The day is almost here. September 19th, 2025, marks the remake of the very first Trails game, Trails in the Sky. This remake, titled Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, is remade from the ground up in the same engine as the Trails Through Daybreak games. There is a new demo that goes over the prologue of the main game, and I was able to get my hands on it before its release. Time to break it down.
A Faithful Yet Fresh Beginning
When it comes to story events, this remake plays out almost exactly as the original. It even begins the same way, with Estelle as an 11-year-old waiting for her dad to return from a Bracer mission. He arrives carrying another 11-year-old boy in his arms, calling him a present for her.
This is also where you notice the translation differences compared to XSeed’s version. In this remake, Estelle says she wants a fishing pole or something for her staff, while in the XSeed dialogue, she talks about wanting a fishing pole or more training. It is a small change, but if you expected everything to match XSeed’s script word for word, you might be a little disappointed.
I am not going too deep into the translation differences since I do not think they are that important yet. I only hope lines like ULTRAVIOLENCE and I HAVE A VERY LARGE Stick make it through untouched.
The game picks up five years later, with Estelle and Joshua heading to the Bracer Guild for their final test under Scherazard. Both of them are determined to become bracers. Scherazard is a student of Cassius Bright, who is not only Estelle’s father but also a father figure to Joshua.
Bracers are part of a guild that takes on jobs from the community. Citizens pay the guild for services, and the guild passes a cut of the reward to the bracer who completes the request. The rest of the money helps keep the guild running. Since the work can involve dangerous tasks such as hunting monsters or tracking missing people, proper training and official tests are required before anyone can earn the title of bracer.
Estelle and Joshua’s final test comes in the form of a training request posted on the guild’s bulletin board, written specifically by Scherazard. Before sending them off, she first takes them to the orbal factory across the street. Here, you are introduced to septium and how it can be placed into orbments to enhance stats. You also learn that inserting different colored quartz into orbments allows you to cast arts, the magical spells of this world.
Visually, the remake has a striking new style. The softer cel shading without heavy outlines gives it a very different look from the Trails Through Daybreak games. I really like the new aesthetic. Everything feels vibrant and alive, and I cannot wait to see more areas beyond Rolent, especially the larger cities like Bose and Grancel.
Combat Reimagined
The combat in Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter got a big upgrade thanks to the engine it was built on. It incorporates action combat in the field, and you can switch to turn-based mode at any time. If you transition to turn-based mode while an enemy is stunned, you can have one of your characters do a chain attack immediately after starting combat. If you do a normal attack and it is a critical hit, you can have a party member do a chain attack or even use a strike attack, which is when you have both characters team up to do an attack.
During turn-based combat, you can attack, use an art, use a craft, use an item, or guard. Enemies have a stagger gauge; once the gauge is filled, it stuns the enemy. If you use an action that damages an enemy while stunned, it automatically lets another character either chain an attack or strike attack. You can move around in combat with the left stick and change the placement of an attack, art, or craft with the right analog stick.
Small tangent, but originally, when I played Trails in the Sky, the balance was weird. It felt like combat was geared towards having 4-player parties. A lot of the game is with Joshua and Estelle doing stuff alone, with certain quests letting you have guests join you for those quests. Having the action combat makes it a better balance since you can defeat the weaker enemies before attempting the turn-based combat.
Modern Touches That Matter
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter benefits from the modern era with some quality-of-life additions. You can fast travel to towns, and you can also see on your map the NPCs you have already spoken to, so you do not accidentally talk to someone again. You can go straight into a shop’s inventory by pressing the shop button rather than needing to talk to the shopkeeper and open the menu first.
When you cook a recipe in this game, it gives you a permanent stat boost if you make a new recipe for the first time. This incentivizes you to buy all the food and eat it to unlock the recipe. I did more cooking in this demo than I did in the entirety of the first Trails in the Sky game. Granted, I never really cared about collecting recipes until the Cold Steel games.
Having everything in a true 3D space lets you see Rolent in a completely new way. It gave me goosebumps, the same kind I felt when I first saw Crossbell in Trails of Cold Steel 3.
A Promising Return
Overall, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is an amazing experience. The first game was the beginning of an incredible world, and it was paced in a way that fully immersed you in that world. It was slower in terms of narrative, but it gave us one of the best duos ever with Joshua and Estelle. They both translate extremely well to the new engine, and having most of the important dialogue voiced is a huge boon to their characters. This is a demo I would highly recommend trying out.
If you are interested in seeing why so many of us Trails fans are devoted to the series, its world, and its characters, this is the one to get.
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter will be released September 19th, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Review Disclosure Statement: Early Access to the demo build of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter was provided to us by the publisher for preview purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy.
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