I am a huge fan ofJRPGs, so much so that I have at least dabbled in as many series and franchises as I can. With most series, I find myself getting overwhelmed, swamped by the sheer number of releases, complex naming conventions, and the length of each game. When I find myself reaching that point, I’ll abandon it altogether, likely having had a good time but feeling content that I no longer need to invest hundreds of hours in it. This happened with theTalesseries and later withShin Megamiand its spin-off,Persona.
However, there was one series that it never happened to, at least not to such a degree that I felt the need to take a step back. This JRPG series has been one of my all-time favorites, with several of its entries remaining some of thebest RPGs ever made. The only problem is that,until recently, I had to wait years for it to get localized, and even, at least in the past, the localization wasn’t always great. Fortunately, that’s seemingly changing, as this unbelievably good JRPG series is almost completed in the West.
Trails Beyond The Horizon Completes The Trails Series In English
We’re Finally Caught Up With Japan
The Legend of Heroesfranchise - practically known asTrailsnow - is one of themost complex JRPGs ever made, in large part thanks to having such a storied history and being one of the longest-running JRPG franchises. It started as a spin-off of theDragon Slayergames before becoming its very own series, not unlike thePersonagames. Now,it reigns supreme as one of the best and most unique JRPG series available, spawning multiple arcs across its 21 games, culminating in the current arc, Calvard.
While many people in the West, myself included, thoroughly enjoy theTrailsseries, we’ve always come second in the release schedule, and by quite a considerable margin.Trails Through Daybreaklaunched in 2021 in Japan, but it wasn’t until 2024 that we got it here. Similarly, its sequel,Trails Through Daybreak 2,was released in 2022 in Japan and 2025 in the West.This staggered release schedule has almost been enough to get me to learn Japanese just so I could import a copy, but the knowledge that I’d get it eventually satiated me.
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Still, it has been frustrating knowing that a game in one of thegreatest JRPG seriesis playable but not accessible. It is especially difficult when they don’t announce the release date of the English localization, so we’re sat twiddling our thumbs waiting for years. The same can be said of theYokai Watchseries, with its developer, Level-5, announcing an English localization of the fourth game many years ago but never delivering on that promise. Fortunately,after decades of being behind, the latestTrailsgame is coming out in the West before the next one releases in Japan.
TheLegend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizonis releasing in 2025, potentially less than a year after it came out in Japan. It is one of the shortest periods of time we’ve waited between releases, and I couldn’t be happier. More importantly,it means that both the West and Japan are caught up with theTrailsrelease schedule. Considering there are so manymoreTrailsgames coming, it is possible that this could finally signal global releases for future entries rather than separate ones like we’ve had for so long.
The Trails Games Are Standout JRPGs
They’re Seriously Underrated
There is no other series quite likeTrailsin video game history. While there are a lot of long-running JRPGs and even RPGs, none are as interconnected and deeply reliant on past entries to deliver such compelling, lore-rich, emotionally resonant, and, for a lack of a better word, epic narratives. This level of commitment to a wider universe is both the series' greatest strength and weakness. It makes it simultaneously impenetrable to a newcomer but immensely rewarding to dedicated fans. That’s a tough approach for a series, but it pays off.
When I first started getting into theTrailsgames, I was also a tad lost and confused, unsure which entry to pick - always go with the first, or the first in an arc, such asDaybreakorCold Steel- and how best to approach this series. However,once I got stuck in and followed the guidance of the game’s very welcoming community, I understood why people love it so much. Not unlike Falcom’s other series,Ys, theTrailsgames don’t have the best visuals or even the most unique combat, but their narratives, characters, and worldbuilding are undeniably exceptional.
Each entry expands upon the last, both mechanically and visually, with some of the latest games offering a level of graphical fidelity and mechanical depth that JRPG fans have come to expect. The very latest,Beyond the Horizon, has to be one of mymost-anticipated RPGs of 2025, not just because it’s a continuation of an arc I’m heavily invested in but because it looks like a drastic improvement over the previous games. That’s not to say that the earliestTrailsgames are bad, but rather they serve as a strong foundation from which the later games innovated upon.
JRPG Localization Has Come A Long Way
The Genre Is Being Taken More Seriously
It is a relief to discuss Falcom’s localization efforts improving, as,not that long ago, English localization was rarely at the forefront of Japanese developers' minds. JRPGs, rather shamefully, weren’t the most popular or well-respected genre in the West throughout the early 2000s, so getting new entries from Japan was a gamble. Famously, it took the efforts of an extremely dedicated fanbase and the Operation Rainfall movement to convince Nintendo to localizeXenoblade Chroniclesin the West. Now,everyXenobladegame is on Switchglobally, something that I am over the moon about.
Even when we did get a localization, it often wasn’t great. At best, it would be grammatically sound but lack character and meaning; at worst, it was an incomprehensible mess that ruined the story entirely.Games likeBreath of Fire 2,Legend of the Dragoon, earlyTalesgames, and even someTrailstitles, to name a few, all had poor English localizations, but fans just had to put up with it. Of course, all of that is changing now, with the genre having significantly increased in popularity over the years, and I couldn’t be happier.
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Not every Japanese developer is aware of the West’s growing admiration for JRPGs, and I think that’s largely due to some series, like Trails, being so impenetrable. That’s why they’ll often remake earlier titles, such as with theStar Oceanseries, reboot the series, like withLike a Dragon, or, if they can afford to, create new IP, like with Square Enix and its endless slate of amazing JRPGs. However, withBeyond the Horizonfinally closing the gap in the Trails' release schedule, it is starting to feel like even Falcom understands how importantJRPGsare to fans like me.
