The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Sony PSP Game - Classic JRPG Adventure for PSP Console - Perfect for Travel & Retro Gaming Enthusiasts

I'm a half picky/open person when it comes to certain genres. RPGs are no exception. I mostly look for something that is equal in gameplay, story and fun. I wasn't familiar with the Legend of Heroes series until Andriasang started reporting on the current games in this series. One of those games had a plotline that perked my interest, but it would be a looong time before we see any of it in the West if it was possible. I ended up researching what other Legend of Heroes games are available in the West. Trails in the Sky was the game that caught my interest the most. It had a fairly good reputation and the characters/plot had the kind of mystery I was looking for.After some months of debating, ordered it off of Amazon. The price was reasonable so why not? (Although, fans would recommend people to order off of Xseed's site to drum up support. --- The series really needs support.) When the game came, a rush of excitement overwhelmed me, which I haven't felt in a long time for a game. Popped it in my PSP and couldn't put it down.STORY ---The story opens up in a small mysterious way, which I won't say here. Five years later, from the prologue, Estelle and Joshua Bright start their training to become Bracers, a guild that helps people out without interfering with politics, or so everyone thinks. However, things start to get a bit hairy when Estelle and Joshua's father disappears with an air ship he was riding on. The Bright siblings go on a semi-long journey to find out the truth behind this, which ultimately sets towards a bigger unexpected conspiracy that involves the royal family. Throughout the adventure, Estelle and Joshua will meet old and new friends, gain party members, and confront new enemies. By the time you, the player, reaches the "end" of the game, you'll start to crave more for the game, because........this is only the first part of the story! Even if there was closure within the game, the main gut of the story isn't done yet. We, in the West, is still waiting patiently for the second game to be localized.The story's pace went by smoothly without much filler in-between. The J-cliches (i.e. what you see in Japan real life/games/anime/manga) aren't so obnoxious or over-the-top, even though they're there. Even Estelle's constant yelling or eccentric "gentleman" Olivier's behavior aren't that annoying compared to Luke's beginning behavior in "Tales of Abyss" or Neku Sakuraba's personality in the beginning 1st week of "The World Ends With You".Text-wise, this game has a lot of text. Considering this is an RPG, this should be a no-brainer. There's a lot of character interaction between the playable characters and NPCs. It's not like Tales' skits, thankfully. I understand that there seems to be some people, who do not like a game with a lot of text. However, if you enjoy reading as much as I do, this shouldn't be a problem. :DGAMEPLAY ---What complements the amount of text and characters in this game is the gameplay.It's like a mix between strategy and turn base. Coming off of the Fire Emblem Awakening demo, the Trails gameplay was very refreshing. I like that I can move around without having to go one-by-one, do pre-emptive strikes on enemies, and still do the chess-like strategy when in battle with the enemy. Furthermore, you can expand your target from one enemy to a whole area of them depending on who's in your field of battle.Magic? Check. In the form of orbment arts that you can upgrade for stronger power. Normal attacks? Check. Upgradable armor? Check. Upgradable weaponry? Check. Recipe book to make a lot of different medicinal/healing stuff? Check x 100!!Like every RPG, there are quests in this game. Some of them are story-based so they're required, but others are optionable. If you're a completionist, definitely try to put off doing all of the required quests, because you can only do them while you're within a specific town/area. If you progress past that town/area, you cannot go back to that town/area. Upon beating the game, you'll get an NG+ so if you like second play-throughs, you'll have that chance to do whatever quests you miss. Furthermore, the air ships will be open to you in NG+.In terms of backtracking to do certain quests, it's not so bad. Well, compared to Tales of Abyss, it's DEFINITELY not so bad. You won't be going across the ocean to find something. That's for sure.Tired of seeing the word "Empty" every time you go back to a treasure chest you opened before? Well, this game changes that concept a little, although, not sure if this is Falcon's or XSeed's idea. Well, you'll see what I mean.MUSIC ---In my opinion, the music is good -> decent/okay to me, except for the OP and ED vocal songs. The OP and ED songs are awesome. They truly captured the feel of the game.OVERALL ---If I had to give a rating to my enjoyment level, it would be this many stars: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆Trails in the Sky is pretty underrated (although, that may be an understatement online?--), which saddens me a little. If this was available on something like the 3DS and the PC, I think it would help boost its awareness in the West. Otherwise, it'll remain to be pretty well known in Asia, and just Asia. :0 So, to any of you guys reading this, and have played Trails, please spread word of this fascinating trilogy. Would you prefer to watch the other two games in Japanese online or play it in your hands/TV/computer? (Xseed isn't putting Trails on their priority list at the moment.)I wish Xseed good luck on tackling the localization and marketing for Trails in the Sky Second Chapter~!!