Prelude to the Beginning
As a JRPG aficionado, I have played countless games in the genre over the decades and it’s no secret that the Legend of Heroes series has become one of my favorites. So much so that I’ve got into the habit of importing the Korean versions of the latest title so I can play them earlier instead of waiting for the English localization which usually comes several months later.
Given my extremely high regard for the series, when it was announced that they were working on a full remake of the title “Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter”, I was equal parts excited and concerned. Excited due to the prospect of being able to revisit the first title of this massive series with a modern makeover and the potential of introducing the series to a whole new audience. On the other hand, if the remake was handled poorly, it would only serve to sully the great memory I have of the game and end up being a deterrent for new players to get into the series, raising concerns for the future of Trails.
The story stars two junior bracers striking out into the world for the first time together.
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: PC, NSW, PS
Length: 45~ hours
In the country of Liberl, Estelle and Joshua are two young siblings that recently joined the bracer guild, an organization that helps and protects the citizens of all the countries of the world. As new junior bracers, they are embroiled into a conflict involving their father, Cassius Bright and strike out into the world in search of him while trying to attain the status of Senior Bracers.
The story presented in the 1st chapter is very much one of discovery and world building as we are first introduced to the various states within Liberl and the people living in it. It is also very much a coming of ages tale as Estelle, despite being self-assured, is also quite innocent and naive when it comes to more shady parts of humanity as well as her own feelings and even as she becomes more aware, her optimism, positivity and care for others shines through her actions. Joshua as a counterpart is often her polar opposite having experienced many painful events throughout his life. While he appears calm, collected and compassionate, he hides a darker truth in himself that bubbles up to the surface from time to time.
Bonds.
Estelle and Joshua are good characters on their own but it’s their chemistry with each other that really elevates them to something special and the bonds that they share are undeniable. The supporting cast of characters are all great in their own right as well and if I were to get into it in detail, this review would be 1,000,000 words so I’ll hold back on that front and instead highlight how much of an impact the inclusion of Voice Overs for the characters had in showcasing their personalities and making them even more charming than before. Special mention to Matt Mercer as Olivier who absolutely stole the show every time he was on the scene.
I can’t help but love this silly man, even if I want to punch him in the face every now and then.
Given the “1st Chapter” moniker, it’s very clear that there will be a continuation to the story and as such, while all the events that takes place here is crucial to understanding the world, characters and events to follow, much of it feels like set up, leaving many plot threads open to be closed in the sequel. Due to this fact, don’t expect a satisfying conclusion to the story and a rather painful wait for the follow up to come hopefully in the next year or two.
Queue the obligatory “It should’ve been me, not him!”
As for the combat, they’ve opted for the Hybrid system introduced in Trails to Daybreak where enemies can be found and attacked in the field directly and a more traditional turn-based combat can be initiated at any time, usually after breaking an enemy’s stance for an advantage.
While it takes a long time to finish an enemy of equal or higher level only using the attacks in the field, it served as a way to quickly take down enemies of lower level and set up scenarios where I would stun multiple enemies by breaking their stance before going into the turn-based combat to initiate a burst attack. Using the burst gauge, I built up through various actions, I could attack with multiple characters at the same time, dealing massive damage before the combat even began in earnest, making encounters feel fast paced and tactical.
The animation work on the various crafts and magic were also done very well, even including alternative animations for the same skills depending on certain criteria.
This is some of the finest work Falcom has done in the animation department both in and out of combat.
The Orbment system also returns, more streamlined (better UI) than before as slotting in different types of Quartz allowed the use of different types of arts as well as their innate passive effects. Mixing and matching different configurations opened up new possibilities in combat and felt necessary for success in some of the more difficult encounters. I also felt that the balance of combat felt good as I’ve had many situations where I would barely come out on top and actually was forced to use restorative items for a change. Having said that, it was never too hard that I felt I needed to grind levels or anything despite skipping many encounters on the field.
Arts were quite powerful and setting up the quartz just right for a party that compliments each other well was fun.
In terms of visual presentation, the art style presented here feels like a perfect fit for the series and it was genuinely impressive to behold some of the in-game cutscenes in the story. Knowing how rough and low budget everything used to look in contrast, it makes me happy as a long-time series fan to see that they continue to make strides to improve themselves. As Durante’s team was not handling the PC port of this game, I was concerned if the port would have issues, but my concerns were mostly unwarranted as this is a solid PC port, including many different visual settings and supporting Ultrawide displays right out of the gate which is always a plus in my book. There are some issues in terms of its antialiasing that makes jagged edges appear and some sort of ghosting in certain scenes/environments but overall, it’s a solid effort.
My biggest complaint is an issue that I often bring up with Trails games, which is the unbalanced use of Voice Acting. There are many scenes where certain characters would have voiced dialogue, and others would not and others where they would begin with voiced lines and then just stop after the first few lines. This is clearly a way to save some cost by not having to voice too many lines, but I can’t stress how jarring it feels to see these interactions and it takes away from an otherwise fantastic overall presentation package.
I’m not asking for every single line in the game to be voiced (even though that would be lovely), just that if a scene is going to have VO, just do the entire scene and stop with this picking and choosing that hurts the story/character presentation. As this remake marks a sort of new beginning for the series, this would’ve been the perfect opportunity to change this policy and unfortunately, they decided to keep to series norms to its detriment.
To be continued.
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is an impressive achievement and a near perfect remake. It manages to capture the charm of the original while improving on nearly all areas including visuals, combat, accessibility and more. It also has laid to rest a question that has been asked time and time again. “Which game should I play to get into the Trails series?”. You start with Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, end of discussion.
Fun Tidbit: Can’t end a Falcom game review without sharing a song from its excellent OST. This one has three options, Origina/Remastered/Arraged. I played the game with the arranged OST and while not every song was better than the original, I loved it all the same.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
