The Legend of Heroes

The Legend of Heroes
Genres Role-playing video game
Developer(s) Nihon Falcom
Publisher(s) Nihon Falcom, Namco Bandai, Xseed Games, NIS America
Platforms PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows
First release Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes
December 10, 1989
Latest release The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV
September 28, 2018

The Legend of Heroes[1] is a series of role-playing video games developed by Nihon Falcom Corporation. First starting as a part of the Dragon Slayer series in the late 1980s, the series evolved into its own decade-spanning, interconnected series spanning fourteen entries, encompassing multiple meta series within it as well. The most recent entry, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV, released in Japan on September 27, 2018.

History

The first entry of the series was released in 1989 as Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, and was part of Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer line of games. It was released for various computer platforms, as well as consoles such as the Mega Drive, Super Famicom, and the PC Engine. The PC Engine version would be the only version to be released in English, and the only Legend of Heroes title released in North America until 2005. Meanwhile, in Japan, the series continued with Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II, released in 1992 for a similar selection of platforms.

Subsequent games in the series dropped "Dragon Slayer" from the title. The Legend of Heroes III, The Legend of Heroes IV, and The Legend of Heroes V comprised the "Gagharv trilogy", a set of connected games taking place in the same world.

After the conclusion of the Gagharv trilogy, a new story began with a new trilogy, the Trails in the Sky subseries. The three titles in it, First Chapter, Second Chapter and The 3rd collectively made up the sixth entry in the series.

Falcom switched to a duology for the seventh entry, consisting of The Legend of Heroes VII: Zero no Kiseki in 2010, and The Legend of Heroes VII: Ao no Kiseki in 2011. After that, the company moved on to the Trails of Cold Steel subseries, releasing the first title in 2013,[2] the second in 2014, and the third in 2017, with a fourth and final title planned for release in 2018.[3]

While initially having an inconsistent record with English language releases, by 2017, nine of the thirteen titles had been localized. English releases include the original title by Falcom themselves, the Gagharv trilogy by Namco Bandai, and the Trails in the Sky trilogy and first two titles of the Trails of Cold Steel series by Xseed Games.[4]

Main games

Sub-series Original name Original release English name English release Notes Platforms
Dragon Slayer Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes 1989 Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes 1992 The first game in The Legend of Heroes series, the sixth subseries of the Dragon Slayer series. NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, FM-7, MSX2, PC Engine, Super Famicom, X68000, Mega Drive, Satellaview, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II 1992 Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II N/A The second game in the Legend of Heroes series, the last to have the Dragon Slayer moniker, and still unreleased in English territories. NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, Mega Drive, Super Famicom, PC Engine, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Gagharv trilogy The Legend of Heroes III: Shiroki Majo 1994 The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch 2006 The third Legend of Heroes game and first of the Gagharv trilogy. It was re-numbered as II for the English release. NEC PC-9801, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable
The Legend of Heroes IV: Akai Shizuku 1996 The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion 2005 The fourth game in the Legend of Heroes series, and the second in the Gagharv trilogy. For its English release, all numbering was removed, making it appear to be the first game in the trilogy. NEC PC-9801, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable
The Legend of Heroes V: Umi no Oriuta 1999 The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean 2007 The fifth game in the Legend of Heroes series and third and last of the Gagharv trilogy. It was renumbered as III for the English release. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable
Trails in the Sky The Legend of Heroes VI: Sora no Kiseki 2004 The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 2011 The sixth game in the Legend of Heroes series and the first game of the Trails in the Sky trilogy. All three titles collectively are numbered VI in the Japanese releases. Japanese re-releases grant it the extended title of Sora no Kiseki FC. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
The Legend of Heroes VI: Sora no Kiseki SC 2006 The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC[5] 2015 The second part of the Sky trilogy Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
The Legend of Heroes VI: Sora no Kiseki the 3rd 2007 The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd[5] 2017 The final part of the Trails in the Sky trilogy Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
Trails – Crossbell arc The Legend of Heroes VII: Zero no Kiseki 2010 Trails to Zero N/A The first part of The Legend of Heroes VII, also known as the Crossbell arc Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita
The Legend of Heroes VII: Ao no Kiseki[6] 2011 Trails to Azure N/A The second part of The Legend of Heroes VII, also known as the Crossbell arc Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita
Trails of Cold Steel The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki 2013 Trails of Cold Steel 2015 The first Trails of Cold Steel game Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4
The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki II 2014 The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II 2016[7] N/A Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4
The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki III 2017 The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III N/A N/A PlayStation 4
The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki IV 2018 The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV N/A The final Trails of Cold Steel game PlayStation 4

Spinoff games

Sub-series Original name Original release English name English release Notes
Spinoff Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga 2010 N/A N/A A fighting game crossover containing characters from the Trails and Ys series, both Falcom franchises.
Nayuta no Kiseki 2012 N/A N/A A standalone action RPG set in an entirely different world from the main Trails/Kiseki series.
The Legend of Heroes: Akatsuki no Kiseki 2016 N/A N/A An online game developed by UserJoy Technology under licence from Falcom, it takes place in Liberl, Crossbell, and Remiferia, and includes some characters from earlier Trails games.

Manga and anime

A Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes original video animation anime was released in 1992, the same year that Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II was released, loosely based on the story of the first game.[8] In 1997, it was dubbed into English by Urban Vision and was released onto VHS in North America. The English dub has yet to be released on DVD.

In 2009, three volumes of a Sora no Kiseki (Trails in the Sky) manga were published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, followed the next year by a sequel Zero no Kiseki - Pre-Story - Shinpan no Yubiwa, published by ASCII Media Works. Two original video animation anime episodes of Sora no Kiseki were released on October 10, 2011 and January 28, 2012 respectively.[9]

References

  1. ↑ The Legend of Heroes (英雄伝説 Eiyū Densetsu)
  2. ↑ Spencer (19 February 2013). "Meet The Characters In The Legend Of Heroes: Trails In The Flash". Siliconera. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2017/11/20/trails-of-cold-steel-4-will-be-the-final-game-in-the-series/
  4. ↑ Feature: Xseed on the Trails series
  5. 1 2 Spencer (December 27, 2011). "The Legend Of The Heroes: Trails In The Sky Series Soaring To Smartphones… In English!". Siliconera. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  6. ↑ Spencer (March 22, 2011). "The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Azure, The Sequel To Zero No Kiseki, Hits PSP This Fall". Siliconera. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  7. ↑ 2014-04-08, The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki II dated in Japan, Gematsu
  8. ↑ Marshall, Marc (August 16, 2011). "Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes". Akemi's Anime World. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Anime #2 Teaser Posted". Anime News Network. December 12, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
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