I really wanted to like this game, but the balance on Normal difficulty makes it miserable. I've been playing JRPGs for over 30 years - Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, Octopath, you name it - and I’ve never seen a game where "Normal" feels like this. Every boss encounter and even scripted side quests are overtuned. Enemies in early quests hit for 400+ when your party has around 600 HP. You’re often dead in two turns, sometimes before you even act. Healing is pointless because you just get erased again. Crafts like Hurricane only do about 25% of enemy HP, so you’d need four uses to kill something - but you never survive that long as you could be dead in 2 turns. This isn’t about gear or quartz setups - your early options are extremely limited, and +200 HP accessories or +5% stat boosts don’t matter when enemies are tuned this high. The only advice you ever see is "grind sepith/levels" or "drop to Easy." But that defeats the purpose of Normal. Normal should be the baseline, not a mode that forces you to grind just to clear basic quests without wiping. The most glaring examples are the scripted encounters that break their own rules. The "Protect the Kids" fight in the Jade Tower is completely RNG-dependent - if enemies decide to target the kids, you just lose if RNG decides that Joshua doesn’t Cover them. You can literally act once and still wipe. Another quest, the 14th Orbmant maintenance fight along the road, starts you with 0 CP and three enemies that attack before you even get a turn - over half your HP gone instantly, on Normal. These situations are mathematically unwinnable without grinding or perfect luck, and they happen within the first few hours. Even if there are hidden mechanics or optimal setups that could mitigate this, the fact that the game never teaches or communicates them properly is itself a balance issue. A Normal difficulty mode shouldn't require the player to already understand every subsystem or meta strategy. You should be able to play reasonably and succeed without pre-knowledge or grinding for hours. The story might be great - so people say - but the combat tuning in the prologue and early chapters is broken. Even Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn’s mislabeled “Normal” (which was actually Hard) was fairer than this. Why wasn't Easy the baseline here? And how can this game justify two higher difficulty settings when "Normal" already punishes players like this? I can drop it to Easy and probably enjoy the story, but that's not good design. When side quests and bosses feel like wipe-or-scrape-by scenarios even at the default setting, “Normal” is mislabeled. In 35 years of JRPGs, I’ve never played a game where “Normal” feels this punishing.

Absolute cinema, best place to start the Trails series, no excuse anymore! I envy those who haven’t started the series yet, they have so many games to play. 10/10, strongly recommend. As of this review, I haven’t played at all, but I know what I’m getting from this company.

Combat is way too much targeted towards real-time/action combat system, with turn-based as a poorly made side option. I was expecting trail games to be turn-based. Will refund this. Edit: Seems like people are puzzled I'm giving a review after so little playtime. Yes, of course I played so little when I don't like the mechanics. They also seem puzzled that I'm saying it's too much action. Yes, of course I do when it's action-first with enemies capable of hurting you on the field, and you have to manually enable turn-based every single fight. Not liking it.

HOLY PEAK I LOVE TITS (Trails in The Sky)

The game looks and plays great. The reason for the down-vote is the stupid Estelle "anime" funny eyes. Not only does it break immersion, but it also looks dumb. What were the devs thinking? Why? The original version of the game is superior, weebs ruin everything

Trails in the Sky FC was a great game even if it was so outdated. Story is phenomenal and the start of one of the biggest overarching stories in all of gaming history. This addition to the series of Trails lets newer players start fresh with updated graphics and music while still keeping the story and feel of the first game true. If you LOVE a great story with characters who you will get to know across the entire series along with some of the most memorable songs for JRPGs, this is the game for you.

Scherazard got some CALCIUM CANNONS dawg.

I played the original (was sitting unplayed in my library) and 1st chapter side by side. While 1st chapter is impressive initially (they have done A LOT of work in the remake), it became apparent that this version has missed the originals comedy, quirk and charm by a large margin. Unusual since its competing with the 2d sprites of the original. I think its due to a few reasons, one is, dialogue has been quite watered down from the original, maybe a younger audience in mind?. Two, the Japanese VA's sound unusual IMHO, as a Japanese speaker, they just sound "off", I cant remember another example in media where native VA's were this jarring. Three, Estelle comes across as quite "vanilla" and lacking charm despite having higher fidelity models at the devs disposal, she really falls short compared to the original 2D images as stated previously. I could go on but essentially, the original had me chuckling and drew me in easily to the the characters and story while the remake had a cold "sterile" vibe after some time with it. I wish I could give a "Meh" rating as its not terrible, but I recommend giving this a miss and grabbing the original.

Over the years, I've often heard Trails in the Sky FC described as "slow burn." This is incorrect. It is a game in which nothing happens. The glimmers of a plot only faintly appear towards the very end, and the big moment in which the story finally tries to sell itself to the player comes only after the final boss is already done. That final interesting moment is something the great JRPGs show you somewhere in the first third of the game, an escalating moment that ratchets up the stakes, exposes layers of mystery, and propels you onward through the perilous journey ahead. 1st Chapter's ending "twist" (telegraphed for 40 hours in neon lights) is less a cliffhanger and more an apology for the previous 40 hours of non-events and a desperate plea to purchase the next title. You get less story in 40 hours of 1st Chapter than you do in the opening hours of any Tetsuya Takahashi title. Masato Kato's coffee order is more intricate than this game's plot. Are those 40 hours of non-events a decent time? Yes, not terrible, thanks to admittedly what is one of the most interesting combat systems I've played in a JRPG, its hybrid real-time action+turn-based battles, and the turbo mode that halves the time spend slogging through all the copy-paste corridors, uninteresting area maps, and the painfully mediocre dialogue. Is it a great JRPG? No, it's really not. It's basically half of a single Tales game, with all the dreary anime tropes and cliches that brings, but none of the payoff of having a single coherent story arc in the game you paid for. In fact, I kept asking myself in 1st Chapter's final hours, "Is this worse than Tales of Arise, the worst Tales game I've finished?" I genuinely don't know the answer to that. Arise's plot was an unmitigated disaster, but 1st Chapter may simply not have enough plot to judge it either way. So why all the hype for these games over the years? My guess is Stockholm Syndrome. Diehard fans have been held hostage by the glaring mediocrity of the Kiseki series for so long they've become delusional. That or they're huffing fentanyl-grade copium. "You don't understand! The real story comes from checking with every single NPC after every single story event!" they scream from their padded cell, their XXL Naruto t-shirt wrapped around their middle as a loincloth. Anyhoo. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is fine. Merely fine. If you want one half of a middling, forgettable, trope-y anime with a very good combat system (but no real side content to use it on), slap that buy button. Why not. But if you, like me, have been trying to get into the original First Chapter for years and simply not getting the hype, here's the truth: there's nothing to get. There's no there there. Perhaps as a mutant amalgamation of an anime soap opera across the dozen+ titles of the overall Kiseki series, the plot really is something. I'm willing to play the SC remake to find out, honestly. Fentanyl-grade copium is my thing. But Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a game that ends before it even begins. It's a 40 hour paid demo. That's what you're getting with your money.

Give me back my "Acerbic Tomato". Update: Saw the latest patch notes included "Corrected various text errors." but alas, this most egregious of errors has not been corrected.

Honestly, I hate reviewing cult classic games out of fear that the mobs will come at me full force, pitchforks and all >.> And to a degree, I get it. I’ll shiv anyone who shit talks FF7 classic. I’m going to be very honest here, I’m 6 hours in and am finding the story to be a bit bland. So why the positive review? Well…I have it on good authority that the story is a bit of a slow ramp up to an amazing cliff hanger. So I feel like this game needs you to put in the effort and hours to write a truly honest review. It’s charming thus far, I think it just needs more time to stew. But why I’m really giving this a thumbs up is because they did a really amazing job on everything else (and I also don’t wanna get burned at the stake hehe). It’s obvious that care and effort was put into this remake. The graphical update is much appreciated, the game runs smoothly on the deck, the voice acting and cut scenes are very well done and the combat (albeit confusing to start) is really fun. It combines both active and time based, so there is never a dull moment in that regard. The tutorial is great, controls feel intuitive, the maps and quests are easy to navigate and the UI is really polished. Worth noting that there is a handy fast travel and the option to change difficulty level, allowing you to enjoy the game the way you want to play it. That’s enough to keep me around… that and the price tag haha XD My only big complaint is the DLC options. I was hoping for more cosmetics but there are more consumables. And the cosmetics just feel lacking in the creativity department. That being said, there are cosmetics to collect in game that are wayyyyy cuter!! As a JRPG fan, I’m going to trust the cult on this one and give this game my all. It really is a beautifully crafted remake. I’ll update my review once I beat it ^_^ I’m sorry, I just need to say this. I don’t get the hype about Estelle. I find her mildly childish and annoying. She also lowkey stole Aerith’s aesthetic? Come at me. **Update: Ok... so while I love the actual gameplay (story and questing) and I am coming to enjoy some of the characters, the abysmally slow pace and progression of the story is the reason why I am abandoning this game after 26 hours. I get slow pacing but the story has gone absolutely no where. I personally don't see the point of playing this game for another 20-40 hours just for a so-called amazing cliffhanger. I am so uninvested in the story, I feel no way just googling the ending. Feel a bit let down because I genuinely enjoyed every other aspect of this game. I think this remake is great for people who already love the series but for new players, it doesn't do a good job at catching and holding my interest (personally) long term. I can see this game being good if you are interested in a VERY SLOW BURN type of game.

TitS (Trails in the Sky)!!!! I LOVE TitS (Trails in the Sky)!!!!!!!

About the game itself. I really like the atmosphere, combat system, and storyline. I will play the game until the end. I recommend buying it! About the situation surrounding the RU community segment. The situation surrounding the blocking of the game in the Russian region a week after its release is absolutely disgusting. The game has gained immense popularity in our region, for which I would like to express my gratitude to DeadP47. We have all been actively playing the game, but the fact that it has been blocked in our region is a blatant display of RUSSOPHOBIA on the part of the PUBLISHER. They could have simply not released the game in Russia in the first place, and everything would have been fine, everyone would have understood. But just blocking the game a week after everyone bought it is low. I'm leaving a negative review just for this, it's literally a stab in the back. Касательно самой игры. Мне очень нравится атмосфера, боевая система и сюжет. Игру буду проходить до конца. Рекомендую к покупке! Касательно ситуации вокруг RU-сегмента комьюнити. Абсолютно отвратительная ситуация вокруг блокировки игры в русском регионе спустя неделю после релиза. Игра возымела очень большую популярность в нашем регионе, за что отдельное спасибо DeadP47. Мы все активно играли и играем, но факт блокировки игры у нас это вопиющая РУСОФОБИЯ со стороны ИЗДАТЕЛЯ. Можно было изначально не выпускать игру для России и все было бы спокойно, все бы все поняли. Но просто блокировать игру спустя неделю как все ее купили это низко. Только за это оставлю негативный отзыв, это буквально удар в спину.

Игра замечательная, претензия к издателю, который через неделю после релиза удалил игру из ру-региона The game is wonderful, but I have a complaint against the publisher, who removed the game from the Russian region a week after its release.

I wish FF7 had gotten the same treatment as this game: a reimagining that respects the source material, and yet elevates it with new graphics and improved gameplay. Smaller studios have been hitting it out of the park lately, and this is no exception.

We're finally back in wonderful Liberl after the disastrously boring Daybreak 2. But unfortunately Dungho just had to be racists and charge SEA people MORE than the US?? I thought NISA was bad but at least they still have the decency to again, not be racists, and price their games properly. RIP Xseed.

I see Estelle Bright, I buy game if I have enough on hand, simple as. Do I need to write up a review to explain why I recommend this game? REALLY? Estelle Bright and Joshua Bright are going on an adventure again but in glorious remake with numerous QOL things and more modernized Legend of Heroes mechanics though still very faithful to original as in-game timeline had older technology around this time so you using the old orbital system. What you waiting for, buy the game, experience Estelle Bright's roots and how her relationship with Joshua developed.

This is the best JRPG I have ever played in my life - and I've been playing them since 1993. There are far more reviews here that can go into further depth, I'm just a simple man whose favorite genre is JRPG, and I've played many of them....... perhaps not to completion, but many. This one is something incredibly special. The original was already one of my favorites aside from Lunar and Tales of Symphonia, but this...... please, do yourself a favor, and play this game.

estelle is very cute, you should play her game

The game itself is good but you are honestly better off waiting for some anon to mod in the original Xseed localization. The new localization being drier with unnatural grammar is one thing but not bothering to make sure you are being consistent with terminology across a 13 game series just shows a complete lack of care and the fact that all the item, quartz, and accessory names were blatantly machine translated when they could’ve just copied their historic names from the wiki for the same level of effort is downright offensive.

This game is 10% Josh 20% Estelle 15% Kloe saving my Ass 5% Cliffhanger 50 % Based And 100% Reason to play that game 9/10 Best Trails game since original Sky Trilogy

Great game. GungHo can go back to their mobile games and never show their face ever again.

Этот отзыв является провокацией, целью которой ввести максимальное заблуждение, так как люди в интернете считают что этот прикол существовал в России и сверх этого продавался некоторое количество времени. Тем не менее осмелюсь вас успокоить, в России нет жрпг и нет региональных цен, у нас здесь все равны! Если игры нет в вашем регионе, значит что она вам не нужна и не понравится, умные люди подумали уже за вас и все все решили. Не нужно поднимать панику, лучше успокойтесь и поиграйте в доку 2 или в Алана Квейка.

In terms of Gameplay, Music, and Graphics, it is fantastic so if that's all you care about go ahead, play it, you'll have fun! In terms of the new Localisation and Script, it is absolutely awful, it feels barely a step above machine translated, with lots of non sequiturs, Japanese ways of expressing and reactions which just aren't a thing in english and a good localisation adapts, and clunky dialogue which is extremely wordy and bloated. Now there are a dime a dozen badly localised games, but this one is different because it was already localised before, when the original game released about 20 years ago, and that localisation is FAMOUS for being AMAZING, it adapts the script so well and the people feel like people, all they needed to do is clean out the typos and boom, it would've been perfect. The characters are still fun and somewhat engaging but the dialogue makes listening to them more frustrating, this isn't helped by the poor voice direction, the way the Voice Actors talk and express rarely feels natural or matches the scene, and most of these voice actors are well known in the industry and I have heard most of them give good performances so it is not their faults most likely, it seems more like a rushed localisation with little to no direction. It felt more like the voice actors were chosen for their social media marketability more than anything, and little effort was put into the performance. I really hope the sequel doesn't follow this pattern but given that the game ends with a trailer for it, I am not holding my breath. Overall, still had a lot of fun, but I am going to recommend you play the original release instead, it's about half the price, the gameplay is more clunky but still a similar style, but quests can be confusing, if that is a deal breaker for you, play this one instead.

Really wish Steam had a neutral option. The game itself is great, but there are too many glaring issues for me to recommend it. First off, this game ends on a massive cliffhanger, so it's already pretty hard to recommend this game until the remake of the 2nd game comes out. However, this remake has too many other issues for me to overlook. For those unfamiliar, this is the start of the Trails series, a series that is perhaps most well known for being interconnected games, so botching terminology in a game is unacceptable because it creates inconsistency for future games. The largest such example of this was the decision to call the machines in the sealed area "orbal golems." This is a huge problem when orbal golems are already a entirely different concept in the Trails of Cold Steel games, and the word archaism has been used instead in every other game that has featured those machines. Some other problems include the fact that Liberl is mispronounced way too consistently when the correct pronunciation was established in Cold Steel 1, and many of the item names and descriptions were clearly machine translated instead of using their established names. There are many other script issues that have varying implications, and each one will hurt new players if they go on to play the rest of the series. I love Trails, so even with these many issues, I really want to give this game a positive review, but the last straw for me was how the season pass was handled. As a huge Trails fan, I bought this game day 1. I saw that the digital deluxe launch was delayed, but I thought it would be fine; I could just upgrade to it once it was released. Turns out that because I didn't get it with the digital deluxe edition, I have to pay $80 to get the game and the season pass, while deluxe edition players get the same thing for $72. If I was to buy the DLC, I would effectively be penalized $8 for the crime of buying the game day 1. If GungHo responds to these issues, then I'll edit my review, but seeing as they have been radio silent aside from boiler-plate emails I'm not expecting much.