The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero – PC review

Genre: Turn-based combat JRPG
Developer: Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH
Publisher: NIS America, Inc.
Release Date: September 17th, 2022
Edited by AlexKnight2005

The Legend of Heroes series of role-playing games has a long and storied history going back decades, starting with the first game carrying the name as part of the Dragon Slayer series on the Turbografx-16 (and a port to Mega Drive) in Japan. After a second game (Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes II), it spun off into a series all its own on PlayStation Portable before the advent of Trails in the Sky (also released originally on PSP and ported later). Starting the count from Sora no Kiseki (which had a fun history all its own), we come to the fourth Trails game, the start of a two-game arc set in the City-State of Crossbell, created some seventy years previously in an agreement between the Erebonian Empire in the west, and Republic of Calvard in the east. Our erstwhile protagonist, Lloyd Bannings, is on the train from the Republic for his first day of work as a detective with the Crossbell Police Department. Little does he know, things are about to go sideways, even by his standards.

After some initial confusion at HQ, Lloyd is introduced to the rest of the Special Support Section—Elie, Tio, and the (extremely) appropriately named Randy (no, really. Dude lives up to that name in exactly the way you’re thinking). After a bit of a rocky start on their first-ever mission, they embark on a massive roller coaster of an adventure the likes of which no one, not even their jaded (and seemingly lazy) Section Chief Sergei, could have anticipated. The game runs six chapters (prologue and epilogue inclusive). It will cost you between 50 and a hundred hours for a first playthrough, depending on how much running around you want to do and whether or not you engage the Turbo mode for all the walking you’re going to do in the process.

The formula for Trails from Zero will be familiar for those that have played any other Trails game—collect your missions, do those, and once you’ve done the one that’s required, there’s a major story event, rinse and repeat. It’s going to be the lore and story that you’re here for, and that’s all lovingly detailed, with not just lore to work through from the previous games but some of the characters from those games returning and putting in appearances or at least making their presence known throughout the game. Add this new layer, complete with its own detailed background and so on, and you’re in for some serious thinking… right about the time, the Crossbell’s branch of the Bracer Guild receptionist gives you a quiz. Even some of the stranger minor characters from the first games put in appearances, often with hilarious results.

Now for the port—this game first appeared on the PlayStation Portable in Japan, but unlike Trails in the Sky, it wasn’t (officially) localized for western audiences until 2022. On the other side of the Crossbell arc were Trails of Cold Steel, which got its final game localized last year. Graphically, it remains true to its roots on PSP, with vaguely chibi-style art that makes Lloyd look a little wide around the waist, even though all of his other art looks out of place. He’s got a thin, athletic build. That said, it’s functional, and the upscaling work they did from the earlier versions of the game is actually pretty good. Nice clean lines in the side art, and the models for both field and combat look solid if a bit primitive by modern standards (this is a localization/port, and not a remaster/remake).

These games have always had good soundtracks, and Trails from Zero is no exception. For that point in the series, he really outdid himself compared to earlier entries. For early adopters, they included a selection of tracks from the game as a bit of a bonus (which will probably be sold separately later). I saw more than a few people gripe about a lack of English dub (since they already have actors for a majority of the roles for the characters from this game), but I disagree. The Japanese voice work was stellar, and it cost nothing to use it, rather re-recording all the voice lines for the game (Which is a LOT. I swear, they don’t seem to ever shut up). Never mind the amount of time, hard drive space, and coding time to do the swaps. But then, I like to play “That’s NOT what she said” with the localization team. Some of those bits I can catch (which isn’t nearly all of them) can be hilarious. The combat FX have that satisfactory weight that makes it feel like you’ve done some real damage (and the lack of it when you hit them with something they’re immune to) is a nice touch. I would have liked a bit more ambient sound, but one can’t have everything. There’s so much going on already that missing it doesn’t seem all that terrible.

Gameplay is pretty simple—wander around, talk to people, find what you need (or need to kill) and report back. There are quite a few missable bits, so it pays to run around and talk to folks and make sure they don’t need things done they didn’t report to the police to be addressed by the SSS. Every once in a while, you’ll have to put all the things you’ve learned about a case together in the form of a mini-quiz, and the better you do at those, the bigger the rewards. The fishing minigame can be a bit frustrating, as it’s a combination of picking the right bait and pole for the body of water, then getting your timing just right on the button to reel in the fish. Not nearly as aggravating as the Cold Steel I and II fishing game, but we’ll stick to small victories this time. At least you’re unlikely to break your controller (or your fingers) trying to get the fish to cooperate.

In these games, the story is a huge thing, and Trails from Zero is not an exception. Building on the lore of the previous games (and some of the elements of Cold Steel), Zero (and its sequel, Azure) are the glue that connects Sky with Cold Steel while maintaining its own peculiar identity. If you’re new to the series, this isn’t the place you should start if you want the entire story. Play the three Sky games, then Crossbell, and finally, the four Cold Steel games, with (Upcoming in the west) Trails to Reverie coming in last. That’ll give you the entire story and open the door for the Calvard arc, beginning with Kuro no Kiseki when we get our version here. I’ve told you a lot about how the game starts, but in the interests of avoiding spoilers, I won’t say more than if you’re a lore monster like I am, you’ll have a grand old time on the Zemurian continent.

Strangely enough, I don’t have much to report in the bugs department, except for a few spots where they missed replacing a chunk of text—the most notable of which is a spot in the final chapter where a nameplate didn’t get replaced. The translation is solid, and the controls feel like they did on the PSP if you’re using a controller. I tried the keyboard controls, and while they’re serviceable, the controller feels much more natural for a former portable console game. One tiny catch—if you want to see and do everything, you need a second playthrough. Not everything can be achieved in just one. Try as you might, there are some places you just can’t go.

In the end, Trails from Zero for PC is a solid port of an outstanding game. It’s not the greatest game of all time, but for the critical place it holds in the larger story and the lack of a previous port for those of us on this side of the Pacific (One many were long convinced we’d never get), it’s incredibly well done. For the asking price of $40 USD, you can’t go wrong if you have a couple of weeks to misplace. Now the wait for next year, the release of Trails to Azure, and its connection between that game and the first game of the Cold Steel series, and the few games we have left to go for the Zemurian Finale.

Pros:

• A solid story that connects two large chunks of a saga we already have.
• Localization gets the story across with few gaffes.
• The soundtrack never manages to wear out its welcome.
• Easy to pick up, hard to put down.
• A deep story that grabs you, even if you don’t know the bit before and after.
• Strong Japanese voice acting.

Cons:

• Took way too long to get here
• Could have used more (and better) ambient sound

Lord Crocosquirrel gives The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero a Drastik Measure of 9.0 out of 10.0 (90)