The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero review

Twelve years after the original Japanese release, the first entry in the Crossbell duology arrives in the West. Not only does it reveal Nihon Falcom’s mastery of role-playing fundamentals, but Durante and the rest of the team at PH3 Games have given Trails from Zero an exhaustive update. The result is an indispensable entry for both Legend of Heroes devotees and role-playing fans unfamiliar with the property.

The emergence of The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon demonstrates an appeal for the sprawling epic. But Hollywood isn’t the only industry obsessed with telling an expansive story. Part of the larger The Legend of Heroes franchise, Falcom’s Trails series will release its fifteenth mainline installment this year.

But unless stateside players were fluent in Japanese or applied fan-made English patches, several entries remained unlocalized. However, with the release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, the first part of the oft-coveted Crossbell arc finally arrives. Sure, it was an agonizing wait, but improvements make the title absolutely shine on contemporary hardware.

A Link to the Past (and the Future)

Within a few hours of diving into the game, it’s evident why there was such a strong demand for localization. Taking place between the Liberl and Erebonia story arcs, Zero feels more like connective tissue that bridges two arcs than some kind of inconsequential digression. When it comes to characters, lead Lloyd Bannings made an appearance in the last three Cold Steel entries and is slated to appear in next year’s Trails into Reverie. On the other side of the equation, Joshua and Estelle Bright from the preceding Trails in the Sky title have cameos- and there’s at least one lingering plotline that receives a resolution here.

That means that Trails from Zero will be beloved by stalwart fans. Not only are there a salubrious quantity of references to previous events, but there is a bit of foreshadowing for some of the geopolitical events to come in the series timeline. But given that Trails in the Sky is only available on PSP/Vita and PC, while the first Cold Steel never was released on the Switch, console owners will need to have access to multiple platforms. In a perfect world, the entire Trails saga would be accessible to everyone, regardless of hardware.

Yet, Trails from Zero also scales back its scope. Instead of the conventional bulky cast of allies and NPCs, the roster is smartly slimmed down. Not only does this allow newcomers to get up to speed more quickly, but it lets Zero devote more time to its likable cast.

Well-Written Allies

As a rookie detective with the Crossbell Police Department’s Special Support Section (SSS), your teammates might initially feel like tropes. Randy Orlando is the Dogi to your Adol. He’s a bit brash but his protective nature means having him by your side feels reassuring. While he’ll joke about the cheesiness of your motivational speeches, when it comes to actions, he’s enduringly loyal.

Twin-tailed Tio Plato is initially defensive about her age. But Zero’s writers cultivate a sense of trust and camaraderie as she spends time with her fellow SSS members. Seeing her shift from withdrawn to being more outspoken, and even gently teasing her teammates substantiates Falcom’s ability to script satisfying and memorable character arcs. Rounding out the team is Elie MacDowell, who brings a sense of decorum to the SSS, making her an invaluable second-in-command. Not only is her devotion to Crossbell endearing, but her academic experience and cultural competency make her invaluable. While her ordinariness might cause her to be overlooked, Elie’s bout of dissonance makes her one of the most identifiable characters for adults.

Crossbell Feels like a Real Place

Pleasingly, Trails from Zero excels at more than characterization. Crossbell, a small, autonomous city situated between the Erebonian Empire and Calvard Republic provides a context that is rich with potential. Throughout Zero, it’s hard not to draw comparisons with Hong Kong, given Crossbell’s long history of serving as a trade hub, its aura of cultural pride, and the enduring threat of colonialism.  But like many distinguished sovereign territories, corruption has loitered for quite a while.

The solution is Crossbell’s Special Support Section, who are initially called in to help the local police department with their image problem. Although inconsequential errands are ubiquitous in role-playing, Zero’s jobs can range from completing civilian requests to intervening between rival gangs. A surprising amount of these simple tasks provide a bit of exposition that assists with the world-building or hints at the looming tensions that will threaten the entire region. The NPCs aren’t as numerous or verbose as in the Trails in the Sky games so you won’t see many mini-arcs. But there’s a quality to the writing that will recall the resonant storytelling of Zero’s predecessors.

Skirmishes that are Consistently Speedy

Expectedly, combat regularly breaks out during your duties, leading to a battle system that’s quite satisfying. While turn-based and fought on gridded maps, Zero shirks the traditional move-and-attack cycles of strategy role-playing games. When it’s a character’s turn to act, they move automatically, dispensing normal attacks, summoning slower but powerful arts, as well as Crafts, which function like a skill.

Save for boss battles, fighting isn’t forced on you and you can retreat from wandering foes. Just make sure they don’t sneak up behind you. Combatants who do receive turn priority. Compassionately, Zero lets you lash out at opponents, providing a significant advantage. Another perk is the game’s Team Rush mechanic. This can occur at random or when you strike a stunned foe and allows your party to surround and inundate enemies with a succession of powerful hits. Thanks to Team Rush and a new option to speed up the game, Trails from Zero feels consistently brisk. Once you’ve visited a specific location, fast travel and bus routes open, which also helps to keep the pace lively.

Durante Delivers Again

Pleasingly, high-speed mode isn’t the only technical improvement. Originally a PSP title, Zero looks surprisingly good for a twelve-year-old portable title. Undeniably, the game’s character portraits are attractive and detailed enough to resemble a contemporary game. Sprites are attractive and while animation routines are lengthy, they effectively convey emotion. Visually, the game runs flawlessly on Steam Deck and delivered a rock-solid 60 fps output. On Switch, there are some infrequent hiccups during scene transitions, but it’s a vast improvement over the 30 fps original game. On both systems, draw distances have been noticeably improved, while a message log was added to review missed dialog.

But like most of the developer’s efforts, it’s Falcom Sound Team jdk that steals the show. Whether you’re exploring, fighting, or watching the plot unfold, you expect some deeply melodious music to accompany the visuals. When is the last time you heard environmental music so good, you resisted the acoustic interruption caused by combat?

Geofront’s celebrated fan translation served as a foundation for NIS America’s localization. It’s great to see a publisher cooperating with these kinds of teams and it’s even more invigorating to see an English adaptation capture many of the nuances of the source material. The sole downside is that Geofront had to take down their patches for the game, but if the process can inject proven talent into the localization space, it’s forgivable.

Conclusion

Being able to cultivate your party members is a frequent fulfillment in most role-playing games. Trails from Zero not only extends shops where money and materials can be used to augment your items but there’s also a robust system based around quartz. Slot this resource into characters and you can increase your base stats or even unlock additional Arts to use in battle. Sure, you’re not building characters from the ground up, but the light customization is helpful, especially on the game’s upper difficulty settings.

Few companies can make a role-playing game as deeply rewarding and engaging as Nihon Falcom. Their formula is surprisingly straightforward, with an amalgam of appealing characters, a stimulating context, and a battle system that can maintain attention for a 40–50-hour span. Masterfully, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero excels at all of these, making for a requisite role-playing trek that’s certain to please.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero was played on PC
and Switch with review code provided by the publisher.