Several years ago, I believe it was 2014 or so, I was in a huge gaming rut. I hadn’t really played much of anything, and while I still followed RPG sites, I didn’t really feel like they appealed to me. [None of this is to say that more modern games aren’t good at all- like what you like, they just didn’t appeal to me at the time.] I kept seeing The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky recommended as a truly story driven franchise with great characters and music. I finally took the plunge, and Trails in the Sky reawakened my love of video games. It had that sense of discovery, of coming-of-age that I had loved growing up. But it had more to it: big, geopolitical drama that kept building and bonds of friendship that were forged in strong and believable ways.
Over the course of several years, in between work and having kids and a parent dying, I played these games. They were like old friends even as I experienced them for the first time. I played the Sky Trilogy, then jumped ahead to Cold Steel, thinking the Crossbell duology would always remain in limbo. I eventually started watching a Let’s Play, but then Crossbell got announced! I was so excited. I finished CS I + II and then dived into Crossbell looking for more of the story and characterization I loved.
I did not expect to feel like the ending of Azure could legitimately be life changing. It’s full of messages that appeal to me as an adult gamer, along with all the charm and joy (and anime tropes that are often silly!) I loved as a kid. I just finished Trails to Azure and it might be the best story I’ve ever experienced in a video game (right alongside Sky Second Chapter). I’m so thankful for Falcom for making these games, and for XSeed and NISA for bringing them over.
Taking a step back the Legend of Heroes series is a lengthy one. However, it’s broken into several sub-series. What’s important to realize is they all tie together into one massive continuous story, though each sub-series is contained on its own for its main stories. The Trails in the Sky Trilogy (Trails in the Sky, Second Chapter, and The 3rd) is the first of these sub-series, followed by the Crossbell Duology (Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure), followed by Trails of Cold Steel I-IV. There’s also Trails into Reverie that acts as a kind of bow on top of all these games combined, and, launching soon, Trails to Daybreak sets off a new, major plotline on another part of the continent. Again, the series each have a largely self-contained major plot but many other plot threads reach out into the other games, and since they’re all set in the same world with a continuous timeline, you see many recurring characters and, more importantly, major plotlines of geopolitical turmoil and magical malice playing out as the kind of “ultimate” main story.
Yes, investing the time to play all of these and experience it is massive. But the time is rewarded abundantly with intricate plots and deliciously fun moments throughout. RPGFan had a great overview of the series and look at how to get into them here.
Anyway, I hope more gamers will find and experience these games. If you like games like Fire Emblem, older Final Fantasy games, and turn-based JRPGs generally, they are, in my opinion, the cream of the crop.
Links
Video Games– Check out all my posts on video games here.
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Eclectic Theist 