The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (2006)

Rating: 10/10

Mini review:

This is a masterpiece. Don't get me wrong, there's still some Falcom indulgences that get a little annoying, and sure, even though I played an updated version it is still the bones of a 2006 game. So it's not as deep as future Trails games like Cold Steel, but I really don't give a shit. The story here is fantastic. So unbelievably emotional. Lots of political intrigue. Memorable villains. Shit goes down. Great OST. Estelle is still a GOAT.

Full review:

I know this review will have me likely repeating things I've said in other Trails reviews, so if you've read those, sorry.

So for some context, I'm currently going through the series, but I have jumped around a bit. Played the Trails 1 Remake last year, should probably revisit it after all is said and done. Beat Cold Steel 1 and 2. Played Beyond the Horizon, which was stupid but I wanted to play Trails again and hadn't committed to playing the whole series. Should revisit that later on again too. Couldn't wait for the Second Chapter Remake. Don't know when I will play it... guess it depends on how I feel once it releases. Will play it eventually because I want to see what they do with some of this.

Okay, on with the actual review. Obviously I played an updated version (with turbo mode, because I don't know if I could do this without it), but you do still see the bones of a 2006 games. It's not as deep as future games. Still pretty polished but everything is simpler, from the combat to the orbments. As a turn-based JRPG, the gameplay holds up today. Still enjoyed playing it a lot. Mix in some great music and visuals, you got a winner.

But I mostly want to talk about the story because that's what I was here for. Specifically Estelle and Joshua. Especially Estelle. Let's talk about Estelle a bit. She's a GOAT. There's real growth here. In the 1st she's endearing but naive. But she'll fight anyone in her way while also cracking some good jokes. That all applies to her in SC, though she's less naive and more determined. It's authentic growth. It's impossible not to want her to succeed. Any time the villains fucked with her, especially regarding Joshua, it made me angry. I got your back Estelle. I know she's in future games but I also know that she's not playable (unless it's temporarily, I don't know, I don't want major spoilers), so that makes me sad. But I'm glad this part of her arc closed in in a great way. Because damn is this game ever emotional. It just sticks with you. It all has meaning. There are so many memorable moments. The ending is so touching and beautiful. It made me a baby.

Trails also has this incredibly layered political story going. Really from the first game, but heightened here. The first spent a lot of time setting the stage and now SC got to come along and escalate things. There were very few times where I felt that nothing compelling was happening. I mean sure, are there brief moments where the pacing suffers? Sure. I guess Falcom will always be Falcom. But there was nothing like in Cold Steel 2 where I got really pissed off and finished it spitefully.

The closest I got was when the power went out and they made you walk around to the different areas to help out. Fortunately with turbo it was quick, so it wasn't terrible, but I had that moment of, "You're really going to make me do this, huh?" And then of course they kind of extend later dungeons a little bit. But honestly, it was a 50 hour story so it was a minor annoyance at worse. Most RPGs have that. Even my absolute favourites, which I count this among now.

I know longtime Trails fans understand this already but Trails is possibly the most militant video game example of ludonarrative design/authorial intent (depending on how fancy ya wanna get) I can think of. That and Metal Gear (my favourite series). What I mean is, Falcom makes you feel every second of whatever the fuck is going on. Whether it's them just talking about their feelings or making you trek across the land to deliver shit, they want you to feel the burn. Or how even the orbment progression from the early games to the more complicated systems later is explained in the story (though obviously not in THIS game).

And if you think I'm just trying to be smart and impressive with my VAST VIDEO GAME KNOWLEDGE, nah, I'm an idiot... but I saw an interview recently with someone from Falcom and he literally says that the "inconvenience" in SC is important to the experience. Which makes the Trails games hard to recommend, honestly. Like it's easy to appreciate what they're doing in SC, but I can also understand someone hating it. I jokingly say that Falcom likes to "waste your time."

Anyway, this game is top-tier, and I know the remake will only improve it. Even if the gameplay is kind of old at this point, the story is not. The story is one of the finest of any RPGs I've played, and I've played a lot because the genre has been my favourite since I was a kid.

Onto the next.

through the prologue and into the first chapter. not sure i've ever played an rpg that's a direct sequel that takes place immediately after the events of the previous game and lets you import your save. so here are a couple of things that i wondered about and found very funny:

1. a character tells you 'oh yeah, your old magic? all those spells and skills you gathered? you can still use em if you want. but there's a new way of doing magic now. it's not backwards compatible. and honestly, even the weakest spell in this new system makes your old magic look like a joke.' and your character answers for you and says 'oh yeah throw that shit in the trash.' what's especially good is that they foreshadowed that they were making a new magic system at the end of the old game and they point to a powerful foe you faced and said 'remember this guy? he was using the new magic and that's why he was so hard.' i appreciate this so much because 1. it's funny. 2. it's totally earned. and 3. it diegetically answers a video game conundrum of 'why don't you have your old skills in the sequel.' i remember thinking as a kid how sick it was that in banjo tooie you got to keep your old skills but man going back to it, what a bloated and meandering mess of a game that was.

2. right before they put you back on the streets, they say 'wow... something crazy just happened. right after you beat the last boss of the last game, all the monsters got way way stronger. really weird, right? that's never happened before. you should investigate why that happened.' again, man, i love the way that's handled. it's funny and it lets you go through a normal difficulty curve and get new equipment all over again (the good stuff) while integrating it into the events of the story.

One of the best traditional turn based JRPG, I have played. The story, characters, music and most noticeably the world is simply unmatched. What makes this series so special? Well, the quality of its writing and also the sheer depth and volume of it. For example, each town NPC is handcrafted and their dialogues change as the story goes on, which makes the world feel alive. Many of them have their own story arcs or running gags that will make you want to talk to them for what they will say instead of purely for completionist purposes. Now, if they bother to give this much attention to random NPCs, you can expect an unprecedented level of detail for the main cast and story that puts even visual novels to shame.

I strongly suggest playing through the first game on the series before this, otherwise you will be kind of lost in the story.

So, I loved the first game and waited a long time for this one. And sadly I can no longer really stomach the battles, everything is so slow!And I don't mean turn-based, I mean it just takes a long time to get through a single battle.

It's possible I was in the wrong mood for this kind of game when I tried it, so it remains on my backlog.