Opinion: I Hope Trails In The Sky 1st Chapter Doesn’t Make A ‘Big’ Remake Mistake

Of all the RPGs I love, the Trails series is probably the one I have the hardest time recommending. A mix of platform availability, game length, and sheer number of titles is enough to scare anyone away, and even when someone does get into the series, there’s the inevitable onslaught of questions as they try and navigate the chronology.

The first game, in particular, doesn’t make things easy. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is only available on PSP and PC in the West. Fortunately, it can run on a potato, but there are plenty of people who don’t like sitting at a desktop to play games, or don’t have a Steam Deck. Plus, it’s ultimately a 2004 RPG, meaning it’s a little simplistic in many ways.

But I love Trails in the Sky. Even in a franchise this sprawling, the first game feels very different from every other. Massive supernatural threats, extremely powerful societies, and political drama are (largely) pushed aside for a quaint, ‘small-town’ adventure of two adoptive siblings as they venture through the Kingdom of Liberl on a journey to become Bracers. While the series is huge, this is anything but a ‘big’ game.

A whole new audience will get the chance to fall in love with Estelle and Joshua in September with Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, and I couldn’t be more excited. Finally, a chance for everyone to experience the very beginnings of the series, with beautiful new visuals and massively improved combat.

But I’m also anxious. Trails in the Sky is a much smaller-scale RPG than essentially every other entry. It establishes the rhythm of visiting different towns, taking on jobs, and uncovering secrets, all under the umbrella of a fun adventure about learning and friendship rather than political crises or potential world-ending disasters. Will that ‘small-town’ feel get lost in what looks to be a bigger, brighter version of the original game?

To me, Trails in the Sky is ‘a vibe’. Mountain path hikes and verdant green trails make up such a huge portion of the 40-hour adventure, and because you have to walk from place to place, you really get to know Liberl. This isn’t a country that’s a metropolitan city-state like Crossbell or a sprawling empire like Erebonia; it’s a quaint, soft-steampunk country, and the home of airship technology. It’s the most ‘RPG’ setting in the series; no need for planes, trails, and automobiles, here.

The pacing, as well, might be a bit of a turn-off for some. Trails in the Sky is really the first stepping stone into all of the series’ larger themes. Organisations that are hugely important in later games are barely even a speck of dust here, and while events do ultimately snowball into a larger, more sinister plot, for the most part, this is a warm, steady game about the growth of two characters.

Trails in the Sky doesn’t need more drama because it isn’t about big drama

I don’t need new flavour text or events to amp up the drama, or name drops of people or places that weren’t in the original game to tee up or foreshadow events even more. Trails in the Sky doesn’t need more drama because it isn’t about big drama, for the most part. Localised issues like monsters damaging crops or missing kids are at the heart of this game.

The spritework of the PC release might be a little dated to some – it’s a mix of 3D backgrounds with faux-3D sprites for characters and NPCs. Essentially, everyone looks a little bit squishy, like tiny dolls. It’s utterly charming to me, but I also love the direction the remake is taking, visually. The characters are so expressive and the world is so bright and colourful that it’s hard for me not to get misty-eyed seeing places like Rolent and Manoria looking this gorgeous.

It’s all so big, though. That will probably work in the remake’s favour, to be honest — two countryside teenagers aiming big and becoming Bracers, against the odds — but the old top-down views of towns and tightly-packed villages have their own magic to them. This is a picturesque country with lush fields and serene shores which hides a dark history, and those reveals hit all the harder as a result.

Aiming for bigger and better is completely expected, and given what we’ve seen and heard from the music — and my goodness, does the new Rolent theme sounds spot on — I am more hopeful than scared. But what I’m worried about is the localisation.

Trails in the Sky’s Western release was handled by XSEED, who owned the rights to the series in the West right up until Cold Steel III’s PS4 launch, when NIS America took over. Interestingly, GungHo is handling the remake. Why not NIS? Well, they’ve already handled Daybreak II and we’ve got Trails Beyond the Horizon coming this year, too. Another game is probably a bit much.

One of the huge reasons I adore the Trails series, particularly the Sky trilogy, is because of XSEED’s work on the script. The sheer amount of text alone is enough to be impressed by, but XSEED managed to infuse the game with a huge amount of charm and love.

Estelle is a total firecracker, and the localisation captures her enthusiastic, feisty nature perfectly, from lines such as “I’ll give YOU a head injury if you don’t shut up” to “Now, then, shall I show you just how ‘vile’ a woman can be?” I promise she doesn’t just beat people up, but I wish to channel Estelle’s energy every day.

Everything about the localisation of the original still shines brightly today – though there are definitely some dated jokes in there. But my favourite aspect is something the team added in themselves: treasure chest messages. Examining empty treasure chests gives you a fun line of dialogue, one of my favourites being “Reduced to searching empty chests? That’s really sad.” That’s already been phased out of the series at this point, but essentially, I want that tone — that humour — to remain.

On GungHo’s website, the publisher seems to confirm that things might be changing: the remake will feature “a new localisation” that “honours the original Japanese text.” Estelle is still relatively fiery in the Japanese original, but XSEED certainly did a lot of embellishing. Still, to me, Estelle is just that – an exuberant teenager who can stick up for herself and kick ass, but also cares deeply for others. (DiceKey Games has done some comparisons between the Sky trilogy in English and Japanese, and it’s a great read.)

Ultimately, I just want (to employ that worn-out word again) the ‘vibe’ to be intact. Please don’t rein Estelle in too much. Keep things light and funny, and balance the serious with the sentimental perfectly. I still have the original on PC, but I want the remake to be the best experience everyone can have.

Because, at the end of the day, this is a remake. And what is a remake for? To appease old fans and give them a new, shiny version of their favourite game? To bring new fans into the fold? To make money? All of those things, plus a plethora of other reasons. Remakes and remasters are a dime a dozen nowadays, and more often than not, they stir up discussions of necessity, budget, and if we even want these things.

For Trails in the Sky, accessibility and playability is the main reason, I think. The combat pulls ideas from Daybreak and more modern entries, and the visual style is much more appealing to a wider audience. It’s just going to be a balancing act on maintaining the tone of the original with the bigger, bolder look of the remake.

Other examples have managed to do this magically. Final Fantasy VII Remake is a weird case because it’s trying to do something very different in the ‘Remake’ conversation — and, goodness, if you want a ‘big’ remake, here it is –, but it isn’t just a AAA-ified version of one of the best RPGs of all time. It retains all of those weird moments in the PS1 game, like Hell House and the occasionally irreverent humour.

I’m not looking for something like the Switch remake of Super Mario RPG, which is essentially pixel-for-pixel identical to the original. But the tone of that remake is spot on with Square and Nintendo’s original vision. You can barely tell the difference there. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is perhaps a best comparison, maintaining that simple story while keeping and modernising all of the moving parts that made the original Romancing SaGa 2 so unique. It’s a little bigger, but not too much, and it never loses its identity.

Some remake devs choose to diverge from the source material significantly, while others just completely rebuild the game from the ground up, but keep the story, characters, and script intact. I think — I hope — 1st Chapter will be closer to the latter and that it clings onto its roots in the ways that matter: the cosy adventurous feel, the hilarious dialogue, the lovable characters, and the delightful, scenic world.

Are you looking forward to Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter? Ever played the original game? Let us know what you think of the remake in the comments.