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C What you should be playing: Trails in the Sky

Pat Floyd Profile _ Twitter _ E-mail _ Homepage

Hello -- it's me, the scoundrel who thought Uncharted 2 was merely "really good", and I've got some purchasing advice for you! While advertisers and mega-corporations try to tempt you to the dark side with flashy TV spots, I'm here to tell you what you should be playing. This week, you should be playing XSEED's recent localization for The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. This is actually the sixth episode in Falcom's RPG series, but it has no relation to the rest, so it's a great place to start if you're a Falcom fledgling. When this came out for Japanese Windows in 2004, it was a big deal; I remember the energetic trailer and its electric atmosphere. The game even came packaged with a CD single for the theme song, "Hoshi no Ari ka" (I love that song). Trails' bright visuals aren't cutting-edge anymore, but they're still charming and competently ported to the PSP. This is also the first domestically-released Legend of Heroes game to feature a respectable translation ever since the ancient Dragon Slayer charmed TurboGrafx fans nearly two decades ago. Namco-Bandai did their best to shame the series, but XSEED has vindicated Falcom's writers. It's a standard coming-of-age plot, but the dialogue makes the characters feel so genuine that beating the game feels less important than playing it. Some regions experienced difficulties in receiving their copies of Trails, but you should be able to track it down if you ask around. The physical version comes with a comprehensive soundtrack CD and a fancy pin that was made in China, but it's also available on PSN if you want to support Sony's misguided vision of a digital download dreamland. Either way, it's recommended. I've already played through both the Windows version and the Japanese PSP import, and I'm still enjoying my third time through (this time in English, the language of mighty kings). Watch for a full review in the future.

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