The Trails series features one of the most expansive and ambitious stories in all of video games. Since 2004, Trails has released twelve games, with each game building off the previous ones and telling a single continuous story. For years, one of the biggest questions around Trails has been how newcomers should pick up the series, and while the very first game, Trails in the Sky, is undoubtedly the best starting point, it’s dated and not the easiest to access with modern consoles. That’s about to change. The latest Nintendo Direct announced a gorgeous remake called Trails in the Sky the 1st, but it looks like it could be a Nintendo Switch exclusive, and the game’s situation is a little complicated.
Trails in the Sky first released in 2004 on PC in Japan, but didn’t make its way to the West until 2011 on the PSP. The Trails in the Sky remake is being developed and published entirely by its Japanese developer, Nihon Falcom. At the moment, the remake is only planned for Nintendo Switch, with a Falcom representative telling Gematsu, “While the game has been announced for Nintendo Switch, a release on PlayStation and PC platforms is currently ‘to be determined.’ There is a possibility that it could be released on these platforms, and if that decision is made, it will be announced in a press release at a later date.”
That’s a bit surprising considering the franchise recently hit worldwide popularity, selling over 7.5 million copies, and just in June, the critically acclaimed Trails Through Daybreak released worldwide. Perhaps what’s even more interesting, however, is that Falcom hasn’t partnered with a Western publisher, and there’s a “possibility” that Falcom will handle the distribution itself, which is very atypical. That’s largely because of the history of how the franchise has been localized — it’s a bit convoluted, so bear with me.
Starting in the early 2010s, XSEED brought over the first three games in the franchise — Trails in the Sky, Trails in the Sky SC, and Trails in the Sky the 3rd. The publisher then skipped the next two games, Trails From Zero and Trails Into Azure, and localized the first two Trails of Cold Steel games. After that, NIS America took over the franchise and brought over the last two Cold Steel games, went back to the previously skipped Crossbell games, and in the last two years has released Trails Into Reverie and Trails Through Daybreak.
NIS America has seemingly become the de-facto publisher handling the series at large, and the company has been vocal about pushing to release games in a more timely manner, without fans having to wait years after the Japanese releases. The next game in the West, Trails Through Daybreak II: Crimson Sin, is scheduled to release in early 2025.
But that game released in 2022 in Japan, and the sequel “Kai No Kiseki: Farewell O Zemuria” is scheduled to drop in September 2024. With NIS speeding up its timeline, we could theoretically see Kai No Kiseki in the West by the end of 2025, or Early 2026.
It means that including Trails in the Sky the 1st, we could see three different Trails games release in the span of one year, and that may be intentional on Falcom’s part. The remake presents the perfect opportunity to attract new fans to the franchise, as its popularity continues to surge and the story speeds along to its conclusion. But it’s also baffling that Falcom wouldn’t want it on more platforms, with an even bigger reach.
Some fans have noted from the English trailer that the remake seems to be using the exact same translation as XSEED’s localization from the original game. If Trails in the Sky the 1st is a complete one-to-one remake that uses the exact same script, theoretically Falcom could just plug things in and be good to go. That may be why the company isn’t actively seeking a publisher, as a sort of cost-cutting measure.
Those plans are obviously temporary and could change in the future. No matter how you look at it, though, the Trails series is in the midst of a meteoric rise, and this remake is quite literally the perfect chance for Falcom’s cult classic to hit it big.
