Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PS5) Review

In recent years, I’ve found myself growing more and more fatigued by the absolute glut of remakes and remasters, and I know I’m not the only one. In modern gaming, nostalgia has, oftentimes, become commodified in a deeply cynical way — but remakes, like with any medium, can still serve a vital function. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is one of the most impactful reminders of that, and an utterly confident reappraisal of the original game and its impact.

With 1st Chapter, Nihon Falcom has folded the series back upon itself, using all the lessons it has learned across thirteen games to examine exactly what got the series to where it is. It’s a stunning way to revisit a cult classic RPG that doesn’t lose any of the original game’s heart, despite replacing a lot of its old, clunky parts — like that old junker you find in a scrapyard and tune up into a supercar.

If you haven’t signed onto the Trails series already, you’re likely a bit lost, and that’s understandable. Yes, there are 13 games that tell a continuous story, but those games are broken into different sub-series or arcs, if you will; this includes the Sky trilogy, Crossbell duology, Cold Steel quadrilogy, and Daybreak duology, with another title, Trails into Reverie, thrown into the mix.  I won’t bore you with all the lengthy details of which games to play and when, but this is the place to start. Trails in the Sky is the very first game in the series, first released on PC in Japan in 2004, although it wouldn’t come west until 2011 on the PSP.

But the Trails games have had a complex history, flip-flopping between companies for localization, starting with XSEED and then going to NIS America. In that process, we even completely missed games, like the Crossbell duology, until recently. But over the last decade, the series has exploded in popularity, garnering a ton of worldwide support — and this remake represents a chance to give newcomers a firm starting point.

The Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remake largely achieves that goal, but simultaneously manages to be a stunning reappraisal of what made the original game so special and impactful. While the story and script have remained almost entirely the same, Falcom has completely overhauled the world, graphics, combat system, and more — building this new version from the ground up. It’s a modern spin that plays and looks exceptional at nearly every turn, and only gets weighed down by some admitted flaws of the original.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter follows a young girl named Estelle Bright and her adopted brother Joshua. The pair seek to follow in the footsteps of their father, Cassius, and become Bracers — a non-governmental organization that keeps the peace and does community work to help civilizations and society. As the pair travels around the Kingdom of Liberl, helping the various Bracer branches, they learn of a massive conspiracy to overtake the monarchy, which, in turn, launches an entire saga that now spans thousands of hours.

The first Trails in the Sky is rather notorious for its slow-paced worldbuilding, a staple of the series now. And as you expect, since this is the exact same story, you still have that in the remake. But that slow pace helps lead to an unforgettable climax and a genuine connection with the world and characters that you end up caring about.

Estelle and Joshua are still two of the most likable protagonists in RPG history, particularly because of how complex they both are. Estelle’s bright and bubbly personality belies a genuine fear of being alone, but crucially, she breaks so many tropes of the typical female protagonist. She’s loud, brash, and tomboyish — but also isn’t afraid to talk about or embrace her feminine side. Joshua is like the other side of the mirror: a young man with a traumatic past, desperate to move past it.

And more than anything, I feel like what Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter gets right is further enriching what was already a great story – giving an even better sense of place and character. Every inch of Trails in the Sky has been completely reimagined in 3D and a lavishly colourful art style, and I cannot say enough good things about it. This visual upgrade to the world really leans into the culture and style of each city, from the mechanical steel and iron-wrought buildings of Zeiss to the charming cobblestone streets of Rolent.

“I feel like what Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter gets right is further enriching what was already a great story…”

This is easily Falcom’s best-looking game to date, especially in terms of character animations, with big story moment cutscenes absolutely filled with stylish flair. At the same time, stellar voice performances across the board help add even more personality to these characters. Even voice actors I wasn’t sure about in other Trails games have completely won me over in this remake. The only real nitpick is that this is largely the same script from the original game, and compared to new Trials entries, you can see a slight gap in the quality of writing, especially in terms of a lack of compelling sidequest stories.

However, it’s interesting that 1st Chapter does add a bit of new content with extra side quests. You wouldn’t have any idea it’s there if you weren’t familiar with the original, but some of these new quests do help bring important plot points into the narrative sooner, or flesh out key characters even more. There’s only a handful of new story elements, but that turns out to be a wise choice. The original Trails in the Sky, despite a slow start to the story, is a fairly well-paced narrative — and none of these new additions hurt that pacing whatsoever.

Of course, the other aspect to this remake is the wealth of changes and additions to the game’s system, namely, combat. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter uses the action-turn-based hybrid system of the Daybreak games. This lets you unleash combos on enemies directly on the field map, before you hit a button and instantly translate to a command-based battle, where positions, stat boosts, and turn order all play a vital role. Each character has CP and AP, which dictate skills called Crafts and magic spells called Arts, respectively.

I think I can pretty squarely say this rendition of Trails in the Sky’s combat is one of my favourite battle systems in any RPG. It brings back the Orbment system of the original game, where you slot gems into each character to boost their stats or provide abilities, but mixes that system with so many of the advancements other Trails games have made.

The action side of combat now feels like it can stand entirely on its own as a viable way to play, rather than something just tacked onto the turn-based battles, which still retain all the complex strategic depth you could want. And a new improvement I particularly love is that each character now has multiple animations for their Crafts, helping to add a sense of variety to the dozens upon dozens of battles you’ll be doing.

But I think what Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter gets most right is a constant sense of reward, little elements from across the series that are woven into the fabric of the game. A reward system like the Cold Steel games gives you items and materials for meeting milestones, the cooking system now awards stat boosts for learning recipes, and there are now map and objective markers to make sure you don’t miss any optional scenes.

And the huge point here is that the Trails games, for each being 100-hour epics, have gotten so good at making sure there’s a constant sense of reward, whether that’s narratively or mechanically. You’re constantly getting something to help build your party, or a vital piece of lore, or a standout character moment. With this remake, Falcom has honed that idea to almost perfection, giving the game a real sense of forward momentum, which is remarkable for a slow-burn story.

And that idea, in and of itself, is what makes this such an impressive remake. Falcom could have just given the game a visual upgrade and called it a day — the original Trails in the Sky shows its age, but the systems are still competent enough. But instead, the developer decided to take a fine brush and just touch up enough about the game to add new wrinkles, choosing out the best bits and pieces from across the franchise, now more than a decade of history.

The soundtrack is the same, but re-recorded and orchestrated to have more gravitas. Lavishly animated cutscenes make key story moments more dramatic and impactful. And the whimsical vibe and style of Trails in the Sky have been nearly perfectly retained alongside the visual upgrade. Even just little touches here and there help add so much personality, like the little cooking animation or your characters feigning shopping while you buy items.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter isn’t just a remake, it’s a reappraisal of the very idea of what it means to be a “Trails” game. In 2004, it was a gutsy and ambitious game for Falcom, but now 20 years later, it’s become perhaps the most defining part of the studio’s identity, and Falcom knows that.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is perhaps the only other “remake” I’ve ever played that manages to feel comfortingly nostalgic, while boundary pushing at the same time. While some of the storytelling flaws of the original game are still there, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter feels like a statement — a developer proudly and confidently showing the world how much it’s learned, and that the best may still be yet to come.

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