Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: GungHo Online Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Switch, Switch 2, PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $59.99 USD – Available Here $99.95 AUD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to the Trails series, the franchise has always had a heck of a daunting shadow hanging over it for possible newcomers. Sure, players could jump into any of the games and try to dive in immediately into this long running JRPG series or even at the start of one of their new arcs, hoping to simply pick up on context clues to the past and guess why these characters are friendly or countries are hostile. But the problem has always been the fact that, for the most part, the Trails series tells a storyline that can be connected all the way from the most recently released in English title The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II all the way back to 2004 with The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. Sure, the game has been ported a couple of times, in fact one of those ports was the first time the game was actually released in English back in 2011, but other than a few QoL adjustments, little was done to this title that helped start it all.
So now Nihon Falcom has returned to the beginning of this long fourteen mainline game franchise to remake Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter from the ground up, giving everyone a chance to see just who Estelle is and why this prominent Bracer has appeared in almost, if not every single title since then. Ironically, considering my personal jumping point into the franchise started just after the Trails in the Sky trilogy concluded with Trails from Zero, this served not only as a proper introduction to the very beginning, but a way to see how far the franchise has come.
Story
Set in the country of Liberl our journey begins by following the duel protagonists of Estelle Bright and her adopted brother Joshua who wish to follow in their father, the legendary adventurer Cassius Bright’s footsteps by joining the Bracer Guild and rising up its ranks. The Bravcer Guild is an international organization designed to help protect the civilians of the land and take on odd-jobs that serve to help the people. Despite Estelle’s skill as a warrior, she is a bit of a scatterbrain but thankfully Joshua manages to keep her reigned in with his own skills and the two quickly find themselves finishing their training and becoming Junior Bracers and assigned a number of tasks left behind when their father is called off to take on an unknown mission.
As Estelle sets out on her journey to complete these quests and numerous other requests that are placed on the Bracer Guild’s quest board, it eventually becomes apparent that something strange is going on within the land as the pair find themselves going from running around finding lost items or doing delivery jobs to uncovering plots that could throw the entire country into turmoil and try to put a stop to them alongside their allies. Unfortunately, it does take a bit of time to get that ball actually rolling though as many of the initial missions are low-stakes and don’t play much into the overarching plot beyond serving as a set-up for the world and introducing players to the various locations in Liberl that they will be traveling to and how some towns and locations interact with one another.
This slow burn in fact actually pays off quite well though thanks to just how well-developed the world itself is. Sure, the main characters Estelle and Joshua shine the brightest here and the continuous stream of rotating party members that come and go throughout the plot also work excellently with the party’s chemistry, but the world itself is so well-established through player interaction and simply talking to NPCs, who will change their dialogue as major events take place throughout the story, and taking on optional missions actually feels rewarding beyond simply completing a quest for an item or some gold, it provides context or additional interactions as well. This helps make these side-quests feel like far more than simple busy work and help show more of the world and some consequences to events that take place, especially since some side-quests are time-limited and can be cut off after certain story beats take place.
Obviously we won’t spoil the storyline here, but it is worth noting that, outside of a bit of altered dialogue here and there given that a new translation has been created for the game, this is still the same story as the one that was told back in 2004, though perhaps with a few extra scenes here and there. That is far from a bad thing by any means as the narrative is still incredibly strong thanks to how interconnected the various plotlines are even if they do take a bit to get going. That being said this means that those who have already played the original game through its few ports over the last decade won’t find many narrative surprises other than a certain tease that the story will likely be continuing in an expected sequel and, for anyone who has played the sequel as well, already know a bit about how that teaser will work.
Gameplay
Outside of the obvious graphical upgrade that we will go over later and shift to a 3D world it is worth noting that Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has undergone some massive modernizations to bring it more up to terms with current games in the franchise. The game’s map will feature various objective markers about where players need to go for main missions, side missions, and even mini-events and out in the field both treasure chests and gather points are highlighted when players are close. This means that players won’t have to worry about missing a side mission or optional objective. It is also interesting to note that a “High Speed” mode has been implemented that allows for players to double the game’s speed, useful for backtracking or navigating through various locations at a faster rate, especially if the player happens to be overleveled.
Since the game allows for full exploration out in the game’s fields as well as within dungeons it is worth noting that the title not only has free-roaming enemies but also has implemented more recent combat mechanics from recent entries that allow players to beat down enemies using a string of light combo attacks and heavy attacks, aiming to stun an enemy to give the player an advantage when they start turn-based mode through a tap of the button, or simply slaying the enemy outright by beating it down in action style combat. Obviously the latter is a bit messier and players can be forced into turn-based mode if struck by a charged enemy attack and placed on the back foot as a result, but this option of slaying foes outside of turn-based is a welcome additional feature to return though the turn-based combat remains as strong as ever.
In the turn-based mode players will act in accordance to their speed skill and be able to move around the field within their movement range, attacking foes with either basic attacks, using CP to trigger combat arts that can be targeted to hit multiple enemies at once or even special immediate attacks at the cost of 100 CP at once, or using SP to cast arts that range from buffs or healing to attack spells with various elements that can be used to target a foe’s weaknesses. Things really start to flow together well when players start to stun enemies and can spend combat points to either trigger simple Follow-Up attacks or stronger Combo blows that can put a troublesome foe down for good. In fact as characters level up they will even gain various passives such as the ability to automatically protect a nearby ally or deliver a finishing blow automatically to an enemy with only a little HP left.
As always, players must make use of the Orbment system and sepith elemental crystals that drop from pretty much everything in order to craft said crystals and unlock Orbment slots for each character. Depending on the type and element of the crystal being slotted into the Orbment will not only improve the chosen character’s stats but will increase their affinity rating with certain elements, gifting them even stronger Arts along certain elemental trees and considering these crystals can be swapped around and changed as needed, it allows for the same type of in-depth customization longtime fans of the series have come to expect, even all the way back with the game that helped start it all.
Audio & Visuals
Besides the advancements in gameplay to modern times, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has also been given a massive visual upgrade. While the original release looked great at the time with its pixel character portraits and animations, seeing the entire cast of characters and the style now used in battle brought up to modern day standards that even surpass the latest Trails game in a few areas is truly a sight to behold. Estelle and Joshua have never looked better and the surrounding cast that weaves in and out of the party is just as impressive. The same can be said for the flashy S-Crafts and Arts players can unleash in combat, truly bringing this title into modern day.
Similarly, for the first time ever an English dub has been created for Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter and the voice actors handle their roles incredibly well here given the script provided for them. In a bit of an odd situation, rather than XSEED that has handled the original English translation for the game or even NIS America that has been currently working on most of the Trails games since, GungHo has handled the publication and translation for the game this time around and it is a bit more rough around the edges. Not only do some of the lines feel like they lack the type of punch that some of the more recent games have had, the writing feels stilted in places as well and the voice actors do their best to work around it but that doesn’t make it much better in more than a few interactions. As for the soundtrack it is great to note that the background music features a great collection of songs that offer quite a bit of variety between exploring different locations and dungeons as well as fighting bosses, stronger foes, and even bosses.
Overall
Nihon Falcom has gone above and beyond with remaking Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter for new and old audiences. Estelle and Joshua remain as endearing as fans could hope for and the signature world-building the franchise eventually became to be known for is exemplified at its best here, even if it does take a bit too long to get going. Thanks to a revamped combat system and plenty of ways to customize characters for battles, this remake feels like the most polished JRPG fans could have hoped for, especially being the game that served as the launching point for such a massive inter-connected series.
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