The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki - Northern War

This is a good anime so far, but it really is only enjoyable if you've played at least Trials of Cold steel 1-2 as it assumes you have this info. The anime doesn't focus on in-depth world development as it assumes you know this from the game.

As a stand alone anime, it is lacking so don't watch to get into the Trials series

The story of the anime so far adds a lot to the world and adds greater depth to the story as a whole.

The main character Lavi grows in deph as each episode progresses however it seems so far the other characters ... dont have as much background which would be nice.

Northern War does not respect viewer's time and intelligence. (Three Episode Rule)
If you are expecting a military plot this anime is not for you. Nothing here is taken seriously.

BAD PACING/INFO DUMP: A considerable part of the first episode is two random characters with no sign of importance talking unnaturally just to give the audience a lot of information. And if you haven't been paying attention, don't worry because the second episode shows a group of politicians REPEATING THE SAME INFORMATIONS FROM EPISODE 1. The political plot is not complex or interesting enough to justify the wasted time. Honestly, episodes 1 and 2 could ... have been just 1 episode.

BAD PROTAGONIST: The protagonist has no charisma, no goals and she is no easy to identify with. Her only outstanding feature is being the ideal soldier model despite being a young girl in the battlefield. In a non-stop action anime she could even be interesting to have on screen but Northern War does not know how to create a suitable habitat for the character.

BAD CHARACTERS: All the main characters are bland/generic. The chemistry between them is non-existent. The direction prioritizes joke scenes than develop they relationship. For example: Talion starts talking > Lavi ignores and disappears. Talion helps Lavi > she ignores him and disappears again. Iseria hugs Lavi and yell: ''Lavi-chan!'' every single time. Does anyone in this anime know how to act naturally?

BAD WRITING: Episodes 1/2 are just introductory episodes without development. In episode 3 the group received the mission to infiltrate the empire and attend a noble party but the episode is a mess. The noble party serves no purpose. Why they received that mission in first place? Most of the episode is just Lavi walking around the city until she found a Clown and coincidentally the Clown is a terrorist and he attacks the noble party cause ''nobles bad'' but it is stopped by Lavi. It doesn't make any sense. The events are random.

BAD SLICE OF LIFE: The anime made a mistake in selling itself as an action/military show. Most of the time it's just characters doing everyday matters like eat, buy clothes, walk around the city, etc. But unfortunately the anime lacks elements that make a slice of life fun to watch.

AVERAGE ANIMATION: The production has a low budget. Sometimes CGI doesn't mix well with 2D. And the action scenes are static.

I only played the first ColdSteel game and it was pretty bad for very similar reasons but the game is more bearable thanks the gameplay.

If you've played and liked the Cold Steel series games, then you will like and appreciate this anime. From the game's ost to many cameos of familiar locations and characters, this anime is a love letter to Cold Steel fans. If you haven't played the games, then this anime is not for you and you won't enjoy it. The anime expects you to know the background context already as it is referenced in the games. On its own it doesn't have a lot of weight and should be seen as an extension of the Cold Steel games not a standalone series. ... This story is merely a part of the much larger trails narrative, that wraps up in the Cold Steel IV game. This anime is not meant to get you into the games, but rather assumes those watching have already played them.