Review: The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure

destructoid.com:

Last year, NIS America made a Legend of Heroes fan out of me with the release of Trails from Zero, the first part of the Crossbell Arc of the greater Trails storyline. I found it to be a fascinating RPG with an outstanding narrative and gameplay structure that positioned the title as some sort of “playable police procedural”. While overly talkative (and a bit ugly on the PS4), Trails from Zero ended up as one of my favorite games from last year.

Chances are I’ll be saying the same thing about Trails to Azure when we finally get through 2023.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (PC, PS4 [reviewed], Nintendo Switch) Developer: Falcom Publisher: NIS America Released: March 14, 2023 MSRP: $39.99 (Digital) / $49.99 (Physical)

Returning to the city-state of Crossbell in this direct sequel to The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, Trails to Azure continues with the exploits of Lloyd Bannings, Elie MacDowell, and the rest of the Special Support Section (SSS) as they work against the odds in a city that is brimming with corruption. If you missed out on Trails from Zero, know that Azure generally expects players to come into it with first-hand knowledge of the events of the previous title. While there is a glossary that’ll give you the gist, to really understand what’s happening here, you should set aside 45 hours to play through the Zero before giving this a go.

Trails to Azure begins just a month after the events of the previous game, with the SSS attempting to maintain the fragile peace the denizens of Crossbell are enjoying. While corruption still looms large in the government, you get the sense that it’s somewhat more manageable this time around. That is, until the West Zumeria Trade Conference abruptly changes the