REVIEW: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

Now we get to the most obvious change in the remake, the visuals. Whatever Falcom is doing with their in-house engine, the Falcom Developer Kit (FDK), is working, because this is arguably the best a Trails game has ever looked. All of the characters look great in 3D. Their models perfectly recreate their 2D illustrations, they’re all very well done. One of the things the original game did well was showing the characters’ different facial expressions using the 2D illustrations. I was wondering if those expressions would translate well to the 3D models, and thankfully, they mostly did. The 3D model’s faces were very expressive, especially when they had an over the top or silly reaction to something. There was one expression that didn’t have as much impact in the remake, and that was when Joshua would get serious and you’d see his eye color get more dull. It’s much more noticeable in the original illustrations, but much more subtle in the remake’s 3D model. Another issue is that Estelle’s staff would stick and clip through one of her twintails. It’s not really a huge issue, but it is noticeable if you look for it. Other than those little nitpicks, the models were great. The environments and cities are exceptional too. I remember traveling around these areas in the original game, but my view of these places was limited due to the top down perspective. Now, when I first saw places like the Bright Family House and the City of Rolent in full 3D, it really blew me away.

The environments from the original were perfectly recreated in the remake, and it’s exactly what I thought these places would look like with updated graphics. And using a new camera perspective really helped me appreciate all the places Estelle and Joshua visited that much more. For example, when you first enter the Ruan region, Estelle talks about the view when looking at the sea. Now, because of the new viewpoint and updated graphics, I could really appreciate what she’s talking about in a way I wasn’t able to in the original game. It’s all wonderfully made and I’m happy with the way it all turned out.

The music in the remake is exceptional. The tracks have been rearranged, but they sound so close to the originals and high quality, they really do the original game’s soundtrack justice. When I heard “Silver Will” play for the first time in the game, I really thought they knocked it out of the park. In fact, I’d say they did that for every track in the game. The game also has options for different soundtracks, in case you wanna switch things up. They have the rearranged soundtrack from the remake (Standard), the rearranged soundtrack from The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC Evolution (Arranged), and the original soundtrack from The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (Original). Honestly, just having the Standard soundtrack is enough, but I appreciate having more choices.

Voice acting in the game is pretty well done. You have the option for Japanese and English voices, but I played most of the game in English. Most of the important characters sound good, and characters who are voiced for the first time like Lorence Belgar really killed it. As for the other language option, I did go back and play some of the scenes in Japanese, and the characters sounded stellar with their lines, so you can’t go wrong with that option if that’s what you choose. But, I did have some issues with the voice acting, specifically in English. First off, I found some of the lackey human enemies sounded too lame. Some of them are supposed to be capable, but because of how they sound, I couldn’t take them seriously. Next, it sounded like the voice actress behind Scherazard was struggling to voice her. At times it sounded like her voice was cracking, and sometimes it sounded like she really was forcing herself to get that right tone. I’ve heard her voice other characters before and she sounded great, so I’m wondering if she was feeling alright during voice recording for this game. One final issue I’ll point out pertains to both English and Japanese voices. More lines in the game need to be voiced! There are times when a new character gets introduced in the story, and they’re the only one voiced in the scene while Estelle and crew are silent. The game would’ve benefited greatly if all the characters were voiced in those particular scenes. Despite these issues, I enjoyed the game’s voice acting, and I think the voice actors cumulatively did a good job.

Now, let’s talk about Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter’s localization. GungHo Online Entertainment America, early on, said the game would have a new localization. This was a bit worrying since the localization in The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky was already fine. But, after playing the game, I found the new localization to be pretty good. You could play the game from start to finish while understanding the story and the personalities of characters perfectly fine. Some translations read very formal or straightforward, but I didn’t really have a problem with that. Of course, with a new localization, issues are bound to pop up. Some terms and translations that have been used throughout past Trails games were changed. The notable ones I picked up were the Acerbic Tomato now being called the Bitter Tomato, a selge (unit of measurement) is now called a serge, and the Scent quartz is called Sweet Aroma. You wouldn’t really notice this unless you’re a veteran fan. Certain translations should have continuity throughout every game, especially if they show up in every entry like selge and Acerbic Tomato. I just found those changes head scratching and unneeded. Another issue that popped up, which occurred more in the latter half of the game, was the English voiced lines not matching the text on the screen. The meaning of what was said and what was in the text were pretty much the same, so that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that reading the text and then hearing something different was jarring and could be a little off-putting. I also found one instance of text not wrapping correctly, the text was just on one line and caused it to stretch across the screen and get cut off. This occurred when talking to an NPC named Edwin in Ruan. Other than that, I found three instances of misspelled words and a few sentences with missing punctuation. Despite these issues I pointed out, overall, I think the localization was pretty good. It just needs a bit more polish to be great, and I think these can be fixed in updates in the future.

Back when the remake was first announced, I learned that Falcom would be handling the PC port in-house. This caused me some worry since the past few Trails PC ports were handled by PH3 Games, and Falcom had not developed a PC version themselves in quite some time. Thankfully, my fears were unfounded. The Steam version runs excellently, and honestly, I’m surprised it ran so flawlessly. For being their first in-house PC port in a long time, Falcom really did well. The game ran very smoothly and at above 60 fps at 4K resolution (DLDSR) and on the Ultra preset. You can also toggle the graphics options individually to get the game running, and looking, the way you like. If I were to pick out a problem, it’d be that I think the different graphics settings should have a more detailed explanation. Things like what exactly the setting does and how much that setting level affects CPU and GPU performance. It would help players decide which graphics options work best with their rig. For those that are wondering how it performs on Steam Deck, you don’t have to worry. The game runs great on Steam Deck, too. I was able to play at a smooth 60 fps on the Low preset and didn’t notice any big drops when battling enemies. There were two times when I’d start the game and it couldn’t even hit 30 fps, but exiting the game and restarting it would fix that issue. This is an excellent PC port and I hope Falcom continues to develop PC ports in-house for any of their future titles.

I spent almost 75 hours playing the game from start to finish on Normal difficulty. I felt this gave a decent challenge when it came to boss fights, but there are also two higher difficulty levels (Hard and Nightmare), if you want more of a challenge. There’s an in-game achievement system which rewards you with different items, equipment, and even costumes based on the milestones you reach. I think this is a great addition, especially for the Nintendo Switch version since they don’t have their own achievement system like Steam and PlayStation do. Once you complete the game, New Game+ mode is unlocked. Here, you can carry over different things such as items and levels and also raise the enemies’ level. So, whether you just want to play the game again at a higher difficulty or want to complete every in-game achievement, you still have things to do after beating the game once.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is an excellent RPG and a perfect example of how a remake should be done. It kept the story, which helped me fall in love with the Trails series, intact while also greatly improving the visuals and gameplay. And the music is still exceptional. Despite some of the small issues I had, I really enjoyed revisiting Liberl and following Estelle and Joshua on their journey, and I feel this remake has managed to surpass the original game. Those wanting to get into the Trails series usually ask where they should start. I can proudly say this is the absolute best game to start the series. Newcomers and veterans of the series will definitely have a good time with this one. Now, I just hope Falcom brings us a remake of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC sooner rather than later.