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The Trails of Cold Steel series of RPGs — published by the developer Falcom during the last decade — was an grand endeavor, accounting for the number of characters and events involved. It needed the creator a quintet of games to mature these characters. Emma's personal character development is revealed in tandem with Cold Steel’s main story, but it's through the progressive shift in her skill set that we comprehend the extent of her inner growth.

Note: The following content includes light plot details for the primary narrative of the Trails of Cold Steel franchise.

In Legend of Heroes: Cold Steel, the character Emma is a regular young woman, like the rest of the students of Thors Military Academy’s her class. As the class president, she's kind to all and works to avoid any conflicts between her peers. Although Emma approaches her studies really seriously, she has a secret identity. She is in fact a witch, a member of the magical Hexen family. Joining Thors Military Academy is part of her underlying objective of mentoring the protagonist Rean, the central character of the group, who is destined to awaken a Divine Knight.

In all Trails of Cold Steel installment, nearly all characters have at least one S-Craft, a powerful move that needs you to have a sufficient quantity of skill points to execute. These supreme skills are intended to be your ace in every encounter. S-Crafts are additionally a mechanism for the developers to narrate the changes characters are experiencing. They can represent the refinement of a persona's technique, for example the protagonist's ultimate move his new technique in Cold Steel 4, which he gains after reaching the title of master swordsman. In different instances, for instance Emma Millstein's, Falcom utilizes ultimate abilities to convey the personal growth a character experiences.

When the great war in the empire starts in Trails of Cold Steel I, Emma Millstein's approach to the situation is the inexperienced but reasonable belief that combat means striking. The struggle spills over to the sequel in the series, where the pair of ultimate skills she wields are Lord Albireon and her second S-Craft. Each are attack-oriented moves that affect every foes on the battlefield.

When we have the opportunity to encounter Emma again in the third game, we observe a different girl. She has graduated from Thors Military Academy, and after practicing with her witch community, she clearly to have understood an vital revelation about herself. Even though she grows into a impressive spellcaster, she understands that, primarily, she’s a defender. Emma is willing to put others first to keep everyone — but particularly Rean — secure. Her desire to fulfill this position is hinted at by her ultimate skill, which in the third installment becomes Palace of Eregion.

When you activate the special move Emma's new skill, she calls forth a quartet of semi-transparent arcane structures, and shields materialize linking them and encircling the battlefield. The characters affected by this skill gain several stacks of damage immunity, a effect that negates harm of all types. The character had at no point been a combative character, so she transitions to a supportive approach, mirroring the caring look she had always shown to her allies.

It’s compelling to witness how Nihon Falcom employs a protagonist's skill set to enrich the series' narrative. RPGs frequently use written text or visuals to inform players what a character is thinking. But this character demonstrates that even a skill can provide an extra dimension of significance.