The Second Chapter (SC) in the Trails in the Sky trilogy does exactly what its title suggests and picks up right where the First Chapter (FC) ended, not even providing a recap of previous events. It’s the type of sequel that’s meant to be played immediately after you’ve finished the initial game, designed as the “second half” of a whole story. As such, if you haven’t played Trails in the Sky FC yet, do so before you engaging with its sequel – it's a decent JRPG, especially if you like a story with a focus on worldbuilding. In terms of the turn-based combat system, the two games are also almost identical.

In fact, Trails in the Sky SC will see you retreading a lot of familiar paths. This is hardly a surprise, considering it’s a direct sequel set in the same nation of Liberl, which means revisiting familiar characters and places is part of the main appeal. However, even direct sequels tend to feature new locations, an enhanced combat system and more while Trails in the Sky SC went with an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach instead. In terms of locations for example, you’ll spend a majority of the game in the same towns, trails and dungeons you’ve already been to before, since only a handful of new places got added to the game. The gameplay remains virtually unchanged as well, including the menus, since the big new additions here are merely the introduction of chain attacks, the fishing minigame returns as a permanent addition and there are more expensive Quartz options to choose from.

The good news here is that, if you liked how Trails in the Sky FC played, you’ll enjoy the sequel as well. Town NPCs still offer new dialogue after major events happened, Bracer Guild side-quests provide various rewards and insights into Liberl and empty chests got a lot to say. Trails in the Sky SC does feature a large(r) amount of backtracking however, with one story chapter in particular asking you to travel through the entire map again - which can be especially draining if you’ve finished Trails in the Sky FC shortly before starting with this sequel. Still, in the end it’s the story that’s the main draw of these games, not the gameplay itself, so let’s move on to talk about the plot.

A common criticism of Trails in the Sky FC concerns its story pacing, since the game starts quite slow for world-building purposes and only gradually speeds up during its later chapters before closing out with a dramatic cliffhanger ending. This led to people jokingly calling Trails in the Sky FC a “playable prologue”, which would imply that Trails in the Sky SC is where “the action finally starts happening”. But everyone who’s expecting the sequel to blast ahead at full speed following the gripping ending of Trails in the Sky FC is in for an unpleasant surprise: Trails in the Sky SC does the exact opposite and hits the brakes instead, once again opting for a slower first half of the game in order to introduce its new cast of villains, the society of Ouroboros.

Now, considering that these villains have only really been introduced at the end of Trails in the Sky FC, it’s understandable that a sequel would take it’s time to work on their characterisation. And it does succeed at creating unique villains with individual ties to the various party members, although some are more interesting than others. Unfortunately, however, I feel like Trails in the Sky SC chooses the wrong way to do so, opting for a “villain of the week” narrative structure spread across the previously visited regions of Liberl. It also heavily leans into the “villain escapes easily after being defeated” trope, which makes the first half of the game quite a predictable affair. It also doesn’t help that only few hints are given regarding the larger plot at this point, giving off the feeling of being stalled until the game’s pacing finally increases in the second half. In my opinion, I prefer the first half of Trails in the Sky FC to its sequel, mainly because its less predictable and showcases new locations instead.

Thankfully, the story really shines in the second of Trails in the Sky SC instead. Apart from maybe the aforementioned backtracking chapter, this is where various plot points and character arcs that started in Trails in the Sky FC finally reach their long-awaited conclusion. Big events are happening and there are some great character moments on display here – Estelle in particular can show how much she’s grown as a character here, from her humble beginnings as a Junior Bracer to where she ends up being, making her one of my favourite JRPG protagonists.

That said, the final chapter of the game suffers from the baffling decision that certain important scenes during the final dungeon only happen as long as you’ve picked the right party members for certain fights[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]. Even worse, doing so requires you to backtravel to a certain spot after almost every dungeon floor in order to change your party members, which turns the “final trial” of the game into a really unnecessary slog that could’ve been easily prevented. I don’t mind the idea of picking the lore-accurate party members for a fight – but why make it so difficult?

Besides this questionable choice however, the second half of Trails in the Sky SC serves as a thorough end to most of the open plot threads, making it a great drop-off point if you decide that you don’t want to continue with the Trails series afterwards. Trails in the Sky SC does lean into anime territory more heavily than its more-grounded predecessor but thankfully, it never really jumps the shark. It does have a surprisingly short epilogue but considering Trails in the Sky 3rd exists, there’s one more game for those who still want to see more of Liberl.

Lastly, I need to talk about two technical problems with Trails in the Sky SC. Trails in the Sky FC already had a few sequences where its original 4:3 resolution became apparent when playing at a 16:9 resolution, but it unfortunately gets worse in Trails in the Sky SC (cut-off backgrounds, characters supposedly “vanishing” by going to one side of the screen and staying there) – nothing game-breaking but it is noticeable at times. Additionally, the game always crashed on me when handing in a certain side-quest during chapter 2, though I’ve linked a possible solution to the problem that worked for me.

Concluding, Trails in the Sky SC is a decent follow-up to Trails in the Sky FC, with a weaker first and a better second half. While the gameplay remains almost unchanged, it does a great job at concluding the various plot points and character arcs to the point where the Trails in the Sky FC/SC “duology” should serve as a decent, complete JRPG experience on their own, with no need to play through further Trails games if you don’t want to commit to that. And considering how notoriously difficult it was to localise the second game in particular, it remains a small wonder we even got this far to begin with.

we need Dual Sense（ps5）

Played exculsivly on Steam Deck, mostly in offline mode (resulting in incorrect playtime).

A rock solid squeal to to a rock solid RPG, SC offers more of the same, if you enjoyed the first game. I feel that the same issues that plague the first game are here as well, namely, that the game discourages grinding (in that you get less experience fighting monsters), forcing you to do side quests that can sometimes be tedious or dull to do; that is to say nothing of the time limits all side quests have, and how moving a single story beat further can mean you miss out on them. There is also the issue of massive difficulty spikes when it comes to bosses, though the spike is due in large part to Ads forcing you to split focus. Keeping the option that lowers difficulty after TPW is highly recommended.