Introduction
Trails to Azure is the sequel to Trails from Zero, which is part of the ever growing Legend of Heroes series created by Nihon Falcom. It was released for PSP in September 2011.
Review
Months after the crazy events that rocked Crossbell City and the crew of the Special Support Section, the team is now scattered across the area, but things are about to get crazy once again for the crew of the SSS. Huge lingering questions will finally be answered and the events that were seen from Erebonia, are now shown front and center!
Even from the get go, the story in this entry is already paced better than it was in the previous game. I was hooked right away, especially when I started seeing the events that happened in Trails Of Cold Steel 1&2, unfold properly in Crossbell. The story was filled with so many crazy things, especially with lies and deception. Characters I thought were fantastic people turned out to be ruthless killing machines. The horror!!!
I was really surprised when the game wrapped up a long running storyline that started way back in the Sky trilogy, and it made me so sad when it happened. I was so happy for the characters it involved. Even teaming up with the old characters from that trilogy was still as awesome as it was in Zero.
If you import your save from Trails From Zero, you still get the bonuses of the game, like storylines that still continue with some side characters. I’m still amazed that Falcom has managed to do this with every game in an arc. Though I’m still curious if the storylines would still work that way if you didn’t transfer any data.
Aside from the regular turn-based gameplay that this series is well known for, the game actually threw in quite a few minigames to play as you worked your way through it, which was actually really awesome when you reached them. From mine cart rides where you shoot balloons, to playing what is basically puyo puyo Tetris, I really enjoyed these new elements that were added to the game to mix it all up. If you talk to enough NPCs throughout the story, you even get new players to play against in the Teri’s minigame. But I’ll be honest, it was my least favourite minigame, and I’m just not sure why.
Instead of walking all around Crossbell this time, you actually get a car that will take you to most of your destinations, cutting down the travel time in fields considerably. But the thing is, if you’re doing all the side quests, you’re going to want to walk through each area anyways. This system only really feels useful if you’re a player who is just looking to rip through the story as fast as possible so you can get through the series.
As much as I want to touch on the battle system, I’ve literally talked about this same battle system for six other reviews in this series. It’s really not updated at all. The systems are the exact same as they were in the Sky trilogy and the exact same as in Trails From Zero. But at the same time, when you have a system pretty much perfected, why even bother changing it? As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Though there were some battles I actually had to pay attention to, considering there are challenge chests EVERYWHERE!
The first time I ran into one, I looked away for a second and started the battle, wondering why everyone was dying. It was only after I realized my mistake. Unfortunately I was never strong enough to beat one of these chests when I first came across them, and I never tried one again. I do wonder what I would’ve gotten from them, but at least they ask you if you want to try the fight, and tell you the level of the enemies. So that was nice of the devs.
Rating
Pros:
- Seeing The Scenes In Crossbell Play Out
- Minigames!
- A Lot Of Stories Get Wrapped Up
Cons:
- Fast Travel Car Felt Useless
- Puyo Puyo Tetris
Summary
Compared to Trails from Zero, this entry was a masterpiece. You see events you’re curious about if you played Cold Steel already, there’s minigames to mix everything up, storylines get resolved! This game went above and beyond with so much that I can’t wait to continue the series! Play it already!
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Game & Developer Information
Developer/Publisher Website: Nihon Falcom
Developer/Publisher Socials: Twitter
Images – https://www.igdb.com/
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