I never thought this day would arrive. After Trails from Zero’s Japanese release over a decade ago, a lot of JRPG enthusiasts had given up on the game’s official western release. Yes, there were fan translations, and Trails fans are all too familiar with the agony of waiting for localization, but Zero and its follow-up seemed doomed to stay unattainable. That is, until the announcement made last year. I am happy that NIS America accomplished what many had felt was impossible.
In 2020, I started my own Trails adventure. After finishing Ys VIII, a buddy suggested Trails of Cold Steel, and a year later, I had completed the larger series, forgetting about Reverie and Kuro. You can get the feeling of scale we’re working with here, given that Kuro No Kiseki just started the second half and there were ten games prior. I could hardly think of a poor entry, though. Life was never boring, what with putting an end to a civil war in Erebonia, stopping evil forces in Liberl, and once even arriving in hell. I’ve heard amazing stories, and Trails’ worldbuilding has always been its greatest asset, but what makes Trails truly stand out is the way it tells a huge story throughout a large number of games—a unique degree of dedication for an ongoing series.
With some incredible character arcs in the forefront, Nihon Falcom is aiming to produce one of the most ambitious series in gaming history. Trails from Zero, in my opinion, is the entry that most perfectly captures it. As Lloyd Bannings, we start out by leading the Special Support Section (SSS), a brand-new police division. Trails’ second storyline begins with Zero leading us to Crossbell, an autonomous state modeled after Hong Kong, where she is joined by Ellie, Randy, and Tio. This area is caught in a geopolitical battle that has lasted for decades between Erebonia and Calvard, the two main powers on the continent. With every country vying for control of Crossbell, there’s fascinating worldbuilding going on right away. But, without a doubt, Crossbell’s greatest attraction is its own nature. Everything has genuine character, from the dilapidated SSS building to the fringes like Armorica Village.
As the SSS, we handle direct public requests in a manner akin to that of the Bracer Guild during Trails in the Sky. This naturally has a plethora of potential side requests that you may choose from the PC on your team. The SSS is never short of tasks, from obtaining culinary supplies to responding to demands for the eradication of monsters to finding a lost statue. There is no avoiding the fact that some of these tasks are a little repetitious, but as said before, you are under no need to complete them. There’s a time restriction to finish things because, of course, you can’t keep people waiting around forever—that would be really impolite when they need help. As soon as you’re prepared to move forward, begin working on the required request.
Since Crossbell is a little city-state in comparison to the titans it faces, we won’t be on the expansive adventure that Trails of Cold Steel provided. However, there are many of places to explore, and if you need to go quickly, you may activate high-speed mode to get through both combat and exploration quickly. Prepare to battle because, unfortunately for the SSS, there are plenty of monsters on the highways that are willing to attack at first sight. There are no chance encounters, and if you’re not feeling it, you may just avoid foes while exploring. Or, to get the upper hand, you may catch them off guard. Just be careful—the opposite is also true—and don’t let them creep up on you.
Once a conflict is started, mobility is grid-based and combat is turn-based. You may use Quartz to equip various team members in addition to a regular attack; I’ll go into more detail about this later. These can offer new utility arts, like as healing, or elemental art assaults, such as water or fire damage. But use them carefully—arts cost EP and take longer to cast. While adversaries may be scanned to get those vital facts, certain enemies have elemental resistances and vulnerabilities. Battling demands a calculated strategy and thoughtful deliberation, and it is strategically highly gratifying.
A separate CP meter, which accumulates throughout battle, is also used by each party member for their Crafts. I would advise hanging fire until you reach 100 CP, which enables you to trigger an S-Craft, as there is no wait as with Arts. The “ultimate move” in essence, depending on the character, this may be employed for support or assaults. It pays to be patient; even better, wait until 200 CP to double the benefit. Even now, boss defeats provide a wonderful sensation of victory, and fighting is still incredibly fun thanks to a peppy battle tune. It’s still fun to win battles with ridiculously strong S-Crafts, in a manner that only ridiculous anime action scenes can.
Once you’ve won, you’ll receive experience points (EXP), which can come with percentage boosts if you met specific requirements, including avoiding damage. It is regrettable that difficulty levels cannot be altered in the middle of the game if fighting is giving you trouble, but there are a number of adjustments you may make to avoid level grinding. Quartz may be used for more than just increasing your attack total when combined with a regular equipment system. A few also offer stat increases for greater mobility each turn, defense, evasion, and HP/EP. Zero offers lots of opportunities for creativity if you’re not finding each character fighting the way you’d like them to.
After a chapter is complete, Zero uses Detective Points (DP) to assess your performance and awards additional things when you reach particular rankings. That depends on how many requests you granted and choices you made along the way, such as sparing important NPCs from being damaged in battle. However, be advised that not all missions will be listed on the PC and others are concealed. It annoys you since, unless you’re following a guide, certain task locations aren’t very visible in Crossbell, a large metropolis.
However, this doesn’t really take away from Zero as a whole. In addition to excellent character development, Nihon Falcom has written a gripping narrative that doesn’t sugarcoat the more difficult subjects. Crossbell’s inner workings offer a powerful examination of the innocent lives trapped between religious fanaticism, corruption, and escalating worries about colonial aspirations. Zero’s plot takes a while to get rolling since the first few chapters establish the setting slowly. But I didn’t want to quit once you got there, after it clicked. I got involved in its future by putting you at the center of its troubles.
Strong storytelling by Nihon Falcom culminated in an exhilarating ending that left me both emotionally and cold with its shocking discoveries. I won’t give away the details here, but I was moved. Still, it’s not really a serious matter. Additionally, Zero never takes itself too seriously because of its great sense of humor. I laughed when the crew called out Lloyd for his constant cornball remarks and when they were guilted by empty treasure boxes for carefully inspecting them. Zero’s theme song is my personal favorite among the songs, which are nonetheless really catchy.
Even better, the port of NIS America does more than simply add a legal fan translation and call it done. Players on the PC and Switch will discover a number of improvements to the quality of life, such as more UI choices, graphics touch-ups, and a new message log. I don’t think it’s a deal breaker that these adjustments aren’t there in the PS4 version, unfortunately. Zero has never looked horrible, and that is still the case after trying it on the PS4. Somewhere, it is just a tad bit cleaner.
Even with these little adjustments, Nihon Falcom’s JRPG Trails from Zero maintains its winning quality after twelve years on the PSP. Zero was a brilliant role-playing game in 2010, and it’s still great now because of its engaging narrative, fun combat, and outstanding character development. The Crossbell arc will soon come to an end with the localization of Trails to Azure next year, and I’m excited for it.