I’ve been a fan of JRPGs for as long as I can remember, yet I have never managed to gather the courage to start the behemoth that is Trails, a subseries of the larger The Legend of Heroes series. Time and time again, I’ve been practically begged by friends and colleagues across the industry to jump in, but the onslaught of new releases and overwhelming number of Trails games prevented me from experiencing Falcom’s grand series. In many ways, I sort of expected to never take a stab at it until the story concluded. I own almost all of the games physically for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and they’ve just sat on my shelf for years.

However, things have changed with the announcement of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, a 1:1 remake of the very first Trails game, The Legend of Heroes VI: Trails in the Sky FC. Previously, this release was only available on PC, with no port to modern platforms. As the very first Trails game, this is the best entry point available, especially since everything that follows is connected one way or another. This was a pain point for the series, considering that every other entry is available across PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Falcom’s decision to remake this game could not have come at a better time, as millions of RPG fans now can start the series from the beginning.

Personally, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has been one of my three most anticipated games of 2025, behind Death Stranding 2: On The Beach and Donkey Kong Bananza, as I finally have the excuse I’ve been looking for to begin my journey into this gigantic series. After spending over 60 hours with the game throughout the last two weeks, it’s safe to say that I finally understand what makes Trails so special. The wait for this remake was well worth it, and Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a must-play game for any fan of the genre.

Understanding Trails in the Sky

Many fans like myself are using Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter as an entry point for the series, but I understand some readers may have already played through the entire series. In hopes of crafting a review that appeals to both newcomers and returning fans, I believe it is essential to establish the original game. As aforementioned, this game is a remake of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC.

Developed by Nihon Falcom, Trails in the Sky was initially released in Japan in 2004. North America and the rest of the West did not receive a localized version of the game until 2011. The original was exactly what you would expect from the early 2000s, featuring 2D sprites on 3D backgrounds, turn-based combat, and more. However, it separated itself from the genre with its approach to its narrative and worldbuilding. 

Alas, here we arrive in 2025 with Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter. The name may have slightly changed, but this is as faithful a remake as can be. Many new changes to combat and overall quality-of-life updates have arrived, but I’m confident in saying that 1st Chapter expertly captures that classic RPG feel through and through.

Welcome to the Guild

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter follows Estelle Bright and her adoptive brother Joshua on a character-driven narrative across the Liberl Kingdom. The two live with their father, Cassius Bright, in the rural town of Rolent. Cassius is no ordinary father, though. He’s revered by all throughout the town as a legendary hero, acting as an experienced Bracer who helps those in need. Following in their father’s footsteps, both Estelle and Joshua aim to become Bracers, too. For context, the Bracer Guild is an organization that employs people to protect civilians, assist the community, and basically just solve problems, big or small.

While the two quickly become Junior Bracers, the road to Senior Bracer requires them to visit the major towns and cities of the Liberl Kingdom. However, just before plans for that journey can solidify, Cassius mysteriously disappears after embarking on a mission. Estelle and Joshua are thrown into an adventure that takes them across the continent, filled with twists and leading to an absolutely stunning cliffhanger.

The narrative here can feel almost glacial at times, but the pay-off is largely worth it. I was forewarned that pacing was something of a key issue in the original release, and I certainly understand why. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter feels like a cozy, slice-of-life adventure in many ways, with the game placing an early focus on small errands and quests in the Prologue. While yes, the narrative is critically important, the focus here is on the characters and the people who live in the towns that populate the Liberl Kingdom. This, in turn, made me care more about the ongoing narrative and its implications for the people I’d encountered on my journey, as I spent time speaking with them and connecting.

This is a game that just feels like a classic adventure. I felt like I was following a very personal journey of Estelle and Joshua. The two couldn’t be more different in many ways, but their chemistry together is amazing to watch. Estelle is bright (!), infinitely energetic, and optimistic as can be. Joshua, on the other hand, is calm, kind, yet reserved. Estelle is the protagonist of this story, but Joshua is right there beside her and is just as important.

Across their journey, the two encounter and team up with many new party members. Scherazard was a favorite of mine, acting as a mentor to both Estelle and Joshua. She appeared fairly early on in the story and always left me laughing with sly comments here and there. Really, all of the characters that appear in 1st Chapter are great. Olivier, Tita, Agate, Tin, and Kloe all have something to offer, and the slow-paced nature of the game truly allows you to connect with them as characters.

One area 1st Chapter excels in is its worldbuilding. As you explore the Liberl Kingdom and enter new towns, you’ll encounter NPCs and quests that contribute to the grander picture of the world. I really feel that this is a case of you get what you give; if you mostly stick with the main narrative, you’ll miss out on a lot of side content. These are, for the most part, simple (and sometimes mundane), but they allow you to engage with the world more. Some quests are larger and more character-focused, though, so it’s best to work through everything. All side content plays into the idea of you almost being the neighborly hero, so you’d best be prepared to take down monsters or chase around a chicken when needed.

In the end, I’ve attempted to keep things somewhat brief here for a reason — this story and its characters are best experienced blind if you’re a newcomer. 1st Chapter ultimately brings a wonderful cast of characters and a satisfying narrative to the table. It’s got that feeling of a classic, old-school RPG adventure, yet it still comes across as a fresh experience in 2025.

A Hybrid System That Satisfies

Out of every area in this remake, gameplay is where the most changes have occurred — and these are all for the better. In a year where communities online continue to spread the false narrative that turn-based games aren’t prevalent, we have yet another fantastic turn-based RPG from a company that almost releases one annually. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter makes use of a hybrid combat system where you can attack enemies in either action or turn-based combat.

Gameplay is split into two different categories: Quick Battle and Command Battle. The transition between the two is as simple as pressing a button — it’s completely seamless. Quick Battle plays as any traditional action RPG would, though your options are much more limited. You can run around, use light or heavy attacks, and dodge incoming attacks from enemies. This is what is used once you spot an enemy, so it’s best used on those with low health that you can quickly attack and defeat.

Once you’re ready to deal massive damage, you can switch over to Command Battle for the traditional turn-based experience. Command Battle has a ton to offer, but if you’ve played turn-based games before, most of this shouldn’t be a surprise. The left side of the screen neatly displays the turn order, with character and enemy portraits lined up and rotating along a gear. When it’s your turn to attack, you can move your character within a blue circle and position yourself for attack. You’re only able to attack within this circle as well. Some abilities do more damage when attacking from behind or on the side, sort of like the Xenoblade Chronicles series, so there’s some strategy involved here.

Besides a traditional normal attack, the two main forms of abilities Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter offers are Crafts and Arts. The former are essentially Combat Skills, unleashing devastating attacks against enemies while using up the Craft Points you earn after taking or dealing damage. These are specific to each character, so Estelle has completely different options from Schera, for example. On the other hand, Arts are your magic attacks and take time to cast. These take Energy Points. You can mix and match Arts depending on what Quartz you have set to each character.

Beyond these abilities, 1st Chapter has a few fun twists thrown in here and there. Occasionally, one of your party members will be able to activate Overdrive, which grants debuff immunity and a few buffs for two turns. Additionally, there are S-Crafts and S-Breaks, which are powerful attacks that consume your entire CP meter. Stunned enemies can be attacked mid-turn using either a Brace Attack or Chain, which can be visualized with the Brave Gauge on the right side of the screen.

However, while these are all fun to experiment with, my favorite part of the combat system is the Orbments system. This system involves synthesizing Quartz from Sepith, which is dropped by monsters, and slotting it into an Orbment. Quartz, in many ways, really reminds me of Materia in Final Fantasy VII. Seven different elemental attributes of Sepith can be discovered, and you can form Quartz by using these materials at an Orbal Factory. Each character’s Orbment is different, so you have to be strategic and pay close attention to the Lines, especially. These total up the elemental value of the Quartz, playing into how you unlock certain skills. I ran into a lot of trial and error with the system at first, but by the end of the narrative, I had a very solid build that was a ton of fun to use. 

Quality of life is an area some RPGs skip over, but I was happy with the offerings in 1st Chapter. I’ve seen some discussion that the combat can feel somewhat slow, but the great thing is that a High Speed mode is available, making battles a breeze. I especially found this useful when grinding out enemies throughout the fields and forests between towns. The ability to quickly tab between the two will be great for returning players who might just want to experience the story again with new visuals and voice acting.

Another great quality-of-life feature in line with this is fast travel and the addition of different quest markers. These can be useful for quickly hopping back into town to head over to an Orbal Factory or to check what types of quests are located where. The UI is sleek, really — I found it easy to navigate and pleasing to look at. Whether you’re tabbing between the menus, traversing through the world, or determining which arts you plan to cast during combat, the UI is clean and purposeful.

Overall, this is a seriously fun combat system to mess around with, filling the role of both a classic and modern RPG at once. I had a great time experimenting and learning how I could make the most of each turn with the different party members. Personally, I am very curious to see how it evolves in the latter two games of this trilogy.

Is This The Prettiest Game of 2025?

I don’t think it is a stretch to say that Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is one of the prettiest games of 2025. It looks like a playable anime in many ways, with incredibly expressive character models and meticulously designed animations that draw you in. I am seriously impressed with how great the models look, and I’m a huge fan of the cel-shaded style. 1st Chapter looks somewhat different from previous Trails games, leaning more into this almost painting-like look. The result is a bright and colorful game filled with expressions that always made me want to smile.

What truly ties this all together is the impressive animation work Falcom has done. Often, the camera will continuously switch angles to elevate scenes and showcase the faces and emotions of different characters. It is masterfully done. Minor animations like slight head turns from the party when looking with the camera using the right stick only add to the experience. Cutscenes are consistently expressive, raising the emotional impact of numerous story beats. I do not think it’s nearly as egregious as other games I have played over the years, but I did find that more often than not, lip syncing was off for the English dub. Characters will finish voice lines and still be talking in-game. Sometimes, lip flaps will clearly be off, but it’s something that likely won’t bother most unless you are keenly paying attention to it.

Regarding voice acting, you’ll have access to both English and Japanese voiceover options. I played with both throughout my time with the game, but I chose to stick with the dub for the most part. Overall, I enjoyed the dub. Each of the cast largely did a good job at fitting the ages of the characters, as well as their personalities. With this being a character-driven adventure, that is essential. The Japanese cast is also great — I spent most of my time after the story playing in Japanese. 

While the voice acting we do have is great, I really wish that more scenes were voiced. The massive script is largely the reason for this, but I noticed a few scenes in the game that started as voiced, then finished as text only. There’s also a select couple where only one character speaks with text dialogue for others. Admittedly, I still do find this one-character approach strange, but I expect it was a matter of production budget. Some main quests also do not feature fully voiced dialogue, which is a shame. I switched between both English and Japanese to see if this was just the English dub, but both offerings follow the same pattern.

This is largely a non-complaint for the most part, as it rarely detracts from the experience; however, I feel it’s worth pointing out to at least set expectations. I’d be interested to see more budget put toward voice acting in Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, as I feel many of these sequences could hit even harder if voiced. Unvoiced dialogue is fine and all, but this is the kind of addition that can instantly level up a presentation. I feel this is something that can be sort of jarring for newcomers, who might be expecting that based on the rest of the genre.

Considering Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has an entirely new localized script, I know this is likely an area of interest for longtime fans, and I felt things were solid for the most part. Unfortunately, I haven’t played the original game as a reference, but I felt the script was easy to follow and logical. There were a few instances where sentences got a bit wordy, which could be a localization decision, but nothing stuck out like a sore thumb. 

I’ve listened to my fair share of music from Falcom’s games over the years, and time and time again, it’s always been wonderful. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter fits right in with this, and I greatly appreciate the effort that clearly went into the soundtrack. Honestly, Falcom went above and beyond with the soundtrack options, as you can switch between the remake’s OST, the original game, and the Vita port’s arranged score. This is yet another small addition that makes this remake absolutely exceptional. It’s worth noting that many music tracks are reused frequently; the soundtrack overall feels a little small, really. Still, what’s here is quality, and I did manage to find a few really great tracks throughout the game.  

Performance on PS5 is excellent, with gorgeous 4K visuals and a rock-solid 60 frames-per-second frame rate. You can even select a 120FPS mode, which, while great, wasn’t something I felt I ever needed for an RPG like this. I have no complaints whatsoever here. Truthfully, combined with the impressive visuals and animations, it feels like this is the most impressive game Falcom has made thus far.

Loading speeds are also basically nonexistent on PlayStation 5. There is a screen that appears when leaving buildings or progressing between areas, but it loads so fast that you cannot even read the tips that appear on screen. You can view these tips inside the Help menu, but I almost wish Falcom had added a way to view the tips before the screen disappears, such as a ‘Press X to Continue’ prompt; though this is something that does not matter too much anyway. If you’re ever in need of help with how a system works, the menu has plenty of reference material.

Oh So Bright

Each year, the definition and perception of what makes a great remake continue to shift. In the last decade, we’ve seen larger-than-life recreations with the Resident Evil remakes, the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, and more, which not only recreated the source material but also elevated it. At the same time, we’ve seen remakes that bring forward the original game to new audiences, yet lose the charm of the original. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter had a huge task to accomplish in recreating a two-decade-old RPG, and it’s safe to say that the game ended up as an outstanding remake.

I was quite blown away by the care and attention to detail that Falcom clearly put into this release. It’s not easy to revisit a game two decades later and remake it into something better, but I am confident that this labor of love succeeded at exactly that. 1st Chapter has that old-school RPG feeling while bringing forth innovation with its hybrid action/turn-based combat system. Undoubtedly, this is the best place to start the Trails series and see why it is so beloved.

All the stars have aligned with the release for numerous reasons, especially for the fact that 1st Chapter marks the first simultaneous worldwide release ever for the series. This has been a challenge for years due to the massive script lengths and translation time needed, but the already-complete nature of Trails in the Sky made it possible. Everyone around the world can celebrate, discuss, and experience this introductory chapter at the very same time.

Trails has continued to get bigger and bigger with each passing year. I first heard about the series through the localization of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, and it’s amazing to see just how big that fan base has grown. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is exactly what the series needs right now to reach new heights and expand as much as possible. It might have taken almost a decade, but I can at last call myself a fan. Though the daunting lineup of games might still exist, this introductory point is an excellent way to ease in and take things one game at a time from the beginning.

In the end, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is an excellent RPG that lived up to my expectations as a newcomer. Its slow-burn narrative pays off, as by the time credits roll, you’ll likely be pacing around the room, debating on whether or not you should wait for the next remake or jump into Trails in the Sky SC on Steam. Whatever the case may be, this release hit all the right notes to get me invested — bring on the Trails gauntlet. Hopefully, we won’t be waiting too long to see the continuation of this story with Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter.  If the series starts with this strong of an opening act, then I can’t wait to see just how high it will fly.

Disclaimer: GungHo Online Entertainment provided a PlayStation 5 copy of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter for review purposes.