Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a love letter to the series' legacy

When our Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter review went live, we deliberately wanted a series newcomer to be the one judging the quality of the game. Junior's review shows that Falcom has succeeded with delivering a remake that can appeal to those just getting into the franchise, but what about for players who have been with the series since the beginning? How does 1st Chapter stack up, and compare, to the original - is it respectful, what changes does it make, and does it have its own identity? Is it good enough that I can stop being mad that I'm still waiting for a follow-up to the current latest game in the story?

I don't know if any remake could have been good enough for that last one, but 1st Chapter gets as close to it as I might have hoped. Prior to release, while I was excited to revisit Liberl for Estelle and Joshua's first adventure, I had some concerns about exactly how far Falcom would go to modernize Trails in the Sky, how much they would add to the game, and how much they would change. I was hopeful that there would be a balance between updating the game for a modern audience, introducing its own new ideas for the game, all the while firmly remembering what made the original so great in the first place. I was worried that they might add to much to the game, bloating what has always been a relatively brisk adventure of self-discovery into something it's not.

Thankfully, those worries were unfounded. 1st Chapter remakes Liberl in full 3D, retools the battle system to be more like the recent entries in the series, and adds full voice-acting - but the core of the game is still unmistakably Trails in the Sky. Every change that has been made here feels deliberate, and just as much thought has been put into what hasn't changed as what has. 

The battle system might bear resemblance to Trails through Daybreak and Trails of Cold Steel with some of its additions, but the combat has not been overcomplicated in a vain attempt to match up with the complexity of those later entries. There's a certain level of restraint here, and the changes that have been implemented - how stealing turn bonuses have changed, the stagger meter, the addition of new arts, follow-up attacks and support actions - all feels respectful. Trails in the Sky's combat was always the game's weak link, not bad but undeniably basic. Yet the games were designed around those limitations, and 1st Chapter understands this.

More so than in later entries, elemental weaknesses are important; certain enemies will explode on defeat, making positioning essential to account for. Because players have only a certain number of actions available to them, even with the additional features of the remake, each move feels more deliberate - especially whenever players are lacking a full party of 4.

The end result is a battle system that feels fresh, and instead of it feeling like Trails in the Sky has been retooled to fit the later entries in the series, it's clear that the team took a close look at what the original did and any adjustments accounted for that. It was a great success, and while I am interested to see how the team might flesh things out in future remakes, the struck the balance between simplicity and a level of player expression that later games feel like they have diluted over time.

On a similar note, let's talk about the story, and whatever changes might have been added. I was most concerned about this; I've never liked that Falcom retroactively added Towa and Juna to the crossbell duology. It felt cheap, and even a bit disrespectful to the original games. I dreaded whatever changes might await me, but thankfully the same restraint that the team showed with the combat system applied here as well.

The main story of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remains unchanged; there are a few new sidequests added, but the volume included doesn't change the pacing of the game's story, and the additional stories simply flesh out existing characters in Trails in the Sky without delving into events that were added to the canon down the line. If you've never played Trails in the Sky, these new quests won't feel out of place - and if you have, they're a neat bonus that feel like they could have been originally included back in the day rather than shoehorned in.

There are a few references to later games, but you would never spot them in the script; certain CGs will have characters in them from the Erebonian and Calvard arcs that make perfect sense to be there, and yet they're never the focus. They're nods that players who have played the rest of the series will appreciate, but are never taking the spotlight off of Liberl. It's tasteful, and I can't stress enough how much I appreciate the restraint shown with these scenes.

Truthfully, the only black mark on the remake as of right now comes down to the new localization. In a vacuum, GungHo and Acttil's work on the game is good; there are some small issues here and there, but you could very easily chalk them up to nitpicks. Unfortunately, this remake doesn't exist in a vacuum, and existing series terminology is translated differently, which might very well lead to some confusions down the line for players looking to continue with the series. Some NPCs also have a different name, though we've already seen GungHo going back to try and rectify these discrepancies. I'm not so sure if terms that were referenced in voiced lines will see the same change, but hopefully over the next few weeks things can be rectified. 

At the end of the day, 1st Chapter reminds me of how much I loved Trails in the Sky, and at the same time makes me excited for the series' history all over again. I've always thought that Falcom's writing has been at its best when it shows a level of restraint and respect for their players - as well as a respect for their own vision for the series. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter doesn't just succeed at remaking a classic, but shows that Falcom themselves understands what made the original so great to begin with. I was already excited for the series' future, but now more than ever I'm convinced that Trails' legacy is in good hands.

A review copy was provided to RPG Site for the purposes of this piece.