The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero Reviews
The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero is a very bad remaster of a very good game. While the story of the SSS and the journey through Crossbell must be played by any fan of the series and the gameplay holds up surprisingly well even today, the PS4 version leaves so much to be desired that it is only recommended for those who can't afford to play it on another platform.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Trails from Zero is a game that’s been out for over 10 years already, thus even a remaster won’t be able to fully transform the old school looks to something we’d expect in a modern game. Positively speaking, it still generates a retro feel JRPG with classic control schemes. Compared to its other titles, this particular Trails series has the smallest world and the protagonists are not as ‘heroic’ as we’d expect, rather close to an average joe, while they still go though all the rough adventures like any other hero would. This unique plot kind of makes them the most realistic heroes they’d ought to be, and they also never split apart during their journey and keep as a tight knit unit until the end. It’s inevitable that there are some nit picks to be found but if you’re into any other 2D JRPGs, Trails from Zero will keep you entertained as much as any other JRPGs would.
Review in Korean | Read full review
It's a shame that NIS and Falcom both decided to bring Trails from Zero in Europe only after the vastly superior Trails of Cold Steel series. This way a very solid if formulaic JRPG as this does not get the attention it deserves, due also to a lazy remastering process.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All in all, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is a unique experience. If you love worldbuilding, modernizing fantasy worlds, and urban fantasy, you should check it out. If you’re allergic to long cutscenes and extraneous infodumps, you should avoid it. Love it or hate it, Trails from Zero clearly knows what it is and what it’s doing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go buy all of Trails of Cold Steel so I can find out what happens in Zemuria next.
A porting with some nice improvements to keep up with the times, but still dedicated to a nostalgic audience of classic JRPGs.
Review in Italian | Read full review
All in all, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is a JRPG good enough to be enjoyed on its own, but whose narrative and storyline take on added weight when there is the context of the Sky and Cold Steel saga behind it. Still, the narrative's focus on a small scale allows it to sell a very personal and intriguing world, with the more 'retro' soundtrack, gameplay and graphics helping the euphony. It is genuinely sad that there are two visually different versions between PS4, Switch and PC, however this is an adventure worth experiencing for fans of the genre regardless of platform of choice.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
A great JRPG with an excellent story backed up by a fantastic soundtrack and engaging combat.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is an outstanding JRPG with a great story, memorable characters, solid turn-based combat, and an absolutely amazing soundtrack. Going back to my question in the beginning, was the game worth the wait? The answer is a resounding yes. While the game’s localization can be a bit rough in some places, this shouldn’t hold you back from experiencing this title. I highly recommend this game to fans of the franchise, JRPG fans, and even newcomers. For the price of $39.99, it is definitely worth it.
Even after more than a decade, The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero is an RPG well worth the time of fans of its series and newcomers alike. A great cast of characters and an interesting story, along with a ton of quality of life improvements, make this still feel as modern as anything coming out today. While the main plot could have come into focus a bit sooner, and I do wish that the return of some beloved characters hadn’t come at the expense of our core cast, I’m already excited for the next chapter, Trails to Azure, which is set to release next year.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is another excellent Trails JRPG with a memorable cast of characters and an engaging narrative. The game stays true to the identity of the Trails series while foreshadowing implications for subsequent games. A strong and well-rounded JRPG awaits in Crossbell following the success of the Trails in the Sky trilogy.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is yet another solid game in Falcom’s rich legacy of RPGs. Issues like the lack of an English dub, slow game speed, and the strange sidequest system add up and do bring the experience down somewhat. Despite these issues, Trails from Zero is a game that manages to successfully and smartly craft an experience that stands out from its contemporaries.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is a very beefy RPG that is way longer if the speed-up functions are never used. The imaginative premise and complex battle system are what makes it stand out. The text can be really long-winded, even for RPG fans, but it all pays off for the diligent reader with patience to parse it all. Regretfully, there is no English voice acting - a first for The Legend of Heroes. While that is initially disappointing, the realization of the voice acting padding out an already very long RPG quells the desire.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is a fun JRPG with a great setting, story, and cast of characters. Since it took so long to come to the west it does show its PSP roots in the visuals and the PlayStation 4 version is inferior to the other versions. Despite those things though this is worth experiencing for anyone who is a fan of the Cold Steel games or those who want to jump in for the first time.
Fortunately, Lloyd and the rest of the SSS make for likable characters that you can't help but root for. The dialogue-heavy second half of the game can drag a little bit, but the cumulative experience is still a positive one that I would recommend to RPG fans. With Trails to Azure coming in 2023, the stable of Falcom titles on Switch continues to grow, and there's Zero reason to be unhappy about that.
Redeeming a fantasy metropolitan police department is a strangely pedestrian setup for a JRPG. Forgettable plot aside, Zero features some of the best writing and character narratives in the genre.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero takes us back to the formation of the SSS, an organization Switch gamers will know from the Trails of Cold Steel games. It also takes us back to a relatively simpler system that's perfectly sized for JRPG adventuring on the go.
Though Trails' usual splendor of combat options here should come as no surprise, what's striking with this year's remastering is how well this once portable-only entry has translated across to more modern-day portable screens alike.
Western fans of The Legend of Heroes can finally officially experience this amazing lynchpin entry of the series and how the Special Support Section came together!
Trails from Zero is kind of a miracle in its own right, the fact that we got a Western release after so many years, and that Trails from Azure is right around the corner, still feels surreal. But, for all its strengths, this is still a game from more than a decade ago, that was originally designed for the PSP. If you can get past that, then Trails from Zero won’t disappoint, and whether you are a series veteran or a newcomer, it provides a wonderful world in which you can truly lose yourself for hours at a stretch.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero puts together a politically engaging story, fun gameplay, and likable heroes into one epic RPG.