The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie

Story feels like a bad fanfic of trails, but gameplay is alright.

I'm thumbing it up because, at the end of the day, it is a competent game I did not regret playing, otherwise I wouldn't have done it for 70 hours including post-game. But when it comes to the story and just the overall respect for my time, I have quite a lot of criticisms for this entry. First of all, no matter what most of the fanbase may tell you, this game is redundant. Two thirds of its story is just bloated fanservice that retreads locations, characters and plot points from a combined 6 games with the excuse this is supposed to be a capstone for the Crossbell and Erebonia arcs, plus a bridge into the Calvard arc. Nevermind the fact both arcs were already over and done with and did not need any sort of further closure. The "bridge" in question is a 15 minute cutscene and three visual novel-like short stories you get at the post game. Almost everything before that is either fanservice for longtime fans or just recycling/straight up repeating plot points from the aforementioned previous 6 games. The story is divided in 3 routes, one for Rean, one for Lloyd and another for a new cast of characters, the main one called C. C's route is by far the best one on account of exploring a particular character further than they were in the previous games and introducing new characters that are not repeating their development, though in order to actually understand their deal you'll need to read through a collection of books you could find at CS4, which is certainly a choice. Lloyd's route is just a contrived retread of Azure in order for the writers to have an excuse to get the whole cast from that arc back front and center. The characters will either awkwardly reference past events as a way to refresh the memory of longtime fans ("hey, this is just like that time we did such and such! It felt hopeless then too, but we prevailed!) or drone on about the power of friendship to the point where my patience ran thin and I just skipped some dialogue once I noticed they were just going to endlessly say something about how "when it seems hopeless, your friends will light the way, we just wanted to save everyone, but what matters is that everyone is smiling" yet again. Almost every single character in this goes back to their previous issues they had already overcome way back in Zero/Azure and has to relearn their lessons. Rean's route is just another limited tour through Erebonia, though it is a bit more involved in the new proceedings than Lloyd's, but just like in 4, there's really nothing left for any of these characters to say after 4 games focused on them, sometimes they just do weirdly convoluted trials that look like betrayals as a test of resolve for no discernible reason, get into a conga line so they can introduce themselves and their titles one by one and somehow we have Rean agonizing over the power within him for the fifth time in a row. I'm not sure we won't get that plot point retread again somehow since I know he comes back for the Calvard arc. And sandwiched between these routes is the Reverie Corridor, which is Trail's attempt at making a dungeon crawler, and it's a mixed bag. On one hand, there's certainly appeal in just enjoying the gameplay for what it is and getting to mix and match characters that otherwise would never be at the same place at the same time. On the other, it's an uninteresting looking precedural dungeon where you get a cast of over 40 playable amnesiac characters on the excuse that it's a place outside time and causality alongside weird gatcha mechanics that unlock a torrent of side-content that varies from "kinda neat" to "this is just busywork". There's a bunch of short stories called Daydreams you can unlock, the vast majority being just glimpses into its many, many characters lives after the finale of CS4, which wouldn't be an issue if not for the fact that a) there's a bunch of them b) they're all an hour long at the very least, complete with gameplay segments. To me, that's just bloat. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the main story ends but there's a post game, and you can only unlock the actually important Daydreams at this point, as well as find out why the Corridor even exists only once you reach it's final floor. Your mileage may vary, but I don't think these revelations were worth the amount of busywork you need to get there. I'd say the final boss itself is yet another recycled plot beat I couldn't care less about. There's some cool stuff here, but ultimately this game is for the most part just reduntant filler that repeats itself constantly while throwing a few teases over what you may actually want to see. This is not intricate, expansive storytelling, it's just spreading all your material thin to justify the existence of one more game before moving on to something new. If you're into visual novels, this is basically a fandisk. Trails fans will insist you should not, but if you're burned out of the series even a little, it's okay to just skip this one. Find a summary online for the actually relevant parts and be on your way, because the context and experience will not really enrich it.

Lloyd.

Com Isso Termino a Saga de Cold Steel e Cross bell, Jogos incríveis, Trails in to Reverie é o ápice te toda a história e mecânica de Gameplay da Saga Cold Steel, jogar e montar builds e brincar com as possibilidades me divertiu muito no tempo do jogo, tenho problema com as rotas, Não acho que foi implementado da melhor forma, me fazendo voltar nos saves muitas vezes pra pegar algo que tinha deixado pra trás, mas é uma agulha no mar de coisas boas desse jogo, e ver o pessoal de Cross Bell feliz é um puta recompensa pra quem curta a SSS. JOGÃO 10/10

[h1]The most ambitious Trails game [/h1] It is very hard to write a comprehensive review of a Trails game because of how big and interconnected they are. There are so many layers of it: gameplay, worldbuilding, characters, story, OST – each deserves an essay, but it is a review, not a book. However, I could miss reviewing this one specifically. First things first, for those who are not aware of the series and stumble upon this game on Steam – this is not a standalone game. Starting from here is like watching Avengers from the Endgame. You should start at least from Trails of Cold Steel 1, and I would recommend starting from the original Trails in the Sky trilogy. When I call this game ambitious I mean that it takes many challenges – more than any other Trails game. Entries of this franchise are very similar to each other. Neighbor games may feel almost identical – there are small incremental changes: new mechanics here and there, slightly different structure, new minor activity or minigame. This series relies heavily on the same core systems and plot tropes – faithfully follows them through its 20+ years history. It is very rare to see more than 1 or 2 new major things in the next game. However, Reverie breaks this tradition. Trails into Reverie tries to do something new in almost every aspect of the game. Sometimes it is something minor, sometimes major, but nothing escapes at least some revision. Most of the Trails games follow a similar structure. Each chapter introduces some minor conflict, which is resolved in the same chapter. It may or may not develop major conflict which culminates by the end of the game or sometimes in the next game. During each chapter you also have numerous side quests. The only game that breaks that pattern before Reverie is Trails in the Sky the 3rd which is more of a dungeon crawler with minigames and visual novel incorporated into it as a reward for beating new levels of the dungeon. This structure was heavily criticized. Trails into Reverie tries to implement this risky approach again as well as combine it with more traditional storytelling. Unprecedented in the Trails series, this game has a nonlinear story. Not in a sense that you can change the course of plot, but in the sense of structure – 3 parallel stories unfold at the same time. You play as 3 different groups of characters with different goals and places to visit. Sometimes their goals contradict. Your protagonist in one story may force you into a bossfight in another. The door system from Sky the 3rd is back. Each door is basically a visual novel side story. However, if Sky the 3rd had many filler and not so interesting ones, in Reverie every single one tells you at least something interesting: new connection, new interesting background, a setup for the future plot. And many of them are just really good stories. The main plot also shines in a new light. Instead of the usual very slow build up Reverie uses all previous games to launch you in the storm of new characters, unexpected arcs for old characters, twist villains and allies, twists within the twists. Although, it is still slow paced compared to an average game, for the Trails series this is probably the fastest one despite having the same length. That what i mean when i say this game takes many challenges: it pushes old battle system to its limits; it allows you to have stupid amount of playable characters each with its story and potential for interesting builds and combinations; it shines in oldschool story structure and introduces new one to the series; it is an epilogue to 3 arcs and 9 previous games; it is a setup for the new series; and even more. It astonishes me with how much it tries to do and mostly succeeds in everything it tries to do. This is the peak Trails game. And it proves that despite all limitations, budget problems, crunches, and localization drama, Falcom still can deliver high quality story and gameplay.

best end of saga

The last Trails game to be localized as of my writing. The story starts to wears off for the Lloyd and Rean story, but the 3rd character story is my favorite. But gameplay-wise i think this is the best of other trails game.