Now that we're one year removed from Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, a remake of 2004's The Legend of Heroes, Falcom is keen to carry on the same path. A direct sequel is coming, and more are on the way, it's just a matter of what those games will look like.
Toshihiro Kondo, the company's president, spoke about the current strategy in an interview with Gungho. "Since the Trails series has continued for over 20 years, I know it's not always easy to jump in from the latest title," he says, in a clip posted on Twitter.
"That's why we made Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter with beginners in mind, and our hope was for it to serve as an introduction to RPGs and JRPGs in general," he continues. "So seeing new players actually pick it up has been extremely encouraging for us."
It's a smart move. The Trails series isn't the most well-known in the RPG space when compared to the likes of Dragon Quest, Yakuza, or the monolithic Final Fantasy, and it's important for any ongoing franchise to create jumping on points.
This one worked, leading to Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter getting the go ahead. Now, there's a fork in the road: 3rd Chapter, or something else?
"2nd Chapter's development is now in its final stages, and the development team is already asking me if we're going to remake Trails in the Sky the 3rd or Trails from Zero next," he adds. "For newer fans, jumping from 2nd Chapter to the latest titles in the series, Trails Beyond the Horizon, I think, will still be a bit difficult, so in order for those players to continue enjoying the Trails series, we're hoping to continue the remakes for a while."
Why get in the way of a good thing? As you can probably guess, Trails from Zero is a prequel, which would contribute to the lore for newbies. Whichever is chosen, I bet it'll go down a storm, because once you're a JRPG sicko, you're always a JRPG sicko.
