Nihon Falcom’s latest financial report confirmed that the Trails series, known as Kiseki in Japan, has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.
A January 2024 report put the figure at 7.5 million when the company began celebrating the series’ 20th anniversary, but the July western release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak has likely boosted sales since then, surpassing 8 million , making it one step closer to the 10 million milestone.
Although Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo has stated that Trails is coming to an end, that still leaves plenty of room for it to break through to 10 million copies sold – especially as the series’ overarching story begins to reach its climax in The Legend of Heroes: Kai No Kiseki – Farewell O ‘ Zemuria later this year.
While Kai No Kiseki, roughly translated as “The End of the Path,” will only be released in Asia for now, Falcom and publisher NIS America have promised to fast-track English localization for their games, meaning it must only be a matter of time before it hits the West.
And The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II is proof of their promise, as it’s set for an early 2025 release in the west – a far faster localization and release than previous games in the series.
Trails is an offshoot of the larger The Legend of Heroes series and a grand saga of the continent of Zemuria, with arcs dedicated to each of the four main nations of Liberl, Crossbell, Calvard and Erebonia.
Trails in the Sky and Trails in the Sky SC cover the Liberl arc and were the first games in the series, but both are not available on modern consoles.
Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure make up the Crossbell arc.
Trails through Daybreak and Trails through Daybreak II, along with the upcoming Kai No Kiseki, make up the Calvard arc.
And Paths of Cold Steel I through IV make up the Erebonia arc.
Each arc references or honors other arcs by referencing events and bringing in characters from other games in the series. Therefore, to play games later in the timeline, such as Trails into Reverie – which leads into Trails through Daybreak – players need to have knowledge and experience with the rest of the series.
Three games tend to stand out as the best starting points for newbies:
Traces in the Sky, Traces from Zero and Traces of Cold Steel I.
While neither Trails in the Sky nor Trails of Cold Steel I are available in English on the Nintendo Switch, both Trails from Zero and its sequel, Trails to Azure, make the Crossbell arc a top choice for Switch players.
With the series marking 20 years and 8 million units sold, now might be a better time to see what Trails and the land of Zemuria have to offer.
