Lista para el Combate / The Legend of Heroes Trails of Azure #shorts
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The Legend of Heroes TRAILS to AZURE, which is the tenth title in the franchise and the second and final installment of the Cross Bell Arc, was originally released in 2011 for the PSP. It also received a PS Vita remake in 2014, with versions that never left Japan.
Fortunately, we'll receive an official release in 2023, developed by Nihon Falcom and published by NIS America for various platforms such as the PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC Master Race.
But before we begin, there are certain things we must keep in mind when trying to judge this title:
The first would be its age, since despite being sold as a new title, the truth is that it's been almost 12 years since its original release.
The second element is that it's only subtitled in English, and I'm not lying when I say it has a looooot of dialogue, so if you don't master the language, it will be a tedious experience.
This time, we'll once again control Young Detective Lloyd Banings a few months after the events of the prequel.
This story could be divided into two parts. The first half presents a slow-paced narrative during which we're introduced to old acquaintances as well as new characters, along with elements that shape the narrative as a whole.
In the second half, everything goes crazy, and it's the moment in which we'll experience the most memorable moments of this story, which is a rollercoaster of emotions.
All of this is from the perspective of someone who already knew the ending, since the end of the Crosbel Saga is revealed in the Trails of Cold Steel tetralogy, and yet this story still managed to surprise me on more than one occasion.
But not everything is perfect, as the story lacks pacing and takes forever to develop. While video games in this franchise tend to be like this, Trails to Azure felt especially slow for me.
I feel like they could have done away with some of the side quests, which contribute little to nothing to the overall story, in order to improve the pacing.
GAMEPLAY and EXPLORATION
In Trails to Azure, we can only visit the lush city of Crosbell and its surrounding areas. Initially, to reach them, we must walk while clearing the paths of the monsters that roam them. However, this time, we will have a vehicle at our disposal to serve as fast travel, which I recommend not using because it greatly limits the game's natural farming. Additionally, we will have various dungeons full of dangers and puzzles.
COMBAT
As I mentioned at the beginning, Trails from Zero is a turn-based positional role-playing video game in which the battlefield is made up of a grid, and each character will have a specific range of movement. In this regard, we can divide our primary party into two types: melee and ranged. The latter can be subdivided by their weapon type: orbal staffs, which are designed to be more efficient with magic, and firearms, which have a greater range in their basic attack.
During combat, we can use simple attacks, item attacks, crafts, S crafts, magic, as well as combo crafts, which I will detail below:
Artes: These are magical abilities that can be simple or area-based and that require a specific casting time. As we progress through the story, their spectacularity will increase.
Crafts: These are instant-activation physical or magical abilities unique to each character, which we will unlock as we level up. Their use will require a certain amount of CP points.
S Crafts: These are special abilities that can be activated by collecting a minimum of 100 CP and a maximum of 200, which can inflict a significant amount of damage. Needless to say, they come with a rather epic and unique animation for each character. These abilities can be activated both during and outside of your turn.
Combo Crafts: These are basically S Crafts that we can execute with another party member and require us to spend 100 CP for each character. This ability unleashes a powerful onslaught on all our enemies.
Combat will begin upon contact with enemies roaming the maps, but depending on how we approach, we will receive advantages or penalties during the fight.
If we collide with enemies head-on, we will begin the fight on equal terms.
If we hit them from behind, we will begin the fight with an advantage and attack first.