Review: Trails Beyond the Horizon Brings Many Characters and Plots Together

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon feels like a culmination. It’s the result of gameplay evolutions and stories since Trails in the Sky coming together. It’s also the first in yet another branch, with a cliffhanger teasing at least one more installment before any resolution. While I did enjoy the latest take on the combat system, I feel this is the most unfriendly entry for newcomers and am a bit concerned about how the second part could be handled. Trails Beyond the Horizon is satisfying in some ways, but sometimes feels weak due to certain design choices.

Trails Beyond the Horizon is a compilation game of sorts, pulling from all of the recent The Legend of Heroes installments since Trails in the Sky to build up its narrative and backstory. Basically, it means implications for Zemuria as a whole, with the Calvard Republic and Edith at its center for some critical parts of the story. President Roy Gramheart is preparing a satellite project for the entire planet, followed by a manned mission. Meanwhile, three notable heroes from throughout the series and their parties are all taking part in a training exercise at the Marduk Total Security Company, with shard technology recreating monsters and trials. So we have Van and his group, which consists of Arkride Solutions Office associates like Agnes, Feri, Bergard, Rissette, and Elaine as one route, folks such as Rean, Crow, Altina, Renne head off on their own training route tied to the new Assault Frame Excalibur XD, and Kevin, Rufus, Nadia, and Swin head out on his Septian Church business. As all three groups head their separate ways, they each learn more about what’s happening in Calvard and to Zemuria as a whole, with the results shaping the world as a whole and providing insight into Professor Claude Epstein’s prediction that an end is approaching in 120X. (As usual.)

First of all, Trails Beyond the Horizon is not a game for folks who haven’t been keeping up with with The Legend of Heroes series. I’d say at bare minimum, someone hopefully played all three Trails in the Sky, all four Trails of Cold Steel, and the previous two Calvard games Trails Through Daybreak entries. Given the prominence of Rufus as a character, including Trails into Reverie in that could also be very helpful. You will be left out sometimes if you don’t have that previous context, even though there are attempts to reintroduce characters and recurring gameplay elements Van’s investigations. In addition, your affinity for certain characters will absolutely determine how much you enjoy all of this. I love Kevin Graham and was actually a bit sad that we don’t see as much of him and his group as we do Van’s and Rean’s. Likewise, if you don’t care for the Arkride Solutions Office crew, their portion does feel like the main “focus,” even though there are other major developments in Kevin and Rean’s stories. I thought some revelations were interesting, but none of it excited me and so much happening at once in three routes overwhelmed me. Perhaps it’s due to arc fatigue from Calvard, which didn’t captivate me in the same way as others, or the fact that Trails in the Sky First Chapter reminded me how much more I enjoyed the earlier arcs’ characters and storytelling. 

Still, for those who do love the series, Trails Beyond the Horizon gives you more of that with its routes and sidequests. It’s great seeing different personalities interacting, especially in situations when we don’t often get to see folks around each other as often. Rean’s route is a fantastic example of this. Again, I’m a huge fan of Kevin and the way he interacts with Rufus and others makes his moments a highlight. In the case of the Arkride Solutions Office crew, I think the big benefit is seeing the increased development after the two Daybreak games, especially with people like Agnes and Rissette. And the investigation element in which we bring up topics remains fun.

Forgoing spoilers, of course, I’m also concerned about where Trails Beyond the Horizon’s next part will go and what Falcom intends to do. The cliffhanger here is a substantial one. I don’t see how this isn’t resolved without a lot of asset reuse and perhaps even retreading of past narrative choices. I’m also a bit concerned about what it means for one major character in particular and if what comes next could “soften” some plot points and development. 

While I’m not entirely sold on Trails Beyond the Horizon’s plot, I loved the combat system. For those who played First Chapter, we again get the opportunity to kick things off with a more active Field Battle system, then continue the assault in a more strategic turn-based Command Battle fight that takes into account more defined positioning, area of effect spheres, and range of nearby allies for follow-up attacks. Arts and Crafts are available as attacks. I do feel like the Field Battles are a bit simplistic, even with the Charge Attacks and Quick Arts possible and ZOC allowing you to slow and stun them. It feels like there’s more to Command Battles and they become more technically interesting due to things like the BLTZ Chain and Support opportunities to continue and enhance attacks after a SCLM Chain assault. But I will say even there that the Crafts and Dual Arts sometimes feel like the way to go for quickly breezing through a fight, even if a character with a Boost Gauge ends up Awakened and stronger than usual. 

This means that, at times, I could feel like the Grim Garten was more of a highlight in Trails Beyond the Horizon. We have greater control over who can be in our party, without the campaign’s limitations. (Though there is unlocking.) While combat and objective-focused when in an area, there’s still the strategic element that comes from choosing where to move in each area, completing objectives, and facing guardians. The story elements here involve Ouroboros and other notable characters both via standard progress and bringing any Memento Orbs we find to the Reminiscence Pedestal. 

Another plus is that Trails Beyond the Horizon runs quite well on the Switch 2! Battles are fluid both Command and Field Battles. Character models look great. Environmental textures are perfect too. I didn’t encounter any bugs while playing either. It is an excellent version of the game.

Enjoyment of later The Legend of Heroes entries is often dependent on familiarity with the series, and that’s especially true with Trails Beyond the Horizon. If you didn’t put in the time to play, perhaps at the very least, all four Cold Steel titles and the two Daybreak ones, I am confident you would have a bad time. Even if you did, a lot of joy in this can come down to how well you connected with characters in Van, Rean, and Kevin’s routes. The combat system remains solid, fortunately, and Grim Garten can be a lot of fun if you do enjoy fighting through challenges with familiar faces.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon will come to the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, and PC on January 15, 2026, and demos are available.