The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure

Trails to Azure is one of my favorite games of all time, and I do strongly recommend it. I'm giving a negative review for THIS release based on principle. Just like its predecessor, nearly all of Azure's visuals have unnecessary and sloppy AI upscaling. Even though the textures are a higher resolution than previous releases, most, if not every single visual in the game lacks the detail, consistency, and character that was present originally. Everything functions, but looks distractingly ugly and lazy. The best experience for playing Azure is probably the old Geofront patch, but that's such a pain to set up, and the console releases either have the same AI problems or lack features, so the most painless way to properly play this game is probably to just suck it up with this version. If you can get past the AI visuals by just tolerating them or modding in untainted PS Vita / PSP ones, then Azure is an amazing game that I highly recommend. As for the game itself, despite all of my problems with the visuals, it is probably my 2nd favorite game of all time, right behind Trails in the Sky SC, and I would (subjectively) rate it a 10/10 with fixed visuals. Everything set up in the first game is utilized amazingly, and there's tons of new gameplay additions to keep things fresh. The main cast of characters is very well written and extremely likeable, and ended up replacing the Sky trilogy's cast as my favorite. The story of Azure helps to elevate Zero even higher, and puts the pair together as one of the greatest JRPG stories ever made (minus the small caveat below.) Despite my subjective 10/10 rating, I do have a few problems with the game, which would probably put the score at an objective 8.5/10: - The volume of side content in the middle third of the game makes the storys pacing slow down significantly, and can make progressing a slog - and I say that as a mega Trails fan with tons of patience. - The game ends very abruptly and leaves you wanting for a proper conclusion, which wont come for multiple games. I would imagine the experience to be better knowing this going in, so you dont come out disappointed.