In amongst the fans of the Japanese video games, Xseed as made quite a name for itself by localizing and publishing niche Japanese titles in the American market, which otherwise would had been ignored by bigger publishing companies. Xseed’s resume is indeed an impressive one with some good solid games published on multiple gaming platforms from the likes of Wild Arms 5 (PS2), Lunar Silver Star Harmony (PSP) or Fragile Dreams (Wii). Xseed has also partnered Marvelous Entertainment USA to co-publish a few more titles with Rune Factory Frontier (Wii) as the main attraction of the said partnership. The creation of the company is one of the better legacies of the last gaming generation which is still relevant in the HD era.
As impressive as all this may sound Xseed needed a proper AAA title to stamp its authority on the localizing market. Enter Nihon Falcom and their flagship game series on the PC, Legend of Heroes. Nihon Falcom has a knack of creating very robust RPGs with fleshed out battle systems and intriguing settings. Legend of Heroes: Sora No Kiseki was a PC game trilogy which was a big hit in Japan when it was released in 2004, while the ensuing sequels have also garnered massive following. It was a logical move when a port of the game series appeared on the PSP (Japan only) that the series truly hit cult status. For the non Japanese speaking public they could only watch at the sidelines, hoping against hope that some company would translate the game and release it outside Japan. It was really out of the blue when in 2010 Xseed announced a partnership with Falcom which would see release of not only 3 Y’s games in the space of 3 months but also the first chapter of the Sora No Kiseki series in 2011. Dubbed Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, was to become the most exhaustive undertaking by the company as the game had a staggering amount of text to be translated: 1.5 million Japanese characters to be precise! But when the game came out rest assured the efforts of the localizing team at Xseed had out done themselves as the translated script was full of witty and hilarious dialogue and characterization which went swimmingly with a fascinating story along with some solid RPG action. Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is the company's best work to date and easily one of the top PSP games.
So at first I wasn't all that impressed with the game as the first 1-2 hours lurched at a snail’s pace, the graphics weren't exactly great and the lack of voice acting soured the deal for me, but I stuck with it. And the more I played, the more I started to realize how the much game reminded me of some of the top RPGS of the PS1 era. Games like Grandia, Breath of Fire or Thousand Arms came to mind as I delved deeper into Trails of the Sky and that fact alone made it stand out among its peers. Characterization and dialogue were uniformly awesome with great banter among the characters, the sense of adventure and wonderment is prevalent throughout while the game play mechanics were slick and polished. If the game would had come out back in the day it would had been hailed as one of the greatest but even as it stand right now its still an awesome game for the PSP.
As for the general plot, that too adheres to the blue print of the 32 bit RPGS of the PS1. Basically the plot revolves around our two protagonists Estelle Bright and her adopted sibling Joshua Bright as they make ways around the Liberal Kingdom training to become Bracers; an organization that helps the people in need: be it killing monsters, upholding the law or doing things for the well being of the people. And through their training they meet and befriend new people as they slowly get embroiled in a huge conspiracy against the crown. It’s not as cliché as it sounds because the writing and pacing is excellent (something bigger companies can re-learn from this title), introducing new plot twists in each of its first 3 chapters, culminating in everything coming together in the final chapter. The ending does a great job in tying up loose ends, while opening up a whole new can of worms for the sequels. I really enjoyed the plot and the characters of Trails in the Sky and can’t wait to get to the conclusion of this inspired trilogy.
Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky is a turn based game but Falcom has added a few new wrinkles to the system which makes it a fresh entry. The fast pace of battles and the tactical nuances made the system deep yet rewarding, almost as good as the perfect turn based systems found in Persona 3 and Persona 4. More often than not I would actively be going out of my way to fight beasts and monsters as I trekked along the countryside or deep, dank dungeons. Another cool aspect was how slowly my characters leveled up as the final levels of my characters stood at 36 which made all the unnecessary level grinding a chore of the past. I also really enjoyed how the side quests were handled as well and due to their bite sized nature side questing didn't feel senseless or boring. It made balancing story progression and side-questing an enjoyable ride.
Some of the best moments of the game were undoubtedly the 4 main cities which the characters visit. Each of the cities has its own vibe from the sleepy town of Rolent to the industrial hub Zeiss. Talking to NPCs of these cities would always yield some interesting tidbit about the events that are taking place or stuff about the city they inhabit.
But perhaps the most awesome features of Trails in the Sky are the main characters. Although they do conform to the anime clichés but they still come off as refreshing and full of personality. Be it Estelle’s over exuberance, Joshua’s grounded sensibilities or Oliver's egotistic behavior, they all come off as quite endearing. It all helps with the stellar localization done by Xseed which sees such eccentricities come to life and how!.
Most people who will cast their eyes on the visuals of Trails of the Sky will NOT like them one bit. The game does not look that hot, even for a PSP game, but as a wise man once said ‘beauty is only skin deep’. The same can be said about this game too as once you get past the retro 32 bit look of the game, you will notice good amount of details in the environments. The towns are filled to the brim with small neat touches, the in game cut-scenes have loads of diversity and the battle visuals are quite easy on the eyes. Then again the game will NOT win any beauty pagents but that does not mean the game is awful looking, I would call the visuals.….charming!
Ok time to wrap this up: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is a great PSP game and a really neat JRPG in its own right. The games does not reinvent the wheel but rather adheres to the typical JRPG mantra, but is presented in such a way that it makes for solid gaming. The story doesn’t takes itself seriously for most the game, the characters and relationships are both funny and touching, the game play mechanics add little nuances to the turn based system which keeps the system fresh and fun, and the huge world to travel and explore is downright addictive. PSP is really on its last legs but it still is chugging along willfully as Trails in the Sky still has 2 more sequels to come out to finish the trilogy. So hear me now Xseed: You better not pull a fast one on the PSP owners and the fans of this awesome game by not bringing out part 2 and 3. We want these games NOW!!!
My play through was 47 hours, 14 minutes and 28 seconds (47:14:28) while my rating is a solid 9!
