Image via Falcom
|
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky ended up being a formative game for the series, and both characters and plot points still influence these titles decades after its release. But due to elements such as its age and availability, not everyone got to experience that. Nihon Falcom rectifies that in 2025 with the Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remake and, from what I’ve seen of the prologue demo on PC, it seems very true to form.
As this Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter prologue demo is a slice of the game starting from the beginning, complete with a save file that can carry over, we’re getting to hop right in with it. Things begin with a young Estelle at home, waiting for her Bracer father Cassius Bright to return. He does, but with a “gift.” It’s a beaten down young boy named Joshua. After establishing the three are now a family, things fast forward to Estelle and Joshua taking the exams to become Bracers themselves. They aren’t quite seniors yet, but it’s the first step toward doing the same kind of important issue-resolving work Cassius performs.
Of course, those of us familiar with the game and series know it’s the start of both Estelle and Joshua becoming quite involved in the events of their community and country. But since this prologue demo is a brief taste of the Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, we won’t get into that yet.
Now, we already had some idea that Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter would be faithful to the source material when Gungho and Falcom released the opening trailer that showed Estelle and Joshua meeting for the first time in the remake. The atmosphere and dynamic seemed identical, and the script seemed quite close to the original! One of the first things that struck me is how on-point this prologue demo’s retelling of events seem. Every major moment is captured. The script is quite similar. From what I saw so far, the story beats and interactions appear incredibly accurate and true to what I previously experienced.
I also really appreciate the combat system. Things start with a more active series of attacks, before moving into the comforting familiarity of turn-based battles we are familiar with from past entries. It’s easy to line up attacks and take advantage of AOE. Things move swiftly. It feels very user-friendly in this initial sample, and it is so simple to jump into it. Everything seems like it builds on some of the more recent The Legend of Heroes systems. I do think I’ll be able to better gauge how I feel about it, especially the combination of systems, once I’m further in and not relying on early stables like Estelle and Joshua. However, it feels encouraging at the outset.
I will say, however, that this Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter prologue demo does feel a little clunky on my Lenovo Legion Go handheld gaming PC. In some cutscenes, characters seemed to move a bit slowly or awkwardly. The dash works fine, but the double speed option felt awry to me when I tried it. There were times when it didn’t feel as responsive as I expected. Admittedly, this could be something that may come down to settings applied. I’m not concerned, but it does make me wondering what the performance will feel like on a Switch.
Playing through The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter prologue demo left me hopeful about the remake. It feels like Falcom did its best to maintain everything important about the original game, from things like the story and relationship dynamics to more important elements like combat. Did it feel a little iffy sometimes on my handheld gaming PC? Yes. But I’m optimistic about how this JRPG will be when it comes out next month.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter will come to the Switch, PS5, and PC on September 19, 2025, and a demo is available now.
Published: Aug 21, 2025 09:00 am