The Trails series is having a moment in September 2026 with remakes and rereleases. Later this month, the awaited Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter will release, but on September 10th the Switch 2 version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero will release. The first game in the Crossbell duology, this is an entryway into the sprawling Trails series, known as Kiseki in Japan. Is this an entry point for you to get started?

Trails from Zero is set after the events of the Trails in the Sky series, in the City-State of Crossbell. Lloyd Bannings, after becoming a police detective, is assigned with other rookie police officers to form the Special Support Section, a new unit that is dedicated to investigation of crimes within the city.

One of the things I enjoyed most about my time with Trails from Zero IS the city, funny enough. The first time I started exploring Crossbell I found myself getting lost due to how sprawling it is, but the longer I played the more I started to learn. It really feels like a living city with different residential areas and districts. This is also apparent with just how much writing is in Trails games, where NPCs get new distinct dialogue frequently with the passing of different in-game events. It can feel a bit overwhelming, as I know that I am missing at least some of the dialogue while playing, but as long as you’re not a completionist when it comes to reading every piece of in-game text you should be fine.

Speaking of dialogue, another highlight is the characters, with the core team of Lloyd, Elie, Tio and Randy Orlando (which is such a magnificent character name that I needed to use it in full) being generally very delightful and fun to spend time with. This game is focused on these four as your party, and it’s good that they’re all likable and well written.

I also really enjoy the combat and gameplay. This is turn based on a grid, with a ton of abilities, magic, and systems that all manage to feel cohesive and interesting. The battles being on a grid mean that attacks that hit a wide area can be manipulated; for example, I used one character to push an enemy into the line of a spell that was being cast by another character. Between stuff like this and the orbment system, which allows you to customize each character’s magic arts, combat is rich and customizable.

As someone who hadn’t played the Switch release of Trails from Zero, this more than feels like a worthy game to play and recommend. However, if you are looking specifically for Switch 2 features or to upgrade, there are some caveats. First, there doesn’t appear to be an upgrade pass to go from Switch to Switch 2, so if you want the upgrades you will need to pay the full cost. Second, the Switch 2 upgrades are pretty slight. There are some framerate and resolution upgrades, so this game does look very good, though if you are used to the new graphics from the Trails in the Sky remakes, then this does feel a bit old fashioned (though I would argue in a charming way). The other main new feature is that Trails from Zero incorporates mouse mode support, which is nice if that’s something you’re interested in but just felt like a novelty to me. If that is a feature you particularly like using, that might make this version worth double dipping for, but I wish there was a bit more to justify this rather than just buying the compatible Switch version.

If you enjoy RPGs, Trails from Zero is one I think you should check out. While knowledge of the Trails in the Sky franchise does help, as there are some crossover characters, this is still an intended entry point to the game. If you’re just looking to upgrade your experience from Switch to Switch 2 versions I might hold off, but otherwise I think this is a great introduction to Crossbell and the Trails series as a whole.