Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has a great PC port, but it is a small step back from PH3 releases

Today, GungHo and Falcom have released Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter worldwide. It is notable for many reasons. Not only is this Falcom's first worldwide multi-platform launch, but it also is the first Falcom PC port to be done internally in many years. Usually, Falcom's PC releases are handled by the Western publisher and they arrive alongside the English console versions. Over the years, I've gotten used to having the best-in-class PC versions thanks to PH3 usually handling the Trails and Ys PC releases in the West.

After trying out the demo and then the full PC release, I decided to do something a bit different for my usual PC port feature. I will cover my Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Steam Deck recommended settings and PC port impressions, but I also wanted to also cover how this port managed to impress, but also disappoint in some ways.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter PC features and graphics options

When James wrote his initial PC port thoughts based on the demo, it was clear that Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter was shaping up to be an amazing experience for PC players. Having now spent time with not only the demo, but also over a week with the PC release, this is definitely one of the best PC releases of 2025, and I'd go so far as to say it is only lagging behind when compared to Trails Through Daybreak II which is a very high bar given PH3 handled it.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter's PC display settings let you adjust display mode (fullscreen, borderless, windowed), resolution (320x200 up to 4K), use 21:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios (though there are some issues), adjust refresh rate, frame rate cap (30 to 144 and unlimited), adjust field of view, and HDR. The HDR settings are nothing special, but they are similar to what we've seen in recent PC versions of Faclom titles. It does support HDR on Steam Deck OLED as well. 

On the graphics side, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has graphics presets and the ability to adjust individual options. The presets are low, medium, high, ultra, and custom. The individual settings are split up into rendering and effects. The former lets you adjust draw distance, level of detail distance, light distance, shadow map, volumetric lighting quality, anisotropic filtering, and the 3D rendering scale from 50% to 400% with the actual rendering resolution shown. The effects settings let you adjust SSAO, SSR, depth of field, and anti-aliasing (off, FXAA, SMAA, SMAA + TAA). 

While not something in the demo, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter also has a "resume from latest save" option when you try to launch the game so you can skip the splash screen and company logos to get in-game immediately. It is very evident that whoever was in charge of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter's PC port was well aware of recent Falcom ports that PH3 handled.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter PC port features missing compared to prior Trails games

I want to stress that I think Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has an excellent PC version, and it is a brilliant way to experience this incredible RPG, but there are a few notable features you will notice are not here if you have been playing Trails and Ys games on PC from NIS America. These include no arbitrary resolution support, only basic ultrawide support (without many UI options and no 32:9 support), no full 16:10 support, poorly handled sampling for some assets at lower resolutions, font rendering issues, font wrapping and scaling in menus, some 2D assets looking blurry unless you downsample, no "Show BGM option" for the game's music, no portrait supersampling and minimap anti-aliasing options, no handheld preset, less granular control over turbo features, no upscaling options (no XeSS or anything like that), and more.

Note: The images below are from Trails Through Daybreak II on PC to showcase some of PH3's PC port features.

A lot of this will likely feel like nitpicking to those who don't play Falcom PC versions, but when you get used to having incredible features that elevate the experience well above consoles not only technically, but also with menus and 2D elements in games that use those a lot, it is disappointing to be taken a few steps back. I'm hopeful that some of these can be addressed like 16:10 support for all menus and improved ultrawide support at least, but I don't expect to see the amazing "Show BGM Option" or other features added in updates. 

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Steam Deck recommended settings

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is not a game you will get a locked 60fps with on Steam Deck. Even attempting to get it to 60fps will result in a visual experience I am not happy with. Instead, I aimed for 45fps on the Steam Deck OLED and 40fps on the Steam Deck LCD and worked my Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Steam Deck recommended settings for those targets. I will also include a 1080p downsampled option for better 2D element rendering to brute force and fix that issue, but there is a performance penalty to fix when downsampling as you'd expect. 

When aiming for 45fps at 90hz on the Steam Deck OLED or 40fps at 60hz on the Steam Deck LCD model, I used a combination of medium, low, and high settings with the game set to 800p. The opening hour of the game actually has one of the most-demanding areas in the field outside the City of Rolent. I also retested my settings during combat including multiple bosses later on. The settings I used are draw distance, LOD, and Light Distance set to medium, shadow map at low, volumetric lighting at low, and anisotropic filtering at high with rendering scale set to 100%. I used FXAA anti-aliasing, SSAO at medium, SSR at medium, and had DoF on. You can disable DoF if you don't like it. These settings delivered almost no drops below 45fps with great visuals, albeit with some pop in during exploration for geometry and shadows. It isn't very bad, but is noticeable.  

When playing at a higher resolution downsampled, I recommend using the 70% render scale option with the rest settings the same. For getting 16:10 during gameplay while downsampling, use the 1920x1200 option. This has a few more drops, but it delivers a great visual experience on the go. If you aren't sure how to downsample, go into Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter's properties. Under general, set the game resolution to 1440p (You don't need to use 4K like I show in the image above) and make sure to toggle the option to set this for both external and internal display. 

One more thing I want to note is that despite not being able to hit 60fps locked on Steam Deck, you get a much more consistent experience than Switch or Switch 2 handheld right now. If you want more stable performance, PC handhelds are the way to go. You don't need to worry about hitching like on Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 here. 

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter ROG Ally impressions

While the Steam Deck cannot deliver a locked 60fps experience with good visuals, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter on ROG Ally can with some tweaks. For my testing, I stuck to the 25W turbo mode. When playing at 1080p, I recommend using the render scale at 70% and the medium preset with shadow map set to low. This delivers 60fps or higher even in the more-demanding areas. You might be tempted to play at 720p, but the 2D assets look very bad at 720p so I recommend sticking to 1080p and reducing the render scale instead. If you want the best possible visuals and 30fps, I recommend using 1080p and the medium preset. Shadow map set to low will help with stability and the frame rate is usually in the 40s at worst on ROG Ally with these settings.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter's PC port is excellent, and the second best PC release of 2025, but it is a step back from the incredible PC versions Falcom fans have been used to thanks to PH3 with Trails Through Daybreak II still the best PC port of 2025. As Falcom's first PC port in many years, this is a fantastic showing, but I definitely have missed the attention to detail and care we see in PH3 PC releases. 

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is now available worldwide for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam). Check out our full review here, DLC guide here, and all our other coverage here.