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The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is a 2004 Japanese role-playing game initially released only for PC and later made available on other platforms. It is the first in the Trails series, which has more or less taken over the Legend of Heroes series itself.

Trails in the Sky, in its original incarnation, is a largely standard Japanese RPG, in which a four-member party explores various towns and the surrounding areas, accompained by turn-based combat. Where Sky most stands out is its depth and breadth of story and interactions: every single NPC has new dialogue after every single plot point. This wealth of dialogue leads to countless tiny stories across the world of Liberl on top of the main plot.

The story follows Estelle Bright, a sixteen-year-old tomboy interested in becoming a bracer like her father, the legendary Cassius Bright. The Bracer Guild is a non-governmental organization across the continent of Zemuria which regular civilians can petition for aid. In short, it's something like an adventurer's guild, with a particular focus on protecting and aiding the people of one's home.

This suits Estelle perfectly: while headstrong and naïve at times, she wishes only to protect the people in her reach. As such, she and her adoptive brother, Joshua Bright, embark on a journey to become full-fledged bracers.

The first Trails in the Sky game is remarkably low-key and slow-placed, but that's what gives it charm. The plot is not the focus until the latter half of the game. Instead, Trails in the Sky allows the player to really get to know Estelle, Joshua, and their home of Liberl as they travel across the region and learn what problems the people are having. It's only later in the game (and into the second game) that larger plots come into focus and take the lead.

And it's through this journey that Estelle shines. She never loses her bold, forthright personality, but the journey tempers her into a more mature young woman who's cognizant of the world's nuances. Truly, watching her grow is reason enough to play these games; it's wonderfully done.

To my knowledge, Estelle also appears in later games after the Trails in the Sky trilogy, but I haven't played those yet! I'm excited to see what shakes out.

A remake of the first Sky game, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, will be released for modern platforms in September 2025. If you're interested in the series, this serves as an excellent starting place.