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The Cold Steel collection of RPGs — released by the developer Falcom during the 2010s — was an grand endeavor, accounting for the multitude of characters and events included. It required the studio a quintet of games to completely flesh out these cast members. Emma's personal character development is developed in tandem with the series' main story, but it's via the progressive shift in her abilities that we comprehend the depth of her personal transformation.

Note: This article contains light plot details for the primary narrative of the Trails of Cold Steel games.

In The Legend of Heroes: Cold Steel, the character Emma is a typical student, similar to the rest of the students of the academy's her class. As the class president, she's kind to each person and aims to prevent any disagreements between her classmates. Although Emma treats her academy duties very earnestly, she lives a double life. She is in fact a witch, a initiate of the Clan of Witches. Joining the academy is one step in her real mission of assisting Rean, the central character of Class VII, who is destined to unleash a powerful mech.

In every Trails series title, nearly all characters have at least one S-Craft, a powerful move that requires you to have a certain level of CP to execute. These ultimate abilities are meant to be your ace in every encounter. These ultimate skills are additionally a mechanism for the developers to illustrate the evolution the cast are going through. They can symbolize the refinement of a character’s combat prowess, such as Rean Schwarzer’s ultimate move the skill Breaking Dawn in Trails of Cold Steel IV, which he acquires after earning the designation of master swordsman. In other cases, such as the witch Emma's, Falcom employs S-Crafts to communicate the personal growth a persona undergoes.

When the great war in Erebonia starts in the first game, the character's response to the situation is the inexperienced but reasonable idea that combat means striking. The war spills over to the second game in the franchise, where the two S-Crafts she possesses are her first S-Craft and Zodiac Rain. Both are offensive techniques that target all foes on the field.

Once we have the moment to meet Emma again in the third game, we see a changed girl. She has graduated from Thors Military Academy, and after practicing with her witch community, Emma appears to have understood an crucial truth about herself. While she grows into a formidable spellcaster, the character understands that, above all else, Emma is a protector. She’s ready to sacrifice herself to keep everyone — but most notably Rean — safe. Her goal to fulfill this responsibility is subtly indicated by her S-Craft, which in Cold Steel 3 transforms into Palace of Eregion.

When you execute the ultimate ability Palace of Eregion, Emma summons several semi-transparent magical towers, and shields appear linking them and enclosing the battlefield. The allies affected by this ability receive several instances of damage immunity, a status that blocks harm of any kind. She had at no point been a belligerent person, so she transitions to a supportive style, mirroring the caring attitude she had invariably demonstrated to her friends.

It’s fascinating to see how Nihon Falcom employs a persona's skill set to enhance the game’s narrative. Role-playing games often rely on dialogue or cutscenes to show what a character is feeling. But Emma Millstein demonstrates that including a spell can provide additional depth of insight.