That's so bizarre, because I did not get that impression from them. The high school rom-com anime tropey archetype shenanigans ruined it for me, and I never felt like anyone was very well fleshed out beyond a stereotype. And I have enough trouble tolerating games littered with stereotypes, it's a whole other bag of problems with teenage high school stuff. I tire of both, and when put together it is almost impossible for me to enjoy. Persona games are one of the only exceptions and I still won't hesitate to rag on them for that. I didn't really get any 90s, Xenogears, or Suikoden vibes from Cold Steel. Though Sky was definitely a 90s throwback with more writing. I can't honestly say it's better writing, but certainly more of it. I wish the combat and pacing were better so it wasn't such a slog. I put about 20 hours into both series and couldn't get over the hang-ups