Ranked a bit lower then the second and about on par with the first, but this is still a very solid game. It should be noted this is for fans of the first two. It more heavily follows two characters from the interesting Septian Church faction that appeared only briefly in the other games.

Who doesn't love badass nuns and priests wielding a sword and a crossbow? While not as familiar as the OG cast of Sky 1+2 they are fantastically well written characters in their own right. As time goes on all the familiar characters return to fight along side each other to escape from where they find themselves in this one before a final sendoff to end this first arc.

This is definitely for fans of the first two but still a great game and recommended if you played the first two.

So we put on our bravest face and promise to meet again--whether it comes true or not--and we go back to our lives and keep on going

After 200+ hours over 6 months I have finally completed the Trails in the Sky trilogy. In this review I'll talk about the trilogy as a whole, and will have a section about the 3rd game specifically, without any story spoilers. If you want to read my more spoilery thoughts on the games, check out my list ranking the games.

Yeah... man. Where do I start? What is trails most known for? The world. The world of trails is the most lively and intimately crafted setting I think I've personally seen in a video game. I like to consider myself a thorough explorer in games, but I've probably only seen about half of all the dialogue that the games have to offer. No matter how small your progression may be, every single corner that's accessible always has something new to see, whether it's people reacting to events, or simply living their lives, showing a snippet of a personal story. The most mind-blowing part is how some of these insights can be relevant to someone completely different, very far away, a long long time from now. It really is an extensive dynamic system that makes the environments and NPCs feel as real as they ever could and is, to me, the biggest sign of the developers' passion for the universe they've created.

Of course this theme doesn't stop at just NPCs, there are countless links between the games main plots that are clearly planned and intentional and so well thought out that's extremely commendable. There's nothing quite like getting planned payoffs from a something multiple games ago. No AAA studio would ever have the balls to try something like this today, obviously because it's not sustainable, but in 2004 Falcom was able to take a risk and it has clearly paid off very well for them resulting in the franchise still keeping on today.

My next favourite thing is the cast of characters OH MY GOODNESS I can not believe the amount of S-Tier characters that have popped out here. It's way too many to name, but I suppose Estelle is the star of the show, being such a fantastic protagonist, whose experiences so naturally shape who she becomes that you get the pleasure of seeing every step of the way. If you want to get the most out of the characters interactions with each other, and are playing on PC, PLEASE USE THE VOICE MOD (yes they are official japanese voices, just ported from a future version of the game that I've heard is otherwise inferior), they make the interactions 10x more memorable, funny, epic, whatever. Even the smallest conversations are a joy to listen to, amazing job from the cast.

The combat is very fun, I haven't played too many turn based games, but there's alot going on here that I enjoy that added more strategy compared to others that I have played. Be it the movement system, s-breaks and orbment system. A really fun way to make builds that reflect the characters' fighting styles and personalities.

The music from all three entries is awesome, a great mix of jazz, rock, and classical from many great composers that are extremely replayable. Oddly enough alot of the tracks didn't resonate with me when I first heard them, but as I heard them more and more they have become addictive and timeless.

There is a lot of talk about Trails being a slow burn, or the first game being setup, and the 2nd game is where things really happen. This is true to an extent, but my experience did not reflect that of others. For the most part, I found all parts to be equally enjoyable for all the different things that they offered, whether that's learning about the world through the protagonists in FC, pushing the narrative forward to crazy places in SC, seeing my favourite characters have epic or endearing moments, or having fun with the combat in 3rd, I truly have very very few issues and think of this as a borderline perfect trilogy of games with plenty to offer by my own standards. I am genuinely very sad to know that the journey with these characters has come to an end.

Trails in the Sky the 3rd

This entry in particular was a fantastic conclusion that shakes up the formula. Yes the story is not told as naturally as other entries, so I can understand thinking it might feel "lazy". But given everything that has happened, I believe it to be the best way to really give all the characters their chance to be fully realised, the best way to set up plot points for future games, the best way to tie up Liberl in a nice bow, all the while providing a more typical dungeon crawling experience with the most balanced and rewarding version of the games' combat yet. I was recommended to play 3rd on hard mode for this very reason and I'm very glad I did as it gave me multiple engaging challenges.

The main plot didn't make me feel things the way the previous games did, but I think this is down to my expectations based on those games. It was still a very good story overall that touches on a difficult theme, I really appreciate the different, more personal approach. The side doors were amazing, so many fantastic moments in them that have me feeling satisfied with everyone's development, and looking forward to what's to come in the Crossbell arc.

I think this is the best out of the three Trails in the Sky games. Yeah, it can be argued that SC has a better or more important story, but SC was too repetitive for my liking. I thought SC was going to be a completely new journey so I was disappointed when most of that game's journey consisted of revisiting the same handful of towns as in FC. There's also reused content in Trails in the Sky the 3rd, but the experience felt new enough that it didn't bother me.

Trails in the Sky the 3rd takes place in another dimension called Phantasma. This place operates kind of like a dungeon with multiple floors, except sometimes the floors are pieces of the overworld from the previous games. Phantasma has a strange and ethereal atmosphere that helps even the reused content feel new. I much prefer the atmosphere of Phantasma to that of Trails FC and SC. Those games felt too cheery without any sense of danger or intrigue. Trails in the Sky the 3rd was a lot more mysterious. I really appreciate the developers changing up the atmosphere here.

The thing that really made the atmosphere more enjoyable for me was the music. Like I mentioned before, Trails in the Sky FC and SC were a bit too cheery for me, and that extends to the music. In FC, every track from the town themes, to the battle theme, to the boss themes were just too happy and had no sense of drama. Thankfully in Trails in the Sky the 3rd every track has a certain amount of either intensity or mystery to it. I knew from playing Ys that the Falcom sound team is capable of creating magnificent soundtracks. I didn't feel that strongly about FC or SC's soundtrack, but with this game in particular it feels like Trails has found its musical identity.

The combat is pretty much the same as before, but I was a lot less frustrated with it here for some reason. It may be because the boss fights in this game were more fair (unlike a certain white-haired gentleman in SC who likes to make copies of himself at random). I'm still not completely in love with the combat system but it's easier to see its merits in this particular game. The fact that this game gives out new party members like Halloween candy probably helped a lot with keeping combat fresh as well.

The Trails games have a habit of treating every character like the main character. Now that Estelle has retired from her position as a protagonist, it becomes really clear how much of a strength that approach is for a multi-part series like this. Giving every character the depth of a protagonist means they can instantly fill the protagonist role when need be. Kevin, this game's protagonist, is an example of that. He was given a big spotlight in SC which made it easier for him to become a protagonist in this game. But even smaller characters are allowed to have some time as a protagonist in Trails in the Sky the 3rd - in the side stories.

This game has multiple side stories that can be found all over Phantasma. These take the place of sidequests and they're a much better way of handling side content. These side stories allow the player to play as some of the less prominent characters and discover more about them, which is way more interesting than doing random chores for NPC townsfolk.

The overall story was more of a self-reflective journey of a specific character than a series of important events, but I'm fine with that because this series has good characters.

I am really starting to understand why people like Trails now. The large ensemble cast that evolves over the course of multiple games is something that works incredibly well, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next.

Absolutely brilliant entry in The Legend of Heroes series. Everything is absolutely of high-caliber: the story ties up all loose ends in the Liberl arc extremely well, the music is a meticulous masterpiece, and the tweaked gameplay from the two prior games make this game’s combat the very best rendition of them.

The usage of the Moon, Star, and Sun doors and the dungeon running theme of the game were an excellent way of tying the whole story together. Each of the doors had a certain memory that explored the other important characters from the past two games, giving you insight to what exactly happened to those characters, all while not getting in the way of the story for the main protagonist, Kevin Graham, which made sense within the dungeon-based world.

There is no way a type of game stylized around the first two games in the arc could’ve done this idea justice; there are just too many mysteries surrounding too many characters. It would require too much jumping round between characters to uncover the unresolved tidbits from the first two games. Another approach would’ve been an episodic-styled type of game where each episode concentrated on a certain set of characters and their story was told.

For me, Trails in the Sky the 3rd is just the perfect conclusion for the Liberl arc. This game was really just that good !!