The Legend of Heroes
The Legend of Heroes (英雄伝説 Eiyū Densetsu) is a series of role-playing games developed by Nihon Falcom Corporation.
History
The first entry of the series was released in 1989 as Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, and was part of Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer line of games. It was released for various computer platforms, as well as consoles such as the Mega Drive, Super Famicom, and the PC Engine. The PC Engine version would be the only version to be released in English, and the only Legend of Heroes title released in North America until 2005. Meanwhile, in Japan, the series continued with Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II, released in 1992 for a similar selection of platforms.
Subsequent games in the series dropped their association with the Dragon Slayer series. The Legend of Heroes III, The Legend of Heroes IV, and The Legend of Heroes V comprised the "Gagharv Trilogy", a set of connected games taking place in the same world.
After the conclusion of the Gagharv Trilogy, a new story began with a new trilogy, the Trails in the Sky subseries. The three titles in it, First Chapter, Second Chapter and Third Chapter collectively made up the sixth entry in the series.
Falcom switched to a duology for the seventh entry, consisting of The Legend of Heroes VII: Zero no Kiseki in 2010, and The Legend of Heroes VII: Ao no Kiseki in 2011. After that, the company moved on to the Trails of Cold Steel sub-series, releasing the first title in 2013,[1] a sequel in 2014, and announced a third entry currently under development.[2]
The series has a checkered past when it comes to English language releases, with many titles not being translated. Some have though, most notably the original, the Gagharv trilogy by Namco Bandai, and a number of the entries in the Trails in the Sky and Trails of Cold Steel series by Xseed Games.[3]
Main games
| Sub-series | Original name | Original release | English name | English release | Notes | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Slayer | Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes | 1989 | Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes | 1992 | First game in the The Legend of Heroes series, as a spinoff of the Dragon Slayer series. | NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, FM-7, MSX2, PC Engine, Super Famicom, X68000, Mega Drive, Satellaview, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
| Dragon Slayer | Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II | 1992 | N/A | N/A | The second game in the Legend of Heroes series, the last to have the Dragon Slayer moniker, and is still unreleased in English territories. | NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, Mega Drive, Super Famicom, PC Engine, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
| Gagharv trilogy | The Legend of Heroes III: Shiroki Majo | 1994 | The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch | 2006 | The third Legend of Heroes game and first of the Gagharv Trilogy of games. Despite this, for its English release, it was labeled with a two. | NEC PC-9801, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable |
| Gagharv trilogy | The Legend of Heroes IV: Akai Shizuku | 1996 | The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion | 2005 | The fourth game in the Legend of Heroes series, and the second in the Gagharv trilogy. Despite this, for its English release, all numbering was removed, making it appear as the first game in the trilogy. | NEC PC-9801, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable |
| Gagharv trilogy | The Legend of Heroes V: Umi no Oriuta | 1999 | The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean | 2007 | The fifth game in the Legend of Heroes series and third and last of the Gagharv trilogy. For its English release, it was labeled with a three. | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable |
| Trails in the Sky | The Legend of Heroes VI: Sora no Kiseki | 2004 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky | 2011 | The sixth game in the Legend of Heroes series and the first game of the Trails in the Sky trilogy. All three titles appear to fall under the number "6" in their Japanese release. To disambiguate between it and the other titles in the trilogy, it's often referred to as First Chapter. | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita |
| Trails in the Sky | The Legend of Heroes VI: Sora no Kiseki Second Chapter | 2006 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter[4] | 2015 | The second game of the trilogy. | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita |
| Trails in the Sky | The Legend of Heroes VI: Sora no Kiseki The 3rd | 2007 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd[4] | 2017 | The final part of the trilogy. | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita |
| Trails – Crossbell Arc | The Legend of Heroes VII: Zero no Kiseki | 2010 | Trails of Zero | N/A | The first part of the seventh numbered entry, and ninth entry overall to the series. Xseed decided to skip localizing the game in favor of working on the Trails of Cold Steel games first, but state that they could still go back and release the title in the future if Second Chapter and Cold Steel sell well.[3] | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita |
| Trails – Crossbell Arc | The Legend of Heroes VII: Ao no Kiseki[5] | 2011 | Trails of Azure | N/A | The second part of the seventh numbered entry, and the tenth game in the series overall. Xseed decided to skip localizing the game in favor of working on the Trails of Cold Steel games first, but state that they could still go back and release the title in the future if Second Chapter and Cold Steel sell well.[3] | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita |
| Trails – Erebonia Arc | The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki | 2013 | Trails of Cold Steel | 2015 | The first part of the eighth numbered entry, eleventh title overall. | PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita |
| Trails – Erebonia Arc | The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki II | 2014 | Trails of Cold Steel II | 2016 | The second part of the eighth numbered entry, twelfth overall.[6] Xseed announced they would release it in English in 2016. | PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita |
| Trails – Erebonia Arc | The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki III | TBA | Trails of Cold Steel III | TBA | Falcom announced they were working on a third entry of the Trails of Cold Steel series in 2015.[7] | TBA |
Spinoff games
| Sub-series | Original name | Original release | English name | English release | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spinoff | Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga | 2010 | N/A | N/A | A fighting game crossover containing characters from the Trails and Ys series, both Falcom franchises. |
| Spinoff | Nayuta no Kiseki | 2012 | N/A | N/A | Takes places in the same Trails universe, but not an official entry in the Legend of Heroes series. Focuses more on action-rpg elements. |
| Spinoff | Akatsuki no Kiseki | 2016 (scheduled) | N/A | N/A | An online game developed by UserJoy Technology under licence from Falcom, it takes place in Liberl, Crossbell, and Remiferia, and includes some characters from earlier Trails games. |
Manga and anime
A Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes original video animation anime was released in 1992, the same year that Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II was released, loosely based on the story of the first game.[8] In 1997, It was dubbed into English by Urban Vision and was released onto VHS in North America. The English dub has yet to be released on DVD.
In 2009, three volumes of a Sora no Kiseki (Trails in the Sky) manga were published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, followed the next year by a sequel Rei no Kiseki - Play Story - Shinpan no Yubiwa, published by ASCII Media Works. Two original video animation anime episodes of Sora no Kiseki were released on October 10, 2011 and January 28, 2012 respectively.[9]
See also
- Ys (series) – Another Falcom role-playing video game that emphasizes action over story
- Tokyo Xanadu – a Falcom role-playing video game in a more modern setting.
References
- ↑ Spencer (19 February 2013). "Meet The Characters In The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Flash". Siliconera. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
- ↑ http://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/26/new-sequel-to-the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-in-the-works/
- 1 2 3 Feature: Xseed on the Trails series
- 1 2 Spencer (December 27, 2011). "The Legend Of The Heroes: Trails In The Sky Series Soaring To Smartphones… In English!". Siliconera. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
- ↑ Spencer (March 22, 2011). "The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Azure, The Sequel To Zero No Kiseki, Hits PSP This Fall". Siliconera. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
- ↑ 2014-04-08, The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki II dated in Japan, Gematsu
- ↑ http://www.siliconera.com/2015/05/26/new-sequel-to-the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel-in-the-works/
- ↑ Marshall, Marc (August 16, 2011). "Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes". Akemi's Anime World. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
- ↑ "Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Anime #2 Teaser Posted". Anime News Network. December 12, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
External links
- Official website of Falcom (Japanese)
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