Sora no Kiseki the 2nd Email Interview

President Kondo

The series has been ongoing for over 20 years now but there’s an increasing number of people that haven’t played the original “Trails in the Sky”. We’ve also received comments from people who were interested in the “Trails” series but didn’t know where to start, or wanted to play from the absolute beginning but found it difficult because of how long ago it had been released. With Trails’ fast approaching conclusion, we’ve found ourselves faced with a question: “Would it be right to conclude this series as things stand?” To begin with, there aren’t many RPG series that have continued on for this long uninterrupted so our goal was to bring in new players who were interested. Our focus wasn’t just the playerbase who had stuck with us through the beginning but also newcomers and those who might have moved on from the series. As we carve our path towards the end, we were hoping to rekindle their interest so we ended up focusing on the beginning rather than just the next installment. Now, if you were to ask whether it was the “right time” to commit to this immediately following “Trails Beyond the Horizon”... though it might not be immediately obvious to external users, the team was burnt-out internally. There were various internal reasons for why we felt we needed this respite so we decided that if the remakes were to happen it would have to be now. Many of our current staff joined because of their love for “Trails in the Sky” so that sentiment aligned with our desire. When we had started development on the 1st, we hadn’t immediately planned to work on the 2nd. However, the team’s motivation was incredibly high and they were taking initiative without needing specific pointers. It felt natural at that point but before we knew it, conversations regarding 2nd had already begun. Despite not committing to it yet, and 1st’s ongoing development, the team was already confident they’d complete that project [2nd]. Given the player's overwhelmingly positive reception for the 1st, and knowing how long fans had waited originally for SC originally, we decided to keep the momentum going and aim for the 2nd one year later.

President Kondo

It’s just not feasible in terms of volume. And if we had chosen to do that, development would have taken nearly four to five years. With our approach that would have meant players waiting even longer for the sequel to “Trails Beyond the Horizon” so it was best to stick with the original approach.

President Kondo

We felt very strongly about the direction, or rather, the philosophy behind the 1st which was: To preserve the original atmosphere and core experience of the work without deviating from it while leveraging Falcom’s current technological capabilities. Especially right now, we’ve had this feeling that the RPG genre is a bit lacking in momentum, so we wanted to create a work that would be easy for people to pick up no matter if they’d played an RPG before or not. Many players who engaged with 1st were completely new to the series and so our goal with 2nd was to maintain that same approach while delivering a seamless transition from the first work. We did our absolute best to craft the best possible experience but we felt there were still some areas we could have improved on. Elements like the game’s pacing or certain monotonous aspects of the gameplay. We made a driven push to properly address those complaints. Additionally, the previous work focused on Estelle and Joshua with a rotating group of allies that would join and leave throughout their journey. 2nd, however, features a more stable and traditional party across the work. We put a lot of care into adjusting for a party-based combat system.

President Kondo

With 1st ending the way it did, this might be a bit of a spoiler but Estelle and Joshua start off separately. Due to this separation, one of the immediate highlights is watching over the path the two of them take and how it leads to their reunion. The 1st focuses on the civil conflict within Liberl while 2nd focuses on a direct confrontation with Ouroboros– the secret society pulling the strings from the background. This organization is a major foundational aspect of the Trails series and their members appear to confront Estelle which becomes another highlight.

President Kondo

The story takes place across the Kingdom of Liberal which we had already explored in 1st. As a result the structure of the map won’t change much. However, there are additional elements like hidden caves where players can efficiently obtain sepith. When it comes to events, we’ve added more quests just like with 1st. Previously we had added quests that focus on the main cast and NPC’s, and our approach this time is the same throughout this work. There are a lot of supporting NPC’s after all so we’ve prepared quests that focus on characters who stood out such as Duke Dunan. We hope you look forward to those.

President Kondo

There were some concerns about how much capacity the Switch game cartridge could hold but we were able to fit it all onto one cart which is a significant relief. Previously, when SC had launched for the PSP, we were unable to fit it all into one UMD. For the first time, we had to release it as a two-disc set. Thankfully, you won’t have to exchange these discs’ like with the PSP back in the day.

President Kondo

Previously, Estelle and Joshua were the two primary characters but now you’re consistently fighting within a party of four. Brave Rush was added with that in mind. And then, coming off of the 1st, one of the improvements we had made was allowing regular enemies and bosses to now exhibit more elaborate behaviors. Legion Boost used by Ouroboros is an example of this. Enforcers are, by their nature, very powerful individuals and Legion Boost was designed to have players experience this strength firsthand. Players will really be able to enjoy some incredibly intense battles as a result. In addition, we’ve added another difficulty mode. “Nightmare” remains the hardest difficulty but between “Normal” and “Hard” we’ve designed “Advanced”. This was actually implemented due to a strong push from the internal team. It’s aimed at players who find Normal too easy but don’t want to deal with how hellish Hard can be. Honestly, Legion Boost is challenging in Normal but even more so in that mode. Quite infamously, the original release of SC received a patch that became renowned by the community as “the Sword Emperor Patch”. We were receiving complaints at the time that went along the lines of “What? Loewe cannot possibly be this weak.” This time around we’ve had that Sword Emperor Patch applied from the start. When I challenged him on Advanced.. I couldn’t beat him.. And another improvement is field exploration. There are more things to do as you travel and enemies can now use craft-like attacks which means you can get pretty easily wiped out while traveling. Of course, there are also features that give you an advantage while traveling and by connecting those field elements to Command Battle’s you’ll enjoy a more seamless combat system than before. In the 1st, only Estelle and Joshua had the versatility to use multiple crafts on the field but within this work all party members have this ability. And, of course, Mueller and Julia who were added as party members in the PSP version will also join the party during your adventure here as well. And I haven’t been keeping up with the localization release, I’m not sure if they changed Legion Boost to Enforcer Boost since that would be the equivalent in EN but I’ll keep it as this for now. If Dom, or Cary, or Fari, or Jimbus, or whomever yell at me for it, I’ll change it.]

President Kondo

Photo Mode is a mode where you can focus solely on your favorite characters, dress them in your favorite outfits, have them perform your favorite animations, and arrange them however you like. As you play through the story and more characters make their appearance, the number of characters you can use in Photo Mode will also increase alongside the number of props and other items. You aren’t just limited to human characters either, you can play around with monsters and adjust the gaze of some of these characters as well. For those with a creative sense, please try coming up with various scenes that you might want to see with this work. We’re really looking forward to what players come up with. By the way, this was originally a debug mode we used internally which has now been modified to facilitate this activity. You really can lose track of time easily here, so please give it a try. Another feature is the casino. This was in the original work and players can engage in poker and slots. Of course, there are also prizes that can be obtained here as well.

President Kondo

The game content is universally the same between the Switch, Switch 2 and PS5 versions. However, there are some technical features unique to the PC (Steam) release such as support for ultrawide monitors. With an ultrawide monitor, you’re able to experience the expansive world of Liberl in a completely new way.

President Kondo

Yes.That would be another feature unique to the PC release. It supports keyboard and mouse controls, and players can adjust the inputs as well. We’ve taken care of these aspects so that’s nothing to be worried about.

President Kondo

As I had mentioned earlier, having an ultrawide monitor makes a big difference. You end up enjoying a more open and expansive gaming experience. Another feature that’s available when using an NVIDIA graphics card is DLSS. This feature interpolates low-resolution textures and switches them to a higher resolution while also ensuring the game runs smoothly. If you’re using a 4K monitor and want to increase both the FPS and image quality of your experience, this feature allows it to happen seamlessly.

President Kondo

I’ll provide some context. When we had introduced the idea of remaking “Trails in the Sky” to Nintendo, they had mentioned it would be meaningful to package the original version alongside it. With the 1st, we were so occupied with production that we didn’t have the bandwidth to work on that but it had stuck in our minds as “something we needed to do”. When moving on to 2nd, the idea remained as “unfinished business”. That’s what sparked our initiative, the feeling that, “We can definitely do it this time.” The original version has a unique charm that is owned by only itself and we want interested players to experience it. I really want players to pick up the 2nd and so I took initiative in making the inclusion of the original a reality. This remaster, by the way, is based on the PSP version which includes features such as voice acting during combat. We haven’t yet decided on the distribution of SC or 3rd yet. Thinking back on it, Falcom’s founder included an OVA released in the 80’s as a bonus with the PC (Windows) version of Ys II Eternal and with Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim even included Ys Complete Works which allowed players to play the first five games in the series. Having seen this first-hand I was sincerely amazed at the time by what Falcom was able to do for its players. I wanted to do something similar and so committed to this.

President Kondo

It comes with a blu-ray disc of the original OVA released by Bandai Visual (now Bandai Filmworks). We had spoken with Bandai Namco from an early stage and were able to include this animation. And as a costume bonus for the “Ouroboros BOX” we’ve created the Fluffy Sheep Costume Set. We had one prepared for each party character and each costume has an accessory on the tail that is inspired by that character. Olivier’s, for example, has a red tie. Each accessory is designed with the character in mind. We didn’t really need to go that far but the staff becomes incredibly particular about these kinds of things. It’s fun to wear in battle, so we hope you enjoy it. We also prepared the Liberl Kingdom Complete Character Book. It’s akin to an extensive resident registry for more than 500 characters across 1st and 2nd covering all kinds of information including where someone lives and where you had met them. We were very particular about including characters who live outside of Liberl that you met on your journey and including characters who share the same visual design but have wholly different names. Of course, a CD is included as well. The previous release featured a mini-OST containing songs from the 1st. This time we’ve included songs from the 2nd as well as a selection of arranged tracks from the original Trails in the Sky. We hope it allows players to enjoy both in a new way. I don’t believe we've had bonus content of this caliber in recent years. I’m confident to say it’s the most extravagant package in Falcom’s entire history. And since we haven’t yet decided on whether we want to distribute the previously mentioned HD remaster of FC separately, it really makes it a one-of-a-kind release. I hope players will choose to pre-order this work, or maybe even the limited edition.

President Kondo

There has been no corporate decision regarding the 3rd. Personally, however, it would be foolish not to do it and as production on the 2nd was concluding the staff was already saying, “Is it time to start the 3rd yet?” Motivation amongst the staff is incredibly high so we’ll definitely make it happen at some point. There was even discussion around doing it as DLC, in a mode similar to Grim Garten from Trails Beyond the Horizon, or as a form of “mini-game” for Trails in the Sky the 2nd. We’re unsure what form it’ll take right now but we’ll decide based on what things look like going forward. As for the Calvard arc, we cannot delay it any further. We’re currently working on that project with the intent to announce an update sooner rather than later.

President Kondo

Our goal is to wrap things up. Players might go ahead and say, “That’s just the President talking nonsense again, he always wants to ‘wrap things up’.” (laughs) But since the previous work ended on such an incredible climax, we want to bring it to an end with the next release. As for the Trails series overall, there is no change in moving to the finale once the Calvard arc is concluded. At this moment in time, we’re arranging everything but haven’t definitively decided anything just yet.

President Kondo

To make it as concise as possible, the Trails in the Sky remake was the first step in the direction we intend to take and the ideas we want to put into practice. Up until now, the Trails series had mainly been developed for PlayStation but with Trails in the Sky the 1st we challenged ourselves to develop the series for a worldwide debut under our own purview, which included Switch and PC (Steam). With new works, several aspects such as scenario development often end up being worked on right up until the master version is ready which leaves no time to work on an overseas release. With the Trails in the Sky remake we had some of these aspects already, which made production easier. And of course when we had put this into practice, we got an overwhelmingly positive response. Therefore, I believe that going forward, our baseline approach will be to eventually expand globally across certain platforms. And at this moment, Switch and PC (Steam) players account for the majority of these new players. If we want to continue with longevity in mind, we need to consistently release to these platforms, and release our works properly to expand our brand retention. At the same time we’ve also learned that even with long-running series such as Trails, if at its core we create a good game for a new platform, players will want to stick with us. Our goal now is to focus on doing that properly to maintain an environment where we can continue creating games.

President Kondo

It would be very difficult. I believe our experienced staff should be working on our current projects. I would absolutely love to work on “The White Witch” myself but if I do that, the “Ys” series that I’m in charge of would have to go on hiatus. The same thing would happen if we reallocate the Trails team or Xanadu team. As a general rule of thumb, we have key Falcom staff members focus on work that only they can do. In an ideal world we handle everything in-house. Even though we’ve increased the number of staff in our development teams, we want our creators to continue taking on new challenges which means the number of titles to manage keeps growing. That is to say, our workload hasn’t gotten any lighter. Our plan right now is to expand what we can do through partnerships especially for our legacy titles.

President Kondo

This time around we only had to keep players waiting a year so I’m relieved that we were able to deliver it to those who experienced both the original, and this new work, without any further delay. For those starting the Trails series from the 1st, I think the last work ended at a climactic moment so I hope you pick up the 2nd to watch over Estelle and Joshua’s story until the end. The latter half, in particular, has many iconic scenes that I think players would absolutely love. If you could engage with this work fully, not just through online platforms, but play it yourself, I would be grateful. Thank you so much.