''The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero'', known as in Japan, is a 2010

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

developed by

Nihon Falcom is a Japanese video game developer, best known for their '' Ys'', '' The Legend of Heroes'', and ''Trails'' series. The company was founded in March 1981, making them one of the oldest active video game companies. They are credited with pioneer ...

. The game is a part of the ''

Trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

'' series, itself a part of the larger ''

The Legend of Heroes ''The Legend of Heroes'', known in Japan as is a series of role-playing video games developed by Nihon Falcom. First starting as a part of the ''Dragon Slayer'' series in the late 1980s, the series evolved into its own decade-spanning, interconne ...

'' series. It takes place in Crossbell, a city-state located between two great powers fighting for control over it, and follows Lloyd Bannings and his colleagues Elie MacDowell, Randy Orlando, and Tio Plato. The four form the Special Support Section, a newly formed department of the Crossbell police. The game and its 2011 sequel, ''

Trails to Azure ''The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure'', known as in Japan, is a 2011 role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom. The game is a part of the ''Trails'' series, itself a part of the larger ''The Legend of Heroes'' series. ''Trails to Azu ...

'', form the Crossbell arc of the series. ''Trails from Zero'' was first released in Japan for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

before being ported to

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

for release in China in 2011. An enhanced port featuring improved visuals and additional

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

was released for the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

in Japan as ''Zero no Kiseki: Evolution'' in 2012. The game received an English

fan translation Fan translation (or user-generated translation) refers to the unofficial translation of various forms of written or multimedia products made by fans (fan labor), often into a language in which an official translated version is not yet available. ...

in 2020, which

NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character ...

used as a base for an official version that was released for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

, and

in September 2022.

Plot

''Trails from Zero'' is set three months after the end of ''The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd'', in the city-state of Crossbell. Uneasily situated between two great powers – the Erebonian Empire and the Calvard Republic, both of which claim sovereignty over Crossbell – the city is riven by political tensions, corruption and organized crime. The protagonist, Lloyd Bannings, is a rookie police detective. At the beginning of ''Zero'', he is assigned to the Special Support Section (SSS), an odd-jobs branch of the city's police department, together with Elie MacDowell, heiress to a political dynasty, Randolph "Randy" Orlando, a laid-back ex-soldier, and Tio Plato, a young girl and electronics genius. During ''Zero'', the SSS investigate the schemes of the city's competing crime syndicates, before stumbling over the plot of the centuries-old D∴G cult to raise a young girl, known as KeA, to godhood by turning her into the Sept-Terrion of mirage known as Demiourgos and through her, overthrow the continent's church and faith. The SSS defeat and arrest the cult's leaders and assume guardianship of KeA.

Development

''Trails from Zero'' was first released in Japan for the

and was later ported to

for release in China in 2011. It was also released for the

in Japan as ''Zero no Kiseki: Evolution'' in October 2012. This version features improved visuals and more

. The ''Evolution'' version received a remaster for the

, releasing in Japan as ''Zero no Kiseki Kai'' in April 2020. It was also released for the

in Asia by Clouded Leopard Entertainment in February 2021. Due to a variety of reasons, ''Trails from Zero'' and its sequel, ''

'', were not localized outside of Japan by the time of the Japanese release of ''

Trails of Cold Steel is a 2013 role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom. The game is a part of the ''Trails'' series, itself a part of the larger '' The Legend of Heroes'' series. It was initially released in Japan for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vi ...

''. Falcom subsequently approached

Xseed Games Xseed Games is an American video game company founded by former members of Square Enix USA. It later became a subsidiary of the Japanese game company Marvelous, providing the localization and publishing services for video games and related mat ...

, who had previously localized ''

Trails in the Sky ''The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky'' is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom. The game is the first in what later became known as the ''Trails'' series, itself a part of the larger '' The Legend of Heroes'' series. '' ...

'', and requested that a localization of ''

'' be prioritized instead, resulting in ''Trails from Zero'' and ''Trails to Azure'' being skipped. An English

was released by a team known as "Geofront" in March 2020. An official English version by

, using this as the base of the translation, was released for

, and

in North America on September 27, 2022, in Europe on September 30, and in Australasia on October 10.

Reception

''Trails from Zero'' received "generally favorable" reviews, according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, with praise going to its story, cast of characters, combat mechanics, and music. Along with ''Trails to Azure'', ''

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'' highlighted the game's "persistent overarching storyline, immersive and detailed settings, masterful character development ndunique battle system". They noted that despite the lack of an official localization at the time, the plot and characters were integral to understanding later games in the series.

Jason Schreier Jason Schreier (born May 10, 1987) is a journalist and author who primarily covers the video game industry. He worked as a news reporter for ''Kotaku'' from 2011 to 2020 and was recognized for several investigative stories, particularly on the ...

of ''

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...

'' considered the 2022 English release to be among the best games of the year.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, The 2010 video games Japanese role-playing video games Nihon Falcom games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Vita games Role-playing video games Single-player video games The Legend of Heroes Trails (series) Video games about police officers Video games developed in Japan Windows games