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There are plenty of big JRPG series out there, most with a mountain of entries for you to play through. You could easily spend years trying to play every Final Fantasy game and not manage to finish them. Same for Dragon Quest, Persona, or any of the other big JRPG series out there. Knowing that, I’m still going to throw one more JRPG series onto that list because Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter is out later this year and is the perfect excuse to become obsessed with the Trails series.

Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter is a remake of the original Trails of the Sky and spawned the Trails series, which is a sub-series within The Legend of Heroes series. That sounds complicated, but don’t worry, it gets worse, because there are four different storylines within the Trails series across 13 games, each taking place in the same world and the same timeline but with a different cast of characters advancing the overall plot.

With 13 games, each of which offering over 80 hours of gameplay, the Trails series is a huge commitment for even JRPG sickos like me, but I’m here to tell you that it is worth it. The Trails series is massive and beautifully written, with wonderful characters that take part in sweeping epics to save (or destroy) the world. Every storyline starts with a small, personal quest before spiralling into a grand story that would make George R. R. Martin blush. Imagine if every Final Fantasy game took place in the same world rather than being totally separated from each other, and you’ll get an idea of what makes this series so remarkable.

The Trails series is broken up into four main story arcs. The first three games (Trails in the Sky, Trails in the Sky SC, and Trails in the Sky the 3rd) make up the Liberl arc, which leads onto Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure and the Crossbell arc. After that, we get Trails of Cold Steel I-IV and the Erebonia arc before the most recent games gave us the Calvard arc.

You can play each arc on its own without needing to have played what came first, but you’ll miss out on some of the references and characters and, most importantly, the sense of a growing world around your characters. For example, the Calvard arc picks up in the aftermath of the Erebonia arc, with the actions of the previous story having a direct impact on the world the characters live in. 

This is the MCU of JRPGs, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. The thing that Marvel Studios did so well – giving us a huge world that felt like it grew and adapted as new entries were made – is here, but without the need to play everything that came before. The big difference is that the Trails series gets better as it steadily expands the world. Each arc is like a Phase, telling a specific overarching story through the various games. I jumped into the series with Trails of Cold Steel and then went back and started from the beginning, a process that was jarring due to how far gaming has come since Trails in the Sky was released in 2004.

That is why I’m so excited for Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter; it is where this all started and remains a fantastic story, but the original’s gameplay hasn’t exactly aged well. The combat is cumbersome, and the graphics weren’t exactly cutting edge when the game was first released more than 20 years ago. Getting to play this game in the engine of Trails Through Daybreak, the most recent substory to make its way to the US, is going to be a treat. This is the perfect way to be introduced to the Trails series in the modern era.

I hope that everyone who enjoyed Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 and found that it whetted their appetite for JRPGs will want to dive into another one this year and allow it to lead them into a new obsession. If you enjoy Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, and I’m pretty confident you will, you’ll have hundreds of hours of games to play afterward. Chances are you missed out on one of the best JRPG series ever, so this is the chance to fix that mistake.

You don't need to beat the game to prepare for the next one—here are all the major new and upcoming games coming our way.