The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd

This game acts as an epilogue of Trails in the Sky and Trails in the Sky SC (so play them first), ties some loose ends and acts as a bridge to the following games in the series. Here the main story is much shorter and the game is structured in dungeons, with a more polished combat and a larger pool of characters available. Although the Star, Sun and Moon Doors are optional, it is highly advisable to clear all the Star Doors, as they contain short stories that are essential to the world-building of the saga.

This is the worst game in the trilogy. This does not say much because first two games are amazing, so being worst out of three does not mean the game is bad. Frankly if it was not named Trails in the Sky it could be rated 4, but unfortunately it is, so it has a huge shadow form the previous games looming over it. Where to begin. It's too bad i cannot attach screenshot as one of the characters summarize the sentiment pretty well. The bizarre idea to exchange main protagonists from the first 2 games to a glorified extra and total nobody who never even appeared in any of the games before. It's like if mass effect 3 would not be about Shepard but about that pretender Shepard from mass effect 2. That is an AMAZING decision isn't it? The plot of the whole game is week, game mechanic just go in your face gamey (i.e. tree selling you food ingredients), arbitrary "challenges" for no reason, disjointed storytelling, pathetic new level design to the point that assets pilfered from the first 2 games are more fun to traverse. Awful and contrived minigames (yes, i installed RPG to play turret shooting section blergh). Writing also feels weaker (not sure how much of that is translator and how much it is original writers fault) and writing is what elevated the first 2 games above mediocrity. On the plus side some of really annoying mission design where designers went above and beyond to screw up with your bracer rating and top tier weapons, though annoying hoop-hopping from the first 2 games were replaced with tedious mob killing grind. It's not an Asian game if heavy grind is not involved i guess. Combat system became a bit more dynamic and interesting, though it is not a huge advancement. Overall I would not recommend you buying this one full price. It does not live up to it's predecessors and the trilogy ends not with a bang but with a whimper...

It may not have the same structure of the previous two games, but this is Trails at its best when it comes to the writing, gameplay, and music. Especially the music. Don't skip this one. This game acts as a story bridge between the more self-contained FC / SC and the larger world seen in later Trails entries, giving a lot of welcome backstory and epilogue to all your favourite characters and some you didn't think about much, as well as a decent amount of foreshadowing. It's not nearly as long as the previous games, and a lot of it is technically optional, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.

My wife and I found the first Trails game randomly at the end of 2015, and we fell in love with the series very quickly. The first and second parts flow together to make one of the best, if not the best, JRPG experiences I have ever played. A little about this "3rd" part: it is not part of a trilogy. Rather, the first and second form a duology, while this chapter is a separate story. I say story, but honestly it was a huge excuse to get all the beloved cast back together for one more rumble. Forced at times, but anyone who enjoyed the extremely lovable cast won't mind too much. Because of aforementioned fan service, the main story is unfortunately weak. For the first half of the game, I found the story rather groan-worthy, and it wasn't until the last couple of the chapters that it really turned around and become really good like I expected. So, while you'll look back and see that it was a good story in the end, 3rd loses some points for taking too long to get there. While the main story is pretty slow to get running, what most people play this game for are "Doors", literal doors that each have a mini-story packed inside it. Some are light and fun, some are heart-warming, and some are really heavy and dramatic. All of the doors are fantastic, and this is what really sells this game. Combat's the same. Due to the high-level of this game, your characters learn really fun abilities, but the enemies are also really bloated in hit points, meaning boss battles can really drag. Nothing a cheat engine speed hack can't fix, though. In conclusion, if you made it this far in the series, this game is definitely worth it for all the backstory it provides on the characters you grew to love in the previous games. The main story is also pretty great once you finish the game. Again, I can only rate this 4/5 because of the slow and archaic combat system and that the main story takes too long to get interesting. Let me reiterate that this game is totally worth it.

The game starts off strong, and it is very much a love letter to the first two games. It adds a lot of background story and lore about the characters and the world. Also, the game play is essentially the same as the previous two, so if you liked the format of the game, you'll find this easy to drop into. Where the game loses a lot, though, is the addition of new mini-games that are required to get access to certain items and bits of that story. The game is chock full of mini-games that 1) have nothing at all to do with an RPG in terms of game play style, 2) are based on luck rather than any kind of skill/strategy, and 3) break immersion in the rest of the game so much as to completely ruin the experience of playing the game. The fishing mini-game is ridiculous, for instance. It relies on incredibly precise timing, and even without making mistakes, you can lose, due to the NPC getting bigger fish. Similarly, the gambling mini-games are also random. You can play them for hours and still lose over and over. If you're willing to ignore them (as far as I can tell they're not required unless you want the complete story, all items, rewards, etc.) then the rest of the game is still worth playing. There are some things that are annoying, such as enemies that come in bulk and can instakill your party, but even that's something you can largely avoid. 3/5 because of the poor design decisions that seriously reduce the quality of what would otherwise be a great RPG.