With Trails From Zero nearly out and reviews starting to drop, I wanted to finally make a thread sharing my own love for the game and hopefully encourage Fami on the fence and those unaware to get over the barrier and jump in. If you love JRPGs and games that are perfect for Switch, Trails From Zero 100% needs to be on your radar. Not only is Trails From Zero a fantastic standalone JRPG in its own right, it is also an excellent place for newcomers to jump into the greater Trails franchise which I love dearly. If you remember when Yakuza fans hyped up Yakuza 0 as a good way to get on board with a series they loved, Trails From Zero is finally this moment for the Trails series especially on Switch and PC thanks to new, definitive ports by Durante and his team. I want to be clear from the start here, I'm here today speaking from my own firsthand experience with the game as I actually played through Trails From Zero two years ago and its direct sequel Trails to Azure last year with the Geofront fan translations that serve as the foundation of the official release.
To get started here, let me tell you a bit about Trails in general. In Japan, Trails is a twelve game and counting JRPG odyssey like no other. These games, which range anywhere from 40-150 hours, are all direct sequels to each other set in the same world. Characters both major and minor who appeared in the first game, Trails in the Sky, are still prominently featuring in the latest games today. This saga follows the story of select heroes based in the many countries that make up the fictional continent of Zemuria that has recently undergone a technological revolution and as a result is entering an age of major upheaval. We currently have seven of the first nine games, with the 4th (Trails From Zero), 5th, and 10th games, as well as a currently non-canon spinoff, soon on the way here. Beyond the wild story ambitions, I really love these games because they most remind me of the JRPG classics I loved growing up on the SNES and PS1 while still incorporating a modern feel and other forward thinking elements. The turn based combat, which grows in complexity across the series, to me is a mix of Final Fantasy X, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy Tactics. Like FFX, you can see the turn order of your characters and enemies and like Chrono Trigger / Final Fantasy Tactics with a mix of careful positioning on the battlefield you can make the most of your special attacks. Manipulating turn order is very important in Trails as there are also a visible list of bonuses and penalties that trigger on certain turns. Ideally you want to claim the best bonuses for yourself while pushing the penalties onto your enemies. If you love turn based combat, I really think you'll like Trails' take on it as it's immediately satisfying and has great hooks to keep fights engaging as you manage resources effectively both on and off the battlefield. While the scope of these games are grand, the Trails games care deeply about the people living in each land you adventure in. I'm not kidding when I say Trails is equally fascinated with having characters change streetslights out to keep people safe at night as it is with war between nations. NPCs move around the world and always have new things to say as greater events pass. It does this so that when major events happen, you'll care because you'll know how it'll personally affect the people who live there.
Trails From Zero is the fourth game in the greater Trails series and is the start of the Crossbell Duology. Aside from the original Trails in the Sky, Trails From Zero is the most standalone game in the series and makes an excellent place for newcomers to jump in. While it does have a direct sequel, Trails From Zero is interesting in the greater Trails series in that it doesn't end on a cliffhanger. You can rest assured you are getting a full story here. Trails From Zero follows the formation of the SSS, a new division of the State of Crossbell's police department, that can more flexibly work directly with its citizens, and follows them solving their first major case. The four main SSS members, Lloyd, Ellie, Tio, and Randy accompany you for nearly all of the adventure so you'll get to know them quite well and there are a few guest characters you can swap in at various points to mix it up. Crossbell is an interesting nation to explore because it is wedged in between both the Empire of Erebonia to the West and the Nation of Calvard to the East. While Crossbell does have power as a technological hub and houses the biggest bank on the continent, it is nonetheless influenced both overtly and behind the scenes by the two super powers at its borders. Crossbell is also interesting in that it's not terribly large either, you have Crossbell City as your home base of sorts which is divided into various districts and then three major paths leading out of it that lead to two small towns and the hospital. Interestingly as well compared to other Trails games, once Crossbell is fully open to you it also regularly stays open so there's a lot of terrain to manage and characters to regularly meet and interreact with. The Trails games to me are very cozy experiences and Zero as a result of its setting and smaller main cast is perhaps the most cozy of them all.
I think that covers the broad strokes of Trails From Zero so let me just list a few other reasons to be excited for this game and hopefully answer a few questions you might have:
Treasure chest dialog returns! In Japanese due to a weird quirk of programming, every treasure chest has an individual message that says "This chest is empty" if you click on it rather than pointing to a universal message. During localization of Trails in the Sky, XSeed proposed writing unique messages instead and Falcom gave their blessing. Expect tons of quirky jokes, dialogue, and fun facts every time you click on an opened treasure chest. One of the games, and unofficially with one of the Geofront releases, even had short stories (Trails in the Chest!) spread across chests!
Books and newspapers return as collectibles! One my favorite features of the series are the books which are obnoxious to collect, but are well worth it as people in the Trails world will directly reference them in conversation and some fictional books have a layer of truth to them that manifest further in the series.
The music is excellent! You'll get to know it well since the Geofront implemented a feature that displays song titles when new songs begin to play. There is also a really cool music thing done towards the end of the game that I wish more JRPGs ripped off.
Other stuff the Geofront added that's great that will return on Switch and PC are Turbo Mode, the Message Log, and cleaned up sprites and signs (even farther than the Geofront release!). It also runs at 1080p and is locked to 60fps! Like the other Trails games, you can save anywhere, so it truly is perfect for Switch!
Trails From Zero is only $50 at launch instead of 60! My very thorough playthrough on the original PC version with the Geofront translation and mod took me about 62 hours to finish according to the in game clock though that did include extensive turbo mode use that significantly ran up the time. I often used Turbo as a sprint button and to speed up battles.
95+% of the characters are all new to the series! If you've played the Sky games there are some cool returning characters and some extra closure on one thread. If you ever heard Cold Steel was a better starting place between it and Zero, that first came out when we didn't have Zero so it's what English Trails fans had to tell themselves to sleep at night. It also isn't strictly true because Cold Steel has a huge cliffhanger for Cold Steel II which together ultimately have MASSIVE spoilers for the Crossbell games. Obviously if you start with Sky, which can easily run on any PC from the last decade, that is the most ideal place to start as it is the first game in the series, but if you are a Switch fan you can feel safe to dive in with Zero! You can always go backwards or forwards from here!
The writing is largely excellent in this game! The Geofront fan translation that serves as the base of the official version aimed to be as strong as XSeed's efforts and outside of an odd line or two, they succeeded. Seriously, it was better than NISA's rushed efforts so far (which granted, were far larger games under deadline). The game isn't terribly Anime in a bad way either, which is nice. I will mention I do recall one groping scene that sucks. It's a blemish on an otherwise excellent game. If there is any new content in this release, good or bad, I cannot speak to that. I'm aware at least Falcom added an extra NPC, Juna from Trails From Cold Steel III, but I'm not sure how prominently she is present or not. She's a cool character.
If you feel satisfied with Zero, your Trails journey can safely end with Zero as it doesn't end on a cliffhanger. However if you do want more, Trails To Azure is coming to Switch early next year and is a direct sequel that completes the Crossbell Duology. I've often heard Azure to be considered to be one of, if not the best in the series, and finally playing it myself last year I'd agree it's one of the best (Sky and Sky SC remain my favorites). Azure plays for keeps in a way other Trails games don't and while it does have more lows than Zero it also has some of the highest highs in the series.
...
I do think Trails From Zero is a great game and a must play for JRPG fans especially. My hope with this thread and post is that while I did share my strong enthusiasm for the game, that I didn't overhype it in the process. I do think there are JRPGs better than Trails From Zero out there, but at least on Fami, I've never made a thread for those and I'm not now at least planning any future ones like this. While I don't think this game is likely to blow people's minds, it is a game I really, thoroughly enjoyed and I think a ton of you on here will enjoy it as well. Zero is an excellent starting point for a series I strongly care about that I've followed across PSP, Vita, PC, PS4, and now Switch. I had never played a fan translation before or jumped through hoops to buy and download official copies of a game from Japan, and in Trails To Azure's case China, before, but for Trails it was absolutely worth it. So yeah, if you want to know where this enthusiasm I have comes from, it is really both for the game itself which is great and for the larger series which is my favorite active RPG series. I really hope some of you will give Trails From Zero a shot. In general, I really can't recommend Trails enough.
To get started here, let me tell you a bit about Trails in general. In Japan, Trails is a twelve game and counting JRPG odyssey like no other. These games, which range anywhere from 40-150 hours, are all direct sequels to each other set in the same world. Characters both major and minor who appeared in the first game, Trails in the Sky, are still prominently featuring in the latest games today. This saga follows the story of select heroes based in the many countries that make up the fictional continent of Zemuria that has recently undergone a technological revolution and as a result is entering an age of major upheaval. We currently have seven of the first nine games, with the 4th (Trails From Zero), 5th, and 10th games, as well as a currently non-canon spinoff, soon on the way here. Beyond the wild story ambitions, I really love these games because they most remind me of the JRPG classics I loved growing up on the SNES and PS1 while still incorporating a modern feel and other forward thinking elements. The turn based combat, which grows in complexity across the series, to me is a mix of Final Fantasy X, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy Tactics. Like FFX, you can see the turn order of your characters and enemies and like Chrono Trigger / Final Fantasy Tactics with a mix of careful positioning on the battlefield you can make the most of your special attacks. Manipulating turn order is very important in Trails as there are also a visible list of bonuses and penalties that trigger on certain turns. Ideally you want to claim the best bonuses for yourself while pushing the penalties onto your enemies. If you love turn based combat, I really think you'll like Trails' take on it as it's immediately satisfying and has great hooks to keep fights engaging as you manage resources effectively both on and off the battlefield. While the scope of these games are grand, the Trails games care deeply about the people living in each land you adventure in. I'm not kidding when I say Trails is equally fascinated with having characters change streetslights out to keep people safe at night as it is with war between nations. NPCs move around the world and always have new things to say as greater events pass. It does this so that when major events happen, you'll care because you'll know how it'll personally affect the people who live there.
Trails From Zero is the fourth game in the greater Trails series and is the start of the Crossbell Duology. Aside from the original Trails in the Sky, Trails From Zero is the most standalone game in the series and makes an excellent place for newcomers to jump in. While it does have a direct sequel, Trails From Zero is interesting in the greater Trails series in that it doesn't end on a cliffhanger. You can rest assured you are getting a full story here. Trails From Zero follows the formation of the SSS, a new division of the State of Crossbell's police department, that can more flexibly work directly with its citizens, and follows them solving their first major case. The four main SSS members, Lloyd, Ellie, Tio, and Randy accompany you for nearly all of the adventure so you'll get to know them quite well and there are a few guest characters you can swap in at various points to mix it up. Crossbell is an interesting nation to explore because it is wedged in between both the Empire of Erebonia to the West and the Nation of Calvard to the East. While Crossbell does have power as a technological hub and houses the biggest bank on the continent, it is nonetheless influenced both overtly and behind the scenes by the two super powers at its borders. Crossbell is also interesting in that it's not terribly large either, you have Crossbell City as your home base of sorts which is divided into various districts and then three major paths leading out of it that lead to two small towns and the hospital. Interestingly as well compared to other Trails games, once Crossbell is fully open to you it also regularly stays open so there's a lot of terrain to manage and characters to regularly meet and interreact with. The Trails games to me are very cozy experiences and Zero as a result of its setting and smaller main cast is perhaps the most cozy of them all.
I think that covers the broad strokes of Trails From Zero so let me just list a few other reasons to be excited for this game and hopefully answer a few questions you might have:
Treasure chest dialog returns! In Japanese due to a weird quirk of programming, every treasure chest has an individual message that says "This chest is empty" if you click on it rather than pointing to a universal message. During localization of Trails in the Sky, XSeed proposed writing unique messages instead and Falcom gave their blessing. Expect tons of quirky jokes, dialogue, and fun facts every time you click on an opened treasure chest. One of the games, and unofficially with one of the Geofront releases, even had short stories (Trails in the Chest!) spread across chests!
Books and newspapers return as collectibles! One my favorite features of the series are the books which are obnoxious to collect, but are well worth it as people in the Trails world will directly reference them in conversation and some fictional books have a layer of truth to them that manifest further in the series.
The music is excellent! You'll get to know it well since the Geofront implemented a feature that displays song titles when new songs begin to play. There is also a really cool music thing done towards the end of the game that I wish more JRPGs ripped off.
Other stuff the Geofront added that's great that will return on Switch and PC are Turbo Mode, the Message Log, and cleaned up sprites and signs (even farther than the Geofront release!). It also runs at 1080p and is locked to 60fps! Like the other Trails games, you can save anywhere, so it truly is perfect for Switch!
Trails From Zero is only $50 at launch instead of 60! My very thorough playthrough on the original PC version with the Geofront translation and mod took me about 62 hours to finish according to the in game clock though that did include extensive turbo mode use that significantly ran up the time. I often used Turbo as a sprint button and to speed up battles.
95+% of the characters are all new to the series! If you've played the Sky games there are some cool returning characters and some extra closure on one thread. If you ever heard Cold Steel was a better starting place between it and Zero, that first came out when we didn't have Zero so it's what English Trails fans had to tell themselves to sleep at night. It also isn't strictly true because Cold Steel has a huge cliffhanger for Cold Steel II which together ultimately have MASSIVE spoilers for the Crossbell games. Obviously if you start with Sky, which can easily run on any PC from the last decade, that is the most ideal place to start as it is the first game in the series, but if you are a Switch fan you can feel safe to dive in with Zero! You can always go backwards or forwards from here!
The writing is largely excellent in this game! The Geofront fan translation that serves as the base of the official version aimed to be as strong as XSeed's efforts and outside of an odd line or two, they succeeded. Seriously, it was better than NISA's rushed efforts so far (which granted, were far larger games under deadline). The game isn't terribly Anime in a bad way either, which is nice. I will mention I do recall one groping scene that sucks. It's a blemish on an otherwise excellent game. If there is any new content in this release, good or bad, I cannot speak to that. I'm aware at least Falcom added an extra NPC, Juna from Trails From Cold Steel III, but I'm not sure how prominently she is present or not. She's a cool character.
If you feel satisfied with Zero, your Trails journey can safely end with Zero as it doesn't end on a cliffhanger. However if you do want more, Trails To Azure is coming to Switch early next year and is a direct sequel that completes the Crossbell Duology. I've often heard Azure to be considered to be one of, if not the best in the series, and finally playing it myself last year I'd agree it's one of the best (Sky and Sky SC remain my favorites). Azure plays for keeps in a way other Trails games don't and while it does have more lows than Zero it also has some of the highest highs in the series.
...
I do think Trails From Zero is a great game and a must play for JRPG fans especially. My hope with this thread and post is that while I did share my strong enthusiasm for the game, that I didn't overhype it in the process. I do think there are JRPGs better than Trails From Zero out there, but at least on Fami, I've never made a thread for those and I'm not now at least planning any future ones like this. While I don't think this game is likely to blow people's minds, it is a game I really, thoroughly enjoyed and I think a ton of you on here will enjoy it as well. Zero is an excellent starting point for a series I strongly care about that I've followed across PSP, Vita, PC, PS4, and now Switch. I had never played a fan translation before or jumped through hoops to buy and download official copies of a game from Japan, and in Trails To Azure's case China, before, but for Trails it was absolutely worth it. So yeah, if you want to know where this enthusiasm I have comes from, it is really both for the game itself which is great and for the larger series which is my favorite active RPG series. I really hope some of you will give Trails From Zero a shot. In general, I really can't recommend Trails enough.