If a few years ago they had told us that between 2022 and 2023 we would finally get our hands on the localized versions of The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure, we certainly would not have believed it. It took almost thirteen years and a lot of patience, but thanks to the extraordinary efforts made by Geofront – a team of fans so fond of the Nihon Falcom brand that they managed to translate the two fundamental episodes never published in the West – the Crossbell dilogy is finally usable in english language.
Although we now knew the facts told in Trails of Azure in broad terms, in recent weeks we have taken on the role of Lloyd Bannings and the other members of the Special Support Team to fill for once the narrative hole that, at least on our side of the globe, was created between the Trails in the Sky trilogy and the Trails of Cold Steel tetralogy (by the way, here’s the review of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III) and at the same time prepare for the imminent arrival of The Legend of Heroes : Trails into Reverie, which as already explained on these pages will mark the conclusion of the events set in the western countries of the imaginary continent of Zemuria.
The last piece of the puzzle
Before going into the analysis of the plot we must first of all specify that The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure absolutely cannot be played without first completing Trails from Zero.
Similarly to what happened to Trails of Cold Steel I/II and III/IV, the two episodes of the Crossbell saga actually form a single adventure, which for reasons of time and opportunity – without forgetting the limitations of the PSP, a machine where the original versions were published – it was proposed in two parts. If already venturing into Trails to Azure without knowing the characters who appeared in the narrative arc of Liberl (explored in Trails in the Sky FC, SC and the 3rd) largely precludes the understanding of certain events that precisely see them involved, Trails from Zero it represents an indispensable stage to be able to try your hand at the second chapter of the dilogy, which is not by chance set a few months after the conclusion of the first.
Following the defeat of Joachim and the DG cult at the hands of Lloyd Bannings and company, the Special Support Squad, which among other things protected little KeA and put an end to the production of the drug known as Gnosis, reached the objective for which it was initially created: to win sympathy and rehabilitate the image of the police in the eyes of the population, which until then tended to rely exclusively on the non-governmental organization known as the Bracer Guild.
After a short-lived summer hiatus, the city-state’s heroes assemble in August S.1204 to act as security during the “Western Zemuria Trade Conference” attended by representatives of various nations. As also mentioned in the first Trails of Cold Steel, whose events take place parallel to those of Trails to Azure (you are one click away from the review of The Legend of Heroes: Trail of Cold Steel for PS4), the event is however interrupted by a terrorist attack, the aftermath of which provides newly elected Mayor Dieter Crois with the desired pretext for declaring the independence of Crossbell City, whose possession was historically disputed between the Empire of Erebonia and the Republic of Calvard. Supported by the new gang members, Llyoid and his friends will soon have to deal with impossible situations and secret organizations that would like to exploit KeA’s powers to exercise total control over the city-state.
Characterized by often surprising twists and embellished by masterful world building exercise carried out once again by the screenwriters of the Nihon Falcom house, the never banal plot of The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure deals with issues ranging from the political fictional sphere to the purely ethical one .
By thoroughly exploring the relationships between neighboring states and the unspeakable experiments involving children with special abilities, Trails to Azure and its direct predecessor are in fact considered the most mature chapters of the entire The Legend of Heroes saga, and moreover they lay a solid foundation for understanding the chapters in which all the plots of the brand will inevitably converge (for more details, go to the review of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV). Far from the calmness of the first Trails of Cold Steel and its carefree school setting, Trails to Azure boasts an astonishing and branching writing to its bow of arrows, which is why the second part of the epic lived by the Special Support Team struggles to keep the player literally glued to the screen for at least forty hours, depending on the time dedicated to secondary content and the development of bonds with teammates. It is only a pity that, as specified at the beginning, to fully enjoy this incredible journey it is necessary to know the history of Zemuria and her countless protagonists quite well.
From the past with fury…sort of
From a playful point of view, The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure has very little new to offer compared to its direct predecessor, Trails from Zero, from which it inherited the combat system and all the mechanics related to the development of the characters. As already seen in the other chapters of the saga, in Trails to Azure the enemies are always visible on the map and therefore can be circumvented, which is why the battles begin only when the player comes into contact with them: when this happens, a very rapid transition between the exploratory and fighting drags the party and opponents into a kind of arena, starting the real battle.
Being a title originally launched in 2011, the gameplay of Trails to Azure does not have many of the features appreciated in the Trails of Cold Steel trilogy, nevertheless the turn-based combat system and its deep strategic component still give great satisfaction. Since the challenges are consumed within a grid, the correct positioning of the four fighters who can be deployed on the front line is extremely important to enhance their talents and bring home victory. Equipped with Arts and Crafts capable of targeting large groups of opponents, all members of the Special Support Team have special abilities to unleash at the right time, trying where possible to exploit the weaknesses of the opponents.
The main “novelty” of Trals to Azure is represented by the introduction of the Master Quartz, that is to say particularly powerful orbments that the protagonists of the story can add to their equipment.
Where Trails of Cold Steel Class VII students were allowed to wear them at will, Lloyd and company can add only one each to their equipment; however, since the Master Quartz influence all the statistics and provide very different skills, the aforementioned limitation imposed by the developer does not affect much the customization of the units, which as usual will be free to exchange orbments and adopt builds at any time completely different.
If overall the albeit classic playful mixture of The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure has aged quite well, the same cannot be said for the technical sector. Born on PlayStation Portable, unfortunately both parts of Crossbell’s narrative arc loudly accuse the years on their shoulders, also because Nihon Falcom has done little or nothing to rejuvenate and embellish the two titles that were originally launched on a handheld machine not too powerful either.
The increase in resolution, the more detailed textures and the delicious super deformed characters only partially mask the venerable age of the title, which was not exactly state of the art at its debut. If nothing else, the introduction of the very welcome High Speed Mode improves the quality of life considerably, speeding up the exploratory phases, the clashes and even the exchanges between the characters a lot.
