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The Legend of Heroes has quietly grow to be considered one of my favourite JRPG IPs. Like many Nintendo followers, I hadn’t performed a single recreation within the sequence (there are round 20, relying upon whom you ask) till Trails of Chilly Metal III hit the Swap in 2020. I’ve since performed every of the Swap releases, and The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure is without doubt one of the greatest.
Initially launched in 2011 for PSP, Trails to Azure is the direct sequel to The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, which was up to date for the Swap in 2022. In the event you skipped that, you should still acknowledge most of the characters from the Trails of Chilly Metal video games since they’re all set throughout the similar timeline. It’s an enormous universe of politics, friendships, heroics, and betrayals that’s fairly tough to maintain observe of. Trails to Azure consists of loads of background info (each from the menu display and varied bookshelves scattered all through the sport) to convey you updated.
As such, I’m not going to bathroom down this evaluation with backstory; I don’t really feel like writing one other school thesis. You need to undoubtedly play Trails from Zero earlier than beginning Trails to Azure, however you’ll in any other case decide up most of what you want to know simply by enjoying the sport. Additionally, the story’s plot factors by no means stray too removed from the everyday JRPG tropes. There’s a giant unhealthy coming, and it’s as much as our rag-tag crew of upstarts (and numerous mates…and typically enemies) to save lots of the day.
That is dealt with throughout two predominant forms of environments. First, you’ve quite a few, large cities to discover.
These areas are the place you meet many of the recreation’s characters and get the narrative. The central location is Crossbell, the place the Particular Help Part (SSS) that you just kind-of lead has its base. Right here, you’ll settle for quite a few requests that both drive the story alongside or serve to simply stage you up and get you great things. Most duties should be carried out inside an in-game day, so retaining observe of what you achieved is essential. Transfer too far forward and also you received’t be capable of full your missions, thereby shedding out on their rewards.
The difficulty with that is that some duties require loads of city exploration. You possibly can rapidly zip to the particular borough you need, however every is crammed with a mix of shops, places of work and residences to take a look at. These usually comprise bonus gadgets and hidden quests you’ll be able to miss, so completionists will spend numerous time revisiting areas and rechecking cabinets to ensure nothing new has appeared. Fortunately, there are quite a few walkthroughs out there to information you alongside.
Additionally slowing down the journey are the necessity to play mini-games and gamble. I choose my video games not have video games inside them, and I prefer it much less when obtainable gadgets are primarily locked behind these video games.
Possibly it’s the Methodist in me, possibly it’s simply that roulette and card video games bore me, however I’d quite be adventuring than sitting in a on line casino.
So, let’s journey. Your get together’s preliminary journey to a brand new city at all times occurs by foot, and people linear however lengthy paths provide you with loads of alternatives to combat monsters, purchase the quite a few gadgets you want to stage up, and wrap up a couple of of your assigned duties (monster management is at all times a urgent want). Enemies might be seen on the display, providing you with the choice to interact or keep away from. In the event you assault them from behind you get a slight bonus when going into battle.
The turn-based fight system itself is advanced, however we are able to boil it all the way down to the standard parts. Turns are assigned primarily based on velocity, and every character can choose to maneuver, assault, use an merchandise, or use an artwork.
Arts are nice for focusing on an enemy’s weak point, however they normally can’t be forged instantly, giving the enemies an opportunity to get assaults in earlier than you. The humanities out there for every character are decided by the participant, so studying to optimize your get together with the assorted gadgets you’ve acquired and upgraded turns into the important thing to victory. You possibly can steadiness your characters to ensure you’re considerably lined it doesn’t matter what you’re going through, or you’ll be able to go heavy with a selected sort of artwork (fireplace, earth, wind, and so forth.) if you understand what you’ll be up towards. I tended to remain balanced for basic battles, and would solely get exact with character and talent administration after getting my butt handed to me in a boss combat…which occurred extra usually than I care to confess. Fight is never unfair, however the recreation does ensure you regularly handle your get together.
Fortunately, Trails to Azure provides you loads of particular fight skills to drive your manner by way of the harder battles. Buying, optimizing, and equipping quartz supplies provides you entry to a big selection of skills, buffs, and enemy debuffs. There are at all times new weapons and armor to search out or buy. Saving as much as unleash highly effective S-Craft assaults could make issues a bit simpler, as can the Combo Crafts between particular characters. Timing these assaults within the larger battles might be difficult to tug off, but it surely’s a rewarding system. The bosses and mini-bosses can usually take fairly a while to defeat, offering a pleasant change of tempo from the repetitive fights between cities.
Talking of being between cities, Trails to Azure has one thing I’ve by no means seen earlier than in a online game; the treasure chests are comedians. In the event you click on on them once more after retrieving their merchandise(s), they’ll inform you a joke—a few of which are literally fairly intelligent.
The most effective a part of The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure, nevertheless, is the story. Particularly, the characters who drive the story. The difficult plot typically provides us an excessive amount of to learn, however that enables the quite a few folks you meet to have stunning depth. Many don’t see eye-to-eye regardless of having related targets, and it’s intriguing to observe their relationships develop—for higher or worse. There will definitely be some you want greater than others, however I can’t think about anybody will play this recreation with out rallying behind Lloyd, Elie, Noel, Wazy, and (in fact) KeA. Even the enemies are participating…though some require you to just accept a pair troubling character flaws.
I additionally fairly like the way in which the sport appears to be like and sounds. The up to date graphics are nonetheless a bit dated, however in a comforting form of manner. They’re quaint, however detailed, and so they’re a incredible match for the Swap in handheld mode. A few of the assault animations are underwhelming, however that’s to be anticipated on a recreation this outdated. The music suits the visuals completely, and is surprisingly numerous—altering tone primarily based on the vibe of your present location.
All of this comes collectively to offer an expertise that rivals these of JRPGs developed a decade later. The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure could look cute and easy, however make no mistake; it is a very difficult, very rewarding recreation that can take numerous your gaming hours.
Simply ensure you begin from Zero earlier than heading to Azure.
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