The combat is a slog from beginning to end and the story isn't particularly engaging until the last two chapters. Luckily the character interaction and worldbuilding are great the entire ride and the finale is very compelling. OST is also phenomenal.
The first half of one of the best JRPGs of all time easily.
"Why is my present a BOY?"
Trails (or The Legend of Heroes to be more exact) is a series that I wanted, but never had much urgency or need to play in my gaming adventures. However, when I was killing bugs and defending democracy I thought "why not use this pre-SMTV and Dawntrail time to explore my repertoire of famous jrpgs?", well, I did.
Trails in The Sky, the first in a trilogy, works exactly like an anime with hundreds of episodes and you're only in the first major arc. It's a simple story, which leaves a LOT unanswered, perhaps that's why it's a trilogy. Other than the combat being whatever and indifferent to me, I don't think I have anything bad to say about this game. The characters are charismatic and Estelle is a good protagonist (she really carries theboring Joshua).
The "Materia" (Quartz) system is cool, but I hope to have more variety in skill usability in future entries, because there are really 4-5 skills that are very, very strong, and the others are completely ignorable.
That's it. A good first impression of a big jrpg franchise, and ends up making you want to jump straight to the sequel. (more series for me to forget that I had to finish, let's go!)
Trails (or The Legend of Heroes to be more exact) is a series that I wanted, but never had much urgency or need to play in my gaming adventures. However, when I was killing bugs and defending democracy I thought "why not use this pre-SMTV and Dawntrail time to explore my repertoire of famous jrpgs?", well, I did.
Trails in The Sky, the first in a trilogy, works exactly like an anime with hundreds of episodes and you're only in the first major arc. It's a simple story, which leaves a LOT unanswered, perhaps that's why it's a trilogy. Other than the combat being whatever and indifferent to me, I don't think I have anything bad to say about this game. The characters are charismatic and Estelle is a good protagonist (she really carries the
The "Materia" (Quartz) system is cool, but I hope to have more variety in skill usability in future entries, because there are really 4-5 skills that are very, very strong, and the others are completely ignorable.
That's it. A good first impression of a big jrpg franchise, and ends up making you want to jump straight to the sequel. (more series for me to forget that I had to finish, let's go!)
oh my god i get it now. looking forward to sc
It's peak.
He tardado años en jugarlo; he jugado casi 40 horitas -Steam me marca menos pero que se calle la puta boca- y sinceramente... me ha flipado. Me ha flipado su mundo, los personajes, la ost: Todo muy bien.
Quiero más.
Quiero más.
This review contains spoilers
It was the summer of 2020, it was in the middle of the pandemic, and I see a game on sale on the steam store titled 'The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III'. Yeah, not what you were expecting me to say, but let me tell you, when I first saw the gameplay and trailer for that game, I think that's when I became a trails degenerate and decided to go to the beginning of the series, with Trails in the Sky.
Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. The main thing that got me hooked into the series was the wordbuilding of Zemuria, I just thought of it as being so sick and cool and I needed more.
The beginning of the game was pretty slow and chill, sure, but I loved it. I'm also used to these types of games so that didn't really kill it for me. Estelle and Joshua bounce off of each other so well that I started to fall in love with them as a duo, Joshua especially. I could tell they were going to plot something with Joshua, just wasn't sure what it was going to evolve into. The rest of the cast is also pretty cool, with the main highlight in my opinion being Olivier. You can't top Olivier in terms of personality I'm afraid. As far as I'm concerned, HE'S PEAK!
The battle system also drew me in and probably became one of my most favourite battle systems ever. Idk there's just something that hits different about being able to interrupt the turn order and steal bonuses, guess it's just a rush. I love the orbment system and the different types of arts you could cast with the different quartz setups.
Regarding the plot, it felt like we were going on an adventure around Liberl (well that's what it was literally so I guess they hit another bullseye). I enjoyed how after every chapter we would rotate characters and be introduced to new ones. The chemistry between some of the party members was amazing. You got Estelle and Scherazard, Estelle and Agate, Estelle and Joshua, Estelle and Tita, honestly Estelle just bounces off of everyone really well. The party dynamics and chemistry was amazing and it just made the game that much more enjoyable. Honestly kind of lit how a pair of two teenagers had to put a stop to a coup that could've potentially toppled the entire kingdom. Overall, I was satisfied with the entire plot, and the Joshua plot reveal was probably the best part of the game imo. It definitely got me interested in Ouroboros as an organization, and judging by the fact that this is only the first game in like a twelve, soon to be thirteen, game series, I am beyond excited for how they expand on them.
Great game, would recommend, will be replaying it. Just play it please and give it a chance, you'll love it, unless you don't, then that's also an opinion!
Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. The main thing that got me hooked into the series was the wordbuilding of Zemuria, I just thought of it as being so sick and cool and I needed more.
The beginning of the game was pretty slow and chill, sure, but I loved it. I'm also used to these types of games so that didn't really kill it for me. Estelle and Joshua bounce off of each other so well that I started to fall in love with them as a duo, Joshua especially. I could tell they were going to plot something with Joshua, just wasn't sure what it was going to evolve into. The rest of the cast is also pretty cool, with the main highlight in my opinion being Olivier. You can't top Olivier in terms of personality I'm afraid. As far as I'm concerned, HE'S PEAK!
The battle system also drew me in and probably became one of my most favourite battle systems ever. Idk there's just something that hits different about being able to interrupt the turn order and steal bonuses, guess it's just a rush. I love the orbment system and the different types of arts you could cast with the different quartz setups.
Regarding the plot, it felt like we were going on an adventure around Liberl (well that's what it was literally so I guess they hit another bullseye). I enjoyed how after every chapter we would rotate characters and be introduced to new ones. The chemistry between some of the party members was amazing. You got Estelle and Scherazard, Estelle and Agate, Estelle and Joshua, Estelle and Tita, honestly Estelle just bounces off of everyone really well. The party dynamics and chemistry was amazing and it just made the game that much more enjoyable. Honestly kind of lit how a pair of two teenagers had to put a stop to a coup that could've potentially toppled the entire kingdom. Overall, I was satisfied with the entire plot, and the Joshua plot reveal was probably the best part of the game imo. It definitely got me interested in Ouroboros as an organization, and judging by the fact that this is only the first game in like a twelve, soon to be thirteen, game series, I am beyond excited for how they expand on them.
Great game, would recommend, will be replaying it. Just play it please and give it a chance, you'll love it, unless you don't, then that's also an opinion!
This game is a slowburn 40 hour slice of life rpg, that generally is treated by the fanbase as a slog to get to through to get to the good stuff in SC. I can understand the viewpoint of someone who does not like this game if it is their first trails game but I think this game does an excellent job of using a simple rpg narrative to build up larger narrative intrigue, plant the seeds and hints of greater things to come, and make the cast of characters feel very genuine. It is a slowburn but it is immersive and warm and fun, the soundtrack is one of my favorite of all time, and it is just as good as the second chapter, its just less grand due to it being the start of the journey. Since this was my 3rd trails game, after cold steel 1 and 2, I kind of knew how to approach this mentally since they can be slow and it helps to be expecting this.
Game takes A WHILE to get into the game, but it's one half of a whole game so yaaaaa
Desde que me pasé este juego leo todos los dias el Liberl News por la mañana como si fuera mi padre leyendo el Marca
Epitome of fiction. My glorious king plays this game all the time and he put me on. This is da shit ong.
Such a great start to a great series. Yes it is very slow but honestly I don't mind. Going around Liberl meeting people, learning things and doing quests was so fun. The cast introductions just instantly made me fall in love with this world. Top it all off with an epic final boss and an insane cliff hanger and it we've got the perfect introduction to this series.
"just as the brightest light casts the darkest shadow"
the trails series is gonna be a series where i commit to long term, as the first trails game i've played in the series this did not dissapoint me at all. One of my favourite introductions to a series. The first trails in the sky game was so fun to play i was fully immersed in the whole time, the combat is fun to play with and I already love the cast, there's not really that much to say bad about this game apart from some pacing issues but that's ok because its the first game and i'm expecting that this game will be even better after i play the other 2 in the sky trilogy due to the buildup for the later chapters.
i love estelle as a character already and i have really high hopes for joshua, the last stretch and the final few scenes were so good for joshua and was a great twist, i really liked the build up regarding his backstory. im looking foward on how Loshua and Estelle improve as a dynamic later on.
overall amazing introduction to a series I enjoyed this way more than I should have, great game
the trails series is gonna be a series where i commit to long term, as the first trails game i've played in the series this did not dissapoint me at all. One of my favourite introductions to a series. The first trails in the sky game was so fun to play i was fully immersed in the whole time, the combat is fun to play with and I already love the cast, there's not really that much to say bad about this game apart from some pacing issues but that's ok because its the first game and i'm expecting that this game will be even better after i play the other 2 in the sky trilogy due to the buildup for the later chapters.
i love estelle as a character already and i have really high hopes for joshua, the last stretch and the final few scenes were so good for joshua and was a great twist, i really liked the build up regarding his backstory. im looking foward on how Loshua and Estelle improve as a dynamic later on.
overall amazing introduction to a series I enjoyed this way more than I should have, great game
Umm, well this is not how you do an introductory game. Yes it's the first in a trilogy, setting up a story, it does it pretty poorly for the most part. Everything prior to the final chapter and a bit of chapter 3 was such a drag. Annoying character interactions (except Olivier, you get a gold star babes) and nothing about the world that got be interested in the setting. Felt like a quest completer for most of it. Thought the ending bits were pretty nice, nothing special and found a couple things about it generic? or nothing new for me, but was at least a step up from the rest of the game.
Really SLOW moving.
Pretty slow but fire
Had a conversation with someone about this game, and I told them I played it until they implied the main girl was going to get with her step brother. Then they told me that every protagonist in that series can end up canonically or optionally dating their step-sibling, so I think I dodged a bullet with not finishing this game. That made me laugh so hard I decided to finally review this game 3 years later.
This whole series is one of the most underrated and competes on the same level as Final Fantasy and other mainline RPGs. This series is a continuing story though so you have to play them all to understand. This is a series that you must play in order and treat it like a TV show. I placed it on the best of all time because it is and the combat holds up on its own without the amazing story.
A very good jrpg i love the battle system of this game
A rough beginning.
Estelle Bestelle
As lots of people have noted, this game is SLOW - it makes more sense when you realize this and SC were originally written as a single game, but even in that context, the game is SLOW. That said, the gameplay is a little simple, but very fun, and you get a good feeling of progression and depth as you can arrange your quartz to unlock new spells. It is unfortunate that this is a lot of people's introduction to the series as I can see why it might turn them off, but it's still a good experience as long as you are willing to sit back and just go with the flow.
game crashed right after I beat the final boss so I gave up and watched a youtube video for an hour. also '???' is the greatest text box of all time. peak
I understand this is basically a Setup game, but it really takes a toll on how much of its content feels boring, tropey, and predictable.
For starters, I really don't care much about the characters as they are basically tropes and not something I could call well-written.
The Plot isn't any better either, it has an episodic tone for most of the game while slowly progressing over what's going on in its grand narrative which while is my thing doesn't work here as I didn't care much about the characters here. It does pick near the end, but even that isn't very impressive.
I wasn't a big fan of the final dungeon either, felt too long and was too confusing to get over.
The ending was pretty good and probably the strongest point of the whole plot, but anyone who is even a little familiar with JRPGs or rather media in general will know how it's gonna end.
But it's not like I didn't appreciate the game at all, in fact, there are tons of stuff I enjoyed in this game.
The gameplay is very enjoyable and its turn-based system is one of the best in this game, offering various strategies to deal with opponents, or just do your regular hit until they are dead battle.
It's not just the combat segment, the ability to save anywhere in the game, no random encounters, easy escape from battles, and a lot more. Its quite refreshing how not many JRPG for its time do that, but I am glad Trails does
The Music is pretty good as well, but I have heard a few tracks from Crossbell and Cold Steel games, and nothing in this game comes close to them. I like the music here but I feel like they are gonna have it even better.
The Worldbuilding is already very captivating and got me hooked, it makes you feel like the world of Trails is Grand and there are tons of events going to happen. And since it's the first game in the series, that makes it much more promising and I can't wait to see how better the Worldbuilding gets.
Overall I think it's an okay but promising start to the franchise, and I am hyped for going through all the games in it.
For starters, I really don't care much about the characters as they are basically tropes and not something I could call well-written.
The Plot isn't any better either, it has an episodic tone for most of the game while slowly progressing over what's going on in its grand narrative which while is my thing doesn't work here as I didn't care much about the characters here. It does pick near the end, but even that isn't very impressive.
I wasn't a big fan of the final dungeon either, felt too long and was too confusing to get over.
The ending was pretty good and probably the strongest point of the whole plot, but anyone who is even a little familiar with JRPGs or rather media in general will know how it's gonna end.
But it's not like I didn't appreciate the game at all, in fact, there are tons of stuff I enjoyed in this game.
The gameplay is very enjoyable and its turn-based system is one of the best in this game, offering various strategies to deal with opponents, or just do your regular hit until they are dead battle.
It's not just the combat segment, the ability to save anywhere in the game, no random encounters, easy escape from battles, and a lot more. Its quite refreshing how not many JRPG for its time do that, but I am glad Trails does
The Music is pretty good as well, but I have heard a few tracks from Crossbell and Cold Steel games, and nothing in this game comes close to them. I like the music here but I feel like they are gonna have it even better.
The Worldbuilding is already very captivating and got me hooked, it makes you feel like the world of Trails is Grand and there are tons of events going to happen. And since it's the first game in the series, that makes it much more promising and I can't wait to see how better the Worldbuilding gets.
Overall I think it's an okay but promising start to the franchise, and I am hyped for going through all the games in it.
Muy bueno, se nota que es parte 1 de 2 (sobre todo por ESE FINAL) y la recta final a lo mejor es la que más sufre de ello porque se esfuerza mucho por hypear y hacer buildup a eventos que, en ese momento, tampoco son todo lo importantes que podría parecer. Probablemente sí sean relevantes a futuro tho
Mataría por Estelle y Joshua, hacer el juego más character-driven que plot-driven (que no por ello implica que "no pase nada", como he visto por ahí) lleva a que salgas encantadísimo con los chiquillos y su relación, así como todos los que se encuentran por el camino. Cada arco es más interesante que el anterior, siempre hay algo que te lleve a seguir jugando, es relativamente adictivo y ayuda mucho que sea cortito para estándares de su género. Además el worldbuilding es muy interesante y me gusta mucho cómo los NPCs reaccionan a todo lo que pasa, se siente como que de verdad tienes un impacto palpable en el mundo
El gameplay pues no diría que es del montón, tiene ideas curiosonas y las bossfights son muy entretenidas pero tampoco es la panacea que digamos. Dicho lo cual, cuando, tras doce horas de gameplay, descubrí que había un botón de turbo, mejoró exponencialmente para mí
En resumen: peak, sienta bases solidísimas, estaré SENTADO para SC. Olivier Lenheim el personaje de todos los tiempos
Mataría por Estelle y Joshua, hacer el juego más character-driven que plot-driven (que no por ello implica que "no pase nada", como he visto por ahí) lleva a que salgas encantadísimo con los chiquillos y su relación, así como todos los que se encuentran por el camino. Cada arco es más interesante que el anterior, siempre hay algo que te lleve a seguir jugando, es relativamente adictivo y ayuda mucho que sea cortito para estándares de su género. Además el worldbuilding es muy interesante y me gusta mucho cómo los NPCs reaccionan a todo lo que pasa, se siente como que de verdad tienes un impacto palpable en el mundo
El gameplay pues no diría que es del montón, tiene ideas curiosonas y las bossfights son muy entretenidas pero tampoco es la panacea que digamos. Dicho lo cual, cuando, tras doce horas de gameplay, descubrí que había un botón de turbo, mejoró exponencialmente para mí
En resumen: peak, sienta bases solidísimas, estaré SENTADO para SC. Olivier Lenheim el personaje de todos los tiempos
Merci Liberl News pour la trad fr ça régale
If this is the weakest entry then I can't fucking wait to play the next 3 oh my fucking god
This was certainly a videogame.
*This is coming from a guy who beat all Trails games after the Liberl arc and its the final arc that still need to be played.
Trails in the Sky FC is a slow-burn, but a pretty solid game. As the very first story to tell in Zemuria, the story was extremely character driven with it doing the job of introducing the settings and concepts that'll stick with the series until the end of the series's storyline. However, because of those introductory elements, FC suffers on a very slow start with the pacing being slow paced and low-staked. While I carried through due to my experience with the future arcs, I had to admit the story was pretty slow despite me liking the characters from the get go. I'll honestly say it took until Ruan for me to fully be invested in it. Despite the story stakes being slow and low stakes, the character moments definitely makes up for it with its strong writing and developments. Estelle Bright is indeed Bestelle (though Kloe was personal favorite). Gameplay is pretty simple, with the quartz system being the factor of making the game entertaining for anyone. Despite how initially confusing it looks, the quartz system is simple and with the right art setup can snowball your characters into winning any fights since arts are king in the game in terms of damage output. Despite that, you'll only stick with usually two same characters as you traverse Liberl, you get shuffling character that fit for any story moment in each location. For the most part, you only really need to worry about equipping gear your two main character being Estelle and Joshua Bright. The system is extremely simple, but its a recipe for it to get better. Visually, while it looks a bit dated, the 3-Dish sprites are charming and the cities are all distinctly different. Music is great with my favorites being Ruan, Zeiss, and Silver Will. Finally, talking to the named NPCS were just fun as some have small development over the course of story events. It shows the attention to detail Falcom gave to the game (which they continue to do for every future game). Overall, recommend it as the excellent starting point since it's the first chronological story of a long series. However, understand it is more character-focused so come in the game with that in the mind.
Trails in the Sky FC is a slow-burn, but a pretty solid game. As the very first story to tell in Zemuria, the story was extremely character driven with it doing the job of introducing the settings and concepts that'll stick with the series until the end of the series's storyline. However, because of those introductory elements, FC suffers on a very slow start with the pacing being slow paced and low-staked. While I carried through due to my experience with the future arcs, I had to admit the story was pretty slow despite me liking the characters from the get go. I'll honestly say it took until Ruan for me to fully be invested in it. Despite the story stakes being slow and low stakes, the character moments definitely makes up for it with its strong writing and developments. Estelle Bright is indeed Bestelle (though Kloe was personal favorite). Gameplay is pretty simple, with the quartz system being the factor of making the game entertaining for anyone. Despite how initially confusing it looks, the quartz system is simple and with the right art setup can snowball your characters into winning any fights since arts are king in the game in terms of damage output. Despite that, you'll only stick with usually two same characters as you traverse Liberl, you get shuffling character that fit for any story moment in each location. For the most part, you only really need to worry about equipping gear your two main character being Estelle and Joshua Bright. The system is extremely simple, but its a recipe for it to get better. Visually, while it looks a bit dated, the 3-Dish sprites are charming and the cities are all distinctly different. Music is great with my favorites being Ruan, Zeiss, and Silver Will. Finally, talking to the named NPCS were just fun as some have small development over the course of story events. It shows the attention to detail Falcom gave to the game (which they continue to do for every future game). Overall, recommend it as the excellent starting point since it's the first chronological story of a long series. However, understand it is more character-focused so come in the game with that in the mind.
I've tried playing this game twice before and I just couldn't get into it. No idea what changed this time, but by the end I was locked in. Falcom you never fail to amaze me...