Before the Horizon
Falcom’s set to continue its remake era beyond the upcoming Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter.
We knew this would probably be the case anyway, especially since Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has been such a huge success for the storied Japanese developer, but it’s still interesting to hear president Toshihiro Kondo come out and basically confirm it.
Speaking in a video interview with western publisher GungHo — which has been presented via short social media clips up until now — Kondo says: “We’re hoping to continue the remakes for a while.”
“The development team is already asking me if we’re going to remake Trails in the Sky the 3rd or Trails from Zero,” he laughs.
Kondo admits that for new players, getting into the Trails series isn’t easy; this is saga that now spans 13 titles, and so 1st Chapter was built to be a gateway game — a ground-up, modern retelling of the original Trails adventure.
“Our hope was for it to serve as an introduction to RPGs and JRPGs in general,” he explains.
“So seeing new players actually pick it up has been extremely encouraging for us.”
Again, 1st Chapter has been a huge hit for Falcom, both critically and commercially, and I’d expect 2nd Chapter to perform to a similar level.
From both a creative and business perspective, continuing down the remake route makes an awful lot of sense for the company right now.
The real question is: where do the remakes end? The Trails series went fully 3D with Trails of Cold Steel, so that seems like a pretty logical stopping point — but even then, you could argue that the first two Cold Steel games are showing their age.
And what about the current Trails arc? With the most recent instalment, Trails beyond Horizon, ending on one hell of a cliffhanger, can Falcom really afford to leave its core fans out in the cold?
The assumption is that the developer has been working on both 2nd Chapter and Horizon’s sequel in tandem, but there are concerns that the studio’s stretching itself a little thin.
Still, it’s a damn good time to be a Trails fan. Are you looking forward to 2nd Chapter? How far do you want these remakes to go? Feel free to make a wild prediction in the comments section below.
