The Nintendo Switch 2 version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon seems decent so far

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Last week, NIS America showed RPG Site some of their future games at their Los Angeles office, including The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon. We had the option to play the PlayStation 5 version, but as a longtime fan, I’ve always played Falcom games in Japanese at launch, so I played that version instead. I was much more curious about how the game would run on the Switch 2.

Let’s talk about the English localization. We got a chance to listen to the voice acting for the beginning of Rean and Kevin’s stories in Act II. Having not played a Trails game dubbed in English since the first Trails in the Sky, I’d say the dub quality seems really good so far! Sean Chiplock does a great job portraying a more mature Rean, adding a subtle roughness that suits his character arc in Beyond the Horizon. The rest of the voice cast is excellent as well; NIS America consistently delivers high-quality dubs for Falcom games, and this one appears to be no exception, though we’ve only heard a small portion of the game so far.

So, I’ve already played the game, and Scott’s going to have the full, official review out soon. But what about how it runs on the Switch 2? Mikhail will be the final word on the tech side when it launches, but things are looking really good so far. It seems like the graphics are just as good as the PlayStation 5 version. There are two graphics options: a solid 30 frames per second, or a ‘Variable’ framerate. The 30FPS option is simple enough, but the Variable mode is where it gets cool. In docked mode, it can hit up to 60FPS, but handheld mode is even better – it can go all the way up to 120FPS! Plus, it uses VRR to smooth things out and fix any little hiccups in the framerate.

The game looks and plays very well in handheld mode. While we couldn’t get an exact framerate, the variable refresh rate technology keeps things smooth, and any minor slowdowns aren’t noticeable. It’s a sharp, fluid experience. Players used to the series on Nintendo Switch will likely find it hard to go back to older versions after playing this upgraded version. Judging docked mode was trickier; we played it through OBS, which can affect how a game appears and performs, making it hard to get a truly accurate impression.

While playing in docked mode, the game’s performance occasionally slowed down, particularly in the Grim Garten area. It was difficult to determine the exact resolution the Switch 2 was using – our recording equipment capped out at 1080p and 60 frames per second. However, considering the PlayStation 5 version ran at a lower resolution than 4K in its performance mode, the Switch 2 likely aiming for 1080p at 60fps seems reasonable. I don’t have all the technical details right now – Mikhail will provide a more in-depth analysis once he’s tested the game on all platforms – but from what I’ve seen, it looks pretty good. We’ll have to see how it performs over a longer period of play!

Okay, so this is a little weird – I’ve actually already finished the game! It makes writing a ‘first impressions’ piece tricky, but I loved the Japanese version – you can find my thoughts on that linked above. The good news is, the Western release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on January 15th! Keep an eye out for Scott’s full review soon, too.

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2025-12-18 17:56