''The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd'' is a 2007
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'' series, and serves as the final entry in the ''Trails in the Sky'' arc.
''Trails in the Sky the 3rd'' first released in Japan for
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 ...
and later 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, ...
. It did not see an English release until 2017 due to the game's large amount of text necessary to translate. A port to the
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
was released in 2013, while a remaster 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 ...
was released in 2016; both were only released in Japan.
Gameplay
The game plays similarly to its predecessors, being a
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 ...
with
turn-based
In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based.
Real-time
Real-time games have game time progress cont ...
battles, but this time enemies have affinities to the three higher elements of time, space and mirage. Other additions are the turn bonuses of "rush", allowing the player to take two actions at once, "guard", which nullifies any damage, "vanish", which makes a target disappear for a few turns, and "death", which gives the attack the effect of an instant death. Throughout the games' dungeons the player will find doors engraved with symbols of the moon, stars and the sun, which trigger, respectively, long story scenes, short story scenes, and mini-games. Those scenes usually tell the story of past events and may feature battles.
Save data from the Windows, PSP, and PS3 versions of ''Second Chapter'' unlock bonus content when playing ''the 3rd''.
Additionally, save data for ''the 3rd'' is transferable from the PSP to the PS3, allowing the player to continue where they had left off.
Plot
The game follows Septian Church secret agent Kevin Graham, who is sent to an otherworldly dimension known as Phantasma. Other characters from the series are similarly summoned to Phantasma, and Kevin works with them to investigate the realm and how to escape it, coming to terms with his past along the way. ''Sky the 3rd'' foreshadows several plot elements that are seen in later arcs.
Development
''
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky'' was initially planned to be released as one singular game, but the size and scope grew so much that Falcom had to either pare down the game, or split it up.
They chose the latter, and eventually split it into two parts, ''First Chapter'' (''FC'') and ''Second Chapter'' (''SC''). Development later started on an epilogue, which became ''the 3rd''.
While the first two entries focused on the more upbeat adventures of Estelle and Joshua, ''the 3rd'' shifted its focus on telling a darker story following different protagonists.
After ''FC'' successful launch on Windows,
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 ...
showed renewed interest in localization of ''the 3rd'', contingent on the success of ''SC''. In 2013, Xseed partnered with translation company
Carpe Fulgur to translate ''SC''; ''the 3rd'' release largely hinged on its success. Ken Berry, vice president of Xseed Games, stated that despite having the right to release ''the 3rd'', they would be willing to allow others to translate them as well due to them being such large undertakings.
Release
''The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd'' was initially released in Japan for Windows on June 28, 2007. A port 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, ...
was released in Japan on July 24, 2008. A
high definition port for the
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
was released in Japan on June 27, 2013.
A remaster, ''The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the Third Evolution'', was released in Japan 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 ...
on July 14, 2016. An English localization of ''Trails in the Sky the 3rd'' by Xseed Games was released worldwide for Windows on May 3, 2017.
In 2011, publisher Aeria Games announced a mobile version of the ''Trails in the Sky'' games for North America, but no details have been released since the initial announcement. Xseed said that they had no connection to the potential Aeria Games release.
Reception
''Trails in the Sky the 3rd'' 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 ...
.
Upon release in Japan, the PlayStation Portable version received a score of 30/40 from video game magazine ''
Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
''.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 3rd, The
2007 video games
Japanese role-playing video games
Nihon Falcom games
PlayStation 3 games
PlayStation Portable games
PlayStation Vita games
Post-traumatic stress disorder in fiction
Turn-based role-playing video games
Single-player video games
The Legend of Heroes
Trails in the Sky the 3rd
''The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd'' is a 2007 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, and serves as the final en ...
Video game sequels
Video games developed in Japan
Windows games
Xseed Games games