Overview
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is the first game in the Trails sub-series produced by Nihon Falcom. The title follows the exploits of Estelle Bright and her adopted brother Joshua as they travel across the land of Liberl, helping people and battling monsters, as they work to become Senior Bracers. Trails in the Sky was originally released for the PC in Japan on June 24, 2004 and was eventual ported to the PlayStation Portable in 2006 as well as the PlayStation 3 in 2012. XSEED Games localized and brought the PSP game to the United States on March 29, 2011 and later to the PC in 2014.
Story
As the game starts, Estelle and Joshua are in their final day of training, and become junior bracers (apprentices, essentially). Their father, a well-respected bracer renowned for his talent and personality, leaves them for an emergency long-distance job. As the game progresses, they must track down their father, traverse the lands in their quest of becoming full-fledged bracers, and learn why sky pirates have begun a series of crimes throughout the land.
Gameplay
The game features traditional turn-based RPG mechanics. Enemies are visible on the field, and can either be avoided or encountered. If the heroes sneak up behind an enemy, they gain the battlefield advantage, or vice versa. The screen then breaks into a battlefield grid, where the heroes and monsters take turns moving around the map, attacking, casting spells, or using items. Heroes have special abilities that, when charged, can be used to interrupt an enemy's turn and inflict lots of damage. These abilities can be changed up through the menu system, and more skills develop throughout the game.
Magic is handled through what's called "orbments". After each battle, a certain number of orbment shards are found in several categories, such as Fire, Water, Time, or Mirage. These shards can be taken back to towns and used to either create materia-like orbments that can add skills or stat adjustments, or used to unlock more slots per character to slot the orbments. Each character, save for Estelle, has orbments that he or she specializes in, such as Joshua's Time orbment slots. Estelle, however, can utilize any type of orbments in any slot.
Alternately, orbment shards can be traded for mira, the game's currency. Weapons, armor, accessories, healing items, and cooking items can be purchased in town. The game features recipes and cooking, which can provide healing and status items by cooking up various items. Recipes are gained by trying food, which can be purchased or obtained through various shops or bars.
Playable Characters
(Age: 16) Estelle is a very naive and straightforward sixteen year old, she is incredibly energetic and always has a positive outlook, no matter what situation she finds herself in. Estelle is very boyish, in regards to both her attitude and appearance and is always looking to have a good time. Estelle was born in the rural areas of Rolent to legendary Bracer, Cassius Bright and his wife. When Estelle was six years old, her mother was killed protecting her in a bombing attack, it was this event that inspires her to become a Bracer. Much like her father Cassius, Estelle is very skilled with her bow staff. |  |
(Age: 16) Joshua is quiet sixteen year old boy, he is collected and level head, constantly keeping his adoptive sister Estelle from getting into trouble. At age 11, Joshua was found by Cassius Bright, shortly after he was adopted into the Bright family. He is very reserved and doesn't like to talk about his time before being adopted into the Bright family. Joshua joins his sister Estelle in becoming a Bracer and their journey afterwards to become Senior Bracer. He fights with dual short swords. |  |
(Age: 23) Schera (as she is known by her friends) is a very strict woman, who is also very caring and willing to help those in need. She acts as an older sister to Estelle and Joshua, acting as both their mentor and friend. Schera was a member of the Harvey Circus Troupe. The group disbanded and Scherazard met Cassius Bright, who took Schera under his wing. Soon after she followed in his footsteps and became a Bracer. Schera is a heavy drinker and can drink most people under the table. She uses a whip in battle. |  |
(Age: 25) Olivier is a peculiar man. Much like Estelle he is always in a cheery mood, always making jokes and trying to showboat. He is a very talented musician, being skilled at playing nearly any instrument he picks up. Olivier also has a very perverted mind, never one to hold his tongue when discussing the issue of love. In addition to being a skilled musician, he's also very talented with an orbment pistol. | |
(Age: 24) Agate is an experienced and powerful member of the Bracer guild. In his youth, Agate was the leader of the Raven gang in Ruan. He ran the rough and tumble crew until he was beaten by Cassius Bright, after which he swore his loyalty to Cassius and joined the Bracers. He is a very grumpy person and is especially tough on rookie Bracers. Though he's not good at showing it, Agate does care for his friends. He gets his nickname "The Heavy Blade" from the large sword he wields. | |
(Age: 16) Kloe is a very kind and caring person who is always looking out for her friends. She's a student at the Royal Jenis Academy in Ruan. When she was young she lost her parents and received a lot of support growing up from Matron Theresa and her husband, the owners of the Mercia Orphanage. Kloe has a pet gryfalcoln named Sieg, she has such a powerful connection with Sieg that she can actually communicate with him. She is also an incredibly skilled fencer and magic user when in battle. | |
(Age: 12) Tita is a child genius. Her grandfather--Albert Russell--is the leading mind on orbment technology and she has inherited much of his intelligence. Her parents are constantly traveling leaving her to live with her grandfather in the Zeiss region. Despite being incredibly smart, Tita still acts like a child most of the time, always showing a level of innocence and kind-heartedness that the rest of the group enjoys. She looks up to Estelle and Joshua like siblings. When in battle, she uses a comically large orbment cannon to deal damage to groups of enemies. | |
(Age: 30) Zane Vathek - or Zane the Immovable, as he is known - is a very large and very skilled martial artist from the Eastern world. A descendent of the Calvard Republic, Zane finds himself in the Liberl region to participate in a martial arts tournament. He meets up with Joshua and Estelle and has them join his team in the tournament, after which he joins them on their journey. Zane acts like a big brother to most of the other characters, always kind-hearted and willing to help. When in battle, he uses his martial arts skills. | |
PC System Requirements
Minimum
- OS: Windows XP
- Processor: Pentium III 550 MHz
- Memory: 512 MB RAM
- Graphics: 32 MB VRAM, 3D accelerator compatible w/ DirectX 9.0c
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
- Sound Card: Compatible with DirectX 9.0c
Recommended
- OS: Windows Vista, 7 or 8 (64-bit supported)
- Processor: Core 2 Duo 2GHz or higher
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: 64 MB VRAM, 3D accelerator compatible w/ DirectX 9.0c
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Hard Drive: 3 GB available space
- Sound Card: Compatible with DirectX 9.0c
Log in to comment