The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

You would think that with the PS Vita getting ever closer to release in the UK we would see a slow decline of title releases for the PSP. However, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is proof that it’s not the case. Trails in the Sky was released originally in Japan in 2004 and has now graced the shores of Europe at the tail end of 2011 and appears to have withstood the test of time because it’s still a pretty damn epic game! What’s more, it’s the first in a set of three… you know, a trilogy, so there’s plenty more to watch out for.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky starts out with a young girl, Estelle, and her father called Cassius. They find a boy called Joshua, injured in the wild, take him back to the house and so blossoms a budding family relationship. Your first part in the game is to guide a slightly older Estelle and Joshua through their training that leads to the membership of the Bracers Guild who are like a law enforcement type agency.

Early on in the game you discover that Cassius, the father, is the most respected member of the Bracers Guild and he gets called away on important business, leaving the kids to pick up his trashy missions in their home town. Cassius mysteriously goes missing and from there on in you are on a mission to discover what happened and are drawn into a deeply twisted political plot line.

Trails in the Sky is VERY intense with regards to dialogue so the Nihon Falcom Corp worked like Trojans to create characters that you’re instantly either drawn to or despise. Estelle suffers constantly from sexist remarks about how being a girl simply won’t do as part of the Bracer Guild. Joshua is very straight laced, coming up with facts like Stewie from Family Guy and trying to keep Estelle out of trouble.

Sherazard, who’s a tier above Estelle and Joshua in the guild, strikes me as being a highly skilled warrior who can hold her drink and wouldn’t mind spending some ‘quality’ time with Joshua alone. Another memorable member of the party is a Bard called Olivier who is nothing less than a bi-sexual menace who appreciates the arts. I’m sure I went to music college with plenty of these types.

Seven years ago this game would have looked stunning and even now the scenery is acceptable. Movement of the characters you control is very quick so even when you’re having to travel long distances it doesn’t feel like a drag. The enemy spotting system isn’t too old school either. You won’t ever walk along and jump into battle with what was an invisible enemy. I hate that! Enemies are slightly transparent and become clearer as you close in. One thing that took me a while to get comfy with was that enemies could engage in battle by bumping into members of the party who trail at the back of your queue. In most RPGs that I have played, fights start when contact is made with the leader of the pack, but once I stopped moaning about it, I adjusted and moved on with my life.

A major contributor to this game’s excellence is the combat system. Each and every enemy has their own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. A huge array of attacks and defences including ‘Play Dead’ and ‘Fall Asleep’, all add to the techniques you will use in fights. You have a range of attacks including melee, arts and crafts. A wide mixture of buffs, de-buffs and attacks. Learning an enemy weakness quickly is essential because none of them take it easy on you. Picking on your team mate with the lowest health and picking on your healer are favourite techniques of theirs.

Battle has a wheel system that shows you who is attacking next, meaning that you can easily pick the weakest or even the next enemy to attack. It also shows any bonus heals or buffs and who is due to get them next. Using what’s called the S-craft, which is a special attack, you can effectively skip the queue and move in on those buffs for your own evil doing.

The key to tweaking your character comes in what’s called the Orbments. This device allows you to set up your magical flavour and provide balance across your party. It adds a deep layer of tactics to your own battle system that merges well with other elements such as the knock back feature.