{"id":51596,"date":"2025-09-03T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=51596"},"modified":"2025-09-02T17:57:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T08:57:06","slug":"trails-in-the-sky-1st-chapter-does-double-the-original-games-playtime-but-its-dense-enough-to-justify-70-hours-nihon-falcom-president-assures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/trails-in-the-sky-1st-chapter-does-double-the-original-games-playtime-but-its-dense-enough-to-justify-70-hours-nihon-falcom-president-assures\/","title":{"rendered":"Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter does double the original game\u2019s playtime, but it\u2019s dense enough to justify 70+ hours, Nihon Falcom president assures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a full remake of 2004\u2019s The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, with revamped 3D graphics, new voiceovers and QOL changes. While the scenario of the game will remain <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/nihon-falcom-was-able-to-give-trails-in-the-sky-1st-chapter-a-simultaneous-global-release-date-because-they-already-had-a-finalized-script\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pretty much the same as its predecessor<\/a>, the playtime seems to have gotten drastically longer. Nihon Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo told AUTOMATON that the game can indeed take more than 70 hours to complete depending on how you play, but that the dev team prepared enough content so that the players\u2019 journey through Liberl feels dense and engaging from start and finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Promotional Trailer - Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DQrnrg93QsY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Playing Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter for the first time, Kondo admits that it took him more than 70 hours to complete the game and all its quests without dragging it out for too long. \u201cIt still took me and other staff that much to play through it, even though we knew the contents of the game (laughs).\u201d He gave us two reasons as to why the gameplay has turned out to be double the time of the original: \u201cThe first reason for it is that we added more voiced lines to the story and events, so if you play without skipping them, you\u2019ll get to enjoy the game for at least 10 more hours. The second reason is that the environment physically expanded with the switch to 3D graphics, thus making exploration take much longer than it used to.\u201d While there still is a fast travel option for people who aren\u2019t that into walking all the way back to check up on what their favorite NPCs are doing, Kondo notes that this change to a more expansive 3D environment makes Estelle\u2019s journey through Liberl feel much more realistic. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250902-515960001.jpg\" alt=\"Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter gameplay.\" class=\"wp-image-51604\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250902-515960001.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250902-515960001-380x214.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Kondo stresses that, despite having such a long playtime, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is packed with content, leaving no room for players to be bored. With the intention to stay true to the 2004 original, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter will, in the spirit of classic JRPGs, have you navigate various locations packed with gimmicks, as opposed to RPGs that are more linear, with exploration simplified in favor of sticking to the main story. In that sense, you\u2019ll have a lot of things to do while on the road, from different kinds of puzzles to unique exploration methods like riding in a minecart \u2013 which all appear in the original game. \u201cI think playing the remake will remind fans of that nostalgic feeling, but on the other hand, the younger generation of players [who haven\u2019t experienced many classic RPGs] will probably view it as refreshing,\u201d Kondo remarked. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With only around 2 weeks left until the remake\u2019s official release, we\u2019ll soon be able to see for ourselves how all 80 hours of the game come together with the new visuals, voiceovers and extra content \u2013 and if they are truly as dense and engaging as Nihon Falcom promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trails in the Sky the 1st launches September 19, 2025 for PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3375780\/Trails_in_the_Sky_1st_Chapter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>), Nintendo Switch and PS5. The game will also receive a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/trailsfirstchapter.com\/product\/#switch2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nintendo Switch 2 edition<\/a>, which can be purchased as an Upgrade Pack for $1.00.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/if-trails-in-the-sky-1st-chapter-doesnt-get-a-sequel-our-fans-will-go-youve-got-to-be-kidding-me-nihon-falcom-ceo-on-future-releases\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">If Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter doesn\u2019t get a sequel, our fans will go \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be kidding me.\u201d Nihon Falcom CEO on future releases\u00a0<br><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nihon Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo talks about how Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter was remade into a longer, but denser gameplay experience. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":51606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-51596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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