Is Trails in the Sky FC Worth Playing Today? 

Just for some added context: I have played Cold Steel 1 and some of Trails from Zero. So when I say things like “the series gets better later”, those are the games I’m referring to.

For me the Trails series is part of the highest echelon the genre has to offer. Sky FC isn't an obvious part of this, as in fact, it took several attempts for me to finish it. Afterwards I got completely sucked in into this franchise. The characters, the overall story, the worldbuilding, the soundtracks... There isn't anything else in any kind of media as Trails. The battle system is also pretty basic at the beginning, but at the point of Cold Steel 3 it is the best turn-based system out there in my option and I'm very curious about the improvements of Trails into Daybreak, which will also blend in active time battle elements as well.

When you say the series doesnt get good until a few games in... I dunno you might be giving your advice a bit prematurely before you play the second game.

I love how in Sky FC, there are no unnamed/Generically named NPC characters until the final few scenes. Every character has a name, and a back story, and a mini story arc that they're dealing with while you're out braving the monster infested highway to go change a light bulb. Yes this is an actual side quest in the game, yes there are lore reasons why the road light bulbs are important for more than just providing light. I definitely recommend finding and reading the in game books, like Sky FC's Carnelia. Not only can the book collections be traded for the most powerful character specific weapons in the game (this is true of all Trails games to date), but many of them were inspired by 'true' stories in Zemuria so they can be used to tease or foreshadow characters or themes that might appear in future games. I think the Sidequests in Trails games are, generally pretty good. With very few exceptions they're almost always treated as mini side-stories. And in games that offer the ability to transfer save data (ex: Sky FC -> Sky SC), characters who's side quests that you complete will actually remember that you helped them out. Essentially allowing you to build a reputation. Sometimes, there are even story implications based on how many side missions you complete and how many BP (Bracer Points) or equivalent that you collect. The only ones that aren't usually tied to a side story are the monster exterminations. Usually there's only one per chapter and it involves fighting a tough mini-boss monster, so no need to worry about killing 5 sheep or what have you. Sometimes these monster extermination side-quests are used as plot hooks though so watch out for that. While I personally would suggest that Sky FC is the best entry point, I do think that Cold Steel 1 is, currently, the second best entry point (though that may change when we get Daybreak this year), though going back and playing Sky and Crossbell after Cold Steel 2 or 3 is a must if you don't want to miss out on a lot of the story references. Yeah, as a stand alone experience Sky FC is a little meh all things considered. The thing is, there's a reason why we in the fandom call it the 40 hour prologue; because Sky FC and Sky SC were originally supposed to be one game, and FC is quite literally the first chapter of Trails in the Sky. That's why the plot twist at the end of FC is almost a literal cliffhanger, the two games are designed to be played back to back to make a whole. Anyway, looking forwards to seeing the rest of the Trails reviews when you get around to them.

To me, these games are timeless. The attention to detail is just remarkable. My new favorite JRPG series of all time! Sorry, Final Fantasy, but you are now in second place. Still love you, haha 😄

Which JRPG you guys can suggest as a starting point in the genre? I want something with a great story and not super long so I don't get bored with repetitiveness.

I started with Cold Steel 1 having NO knowledge that Sky and Zero exists. This was when Zero wasn't even localized yet and you had to buy a japanese copy and use fan translation lol. Imagine how shocked I was when I beat CS2 only to learn that 2 arcs existed prior to Cold Steel lol. Still an enjoyable experience to start with Cold Steel.

Hmm… I seem to have a weird problem at the moment, I can’t decide if I want to play Trails in the sky first or Dead Cells or Crosscode or Risk of Rain 2

I agree with your assessment, as someone who is nearly done with Reverie: Trails is not for everyone, or even most people. Here's the test to see how it will rub you: at the end of Sky FC, do you know what the villains were actually trying to accomplish? The entire final act, before you arrive at the final dungeon, is a giant misdirection ploy. Trails never tells you that. You don't find out that Sky FC is the game where the villains won until you're well into Sky SC.

What does the FC mean? I’m figuring out if I wanna give this a try but the game never has in the title when I look it up.

what console for this game?

I decided to play the whole Trails series, but I knew going into Trails FC that it was a glacial game storywise, and that it's really just set up / prologue to the series. I decided to give it a chance, and if I bumped off it after 5 hours I'd quit. Well, 52 hours later, I'm starting Trails SC, and have already installed Trails 3. I also downloaded the Japanese voice dubs from the PSP releases, and modded them into the games on PC. It really helped with immersion!

Trails games age like good wine, maybe graphically is obvious Sky trilogy are old games ,but the writing, storytelling, plot etc are so solid that it still is perfectly enjoyable in 2024.

Im caught up on One Piece, i think i can handle a little video game.

Yes. The answer is yes. As someone who started this game for the first time this past week it’s been amazing. There’s so much foreshadowing and little drips of intrigue and great NPC’s…it’s been great. Yeah it’s slow, but I like books. So…slow is not necessarily bad.

Great video! I’d rate FC 8 out of 10. It reminds of an Anime called HunterxHunter. The first two seasons were slow and boring but if you stick around a you find out about the Phantom Troupe.

Sorry but you are wrong, this series doesn't get good sveral games in, generally it gets very good on the second game of each arc, like sky fc is setup and sky sc is the payback, trails from zero is the setup and trails to azure is the payback, it isn't always like this but generally works like this, and if you have only played the games 1 of some arcs you aren't going to see this, I wold say that you are playing this games in the worst order possible, because you are getting all setup and no payback

If you're asking the question, these games probably are not for you. They certainly weren't for me.