Ys Oath In Felghana
Image: Nihon Falcom

Update [Thu 19th May, 2022 10:00 BST] RPG Site has fully translated the Switch port questions from the Famitsu interview from yesterday. Kondo's answers clearly highlight that the company not only want to bring retro titles to the system, but also future titles. The interview focused on the upcoming The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails on Switch, but Kondo also suggested that the newest title in the Trails series — Kuro no Kiseki — is also being tested for the handheld.

In the interview, Kondo reflects on Nihon Falcom's in-house Switch team, where he says "there's a merit in the flexibility that's afforded from being able to more directly put our ideas into motion", allowing the company to make decisions itself and also deliver its vision directly to the fans. In terms of retro rereleases, Kondo admits that digital might be the way forward for these titles:

When we think of other titles we can port, I begin to wonder if we might be able to release some of our classic titles that would otherwise be difficult to justify a physical release for, digitally.

Kondo is also pretty affirmative on wanting to bring more games to the Switch, as when asked about this, he says "That's the plan, and we even have already decided on titles we want to release next." Famitsu then asked specifically about the Trails/Kiseki series, where Kondo confirms that the company is at least looking at bringing more of those games over:

In addition to Kuro no Kiseki, 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.

Well, it sounds like we have a lot to look forward to! Thank you RPG Site for the translation — you can read their article right here.

The questions and answers all centre around the Trails/Kiseki series, but that's not to count out the action RPG Ys series too. But if more Trails games are coming to the Switch, then that's a pretty darn good start.

Original article [Wed 18th May, 2022 17:30 BST] Nihon Falcom is one of Japan's premier RPG developers, and has been making games since 1982. The company is most famous for the Ys series, debuting in 1987 with Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished, and also later creating The Legend of Heroes series in 1989 with Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes.

And it seems like Nihon Falcom's president, Toshihiro Kondo, wants to do something with its large back catalogue. In the latest issue of Famitsu, Kondo has revealed that there are already "plans" to bring more titles to the Nintendo Switch. Perhaps not too surprising, given last year the company created an in-house development team for the Switch, but still exciting!

These comments were posted on ryokutya2089 and translated by Kazuma Hashimoto at Siliconera. Kondo does say that retro titles may need to be digital as there are more difficulties in creating physical releases (let alone more cost), but he's very positive about the system and wants to bring more games to it:

The Nintendo Switch is a console that is very familiar to me, as my children often play it. Additionally, there is a wide range of people from various age groups because of the convenience of it being a handheld console. Once we had released titles on the PSP, we had a wider variety of different age groups playing our games, and we expect releasing titles on the Nintendo Switch will have the same effect.

Many of the Ys titles have received remakes and ports over the years — Ys Origin, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, and the newest entry — Ys IX: Monstrum Nox — are all available on the Switch. But entries like the PSP remake of Ys III — Ys: The Oath in Felghana — and the Windows version of Ys VI, Ys: Ark of Napishtim (among others), are all available on Steam, not including the unlocalised fifth entry.

The other big gap on the Switch is with The Legend of Heroes, particularly the Trails (Kiseki) subseries. Later this year, we're getting The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, with Trails to Azure following in 2023; these are actually the fourth and fifth entries in the Kiseki series. A new trailer for Trails from Zero just dropped earlier today, highlighting the four main characters who make up the Special Support Section.

The first two Trails of Cold Steel games are also currently missing from the system. For a series that's so heavily reliant on continuity, worldbuilding, and storytelling, the absence of the Trails in the Sky trilogy — the first three games in the series — as well as Cold Steel I and II, is especially noticeable.

Which Nihon Falcom games would you like to see come to Switch? Share your thoughts below, and you'll get bonus points for any of its more unusual games! What those points are, we don't know.

[source ryokutya2089.com, via siliconera.com]