First appearing on the NEC PC-8800,the Legend of Heroesis a cornerstone of the most iconic JRPGs.Falcom, the brilliant minds behind the critically acclaimedYssaga, helm the Legend of Heroes series, adding their touch of excellence to each entry. After the conclusion of the Gagharv trilogy, which appeared in the west on the PlayStation Portable, Falcom set out to create one extended, epic story that would become to be known as the Trails saga.
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With Trails in the Sky launching on the PSP to initiate the series in the west, Falcom was off and running. Even with its success in Japan, the remainder of the Trails in the Sky saga and the entirety of the Crossbell arc were left in Japan until the closure of the Trails of Cold Steel arc (though the final two games of Trails in the Sky released on Steam and the first two games of the Crossbell arc have finally arrived remastered in the west). The franchise is often considered to besome of the best JRPG work in the genre, but some entries are just better than others.
This list will only include the western releases in the series, meaning the third entry of the Crossbell arc will not currently be on this list.
10Trails Of Cold Steel 2
Easily the weakest entry in the Trails series,Trails of Cold Steel 2 tells the story of the Erebonian civil war. On the heels of the assassination attempt of Giliath Osborne, Erebonia was cast into a tumultuous civil war, pitting the nobles who felt slighted by the emperor and his kin against the imperial army.
It sounds like an enthralling, large scale scenario, butthe entry gave up the personal touches that made Trails of Cold Steel so great to focus on a war front effort. There are plenty of exciting and genuinely great set pieces, but when put up against the other games of the Cold Steel set, it feels greatly lacking.
9Trails In The Sky SC
Perhaps the Trails saga suffers from the same fate as most sequels in trilogies do. Trails in the Sky SC (Second Chapter) follows Estelle as she trains at the Bracer HQ in Leman.After learning about the villainous Ouroboros organization in Trails in the Sky and losing Joshua, perhaps to its thralls, Estelle swore to topple the mysterious group.
She meets and partners with a slew of new characters, includingAgate, who become integral to the Liberl arc of the series. Long time players will have experienced their first real taste of Ouroboros in SC and learn to resent them for the next several entries.
8Trails In The Sky The 3rd
Edging out the second chapter because it foreshadows much of the series that follows, the 3rd was originally an epilogue of sorts to Trails in the Sky before morphing into its own standalone title. This entry follows Kevin Graham, a member of the Septian church, who finds himself in Phantasma.
In this other dimension, he works together with familiar faces to learn more about his predicament and how to escape it.This game was also the first Trails entry to feature the higher elements that become integral to the Crossbell arc.
7Trails To Azure
Compared to Trails From Zero, Trails To Azure felt a bit lacking. It certainly ticks all the right boxes for a sequel, however.Lloyd and the SSS have to face the realities and consequences of their actions. The mafia, which kept larger evils at bay, is no more, and interfering with Kea and the cult has caused some serious issues.
Even though Trails to Azure feels like it is missing that special something compared to Zero,the last act was absolutely insane and is one of the most memorable pieces of the franchise.
6Trails Of Cold Steel 4
The conclusion of the Trails of Cold Steel arc of the series was strong, no doubt, but it did not (and could not hope to) live up to its predecessor. The climax and ending of Trails of Cold Steel 3 will live in infamy in the franchise, and, unfortunately,Cold Steel 4 undid a lot of what made that great.
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Still, Trails ofCold Steel 4 offered heavy fan service to longtime players of the franchise while putting together a fitting and touching closure to Rean’s story arc. Much likeTrails Into Reverie, players have the option of building parties with an enormous cast of characters, and the trials Rean must overcome on his journey to stopping the great war make this entry well worth experiencing.
5Trails In The Sky
The game that kicked off the sprawling Trails series, Trails in the Sky,set the groundwork for so many of the moving parts of the narrative. Following Estelle and Joshua Bright, children of the legendary Cassius Bright, Trails in the Sky sees the two young bracers searching for their lost father and the airship he disappeared on.
Accompanied by the Silver Streak, Scherazard, and meeting the flamboyant Olivier on the way,the group uncovers plots and people far more sinister than they could have imagined, and a series long group of villains make their debut. Granted, the game does take a long time to really get into, but the payoff is worth seemingly menial tasks the player will trudge through in the opening hours of Trails in the Sky.
4Trails Of Cold Steel 3
Trails of Cold Steel 3 could top this list, but the over-the-top nature of the Trails of Cold Steel series weighs it down a bit.Rean is now an instructor at the new Thors Military Academy expansion school, teaching the new Class VII. After countless missions that had tested his resolve as an agent for the Empire, Rean finds peace with his new teaching job. Trails of Cold Steel 3, though, isa master class of buildup, and the final act of the game sees Rean and his students racing against time to prevent the Blood & Iron Chancellor from unleashing his epic designs for war.
Rean must make tough decisions about his friends, and he learns quickly that not all allegiances align with him. The concluding hour of this one solidifies it in Trails greatness, however, asit delivers a conclusion that left many absolutely stunned, perhaps placing the darkest conclusion to a game in the franchise.
3Trails From Zero
Lloyd and the Special Support Section’s first game is one of the most complete standalone games in the series. Trails From Zero sees the construction of the important SSS and their subsequent struggle to gain the trust of the citizens of Crossbell. It is a constant battle to overcome the doubts of everyone, but Lloyd, Elie, Tio, and Randy push through to come face-to-face with unspeakable evils.
There are twists in Trails From Zero that were so well buried they almost certainly surprised the majority of the player base. There is a reason why the Corssbell arc isso beloved in the franchise, as it mixes together great story and characters with the beginnings of the combat mechanics that make Trails of Cold Steel so great. It is the culmination of a team that learned how to improve upon each entry to date, and it certainly feels that way.
2Trails Into Reverie
The newest edition to the Trails saga and bridge between the first and second halves of arcs, Trails Into Reverie puts together a 50+ character ensemble against a story filled with a lot of intrigue and twists. After Rufus Albarea escaped from his prison, he and the Ebon Defense Force interrupted Crossbell’s independence ceremony and set Zemuria on the brink of another full scale war. There are three story routes to explore: Rean, Lloyd, and the mysterious C.
While Trails Into Reverie is a focused approach to the formula that is not overly filled with excess side quests nor the freedom to always travel where the player pleases, that same energy makes itone of the smoothest games in the franchise to play. It will still clock in around 55 hours to complete the story, complete with hours and hours of post game content and a robust new game plus. Trails Into Reverie trades some of the aforementioned freedom for an intricate character study, and it isone of the best the genre has seenin a long time.
1Trails Of Cold Steel
There is something absolutely special about the first Trails Of Cold Steel. The first entry of the Erebonian arc,Trails of Cold Steel follows Rean Schwarzer as he becomes a first-year student of Class VII at the Thors Military Academy. The game covers topical issues and never forces Rean and his classmates into ‘save the world or die trying’ levels of intensity. For a majority of the game, Rean lives a relatively normal life as a student of Thors while completing class studies and trips around Erebonia.
Often, the members of Class VII run into the Imperial Liberation Front, a group of terrorists set on disposing of Chancellor Giliath Obsorne, which adds a heightened level of intrigue — but even that feels real, like something that Class VII would actually have to overcome. Theclimaxof Trails of Cold Steel is also thebest of the saga, racing to stop C before he has the chance to complete his mission. The jaw dropping moments of Trails of Cold Steel make itunforgettable and worth every minute.
