Trails in the Sky (series)

Trails in the Sky
Genres Role-playing video game
Developers Falcom
Publishers Falcom (Japan)
Xseed Games (North America)
Platforms Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita
First release

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (Windows)

  • JP June 24, 2004
Latest release

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter (Windows, PSP)

  • EU November 10, 2015

The Trails in the Sky series is a metaseries within the The Legend of Heroes series of Japanese role-playing video games. Collectively the sixth entry in the Legend of Heroes series, the series consists of three games, the First Chapter, Second Chapter, and The 3rd. The three titles were released between 2004 and 2007 in Japan, while the game's massive scope and quantity of text to translate has caused a considerable delay in their English releases. First Chapter was released in 2011, Second Chapter in 2015, and The 3rd is set to be released in 2017.

Titles

Trails in the Sky

The first entry of the game was first released in Japan in 2004 for the PC by Falcom.[1] It was shortly afterwards ported over to the PlayStation Portable in 2006.[1] Due to its massive size of text, the game was not localized into English until 2011, when translated by Xseed Games.[2] Aeria Games, in late 2011, announced they had the rights from Falcom to release the game on mobile phones in English regions, but as of 2015, no further information on this has arisen.[2] The game was also given an high definition port as part of Sony's PSP Remaster line of ports to the PlayStation 3 platform in late 2012,[3] and an updated rerelease on the PlayStation Vita in 2015.[4]

Trails in the Sky Second Chapter

The second entry in the series, Second Chapter, was initially released in 2006 for the PC and 2007 for the PlayStation Portable in Japan.[1] In 2013, Xseed Games announced that they would be working together with Carpe Fulgur in localizing the Second Chapter, due to all the fan requests after the release of First Chapter.[5] Initially announced for a mid-2014 release, it was later pushed back to late 2014.[6] In December 2014, Carpe Fulgur head Andrew Dice announced that progress in translating the game was slowed by his struggle with depression and suicide.[7] Dice handed over his work for Xseed employees to finish up, which, combined with unexpected difficulties during the QA testing of the game, resulted in the game's release being delayed into 2015.[8][9] Like First Chapter, Second Chapter was also announced for a mobile phone port by Aeria Games that was apparently abandoned,[2] and had a 2013 PlayStation 3 HD port[10] and a 2015 PlayStation Vita updated rerelease.

Trails in the Sky the 3rd

The 3rd was first released in 2007 on the PC and 2008 on the PlayStation Portable in Japan.[1] As early as 2010, XSeed Games announced Falcom had given them the rights to release The 3rd in English, but due to the massive undertakings of the first two chapters, they did not not actually began work on translating it at that time, nor would they commit to doing so.[11] It would take until March 2016 before XSEED announced they had begun work on translating The 3rd, planning to release it in 2017. Like the prior two titles, The 3rd also had an aborted mobile phone port by Aeria Games,[2] and an HD PlayStation 3 port in 2013.[12] XSeed stated they were unable to release English versions of the PSP, Vita, or PS3 versions of the game due to various issues they did not elaborate upon.

Reception and sales

First Chapter has sold over 500,000 copies as of the end of 2013 across all regions and releases.[13] XSeed has stated that the North American release of First Chapter did not initially meet their internal sales goals with its 2011 PlayStation Portable release.[14] Despite this, strong enough fan feedback inspired the company to continue working on the series, committing to releasing Second Chapter in English.[15] Contrary to the modest sales of the PSP release, Xseed would later state that its 2014 PC release was the company's "most successful PC launch ever".[16]

In March 2016, Xseed announced that the English versions of First Chapter, Second Chapter, and Trails of Cold Steel had accumulated sales of over 350,000 sold across all platforms.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Hardcore Gaming 101: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky".
  2. 1 2 3 4 "RPGFan News - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Trilogy Goes Mobile".
  3. ↑ "The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky PSP Vs. PlayStation 3". Siliconera.
  4. ↑ "The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Evolution debut trailer, screenshots - Gematsu". Gematsu.
  5. ↑ "The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky sequel coming to PC, PSP". Polygon.
  6. ↑ "The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC pushed to late 2014". Polygon.
  7. ↑ "Depression Led to Trails in the Sky SC Delay, Developer Explains Why - Niche Gamer".
  8. ↑ "Addressing Something Important".
  9. ↑ "The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter - Localization Blog #2".
  10. ↑ "Xseed "Looking Into" PS3 Version Of Trails in the Sky SC". Siliconera.
  11. ↑ "The Legend Of The Heroes: Trails In The Sky Takes Flight In March". Siliconera.
  12. ↑ "XSEED to Release Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC Game on PC/PSP in 2014 (Updated)". Anime News Network.
  13. ↑ "People Are Still Buying The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky". Siliconera.
  14. ↑ "What's Going On With The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky Second Chapter? - Siliconera". Siliconera.
  15. ↑ "Xseed To Publish The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC On PC And PSP". Siliconera.
  16. ↑ "Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky". Facebook.
  17. ↑ http://www.rpgsite.net/news/4764-xseed-celebrates-5-years-of-trails-with-cold-steel-ii-screenshots-and-3rd-chapter-announcement

External links

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