The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Studio	Nihon Falcom
Publisher	Nihon Falcom Xseed Games Ghostlight (PSP)
composer	Hayato Sonoda Wataru Ishibashi Takahide Murayama
Erstveröffent- lichung	Windows: June 24, 2004 July 29, 2014 PSP: October 28, 2006 March 29, 2011 November 4, 2011 PS3: December 13, 2012 PS Vita: June 11, 2015
platform	Microsoft Windows , PlayStation Portable , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation Vita
genre	role playing game
Subject	Fantasy
Game mode	Single player
Age rating	USK PEGI

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky ( Japanese 英雄 伝 説 VI 空 の 軌跡 , Eiyū Densetsu Shikkusu: Sora no Kiseki ) is a turn-based role - playing game from Nihon Falcom . The title is the first part of a video game trilogy. The following parts of the trilogy are Trails in the Sky Second Chapter and Trails in the Sky the 3rd . These three titles together make up the sixth part of " The Legend of Heroes " series. In Japan, the title is now referred to as Trails in the Sky First Chapter ( 英雄 伝 説 空 の 軌跡 FC ) to set it apart from the other titles in the Trails in the Sky trilogy.

Trails in the Sky was originally released in Japan in 2004 for Microsoft Windows and ported to the PlayStation Portable in 2006 . North American video game publisher Xseed Games acquired the rights to the title from Nihon Falcom , but did not release the game until 2011 due to the large amount of text that had to be translated. In 2012, an HD version for the PlayStation 3 was released, which then also appeared on the PlayStation Vita in 2015 . In 2014, Xseed Games released the Microsoft Windows version on the Internet distribution platforms Steam and GOG.com worldwide.

Game mechanics

In Trails in the Sky, the player takes on the role of a group of characters who have to complete a variety of tasks over the course of the story. The accessible maps are divided into two types: city maps and maps. There are a number of enemies floating around on maps, who trigger a fight when they come into contact with the characters. In city cards, the player can buy items in shops and restore life energy in an inn. In larger cities there is the possibility of accepting and submitting tasks in local guilds. In addition, the player can interact with a variety of non-player characters (NPCs). A special aspect in Trails in the Sky is that the dialogues of the NPCs change in the course of the story and the player can thus follow small side stories.

The turn-based combat system takes place in Trails in the Sky on a field divided into squares. The order of the characters is determined by a so-called AT bar. During a character's turn, the player can choose to attack or move. Instead of a normal attack, one of three other attack types can be selected: Arts, Crafts and S-Crafts. Arts are spells that can be used to harm opponents or to aid your group. Arts are not carried out immediately compared to the other attacks and require an additional round to be conjured. Crafts are character-specific skills that can be carried out in exchange of so-called "Craft Points" (CP). S-Crafts are reinforced variants of Crafts that can be used when a character has over 100CP. When using an S-Craft, all CP are used up. A variant of S-Crafts are S-Breaks. S-Breaks allow S-Crafts to be used, regardless of whether it is the character's turn.

Another aspect of the combat system are the AT bonuses, which can appear in some rounds during the fight and give bonus effects. AT bonuses are displayed on the AT bar.

If the player loses a fight, it is game over. The player now has the option to repeat the fight with a lower level of difficulty. The automatic lowering of the level of difficulty can be deactivated in the settings.

action

Game world

The video game is set in the fictional kingdom of Liberl, ten years after the attack on the northern kingdom of Erebonia. Currently, the kingdom is thriving under the guidance of Queen Alicia II and Liberl's sophisticated engineering. Erebonia is closely monitoring this development.

history

The story begins with the protagonist Estelle Bright waiting for her father Cassius to return. When he got home he was not alone because he brought a boy named Joshua with him. Cassius adopts Joshua and now raises both children. Years later, Estelle and Joshua, who are now 16 years old, decide to follow in their father's footsteps and become a Bracer. The Bracers are a group who specialize in combat and investigation and use these skills to do odd jobs and keep the peace. In order to complete the training to become a bracer, the trainees have to travel to the five main branches of the bracer guilds in Liberl, which are located in Rolent, Bose, Ruan, Zeiss and Grancel, and prove themselves there. Shortly afterwards, Cassius receives a letter and leaves his hometown Rolent for a business trip. While Cassius is away, Joshua and Estelle meet Alba, an archaeologist who is investigating the ruins of Aureole.

Then a group of Sky Bandits ambush Rolent's mayor and steal a crystal. Estelle and Joshua team up with Scherazard, a bracer and childhood friend of Estelle's, to bring the crystal back. The group manages to regain the crystal, but the Sky Bandits escape. On their return to Rolent, the group learns that the airship Cassius traveled with never landed. The ship's current whereabouts are unknown. Estelle, Joshua and Scherazard make their way to the city of Bose, where the airship was originally supposed to land.

Upon arrival in Bose, the group met Olivier Lenheim and learned that the Sky Bandits were behind the hijacking of the airship. Olivier joins the group to launch a surprise attack on the Sky Bandits' hideout. There they not only meet the Sky Bandits, but also another hostile group of people in black. After the victory and the arrest of the Sky Bandits, the group meets the leader of the Liberl Intelligence Division, Alan Richard. However, Cassius was not among the hostages of the hijacked airship. Upon their return to the Bracer Guild, the group receives a package containing a mysterious black orbment. The package should originally have been delivered by Cassius to a "Professor R". Estelle and Joshua separate from Scherazard and Olivier and begin their journey to Ruan.

On the way to Ruan, the two meet a girl named Kloe Rinz, who is helping out in a nearby orphanage. She decides to travel the rest of the way to Ruan with Joshua and Estelle, as she has something to do there. Once there, they meet the Mayor of Ruan and Duke Dunan. Shortly afterwards, the group learns that a fire has broken out in the orphanage where Kloe is helping out. Estelle, Joshua and Kloe investigate the fire and determine that it must be arson. Eventually it turns out that the mayor, along with the group in black, was responsible for the fire. When confronted with the mayor, he suddenly pulls a mysterious artifact, the Chronos staff. The chronograph staff allows its wearer to stop time in a limited range. When trying to stop the time, the black orbment suddenly activates and negates the effect of the staff. The mayor tries to flee, but is arrested by the royal guard. Colonel Richard appears and praises Estelle and Joshua for their efforts. The two say goodbye to Kloe and begin the journey to Zeiss, hoping to find out more about the black orbment.

Upon their arrival they meet Tita Russel, the twelve-year-old granddaughter of Albert Russell. This is "Professor R", who starts to experiment with the black orbment after receiving the package. Joshua, Estelle and Tita make their way to a nearby village to relax and not disturb Professor Russell. However, Zeiss is attacked and Professor Russel is kidnapped. Tita decides to save her grandfather together with Estelle and Joshua. The group receives support from Agate Crosner, a bracer who is nearby. The four learn that Professor Russell is being held captive in a nearby military fortress and that Colonel Richard is the leader of the group in black. After the rescue, Professor Russell hides with Agate and Tita and gives Estelle a letter addressed to Queen Alicia II. Estelle and Joshua travel to Grancel, the capital of Liberl. Meanwhile, Kloe is kidnapped by the group in black.

On the way to Grancel the group runs into a blockade by Colonel Richard. There she meets Alba, with whose help they manage to cross the blockade. Upon their arrival in Grancel, the group learns that Duke Dunan is currently acting as the Queen's proxy. However, this is manipulated by Colonel Richard. Zin Vanthek, a seasoned bracer, is also currently in Grancel and plans to take part in a fighting tournament that will be held shortly. The winners of the tournament are allowed to dine with the Duke in the Queen's Palace. Estelle and Joshua see this as the perfect way to meet the queen. They team up with Zin and take part in the tournament together. Olivier, who has just visited the Ebonian embassy in Grancel, also joins the group. The four finally manage to win the tournament and get into the castle. At the meeting with the queen, the group learns that Kloe is actually Klaudia von Auslese and thus the true successor to the throne. The group also learns that Klaudia is currently being held in a villa near Grancel and that there is a strange anomaly under the castle. Thanks to the reinforcement of Scherazard, Agate and Tita, the rescue mission finally succeeds. Together, the group goes to the underground of the castle to face Richard, who thanks to the return of Cassius can also be defeated.

A week later, all the villains are arrested and a festival is held, but it is short-lived. Alba approaches Joshua and starts a conversation with him when he is alone. Joshua learns that Alba has the ability to control the thoughts and memories of others. Alba also tells Joshua that Joshua had been revealing the Bracer's plans to Alba the whole time and that he was just a doll of Alba. Alba also reveals that he is actually George Weissman and a member of an organization called Ouroboros. He offers Joshua to return to Ouroboros at any time. Weissman leaves Joshua before Estelle reaches them. That same evening, Joshua meets Estelle in the palace courtyard. He tells her that he was actually an assassin and that Cassius was one of his targets. But he was not up to the strength of Cassius, whereupon Ouroboros wanted to get rid of Joshuas. These plans were foiled by Cassius, who subsequently adopted Joshua. Estelle confesses to Joshua that she loves him. However, Joshua feels unable to stay with her due to his past and numbs Estelle with a sleeping pill. Before Estelle passes out, Joshua thanks her and also confesses to Estelle that he has feelings for her. Then Joshua disappears.

Characters

• Estelle Bright ( エ ス テ ル ・ ブ ラ イ ト Esuteru Buraito ) (Japanese voice: Akemi Kanda ; English voice: Stephanie Sheh ): 16 years old. The female protagonist of the game. Estelle is a rather naive but also very direct girl who is always energetic and positive. She was born in Rolent, where she was raised by her father in the rural part of Rolent. Rolent is a quiet farming and mining town just north of Liberl's capital, Grancel. She often behaves more like a boy and loves to fish and collect sports shoes. As the game progresses, she realizes that she has developed feelings for her adoptive brother. Estelles uses a staff as a weapon. She learned how to use the staff from her father Cassius.
• Joshua Bright ( ヨ シ ュ ア ・ ブ ラ イ ト Yoshua Buraito ) (Japanese voice: Mitsuki Saiga ; English voice: Johnny Yong Bosch ): 16 years old. The male protagonist of the game. Joshua was adopted by Cassius five years after the war between Liberl and Erebonia. He's a quiet boy with black hair and amber eyes who always takes care of Estelle so she doesn't get into trouble. He plays a harmonica and uses double blades as a weapon.
• Agate Crosner ( ア ガ ッ ト ・ ク ロ ス ナ ー Agatto Kurosunaa ) (Japanese voice: Takayuki Kondō ; English voice: Bryce Papenbrook ): 24 years old. Agate comes from a small village in the rural part of Bose, but spent most of his youth in the port city of Ruan as the leader of a gang, the Ravens. He is one of the emerging bracers in the Kingdom of Liberl. Because of his weapon, a great sword, he is known as the "Heavy Sword". Agate often appears in a bad mood and grouchy to others, but is in fact very caring and takes care of young bracers like Estelle and Joshua.
• Tita Russell ( テ ィ ー タ ・ ラ ッ セ ル Tiita Rasseru ) (Japanese voice: Hiromi Konno ): 12 years old. Tita lives in Zeiss with her grandfather Albert Russell, the founding father of orbment technology and a brilliant inventor. She is particularly skilled in handling machines and orbment technology. Despite her youth, she is teaching at the Central Workshop, the most important research and development facility in Liberl. Tita sees Estelle and Joshua as her older siblings. When working with Orbments, Tita forgets where she is and bombards bystanders with detailed information.
• Scherazard Harvey ( シ ェ ラ ザ ー ド ・ ハ ー ヴ ェ イ Sherazaado Haavei ) (Japanese voice: Yuka Shioyama; English voice: Michelle Ruff ): 23 years old. Scherazard is a female bracer with silver hair and dark skin. It is also known under the name "Silver Streak". Scherazard takes care of Estelle and Joshua during the trip and takes on the role of a big sister for them. Scherazard lived in a poor neighborhood, but was accepted into a traveling circus as a child. When the circus was closed, Scherazard began training as a bracer as a student of Estelle's father, Cassius. She is an excellent dancer and has mastered card tricks as well as thieving skills. Drinking is one of her habits, which is why she often gets drunk during the game. She prefers to drink with Aina, the person in charge of the Bracer Guild in Rolent and Olivier.
• Olivier Lenheim ( オ リ ビ エ ・ レ ン ハ イ ム Olibie Renheimu ) (Japanese voice: Takehito Koyasu ; English voice: Troy Baker ): 26 years old. A fair-haired handsome from the Erebon Empire, who introduces himself to Estelle and Joshua as a traveling musician. He is very easygoing and often says things that get him into trouble. Olivier tries to flirt with any attractive character, regardless of the person's gender. He is often saved from problems by his childhood friend, Mueller Vander, an officer in the Erebon Empire.
• Kloe Rinz ( ク ロ ー ゼ ・ リ ン ツ Kurooze Rintsu ) (Japanese voice: Yuuko Minaguchi ; English voice: Cristina Vee ): 16 years old. Kloe is a student at the Royal Jenis Academy in the rural part of Ruan. She is a calm and empathetic person who helps to take care of the children in an orphanage. She has a hawk as a pet and companion and is the academy's best fencer.
• Zin Vathek ( ジ ン ・ ヴ ァ セ ッ ク Jin Vatekku ) (Japanese voice: Tetsu Inada ; English voice: Patrick Seitz ): 30 years old. Zin is from the Republic of Calvard and is a skilled martial artist. It is one of the strongest bracers in the world and is also known under the name "The Immovable". Zin met Joshua and Estelle at a fighting tournament in Grancel, where they teamed up with them to support them in their endeavors.

Release

Trails in the Sky was originally released for Microsoft Windows on June 29, 2004 in Japan. The game was later ported to the Playstation Portable and released in Japan on October 28, 2006. The Playstation Portable version was released in America on March 29, 2011 and in Europe on November 4, 2011. The PC version was finally released worldwide on July 29, 2014 and includes a number of features that were originally only available in the PSP version.

An HD version was released in Japan on December 13, 2012 as The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC Kai HD Edition .

A revised version of the game for the PlayStation Vita was released on June 11, 2015 as The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC Evolution in Japan. Evolution revised the old designs, the user interface and included some new features, such as synchronized dialogues, animations in scenes, additional illustrations and improved combat tactics.

Localization

The American version was localized by XSEED Games , which announced in May 2010 that they had acquired the rights to the Trails in the Sky trilogy. The script of the first part of Trails in the Sky proved to be a challenge for XSEED's editor Jessica Chavez due to a length of approximately 1.5 million Japanese characters. Chavez spent nine months working on the script, the last month having to use Xseeds translator Thomas Lipschultz to assist with chapter four of the game. The British video game publisher Ghostlight took over the distribution of the Playstation Portable version for the European market, where the title appeared on November 4, 2011.

Despite its success in Japan, Trails in the Sky failed to achieve similar success in the west.

In September 2013, XSEED announced a PC version of Trails in the Sky , which should be released in the first quarter of 2014. However, there were problems with the programming of the title, which postponed the release to July 2014. According to XSEED's programmer Sara Leen, a large part of the program code had to be written from scratch in places because there were serious differences between the Playstation Portable and the PC version. These drastic changes resulted in additional software bugs . Not all errors had been fixed by the official release date. Since then, however, patches have been submitted that fix the majority of the errors.

Other media

The soundtrack was produced and released in July 2014 as Eiyū Densetsu VI Sora no Kiseki Original Sound Track in Japan by Falcom Sound Team JDK. Responsible for the compositions were Hayato Sonoda, Wataru Ishibashi and Takahide Murayama, and Kohei Wada served as arranger. The album contains two CDs with 33 songs on the first and 26 songs on the second CD. Songs 24 to 31 comprise The White Flower Madrigal suite. The song Whereabouts of the Stars was written by Hideaki Hamada, with singing by u-mi. The soundtrack of the first part is included in the Windows version in the form of Ogg Vorbis music files.

An OVA to The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky was announced in 2011. The first OVA was released on November 25, 2011 on DVD and Blu-ray. The second and final OVA was published on January 22, 2012. In 2012, both OVAs were licensed by Sentai Filmworks for North America.

reception

Overall, Trails in the Sky was well received by critics. On the GameRankings collection page for video game reviews , the PC version scores 86% and the PSP version 79%. The ratings on Metacritic are 85/100 for the PC version and 79/100 for the PSP version.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Official Sora no Kiseki portal . Archived from the original on March 2, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 10, 2017. 
2. ↑ Review: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (PC) . Retrieved May 10, 2017.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky official website .
4. ^ Hitoshi Doi : Kanda Akemi roles . In: Seiyuu Database . Retrieved May 13, 2017.
5. ↑ Be Afraid: The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky hits PSP March 29th . In: playstation.blog . March 16, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
6. ↑ ^{a b} XSEED Blog - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky . XSEED Games. July 24, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
7. ↑ 'The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky' PS3 HD version announced . Polygon. September 26, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
8. ↑ 英雄 伝 説 空 の 軌跡 FC Evolution New Features . Retrieved May 13, 2017.
9. ↑ Sato: The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC Evolution Recaps Its New Features . Siliconera. May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
10. ↑ Spencer: The Legend Of The Heroes: Trails In The Sky Takes Flight In March . Siliconera. December 6, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
11. ↑ ^{a b} Ishaan: The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Has 1.5 Million Japanese Characters . Siliconera. February 12, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
12. ↑ XSEED Games blog: Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated . XSEED Games. February 8, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
13. ↑ Ross: Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and The Trails of Innocence Combo Pack get release dates . September 30, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
14. ↑ Spencer: Falcom's Trails In The Sky Series Soars Past One Million Units Sold . Siliconera.
15. ↑ Spencer: What's Going On With The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky Second Chapter? . Siliconera. October 14, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
16. ↑ Chris Dahlberg: XSEED Games to Publish The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC digitally on Steam and PlayStation Store; First Chapter to get PC release . Cosmos Gaming. September 6, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
17. ↑ The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter - Localization Blog # 5 . XSEED Games. October 30, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
18. ↑ Eiyu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki RPG Gets Anime . In: Anime News Network . March 8, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
19. ↑ Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Anime # 2 Teaser Posted . In: Anime News Network . December 12, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
20. ↑ Sentai Filmworks Licenses Legend of Heroes ~ Trails in the Sky . In: Anime News Network . Retrieved May 13, 2017.
21. ↑ The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky . In: GameRankings . CBS Interactive . Retrieved May 10, 2017.
22. ↑ The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky . In: GameRankings . CBS Interactive . Retrieved May 10, 2017.
23. ↑ The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky for PC reviews . In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved May 10, 2017.
24. ↑ The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky for PSP reviews . In: Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved May 10, 2017.

Web links

• Official website
• Official Sora no Kiseki (Japanese)
• Legend of Heroes VI: Sora no Kiseki Official Website (Japanese)
• Legend of Heroes: Sora no Kiseki Official Website (Japanese)