This game gave me so much whiplash at the start! It felt like it really wanted to be a videogame, and the opposite thing, at the same time. It's full of very gamey mechanics, but at some points it just goes "fuck playing games, read all this text for the next one/two hours". But man, was it all worth it.

I think I get what people see in this series now, and what other people don't. It's a series about all this through world-building, and seeing the individual journey of each character as they meet with others and go through various events and adventures in their life, in this world full of mysteries and intrigue. The games are so faithful to this formula, to the point you'll either fall in love and want to see more and more, or you'll just get bored. Of course it will also depend on how much you like each character, and while I can say they aren't all super original or crazy well written, there's a lot of value in the bigger picture: seeing this little (okay maybe not little) world unfold and develop before your eyes.

And this is what 3rd is all about. It's a world-building game. I see some people call it "filler". If one thinks so, I wonder what they are into this series for?! In the end, THIS is Trails. It's the little slice-of-life moments that make the people come alive and come together, it's the lore drops that brings questions and answers, and make you wonder about the past, present, and future of this world.

But enough meta-commentary, I wanna talk about the game too! The gameplay remains the same-old from the previous entry, though you have of course way more variety in terms of characters you can use. I only wish they added a few more new powerful quartz to use. I really like the dungeons set in the new locations in the Phantasma, but mostly because of their looks and music than the gameplay. However, the ones where you control multiple parties are super fun!

The story, as you can guess, is VERY plentiful in this entry, but of course in an extremely different way from previous games, as it's more about world and character building than progressing a plotline. It's a full-on buffet! It's amazing to have so many different characters get all that attention to them. And some plot points introduced leave your mouth watering for the future. And a specific one will break your heart and soul and leave you hollow inside. [ Received ⦿Nothingness. ]

The music is Falcom. Takeshita is my goat. Listening to his 3rd tracks reminded of Ys Origin and so my heartstrings have been tugged. "Recluse Cube" is such a mystic and wonderous track I couldn't help but not skip the game intro everytime because of it (thank you Sonoda). "Golden Road, Silver Road" is such a fun and endearing track, it's on my mind and keeps coming every now and then. It also played in a great dungeon so it can't be helped! And oh boy, there are so many great tracks I'd like to mention... It could be a review of the soundtrack on its own to be fair. But I'll finish with saying the final dungeon and boss tracks go above and beyond.

And on the topic of the final dungeon... What a climax to this game, and to the Sky trilogy. It was such a rich and heartful experience that I'm sure to never forget the feelings I had. The visuals, gameplay, and soundtrack all come together perfectly to enrich each other, to deliver you the kind of experience only games can, and they all should strive to do. "Castle of Illusions (Phantasmagoria)", absolutely one of my favorite Falcom tracks of all time. Thank you, kings. And a very special shoutout to the chest messages in there too, hehe.

It's a game that really makes you feel thankful. For all the artists, writers, programmers, musicians, translators, managers, QA people, marketers... And all the passionate people who live and breathe this series. I'm definitely one of them by now, and I'm here for this ride across Zemuria.