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The Cold Steel collection of JRPGs — published by Nihon Falcom during the past ten years — was an grand undertaking, accounting for the multitude of personas and storylines featured. It needed the creator a quintet of games to fully develop these characters. The character Emma's character development is revealed in tandem with the series' primary plot, but it's via the subtle change in her abilities that we fully understand the significance of her inner growth.

Warning: Our discussion contains some story reveals for the main storyline of the Trails of Cold Steel franchise.

In Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, Emma is a regular teenager, like the other members of the academy's Class VII. As the student leader, she's kind to each person and works to prevent any disputes between her peers. While she takes her student life really seriously, she lives a double life. She is in fact a sorceress, a initiate of the magical Hexen family. Attending Thors Military Academy is a component of her underlying objective of mentoring Rean, the leader figure of the group, who is fated to call forth a ancient guardian.

In all Trails of Cold Steel game, nearly all party members have at least one ultimate ability, a special attack that requires you to have a sufficient quantity of skill points to use. These ultimate abilities are intended to be your ace in every encounter. S-Crafts are also a mechanism for the developers to narrate the evolution characters are experiencing. They can symbolize the development of a persona's combat prowess, like Rean Schwarzer’s S-Craft his new technique in Trails of Cold Steel IV, which he unlocks after attaining the title of Divine Blade. In other cases, such as Emma Millstein's, the developers employs special moves to express the internal transformations a individual experiences.

When the conflict in Erebonia begins in the first game, the character's approach to the events is the inexperienced but reasonable idea that fighting means attacking. The conflict continues to the sequel in the franchise, where the two ultimate skills she possesses are Lord Albireon and Rain. Each are damage-dealing skills that affect every opponents on the arena.

After we have the moment to see the character Emma a second time in Cold Steel 3, we witness a changed character. She has completed her studies from the academy, and after training with her family, Emma appears to have grasped an vital revelation about who she is. Although she grows into a impressive magic user, she realizes that, primarily, she is a protector. She’s prepared to give up her own safety to keep everyone — but most notably the leader Rean — safe. Her wish to occupy this role is hinted at by her special ability, which in the third installment transforms into Palace of Eregion.

When you execute the S-Craft Palace of Eregion, she calls forth several glowing arcane structures, and barriers appear linking them and enclosing the battlefield. The characters under the influence of this skill receive a few instances of damage immunity, a status that blocks harm of any kind. Emma had not once been a combative individual, so she moves to a defensive strategy, mirroring the protective demeanor she had consistently demonstrated to her allies.

It’s intriguing to witness how the developers uses a persona's powers to enhance the series' story. RPGs often rely on written text or visuals to inform players what a persona is thinking. But this character shows that right down to a ability can add additional depth of significance.