The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure
This review contains spoilers
(I'm not going to give a rating out of 10 on any Trails games right now because I feel that many of them are 10s and I'm probably just going to wait until I'm done all of them and then give the ones I like the most 10s)
I'm kind of running out of things to say about Trails because honestly the gameplay doesn't change much until later on and so I just ultimately talk about the characters and story.
Characters:
The SSS are all good characters but I'm still not IN LOVE with them. I like them. But as a group I really dig their dynamic and the whole thing they had going for them. I do like Rixia a lot, but I've known that since Zero when they revealed what she actually is. I like characters like that. Just don't think this is me saying there is anything wrong with any of the SSS because I'll still pop when I see them again, I just don't put them on the same level as the characters in Trails that I sincerely love. With that said, KeA added a lot to the experience.
One thing I keep forgetting to mention is how much I love Ouroboros. They are such a memorable organization. Sure, they're dangerous, but the Enforcers especially are alway son their own shit and I find them infinitely more interesting than most villains. This series has done a great job of building the entire society up.
Story:
I can see why the story for Zero and Azure are beloved. Crossbell is easily the best place so far (for those who don't know, I've played 2 Cold Steels and the original trilogy). Even just as a political story the corruption and destruction of Crossbell is interesting. Then you layer the other stuff on top of it... awesome.
The last bit is insane. We find out a lot of stuff and it all hits.
We find out that the lawyer shot Guy. KeA manipulates timelines and apparently also manipulates people into loving her unconditionally. The characters have all died a bunch of times but KeA kept bringing them back. We wouldn't have even had them team-up with the Brights if it wasn't for KeA doing this. I don't normally like timeline shit anymore but I thought it worked well here. Also, I don't know how this plays in later (if at all), but nerfing her at the end so she can't do that shit anymore (from my understanding?) is a good move. I like crazy shit happening but we don't need to muddle up timelines. Also, the final battle was kind of neat.
Little notes:
- I like the music more in this than Zero but that's just personal taste. Love the main menu music.
- Pacing is still solid. I feel like they learned from earlier Trails (and then forgot later on in Cold Steel 2) because there were a couple parts where I thought, "Great, here we go..." but they made the experience pretty painless.
- Could have used more Estelle (I will always feel this way lol) but damn I popped hard when her, Renne and Joshua showed up. I also felt bad for Pater-Mater, so that's an accomplishment.
I'm kind of running out of things to say about Trails because honestly the gameplay doesn't change much until later on and so I just ultimately talk about the characters and story.
Characters:
The SSS are all good characters but I'm still not IN LOVE with them. I like them. But as a group I really dig their dynamic and the whole thing they had going for them. I do like Rixia a lot, but I've known that since Zero when they revealed what she actually is. I like characters like that. Just don't think this is me saying there is anything wrong with any of the SSS because I'll still pop when I see them again, I just don't put them on the same level as the characters in Trails that I sincerely love. With that said, KeA added a lot to the experience.
One thing I keep forgetting to mention is how much I love Ouroboros. They are such a memorable organization. Sure, they're dangerous, but the Enforcers especially are alway son their own shit and I find them infinitely more interesting than most villains. This series has done a great job of building the entire society up.
Story:
I can see why the story for Zero and Azure are beloved. Crossbell is easily the best place so far (for those who don't know, I've played 2 Cold Steels and the original trilogy). Even just as a political story the corruption and destruction of Crossbell is interesting. Then you layer the other stuff on top of it... awesome.
The last bit is insane. We find out a lot of stuff and it all hits.
We find out that the lawyer shot Guy. KeA manipulates timelines and apparently also manipulates people into loving her unconditionally. The characters have all died a bunch of times but KeA kept bringing them back. We wouldn't have even had them team-up with the Brights if it wasn't for KeA doing this. I don't normally like timeline shit anymore but I thought it worked well here. Also, I don't know how this plays in later (if at all), but nerfing her at the end so she can't do that shit anymore (from my understanding?) is a good move. I like crazy shit happening but we don't need to muddle up timelines. Also, the final battle was kind of neat.
Little notes:
- I like the music more in this than Zero but that's just personal taste. Love the main menu music.
- Pacing is still solid. I feel like they learned from earlier Trails (and then forgot later on in Cold Steel 2) because there were a couple parts where I thought, "Great, here we go..." but they made the experience pretty painless.
- Could have used more Estelle (I will always feel this way lol) but damn I popped hard when her, Renne and Joshua showed up. I also felt bad for Pater-Mater, so that's an accomplishment.
Mini Review: Like Zero, it's paced really well. Even at a certain moment where I thought it was going to pull some bullshit it streamlined the experience. Gameplay wise it's a slight evolution from what came before so if you like that, you like this. Story-wise, this and Zero are a great one-two punch. They really layer the stuff on at the end but I was all in. Crossbell is a memorable city. SSS is greater than the sum of its parts, but they aren't bad characters by any means.
Watch the Trailer