.jpg?width=1200&height=630&fit=crop&enable=upscale&auto=webp&w=1024&resize=1024,1024&ssl=1 "The Legend of Heroes: Reverie Road – A Heartfelt Ending That Marks a New Beginning")
Going back to Crossbell and Erebonia made me surprisingly sentimental. It’s only been three years since I picked up Nihon Falcom’s RPG series, but Fantasy Voyage still offers a pleasant sense of nostalgia, recreating familiar scenes with a new high-stakes plot that offers critical reflection. After an incredibly long journey, Reverie announces time on Tier VII and the Arc of Special Support while heading towards a new beginning.
Set five months after Cold Steel IV, a new struggle for Crossbell’s independence kicked off this latest conflict, which has wide-ranging ramifications. Divided into three routes, you’ll hop between the Crossbell Police Department Special Support Unit, led by Towers Military Academy seventh-year student Lloyd Bannings, and the mysterious “C.” While Crossbell’s plight feels overly wordy, the over-the-top action complements the compelling story. Still, some surprising twists make up for it.
Where Reverie shines is in its characters, and each route brings a new perspective to their actions. Wren was publicly revered by Erebonia as a war hero, but his role came under scrutiny after being viewed as a nationalist icon. The SSS, long idealized by the Crossbell public as “heroes,” suddenly faced the reality that this expectation had been imposed on them. C’s line is hard to discuss without spoilers, but I’m loving the redemption story. Two wars and imperial occupation left some deep scars, leading to an interesting re-examination of previous events.
I also love how Reverie addresses some of the legacy issues of Crossbell and Cold Steel, which is especially meaningful for those who have gone through the entire journey. It’s lovely to see how far Old Seven has come since those awkward schooldays, and the moment Jagged struggles with Chancellor Osborne’s legacy provides some welcome closure to most of the character arcs. Visits to Cold Steel’s old locations, such as Heimdallr and Nord, add a comforting sense of familiarity, and I often find myself smiling.
Many of these character moments take place in the True Revelation Corridor (TRC), a new location where each route meets. Outside of basic events like defeating powerful monsters, side quests don’t exist in Reverie, but there’s still plenty to do. The TRC, where most of the scenes take place, feels like a cross between Cold Steel III’s Einhel Keep and Sky The 3rd’s Phantasma. You can go fishing, take part in battle trials, and play mini games like Pom in Puyo Puyo style! puff! party! And train in randomly generated dungeons, a variety of content will make you linger.
These TRC dungeons are crucial to unlocking additional features, so we’ll be clearing out monsters again. Reverie plays almost exactly like Cold Steel, so combat remains familiar, sticking to turn-based combat with grid-based movement. Each ally has periodic attacks and magical “arts” for elemental damage and support abilities that consume time and EP. Finally, crafting provides unique skills that drain CP accumulated during battles. At 100 CP grants “Ultimate Attacks” called S-Crafts, which do double damage at 200 CP. The fundamentals remain the same, which is good.
For players who have played Zero/Cerulean more recently than Cold Steel, Reverie has added a great deal of strategic depth to its predecessor. Combat Links pair two allies for added combat support. Knocking enemies off balance in combat allows linked partners to make follow-up attacks, and the most effective option is to throw the entire party into an all-out attack. Then there’s Bravery’s Order, which doesn’t use turns and temporarily boosts stats like crit damage or defense.Both of these features complement Reverie’s extensive combat customization capabilities
Combat builds further on the battle link system, and one of the big changes is the united front. Also using your team’s backup units instead of just active combatants, a full charge on the attack gauge lets you choose between “Heroic Attack”, “Heroic Healing” or “Heroic Arts”, with a strength that scales with the size of your party Proportional. It’s a powerful mechanic that can turn fights in favor when used effectively, and I’ve found it to be particularly useful during some challenging boss fights.
I do wish I hadn’t juggled more than 50 playable characters at once, though. This gets rather tedious since corridors let you manage everyone’s devices at the same time. Being prepared is crucial, as Reverie incentivizes your party to mix in “quests” to clear by meeting set criteria (such as completing a dungeon floor or killing an enemy with two combat-related characters). Completing missions rewards shards that can be used to purchase important upgrades, such as adding an improved united front. Like Crossbell’s Detective Points and Cold Steel’s Academic Points, Reverie Points reward thorough progress through the main story and quests, and provide valuable new items.
Life in the corridors is busy, and many of TRC’s bonus features rely on exploring these dungeons in search of orbs as the main story progresses. These unlock different mini-games, additional characters, new items, and perhaps most importantly, “Daydreams.” “Daydream,” reminiscent of “Sky The 3rd”‘s “Gates of Memories,” is a series of side stories that focus on supporting characters who usually don’t get into the spotlight, often filling in the gaps during the five-month gap.
Not everyone gets the side story, but I’m happy with the structure. The wider cast didn’t create the same pacing issues that Cold Steel IV suffered. Falcom gives every character at least one line, making the story often feel unnecessarily long. Reverie isn’t entirely innocent of this, but it’s not a major issue and the natural rapport of each team is still endearing. Trails’ amusing humor reinforces this. Whether it’s a casual tease of Rean’s forgetfulness or a more comedic daydream, Reverie balances its events with ease.
That’s part of the reason I miss the Cold Steel fellowship event, which lets you build relationships with other allies in Rean’s spare days. However, this isn’t a criticism, as Reverie’s structure doesn’t lend itself to these social mechanics. These episodes provide a great avenue for character development. On a related note, you can link save data in IV to register who you spent the last intimate scene with, which makes for a very small change to the dialogue.
I’ve called world-building the series’ greatest strength before, and the end of Reverie reminds me why. Witnessing the foundations of each nation’s future slowly take shape shows how far the series has come, and you can see why Falcom sees this as the end of the first half of Locus. If I didn’t realize some of the returning faces in the next arc, I’d call it a long goodbye. There are a few moments that offer clear foreshadowings of what’s to come next for Calvard, often in daydreams, and I’m certainly intrigued.
Given Falcom’s penchant for returning characters, I’m not at all convinced that Rean’s return wasn’t planned, but I’m relieved that both arcs ended on such a strong note. It’s a joy to revisit these locations one last time, thanks to strong character writing, refined combat, and improved pacing. I couldn’t possibly have hoped for a better ending, and I’ll be patiently waiting for the inevitable Black Trails to follow.
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