seven months of work, we have a bit of a post following up on Trails of Cold Steel III, right?

We finally beat the game and completed our blind playthrough. Going through CSIII without any prior knowledge made for an interesting undertaking, largely positive. It meant that we could react to things organically as they happened and be surprised when certain twists came up. It also meant waiting until April to beat a game that released in October instead of doing it at our own pace, but hey, trade-offs are expected, right?

Below you can find a playlist with all 135 parts of that playthrough, which clocked in juuuuuust over 100 hours. With all the quality-of-life upgrades in CSIII, it makes for a much more smooth viewing experience — the graphics are nicer, the UI is cleaner and several core gameplay elements are streamlined a bit. Underneath the playlist is our hour-plus review of the game, which only seems fitting after spending so much time on such an endeavor. Spoiler alert: While we enjoyed it overall, there are still a handful of issues in our book. But boy are we excited for CSIV this fall.

For the time being, the YouTube channel will finish off the Cold Steel II remake before jumping into another series that bridges the gap between now and October when CSIV releases. That might be Xenoblade Chronicles on the Switch, Zero no Kiseki or something else entirely. For now, though, here are the fruits of our labor of love.