The Trails / Kiseki series might be one of the biggest RPG franchises around right now — at least, in terms of size and scope.
This storied JRPG saga takes place on the continent of Zemuria and follows different interlinking arcs, characters, and stories. Everything is carefully interconnected, with events affecting other storylines and characters frequently reappearing in future games. And with a staggering 12 mainline games to follow — with a 13th coming out in Japan later this year — its reputation is nothing short of prolific.
The series has been steadily arriving on Switch since 2020, but which one is the best one? Well, we've decided to rely on you, the lovely readers, to rank each of the games. And with The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak — the 11th game in the franchise and the 7th title to release on the console in the West — coming out this summer, now is the perfect time to set a course and ride the Trails train.
Don't worry, this list isn't set in Cold Steel — you can click on the star next to the game title below and give the game a rating out of 10, and you may well influence the order. So if you're not happy with the number one pick, then you might be able to change that. It's all in your hands.
With that, let's have a look at the best Trails / Kiseki games on Nintendo Switch:
6. The Legend Of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV (Switch)
Trails of Cold Steel IV is the climax that fans of the series deserve, comprehensively delivering on its promise as the end of a saga while setting up future plotlines that are sure to affect the lore in all kinds of fascinating ways. That said, this is also a rather weird game to recommend. Newcomers absolutely should not play this game first, given that it’s a concluding chapter to an ongoing saga years in the making. Longtime fans, on the other hand, don’t need any convincing, as they’re going to get this game if they’ve already invested the hundreds of hours of legwork that set it up. Assuming that's you, Trails of Cold Steel IV is a spectacular RPG experience that no fan of the genre will want to miss out on.
5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III (Switch)
Trails of Cold Steel III is another excellent addition to a franchise that gains so much of what makes it absorbing from the huge amount of background detail and world-building that's been achieved in earlier entries in the series. Newcomers should be aware that taking the time out to play Trails of Cold Steel I and II is advised to get the absolute maximum amount of enjoyment out of this one but, even if you're jumping in fresh, there's still plenty to love here once you find your feet. With a massive cast of well-written characters and tons of excellent combat and exploration spread across its epic running time, this is a top-notch addition to the Switch's library of JRPGs.
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4. The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails (Switch)
The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is a fun action RPG that takes elements of the wider series it's based on and crafts something unique. The minute-to-minute gameplay is also engaging, although with some minor platforming frustrations here and there. While the story may be simplistic and not as politically engrossing as the mainline Trails games, the heartfelt cast of characters and side quests help flesh out its world.
3. The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (Switch)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure takes everything that’s excellent about Zero and runs a marathon with it. It’s one of the best-paced games in the series, with some of the best characters, best music, and easily the best setting. The Crossbell Arc is a hugely compelling two-parter that captures everything that makes the Trails series what it is perfectly, and Azure in particular deftly balances high-stakes drama, political intrigue, and poignant character moments. This is one Switch RPG we won't be feeling blue about anytime soon.
2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (Switch)
In a series renowned for its stellar writing, twisting plots, and wonderful characters, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is a stand-out RPG. Narrowing the focus of its story to one state, and honing in on a smaller cast of characters, makes for a fantastic and engrossing adventure that is about both intimate relationships and huge, secretive scandals. The fact that this is just one half of a duology means that, while the story wraps up nicely here, we have tons of questions that we’re itching to get answers to in Trails to Azure. If you haven't played Trails, it's time to overcome that barrier, because there’s no better place to zero in on this fantastic series than in Crossbell.
1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie (Switch)
Capping off the Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs with a nice little bow, The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie hits some high highs – such as with C and the True Reverie Corridor – and when it does, it's an RPG fan’s paradise. But as an overall package, it feels like an easy excuse to get a huge number of characters together rather than do something meaningful with them. It’s far from the series’ best, but fans will find a lot to love here, even if we'd recommend seeking it out on another platform for the best experience, or waiting for a patch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many games are there in the Trails / Kiseki series?
At the time of writing this, there are 12 mainline games in the Trails / Kiseki series and three spin-offs. Of the main series in the West, five games are on Switch, plus one spin-off. The next Switch title to launch in the West will be the 11th entry, Trails through Daybreak, which arrives in Summer 2024.
The direct sequel, titled Kuro no Kiseki II in Japan, does not have a Western release date, but launched in Japan on PS4 and PS5 in 2022. A 13th game, Kai no Kiseki - Farewell, O Zemuria, was announced later 2023 and is coming out in Japan in 2024.
What is the best Trails / Kiseki game to start with?
There's no easy way of saying this, but the best place to start really is the beginning of the franchise, so The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is the ideal place to start.
Of course, that's not available on Switch, so the next best thing is to start at the beginning of an arc. That means if the Switch is your only means of playing the games, then the best place to start is The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero.
Cold Steel III isn't the worst place to start, but it casually name-drops and spoils essential events from both the Liberl and Crossbell arcs and plenty of characters from each arc drop in and out of the story. So if you start there, prepare to be confused. Just... maybe don't start with Azure, Cold Steel IV, or Reverie.
If you're into action RPGs, though, then The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is largely unrelated to the mainline series, so that's also a perfectly fine entry point.
Can you play the Trails / Kiseki games in any order?
It's not recommended, but you definitely can — you just might have a few gaps. The series is known for having a long, interconnected story, and characters and events pop up in multiple games in the series. But only part of the series is available on Switch, so if that's your only method of playing the series, then you'll have a few gaps.
Ideally, you at least want to play the respective arcs before moving on to another arc. This fantastic guide from RPGFan does a great job of summarising each entry/arc, but we'll bundle them together for you here. These are also listed in Japanese release date order:
- Liberl Arc - Trails in the Sky, Trails in the Sky SC, Trails in the Sky the 3rd (PSP/PC only)
- Crossbell Arc - Trails from Zero, Trails to Azure (Available on Switch)
- Erebonia Arc - Trails of Cold Steel, Trails of Cold Steel II, Trails of Cold Steel III, Trails of Cold Steel IV, Trails into Reverie (Cold Steel III, IV, and Reverie available on Switch)
- Calvard Arc - Trails through Daybreak, Trails through Daybreak II, Kai no Kiseki (Trails through Daybreak out Summer 2024 in West on Switch).
Is The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky coming to Switch?
Nothing has been confirmed at the moment, but Nihon Falcom president Toshiro Kondo has spoken multiple times about porting Falcom's back catalogue to other consoles, including the Switch.
He's also specifically mentioned previous Trails games. Here's an extract from an interview from 2022 from Kondo:
"...we're currently testing out the feasibility of porting the other entries in the Trails series that aren't represented on the platform to Nintendo Switch. At the same time, we're evaluating to the degree we might be able to have further entries in the series developed for the hardware. Of course, these discussions aren't just limited to Trails, and we're also considering the possibility of releasing our other franchises on the platform."
So maybe one day we'll be able to experience Estelle Bright's adventures in Liberl on the Nintendo Switch. However, the Sky games and first two Cold Steel games were localised by a different publisher to NIS America — XSEED — so there's no guarantee those will make it to the West if that happens.
What is The Legend of Heroes?
You might be wondering why this list is called Best Trails / Kiseki games when actually, most of the series starts with The Legend of Heroes moniker.
Created by Nihon Falcom, The Legend of Heroes series started as a spin-off to the action RPG series, Dragon Slayer. Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes was the first game in this new spin-off franchise, and it launched on the NEC PC-8801 in Japan in 1989. The first five games in The Legend of Heroes series include two Dragon Slayer spin-offs and the 'Gagharv trilogy' — Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch, A Tear of Vermillion, and Song of the Ocean. These were released from 1989 to 1999. Only the Gagharv trilogy is available outside of Japan and Asia on the PlayStation Portable.
After Song of the Ocean, Nihon Falcom developed a new title in The Legend of Heroes series which would become the start of another subseries — The Legend of Heroes VI: Trails in the Sky, which would later be known as simply The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. This is where Trails starts.
Do you need to play The Legend of Heroes games before Trails?
In short, no. The first five games in The Legend of Heroes series are not really connected to the games set in Zemuria — that's from Trails in the Sky to Kuro no Kiseki II. Both Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes and its direct sequel tell a separate story from the Gagharv trilogy. And the Gagharv games aren't connected to the Trails / Kiseki games, either.
There are fan theories, of course, and little nods to those previous games — just keep an eye out for fun references if you have played those older games. But otherwise, you're perfectly safe to play just the Trails games. Phew...
That's it for now, but if you're a series fan, then you know we'll be back adding more games to this in the future — and hopefully, the entire series will reach the Switch one day.
Let us know what your favourite game in the Trails / Kiseki series is in the comments.
Comments 26
Really enjoying this series, started with Cold Steel III when it came to switch and beat Cold Steel IV, Working though Trails into Zero and have Azure and Reverie bought and ready for when I finish that. Some of the stuff dropped towards the end of CSIV really made me curious to play as much of the series as I can.
Highly recommend the series, great stuff.
From what I hear, they're great games with god-awful localization.
@Drac_Mazoku Yeah!
Also, if someone still remembers Ys series... We still haven't got Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana outside of Japan!
Edit: Oh, you have mentioned Ys Memoire as well... Sorry.
I've played every single Ys game during 2023, but I haven't gotten started with Trails yet. I wanted to play some of the older Legend of Heroes games first, because I'm just that kinda retro fan. After all, I really did enjoy playing through the whole Ys series starting from the TG-16 Ys Book I & II - it made the journey through them all more fun for me than if I just started at the fan-favourite Lacrimosa of Dana straight away.
While I haven't gotten to any of the proper Trails series yet, I did actually start playing Legend of Nayuta this year - it's the first game of 2024 I'm playing!
Nayuta is a good game, but it feels rather unremarkable all things considered. The level design is not bad, but it's not blowing me away or anything either. It's just a nice, breezy little level-based platformer-style RPG, which is fine with me. It's not a game I would heavily recommend to anyone in particular, though... it's not a must-play by any means. But I am having a good time with it for the moment. And I really really love the "high-speed mode" feature!! This is a game that doesn't want to waste your time!
That being said, it feels rather sloppy at times - there are plenty of typos in the English script, but most egregiously is how two of the achievement icons have been mistakenly swapped around - the achievement for defeating the goat boss has a Leo symbol, and the achievement for the lion boss has a Aries symbol. ...I mean, come on! 😠
Additionally, it seems like the enemy log book is severely bugged. Enemies that you've definitely already logged can randomly become undiscovered again for no reason. Thankfully all you need to do is go back to a previous level and kill one again to get its entry back, but it's making me rather paranoid that it might happen to one of the one-of-a-kind boss monsters, in which case I'll be out of luck! ugghh.
@EarthboundBenjy Oh, have you played Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana? On Switch or PS4(?)? How it runs, looks, sounds?
@Vyacheslav333
I played Oath in Felghana by purchasing the PSP digital download version available on the PSVita store. I actually bought it on a PSTV rather than a Vita, but it's the same principle.
This version of the game ran great. It's a little low-resolution, since it is a PSP rom after all, but it ran flawlessly, and the game is great fun.
The English in the PSP version of Oath in Felghana is almost fully voice-acted, which is nice, especially compared to Ys Origin which has no voices at all. (except for the French voices in the intro)
It's a shame that the Switch version of Felghana is only in Japanese. It would be great to play a higher-res version of the game!
@EarthboundBenjy Well, I've played The Oath in Felghana myself, on Windows. I've bought it on GOG alongside Ys I & II years ago. I asked about Memoire version specifically... Well, anyway, thanks for the reply.
The Nayuta game is really not part of any of this
@ottoecamn The same thing can be said about every second or third Japanese video game, lol.
Good article. Lots of practical information.
@Drac_Mazoku I understand.
«...but as a gamer, I don't care, I just want to play them in english on my Switch.»
Yeah...
Fantastic and informative article, this series is slept on by far too many. Best JRPG's ever made, at least so far, I have a lot of catching up to do but I'm least I'm in the thick of it.
I've bought all of these games over the last three years and finally bit the bullet and started Sky FC on Steam Deck last May. I've played a few other games in between, but I'm now on Azure. I can't see many other games getting a much of a look in now until I beat Reverie.
In terms of where to start, I initially tried with Cold Steel III back in 2020, followed by Cold Steel I a few months later and then Zero when it initially came to Switch. Played 5-10 hours of each. I really hate to say it, as I was looking for reasons to play what was most convenient first (as I initially had nowhere to play Sky before I got the Steam Deck), but I'm really glad that I started with FC and am playing in order.
Zero certainly stands alone, though certain moments won't hit as hard without having played Sky. Azure starts off with something which was a nice and unexpected surprise for me, again because of Sky. I can't yet speak to the rest of that game. When I get to Cold Steel again, I'll probably start from scratch as I did with Zero.
I don't believe there should be any gatekeeping around where to start, and I think Zero, Cold Steel I or even III are probably fine. Especially as some games provide backstory and context in the menus. However, having resisted it for a long time, I do think it's best to start with Sky if you can.
And, whilst these are slightly older games, there are actually quite a lot of nice "modern" conveniences which mean they're not a slog to play. I even love how the games look (though I've been gaming since the 80s, so to me none of these games are even that old ). So, don't let the age put you off Sky either.
Not as much an issue for me since I have every console these games have appeared on, but the format's weakness definitely rears its ugly head for this giant series.
Imagine wanting to read Lord of the Rings, but the first book is out of print, or only available in Latin, or otherwise impossible to enjoy without jumping through hoops, and so you have to consider starting with The Two Towers. Or spending $400 bucks on a collector's copy. Or learning an entire language. Just to get the full story.
The developers, licensors, and publishers kind of have a responsibility to make these games more easily accessible if they really want players to be invested in the entire story. So that we don't have to spend $400 on a second console, import a JP copy, or rely on a wiki.
That said, the OG trilogy is a good starting place. Zero/Azure is a good starting place (some OG characters pop up, but most of the emotional through-lines lean on the new cast). Cold Steel I/II is a good starting place (Zero characters come up at the end of CS II in an epilogue, and act as more of a tease to make you want to head back for Zero than anything important).
Of those, only Zero/Azure is on Switch. Nayuta is effectively unrelated and entirely skippable. So...Yeah. You definitely don't have to commit to the entire saga. Which is good, because at this point, the powers that be aren't committed to letting you play it all easily, either.
If only the rest of the games were made available on Switch
I really need to start the crossbell games. Maybe this year. Need to restart Cold Steel as well.
CS IV was my favorite. Nice conclusion to the series. Reverie was kind of boring. Only the new branch was interesting.
This is one of those series I'd love to get into since I've heard/read amazing feedback, but both the sheer amount of games and how they're scattered across platforms makes this hard for many. In my case I've decided to try to play the non-Switch games via Steam when I get to them (It helps that I was gifted Trails In The Sky FC lol). I'm trying to gradually work my way through the modern Ys series first though. I'm due to revisit Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana next.
In terms of commitment, I've heard it's better to go by story arc and not look at the series as a whole. Otherwise it can seem pretty overwhelming to many.
NISA seems way more forthcoming to other platforms than XSEED when it comes to localizing the Falcom titles they're licensed to. Falcom's game library is half the reason I bothered signing up for a Steam account. No idea what XSEED's problem is other than possibly a lack of resources?
Stupid they don't release Cold Steel I-II on Switch, or on PS5 either. I guess that's what happens when control changes mid stream.
I own all the English releases on switch but I haven't started them yet because apparently I'm supposed to start with Trails in the Sky. Which means I'll never play any of these, lol.
You don't need to play the first games to get started. cs3 has a summary of the previous games included that tells some of the backstory. I started with cs3, cs4, zero, azure, reverie. For those new to the series, I'd recommend the crossbell games first as you get a little background into cs3. That all being said I'd still like cs 1 and 2.
What a funny coincidence, I literally just started Trails in the Sky today! I'm gonna stick with it (at least for a while), but so far it hasn't made the best first impression. Pretty bare bones combat, almost nothing happening in the story. Estelle seems like a cool character though. I hope I enjoy it though because I want to play this entire series in order if it manages to click with me.
I plan to play through this whole series before I am gone.
Each game is 30-60 hours.
I expect each "arc" will be bundled together in the coming years.
I feel that they will release the remainder in English like many of the ports of old JRPGs. Straight ports should be straightforward to complete assuming there are no legal pre-requisites that have to be inked/paid away.
@Vyacheslav333 these seem to be specially bad with the zoomed slang.
@ottoecamn Well, okay.
It always annoyed me how spread out these games are on consoles. Sure, you can play the entire series on PC but not everyone is going to do that.
How the Sky Trilogy has not been ported to something else yet to me is baffling. Especially given how unlike other franchises Trails really benefits from experiencing older titles.
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