Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Prologue Hands-On: A Cozy, Nostalgic, High-Velocity Adventure

Fighting against an ever-expanding game backlog is the closest comparison I have to experiencing a truly Sisyphean task, especially with how many RPGs I still need to play. The Trails series is the clearest example of this. With so many entries and such an interconnected story, it feels like even trying to start and play the series all the way through is a self-inflicted punishment, despite its sizable fanbase and acclaim.

However, I have played the prologue for Trails in the Sky FC, which is convenient, given that said prologue serves as the demo for the remake. Falcom’s willingness to offer such a substantial portion for free is much appreciated, especially since Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is shaping up to be precisely what I’ve been looking for.

1st Chapter‘s adherence to the original’s general structure makes it a fairly straightforward remake. Even the acting feels nostalgic, with Stephanie Sheh and Johnny Yong Bosch reprising their roles as Estelle and Joshua Bright. Both were talented, well-known voice actors when they first played these characters, and the addition of full voice acting shows why they’ve since become industry legends, even in these fairly mellow opening hours.

The story beats are unchanged, and the most notable addition to the dialogue is the presence of Active Voice conversations that occur during traversal. This extends to the sidequests and other optional objectives, save for them being more prominently telegraphed. Most of the revisionism is limited to presentation and gameplay, which are both drastically overhauled.

The characters now appear with conventionally anime-styled 3D models, and their original, compact appearances now adorn the loading screens instead. The addition of a thin-but-noticeable outline on these models sets them apart from the more recent Trails games, giving off a lighter, more animated vibe. Likewise, the environments are also now fully 3D, and in keeping with the low stakes of the prologue, make the town of Rolent feel at once earthy, cheerful, and lived-in. That last part is important, since even the incidental NPCs in Trails have thought put into their backgrounds and personalities, which this remake retains.

Since Estelle and Joshua are rookie Bracers, members of an international guild of conflict resolution specialists, most of the prologue involves helping those NPCs. Of course, helping NPCs usually boils down to getting into a lot of fights. Thankfully, the fights are truly fun, though I freely admit that this might come down to my bias towards hybrid combat systems like in Trails Through Daybreak and Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Like those games, 1st Chapter‘s combat focuses on real-time Quick Battles where the player and enemies exchange rudimentary attacks and dodges to gain an advantage in the turn-based Command Battle system. You’re also free to wail on enemies without going into the turn-based mode at all, and this approach is satisfying in its own right, especially if you can handle high-speed mode.

While the Quick Battle mechanics are much simpler than outright action RPGs, the differences between party members’ attack parameters and enemy attack patterns provide enough variety to keep it fun between bursts of the Command Battle style. Since stunning an enemy before activating that style gives you a free attack, you can use the activation itself as a powerful finisher. Grouping up stunned enemies to defeat in unison this way is a delight.

It is quite easy to mow down enemies quickly and barely engage with Command Battles, even on hard difficulty. Still, mandatory story and sidequest battles ensure that the turn-based style doesn’t get left by the wayside. It too boasts new features: occasional follow-up attacks courtesy of the Brave Gauge from some of the more recent Trails titles, and Overdrive, a state that applies various buffs and guarantees follow-up attacks.

The challenge offered by Hard difficulty is demanding but fair, with the last prologue boss requiring a decent amount of strategizing to beat. It warrants paying attention to the Orbament system, which allows customization of various stat buffs and spells, and which is surprisingly similar to its original iteration. I did feel a bit guilty using the new reward system to receive Quartz and money that absolutely weren’t present in the prologue before, but since the difficulty balanced out anyway, it didn’t matter at this point. Being able to balance that reward curve is impressive, and I hope the full version keeps that up.

I’m very impressed overall with Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter. What I’ve played of the series at large is, admittedly, not much when compared against its totality. But what I have played has been a great time, and this remake is shaping up to do as any great remake should and evoke the best elements of its foundations as it seeks to build on them. Here’s hoping that the final release lives up to the legacy and the epic saga it began.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter releases on September 19th, 2025 on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows via Steam. Learn more on the game’s official website.