The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

This is the first title of the Trails of Cold Steel subseries in The Legend of Heroes series of JRPGs. It follows the adventures of Rean and his friends as they go to a prestigious military academy and travel the continent.

The battle system is turn-based where you move characters around and unleash skills (known as Arts and Crafts) that can reach multiple enemies. It's a lot like Chrono Trigger in that these skills affect enemies within a line, circle, or box.

Character progression is interesting as you equip various orbs to enhance stats, learn new skills, and acquire interesting bonuses. It's a lot like the Materia system in Final Fantasy VII although it's far less easy to exploit.

When exploring locations, you can slash at enemies before starting battles in order to gain an advantage, uncover many treasure chests, and speak to loads of unique characters while checking off a list of side-quests.