The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure

Trails to Azure is to Trails from Zero, what Sky Second Chapter is to Sky First Chapter. That is the best description of the game I can give. It is an improvement in many ways over the first game, while introducing some new elements and concluding the story that started in the previous game, bringing it all together. After having finished the game, here are some thoughts that occurred to me about what I just experienced: - Great art style and environmental design, especially in the most epic moments and places. - Master Quartz system is introduced even if in its most basic form, allowing for a bit more build variety. - The game felt engaging almost all throughout which was nice. - Gives the player a much greater understanding of the political aspect of the Trails narrative. - The game now clearly feels like a more "modern anime" compared Sky which felt like an "old/classic anime" in regards to tropes, writing and amounts of fan-service. This can be positive or negative, but for me it's the latter. There are a lot of things to talk about the story, but whoever plays this will have to discover it for themselves. Overall, I had a great time, enjoyed it a lot, and it's one of the best Trails games so far, if maybe not the best. --- Having finished two different story arc so far, I'm going to start adding my ranking of the different arcs as well as the tier list of all the games I'm working on during this journey. This is because I notice there is a difference with liking a games story and liking the game as a video game (more focused on the gameplay). Here they are: STORY ARC RANKING: (so far) 1. Sky trilogy 2. Crosswell duology GAME TIER LIST: (changes can be made until the end based on current opinion) S- Sky SC A- Azure, Sky 3rd B- Sky FC, Zero C- D- --- That's it! Next up with have the popular Cold Steel series! It's going to take a while I'm guessing. Fun times ahead!

Trails from Zero was already a nearly flawless (for its series) continuation of the Sky trilogy. However, Azure takes how good Zero was and dials it up extremely hard. The same gameplay improvements are present from Zero, however Azure also adds a lovely new system for both story and gameplay purposes: Burst. This allows for fights to be made more challenging without making enemies seem like unbeatable stat sticks (for the most part, though this isn't actually a complaint.). Azure also adds far better fast travel compared to Zero, allowing for more things to be reasonably doable each chapter, while also cutting down heavily on travel time and pointless battles. The core four cast aren't ignored at all despite adding two-ish new main members to the SSS. If anything, they (excluding arguably Tio) are expanded upon even further. The two new main cast members, Noel and Wazy are great, though there's a clear winner out of the two. The supporting cast is also incredibly strong. Combined with the story and ending, it really makes you feel like you fully understand Crossbell as a nation. Finally, the story. Naturally adds onto what already began in the Sky trilogy and Zero. While there's plenty of battles that feel sort of like filler between story segments, they're balanced out by thematically perfect fights that are both incredibly challenging at times, even on easier difficulties, but are also important for the plot. The game is full of fights that you're intended to lose, but since you can win them with some effort, it makes the story a little goofier if you imagine how utterly powerful the SSS is towards the end. Overall, a genuine masterpiece. I've heard lots of mixed things about the Erebonia quartet, but with how strong the conclusion and hints to it are in this game, I find the complaints hard to believe.

As a sequel to Trails from Zero, Trails from Azure delivers where it counts, the gameplay is slick and the characters will worm their way into your heart whether you like it or not. The plot though? Let's just say it took some creative liberties I was not entirely prepared for. A worthy successor, just maybe do not think too hard about the story.