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The Cold Steel saga of JRPGs — published by Nihon Falcom across the past ten years — was an large-scale undertaking, considering the number of characters and storylines involved. It required the studio several games to mature these protagonists. Emma Millstein's character development is developed in tandem with the series' main story, but it's via the subtle change in her skill set that we truly grasp the extent of her inner growth.

Warning: This article contains light plot details for the central plot of the Cold Steel franchise.

In Legend of Heroes: Cold Steel, Emma is a typical young woman, like the fellow pupils of Thors Military Academy’s her class. As the representative, she's kind to each person and aims to avoid any disputes between her fellow students. Although Emma takes her student life really seriously, she lives a double life. In truth, she is a practitioner of magic, a part of the Clan of Witches. Enrolling in Thors is part of her underlying objective of assisting Rean Schwarzer, the key individual of the group, who is fated to awaken a ancient guardian.

In all Trails of Cold Steel installment, most playable personas have at least one ultimate ability, a powerful move that needs you to have a sufficient quantity of skill points to use. These ultimate abilities are meant to be your key advantage in each battle. These ultimate skills are furthermore a way for the game to narrate the evolution the cast are experiencing. They can epitomize the advancement of a individual's technique, such as Rean's special ability the skill Breaking Dawn in the fourth game, which he unlocks after earning the rank of master swordsman. In other cases, such as Emma’s, Nihon Falcom utilizes special moves to convey the emotional changes a individual experiences.

When the great war in the nation of Erebonia begins in the first game, the character's response to the events is the inexperienced but understandable idea that combat means striking. The conflict extends to the sequel in the saga, where the dual S-Crafts she wields are Lord Albireon and Rain. Each are attack-oriented moves that target all opponents on the field.

After we have the moment to encounter the character Emma once more in the third game, we see a transformed young woman. She has graduated from Thors Military Academy, and after practicing with her family, Emma seems to have grasped an vital insight about her own nature. While she grows into a formidable spellcaster, the character comprehends that, most importantly, Emma is a defender. She is willing to put others first to keep everyone — but especially the leader Rean — out of harm's way. Her goal to fulfill this role is shown by her S-Craft, which in the third installment changes to Eregion.

When you activate the ultimate ability Eregion, the character summons several semi-transparent pillars of magic, and magical walls materialize linking them and enclosing the battlefield. The allies benefiting from this skill obtain one or two instances of damage immunity, a buff that blocks injury of every form. The character had not once been a combative character, so she moves to a supportive strategy, mirroring the protective look she had invariably extended to her allies.

It’s fascinating to see how Falcom uses a protagonist's powers to enrich the series' narrative. Role-playing games often employ dialogue or visuals to inform players what a character is feeling. But Emma shows that including a spell can provide additional depth of meaning.