‘Trails In The Sky’ Remake Confirms New English Localization, Promises “An Authentic Experience That Honors The Original Japanese Text”
Every so often, a bit of welcome news peeks through the absolute s–tstorm that is the English-to-Japanese media translation scene – and in the latest case of this rare phenomena, it has been confirmed that the long-awaited Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remake be releasing in Western markets with a brand new and far more faithful localization.
The first official (and eponymous) entry in the Trails subseries of Nihon Falcom’s larger The Legend of Heroes turn-based RPG franchise, Trails in the Sky introduces players to the fictional country of Liberl and puts them in the shoes of Estelle and Joshua Bright, adopted siblings who in seeking to become a part of the kingdom’s peace keeping forces uncover a secret plot filled with betrayal, lies, and secret societies that stands to tear entire society into chaos.
Debuting in Japan in 2004, the game would eventually be licensed for an English-language release by US-based publisher XSEED Games in 2010 but would ultimately not hit either North America or Europe until 2011 due to not only the absolutely massive task of localizing its reportedly 1.5 million Japanese-character-long script, but also the company’s decision to assign the job to an jaw-droppingly small team consisting of just one lead localizer and a temporary support roster of one editor and three translators.
“It’s long,” said lead XSEED localizer Jessica Chavez of her work on the game. “It’s so long that many companies have avoided localizing it for years (the body count has always been off-putting for some reason). Conflicting reports put the total game text at ~1.5 million Japanese characters, but all ‘I’ know for certain is that I worked from home 11-14hrs a day, 6 days/week, lost 7lbs, cut off 18inches of my hair and used the XSEED twitter account to further the cause of bacon on more than one occasion.”
“In the end we had to employ a total of 3 translators, 1.25 editors (myself, and Tom had to jump in the last month to help me finish chapter 4) and one or two other helpful Sora no Kiseki [lit. Trails in the Sky] experts that didn’t mind spontaneous Instant Messages asking about whether or not certain characters would be at home saying things like, ‘Lo! I am hoist with my own petard!’,” she added. “I believe all the translators survived mostly intact, and Tom reports cheerfully from my left as I type this that he sort of misses TitS and also thinks he has Stockholm Syndrome. Our manager, on the other hand, does this kind of thing all the time and just laughs at our weakness.”
As a result, the original English script for The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, while admirably done and commendable in its accomplishment, reeked of rushed deadlines and ‘personal touches’, all of which ultimately resulted in the localization receiving a less-than-favorable reception from the series’ fanbase.
Thankfully for those disappointed fans, alongside a rebuilding in Nihon Falcom’s proprietary Trails Through Daybreak engine, as originally developed in 2022 for use with the eleventh mainline Trails series game from which it takes its name, the ability to switch between a new real-time combat system and a more traditional turn-based one, and the addition of voice acting, the upcoming Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remake will also see the game’s North American publisher, GungHo Online Entertainment America (GOEA), going the extra mile and commissioning a brand new, supposedly more accurate localization.
Teasing the game’s contents in an April 15th press release announcing the opening of the game’s pre-order window, the publisher revealed, “Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter features a new localization, ensuring an authentic and engaging experience that honors the original Japanese text. Fans can look forward to experiencing classic moments with dialogue that captures both the heart and charm of the Trails series in English, German, French, or Spanish. For those who prefer the Japanese audio, a Japanese voice option will also be available, giving players the freedom to choose how they want to experience the game!”
For both longtime fans of the series and those looking to finally take the dive into its admittedly intimidating canon, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is set to release for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC platforms (via Steam) sometime later this Fall.
As noted by GOEA, pre-orders for the game’s physical standard edition ($60 USD) are now live at most major retailers, while the digital Steam release is set to go live as soon as it launches.
Meanwhile, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter will also be receiving a yet-to-be-detailed Collector’s Edition from Limited Run Games – who longtime readers of BIC may best know as the boutique video game publisher that fired a community manager in response to pearl-clutching outrage over her following of right-wing media figures on social media.
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