RPG
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
Give it 35 hours
Gets good by 35h then rated almost like by veterans
Fully opens up by 60h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending 75% of players who started
Started playing 91% of owners
Steam reviews 93% positive of 3,214
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 7 reviews are negative (13%); after 60h it's 1 in 19 (5%).
- Fully opens up by hour 60.
- The opening is criticised less than in 85% of games we track.
- Few early reviews, so this is a rough estimate.
- 75% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “The Depths of Despair” (Completed the Prologue) and “Ashen Chronicles” (Completed Act 1): from 95% to 86% of starters.
- 91% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 3,223 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 59.2h for positive, 46.6h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (90.7% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Unexpected Surroundings Woke up in the Eisengard Range. 100%
- The Depths of Despair Completed the Prologue. 95% −5
- Ashen Chronicles Completed Act 1. Most players quit here 86% −9
- Aboard the Pantagruel Completed the Intermission. 85%
- The Awakening Lions Completed Act 2. 77% −8
- Forward, Relentlessly Completed the Finale. 75% −2
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (51)
story milestone ending side
- Unexpected Surroundings Woke up in the Eisengard Range. 100%
- The Depths of Despair Completed the Prologue. 95%
- Born to the Battlefield Won 100 battles. 92%
- Ashen Chronicles Completed Act 1. 86%
- Aboard the Pantagruel Completed the Intermission. 85%
- Tactician Won a battle with a tactical bonus of x3.0 or greater. 83%
- Pieces of Eight Defeated 8 enemies at once. 80%
- Transcendent Jewel Raised a master quartz to level 5. 79%
- Star Pupil Earned an S rank during part of any chapter. 78%
- The Awakening Lions Completed Act 2. 77%
- Inseparable Raised any two characters to Link Level 7. 76%
- One Good Burn Deserves Another Used over 500 follow-up attacks in battle. 76%
- Forward, Relentlessly Completed the Finale. 75%
- Forging the Future Acquired the strongest weapon for any character. 73%
- The Occupation Completed the Divertissement. 72%
- Mind if I Cut In? Used 100 S-Breaks in battle. 72%
- Smells Like Team Spirit Used Burst in battle 50 times. 69%
- Winter's End Completed the Epilogue. 66%
- The Manway Method Won 600 battles. 62%
- Wartime Rationer Obtained all 22 recipes. 44%
- A Lease on Love Spent the evening before the final battle with Alisa. 44%
- Honor Roll Achieved student rank A0. 43%
- The Reel Deal Caught all 24 varieties of fish. 41%
- Phoenix Ascendant Received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Phoenix Wings from Emperor Eugent III. 40%
- Taking the Initiative Initiated 300 advantage encounters (including double and triple advantage). 38%
- Divine Knight Errant Completed all 39 quests. 34%
- Double the Trouble Used Rush in battle 100 times. 34%
- Lending Library Completely filled the book section of the notebook (excluding books only available in NG+). 30%
- Arseid School of Courtsmanship Spent the evening before the final battle with Laura. 29%
- Jaeger Mister Spent the evening before the final battle with Fie. 27%
- You're Atowable Spent the evening before the final battle with Towa. 24%
- Overdriven to Win Used Overdrive in battle 100 times. 24%
- Witchy Woman Spent the evening before the final battle with Emma. 23%
- Conquering Hero Completed the game on hard or nightmare difficulty. 23%
- Imperial Treasury Acquired over a million mira. 23%
- Worth the Wait Spent the evening before the final battle with Sara. 21%
- The Return of Rean QUARTZ-er Gathered all 31 varieties of master quartz. 20%
- Spoils of War Opened every chest between the Prologue and the Finale. 19%
- National Treasure Spent the evening before the final battle with Alfin. 18%
- Shutdown Phenomenon Canceled enemy arts and crafts 100 times. 17%
- Intelligence Agent Completed all of the character profiles in the notebook. 13%
- One in a Millium Spent the evening before the final battle with Millium. 13%
- Frozen Heart Slayed Isra-Zamiel in Glacia Shrine. 13%
- House of All-bro-ea Spent the evening before the final battle with Jusis. 12%
- Banisher of Nightmares Completed the game on nightmare difficulty. 12%
- Scholar of the Truth Read the decoded Black Records and had an encounter you'll never forget. 12%
- Perfect Harmony Spent the evening before the final battle with Elliot. 11%
- Winderlust Spent the evening before the final battle with Gaius. 11%
- The People's Choice Spent the evening before the final battle with Machias. 11%
- Face of the Enemy Completely filled the monster guide (excluding EX sections). 11%
- The Ashen Chevalier Mastered Trails of Cold Steel II and earned every achievement. 6.2%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.