Legend of Heroes - Trails / Kiseki series

[hogso]

I've been putting this off for a while, mostly due to the length of the post required to attempt to make all this info palatable, but also because anyone reading this is going to have to allow me to really indulge myself. I'll say straight off that this is a hard gaming series to sell, due entirely to the pace, size of the series as a whole, and the sheer complexity of the overarching story. It does mean, however, that the payoffs for those patient enough are massive.

So why start this up today - simple really, Trails of Cold Steel I and II are in the PSN sale. So if anyone is going to dive in at this point, if you hate it, at least you won't lose too much money.

Firstly, a history lesson.

Nihon Falcom Corporation was founded in Tokyo in 1981, and found most of their early success with the Dragon Slayer series, a very early example of an action RPG - originally released in 1984, The Legend of Zelda (1986) and many subsequent action RPG style games took a lot of inspiration from it. The subtitle of the sixth instalment of the Dragon Slayer series was 'The Legend of Heroes', with two games being released under that banner in 1989 and 1992. Following that, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ('94, '96, '99) games under the Legend of Heroes moniker were released, which collectively became known as the Gagharv Trilogy. At this point in Japan, Falcom were recognised on more or less equal footing with Enix and Squaresoft, owing in large part to their massively popular Ys (ees) series which has a similar lineage. Not the same could be said in the West, of course. Unlike the Legend of Heroes games, though, Ys did not have any sort of continuing narrative. Dragon Slayer: LoH I and II and then the Gagharv Trilogy had recurring characters and plot elements, and although Ys is rather infamous for always having the same protagonist (the flame haired Adol Christin) they never have a continuing plot.

2004 saw the release of the 6th Legend of Heroes game - and Falcom decided to take the idea of an overarching narrative and really run with it. It's also important to note that for fans, this is where the series really begins. All the other games previous, both Dragon Slayer's and the Gagharv trilogy games, don't link at all with what followed. For what it's worth, this also marks a significant break in gameplay terms too. From this point the Legend of Heroes games were turn based in combat and heavily narrative and character driven, whereas the Ys series is more about the action RPG combat system and exploration (Tokyo Xanadu (2015) struck a middle ground, focusing on a high school environment with an action RPG battle system, with a stronger narrative than typical in the Ys games).

The games from here on are often referred to as the 'Trails' series, or 'Kiseki' to give it the Japanese name. Thus far, including the latest game released in Japan but not yet localised for the western audience, there have been nine Trails games, as follows (all release dates as JP);

Sky Trilogy - Liberl
Trails in the Sky - 2004 - PC / PSP
Trails in the Sky SC - 2006 - PC
Trails in the Sky the 3rd - 2007 - PC

Crossbell Arc
Zero no Kiseki - 2010 - PSP - Japan only
Ao no Kiseki - 2011 - PSP - Japan only

 

Cold Steel Quadilogy - Erebonia Arc
Trails of Cold Steel I - 2013 - PS3 / PSV / PS4 / PC
Trails of Cold Steel II - 2014 - PS3 / PSV / PS4 / PC
Trails of Cold Steel III - 2017 - PS4 / Switch
Trails of Cold Steel IV - 2019 - PS4 - Japan Only

All of the games take place on the continent of Zemuria, but focus on different countries within it - starting with Liberl, then Crossbell, and then Erebonia. Each state is defined by different characteristics, both political and social, as well as geographical features - although it is the former which are far more in focus than the latter. They do, though, share the same religion for the most part. All of these topics are key to the story of each game. In addition, the games take place in roughly chronological order, spanning only about 5 years in game time from the first game released in 2004 to the most recent in 2019. It probably goes without saying, then, that there are plenty of cross overs for characters between each game, as individual stories continue in later games, even if their own game wraps up that story nicely.

As such, it should go without saying that attempting to play all of this is a massive time sink. Each game is at least a 40-60 hour commitment, with the Cold Steel games verging closer to 80+ hours. A large part of this is that even NPCs, who RPG fans will know generally inhabit towns as filler, have their own stories, with comments on the current political upheaval, war, or whatever other crisis might be going on at the time. And even these completely optional conversation cover multiple games too, offering an rivalled level of fan service.

 

[hogso]

Exciting recent news - the next game in the series was recently announced. It's called Hajimari no Kiseki, will be released on PS4 in Japan this summer, and features characters from the Liberl, Crossbell, and Erebonia arcs. The tagline in the first promo announcement referred to the game as the beginning and the end - suggesting that this will resolve some outstanding plot threads (most significantly the identity of the Grandmaster of Ouroboros), but also act as the start of a whole new overarching plot. The only other details were the confirmation of some characters who will appear in it, but most interestingly that the game will be viewed from 3 different points of view - Rean from Cold Steel with a group of 'heroes', Lloyd from Crossbell with a group of 'liberators' and then a group of hermits, the identity of whom is currently unknown.

In addition, Falcom also confirmed that Ao no Kiseki and Zero no Kiseki are getting the 'EVO' treatment - basically there version of an upgrade. This happened with the Liberl arc games, which is what you'd play if you purchased those three games on Steam. What's the most exciting thing about this is that Ao and Zero EVO are confirmed for PS4 released - raising the probability of Western localisation. The other EVO games had some extra QOL features, scenes, and better sprites.

[Chindie]

I'd love to give this series a go but I don't think I can make the commitment to it anymore. I did Persona 5 last year but I think that's the last time for games like this, in a pretty unique situation personally.

But I still kinda want to give it a go...

[hogso]

It's a really hard sell unfortunately, as I mentioned in the OP. 

Not because the games are bad - they're great. But because it's an unreal time sink. To get the most out of it you genuinely need to play all 9 (so far only 6 officially localised for us) to get the full benefit from and impact that the story undoubtedly has.

It's almost more akin to an actual anime series than a game, as the stories of each arc start off relatively non descript, and they're all proper slow burns...but once you realise how a big a deal those little stories and plot points are later on, it's so rewarding. Then when you factor in plot points from the another arc are affecting the one you're playing...it's helped as well by the fact the gameplay is fine. Not great or special in anyway, but absolutely fine. 

I've just recently dug out my old Psp and installed a CFW on it so I can play the Crossbell arc via a fan translation patch. It's a fantastic little game. I can't over state how good the writing is of these characters. It's a pretty unique project in any media, and certainly in gaming I can't think of another quite like it...plenty of series have games which continue plot threads of course, or those that may not but reference older games - but nothing like this.

I've pretty much flat out stopped playing anything else, as I know this will absorb all of my gaming time until FF7R (with the exception of Wreckfest, which is a great game for 10 minutes of mindless fun). 

 

[hogso]

ToCS IV seemingly confirmed for this year! 

 

Madness, it will surely be delayed. At the very least it's confirmed! 

[Chindie]

So...

I bought Trails of Cold Steel. And 2 accidentally.

I've played the prologue and started the first bit of the first chapter. I quite like it. It's like..  it's a budget Persona game with none of the style and a story that's played much more traditional JRPG in tone and sensibility. Obviously I've barely scratched the surface but looking forward to more.

I'm going to be using this a dipping in/out title so I suspect I'll still be playing it this time next year.

[hogso]

Best of luck on your new venture. The first ToCS game is a pretty straight laced 'kids at school with hints of a larger mystery and a bit of policital intrigue' for probably 90% of the play time. Which is a lot! It's fine, and by the end of the game, you'll know if you want to stick with not only ToCS, but if you want to dip in to the other games as well - especially as ToCS 2 ramps up the association with previous games in the larger storyline. 

And it's on that note that it's worth mentioning the other 10% of the game - you'll know when you get there, but it shifts massively in tone, and becomes something quite different to what you've experienced up to that point. 

Good stuff, I liked the majority of the first ToCS game, although it can be a bit of a slog at times. But then, that's true of nearly all the LoH games. 

[hogso]

Trails from Zero just got a release on PS4, Switch and Steam, being the first time you've officially been able to own the game with an English script.

It's possibly the best Trails game I've played, the setting of Crossbell is great, and the cast of characters memorable. It also benefits from only having one further game in it's arc - that being Tales from Azure, which is also getting a proper English release next April.

The issue is that these are 10+ year old games, released separately, at full cost per game. I dunno if I can recommend them on that basis, maybe wait for a sale or something. It would be really nice if the first three arcs (Trails in the Sky (3 games), Trails from Zero/Azure and Trails of Cold Steel (4 games)) were all released on Switch and PS4 so you can play them all there. But...if they're all full cost releases, that's a lot of money. 

NIS have been on the receiving end of controversy before, I think it was Disgaea 4 that had the ending locked behind DLC? And this hasn't really helped their relationship with the fandom, with some fans boycotting the new releases and sticking to fan translations instead. 

Next year will also see the release in the next game in the series - Trails into Reverie, which is a standalone entry, following by the Calvard arc, covering 3 games, called Kuro no Kiseki (no confirmed English name yet).

In other Falcom news, Ys VIII is getting a PS5 physical release in November. NIS gonna NIS.

[Keyblade]

I completed the Cold Steel collection recently, all brand new. Really happy with them. 2 on the PS3 and 2 on the Switch. I started collecting them after I played some of the first Trails in the Sky game which I loved. Got a really good deal on the Lionheart Edition of the first and slowly got the rest.

I think I'll give the Zero remakes a pass and play them on PSP and Vita, there are fan translations out there. The Switch versions aren't by NIS which is interesting, but not sure if it has any issues itself. I'd love to have a physical version of that if they iron out the issues.

[hogso]

Yeah, I'd like to have them all on PS4/5, but I don't know if I can justify it (and that's if Sky ever gets a PS4/5 release).

I think at one point in my life it would have been a series which would have been day one releases every step of the way, but not anymore. 

I see that one of the directors recently said we're now 70% through (up to the end of the Calvard games), with many fans drawing comparisons to Eiichiro Oda and his One Piece manga, where he's said many many times, we're x years away from the end now, and when those x years expire...oh I meant from the end of this arc, not the whole thing...I think the best current estimate for One Piece is about 2027. It started in 1997. 

Now, a long running manga is one thing, at least it's in a single format. Trails stretching across console generations doesn't make it particularly east for fans, does it.

I love Falcom's ambition with the series, I really do. There is so little like it out there, probably for good reason! I just fear that there will never be an end to it, sales aren't particularly good even in Japan...

[Keyblade]

12 hours ago, hogso said:

Yeah, I'd like to have them all on PS4/5, but I don't know if I can justify it (and that's if Sky ever gets a PS4/5 release).

I think at one point in my life it would have been a series which would have been day one releases every step of the way, but not anymore. 

I see that one of the directors recently said we're now 70% through (up to the end of the Calvard games), with many fans drawing comparisons to Eiichiro Oda and his One Piece manga, where he's said many many times, we're x years away from the end now, and when those x years expire...oh I meant from the end of this arc, not the whole thing...I think the best current estimate for One Piece is about 2027. It started in 1997. 

Now, a long running manga is one thing, at least it's in a single format. Trails stretching across console generations doesn't make it particularly east for fans, does it.

I love Falcom's ambition with the series, I really do. There is so little like it out there, probably for good reason! I just fear that there will never be an end to it, sales aren't particularly good even in Japan...

I love it for what it is. It's like Persona or Final Fantasy if they were all connected. If every JRPG series were like that it would be tiring but it works because it's one of the few.