Thank you NIS America for sending us this game to review!

The Legend of Heroes' Trails series is one of the most unique in gaming, as it's a long-running series with sequels that directly follow one another, that spans over a dozen games now. Games four and five, known as the Crossbell duology, were stuck in a terrible limbo for many years, as they were critical to the larger Trails story, but were cost-prohibitive to localize. After many years of this situation seemingly going nowhere, a group of extremely dedicated fans from the Geofront fan translation group released a fan translation of the two games, Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure. This release was well known everywhere as being done by some of the most dedicated Trails fans, and was done to an extremely high quality level, going beyond merely translating, but also making custom art and more. Having already done the translations' heavy lifting, NIS America worked out a deal with the Geofront group to license their translations for official release! NIS America also worked with PH3 GmbH to take the Japanese PS4 version of Zero and make a superb PC and Switch port with added features and improved graphics. So now, nearly twelve years after its initial release in Japan, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero has finally arrived on Western shores.

As the arc that sits in between first Sky games and the newer Cold Steel ones, it became obvious while playing Trails from Zero that the evolution of the series was ongoing, as many of the changes Cold Steel brought after playing Sky were first pioneered in this duology. For example, bonding events were first introduced with Zero, as were after-battle bonuses. I also noticed quite a few musical pieces that are also in Cold Steel found their start in Zero as well. Perhaps the most interesting part was seeing what was essentially a 'demake' of the city of Crossbell, as Cold Steel III and IV have a much more detailed version playable in those later games. Imagine seeing the same town and countryside as those games made many years later, just with a lower polygon count and a simpler graphics engine. It was a neat adjustment for me, that makes me want to play the Cold Steel games all over again.

For those who aren't familiar with The Legend of Heroes: Trails series, it takes place in the continent of Zemuria, and the Crossbell duology takes place in a small city-state called, well, Crossbell. It's smashed in between two massive countries that border it on both sides, Erebonia and the Calvard Republic. (Erebonia is where the Cold Steel series takes place, and Calvard is where the next arc after that takes place - without an announced English localization just yet.) Trails in the Sky took place in Liberl, a kingdom on the far southern shores, bordering Erebonia.

Characters in Crossbell come from all over Zemuria, with some from each of the mentioned places along with many others. It's a cosmopolitan city, which houses the International Bank of Crossbell - one of the largest banking institutions on the continent. It also houses the renowned Arc en Ciel theatre, famous for an incredibly skilled acting troupe and plays that enrapture audiences from all over. Unfortunately, Crossbell has a dark underbelly as well, which the story in Trails from Zero explores.

You take on the role of the Special Support Section, or SSS, which is a newly-formed division of the Crossbell Police Department. This division exists because the normal investigative divisions are hamstrung in what kind of cases they can cover, and the SSS has a less strict organizational structure, which allows them to investigate with more freedom. Of course, it wouldn't be a Trails game if their tasks didn't range from simple fetch quests, to helping teach a Sunday school class, to 'important' stuff like stopping real crime.

The main protagonist is Lloyd Bannings, a fantastic young detective with an incredibly sharp deductive mind. He is joined by Elie MacDowell, Tio Plato, and Randy Orlando. This group of four forms the core of the SSS, and approaches everything they do with kindness and heart. It doesn't take long to fall in love with the cast, as Lloyd is just awesome, Elie is the heart of the group, Tio is brilliant (and has a sweet side, even if she has a hard time expressing it), and Randy is great in his own way (and a bit of a bro), even if he claims to be a bit of a womanizer. Their combat and detective skills also complement each other extremely well, as they each bring something important to the table as they try to make Crossbell a better place.

This game was originally released in 2010 on the Sony PSP, so the graphics are quite simple, carrying much of the art style from the Trails in the Sky series forward for a bit more; it wasn't until the Cold Steel series that the graphics made the transition into fully 3D. So like Sky, Zero has 2D sprites on 3D rendered maps, a style that Falcom used for many years. I like the style, even if it's dated.

The music, like all games Falcom, is nothing short of fantastic. They still use mostly synthesizers, but it's all in the compositions, which are still excellent as they always have been. Falcom's music never disappoints, and Trails from Zero definitely keeps that standard going. Everything from moving emotional scenes to pumping battles are enhanced well by their soundtrack.

The combat and gameplay also largely borrows from Trails in the Sky, as the grid-based turn-based battle system returns once again. Each attack, craft, or art (spell) has an assigned amount of space that its attacks can hit at once, and everything in the circle/line/etc. is hit when executed. Some attacks have a delay, and all players and enemies are placed on an attack order line; this determines who goes next. It's a tried and true system that I've seen other games use also; it works well. You can see your enemies on the map if you want to avoid them, but once in a battle, it takes you to a new screen.

Also, like many Trails games, there are tons of secrets, hidden quests, and notebook entries to fill out. The game is difficult, but not impossible to get everything without a guide, but unfortunately, it's not possible to get 100% of everything the game has to offer in one playthrough. Actually, it requires at minimum three, if you want to transfer all possible bonuses to its sequel, Trails to Azure. I was more than a little disappointed that there is even an entire dungeon that can't be accessed on the first playthrough; I'm not a fan of design choices like that, but at least Zero is relatively short for a Trails game. I beat it in just over 100 hours, which is my third shortest Trails game. You can easily beat it in half of that if you don't talk to each and every NPC after every cut scene like I did; there is a ton of hidden character growth to discover, if you care to. If not, the game makes clear what your next objective is. But if you want to fully immerse yourself in the wonderful world Falcom has created in the tiny little place known as Crossbell, then the option is there to do so.

There is a lot to like about Crossbell and the lovely world in Trails to Zero, but the game is not without its appropriateness issues. While I would say it's on the cleaner side compared to future games (the Cold Steel series has a lot more... shenanigans), there's still plenty to be aware of. I would say that in general, there is a very good chance that after playing one of these games you will want to play them all, so you may want to spend some times reading through my Legend of Heroes reviews here on Christ Centered Gamer if you want to get a good feel for what this series has going on. With that said, here's a good breakdown on what to expect.

As is likely no surprise, fantasy violence, where you fight everything from wild animals to humans to magical and mystical creatures happens regularly. There are even some demonic enemies, along with some undead ones. It's a combination of ancient and modern, natural and supernatural. Magic is present in the orbment system; basically a scientific-like energy source that brings about magic-like effects. It should be noted that a nasty cult that engaged in unthinkable acts like child trafficking and abuse is discussed in the plot. Drug use also plays a major part in the story. There is tobacco and alcohol use present.

From a sexual perspective, it's tame compared to future games, but there is some content to note. Several females wear very skimpy outfits; usually in relation to their role in the theatre, but not always. Comments are made about breast sizes, and Randy is known to note how hot certain women are, not to mention some mentions of dirty magazines happen in a few places. Some same-sex jokes are made, and it's unclear if some of the comments are meant to be jokes or taken seriously; that's left up to interpretation.

Gambling at a casino, while technically optional, is something players are encouraged to engage in. Several games, from roulette, blackjack, slots, and poker are present and can be played. (Poker has the highest chance of winning, so if you want those prizes, I recommend playing that.) Foul language is also used, with words like 'd*mn', 'a*s', 'h*ll', 'b*st*rd', and 'sh*t' present.

On the flipside, there is a church called the Septian Church that worships a goddess named Aidios that is a close facsimile to the real-world Catholic church, with priests and sisters well represented. It's shown as a positive force in the world, and outside of the aforementioned cult, virtually everyone agrees that she exists.

Technically, the PC port and Switch ports both have the loving hand of PH3's incredible technical expertise at the helm. Not only does this mean 144Hz support and tons of resolution options on PC, but the PC and Switch versions also have tons of sprite and texture work done on them that makes them the best-looking versions of the game to date. There are also quality-of-life improvements, like a test backlog and other smaller things, that they also added. In contrast, the PS4 version is a direct port of the localization to Falcom's PS4 release, which did not get PH3's upgrades. While all versions of the game have the same lovely storyline, music, and everything else that makes these games great, the PC and Switch versions will be the most polished experience. The only bug I ran into was a minor graphical issue in the final dungeon; the developer was made aware of it, and it's already fixed.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is another wonderful entry in one of my favorite video game series out there. If you are already a fan of the Trails series, and know what to expect morally, there is no good reason to skip on this one. While you could use this as a starting point (it's one of three reasonable starting points), I'd say it's the weakest of the three as a starting point because there are a few smaller plot threads that start in Sky that are tied up here; I'm man enough to admit that one of those hit me pretty hard emotionally, and I don't think that would have happened if I wasn't already familiar with the characters. While I wouldn't place this game at the top of my favorite Trails games ranking, that doesn't mean it's bad; it just means those other games are that much more incredible. Every series needs a starting point, and this is the beginning for the story of the SSS. If you enjoy story-heavy RPGs, or if you've already played a Trails game, then please just do yourself a favor and play The Legend of Heroes, and don't skip Trails from Zero - you won't be disappointed.