The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon

Game 13/13 And thus I've finally caught up after 3 years of playing this series. This series has genuinely become one of my top jrpgs of all time. Reaching the peaks of my favorite series Xenoblade Chronicles. This is quite literally the One Piece of JRPGs and I can't wait to play more until they finally conclude the story of Zemuria. And man what a way to finish the series this game was. Trails Beyond the Horizon is genuinely one of the best trails games for me. This was a top 3 TRAILS GAME for me. And the way they end this game is ABSOLUTELY DEMONIC. There is a special place in hell for the writers for ending this game there. The wait for Trails Beyond the Horizon 2 will be torturous is all I can say. This game has some of the best trails plot twists and turns, character moments and dialogue, and combat system I've seen. The places this game reaches in terms of lore and plot is something I could not have guessed. Theres also the fact that they're able to connect foreshadowings and plot points ALL THE WAY from 10 games ago is absolutely crazy to me. I love how they treat Agnes, Van, and even Kevin of all people in this game. A character whom I thought would have no more story to tell is able to have another compeling facet to their character arc post Trails in the Sky 3rd. In relation to that, the 3 MC format with the 3 routes that they do here is so good. I love how the MCs have their own thing going on and almost go into conflict with each other. Its a farcry from the usual them working together for the greater good etc. I like how Rean, Van and Kevin's groups have their own struggles and goals in mind. I really loved the way they paced this game. Its such a good step up from the Daybreak 2 blunder they had. I never felt tired or even burnt out during my playthrough because the revelations and the mysteries they present in this game were pretty compeling. They made a very mid plot device in daybreak 2 very interesting in Beyond the Horizon. My only gripes in the story are the connect event portions do break the momentum of some parts of the story. I also don't like that we had more questions than answers in this game. Although this is not really a big problem and moreso a nitpick since we still have one game to go in this arc presumably. Now onto the combat, man... how do they do it. They evolved the hybrid combat yet again and SOMEHOW made the animations look better even though they're using the same engine as Daybreak 1 and 2. Its crazy how simple camera work improves some of these cutscenes. The hybrid combat itself gets another glow up with the ZOC and shard tactics function (forgot its actual name). The Awakening during action combat is also really great and makes some low level enemies faster to farm. My only gripe is quick arts still seem weak and Grim garten was still not on the same level as reverie corridor in terms of endgame variety. Another disappointing aspect for me was the mecha battles. Theres not alot in this game but the few we had looked pretty meh gameplay wise. Nice animations but i hope they put more depth in the sequel. I miss the mecha battles in cold steel arc where you can select body parts to target. Overall, highly highly recommend this series. This was 100% worth it and if you like an interconnected story with very good worldbuilding ala One Piece this is for you. I cannot wait for more PEAK and truly hope they continue the momentum and stick the landing for this arc. (once they stop focusing on the sky remakes lol).