New to the series

[Blackdog420]

Where exactly does this game fit into the series. Is this game a sequel or a prequel?

[Day]

This takes place after the events in the Trails in the Sky arc and will lead into Trails of Cold Steel.

[Yekkusu]

Fourth game in the current story arch. Technically this is the what? Seventh The legend of Heroes since the Trails in the Sky was the fourth or fifth I don't know I'm sleepy. XD
I do know that in the current storyline which happens in Zemuria, this game is the fourth in the series. And I heavilly recomend you to Play the Trails in the Sky first since this game has an open thread from the Sky games that will be finished here in this one. And it's a big spoiler if you don't play the Sky first.

I think you would take a few months to finish the Sky series however by that point maybe the next game tTrails to Azure will be here already and you won't have to wait to play it after finishing this one.And that's a plus. XD

The order of the games are:

Trails in the Sky.
Trails in the Sky SC.
Trails in the Sky the 3rd. (Yes they could have used numbers, but whatever).
Trails from Zero.
Trails into Azure.
Trails of Cold Steel I.
Trails of Cold Steel II.
TRails of Cold Steel III.
Trails of Cold Steel IV.
Trails into Reverie. (I think that's the adaptation they chose, I forgot).
Kuro no Kiseki (I would bet on TRails from the Darkness or Into Darkness BUT since Hajimari was adapted to Reverie, I have no idea what they will call that.
And Kuro no Kiseki II: Crimson Sin.

So far, both Kuro no Kiseki, Reverie and Azure are still to be released, and Kuro no Kiseki has no date to be worked on, sadly.

[zefyris]

to add to Yekkusu's list information,
Reverie and Azure will be released next year.
so that makes :
----------------------------
Trails in the Sky FC.
Trails in the Sky SC.
Trails in the Sky the 3rd.
Trails from Zero. <--------------- You're here
Trails into Azure. ( release 2023)
Trails of Cold Steel I.
Trails of Cold Steel II.
TRails of Cold Steel III.
Trails of Cold Steel IV.
Trails into Reverie. (release 2023).
Kuro no Kiseki ( no release date yet, probably late 2024 at the latest)
Kuro no Kiseki II: Crimson Sin ( no release date yet, maybe 2025).
-------------------------------

[fireguardiancoty]

Originally posted by Day:

This takes place after the events in the Trails in the Sky arc and will lead into Trails of Cold Steel.

I wouldn't say it leads into it. Cold Steel, for the first two games anyway, runs concurrently with the Crossbell games.

[Allexan]

Originally posted by zefyris:

to add to Yekkusu's list information,
Reverie and Azure will be released next year.
so that makes :
----------------------------
Trails in the Sky FC.
Trails in the Sky SC.
Trails in the Sky the 3rd.
Trails from Zero. <--------------- You're here
Trails into Azure. ( release 2023)
Trails of Cold Steel I.
Trails of Cold Steel II.
TRails of Cold Steel III.
Trails of Cold Steel IV.
Trails into Reverie. (release 2023).
Kuro no Kiseki ( no release date yet, probably late 2024 at the latest)
Kuro no Kiseki II: Crimson Sin ( no release date yet, maybe 2025).
-------------------------------

Adding to this:
Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails - spin-off, sort of, outside of the main order (eng release in 2023, I think)
Tokyo Xanadu eX+ - not included in this series, but a honorary member of sorts, something like an illegitimate child with Persona franchise, has lots of cross-references

[kyto1984]

Cold Steel I & II and Crossbell (Arc) take place at the same time. You can play either, though each somewhat spoils the other.

[poperboy]

Originally posted by Yekkusu:

Fourth game in the current story arch. Technically this is the what? Seventh The legend of Heroes since the Trails in the Sky was the fourth or fifth I don't know I'm sleepy. XD
I do know that in the current storyline which happens in Zemuria, this game is the fourth in the series. And I heavilly recomend you to Play the Trails in the Sky first since this game has an open thread from the Sky games that will be finished here in this one. And it's a big spoiler if you don't play the Sky first.

I think you would take a few months to finish the Sky series however by that point maybe the next game tTrails to Azure will be here already and you won't have to wait to play it after finishing this one.And that's a plus. XD

The order of the games are:

Trails in the Sky.
Trails in the Sky SC.
Trails in the Sky the 3rd. (Yes they could have used numbers, but whatever).
Trails from Zero.
Trails into Azure.
Trails of Cold Steel I.
Trails of Cold Steel II.
TRails of Cold Steel III.
Trails of Cold Steel IV.
Trails into Reverie. (I think that's the adaptation they chose, I forgot).
Kuro no Kiseki (I would bet on TRails from the Darkness or Into Darkness BUT since Hajimari was adapted to Reverie, I have no idea what they will call that.
And Kuro no Kiseki II: Crimson Sin.

So far, both Kuro no Kiseki, Reverie and Azure are still to be released, and Kuro no Kiseki has no date to be worked on, sadly.

I believe the unofficial translation for Kuro is Trails before Dawn (which doesn't make much sense but whatever)
Hajimari could have been called Trails of Beginnings or something close.
Of course even Cold Steel isn't really translated cause it can't.

[zefyris]

Originally posted by Allexan:

Originally posted by zefyris:

to add to Yekkusu's list information,
Reverie and Azure will be released next year.
so that makes :
----------------------------
Trails in the Sky FC.
Trails in the Sky SC.
Trails in the Sky the 3rd.
Trails from Zero. <--------------- You're here
Trails into Azure. ( release 2023)
Trails of Cold Steel I.
Trails of Cold Steel II.
TRails of Cold Steel III.
Trails of Cold Steel IV.
Trails into Reverie. (release 2023).
Kuro no Kiseki ( no release date yet, probably late 2024 at the latest)
Kuro no Kiseki II: Crimson Sin ( no release date yet, maybe 2025).
-------------------------------

Adding to this:
Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails - spin-off, sort of, outside of the main order (eng release in 2023, I think)
Tokyo Xanadu eX+ - not included in this series, but a honorary member of sorts, something like an illegitimate child with Persona franchise, has lots of cross-references

And then there's Akatsuki no Kiseki, which is free to play online but only in Japanese afaik. We know it's canon as well since one of CS4 character refers to a character from Akatsuki.
Haven't played it yet so don't know where it fits. Probably can be played at any point after sky I'd suppose, since the connection seems very little so it's mostly for world building.

[Koby]

Originally posted by Blackdog420:

Where exactly does this game fit into the series. Is this game a sequel or a prequel?

Zero and Azure technically belong between Sky 3rd and Cold Steel 1. However Chronologically they happen before, during, and after in some aspects as Cold Steel 1 & 2 as the timeline overlaps between the games.

[Allexan]

"Akatsuki no Kiseki" is "Trails at Dawn", and I excluded it because there are no news on english loc and/or world-wide release. Also, it's a gacha, so I don't think they're planning on bringing it to the West.

"Hajimari" is officially translated as "Reverie", and it's coming after Azure.

"Kuro no Kiseki" is unofficially "Trails from the Black", and it's coming after Reverie and Nayuta, I think.




Zero/Azure happen concurrently with CS 1 and 2, but were made and released earlier, and the series follows more or less continuous narrative, so for me it's logical to place them before CS.

[leafs43]

Start with Trails in the Sky.


You get so much more out of the series if you understand where its been.


This series is sort of like the MCU. You wouldn't start up the MCU with Captain American 2 even though Captain America 2 was a great movie

[Stabbey]

Originally posted by IndigoAK:

You DO NOT need to play previous arcs before starting a new one. People keep saying this, but it is 100% false. Maybe in the original Japanese, but the English localization of each game was written in such a way that any information you need to understand and infer has been provided.

People went into Cold Steel 3 and 4 saying this, and every single Crossbell or Trails character that was met either went into a long-winded explanation of what they'd been up to or somebody else went into a long-winded explanation of what they'd been up to, or - and this is going to piss off a lot of people who act like these games are the Proust of gaming - nothing was explained because backstory isn't always important.

The cliffs notes on who those characters are gets mentioned, yes, so you can intellectually know who they are. But the cliff's notes aren't going to give you an emotional connection to them like playing the games (or at least watching someone else's playthrough) will.

This is especially of note because one character's story arc which started in Sky SC only ends up getting concluded in Zero.

[Blackdog420]

Hey everybody thanks alot for the replies.