The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is a JRPG in a long-standing series, most of which was Japan-only. Trails in the Sky was translated into English and released for the PSP in 2011, which is surprising but nevertheless welcomed. It is the first chapter in a trilogy. The game is presented with a camera that sits approximately at a 45 degree angle overview. It is 2D-ish but the environments are rendered in 3D. You can rotate the camera using the shoulder buttons but if you have a Vita, mapping it to the right stick makes it so much more natural and easier. The game uses the 2D view to hide things so it is a good idea to do a thorough sweep in each area before moving on. The battle system is interesting as it mixes some tactical elements such as the grid movement system. However, since characters can move quite far, there are only some instances where you end up "missing" a turn due to monsters being out of range. Trails in the Sky has a turn-based menu system system where characters can attack, use Crafts which are special attacks using Craft Points earned, Arts which is basically magic using EP, and the ability to use items.
Battles are easy to pick up and with the grid movement, it adds in another layer of strategy in terms of being able to distance yourself from enemies. However, it is confusing in the beginning with the difference between Crafts and Arts. There is a column on the left side of the screen during battles to show the attack order and turn bonuses. Every so often, a particular turn will have a bonus such as a guaranteed critical hit or HP healing and the player can manipulate their characters' turns to a degree such that they receive the bonus and not the enemy. Annoyingly though, using Arts will take two turns. One turn to start casting and then one turn to deal the damage. During the time in between, monsters can take the chance to interrupt you. This makes the timing of healing Arts much more crucial. The story is told in four chapters plus a prologue. Each chapter taking place over one region of the world which is quite big. The plot takes place in the Kingdom of Liberl and follows Estelle and Joshua who are adopted siblings . They follow in their father's footsteps to become a Bracer. A Bracer is a professional as a part of the Bracer Guild who completes quests to help out people.
Estelle and Joshua's father goes missing and the two go around the world searching for him. Naturally, during their journey they discover a more sinister plot. Each chapter has a subplot which adds to the larger overarching arc of the game until it wraps together in the final chapter which is where the story really starts to grip you. With that said, the prologue was a tad bit slow in terms of story and gameplay but afterwards it builds up the momentum and will soon become addictive. The story is not huge in scale but the journey of the two and how they grow becomes entangled with the player's heart. The long prologue also acts as the tutorial, teaching you the basics of the game which is complex and meaty so it will take a while to get accustomed to what each features mean. During the game, various other characters will join as party members but they will all eventually leave. The only true permanent team members are Estelle and Joshua. Only in the last dungeon can you pick and choose which of the playable characters form your four-character party.
The story is told via text and dialogue. There is effectively no voice acting except for some shout outs during battle when characters use their special moves. This means there is a truckload of reading and coupled with the optional books and NPC dialogue, that's a lot of text. You travel through the five major cities which are connected by numerous interconnected maps. There is loading time between each smaller map but they are not too long. The annoying part is that if you want to do all the quests or even just go through the story, you will constantly be walking back and forth along these long paths which is time consuming and a bit mundane. There is no fast travel. As you progress through the story, you also cannot go back to the region of the previous city, leading to a lot of missable items and events. Enemies roam the battlefield and a battle initiates only when the party comes into contact. This is harder when you have a full party of four as the characters trail behind you like a snake, making it all the easier to accidentally come into contact with an enemy that you wanted to avoid.
The sidequests come in the form of Bracer Quests which is also the main way to get money. These are usually fetch quests, escort missions or beating certain monsters. Money is hard to come by in the beginning of the game, be sure to sell equipment as otherwise there is no way to upgrade all your equipment. Some of the quests can be obscure and it requires a lot of reading in order to find out how to begin the quest and what you need to do. The game is a good difficulty provided you do most of the quests and don't run away from all monsters. There is a tough final boss battle which requires good strategy and a bit of grinding. However, it is a manageable challenge although it dragged on for a while due to the high HP. The ending is strong but it is also a cliffhanger and some backstories of the characters are not revealed. These are left to be addressed by the sequel instead. Coupled with the music, these last ending scenes genuinely make you sad that you've finished the game. Overall, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is a strong solid JRPG. While some of the game mechanics and story doesn't wow you too much, it combined into a powerful and emotional ending that gets you hyped up with the sequel.
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