Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter review

Joshua Bright is no more, perhaps he never was. The ghost of a boy that was always at Estelle’s side has disappeared in the wind, the only evidence that he ever existed at all in the form of his harmonica and a lingering kiss on Estelle’s lips. Determined to find him and slap some sense into the fool, Estelle embarks on a journey across Liberl once more to learn more about the Society of Ouroboros, Joshua, and to grow strong enough to face them both. 

If you’ve played last year’s Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, you know exactly what you’re getting in Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter. The game plays exactly the same, and I’m not really sure it’s worth either of our times to really rehash gameplay when my review of that previous game is right here and still very relevant. The only changes you need to know are that Estelle has a slightly different field combo, with a poke as her second hit that takes a while to get used to, but largely you’re just picking up where you left off mechanically. You start the game at level 30 or so (sadly importing your 1st Chapter save doesn’t carry over your level like the original game, so no level 50 Estelle off the bat), and while you are reset to the first tier of Quartz you have all your slots and all the previous game’s Crafts unlocked. You only get stronger from there, but enemies are also stronger to compensate. You’ve still got the same dichotomy of real-time and turn-based combat and will explore mostly the same areas, so it all feels just as fun and polished as ever. 

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter review — Falling in love all over again

Let’s walk this trail one more time

GAMINGTRENDDavid Flynn

The real reason you’d want to play 2nd Chapter is for the story. I know I for one have been delighting in people’s reactions to 1st Chapter’s cliffhanger, particularly for those who chose not to dive into the original SC and instead wait for this remake, and everything set up in 1st pays off greatly here in 2nd. I knew that going in, so I was mostly judging the new localization and voice acting, both of which feel substantially improved from 1st. Liberl is now pronounced correctly, other already established terms have been corrected to match the rest of the series, and the voice direction is a lot more solid. If you’ve played SC, you know there’s one scene in particular about 2/3rds of the way through the game that is pivotal to Estelle and Joshua’s characters—you know, THAT scene—and I have to say they knock it out of the park here.

Early on in the game, you’re asked to choose who will be your companion for most of the adventure: Scherazard or Agate. As I went with Agate in the original, I picked Schera here, and while I don’t think her route is as strong as Agate’s, I still thoroughly enjoyed her unique contributions to the adventure and mentoring of Estelle. I would recommend newcomers pick Agate though, as his story is a big highlight of 2nd Chapter and is set up better with him at your side for most of the game. 

The majority of the game is spent like the first, going from town to town across Liberl solving strange incidents that connect in some way. This time though, you get to keep your party members as they join for the whole adventure. Once you pick up Kloe in Ruan, she’s ride or die until the end; barring certain sequences where Estelle is solo. Olivier is the only member to come and go often, but there’s enough overlap in skills with Tita that he’s not missed too much (I didn’t use him much regardless). Everyone still feels useful here, something I couldn’t say in the original about Schera or, shockingly, Estelle. 

Estelle is still the party’s all-rounder, but in the original that meant she couldn’t really keep up with the rest of the roster being highly specialized. Here that means she’s just a powerhouse no matter what, so much so that your party composition doesn’t feel like it matters a ton when Estelle can just decimate anything in her path given enough time. Her biggest problem was survivability; while she’s not a glass cannon, she can die pretty quickly if you’re not on top of her health. As long as you’re paying attention though it’s not much of an issue, so my party choices were mostly focused on healing and buffs. Becoming stupidly powerful is part of Trails’ appeal, however, and it was pretty cathartic to tear through the game when the original gave me a lot of trouble. Keep up your health and buffs, pay attention to enemy defense and arts defense stats, and using Earth Guard when up against super powerful bosses should be enough to get you through Normal difficulty. 

Convenience and quality of life features from 1st return here. You don’t have to worry about missing any books or side quests as they’re all marked on the map once they become available and most story progression points where those things would expire are clearly indicated, though not all. You’re expected to do pretty much everything the game has to offer, as enemies were able to keep up with my level and overall strength throughout the game. I was incredibly powerful, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t die a few times to bosses or monster encounters. Still, I can’t help but feel the gameplay is less engaging here overall when enemy encounters feel a bit like a formality to further the story and keep you leveled.

It’s still a ton of fun and that story is fantastic, but I still overall prefer Estelle and Joshua’s first adventure in both their incarnations. Something about the slice of life storytelling, slow pace, and needing to put in a little work to break the game speaks to me more. I’m in the minority there, and this game’s probably going to blow newcomers and veterans away. I went in expecting that, though, and was still surprised at how improved 2nd Chapter felt over SC and 1st in some aspects. I really hope Falcom keeps these remakes going for just one more entry so we can get 3rd in this same style.