Topic: First Game In Long-Running Trails Franchise To Get 3D Switch Remake In 2025

[Shaymin]

At which point at least one member of staff had to rehinge their jaw.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/68340/first-game-in-long-running-trails-franchise-to-get-3d-switch-remake-in-2025

About two thirds of the long-running Trails series of RPGs is on Switch currently, and it appears Falcom is going back to fill in some of the gaps.

During a highlight reel today, a new version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (known as Trails in the Sky The 1st) was shown with a 2025 launch window. Originally released on the PSP and PC in 2011 in North America, the Switch version will include enhanced graphics and a remastered soundtrack.

With the release of The 1st, only four games in the Trails series - the two Sky sequels and the first two Trails of Cold Steel games - will remain to be released (or localized) on Switch.

[Ian Sane]

This is very cool but almost happening a little too late.  Ideally we want the entire Trails series available on the Switch but the Switch 2 is right on the doorstep.  So what are the odds that remakes of all three of the Sky games actually get released on the Switch 1, let alone the two missing Cold Steel games?

Now all the Cold Steel games actually are on the Switch, just the first two aren't localized as they were originally published by XSeed and the series is now published by NIS.  XSeed owns the rights to their English translation and aren't willing to license it to NIS and NIS doesn't want to invest in doing their own.  So from a Japan-specific point of view it's only the Sky games that are missing.  But even then the timing here is tight.  Even if they make one remake per year, the third one would likely show up after the Switch 2 has been out for at least a year, maybe two.

[umkart]

Perfect opportunity for me to jump in. I own on the Vita and Steam, but difficult to play given a busy life schedule. But this will force my hand to make time. Do wonder if this is a Switch 2 release, or at least optimized for it.

[Luigi Dude]

This is very cool but almost happening a little too late.  Ideally we want the entire Trails series available on the Switch but the Switch 2 is right on the doorstep.  So what are the odds that remakes of all three of the Sky games actually get released on the Switch 1, let alone the two missing Cold Steel games?

Now all the Cold Steel games actually are on the Switch, just the first two aren't localized as they were originally published by XSeed and the series is now published by NIS.  XSeed owns the rights to their English translation and aren't willing to license it to NIS and NIS doesn't want to invest in doing their own.  So from a Japan-specific point of view it's only the Sky games that are missing.  But even then the timing here is tight.  Even if they make one remake per year, the third one would likely show up after the Switch 2 has been out for at least a year, maybe two.

The Switch successor will be backwards compatible so it really doesn't matter.  This way they can sell the games to both systems user bases and since these games have never been graphical showcases anyway, so it's not like the audience for them will be angry they're not taking advantage of the more powerful hardware.

Plus if the PS4, a system that sold under 120 million, is still getting games when it's successor has been on the market for almost 4 years now, expect the Switch which is on track to hit 150 million by the end of this year to be getting support well into 2028.  The Switch still has an insanely active user base, that isn't going to disappear when it's successor is released since it'll literally take several years for it's successor to even sell half of what the Switch is currently at.