The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki

One of the most anticipated announcements in the land of the rising sun had to come from Nihon Falcom. And it is that the company has announced the next installment of the franchise The Legend of Heroes, with many initial details. Kuro no Kiseki, translated as Trails of Black in English. And will be a sequel to another game of the franchise, however, that game was never released outside of Japan. So it could be a bit confusing for people outside of Japan, however, this new game has a lot of different and new things when you compare it to the older ones in the franchise. But what is The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki all about? Well, we are here to talk about it, and bring a little more info about this fantastic franchise outside of Japan and into the world! So, let’s get started.

About the game

Kuro no Kiseki takes place in the Republic of Calvard (east of the continent) in the year S.1208. The title derives from the Japanese word for Dawn (Reimei), which is reflected in the colors associated with the protagonist. The story will focus on characters who are in the "gray zone" of society (detectives, negotiators, bounty hunters, etc.) The title seems to be "the other half" of Hajimari no Kiseki, which they regret not having titled Shiro no Kiseki (Trails of White).

Kuro no Kiseki uses a new engine, with which a scene was produced in the last title (Hajimari no Kiseki). The modeling of the characters has evolved, and they look different when in motion. About Calvard, they say that she looks like a mix between Eastern European culture and Middle Eastern people, a mix between Europe and Asia. Besides, it is somewhat smaller than Erebonia, although the map scale is similar to the Trails of Cold Steel titles.

Most of the characters you’ll see in Kuro no Kiseki, probably over 90%, are completely new, and expand the story and complex lore of the franchise even more. Of course, the remaining 10% are characters the fans will be really pleased to see make a comeback, as it allows their storylines to continue.

Falcom knows that fans expect to see the Society and the Oaths, and even though Kondo couldn't mention anything, they know they have to represent them. And if you were expecting the title to drag on with some cliffhanger as in previous occasions, fear not. Kuro no Kiseki will have a more than correct ending, and will have as much content as any Trails of Cold Steel game.

About the gameplay

Since we will be dealing with the "grey zone" of society, we no longer have as many allies as in previous installations. That's right, there are no more than 50 playable characters, and in return we have a lot of enemies. Movement and combat are synchronized seamlessly, especially when turn-based battles are abandoned. Commands will be executed in real-time, although we may switch to a more fun combat system. While the main mode is real-time, combat won't be central to our ability to push buttons.

Review: 8.5/10

Arts and Crafts will remain even if we say goodbye to the ARCUS system and replace it with the new Xipha. We also said goodbye to Combat Links and Brave Orders but replaced them with a new system that they say is incredible. We conduct conversations with NPCs through the topic system.

Pros:

• Solid gameplay
• New mechanics
• Excellent new stroy
• Great art

Cons

• Lower quality visuals
• It feels a bit unpolished