A reunion 20 years within the making.
Bringing collectively characters from Nihon Falcom’s Trails within the Sky trilogy, Trails from Zero and to Azure, and the 4 Trails of Chilly Metal video games, Trails into Reverie serves as a dream-like bookend to almost twenty years of unimaginable turn-based RPGs. It’s price highlighting that given all the historical past and acquainted faces that inform Trails into Reverie, you’ll be prone to derive extra enjoyment based mostly on how lots of the aforementioned titles you’ve already accomplished. Reverie represents an exquisite ship off for its endearing and expansive solid. Its use of a singular three-pronged narrative outweighs the shortage of sidequests, however there’s no ignoring the efficiency hiccups that usually crop up, which make the Change model a transparent compromise.
The story takes place after the occasions of Chilly Metal IV and begins with the liberation of Crossbell, the house of protagonist Lloyd Bannings and his Particular Assist Part squadmates. Because the individuals of Crossbell are about to rejoice their independence, former governor Rufus Albarea marches in with a military at his again and pronounces himself Supreme Chief, with the purpose of unifying your complete world below his–and Crossbell’s–rule.
What makes Trails into Reverie distinct from its predecessors is the best way through which you play from the attitude of three separate protagonists and might change between them roughly at will. At occasions, you’ll be compelled to swap amongst Rean Schwarzer, Lloyd, and a masked determine identified solely as “C”. Seeing the identical plot unfold from a special viewpoint provides a welcome taste to the story, and regardless of some uneven pacing, the tip result’s a satisfying journey that followers of the sequence are certain to like. I discovered the runtime slightly shorter in comparison with lots of the earlier video games, however fortuitously there’s a first rate quantity of additional content material to mess around with.
Every protagonist has a darkish mirror of their possession that transports them to a spot known as the Reverie Hall, a multi-floor dungeon that homes most of that further content material. Throughout the dungeon you possibly can gather orbs from defeated enemies that may be exchanged for mini-games, particular cutscenes, in-game objects, and even new characters to help you in battle. The flooring of the dungeon will also be rearranged to supply a brand new problem; missions connected to your time within the Hall but additionally your achievements in the primary story award shards that may be cashed in for advantages each out and in of the Reverie Hall. Trial keys might be picked up inside the dungeon and permit set teams of characters to tackle difficult bouts that may supercharge their talents. All in all, there’s a lot of distraction to be discovered right here, however you possibly can end the sport with out partaking in every little thing the Hall has to supply.
The fight and presentation of the 4 Trails of Chilly Metal titles are adopted for Trails into Reverie, and there’s loads of welcome English voicework after the latest pair of Crossbell video games launched on Change with out it. Given the sizable solid–together with over 50 playable characters–the huge script getting English voices in any respect was fantastic to listen to. One minor addition to fight is the United Fronts mechanic, which lets you herald each your present occasion and back-up members for a serious assault that damages foes and gives an assortment of buffs. In any other case, this top-of-the-line battle system stays basically (and fortuitously) unchanged, and it undoubtedly ain’t broke.
A side of Trails into Reverie that basically stands out is simply the way it rewards those that have caught with the sequence from the start. Seeing bracers from Trails within the Sky’s Liberl Kingdom, Class VII and different classmates from Chilly Metal’s Thors Army Academy, and so lots of the charming of us in and round Crossbell makes for an expertise that feels very very like a highschool reunion. Nary an hour passes with out an outdated good friend popping as much as say whats up or be part of your ever-expanding roster of heroes, and earlier than lengthy members from completely different teams are amalgamating and heading off to finish separate missions, which provides gamers the chance to outfit a brand new occasion and grasp their distinctive Craft and S-Craft strikes.
It’s no secret that the Nintendo Change is beginning to present its age, and after reviewing Chilly Metal III, VI, and Trails from Zero on the platform, I can safely say that Trails into Reverie outdoes all of them by way of efficiency points. Overly frequent loading screens occurring between cutscenes–typically lasting longer than the scenes themselves–actually put a damper on one’s enjoyment of the story, significantly within the last hours of the sport. In additional populated out of doors areas, just like the capital metropolis of Heimdallr, the framerate dips a lot that there’s basically no distinction between how your character runs in regular mode or the toggleable “Excessive-Pace Mode”. When exploration of those metropolis areas (or actually any space full of NPCs or enemies) is so hampered by the Change {hardware}, it’s unimaginable to not lengthy for a extra highly effective piece of tech. It ought to be famous, although, that these points are far more outstanding in handheld mode in comparison with docked mode.
Whereas it will not be my favourite Trails recreation, Reverie continues to be a implausible conclusion to the adventures of Rean, Lloyd, and the remainder of their comrades and confidants. Whereas the pseudo substitute of sidequests with facet tales found within the Reverie Hall doesn’t fairly supply the identical success, there’s no denying the sheer quantity of issues to do inside this central hub space. It’s additionally very pleasant to spend a pair hours with one group in a single space of the continent after which shift over to a special group to compensate for how their mission goes. The stopping factors the place the sport forces you to select up one other protagonist’s journey are pure and work nicely, and the fight and music are as partaking as ever. Any RPG fan who hasn’t performed a Trails recreation wants to search out time to treatment that evident oversight, and know that you simply’ll have a charming reunion-like expertise ready for you with Trails into Reverie. Even when it takes ending a set of 40-plus hour RPGs to get there.