ShogunRok

@CosmicJester It took me around 7 or 8 hours (going by my save data) to complete all the main quests and see most of the island.

I think you could make it to 10 or more hours quite easily if you take your time and explore absolutely everything / complete every activity.

@wildcat_kickz That's a good question, I'm not 100% sure. I don't recall picking any new decorations up but then I don't think I ever checked the shops on Awaji.

I'm willing to bet the devs must have added some new bits and pieces but I haven't seen them.

@Andee I think the character dialogue is generally very good in the Trails games, if a bit verbose at times.

Characters are often written in a way where they initially come across as walking anime tropes, but they've all got depth as you get to know them.

I'd also say that Falcom's great at bouncing personalities off one another.

Like the review says, we're 13 games in now and honestly, it's a testament to the writing that the gigantic cast is still so full of personality.

But at the same time, I can see why Trails' style of writing / storytelling won't be for everyone. Again, it's very wordy at times, and (in later games especially) it crutches on certain plot devices and character cameos.

Stomach those elements, though, and I personally think it's one of the best written JRPG franchises out there.

@dskatter Fair!

If anyone's got any questions about this one, let me know and I'll try to answer them.

Won't lie, I really felt the Shadows fatigue while reviewing this. I put a good 100+ hours into the base game (don't judge me) and I was looking forward to this DLC — but you can only fight and assassinate the same enemies so many times before the whole thing just feels lifeless.

If you're still into Shadows you'll undoubtedly enjoy this DLC, though. I just think there was potential here to improve on the base experience.

@dskatter To be fair, the story expansions are due out in 2026, so they're definitely not finished.

But yes, the corporate stink is strong with this one.

@Pandalulz Zin definitely feels big in 1st Chapter, he towers over the other party members. His attack animations are really weighty, too.

On the topic of the Daybreak games, I think my biggest criticism is what you mention. There's a real lack of exploration / travelling. Partly because most of the game is set in the same city, and partly because Van and the gang just drive everywhere.

In the Cold Steel games, you obviously have a lot of transport too, like the trains. But even then, you still get a lot of countryside to traverse on foot, and varied dungeons to fight through.

Marchen Garten should have alleviated these criticisms to some extent, but even that feels really repetitive (and the rewards are just plain bad outside of cosmetic items).

1st Chapter reminded me how much I enjoyed travelling from town to town and seeing the sights. Really helps with the game's structure and pacing, too.

@Barry_vV There's still a lot of dialogue here, but the story isn't populated by a gigantic cast of characters like it is in Daybreak, so it feels more manageable.

But yeah, this is just the way Trails games tend to be — they've all got massive scripts.

I do think 1st Chapter does a better job than Daybreak in that it has long stints of exploration gameplay between story beats, but again, there's still huge chunks of dialogue to get through.

@Agentx714 It's certainly possible that a future update will remove the cap. I can't understand why the developer's stuck to 30fps — I just can't imagine that the game becomes that demanding at any point.

Makes me think it must be an optimisation issue — like something's stopping it from hitting a smooth 60 so they just decided to cut their losses and cap it at 30.

I don't mind it too much since it's ultimately a turn-based RPG, but it's still such a weird decision.

@belmont Funnily enough, I felt burnt out on the series for the first time ever with Daybreak 2. But I think that was partly because of the time-hopping story that grew old long before the end (in my opinion).

But for me, playing through 1st Chapter really made me remember what I enjoy about the series. It feels so streamlined (in a good way) compared to the Daybreak games, which I think have become a little too complex in places for their own good.

I am looking forward to Trails beyond the Horizon, though, and seeing how it moves the overall story forward again.

@belmont Nah, nothing significant. Specific scenes have added dialogue and some are made more in-depth through the use of cutscenes (like the stage play at the academy, for example), but I don't think there are any major additions.

If you're already super familiar with the original game, the main draw of this will be to see everything reimagined in 3D, as a modern Falcom RPG.

I personally think it's worth it for the spectacle and nostalgia alone in that case, but if you're specifically looking for something new, it's a harder sell.

As for the series going nowhere, it does feel a bit like that sometimes. But I do trust Falcom to push towards a conclusion soon — I think the team just has too much respect for the series to keep dragging it out.

@Jayslow I was breezing through battles for most of the game (on the normal difficulty) but enemy health bars do get quite a bit bulkier towards the end of the game.

I think the intention is to force you into making better use of your Brave Points and team attacks. This game really rewards you for pulling out S-Crafts and the stronger Arts / Crafts as well.

Overall I think the combat balance is more in line with the Daybreak games, but there are definitely ways to demolish enemies if you have the resources.

@nessisonett High speed mode works exactly like you'd expect, and there are different options for high speed mode in both action and turn-based combat.

There are also options to skip single scenes or whole events when you pause the game during dialogue, and there's a full fast travel system. You can definitely cut your playtime down quite significantly if you want to.

@PixiebellGames I can't give a definitive answer on the new localisation because it's been so long since I read through the original script, but it seemed absolutely fine to me.

The personality's still there but it's perhaps not quite as flamboyant in places — it doesn't take as many creative liberties (based on what I remember).

And yes, there are a handful of very small grammatical errors from what I could tell. Weird little things like using 'are' instead of 'is'. A shame, but at least they're very rare.

If anyone's got any questions about the game or the review, let me know and I'll try to answer them.

Regular readers might already know I'm a big Trails fan so I was really looking forward to this remake — but even then, it went above and beyond my expectations.

The effort Falcom put into this game is clear to see in almost all aspects. Can't wait for the sequel remake!

Such a weird little concept, I'm happy to hear it's fun!

@themightyant Yeah Rogue City takes place in a series of small explorable areas. They're basically just hubs for objective markers and side quests.

Definitely not a sandbox or an open world map. The game's linear overall, you just get a bit of breathing room every now and then to soak up the atmosphere.

@Americansamurai1 I think with a slightly bigger budget and a bit more development time, a sequel could be really, really good.

@skaarj217 Yeah, both of those games are basically imitations of Euro Truck Simulator and American Truck Simulator.

There are actually a few imitators on the PS Store, trying to cash in on the fact that ETS and ATS have never been on consoles. Some of them are very cheap and nasty rip-offs designed to catch people out. It's all a bit shady.

@AFCC If you're yet to play the game I'd be tempted to wait until the fifth anniversary, which is this December.

There's been no guarantee that another update is coming, but at this point, I'd be very surprised if something wasn't being worked on for the big occasion.

@RoomWithaMoose Fair enough on the first point, but at no point does the article make out like PS Plus is some kind of boon for developers. It just points out it was an integral part of the deal from Sony's side.

Even Nava seems torn on the pros and cons of launching onto a subscription service.

@Rob3008 Yeah, we completely overlooked it as well!

@Dalamar Literally a developer saying how it helped them buy time to finish the game.

@Oram77 Yeah it's a shame when a great game misses out but I don't think we'd be able to split it. Most months just wouldn't have enough games across both categories.

But for what it's worth I do think all of this year's GOTM winners have been good choices so far.

@rjejr Whoops, fixed that. Thanks for the spot!

@Deadlyblack I was genuinely close to muting all of the voice acting towards the end of the game. I couldn't take much more of the dragon.

Would highly recommend playing in Chinese or Japanese!

@SmacLac The first couple of hours are super easy compared to what's waiting a bit later on. The boss the article mentions really is a huge difficulty spike, but I'm starting to think that the difficulty might even out again after you unlock loads of abilities.

I've beaten a couple of bosses on my first try, but most are taking anywhere between three and maybe ten attempts to get right. It's a tricky game, for sure.

@Nepp67 I can only comment on where I currently am in the game, but I'd say it lacks the nuance of Devil May Cry (let's be honest, no one adds depth like Capcom does), but I'd also say it's more complex than a typical Platinum game.

Once you unlock additional weapon types, the level of freedom you're given in terms of creating combos through weapon switching is really cool.

@Nepp67 No, thankfully, the skill trees are mostly new techniques, which adds some nice depth to the combat. They're just very linear (and I feel like some of the skills should be unlocked to begin with).

@nessisonett Haha, maybe a little bit. Obviously very different in terms of tone and structure but similar kinds of flaws!

@guacguacboo Yeah to me it does just feel like an in-depth action game with RPG elements bolted on at times. It's possible that the RPG stuff becomes more in-depth later, but right now it's just very linear skill trees and equipment that boosts your stats by tiny amounts.

I'm hoping that the equipment gets more specialised as I progress, and builds come into play. Then we might be cooking.

Also, the full review should have some better screenshots. It's so hard trying to hit the share button during combat and not mess everything up.

EDIT: The full review is live now, and unfortunately, I think the game's flaws become increasingly clear as you progress. I struggled to finish this one off, which is never a great sign.

Hopefully those of you who have already jumped in are enjoying it more than I did!

Hey everyone, sorry this isn't a full review. Code came in very late (we assume because of the day one patch), but I've played enough to post these impressions, which are hopefully useful for now.

If anyone's got any questions, let me know and I can try to answer them based on what I've played.

We should hopefully have the full review ready to go at some point next week.

I've been looking forward to this game for so long, really hoping that this isn't quite as bad as it sounds.

I'm so tired of having to wait on multiple patches just so a game actually runs properly.

@MB3108 Combat feels like a really nice mix between Daybreak and Cold Steel. I also find the battle system in Daybreak has become a bit convoluted.

@Meowmixes98 To be fair you can ignore the action combat completely if you want — it just means you can't get an advantage at the start. Not ideal but it is an option.

As per usual, it was just far too long for what was actually shown. Real lack of meaningful announcements stretched across two bloody hours we'll never get back.

Xillia is still one of my favourite Tales games so I'll definitely play this, but it's a real shame Xillia 2 isn't included. This could have easily been a definitive package.

@MichaelNau Nah, no chapter select, you just go back to the start of the game.

But on New Game+, you do get to keep your unlocked tricks and your total currency, which lets you continue to unlock things that you may have missed on your first run.

@Jammer It releases tomorrow, on the 19th August.

You can buy it by itself, but it's also included as part of this month's PS Plus Extra / Premium subscription.

@Brundleflies21 Nah, it's not on that level — but then what is? I do think Sword of the Sea comes fairly close to hitting the highs of Journey, though, and that's well worth praising.

If anyone's got any questions about the game or the review, let me know and I'll try to answer them.

As evidenced by the review, I think this is a fantastic game. Highly recommend setting a few hours aside and just blasting through it on a big TV with the volume high.

Over the moon if this is true, Xillia is still one of my favourite Tales games. But I do hope Bandai Namco doesn't get greedy, and it's a collection of both Xillia and Xillia 2.

@SuperSilverback Hahahaha, that's fair.

Madness, seems like such an easy win for everyone involved.

I want a good reason to keep playing Wilds (which I still really enjoy at its core) but fighting the same group of apex monsters over and over again for totally randomised rewards isn't it.

Might just be a case of waiting for the expansion, at this point.

@Oram77 MindsEye main course with a Gollum desert.

@Broosh Haha, makes you wonder if that game would have been greenlit back in the 90s!

@Nem It goes the other way as well, though. If publishers only give review codes to outlets / influencers who are being paid to promote the game, then the truth gets completely buried.

I get where you're coming from in that some of the extreme negativity you see online (much of it purely for clicks) is incredibly tiring, but people should be able to look for unbiased coverage of something that they're about to spend their money on.

Even the Oblivion remake is an example of this. Because there were no pre-release reviews, there was nobody to warn people of the game's bad optimisation and performance problems (which still haven't been fixed, I should add).