Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

[h1]IT'S PEAK[/h1] [h3] Introduction [/h3] It was my first time playing in the Trails series and the third time in JRPG. To be honest, I never played the original game even though I bought it. Instead, I acquired a remake that was recently released and began my journey that lasted a couple of months and over 80 hours of playtime. Finally, it was the greatest purchase I've ever made. [h3] Gameplay [/h3] I was playing on a normal difficulty because I was afraid of my first experience in a turn-based combat system, so I thought it would be easier for me to start in a balanced mode. The combat system is universal since you have two different types: action and turn-based. The action combat system needs to stun an enemy and gain an advantage in the turn-based strategy, and that's why the combat is beautiful and those two fighting types complement each other very well. I thought that I would be bored with the combat, but I'm not. First, there are various attacks that you could use during the fight: arts and crafts that have different elements, types of attacks, ranges, and recovery times after using them. Second, those animations that play during each attack are so cool with incredible effects and stylish frame composition. Even at the end of the game, I didn't feel tired of it. Every new region that you opened during the game is unique and doesn't seem the same as the previous one. Each has its own architecture, history, music, and characters. I was interested in exploring the world and chit-chatting with local NPCs. [h3] Story [/h3] Estelle and Joshua, two young rookies who perfectly fit each other. The rest of the main characters are all unique, and it's interesting to follow them. I can't highlight someone who I liked more or less. The narrative is pretty simple and a bit childish, but I wouldn't say that is some disadvantage because it doesn't rush you into tons of new information from the beginning, and you don't feel overwhelmed by it. The game almost doesn't have any difficult terms and topics, so you will feel comfortable here. Similar to every other game in this genre, there will be a lot of dialogue, so if this is your first time, you should be ready for it. I especially liked this story because you're working as a bracer. They are specialists who provide protection and help citizens of the kingdom, and they also had their own investigations in different regions. That's why after every side quest, you get bracer points that need to promote you by rank, and your main objective is to earn as many of those points as possible and get a senior rank at the end of the game. [h3] Music [/h3] Like other Falcom games, the music is remarkable and unforgettable. The most important thing is that I never get tired of it, and I liked listening to the game soundtrack playlist even outside the game. [h3] Performance [/h3] The game was wonderfully optimized and ran pretty well without any troubleshooting and crashes. Even on my quite old laptop, I got a smooth gaming experience around 60 fps on low settings. However, during high-quality effects in fights, my fps could drop significantly to 25-30 fps, but it didn't bother me. Additionally, I had a handheld game experience on my Steam Deck LCD, and there I limited my fps to 45 and had around 2.5 hours of battery life on low-medium graphics settings and without fan noise. So you definitely can play the game even if your computer is not powerful.

For once i am not a hero of ages nor am I overcoming evil with the power of friendship. So far its just a couple of kids trying to do their job with surprisingly good writing and a solid combat system.

[b] TL;DR: cool [/b] Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (or TitS) is a remake of the first title in the "Trails" Series. I've always wanted to give the Trails Series a try, but I never found a perfect entry point (and always came up with all sorts of other excuses), so I thought this would be a great way to get started. Oh boy, clueless me had no idea what I was getting myself into when downloading the FREE demo. TitS is an amazing experience with phenomenal world building, fun combat and charming characters (Sherazard <3). The biggest downside of this game is that now I want to play all the other Trails games and also have to wait for the 2nd and 3rd chapters of TitS.