Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo wants to stick to tradition when it comes to RPG combat systems

In a new interview with Japanese outlet Gamer, Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo has commented on his thought process for the modern Trails combat system, how it has adapted over time, and much more.

Before we go further, the original interview has spoilers for The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon  in the text and images so we do not recommend just launching the website with an auto translate feature. Toshihiro Kondo's comments on the battle system even reference how other developers have been trying out action combat systems like Gust's Atelier with Atelier Yumia and Atlus' Persona with Persona 5 Strikers developed with Koei Tecmo. Note that the interview excerpts below have been edited for clarity. 

Gamer asked Kondo about the combat systems by discussing how the combat in Trails beyond the Horizon is build on the base laid by the two Trails Through Daybreak games. The outlet asked about the events that led to what we have in Trails beyond the Horizon.

Kondo: That battle system is already very challenging by itself even to us, as we created it completely from scratch. That’s why from the moment Daybreak 1 came out we already have introspection points floating around, like we should have done such things a bit more.

From there, we covered some of the defects in Daybreak 2. Anyway since the battles in Trails series are turn-based, there isn’t really a sense of rhythm or speed. This was the reason for change, and as we worked to solve that, we created some kind of link between Field Action and Command Battle. I feel like we could make that happen with the two Daybreak entries. And when the sense of rhythm gets better, we now have a monotonous issue coming out.

And when we’re contemplating how to change that, an additional system for Horizon was proposed.

Basically speaking, it’s about how far we should do Action [gameplay], which we also contemplated in the two Daybreak entries. If we lean too much to Action, it’d be very troubling as some of the people who play the Trails series are not too good with Action [games].

On the other hand, since we already have Action, we also received an opinion that we could do a bit more with it. We’re dealing with it by adding things like Awakenings or the Arts Attacks in Field Action.

From there, while the rhythm gets better, if you repeat the same work all over, there will be a part that strongly shows [the repetitiveness]. So with the sense of bringing a change to the situation, we may have added the B.L.T.Z., Shard Command, and ZOC to add a bit more choices to players even after they have entered Command Battle.

It’s difficult for me to grasp things, so I kind of feel like we may have added a bit too much, but Trails Beyond the Horizon would be the one that turns its rudder to a richer [gameplay] direction.

The outlet then asked Kondo about whether the next Trails game would add even more to the feature-packed combat system currently present in Trails beyond the Horizon.

Kondo: I think there will be no drastic change to an entirely different thing. There are indeed tasks that we must address, and if the conclusion arc is the only one to have a sudden major change, it would feel a bit off. If we were to add something, personally I think that there are too many choices from the player’s side, and not all of them would be used up. We’re actually reviewing that part in Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter.

Contrary to Horizon, Sky 1st Chapter will make the player-side choices more simple and the enemy AI to be more intricate. The pawns you have are more simple, but we’re working so that you can devise tricks with them in various battle situations.

Following that, I wonder how the battle system in the conclusion arc of Horizon will look like. I feel like there may not be an end to that. The trend is also changing after all.

The final portion of note relating to the combat is when Gamer commented that there are fewer titles using the same command battle system these days. Kondo commented on how it was the case with Gust's Atelier and Atlus' Persona series, but his response about Trails is interesting.

Kondo: That’s also the case for Atlus’ Persona series and Gust’s Atelier series. It feels like everybody is making progress while worrying about it, but we do feel like we want to stick to the Turn-Based [tradition].

Once again, you can read the full interview here, but be warned for spoilers even in the images.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon launches in the West on January 15, 2026 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC (Steam). Read James' recent interview with Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo about the future of the series and more here.