Part II
Fans of Trails were able to get an official localised version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero less than a year ago. When the game was first released in 2010 for the PSP, it was never released internationally, depriving gamers outside of China and Japan of the opportunity to experience the Crossbell Arc of the larger Legend of Heroes plot. The game that first got me interested in the Trails series was Zero, which I thought was a very fun RPG (although rather talkative).
As excellent as it was, naturally, Zero only addressed the first segment of the Crossbell Arc. The finale of the game left me eagerly awaiting its 2011 sequel, Trails to Azure, which will debut outside of China and Japan next week, even if it didn't seem like a half-game. Considering the strong connection between Zero and Azure, I'm relieved that NIS America didn't keep us waiting too long to play it.
Falcom is the developer
NIS America is the publisher. Publish date: March 14, 2023 MSRP (Digital): $39.99; Physical: $49.99
Join the club if you've never heard of the Trails series. Even though I possess two Cold Steel games on my PS Vita, I haven't had nearly enough free time since September to play the remainder of the series, despite the fact that Trails from Zero made a fantastic impact. But since I was so curious to see how this whole adventure came to an end, I gladly made time for Trails to Azure.
Only a month has passed since the events of Trails from Zero before the start of Trails from Azure. The protagonist Elie MacDowell and Lloyd Bannings continue to lead the Special Support Section (SSS), but this time they are joined by Noel Seeker and the absurdly dubbed Wazy Hemisphere. Those latter two characters should be familiar to you if you played Zero, since they played a significant role in the storyline.
Almost all of the characters from Trails from Zero are really returning for Azure. I have to warn you about picking up this novel mid-way through; there is a helpful refresher option that will tell you who the main characters are and what occurred in the previous installment. Although it was good to get a recap of some of the expanded cast for someone who had not seen Zero since October, the synopses given in Azure don't really capture the essence of why some of these characters are so memorable. in particular with KeA. To really understand her role in the plot arc, you needed to have been there from the start.
Since Zero, Azure hasn't really altered all that much in terms of fighting. You may still use physical attacks, orbal arts (magic), crafts (skills), and more potent abilities known as S-Crafts to defeat opponents in turn-based fights on a grid. In addition to group rushes, which occur at random, and two-person combo crafts strikes, you may still outmanoeuvre an opponent by hitting them from behind in combat. One addition to the fighting system of the game is Burst. With the exception of a few boss bouts, I haven't considered this to be a very significant improvement. However, it may provide your team some advantages in combat, such as accelerating your party's attack speed.
Master Quartz is also new to Azure. To enable your characters to employ Orbal Arts in combat, you must have regular quartz. As they assemble their party, players are invited to freely switch them out. As they advance in level and acquire new skills, Master Quartz are supposed to be retained. Unlike normal quartz, Master Quartz may only be equipped with one kind per character.I see that my review-in-progress doesn't mention much about Trails to Azure, but that's only because the game is so identical to its predecessor. There isn't really much new to say about my last journey to Crossbell, other from minor adjustments like the Master Quartz's debut and a few quality of life adjustments (smell you later, riding the bus, etc.).