Excellent classic JRPG on Steam NOW, $16.99 (Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky)

Since excellent classic JRPG is now on sale on Steam, I figured this would be a good time to bump this old thread with a wonderful mini-documentary on the history of Falcom by a relatively unknown Youtuber. In addition to the charming footage of the 80s game scene in Japan, which always makes for a fun watch, I found the video quite informative.

Thanks for posting that! Haven’t watched yet, but I love Falcom’s games.

That was pretty good. Watched the whole thing anyway. I really love the Trails games (well, the two that I’ve played) but this made me want to check out the Ys games and some of the earlier Legends of Heroes ones.

I just finished watching that. Very interesting. The most interesting part was right at the start when it started as a computer store. When I got to the part where they made the biggest hit PC game ever in Japan, Xanadu, I was thinking, how can a company this successful be one that I’ve never heard of? The video doesn’t really go into the reason for the massive brain drain that effectively killed them in the 90s. I wonder if other successful companies of the late 80s faced similar obstacles? Or perhaps Falcom didn’t share the wealth enough and all these great developers that left didn’t feel appreciated because of that?

It was also interesting just how long they stubbornly kept making Japanese PC games despite Japanese no longer buying PC games. What the heck were they thinking? It’s also charming that Kondo, who runs the company now and led their recent resurgence, started as someone who ran a fan site for their games.

I haven’t played any of their games, but that was certainly an interesting story. Since the video never really went into what kind of space they moved into, in my mind they still operate out of that original computer store where they sold Apple II and other PCs. Though I’m 99% sure that’s not true.

I’m keen to pickup one of the Ys games during the Steam sale. I’ve heard they’re all standalone, so you can jump in anywhere. Right now, I’m leaning towards getting the remake of the 3rd game (Ys: The Oath in Felghana), which was originally a Zelda 2-esque side scroller, as it seems to be consistently highly regarded by the fans.

I would’ve loved to see more detail on the talent exodus, too. For me, I appreciated the start of the doco the most as it was such an exciting era. Can you imagine going from running a mom and pop store to having a beloved company with a music publishing arm and super-successful blockbusters that supported by endless ancillary products in just a few years? That’s insane!

I really liked Ys Origin, which I believe was the first one that got the Steam treatment. The later ones add or improve a bunch of things, but there’s a clarity to what Origin is doing and if you like it (or don’t), the rest of the series will probably go the same way.

Oath in Felghana is my favorite, followed by Origin. The older ones are a bit primitive to enjoy today, and the most recent ones switch to a 3-person party that dilutes them a bit.

I just had a look at Steam to see how many Legend of Heroes Trials games have been released on Steam since this thread started. I was really surprised that there’s so many, and so many more Legend of Heroes games are on the way soon! What the heck?

Also, did HRose finally put the title in the thread today, or was it a moderator?

Can’t vouch for the rest, but the first two Trails of Cold Steel are great.

I think mostly these are old games just finally getting a full English translation and port. The translations are top notch…no Engrish in sight.

Ooh, that one was recently released on Switch, too. I think I’ll be bold and pickup both Origin and Oath! :)

The four Sen no Kiseki at the bottom are just Cold Steel. There might have been a final/updated release in Japan or China that this reflects? Same games though.

Zero and Ao in the middle are the two Crossbell games that were never released in English. They’re getting remasters in Japan, and I assume those listings reflect that. I think the expectation is that they’ll translate them eventually, but not at those release dates. (Incidentally, there’s an excellent fan translation/patch for Zero out there, and an okay-ish one for Ao.)

I think Trails in the Sky SC is the best out of all of those, on a level with the very best in the genre. They’re all somewhere between above-average and great, but the later you go in the series the more you really want to have played as many of the preceding games as possible. It’s the opposite of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest: the fourth CS game has no problem aggressively referencing the first or second Sky game. Seems awkward from a selling-the-most-games point of view, but it’s very cool as someone who has played them all.

Attention Trails fans: Geofront, a very talented super-fan collective, have finished translating two Japan-only Legend of Heroes games: Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure, which make up the “Crossbell” sub-series. They take place between the Sky and Cold Steel games and are both highly regarded by folks who love the franchise. What appeals to me is they’re supposed to be smaller in scope than the other games, centered around a tight-knit police force that threatens to be overwhelmed by two nations vying for control over the country.

This link below has the details. It’s straight-forward to get up and running.

What the hell kind of games are these that can have soooooo many entries? I just realized I’ve never played a game with tons and tons of sequels. Well, none that I can think of right now at least. All the Final Fantasies take place in different universes (for the most part). There were only 4 Mass Effect games. Even Fallout only has had 6 entries over several decades. I’m guessing if you’re a fan, it must be nice to return to the same world in sooooo many sequels.

I finished Trails of Cold Steel this week and I’m already playing Trails of Cold Steel 2. Loving it so far. This is indeed an excellent classic JRPG series that is in fact on Steam and GOG!

I’m curious about the Crossbell arc, but there’s no point in getting the translation if I have no viable, legal way to purchase those games…

That’s fair. There is a way but it is quite time-intensive… I don’t know how many people will go through with this, though I do appreciate the modders encouraging fans to keep things legal.

The first one is available here (the store can be switched to English so you know what you’re pressing):

Both crossbell games coming to steam ( korean, japanese, chinese, no english) . Same studio ported the chinese ver of cold steel on steam

Unfortunately the Geofront team won’t be supporting the upcoming Steam release, so the convoluted way linked above is the only legit way to get viable copies ATM.

Next, I would like to reiterate and make an official statement on our site that the Geofront will not be supporting the Asian PC ports of Zero and Ao that will be published on Steam by Clouded Leopard this year. While we understand why many fans would like us to, it will not be possible. Please understand that those new ports will be based on Zero: Kai and Ao: Kai and not the original PC ports done by Joyoland that the Geofront’s mods utilize. This is purely speculation as those versions have not been released, but it would likely take a herculean effort to insert all of the text, graphics, and quality-of-life features that our mod supports. In other words, from a programming perspective, we’d have to start from scratch all over again for what amounts to the same games on a more convenient platform.

Again, I understand from an ease-of-use perspective why people would want that convenience, but the investment is simply not worth the return for us. Collectively, the Geofront has spent the last four years crafting our versions of Zero and Azure based on the Joyoland ports. Our programmers have done remarkable work far above and beyond what anyone would expect them to accomplish without these games’ source codes. I believe the final products of each game will stand the test of time in terms of looks, features, and character. That is why, again, we’ll be closing the book on the Crossbell chapter of our lives with the release of Azure and not be looking to support any future ports of Zero and Ao.

Wait a minute! Who renamed this thread? Now half the jokes in it won’t make sense!