What’s the Best The Legend of Heroes Trails Game?

With the release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2, it is now time to reflect on this incredibly underappreciated JRPG series. It is up there as my favorite video game franchise of all time, and for a good reason. There is no world or lore quite as extensive and well done as this one. But what is the best The Legend of Heroes and Trails game of all time?

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Siliconera Speaks Up: Best Trails Game

This may be controversial, but my favorite and personal pick for the overall best The Legend of Heroes game is Trails of Cold Steel III. To me, this is where the series found the perfect balance of story, characters, lore, world, gameplay, and exploration. It is so rich with a massive adventure full of some of the most meaningful side quests. You get to know every member of the small town of Thors Branch Academy, plus the main cast is arguably better than the previous two titles. Then there is the story, which is the strongest for me due to character arcs for Ash, Juna, and others. This is hands down one of my favorite games of all time.

That said, the original Trails in the Sky, Trails from Zero, and the first Trails of Cold Steel are close runner-ups for me in that particular order. Trails in the Sky was my first in the series and it still remains one of the greatest fantasy RPGs ever made. I can’t wait for the remake, which will hopefully recapture the feel of exploring Liberl. Then there is the first Crossbell title, which introduced us to what I consider to be the best city ever made in a video game. Of course, I adore Cold Steel as well for introducing the Persona-like high school concept, which paved the way for my favorite title in the series. — Cody

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2 is now available for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC.

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