Talking to ASCII Japan in a new interview commemorating the soon-to-launch Trails In The Sky 2nd Chapter, Nihon Falcom president and CEO Toshihiro Kondo recently talked about the studio’s plans for future releases, both in terms of remakes and mainline entries.
One of the burning questions fans have is whether Trails in the Sky the 3rd will be getting the full 3D remake treatment like its predecessors. According to Kondo, while the company’s official stance is still that the matter is “undecided,” on a personal level, he thinks it would be unthinkable not to remake the game.
“In fact, around the time we were finishing work on 2nd, the staff started asking me, ‘Can we start working on the 3rd yet?’ That’s how motivated everyone is internally, so I definitely want to do it at some point,” he says.
At the same time, Kondo is fully aware of the community’s expectations when it comes to continuing the mainline Trails series. Commenting on the ongoing Calvard arc, he says Nihon Falcom “can’t afford to drag things out any longer.” Therefore, the studio is working towards delivering a new announcement to fans as soon as possible.
Additionally, Kondo reiterated that he intends to bring the Calvard story arc to a conclusion sooner rather than later. “I know players are going to say, ‘That’s just the president saying he’s gonna wrap it up’ (laughs). But since the previous game ended right when the story was really heating up, I’d like to give it some kind of resolution in the next one.”
As for the Trails as a whole, Kondo confirmed that there have been no changes to the plan to move into the series’ “final stage” once the Calvard arc is completed. That said, the team only has a general concept for this in mind at the moment. “Nothing has been definitively decided in terms of exactly how we’ll proceed,” Kondo says.
Excellent to hear! Yes! Make Trails Beyond The Horizon 2 and then immediately follow it up with Trails In The Sky 3rd Chapter. It’s extremely important for wrapping up the story of Sky 1st and 2nd chapter, and for Fully Appreciating Trails From Zero afterwards. The very best moment in Trails From Zero is set up by the events of Trails In The Sky 3rd Chapter.
Thank you! The cliffhanger ending broke me at the end of Horizon broke me as Agnes Claudel is my favorite character in gaming history. I also am hoping she is saved and somehow Falcom will make it where her and Van will end up together romantically.🤞
I’d personally like for them to do the Crossbell stuff. I’ve only played the Code Steel games when I was in Middle School to High. I saw what Trails in the Sky and the Crossbell games look like, and I just said, Nah, I’m good. I ain’t playing that. But just like the Trails in the Sky remake, if they do it just like that, oh yeah, I’d definitely play it. I definitely put a lot more investment in these Eastern games than the Western-made games nowadays. They’re terrible. No creativity, no life, no interesting characters. Just slop.