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The Trails of Cold Steel series of role-playing games — published by the developer Falcom during the past ten years — was an ambitious endeavor, considering the quantity of individuals and storylines involved. It needed the studio five games to mature these cast members. Emma's personal character development is developed in tandem with Cold Steel’s main story, but it's by observing the gradual evolution in her abilities that we truly grasp the depth of her inner growth.

Heads-up: The following content features minor spoilers for the main storyline of the Trails of Cold Steel games.

In The Legend of Heroes: Cold Steel, the character Emma is a typical student, like the rest of the students of the academy's Class VII. As the student leader, she's friendly to all and works to prevent any disputes between her peers. Even though she takes her student life very earnestly, she leads two separate lives. In truth, she is a witch, a initiate of the magical Hexen family. Joining Thors is a component of her true goal of guiding Rean Schwarzer, the key individual of Class VII, who is fated to call forth a ancient guardian.

In each Trails series game, the majority of party members have at least one ultimate ability, a powerful move that requires you to have a sufficient quantity of skill points to activate. These ultimate abilities are meant to be your trump card in each battle. Special Crafts are additionally a way for the game to illustrate the transformations characters are going through. They can symbolize the refinement of a individual's technique, such as Rean's ultimate move his new technique in Cold Steel 4, which he gains after earning the designation of master swordsman. In some situations, such as Emma Millstein's, Nihon Falcom uses S-Crafts to communicate the internal transformations a character undergoes.

When the war in the empire starts in the first game, Emma Millstein's reaction to the events is the inexperienced but logical notion that battle means engaging offensively. The war spills over to the sequel in the series, where the pair of ultimate skills she possesses are Lord Albireon and Zodiac Rain. Each are offensive techniques that affect every foes on the arena.

After we have the moment to encounter Emma again again in Cold Steel 3, we witness a changed girl. She has graduated from the academy, and after training with her clan, the protagonist clearly to have grasped an crucial revelation about herself. Although she grows into a impressive sorceress, Emma comprehends that, most importantly, she’s a guardian. Emma is willing to give up her own safety to ensure everyone — but particularly Rean Schwarzer — secure. Her desire to fulfill this position is hinted at by her ultimate skill, which in the third installment transforms into her new defensive S-Craft.

When you execute the S-Craft Eregion, Emma calls forth a quartet of translucent arcane structures, and barriers form linking them and enclosing the field of battle. The party members benefiting from this technique gain several stacks of damage immunity, a status that negates damage of every form. The character had not once been a combative character, so she transitions to a protective approach, mirroring the protective look she had consistently demonstrated to her allies.

It’s compelling to see how the developers employs a protagonist's skill set to complement the series' narrative. Role-playing games often employ dialogue or graphics to inform players what a persona is feeling. But Emma Millstein shows that including a spell can contribute another layer of insight.