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**Destor** · 11-17-2022, 10:09 PM

There a 5 series in trails. They tell a narrative across their series but they absolutely tell a larger story and characters over lap heavily and it does assume you already know them. Here's the order chronologically:

The Sky Trilogy:

Trails in the Sky: First Chapter
Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter
Trails in the Sky: The Third

FC and SC were meant to be 1 game but it was decided it was too long so it was split into two. 3 has a mew protag (who was a party member in 2) but the gang is all here. This series is set in Liberal.

The Crossbell Duology:

Trails to Zero
Trails to Azure

This series is set in Crossbell and both games follow Llyod Bannings. Many characters from Sky appear as well as geopolitical ramifications of the events in Sky.

Cold Steele Saga:

Trails of Cold Steele 1
Trails of Cold Steele 2
Trails of Cold Steele 3
Trails of Cold Steele 4

Set in Erobonia. CS 1 and 2 stand alone pretty well for the most part. There are characters from past games, mostly Sky, but theyre all introduced like you dont know them. However CS 3 and 4 will essentially demand you play the past two series and pull from both Sky and Crossbell fully without any regard for the players past experience.

Trails of Reverie

Not yet released in the states. This coming fall. It closes out the previous 3 arcs (the 1st half of the Legend of Heroes.)

The 1st 2 games of the 2nd half of Legend of Heroes are out in Japan and are coming but the localization lags about 2 years. Should have a similar number og games in the 2nd half.

I would recommend 1 of 2 starting points. Either at the beginning with Sky or with Cold Steele 1. If a psp port is fine by you sky is a wonderful game. Estelle Bright is easily my favorite JRPG protag of all time. If you want something more modern with the QOL youd expect from a modern game start with CS1 and 2. If you're on board with what the Legend of Heroes offers after CS2 go back and play the full series.

Fair warning its on the easy side so dont be afraid of higher difficulty settings.

As to what trails is its a series that focuses heavily on characters and world building. Each npc in every town has a name. If you speak to them they will say things unique to them and they perspective. In nearly all cases you can actually speak to them twice per chapter and get unique dialogue and sometimes a third time. These people have lives. The npcs that is. Over the course of the game and games these peoples lives will become fleshed out. That all is of course fully optional. But that level of depth is there if you want it.

The primary narrative in a trails game is back loaded so be aware that the major moments are always in the back 90%. You spend most of a trails game exploring the country its set in and learning about its lore while small details are put in place. Then shit escalates. The more you pay attention the more you get out of it. The broad strokes though are outstanding and the core gameplay i really enjoy.

11-17-2022, 10:09 PM	#5526
Destor I am the cheese Posts: 51,428	There a 5 series in trails. They tell a narrative across their series but they absolutely tell a larger story and characters over lap heavily and it does assume you already know them. Here's the order chronologically: The Sky Trilogy: Trails in the Sky: First Chapter Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter Trails in the Sky: The Third FC and SC were meant to be 1 game but it was decided it was too long so it was split into two. 3 has a mew protag (who was a party member in 2) but the gang is all here. This series is set in Liberal. The Crossbell Duology: Trails to Zero Trails to Azure This series is set in Crossbell and both games follow Llyod Bannings. Many characters from Sky appear as well as geopolitical ramifications of the events in Sky. Cold Steele Saga: Trails of Cold Steele 1 Trails of Cold Steele 2 Trails of Cold Steele 3 Trails of Cold Steele 4 Set in Erobonia. CS 1 and 2 stand alone pretty well for the most part. There are characters from past games, mostly Sky, but theyre all introduced like you dont know them. However CS 3 and 4 will essentially demand you play the past two series and pull from both Sky and Crossbell fully without any regard for the players past experience. Trails of Reverie Not yet released in the states. This coming fall. It closes out the previous 3 arcs (the 1st half of the Legend of Heroes.) The 1st 2 games of the 2nd half of Legend of Heroes are out in Japan and are coming but the localization lags about 2 years. Should have a similar number og games in the 2nd half. I would recommend 1 of 2 starting points. Either at the beginning with Sky or with Cold Steele 1. If a psp port is fine by you sky is a wonderful game. Estelle Bright is easily my favorite JRPG protag of all time. If you want something more modern with the QOL youd expect from a modern game start with CS1 and 2. If you're on board with what the Legend of Heroes offers after CS2 go back and play the full series. Fair warning its on the easy side so dont be afraid of higher difficulty settings. As to what trails is its a series that focuses heavily on characters and world building. Each npc in every town has a name. If you speak to them they will say things unique to them and they perspective. In nearly all cases you can actually speak to them twice per chapter and get unique dialogue and sometimes a third time. These people have lives. The npcs that is. Over the course of the game and games these peoples lives will become fleshed out. That all is of course fully optional. But that level of depth is there if you want it. The primary narrative in a trails game is back loaded so be aware that the major moments are always in the back 90%. You spend most of a trails game exploring the country its set in and learning about its lore while small details are put in place. Then shit escalates. The more you pay attention the more you get out of it. The broad strokes though are outstanding and the core gameplay i really enjoy.