The supposed secret best Japanese RPG gets a full remake in September
Trail remix
Sponge away the dross and ephemera of my life and you're left with a series of moments in which I wonder: is now the right time to get into Legend of Heroes? I've been planning to play Nihon Falcom's 17-part RPG series ever since a respected peer gently suggested that my enthusiasm for Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest marked me out as a Basic Bitch, and that if I ever want to experience a real role-playing game, I should give LoH a go.
I am held back by a number of things: 1) the Legend Of Heroes games are mega-normous, possibly 2) because they're meandering and overstuffed, for all their quality, and 3) nobody I've spoken to can agree on which I should start with. I did have a breakthrough recently, coming to the conclusion that I should get the ball rolling with The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Sky, the sixth game from 2004 - it's the one I see most often in GOAT threads, and the first in a distinct subseries. But now Nihon Falcom have ruined everything by plotting to remake it. Titled Trails In The Sky 1st Chapter, the remake will launch on 19th September (as revealed in Famitsu, via Gematsu). Here's the most recent trailer.
If you're familiar with Trails In The Sky, the key differences here are: new HD visuals, new voiceovers, and "the choice of traditional turn-based combat or all-new, real-time action combat", as per the Steam page. Great: not only do I now have to decide whether to play the original game or the remake first, I also now have to pick between old and new flavours of battling. Why do you vex me, Nihon Falcom.
The one thing I consistently hear about the Trails games is that the NPC and world writing are absolutely excellent: generous to the point of exhausting, with every NPC worth returning to. If you've played it, please do not leave a comment expounding upon these or any other virtues. It will only add to my choice paralysis. I've read that anger freezes into depression if left unexpressed. Is there a point where FOMO metamorphs into a full-on midlife crisis?