Counting down to the end.

I have to wonder at this point just how far ahead the creative team behind The Legend of Heroes series was able to plan when getting started. This series has grown into one of the deepest and most convoluted universes I’ve ever adventured through, but that doesn’t prevent Trails Beyond the Horizon from being an enjoyable game with many rewards for those who’ve been following along.

It’ll be way too much to sum up what’s going on in this latest entry in the JRPG series from Nihon Falcom and NIS America (not if I expect you to read the whole review). With over a dozen games in the series, it brings a lot of characters together and gives them a lot to do. I’ve played and enjoyed most of the games, and I still found myself quite overwhelmed. This is a very large universe, and now it’s expanding via space exploration!

This is a problem from the start where the game spends not just a lot of time helping you through the narrative elements (including way too much conversation around how they all feel about everyone’s new outfits), but through the newly tweaked combat systems, too. The Legend of Heroes games have always been a complex mesh of turn-based combat, item collecting, relationship management, orbment settings, and weapon/armor optimization. All of this has grown over the years, creating a dizzying array of options for not just what to set and master, but with whom to do it.

Don’t let me scare you off with all of this, however. Fans of The Legend of Heroes series understand and welcome this. Yes, there are a lot of characters and a lot of moving parts, but making sense of it all is part of the fun. And if you can’t remember certain characters or from whence they came, who cares? Their roles in Trails Beyond the Horizon are usually quite clear…

…eventually. This game has so many people to introduce and so many wheels to set in motion that it takes forever to get started. And it doesn’t help that my main problem with the series—the massive narrative dumps—stretches on. There are large sections where you’re just not doing anything but listening to (or reading, depending upon whether you can tolerate the English voice acting) characters talk about stuff even they don’t understand.

To its credit, though, it all becomes quite exhilarating once the game moves past the appetizers and digs into the entree. Most of the characters in use here are quite interesting and have something to offer narratively and within the gameplay. It’s a fun group of people, and that makes the plot twists and relationship development more enticing.

The gameplay furthers the push away from the traditional turn-based combat of the early games to the active combat of the most recent entries. Technically, you can fight all battles in turns, still utilizing the combination of attacks, buffs, and arts that you customize and upgrade as you see fit. A timeline shows when you and the enemies get their turn, as well as which bonuses may come with that turn. The main bosses still have to be fought in this manner, but lesser opponents can be attacked in the active time on the field. Trails Beyond the Horizon enhances this feature with new abilities such as an Awakening power and party chain attacks. You can now use arts against enemies without having to engage in turn-based combat. This all speeds up the gameplay when you’re working your way through the dungeons. That’s good. But it also makes the turn-based combat feel like a chore. That’s bad, considering it’s the very core of the series.

I’m going to get two more complaints out of the way before I focus on why I still like the game. First, I could do without the evil “YouTuber” lady who comes across like an ill-fated attempt to connect the game’s fantasy story elements with its modern players. I like to believe that that only our reality has to deal with social marketing in any form.

Second, I hate the Grim Garten. This is a darker iteration of the Märchen Garten from Trails Through Daybreak, providing battle arenas separate from the main story.

The point is to provide different gameplay elements that can result in new costumes, better weapons, character leveling, etc. It also allows series fans to take their favorite characters into battle when the main story doesn’t focus on them. That’s all good, but it also slows things to a crawl and becomes incredibly repetitive. The Trails games would be better off by removing this content entirely and working the bonuses they provide back into the main narrative.

It’s not like there’s nothing else to do, after all. In addition to the deep narrative and mix of active and turn-based combat, Trails Beyond the Horizon gives you a wonderful world to explore. Combat mostly happens in the outskirts of the numerous towns (or in their sewers, it seems), but the towns themselves give you much to occupy your time. You’re rewarded for purchasing gifts, seeing movies, learning and cooking recipes, and more, and the system for doing so has become much more efficient. It’s easier than ever to see when shops and stalls have new items you’d otherwise miss. Completionists, though, will still want a walkthrough

The game also looks great. I played the Switch 2 version, and although the visuals weren’t significantly improved from previous entries, the performance upgrade was noticable, especially in handheld mode.

What The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon does best, though, is keep you moving forward despite the speed bumps and unnecessary detours. Yes, the plot and its characters are convoluted, but they’re also compelling, and you’re constantly rewarded for seeing things through. The story is full of triumphant, anime-style, last-minute saves, and it also provides numerous tender moments that help endear you to those involved.

This is important, because the game is just a small component of a gigantic universe, yet it alone can take well over 100 hours to push through. And if you’ve put that time into previous entries in the series, you’re going to start seeing a lot of elements come together. I just wish the game didn’t get in its own way as we begin this push towards the finale.