The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Reviews

Absolute choroi, choroi of a game. I usually have problems playing a game for more than 2h in a row, but with this game, time just flies. I was in an 10h flight whilst sick and this game really helped me feel less miserable throughout the whole ordeal. Beyond some particular chests containing monsters (which contain rare goods anyway), it seems to be very easy to stay on top of the difficulty curve so far (I just finished chapter 1).

although it starts a little slow, whenever it picks up it just keeps getting more and more interesting. the battle mechanics are a little weird at first, but once you get the hang of it, the combat becomes pretty entertaining. overall a solid 8/10 story for the first entry in the trails series

it's almost impossible to talk about this game without considering second chapter as well - i consider the two to be one entity, neither side stands quite as tall without the other. bear that in mind if you plan to get into this, you'll be in liberl for a loooong time - consider that game to be "disk 2" in the old FF way. a very, very good time mind you - the sky games feature one of the best written characters i've ever seen in a game. you will absolutely get into estelle's head and know precisely how she's going to act in any given scenario, and that's really how the game gets you good. sky has a medium-sized cast of very well defined characters that will act pretty realistically given any situation they're thrown into, which lends a certain weight to the story that i don't often feel in rpgs. i won't say they feel "real" in that cliched way, but they certainly feel like i know them and what they want. the game is absolutely campy as heck at points and that is honestly a strength. if you've watched any amount of anime you will see some things that you've seen a thousand times before, but weirdly it's _so_ well written that you won't sigh and skip, but go "heck yea" and get hyped as 2 PNGs are smashed into eachother repeatedly. it's a weird thing to behold, but it's a testament to how well it pulls you into what it's doing. i won't talk much about actual story beats because that _is_ the game really, just that it is an exceptionally rare feat for a game to pull me along emotionally as much as this one does. i love the stick-weilding idiot and her colourful array of weirdo friends. i won't lie though, the first chapter starts pretty slow. give it time, it's setting things up that will be paying gigantic dividends for the next 70-odd hours. gameplay-wise it's... honestly pretty standard for a jrpg of its time. it's got a pretty interesting character-building system in orbments, where you can decide how you want to set up characters - do you want estelle to be a physical tank? or a healer? it's pretty flexible honestly. and the difficulty isn't that bad. it has spikes at times, like, MASSIVE spikes, but falcom have failsafes in place to make sure those don't stop you forever. if you fail a battle repeatedly, the difficulty will lower to make sure you don't just get roadblocked - really nice little thing actually. but otherwise it's a system that you'll pick up very fast and be able to play around with. i have been converted to a member of the kiseki cult and i shall now preach the good word. if this is currently on sale, absolutely give it a shot. if not, if you like jrpgs or well-constructed stories you will probably adore this and it's worth it at full price. don't forget to pick up second chapter as well if they're both on sale.

Trying to get back into JRPGs after a long time, I wanted a story-heavy JRPG so I rolled the dice on this and got exactly what I was looking for here. It's actually insane how much story and setting and dialogue this game contains. I want to know how many characters (of text) it contains, frankly. The world is packed with locations and details that are strictly there to flesh out the world—no hidden items in bookshelves or barrels, making you run around the world spamming "Interact"—which I love. This game is exactly what I wanted, and if you like getting to know your characters and world as much as you like getting to know your combat stats, I recommend it. [b] Install the "Evo" Japanese voice mod—it adds a lot of character to the game, even if you don't know Japanese. [/b] This increased my enjoyment of all the dialogue even more. It's pretty wild just how much dialogue is voiced. It does some goofy anime-tropey things, but it's not excessive. It's got QOL features I would've killed for in older JRPGs, namely the speed-up feature. You can increase the speed of all animations, battles, walking, so that you don't despair in the backtracking, trash mobs, etc. This sort of slog is part and parcel of JRPGs, and you wouldn't want to be without it, but it's nice to be able to speed it up. I think if you try to follow a guide or 100% this your first run, you'll spoil the experience. So don't do it! Enjoy the ride! I loved this game and I'm looking forward to playing the sequels.

[h1]Pros[/h1] [list] [*]Incredibly engaging JRPG story that remains grounded in rich world storytelling through dynamic NPC's and dialogue [*]Very catchy OST [*]Pacing is quite fast despite tons of dialogue, players who are quick readers can enjoy the game's highs at a reasonable pace [*]First game in the series but is still a complete standalone game on itself with the epilogue leading to future mysteries [*][b]Estelle {Best GIrl of the year}[/b] [/list] [h1]Cons[/h1] [list] [*]Unmemorable world design with reused textures for both environments and enemies (Old game nitpick) [*]Combat is quite tough and grinding is decentivized with strict experience cutoffs at certain milestones; not the most beginner friendly JRPG, but it does feel good to use all your new expertise in NG+ [*]Pretty much 0 voice acting with the exception of combat, very heavy text game with no alternative forms of information presentation (wasn't a con for me; but it is a lot of reading) [/list]

Finished this game on my Vita. I was very interested in starting the series due to the cult following the series has and the reputation it has for great reputation. Who doesn't want a long, epic RPG series? Not many series have this many games. How does the first game stack up? It definitely is a setup game. It's slow paced, but does a good job of showing you the state of the world and develop its main characters. By the end of the game however, the narrative picks up and you can really see the scope and potential the world has. That by itself, is the main reason to play the game. Gameplay wise, it's a pretty standard, classic JRPG. Nothing crazy in terms of combat, or dungeon design. It does well enough to keep you playing. But the story and world building is what will keep you coming back.

When I picked up this game, I expected nothing more than to play the opening chapter of a popular series. What I got instead was one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent years. There’s something truly unique about it that I can’t quite pinpoint, whether it’s the story, the villains, or the characters. They’re not overly complex, and the twist ending is somewhat predictable if you follow the plot closely, yet the game still feels like a breath of fresh air. It contains something that’s been missing from gaming over the past decade, and that’s what makes it great.

Trails in the Sky is one of the coziest RPGs I have ever had the pleasure of playing, as well as the first game in a series that has established itself as one of the best to ever do it. This game proves that Falcom truly cares about their characters and the world they build around them, and the result is one of the most heartwarming and yet also heartbreaking stories I've ever experienced in a video game. Along with a unique and fun combat system, this game crafts a world that fills me with an undeniable desire to dive even deeper and remain within the world of Zemuria. Thank God there are so many more of these games to fulfill that desire. If you're on the fence about playing this game, trust me; just do it.

A few years ago I was going through a difficult breakup where I wanted to just cry for 8 hours a day. Instead I booted up this game and played it for 8 hours a day, spending about a month playing all 3 Sky games obsessively. Yes, these are slow burns, and nothing important happens until the end of this one, but still, the games are just so charming. Estelle and Joshua feel like true friends and Olivier is a comic genius. I honestly love the entire cast and feel they were better written than characters in future arcs, but that's neither here nor there. Just play these games for a chill JRPG time that escalates into something truly amazing by the second game.

If you enjoy RPGs as a structure and genre then you can see where the game shines, otherwise this is not really for you. Estelle is a good character, given life by the extremely talented localization.