The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
- After a brief hiatus since its last release in January 2007, this latest The Legend of Heroes title kicks off a new trilogy and brings this innovative RPG series to new heights.
- Dynamic and Unique Strategic Combat System
- The Biggest Adventure to Ever Appear on a Handheld System
- Another highly-acclaimed soundtrack from the renowned music department at development house Falcom, 57 original tracks set the mood for this moving tale.
In the peaceful town of Rolent of the Liberl Kingdom, a young girl named Estelle and her friend Joshua, who had been taken in by her family years earlier, prepare to take their first steps to join the legendary guild of the Bracers. Bracers are considered the peacekeepers and protectors of order that owe allegiance to no country or government. In Liberl their guild has flourished since a brief war some 10 years prior after an invasion from the Erebonian Empire to the north, and their efforts have made peace a lasting prospect. In the course of their journey to become full-fledged Bracers, Estelle and Joshua begin to see the peace threatened by a dark side of the ruling government that plots to overthrow the Liberl queen, Alicia. Together they travel the world on their quest to become Bracers and slowly unravel the truth behind the mastermind who seeks to bring war back to their borders. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is the first of a new trilogy in the established The Legend of Heroes RPG series. A highly detailed 3D world, beautiful original soundtrack, and unique strategic battle system showcase production values a generation beyond the previous iteration. An epic story about preserving the peace against all odds spanning over 50 hours of gameplay, with numerous optional side quests, makes this the biggest adventure ever available on a handheld system.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is the first of a new trilogy in the established The Legend of Heroes RPG series. A highly detailed 3D world, beautiful original soundtrack, and unique strategic battle system showcase production values a generation beyond the previous iteration. An epic story about preserving the peace against all odds spanning over 50 hours of gameplay, with numerous optional side quests, makes this the biggest adventure ever available on a handheld system.
Synopsis
In the peaceful town of Rolent of the Liberl Kingdom, a young girl named Estelle and her friend Joshua, who had been taken in by her family years earlier, prepare to take their first steps to join the legendary guild of the Bracers. Bracers are considered the peacekeepers and protectors of order that owe allegiance to no country or government. In Liberl their guild has flourished since a brief war some ten years prior after an invasion from the Erebonian Empire to the north, and their efforts have made peace a lasting prospect.
In the course of their journey to become full-fledged Bracers, Estelle and Joshua begin to see the peace threatened by a dark side of the ruling government that plots to overthrow the Liberl queen, Alicia. Together they travel the world on their quest to become Bracers and slowly unravel the truth behind the mastermind who seeks to bring war back to their borders.
Key Features:
- The Legend of Heroes Series Returns to PSP in Top Form - After a brief hiatus since its last release in January 2007, this latest The Legend of Heroes title kicks off a new trilogy and brings this innovative RPG series to new heights.
- Amazing Original Soundtrack - Another highly-acclaimed soundtrack from the renowned music department at development house Falcom, 57 original tracks set the mood for this moving tale.
- Dynamic and Unique Strategic Combat System - All enemies are visible on the field map with no random battles, and once an enemy is engaged a strategic turn-based
system including character-based, weapon-based, and item-based special skills, and a customizable magic scheme, reveals an engrossing and deep battle system. - The Biggest Adventure to Ever Appear on a Handheld System - A powerful and emotional main story including a large and well-developed cast of characters combine to make an epic tale spanning well over 50 hours of core gameplay.
List Price: $ 29.99
Price: $ 18.95
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A better LOH game but not a savior,
Let me immediately say that LOH Trails in the Sky (or TITS as i call it
is a good game. If you love JRPGS and turn-based battles, certainly give it a buy. This is a PSP gem worth having. With that said, I still feel as though The Legend of Heroes has a ways to go in its battle against mediocrity. This will be a brief review that I hope to update once i’ve completely finished the game.
Having played the original LOH games on PSP, I was never able to get more than five or six hours in. They were all generic, stale and seemed to kinda go nowhere and slowly. (at least nowhere exciting.) Sure they are decent laid back “nothing better to do” RPGS but with TITS there was certain hope on the horizon. Promising a deeper story lasting over fifty hours across an interesting world, better characters and a revamped battle system, TITS could easily have been the best RPG on PSP. While the game does for the most part deliver, it doesn’t quite meet the expectations that XSEED initially gave me.
STORY
Story is without a doubt (at least to me) the most important part to an RPG. Sure the game lasts fifty hours, but if the story sucks im not going past five. I’m happy to say that TITS doesn’t disappoint too much. The initial story involves two main characters as they become newly appointed “Bracers”. Bracers uphold the peace in their own respective regions by doing everything that we’ve done a million times over in every other RPG. (running tedious errands, killing monsters, etc. I’ll return to this later.) The two main characters are of course only like sixteen years old, set off on an adventure to become full fledged bracers and because of this the game never gets too mature. BUT it does have some surprises up its sleeve, especially for a LOH game. The game does end up playing out some interesting plots and character evolution. There’s plenty of humor and enjoyment to be had and so far it’s been a fun ride but it takes quite a while to really get going and even after it does it can feel quite generic at times. Still It’s definitely one of the best RPG outings on PSP and if you devote the time you’ll find a lot to love and a story that’s not half bad. BUT before you even think about buying this game you need to ask yourself one question: DO YOU LIKE TO READ?
TITS has gotten a lot of attention due to its very extensive script. Is that a bad thing? Hell no. Xseed should be commended for getting this little epic stateside and on the PSP system. But many times conversations do feel a bit dragged out and you and the circle button (which allows to to click thru text faster) will get acquainted real fast. I don’t mind there being a lot of text at all but only if it’s warranted. I found a lot of conversations to drag on after points and objectives were made quite clear. But there is a lot of quirky/funny character-driven text that I did very much so enjoy.
BATTLE SYSTEM
This is one area that TITS really shines in my opinion. The LOH battle system has been completely revamped and for the better. It’s much more strategy oriented now, a bar on the left that shows the turn order of the battle. (kinda similar to the Final Fantasy X battle system) Once it gets to your turn, your actions will occur immediately as opposed to previous systems where you choose everyones commands at once and watch the turn execute. (Altho certain commands, such as magic, might not occur immediately based on the order and how long it takes to prep) But there’s a bit more to it.
Different from other turn-based systems, movement is a factor. Now don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like Final Fantasy tactics or something where you’re constantly telling your character which block to walk to. For the most part you’re still just choosing commands and selecting the enemy to use them on. Its just now your character can only move so far, so if an enemy is on the opposite side of the field you’ll either have to just movie in closer or do a ranged attack. Not only that there are turn bonuses that grant you or the enemy benefits (And by killing an enemy you inherit their turn bonus) like STR up HP regain. This allows for a much more entertaining, involving and rewarding system that I’m still loving.
Another key element is Orbments. These little items can be equipped and grant magic abilities and stat boosts. As you progress through the game you of course receive more (thru shops and thru the course of the game) as well as the option to open up new slots, which allows you to equip them. It’s not exactly a brand new system but that’s ok. It’s still quite fun and theres a bit more to it but i wont cover the little details here. Just play the game!
PRESENTATION
This is the real low point of the game. The one thing I always liked about the first three LOH games on PSP was the presentation. Sure the graphics weren’t mind-blowing but they still managed to look…
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|An excellent JRPG,
Let me start by saying that I am an avid RPG player, in fact it is nearly the only genre of games that I play. By far my favorite sub-genre for RPGs are turn-based ones. Since these are dead on the home consoles, I jump at the ones that still make their way onto the handheld systems.
Enter Xseed’s localization of Trails in the Sky, a JRPG developed by Falcom originally for the PC.
The first thing many PSP RPG gamers will ask is: Why would I buy another Legend of Heroes game when the first three sucked so bad?
Well here are three reasons:
1) The game is localized by Xseed, not Namco Bandai. Xseed has done a truly fantastic job of translating this game, something Namco failed miserably at.
2) Xseed did not fool around with the game play, something Namco also did with the original trilogy.
3) This is the first game of a trilogy, and the story contained in this game have absolutely nothing to do with the other three localized by Namco. Namco also released the last trilogy out of order (they obviously didn’t care about the games at all…) and Xseed is releasing this trilogy in the proper order
Story (spoiler free):
So lets talk about the game. First and foremost this game is heavily story based, and is not voice acted. If you do not like to read a lot of text for story advancement turn away now. The main purpose that I play RPGs is for their story, and Trails in the Sky delivers. It has been a long time since I have been this hooked on an RPGs story that once I pick the game up I don’t put it down until I have too (food or sleep). So far I am a little over 20 hours into the game and just started Chapter 2 (there are 4 chapters plus the prologue). Gameplay is estimated at 50 hours so you’ll certainly get your monies worth. I am very impressed with this story and I can’t give enough thanks to Xseed for spending so much time doing a good translation!
The story does contain some of the JPRG cliches but it is not dripping with them like some games. I find the interaction amongst the characters to be humorous and enjoyable to read. Not a single character I have come across yet (4 of the
has caused me to be annoyed and hate them. Typically in JRPGs there will always be an ultra annoying emo boy and girl that I hate immediately, not so here.
This game is part of a trilogy, and like some other RPGs you will be able to import your saved game into the next game of the series. The game also has a New Game+ feature where nearly everything is carried over if you wish to play through the game again and try to get any Bracer Points you missed, or hidden items.
Gameplay:
Most of the areas in the game are at 3rd person overhead view, with the camera rotatable by 360 degrees. In some areas, notably indoor areas the camera will be fixed. The games story is linear, however you do have some freedom and plenty of opportunities for exploration. There are places you can visit and explore for good loot that is not party of the story, and will be missed if you don’t take advantage of it before the story takes you onto different regions.
For combat people should be happy to know that there are no random encounters! You can see all random enemies before you engage them. There has been plenty of variety in the enemies you fight, along with several that require different strategies to kill. Combat is turn-based, and unlike most turn-based games you can move your characters around on the battle field. You may at first think that sounds similar to a SRPG, but it’s really not. You can either move and attack, just move, start casting a spell, use a special attack, use an item, or flee. Several spells/special attacks will have areas of effect which is shown the screen so you’ll know if you can hit multiple enemies. Turn order is displayed on the screen, and randomly up coming turns will have bonuses assigned to them (100% critical, heal some health/ep/cp, increase strength, etc). It is in your best interest to manipulate the turn-order to gain those bonuses. Needless to say there is plenty of room for tactics here, but the over all combat system is very easy to understand. You will not be overloaded with options.
Sound & Graphics:
These two categories are the lowest in importance to me. That said, I don’t have any issues with either. The graphics look good, the text is all perfectly readable, no issues with frame rates or sound stuttering, none of the music annoys me. In combat your characters will say things for some attacks (battle voices). I really don’t have much to say on this aspect of the game.
Conclusion (TLDR):
This is an excellent JRPG that exceeded all of my expectations for the game. The story is excellent, the translation is top notch, the characters are all likeable, the combat system is enjoyable, and I’m happy with the…
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