The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (Switch) Review

Title: The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Nihon Falcom/PH3 Games (Switch version)
Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software America
Release Date: September 27th, 2022 (NA)
File Size: 3.1GB

Review copy provided by NIS America

So this was a long time coming for fans of Falcom and the Trails/Kiseki series specifically. This and its immediate sequel Trails to Azure both take place after the Trails in the Sky trilogy (sadly not on Switch yet), but before the Trails of Cold Steel series, and this is the first time both Zero and Azure will be playable officially in English in the west, finally filling in some gaps for fans of the franchise!

Both Zero and Azure began on the PSP and have had a clusterfuck of ports over the many years and it’s crazy even with this new release by NISA. Would you believe that the Switch (and PC) versions of both games are actually widely considered to be BETTER than the PS4 versions? That’s because where as the PS4 version (by Falcom themselves) is more of a straight port of the PSP original (with some touch ups), the Switch and PC ports are by PC port legend Durante of PH3 Games and these ports come with MANY enhancements, both quality of life, as well as visually. So how does the game fare on Switch? Is it a zero, or a hero? Let’s find out!

An example of a battle in the Geofront sewer.

The game is a more old-school looking JRPG, with pre-rendered sprites in a simplistic 3D world with a fixed camera, so don’t expect some grand open exploration like in the Cold Steel games and such. I mean the sprites also tend to walk in place when idle! Yeah, pretty retro. Anyway, we began with our core cast of four characters; Lloyd Bannings, Elie MacDowell, Randy Orlando, and Tio Plato. They have just joined the SSS (Special Support Section) as police officers to protect the town of Crossbell and to keep things in order.

Lloyd actually grew up in the town and is back after 3 years, so he’s the most experienced with the town and is able to help the others familiarize with the town as time goes on. Lloyd also happens to be the leader of the group so it makes perfect sense in my book (plus he is the main character and all). Anyway, the game begins in a sort of… flash forward(?) where you four explore this interior and familiarize yourselves a bit with the game. Then we go back to seeing Lloyd on a train heading back to Crossbell, again after three years, so it’s a bit of a homecoming for him.

A look at an area of town. Nice view!

Once he’s arrived and gets to the police station, he meets up with the other three members and their boss Sergio Lou and after everything’s initially setup, you get your first task to explore the sewer known as Geofront (also the name the game’s English translation was based on, how about that). You here get a better idea of how the combat works (it’s classic turn-based fashion and just like Cold Steel III if you remember how that played). You eventually find a couple of lost kids and all of the sudden find yourselves face-to-face with a huge monster… only to get saved by a famous person in town; Arios MacLaine, who’s one of the big bracers, sort of the top-dog fighters in town. So apparently the bracers are what the town see as the big heroes while the police, at least Lloyd’s group… not so much. So, it’s become a sort of competition to win the town’s trust and favor against the bracers, so to speak.

Again, with the gameplay, you’ve got your arts, your crafts, team attacks, and you buff your abilities with the orbment tech you may recognize from later games as well. Alot of the same stuff is here, so if you’re super familiar already, you should feel right at home here, despite this being quite a few games earlier (remember Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure take place prior to the first Cold Steel). Aside from that, the town of Crossbell is mighty big. there’s lots of different locales and buildings to check out, and naturally no-one (usually) bats an eye if you just barge in like any good JRPG protagonist! What I found interesting is the odd lack of “check anything to find an item” thing you’d expect in JRPGs normally. Which is kind of a relief. You’re not tempted to check every shelf or vase and wasting time from what I could tell. It’s nice to not need to sidetrack collecting random junk since I do like checking EVERYTHING.

Missed something a character said? Well, you have the handy message log at your disposal via the L button!

Now we HAVE to talk about just how outstanding this port is… and the bit of controversy about how NOT outstanding the PS4 original is in comparison. Firstly, as mentioned earlier, this and the PC port were done by JRPG PC port mastermind Durante. This (and Azure) are Durante’s first-ever Switch games (and possibly his first ever console projects I think?). What’s so special here? We have; vastly improved character sprites (it’s all again pre-rendered) based on assets and references in all prior releases (and there are QUITE a few). Textures are all much better, being both made from prior releases, but also AI-upscaled. We also have (after the first patch) dynamic shadows, a glow around characters, and even FXAA (fast approximate anti-aliasing), and the whole game runs at a smooth 60fps.

The PS4 version however… is more of a spruced-up remaster of the original PSP release, and the lack of much of the aforementioned improvements (especially the textures) are quite an eyesore. Another issue was the total lack of communication from NISA with fans regarding this discrepancy (apparently Falcom wouldn’t allow any changes to the PS4 version, which was by Falcom themselves). Folks didn’t get clued in until after stock of the fancy collector’s edition on NISA’s website already went out of stock, so if you say wanted the Switch version of that but went with the PS4 version prior, well sadly you were out of luck, hence why a lot of people were upset.

Something you may miss; these pretty witty empty treasure chests! Click on all of them after opening them for a unique message!

Visually as a whole, both from an artistic and graphical standpoint (with the improvements), it looks quite nice! The textures do look nice and crisp and actually readable. Food items seen in town look nicely detailed for what they are. Also, the aforementioned graphical touches (dynamic shadows, the character glow, and FXAA) are all toggleable in the options! The character sprites look nicely detailed but also adorable. Very impressed overall. Audio-wise it’s worth noting that unlike the other Falcom games brought over by NISA, this (and Azure) are NOT English-dubbed for some reason, but even with that in mind, the JP voices sound perfectly fine. Music’s pretty good (even if you may get a bit tired of the main town theme after a while which played in most areas). I should also note that after the patch, on Switch and PC each time a new track plays, you’ll get its title in the upper-left corner. That’s a neat touch!

Overall, this is a very impressive package. The game itself is a fun time, the characters are likeable and it’s fun to see what they do and say, even if the cutscenes in seemingly classic Falcom-fashion can take a good while at a time. One other detail added in the Switch and PC port is the message log, accessed via the L button, which lets you read all the character dialogue up to that point (dunno how far it goes back but still you get a lot). Also, there’s the high-speed function with the ZL button that’s SUPER helpful for exploration and battles. Durante and Falcom themselves deserve many props for the job well done. As this is a fairly early entry in the long-running Trails series (though it takes place after the Trails in the Sky trilogy which is still not on Switch), it seems to be Switch owners’ best starting point. Plus, Azure is coming soon as the very next game in line, so Switch owners have good stuff to play and look forward to.

You’ll Love:
+ The game itself is a fun time with very interesting and compelling characters.
+ The new features introduced in the port by Durante are super neat and very much appreciated.
+ While only in Japanese, the voice-acting is very nicely done.
+ High-speed mode as usual is a game-changer in JRPGs.
+ Has screenshot and video capture support.

You’ll Hate:
– Again, the voice-acting’s only in Japanese, a weird thing considering all other NISA-localized Falcom games have been English-voiced.

8.5/10