As a seasoned Trails enthusiast who has journeyed through the winding paths of Zemuria since the early days, I must say that Kai no Kiseki has left me utterly captivated and impressed. It’s as if Falcom has taken all the lessons they’ve learned over the years and distilled them into a vibrant, engrossing experience that showcases the best of what Trails has to offer.
Reflecting on my journey through Falcom’s recent title, The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki, one thought continually resurfaced – the series’ rich legacy is its most potent asset, yet it also poses a challenge. In 2018, we struggled with the question of what made Trails in the Sky the 3rd exceptional, and how it couldn’t be fully appreciated without considering its predecessors. This same dilemma applies to games like Trails of Cold Steel IV or Trails into Reverie; whether positive or negative, this “legacy” is precisely what sets Trails apart.
Among all the titles in the series, Kai no Kiseki particularly requires players to have a comprehensive understanding of the entire series timeline, with the exception of The Legend of Nayuta. This is largely due to the game’s unique structure. While Trails into Daybreak II incorporates parts of the route system introduced in Trails in the Sky, Kai no Kiseki blends the structure from Daybreak II with the more open-ended approach seen in Reverie by featuring both Rean Schwarzer and Kevin Graham (alongside C’s crew from Reverie). This combination results in a narrative that delves deeply into the series’ history, often reinterpreting past events in ways that significantly alter our perception of the series, and Zemuria as a whole.
In straightforward terms, Kai no Kiseki sets the stage for the conclusion of the series, though the specifics of the journey remain a mystery. After 13 games spanning over a decade, the end is now within reach. The upcoming resolution will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion until the next game, tentatively set for release in 2026. Falcom’s current projects include an unspecified Tokyo Xanadu sequel and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st, both scheduled for next year.
In the end, the game successfully concludes its storyline, but the path leading up to that point has some glaring issues. I found the narrative engaging, but the tempo of the game often felt inconsistent. The story arcs for Rean and Kevin were comparatively shorter than Van’s, yet a significant portion of the game’s key plot twists unfold within those arcs, leaving Van’s team primarily dealing with character development for the cast. I can appreciate the strategy they employed – Kevin and Rean are delving into Kai’s backstory, while Van’s group is mainly uncovering surface details until everything converges at the climax.
To make things more challenging, there’s Grim Garten, a revamped edition of the randomly-generated dungeon system seen in Trails Through Daybreak II, and before that in Trails into Reverie and Trails of Cold Steel II. In essence, with 3 distinct routes and an average of 3 to 4 sidequests per chapter, plus Connect Events, it quickly becomes a significant part of the gameplay. Falcom has historically treated additional content from previous games as if players are always completing their games entirely, so if you’ve played all the games up until now, you’re likely used to tackling this extra content as well.
In Daybreak II, there is an act with a structure similar to Kai where players typically had only 2 quests per route to handle, and these routes were generally shorter as well. Additionally, Grim Garten provides players the opportunity to view any remaining Connect Events that they missed in previous chapters, along with its own set of Mementos, much like the Daydreams in Trails into Reverie but shorter. All these elements combined can seem excessive, and while I found most of it enjoyable, it’s hard to deny that it starts feeling a bit overwhelming, especially when going through the Van routes which focus more on building tension towards the game’s foreseeable conclusion. The extra content seems even more noticeable in the Van routes.
That’s not to say that the game’s story leading up to that conclusion is a slog. As stated, Kevin and Rean’s routes regularly drop very exciting lore and story drops; but even more than that, Falcom has come a very long way from the canned animations that plagued Trails of Cold Steel. They’d already started to utilize proper fully-animated cutscenes in Daybreak, but even that is a far gulf from what the company has begun to deliver in Kai. What was once one of Falcom’s greatest weaknesses is now a major strength, with Kai no Kiseki offering some of the most impressive setpieces and cutscenes in any of the RPGs that I’ve played in the last several years.
In this updated version, not all aspects are affected; specifically, sidequests are rarely involved in the custom animations. However, it doesn’t mean that questing hasn’t evolved for Kai. There has been a significant emphasis on Topics in this iteration. New “Topic Quests” require players to interact with various characters and topics to find a solution to a particular issue. What makes these quests unique is that they won’t display their objectives on the fast travel menu, so you’ll need to rely on context clues and knowledge of other NPCs to determine your next move.
In both the side quests and the main narrative, it’s heartening to observe the significant growth of Arkride Solutions Office. It’s no longer just Van solving puzzles single-handedly; characters such as Feri, Aaron, Agnes, and others actively contribute, which makes sense given their long-standing collaboration with Van. Similarly, the game seems more player-inclusive now, offering a greater variety of choices in quests, making it slightly complex but intriguing to keep track of. There’s even a side quest where you aid two characters in a race; if you place a bet on their race within one of Edith’s new zones, you could amass a substantial amount of money by the end of the chapter if your team emerges victorious.
In a related development, the battle sequences in Daybreak have been further developed by its creators. They’ve blended Action and Turn-Based combat styles, introducing a unique feature called ZOC. When fully charged, this ZOC feature can temporarily slow down time during action combats and significantly boost your damage output. Some characters can leverage your energy gauge to trigger a “Trance” mode, which enhances their strength for the duration of its extended effect. This game places more emphasis on action combat compared to its predecessor, with a complete elimination of turn-based combat in certain dungeons and even puzzles that utilize action combat features, such as those involving the Quick Arts feature introduced in Daybreak II.
In the latest version of ZOC, a single Shard Boost is all it takes to activate, whereas before two were needed. Activating two Shard Boosts now triggers ZOC, providing an extra turn for your character. This feature can be particularly helpful when casting spells, but also comes in handy during challenging boss fights, helping you shift the battle’s momentum. Brave Orders from Trails of Cold Steel and Trails into Reverie return, though they go by a different name in the game – I found it unnecessary to remember their exact title since they were clearly identified as Brave Orders. They share the same Boost gauge with S-crafts, ZOC, and Shard Boosts.
In summary, the fighting sequences in this game seem refreshingly new, a welcome change following Daybreak II’s similarity to its predecessor, except for the introduction of Quick Arts during combat. However, one issue I noticed is that with all the modifications made to action combat, the camera lock-on can reveal its flaws at times. One late-game battle, in particular, had a noticeable problem with this, but it didn’t spoil the overall experience.
Kai no Kiseki feels emblematic of everything Trails has ever been; and while that means that some of Trails’ weaknesses are more apparent than ever, at the same time the heart of the series has never been more clear. Part of why I loved Trails through Daybreak so much when I played it at the Japanese release was how it felt like Falcom wanted to take a more deliberate approach to how they handled their writing, and across both Daybreak II and Kai no Kiseki I’m more confident than ever that Falcom knows exactly what story they want to tell, both for Calvard and the Trails series as a whole.
The wait for the next Trails game will undoubtedly be prolonged, but considering the anticipation now, it seems like the delay could be justified. Kai no Kiseki -Farewell, O Zemuria- stands as a tribute to the previous games in the series and serves as a bold declaration of future intentions. Nihon Falcom is gearing up to give Trails an explosive farewell rather than a quiet one.
As a devoted fan, I had the privilege of delving into “The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki – Farewell, O Zemuria”, courtesy of the kind provision from Nihon Falcom themselves.
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2024-11-06 00:56