During the company’s latest shareholders meeting, Nihon Falcom acknowledged the demand for a re-release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky trilogy from fans in the west and Japan. Although Falcom plans to release Trails in the Sky on modern platforms, the company is not sure what form this re-release may take and when it will happen.
The Trails in the Sky trilogy is highly revered for its memorable story and characters, and it’s the entry point to the vast world of Zemuria and the long-running Trails series. However, it’s lack of availability outside of PC serves as a barrier to entry, with many instead choosing to dive into Trails from Zero or Trails of Cold Steel instead. More and more gamers are adopting PC with the rise of handheld devices like Steam Deck, but a re-release across modern platforms is ideal.
An Eventual Trails in the Sky Re-Release
Twitter user @michsuzu reported on the Falcom shareholders meeting, revealing that Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo responded to a question regarding Trails in the Sky and a potential re-release. According to Kondo, Falcom recognizes the strong demand for a re-release in Japan and the west. The developers want to re-release the game in some form, but Kondo asks fans to wait “a little while longer” as Falcom considers how to go about with a re-release.
Here’s the excerpt from the meeting, translated by RPG Site:
Q: This is an inquiry about about some of Falcom’s back-catalog – the Trails series’ original games, the Trails in the Sky trilogy, are currently unplayable on modern console platforms. While you can play them on a PlayStation 3, or a PlayStation Vita, are there any plans to develop a version of the titles for modern console hardware?
A: We’re always thinking about ways to make our earlier titles available to more players. As for “Trails in the Sky“, we’ve noticed strong demand for the title both domestically and abroad; as such, we too want to figure out a way to make it available once again for modern platforms. While the Trails series has grown quite long, we consider “Trails in the Sky” to be our own ideal entry point to the series. We want to re-release the game in some form, so we ask our fans to wait a little while longer while we consider our options.
In other news, Falcom announced The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki -Farewell, O Zemuria-, the next major entry in the long-running Trails series. This new title will launch in 2024 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Trails series with “a dramatic turn.”
