One of the PlayStation Portable’s most beloved role-playing games is getting a major upgrade and coming to PlayStation 5. I got to check out the demo for Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, which is a remake of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. The good news is that it looks great, features some impressive load times between areas and transitions, and appears to be a highly faithful remake that uses the series’ updated engine.
The Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter demo includes the game’s prologue, which is about four hours of content. It introduces us to the two main characters, the adopted brother-sister duo of Estelle and Joshua, who become junior bracers and quickly find themselves taking on quests, including solving a robbery incident. Progression will carry over to the main game, so you don’t have to worry about going through the prologue again if you check out the demo.
The biggest difference is that it plays more like the recent Trails games, as it is on the Trails Through Daybreak engine. That means you’re able to have some real-time battles, and when you switch to turn-based gameplay, you have a freer range of movement rather than being constricted to grids. There’s no lack of depth, though, as you quickly find yourself setting up follow-up attacks and customizing your characters with magical orbments that give you different abilities.
The game also looks great, as the visuals look even better than the Daybreak titles. Nihon Falcom has clearly gotten better at making the most of its engine, as the larger open-world-like areas show. Going from a town to a road no longer requires a loading screen, and some of the effects when delivering special attacks look great. It’s really a night-and-day improvement over the original 2004 game (although its pixel art was charming in its own right). There’s also full voice acting for cutscenes and I was surprised how much dialogue was voiced rather than just text.
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Preview: Final Verdict
The original game was one of the PSP’s best RPGs, and Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter looks like a great modern update. I can’t wait to play the full game once it releases on September 19. Trails fans have been eating well lately, and it seems like they are in for another treat.
PlayStation LifeStyle received a PS5 demo code from the publisher for our Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter preview.
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