Steam Library: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

Nowadays, the thirst for all kinds of unusual games that are far from current trends is commonly quenched with various “kickstarters”. People have raised several tens of millions of dollars for space simulators. Want a retro arcade game? A digital version of your favorite board game? A hardcore war game? No problem, any whim can be satisfied for your money.

However, all of this is, of course, new and uncertain. But what if you want a Japanese-style RPG that feels just like ten years ago, with intricate and mysterious leveling systems, mega-technologies of an ancient race, and schoolchildren who have lost their memory/hometown/hairbrush?

Well, and it should also be fun to play. Try to find that.

Fortunately, recently the most genuine and authentic JRPG from 2004 has arrived on Steam. And it is appropriately called Legend of Heroes (6): Trails in the Sky.

Everything is decisively in place. See for yourself.

The world of Trails in the Sky was turned upside down not too long ago. The reason – the discovery of magical crystals, which immediately started being used for everything. But mostly, of course, they started making all sorts of clever weapons and flying ships out of them. Otherwise, our homeland is a pastoral, enlightened Europe. Standing on the brink of great upheavals caused by secret conspiracies and revolutions.

The duo of main characters consists of Joshua, an orphan raised by a member of the Bracer Guild, and Estelle, the biological daughter of the same member. You won’t believe me now, but by the start of the game, both teenagers have finished their training in this very guild and are ready to move mountains, so to speak. Their alma mater is a mix of the police force and the Fairy Tail guild, with all the consequences that come with it. The action begins when their father goes on a business trip, and Joshua and Estelle promptly get down to business.

On the agenda: searching for missing cats, clever leveling up, matters of state importance, mega-technologies of a mysterious ancient race, and love. Everything as it should be.

Who would have thought that controlling Japanese role-playing games with a keyboard and mouse would be such a terrifying joy? And what’s more important, everything was done not with crutches, but right away, back in 2004, on a PC, so this time you can easily do without a gamepad. Convenient controls are also important because most of the time in Trails in the Sky is spent contemplating the screen of a tactical battle.

Not that the game has a lot of grinding, it just has a lot of fights. Fortunately, despite the almost always identical battlefield, tasks on the local chessboard are often different. If the usual random monsters (good news – by 2004, most developers stopped making random encounters completely invisible) usually require a demonstration of brute force, then quest battles require special attention and mastery of the local combat mechanics.

Trails in the Sky is not devoid of various side activities and details typical for jRPGs. Apart from obvious side quests, sociable fans of long-playing adventures can find non-obvious tasks, complete hidden tactical puzzle battles, and also fill a book with recipes for local delicious and healthy food. If desired, you can fully immerse yourself in the world and life of the game.

I’m telling you, we have a genuine Japanese role-playing game here with all the hereditary features!

However, despite all this joy, it is worth remembering that Legend of Heroes, even in its sixth incarnation, was already a decent game for genre enthusiasts in 2004 and was overshadowed by hits like Dragon Quest 8 (released in the same year). In other words, even back then, the same Japanese developers were capable of creating even better games. Not to mention the numerous games that have been released since then, both in the East and the West, that have everything that Trails in the Sky has, but more, better, and more refined.

In short, if you are looking for “just a good” role-playing game, honestly, I cannot recommend our Legend of Heroes to you. However, if you have already played all the current Japanese and non-Japanese RPGs, know what these Asian role-playing games are all about, and want to try something else from the same genre, then Trails in the Sky is one of your first options.

Moreover, we can share a couple of Steam copies of the game with you. Those in need – please comment promptly!