Welcome to the Metacouncil's Official Thread of The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie.
Let's go back a little to a small title called Trails in the Sky the 3rd. The narrative structure in Trails in the Sky the 3rd was meant to set things up the way for future Trails titles. I have hope that Trails into Reverie will finally resolve the story threads that has been building up across three sub-series, right until the conclusion of Cold Steel IV. To tie up these loose ends from Sky, Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs before ultimately directing our attention to the unexplored side of the continent is not an easy task, if not nigh-insurmountable. While Trails in the Sky the 3rd intends to bring in something new, Trails into Reverie will ultimately serve as an end to what 3rd has brought in, all those years ago. The story has had its highest high, but it also had some low moments that some of us never expected from Trails games. Despite my own aversion on how the story was being handled in the later parts of the Cold Steel IV, it also has brought in some interesting new theories about Zemuria. I hope these theories will be explored later when we finally be able to visit Calvard. But for now, I remain optimistic that Trails into Reverie is a return to form (or perhaps a “course correction” is more fitting) for Trails.
Narrative Structure
Trails into Reverie brought something different to the table by presenting three alternating perspectives to the story, two of which are told by returning characters, and one by an entirely new character. Falcom has dubbed this the “Crossroads System” and we can freely switch between these perspectives. The first perspective (“Lost Symbol”) is told through the eyes of Rean Schwarzer. It continues the story of his adventures and the rest of Class VII from where it was left off in the true ending of Trails of Cold Steel IV. The second perspective (“The Day of Reindependence”) is told through Lloyd Bannings and Crossbell Police Department's Special Support Section. It highlights the story of Crossbell's liberation from Erebonia's occupation, an event following the conclusion of Trails to Azure and, perhaps, a rather insufficiently addressed event in Trails of Cold Steel IV. And finally, the third perspective (“The Miserable Sinners”) is told through a masked character with a moniker called “C”. Their path follows four characters that form the crux of the game's story. Their mission is to investigate the primary objective of a certain former governor general of Crossbell whom suddenly returns and lays claim to the city state.
Additionally, there are Side Episodes which follows the activities of our beloved group of characters that is separate from the main story. From my understanding, these Side Episodes are not only slice-of-life stories, but also tightly integrated with the narrative in the Crossroads System.
Characters
Rean Schwarzer
After the conclusion of the events in Trails of Cold Steel IV, Rean and his students returned to Thors Military Academy Branch Campus. With the Empire's military being diminished following the war, the necessity for Soldat training for students has greatly risen; the threat of Panzer Soldats left over from the war being used as weapons is never far from the country's mind. However, this fleeting peace is disturbed by the emergence of a new threat. A request from a certain individual has inspired him to take a trip back to his hometown, Ymir.
Lloyd Bannings
After Crossbell was occupied by the Empire, the CPD was restructured into the Crossbell Military Police and the SSS formally disbanded. Yet through the continued efforts of Lloyd and his companions, Crossbell was liberated once more, and the military police reverted to being the CPD and Crossbell Guardian Force. Lloyd's lengthy efforts eventually paid off, and after two and a half years, he successfully reopened the Special Support Section and brought back its founding members. Suddenly, they find themselves fighting for their city's freedom once again after Crossbell's independence celebrations are interrupted by the sudden reappearance of an old threat.
C
When the former governor general of Crossbell suddenly returns and lays claim to the city state, four figures carry out a secret mission to investigate his actions. Their leader is “C”, a masked individual who seems to be using the same code name as the leader of the Imperial Liberation Front. Though they use the same moniker, this C uses a different disguise and weapon, leaving no clues as to their identity.
Minigames
This section is not exhaustive by any means, but there are several minigames that I'm certain will be a major time sink. Speaking from the point of view of Vantage Masters fan, I hope they'll include more interesting face cards this time. Fans of Trails in the Sky the 3rd will be happy to know that a certain minigame has finally made its comeback.
Pom! Pom! Party!
A returning minigame where player stack poms in order to gain points, while foiling their opponent by building chains. I wonder if they'll increase the difficulty yet again. Interestingly, I found that the final boss in this minigame is not even the hardest among all the challengers. Or perhaps I'm just lucky. Anyway, the final reward of this minigame was one of the strongest items in the game, for both Azure and Cold Steel IV, so hopefully they will continue the tradition.
Vantage Masters
A returning card game where players build a deck and try to beat their opponents' using strategy and tactics. To be honest, I didn't play too many card games as a separate thing. But I enjoyed Vantage Masters a lot. Like a lot of other card games, it's definitely one of those things that is “easy to play but difficult to master”. Again, the final boss of this minigame wasn't really the hardest thing in the world. Probably because by the time we have the chance to fight them, our deck is already pretty loaded. I can't recall whether the reward was good, though.
III and IX
This book series is probably one of the longer ones among the collectable books across all Trails entries. It's perhaps also one of the most important ones. If you somehow skipped collecting these books during Cold Steel IV, I implore you to read the chapters either from Kiseki Wiki, or from the NISA's Trails into Reverie minisite.
Screenshots
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