The Legend of Heroes: the longest epic in gaming history

Rainer Etzweiler

15.9.2025

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

21 years, 13 games, one story: a Japanese role-playing series is quietly making gaming history.

Video games and excessive stories – name a more iconic duo. Dark Souls hides its story in item descriptions and enemy bios, The Elder Scrolls features books that nobody reads (apart from The Lusty Argonian Maid, a classic) and Warcraft offers an encyclopedia more comprehensive than the Wikipedia page on Liechtenstein. Still, all these games tell their stories in fragments. That or they’re so loosely connected it doesn’t really matter.

But there’s another way. Far from the spotlight, the longest continuous narrative in gaming has spanned over 20 years. A series that proves video games don’t just have to tell stories like books or films – they can sometimes do it even better and, above all, more personally.

I’m talking about The Legend of Heroes, one of the most ambitious storytelling projects in pop culture.

Dragon slayers and number chaos

But before we delve into the epic depths of the modern Trails saga, a brief history lesson. Back in the early 80s, when hairstyles were big and shoulder pads were even bigger, Japanese games company Nihon Falcom launched its first hit,

Dragon Slayer. The title cofounded the action RPG genre, becoming a grandfather to Diablo, Path of Exile and all those other «just one more level» games.

By 1992, Nihon Falcom had released six sequels, including spin-off Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes. That game moved away from its action RPG roots, instead focusing on turn-based and story-driven gameplay.

The subsequent Gagharv trilogy – consisting of The White Witch, Tear of Vermillion and Song of the Ocean – then laid the foundations for what was to come: coherent stories set in a meticulously detailed world.

However, western players never knew this early on. Publisher Bandai had messed up the chronology. The Legend of Heroes III came out before The Legend of Heroes II because… well, because the 90s were wild and apparently nobody knew what continuity was.

Mind you, we didn’t miss much. The first trilogy is average at best and, apart from the name, has little or nothing to do with the later releases.

A saga commences

Then came the 2004 relaunch. The Legend of Heroes VI: Trails in the Sky ushered in the Trails era. Side note, the number VI was later dropped since no one really got the timeline any more. Trails in the Sky tells the story of Estelle Bright and her adopted brother Joshua. They’re on a pilgrimage looking to train as Bracers, a kind of mercenary.

The game leaves these modest plot lines to one side after a few hours, though. While the adventures of Estelle and Joshua remain at the core, worldbuilding receives just as much attention. The continent of Zemuria isn’t just a generic fantasy world with three kingdoms and an evil empire.

There are functioning economies, political intrigue spanning multiple games, technological advancements that change society, and cultural differences between regions that actually make sense. Zemuria lives and breathes.

And you’re right in the middle of it all.

A matter of character

Characters get just as much love. The protagonists and their party have fears, changing moods and understandable motivations. Estelle isn’t just an off-the-peg «I want to save the world» heroine, but a tomboy with quirks. Her brother Joshua has daddy issues and hides secrets that are only fully revealed after several dozen hours of game time.

On the other hand, Lloyd Bannings – your alter ego for two of the sequels – is a cop who actually does police work and deals with the small and big problems in his home town.

Our heroes are backed up by equally well-written NPCs. Almost all of them have their own little story, providing the basis for various side quests. These side quests make up around a third of the game time. Often multilayered, they add additional context to the main plot as well.

Anyone who doesn’t have a mission for you should at least have something interesting to say. But the thing that makes the world of The Legend of Heroes particularly impressive is how it reacts. After important points in the story, almost all NPCs unlock new dialogue that refers to what’s currently going on.

Other games: «The palace has been attacked.»
NPC answer: «Nice weather today.»
Trails: «The palace has been attacked.»
NPC answer: «Oh God, my cousin works there, I hope she’s okay!»

A matter of time

A major reason why The Legend of Heroes works on so many levels is its excellent localisation. Conversations sound like actual conversations, and even lore dumps are exciting – even if they’re often drawn out a little too long.

But you’ll need a lot of time regardless. The series is divided into several arcs: Trails in the Sky (3 games), Zero/Azure (2 games), Cold Steel (4 games), Reverie (1 game) and the current Daybreak (3 planned games). Each arc tells its own story, but they’re directly connected to each other.

If you add the average playing times for these games together according to the howlongtobeat.com database, you’ll get a total of over 800 hours.

This makes Legend of Heroes more than just an JRPG – it’s a saga in the style of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Mind you, Falcom actually publishes games instead of blathering about baseball in blog posts.

You’ll have to invest a lot of time, but it’s worth it. The more games you play in the series, the greater the emotional payoff. Characters that we got to know as children in Trails in the Sky appear as adults in Trails of Cold Steel, and themes that were once touched on in passing become central plot points.

A declaration of love to patient gamers

The Legend of Heroes series is uniquely fascinating: a niche JRPG series that dares to demand a time commitment from its players, something that’s usually only reserved for online games.

Is it for everyone? Definitely not. Is it perfect? Oh boy, not at all. The dialogue can be tedious, the corny anime tropes in later releases are often annoying, and if you want to see the complete story, you’ll need a twelve-week vacation.

But if, after this outpouring, you’re thinking «That’s right up my alley», then Nihon Falcom will serve you up the perfect introduction with its remake of Trails in the Sky on 19 September 2025. You can experience Estelle and Joshua’s first adventure with modern technology and gameplay.

Until recently, the latter aspect in particular was an extra hurdle for many interested gamers. As great and epic as the story of Legend of Heroes is, its beginnings are buried under somewhat antiquated gameplay. Find out for yourself whether you like the revisions in the remake.

A generous demo is waiting for you in the PlayStation, Nintendo and Steam online stores, so you can microdose Zemuria for around ten hours. Mind you, this won’t even scratch the surface. Naturally, you’ll be able to transfer your progress into the full version later, provided you buy it (spoiler: you will, I’m pretty sure).

The Legend of Heroes isn’t just a game series. It’s the most ambitious storytelling experiment in single-player gaming history, and it’s far from over. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Editor’s note: the term «longest story in gaming» is debatable. The Legend of Zelda has an official timeline that goes back to the 80s, the story of Street Fighter also has more than 30 years under its belt, and the narrative in World of Warcraft actually began in 1994 with Warcraft: Orcs & Humans.

However, what sets The Legend of Heroes apart from these long-running gaming franchises is its continuous, coherent narrative without interruptions or restarts. Each new game builds directly on the events of its predecessors – like chapters in a gigantic novel. This uninterrupted continuity over more than 20 years makes the series unique in the gaming space.

It’d probably be more accurate to call it «the JRPG series with the longest continuous and uninterrupted narrative without new beginnings, reboots or narrative breaks in the history of video games». But that just isn’t as catchy.

Rainer Etzweiler

Freelance Editor

rainer@rockstar.ch

In the early 90s, my older brother gave me his NES with The Legend of Zelda on it. It was the start of an obsession that continues to this day.

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