As far as I'm concerned, a good story is a prerequisite for a good role-playing game. The genre hasn't exactly been known for its authoritative, serious, or nuanced narratives (many of my favorite RPGs, from Final Fantasy X to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, are renowned for silly or over-the-top-storytelling aspects), but even these more outlandish stories can still be charming and compelling. Few games prove this better than Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky originally launched in 2004 for the PlayStation Portable and PC. A continuation of the Legend of Heroes franchise, Trails in the Sky would actually serve as the "1st chapter" of a new series, referred to collectively as Trails. Over the course of two decades, Trails has evolved from a humble but impressively detailed project to a multiplatform success, albeit one that has struggled to match the popularity of JRPG franchises like Final Fantasy and Persona. In an attempt to combat this disparity, developer Nihon Falcom launched 2025's Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, a transformative remake that, while perhaps not quite as flashy as something like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is nevertheless impressive and meaningfully iterative. More than anything, it's a much-welcome reminder that classically paced, choice-influenced single-player campaigns should still be welcomed in the RPG space.
The Movie-Like Game Has Gotten Increasingly Popular, Both Inside and Outside the JRPG Genre
Production value for video games of all genres has increased exponentially in recent years. On the one hand, you have something like Death Stranding 2, whose photorealistic graphics, stunning cinematography, scoring, and editing give it the feel of a real movie. But even less visually ambitious titles, including JRPG-style games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, tend towards the spectacular and cinematic. In other words, more and more video games aim to adopt a movie-like style of presentation, dialog, pacing, and the like, and with development tech becoming both more accessible and more advanced, such lofty ambitions are relatively attainable.
And this is a good thing, certainly. It's hard to fully disavow the idea of the movie-game when you have titles like Clair Obscur and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth coming out. At the same time, though, many games have been criticized for being too movie-like, which detracts from their unique strengths as games. Examples of games slammed for their cinematic focus include Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding and The Last of Us 2, and while I wouldn't say I agree with these sorts of critiques, I can definitely understand them. A lot of developers want to blur the line between film and gaming, but many gamers want the exact opposite: for games to retain their unique qualities.
This analysis gets especially tricky when analyzing remakes like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. The original Final Fantasy 7 had cinematic moments, yes, but it was far from a movie-like game—something that can't be said about its remakes. Flashy cutscenes depicting musical numbers, majestic dolphin rides, and bombastic choreographed battle sequences are great, but they can't make up for a strong campaign, good gameplay, and well-written characters. Indeed, I would much rather play the relatively cutscene-sparse Final Fantasy 8 than a game like Mafia: The Old Country, which puts so much stake in its movie-like presentation that it neglects its gameplay and worldbuilding.
A lot of developers want to blur the line between film and gaming, but many gamers want the exact opposite: for games to retain their unique qualities.
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter's Success Reminds Us of the Power of Classic RPG Pacing and Structure
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is about the best introduction to the franchise one could imagine. It takes place in the fictional kingdom of Liberl, which is currently in the midst of a technological revolution. As political and economic strife foments, the player must travel throughout the land, meeting colorful characters, exploring distinct cities and cultures, and engaging in all manner of meaningful, highly rewarding side content. In short, it has classic JRPG narrative and gameplay structure.
Despite what might appear to some as a lack of innovation in its story and presentation, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has attained incredible success since its Fall 2025 release. It currently has a comfortable 90 OpenCritic rating, and sits at an overall score of 96% Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam. Of course, you could point to many of the game's strengths, such as its combat system or charming art style, as explanations for this warm reception, but I'd posit that the game's structure, which consists of exploration-and-dialog-based worldbuilding, bond-building with NPCs, and various dialog and mission choices, plays a major role in its creative success as well.
As further evidence of 1st Chapter's success, Nihon Falcom signed off on another Trails remake, due to release sometime in 2026.
Does this mean that every game should approach its story and structure the way that Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter does? Of course not, but the game's success, an echo of the success seen by other classically inspired JRPGs like Metaphor Refantazio, is further evidence of the value of traditional, choice-driven storytelling, a style established by the earliest, seminal entries in the genre. At the very least, there's a clear space for these sorts of games in the market alongside blockbuster-influenced, spectacular cinematic projects.