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The Cold Steel series of role-playing games — released by Nihon Falcom during the last decade — was an grand project, considering the quantity of characters and storylines included. It took the studio five games to completely flesh out these cast members. The character Emma's story arc is developed in conjunction with the series' central narrative, but it's by observing the progressive shift in her powers that we fully understand the depth of her personal transformation.

Note: The following content contains some story reveals for the main storyline of the Trails of Cold Steel franchise.

In The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, Emma Millstein is a typical teenager, like the fellow pupils of Thors Military Academy’s Class VII. As the class president, she's kind to all and strives to avert any disputes between her peers. While Emma approaches her studies very earnestly, she lives a double life. In truth, she is a sorceress, a member of the magical Hexen family. Attending the academy is a component of her real mission of mentoring Rean, the key individual of her class, who is destined to awaken a powerful mech.

In all Trails game, the majority of playable personas have at least one S-Craft, a unique skill that requires you to have a certain level of skill points to execute. These finishing moves are designed to be your trump card in all fights. These ultimate skills are furthermore a way for the game to depict the transformations protagonists are going through. They can symbolize the advancement of a character’s combat prowess, for example Rean Schwarzer’s special ability his new technique in the fourth game, which he gains after reaching the rank of master swordsman. In different instances, for instance Emma Millstein's, the developers utilizes S-Crafts to communicate the personal growth a individual undergoes.

When the conflict in Erebonia starts in the first game, Emma’s reaction to the events is the idealistic but reasonable belief that battle means engaging offensively. The struggle spills over to the next installment in the franchise, where the pair of S-Crafts she has are Lord Albireon and Rain. Each are attack-oriented moves that indiscriminately hit foes on the battlefield.

After we have the opportunity to see Emma again a second time in Cold Steel 3, we observe a transformed young woman. She has graduated from Thors Military Academy, and after practicing with her family, she seems to have grasped an vital revelation about herself. Even though she evolves into a impressive sorceress, the character understands that, above all else, she’s a protector. She’s ready to put others first to protect the group — but most notably Rean Schwarzer — secure. Her desire to occupy this responsibility is hinted at by her ultimate skill, which in Trails of Cold Steel III becomes Eregion.

When you execute the ultimate ability Palace of Eregion, Emma conjures a quartet of semi-transparent arcane structures, and shields form connecting them and encircling the battlefield. The party members affected by this technique gain one or two stacks of total reflection, a buff that blocks harm of every form. She had at no point been a combative character, so she shifts to a supportive style, reflecting the nurturing look she had invariably extended to her companions.

It’s intriguing to observe how Falcom utilizes a protagonist's powers to enrich the series' story. Role-playing games frequently use storytelling or cutscenes to tell us what a protagonist is thinking. But this character demonstrates that including a ability can provide another layer of insight.