Recently, Falcom President Toshihiro Kondo sat down for an interview where he asked questions about the upcoming The Legend of Heroes: Hajimari no Kiseki, as well as the new Falcom engine that has been in development since the end of development The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV. (Thanks, A9VG fia Renka!)
Editor’s note: there will be The Legend of Heroes series and Trails of cold steel series of spoilers below.
Here are the highlights below:
Regarding The Legend of Heroes: Hajimari no Kiseki:
- According to Kondo Trails in the Sky 3e main character Kevin Graham will appear in Hajimari no Kiseki, but only in a rather covert role. However, because of his association with the Septuagint Church, he will be more important for the second half of the Kiseki series’ general story.
- When asked if players can remember all the characters that appear in this game, given the 50 playable characters, Kondo replied that due to the division of the game into three chapters it will be easier to keep up with the characters. Each route also has characters that make surprising appearances, and the True Reverie Corridor will also unlock side stories that add characters some depth.
- Kondo’s personal favorite story route is the one with new character C, especially because there’s an air of mystery surrounding C’s purpose, and because C’s group is a ragtag group full of all sorts of interesting people.
- With so many playable characters, character balance has been created so that the characters known in the universe have been very strong from the beginning in terms of stats and skill. However, that does not mean that the other characters are weak. Each character can be enhanced with items, as Kondo knows that each playable unit has its own fans. Players looking to reinforce their favorite characters would need to get these items from the True Reverie Corridor.
- While Hajimari no Kiseki will only take place in regions previously shown in the series, there are some new characters that have not appeared so far, which will be important in the future as well.
- Kondo acknowledges that Hajimari no Kiseki is associated with fans Trails in the Sky 3rd, because of both games that partly revolve around a closed space. However, 3rdThe story was based on the exploration of Hermit’s Garden, while the main story was in it Hajimari no Kiseki is outside the Reverie Corridor. One of the most important things displayed during this game is the declaration of independence from Crossbell, which was only touched on in the light Ao no Kiseki.
- The True Reverie Corridor has many strong opponents who require players to reconsider their quarterbacks. In one of the side episodes, Prince Olivert holds an unofficial martial arts tournament, and Cassius and Estelle Bright will appear there to fight.
- Akatsuki and Kiseki characters will not appear in this game, but Kondo reveals that there was a proposal to make them appear during the development process. Sado, Kondo felt there was no good chance of adding them to the story. However, he knows that the main characters are popular, and will therefore not rule out that they will appear in future games.
- The game will not allow you to go back to previous chapters, so in case you want to re-experience the story, Kondo advises keeping separate storage data.
Regarding Falcom’s new engine and future Falcom games:
- Hajimari no Kiseki the last game will be made with the current engine, and the next game will use a brand new engine that has a strong focus on improved graphics presentation compared to the current one. If there are opportunities in the future to remake titles from the past, Kondo hopes it will use the new engine.
- The new engine stepped into development after the release of Trails of Cold Steel IV, roughly two years ago. At that time, Falcom did not receive any information about the next Sony gaming system, so the new engine is still based on PlayStation 4 standards. Kondo hopes that games developed with the new engine will release on PS5, and confirmed that Hajimari no Kiseki will get PS5 compatibility via a patch after launch.
- Future games will use a new orb system based primarily on that of the Sky, Zero, en Ao match.
- Kondo acknowledges that there is a huge demand for a Photo Mode for the Kiseki series because of the variety of characters.
- Kondo wants to make another sequel Tokyo Xanadu if there is a chance, they would like to once again increase the new IP as one of their flagship series. Given the expansion of Falcom and the growth of its new employees, Falcom will proactively follow the creation of new IPs.
- Regarding spinoffs like Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki en Nayuta no Kiseki, Kondo says it is not a good time to consider this type of games when developing new engine. After the development is complete and the engine is stable, Kondo will see if there are any staff who would like to make a spinoff.
- Falcom currently has no plans to create a new one Two row game.
- Kondo wants to celebrate Falcom’s 40th anniversary, regardless of whether it’s some kind of event or product. However, things are still in discussion due to the pandemic.
- Many players have explained that they want it Kiseki series to the Nintendo Switch need to be ported, but with the company’s limited resources it’s difficult to port games to many platforms. Falcom will investigate collaborations with partners at ports.
- There are currently no plans to port Hajimari no Kiseki on other platforms, but Kondo wants when the opportunity arises.
- There are certain scenes in it Hajimari no Kiseki who use Falcom’s new engine, and Kondo hopes players will be able to spot them.
The Legend of Heroes: Hajimari no Kiseki will launch for the PlayStation 4 in Japan on August 27, 2020.
