The Legend of Heroes is a series I have never taken the plunge into. Every time I end up searching for an RPG to keep me warm and fuzzy, I see them always recommended. The series has always piqued my interest but after some research, I found that they’re all pretty dang tied together. Sure, I could jump into the Cold Steel arc and have a good time, but I would be missing out on a ton of returning characters, references, and lore. Also, I play on console. Previous to now, the first games in the series haven’t been available anywhere other than Steam since their release. I’ll admit that it was difficult to debate. Luckily, GungHo has made my life easier by releasing Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter. A beautiful remake of the first entry of the 10+ Trails games. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is an RPG that blends a bit of action, strategy, and turn based gameplay into one and does it rather well. So how did a newcomer like me feel about playing the start of the journey? Let’s find out.

A Bright Future

You play as Estelle Bright, daughter of famous Bracer Cassius. When Cassius brings home an unconscious boy named Joshua, Estelle suddenly has a new “brother.” These two grow up together and train hard to follow in the footsteps of Cassius in their Bracer journey. Joshua is the calm to Estelle’s chaotic personality. While she has good intentions, she plays by her own rules. Trouble pending or not. While she has the reckless attitude, she’s also very charming and intelligent. When Cassius goes missing on seemingly a routine, yet emergent, flight, the two head out to uncover a mystery of corruption, deceit, and politics.

The story here is actually fun and cozy despite having some pretty dark tones at times. The underlying nature of the plot keeps things urgent, but the cast of characters you meet along the way (and some of their quests) keep things lighthearted and bubbly. I had a great time advancing and seeing through the narrative but I didn’t feel like I was being held back by the Bracer side quests as they were pretty interesting throughout.

Orbments Are The Real Stars

At its heart, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a turn-based RPG with a little extra. Positioning matters if you want to deal some more damage depending on the attack, and certain Arts (spells) cover specific areas of the battlefield. Battles are fast and accessible and tactical enough if you’re paying attention to the Orbment system.

That system is where the game shines for me. If you liked plugging in different Materia in Final Fantasy VII, you’ll enjoy this. Defeat some enemies to get material that you can refine and slot into your characters to unlock their Arts. Swapping these around becomes rather addictive because you’ll never know what kind of bonuses or Arts unlocked until you start really messing around with it. It’s not overly complicated, but it is extensive enough that it’s not going to leave you feeling like you just did a load of chores.

There are limits as some characters can only use specific Orbaments. Luckily, Estelle gets full access as she can be whatever build you are looking for. I leaned into a hybrid build of heavy hitting healer. I enjoyed it the entire way through!

There were times when I was rather lazy and did not want to enter a full on battle at all and would just spam the attack button to complete a bunch of quick battles. This can be repetitive at times and I never felt it was really needed as I was always decently leveled with my Orbments by the time I got to a big baddie.

I Want To Be The Very Best

Want to level up? Go beat up some monsters! Not only that, but do it in style. Unleashing combos like a mix of quick battle and turn-based will increase your combat score and net your more XP. Perform counters/chains and hit enemy weakpoints to increase the score multiplier. You can even do what I did and try to rope all the enemies on the map into one spot and fight them all at once. Whether this is a good idea or not really depends on how much you like yourself. Defeating monsters to refine the materials we mentioned earlier also can be leveled up and make you feel like an unstoppable machine at times. You can attack, dodge, and stun all your foes in the overworld, making for some quick and mostly painless combat. You can even swap out which character you are controlling to perform different attacks before you initiate full combat. One character has a gun, and it was awesome to blast things from afar without the fear of getting swatted into a full battle.

Not only can you increase your personal level, but you can also increase your status in the Bracer guild. You do this by taking on various tasks (side missions) for citizens and townsfolk throughout the game’s map. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter will throw a bunch of these at you at once when you’re in a new town, so there is no shortage of things to do and explore. Completing these gains you the money and rep needed to upgrade, so it’s highly recommended to do all that you can. Each time you climb the ladder and rank up, you are also rewarded. What is not to love?

Exploration in Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is also pretty dang cozy. While there are various monsters trying to blockade your progress, you can head to almost anywhere you want and take in the views. The game rewards you pretty generously for exploration as well with treasure chests, items, and ingredients for food to be cooked to get some active buffs for your team.

Graphically, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is impressive. The details when fighting enemies are fast and flashy while retaining the signature anime-style look. I personally enjoyed this style through cutscenes and gameplay alike. The 3D models match the personalities, even if when you end up getting some fanfare physics, you know why and it makes sense. The towns are nice to look at even though the houses can seem rather empty at times. You’re not going to be spending too much time in them anyways. The music and visuals made me want to take my time to look around regardless. A true cozy feel no matter if I was fighting in fields or swamps, I loved the atmosphere.

So, Where Is The Downside?

The elephant in the room I guess, would have to be the English voice acting for Estelle. I get it. She’s supposed to be immature, loud, and annoying at times, but the delivery here can be rough. Even when other characters yell or have an overreaction, it is not nearly as difficult to stand. This is by no means a dig at the voice actress, as I am sure this was the direction given. I liked Estelle’s character and personality, but the voice could be a bit much.

Another strange decision was the fact that in some scenes, only some of the characters are voiced. Oftentimes you will run into a story character who will give you important details fully voiced only to have your party respond via text. It is a little jarring at first as I thought maybe I was skipping over or fast forwarding dialogue. I’d either like these parts with the full cast or none at all. Hey, I’ve played Final Fantasy games growing up. I’m fine to just read things.

Verdict Says!

Besides a few minor inconveniences, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter kept me going without annoying me or breaking every few minutes. It is very absent of issues and that is very hard to come by in major remakes such as this one.

While it may not be vastly different than some RPGs you have played in the past, Trails delivers a cozy, charming journey that is packed with personality. It also offers some challenges to keep you on your toes. The story may take a bit to get started, but once you are going, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter becomes very addictive and even more fun to play. If you are looking for an RPG to get you through this Fall, this is totally the one for you. As a first timer into this series, I could not have asked for a better introduction. I may actually go back and buy the original to make comparisons. I give Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter a solid 9 out of 10.