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The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Hailed as one of the largest, longest and most meticulously detailed turn-based JRPG series of all time, this first chapter in the ongoing Trails saga sets the stage for what's quickly become Ys developer Nihon Falcom's most popular and best-selling franchise in their entire 30+ year history.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-08-31 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
80 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Pretty good game. Fairly long but not too grindy RPG with tactical combat. Very story focused and feels like a visual novel in places, especially in the final chapter. Straightforward game so you won't get lost or…”
“Played this game on the recommendation of a local gambling addict 47. The game is decent, but it's old, so it would feel lacking some essential game mechanics. The story is good, though I was able to predict some of the…”
“What a game. I heard about this series only recently, and after hearing some basic selling points like: - "Every game is a continues an interconnected storyline that builds on the same world" - "You meet characters from…”
28 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Pretty good game. Fairly long but not too grindy RPG with tactical combat. Very story focused and feels like a visual novel in places, especially in the final chapter. Straightforward game so you won't get lost or…”
“The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC is one of these JRPGs that starts small but slowly grows into something truly great ^^ The game takes place in the kingdom of Liberl, a peaceful and technologically devolping…”
“22 year old game with more heart and soul than most modern releases. I can't wait to play the 2nd chapter. Amazing characters, amazing story, fun gameplay.”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Peak in the Sky. I bought this knowing absolutely nothing about it, turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time and I already bought the entire series. The retro visuals, the combat, the music, the plot and…”
“The original classic RPG and it still holds up beautifully. The characters are endearing, the world-building is incredibly detailed, and the music is fantastic. Falcom laid the foundation for one of the best JRPG series…”
“My first trails game and amazing first impression. I loved the combat and the depth of the Orbments. The music was really good (especially the Zeiss theme) I would honestly give it a 8.3-8.5/10. The concept of switching…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Pretty good game. Fairly long but not too grindy RPG with tactical combat. Very story focused and feels like a visual novel in places, especially in the final chapter. Straightforward game so you won't get lost or…”
“This is the starting point of one of the best series I have ever played, spanning 13 titles to date (for now). If you are looking for a journey that rewards your time like no other, start here.”
“Great engaging story, great turn-based combat, and a lot of content. I also like the fact it has difficulty levels allowing you to replay at harder difficulty. Works great in Linux. If using Linux I recommend using…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Peak in the Sky. I bought this knowing absolutely nothing about it, turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time and I already bought the entire series. The retro visuals, the combat, the music, the plot and…”
“Negative points: A lot of relevant content that's missable. Positive points: The cities, there's nothing as interesting as the scenery and the cities themselves. If you play many games at the same time and have a bad…”
17 of the 103 reviews raise this · 15 of them still recommend the game.
“Starts a bit slow but each chapter added more character and world building. I really enjoyed my time playing it and I'm excited to continue the trilogy.”
“Prologue feels kind of slow but it just gets immensely better from there on (specially that final chapter)”
“A coming of an age story featuring igh school age teens that are in *Checks notes* Police training In my playtime I missed most quests for 2 towns cause I genuinely did not find the correct time slot to do them. I also…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“I actually like the game, but I wouldn't recommend it. It hasn't aged well. It's far too slow of a burn. I think it might be better to just pick the series up X games in, where the story and game mechanics aren't so…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“Played this game on the recommendation of a local gambling addict 47. The game is decent, but it's old, so it would feel lacking some essential game mechanics. The story is good, though I was able to predict some of the…”
“I actually like the game, but I wouldn't recommend it. It hasn't aged well. It's far too slow of a burn. I think it might be better to just pick the series up X games in, where the story and game mechanics aren't so…”
“story is good ,it's more about story than gameplay”
3 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Legendary JRPG, I even suggest this OVER the remake- mostly because the remake renames NPCs which is VERY important for immersion in this highly persistent world. What, does Gung-Ho think their going to get the rights…”
“Great story telling and good mechanics. I did not feel lost at all. As someone who just started getting into the series i really cant complain. The story pacing is pretty good it did not feel rushed. Cliffhanger was not…”
“After finishing Final Fantasy series I wanted another RPG with a great story and found Trails in the sky first episode on PS5. In the net i found that it was a remake and I wanted to experience the original at the same…”
3 of the 103 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is a charming JRPG with fantastic story, interesting characters and wonderful music. The best part is that the world has rich history and the plot has some fun twists and turns.…”
“Love this series! A few glitchy achievements in this one but managed to get them done, remember to save before opening each chest if you are going for 100%!”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 94.0% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“It's not a big epic adventure where you save the world from an evil sorcerer and kill the god of death, or travel back in time to stop a mad king from destroying the world. It's two kids travelling around, seeing the world, making friends, helping people, and learning how to…”
— a player, Steam review · 286 hrs played“What a well-crafted game. I can really feel the thought put into the story. People may call it slow but they're just dopamine addicted monkeys that don't know what delayed gratification even if it hit them in the face.”
— a player, Steam review · 27 hrs played“The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky: The First Chapter is a story-focused, turn-based party RPG. It’s as dense as its name suggests, and that density is exactly why I liked it. There’s a remake, though I’m not sure it was necessary. I played the original for the first time…”
— a player, Steam review · 49 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
DirectX9 version out of beta!
The DirectX9 version is now considered officially out of beta! Note to existing players: You may need to open the DX9 configuration before running the game if you don't go back to DX8 mode! I'm offici
DirectX9 version out of beta!
The DirectX9 version is now considered officially out of beta! Note to existing players: You may need to open the DX9 configuration before running the game if you don't go back to DX8 mode! I'm offici
Trails series updates
Our wonderful developer, Sara, is updating the Trails games with some new features! Turbo mode! DirectX 9! Other fanciness! Full blog with details here! If you have feedback or encounter any issues wi
Trails series updates
Our wonderful developer, Sara, is updating the Trails games with some new features! Turbo mode! DirectX 9! Other fanciness! Full blog with details here! If you have feedback or encounter any issues wi
Patch Notes - April 26th, 2017
Hey guys, Leading up to the launch of Trails in the Sky the 3rd, we've been doing a flurry of patches for Trails in the Sky ("FC") and its sequel Second Chapter ("SC"). Normally, I don't post informat
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | RPG |
| Player tags | JRPG · Story Rich · RPG · Anime · Great Soundtrack · Turn-Based · Female Protagonist · Fantasy · Adventure · Singleplayer · Turn-Based Strategy · Classic (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Partial Controller Support · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * * |
| Achievements | 27 |
| Official site | http://www.trailsinthesky.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows XP Processor: Pentium III 550 MHz Memory: 512 MB RAM Graphics: 32 MB VRAM, 3D accelerator compatible w/ DirectX 9.0c DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 3 GB available space Sound Card: Compatible with DirectX 9.0c