The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon Reviews
Is space really the final frontier?
Eventually, I do hope to circle back to Trails Beyond the Horizon, with a nice full notebook and a character interaction chart that makes Xenoblade Chronicles X's look small. The systems are fun to interact with - when they're not trapping me in what is supposed to be a horror game - and I want to be able to fully follow what's going on. Even if it takes me 700 hours across Switch 2, my PC, and a Steam Deck to get there.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through the Horizon is the franchise's first step into its endgame, and for the most part, it sticks the landing admirably. The gameplay hasn't changed much from the previous entries, but the overall storytelling and character beats are a massive step up from Daybreak 2. Its biggest flaws are some overall slow pacing and the fact that you'll need a lot of prior Trails knowledge to feel invested in the game. It's nothing that would stop longtime fans from having fun. The whole franchise is available now, so it's the best time to catch up - until the next main game comes out, that is.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon is an incredible success that puts the franchise back on track. With excellent combat, a (nearly) flawless story, and only a few technical issues that don't detract from the experience, it's a must-have game for fans of one of the best JRPG franchises of all time.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon is a massive game with oodles of familiar and fresh characters, locales, mechanics, and quests. It can actually be a bit too much at times yet it all comes together to form one of the best-crafted modern RPGs. 🌌
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon delivers a strong, story-driven JRPG that feels like a pivotal chapter in the long-running series. Its improved narrative pacing, deeper character interactions, and evolving action-strategy combat system make the adventure consistently engaging, especially for longtime fans. While the game remains less accessible to newcomers and shows only modest visual evolution, its world-building and storytelling remain standout strengths. Overall, this is a confident and technically solid entry that successfully moves the Trails saga forward.
Review in French | Read full review
For veterans, Trails beyond the Horizon feels like a reward for years of investment. For newcomers, it may feel daunting, but it also stands as a testament to what long form storytelling in games can achieve when creators trust their audience to follow along. The Legend of Heroes is no longer just telling stories about nations and heroes. It is telling a story about a civilization standing at the threshold of the unknown, asking whether it is ready to step beyond the horizon.
This is a game that demands a time investment of around 100 hours to fully complete. Its greatest strength lies in its robust combat system and—for those most familiar with the franchise—in its ability to tie up loose ends from story arcs begun two decades ago. However, what is a strength for some players is, for others, a hindrance to the experience due to its complex story, which, while attempting to be more accessible through glossaries and summaries, still presents a considerable barrier to entry due to the density of its backstory. Despite all this, the characters and story are so well-written that it has left us wanting to learn more about the past adventures of this group of protagonists.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Trails Beyond the Horizon is not the end of the Calvard saga, and the pacing of its story is a sign that we still have a long way to go before finally reaching the end of the series' long narrative. Despite this, the reunion of Van, Rean, and Kevin resulted in an interesting game, where some moments of its narrative reach a new peak, and its gameplay is undoubtedly its main strength.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon doesn’t try to hide what it is. Fans should be the ones to play this game. They know Zemuria’s story from generation to generation and across countries. Its best features are the world it creates, the way characters grow, and the depth of its combat. Its flaws are oversized systems, sluggish progress, and a hostile attitude toward newbies.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon builds on a solid and familiar structure, very similar to that of its two predecessors, while significantly deepening its connections with the other chapters of the Trails series. Although its narrative suffers from notable pacing issues, the experience is upheld by a charismatic cast and a robust combat system.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon delivers the massive narrative convergence fans have waited decades for.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon is a great next game in the series and sets the bar high for future entries in the series. The implications of the finale are worth playing through, and the buildup was exciting and filled with twists and turns I didn't expect. The great gameplay is back as well, adding new elements to real-time and turn-based battles that keep the action going and give more options for strategic opportunities. Bringing all the characters into conversations sometimes feels forced, and combat can be very unfair with one wrong move, but this is ultimately a fantastic experience that has made me extremely excited for the next Trails game. On top of that, it's a joy to play on the Steam Deck. A combination of settings can get a great balance for smooth gameplay with solid visuals, which is perfect for the long, grindy experience that the game specializes in. Ultimately, it's well worth experiencing on the Steam Deck, and it keeps the Trails series as one that's great to take on the go.
Not a big change from the last game, but The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon doesn't need to be. It works by making the Calvard arc more stable, improving hybrid fighting, and making the story more consistent. It does have some problems, like sluggish movement, simple dungeon design, and old-fashioned graphics, but they no longer overpower its good points. Fans of Trails for a long time say it finally feels like it's working well with itself.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon is a big RPG – sometimes a little TOO big, especially with its dialogue – but ultimately, it makes for a brilliant experience. It does take its time getting to the point, but between the brilliant characters, the perfectly refined combat, and the polished visuals, this really does feel like the series at its highest point. If you’ve stuck with the series for this long, you already know you’re going to play it, and trust me, you’ll love it… just expect a bit of a long ride.
A celestial payoff for the Zemurian faithful, Beyond the Horizon masterfully weaves a decade of threads into a slick, dual-mode tapestry. While newcomers will feel they’ve crashed a private party and Act 1 moves at a tectonic pace, the thematic closure is worth every minute of mandatory reading.
Trails Beyond the Horizon maintains the narrative quality and charisma of its characters, offering a Zemuria world as detailed and immersive as ever. While some sections of the story may be denser and certain technical aspects could be improved, the experience remains quite solid within its limitations. Overall, it's an excellent installment designed for both franchise fans and players who want to give it a try and decide to start with this entry.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Trails beyond the Horizon is a modern-day masterpiece of an RPG that elevates the Trails franchise thematically with its story and structurally with its superb gameplay. The time investment pays off with many big reveals and lore drops that fans have been waiting for, along with unexpected ones. With a slew of quality-of-life improvements, meaningful new gameplay features, and a memorable and emotional story, Trails beyond the Horizon is a cut above many RPGs in the industry.
The Trails series soars to the highest level yet with Trails Beyond the Horizon. New battle techniques refresh an already satisfying combat loop, and the story has enough twists to keep players fully invested for hours upon hours. Highly recommended both for those already invested in the series and those new to the story.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails beyond the Horizon further refined the good mechanics of its predecessor, offering a compelling storyline, numerous characters, expertly crafted turn-based and real-time combat, and a host of advancements and improvements.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review