Attacking an enemy depletes its break gauge bar, and when fully depleted the enemy is weakened for one turn. The new 'Break' system was also added, which adds a 'Break Gauge' bar to enemies. The game contains a new system called 'Brave Order' which lets players expend a new resource built up during battle called 'Brave Points 'to get special effects such as buffs or heals. An emphasis was made on speeding up battles, including making transitions into battle scenes more seamless, and being able to map out more battle commands to specific buttons rather than various menus, though battles are still primarily menu-based. The gameplay of Trails of Cold Steel III is similar to the previous two Trails of Cold Steel games, being a traditional Japanese role-playing video game with turn-based battles. A direct sequel, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV, was released in 2018. Ports for Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Amazon Luna were released in 2020, with a port for Google Stadia following in April 2021. Trails of Cold Steel III was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in September 2017 and worldwide in October 2019.

The game is a part of the Trails series, itself a part of the larger The Legend of Heroes series, and serves as a direct sequel to The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is a 2017 role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom.

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