Basic premise/Story

From developer studio, Nihon Falcom and directed by Toshihiro Kondo. You play as Kevin Graham. A priest from the Septian church to recover an artifact from the bottom of a lake in Liberl. He is joined by a squire and old friend of his Ries Argent. Unfortunately, while investigating the artifact the two are pulled into a dimension called “Phantasma.” Together the duo will need to keep their wits about them as they try to escape and embark on what mysteries lie hiding in the dimension.

Unique Gameplay

The gameplay in 3rd is a bit unconventional from its predecessors. Whereas before you would explore and talk to NPC’s moving from different towns while completing the main story quests. Here, those conventions have been thrown out the gate. Instead, you will explore multiple planes(dungeons) while unlocking different doors and recruiting allies as you travel. This isn’t a detriment in my opinion at all. And while I do miss conversing with the many NPC’s of the past games. 3rd does it in such a convenient formula where when traversing through the plane you still have optional content go tread through. You can grind, but you can also venture into three different doors. Moon doors which are long cutscenes sometimes allow the player to participate in the memory of the character. Star doors which are shorter cutscenes, allow the player the same as above sometimes with just witnessing the events. And Star doors which are minigames.

One can even go back to the hub area and converse with many of the reserve characters you can’t take on your main party to know their thoughts and impressions on the journey so far. One of the strongest points in the game’s favor, are the doors you can enter. Some doors go into past events from the past games in FC and SC providing great context and perspective during key moments mentioned in the past. Some of these doors even go further and operate under a perspective in a different nation. Other doors go into past events in the aftermath of SC and introduce characters you hear mentioned, but never meet.

It's a great way to balance the amount of story progression you go through in 3rd then watching a short or long cutscene from a door to give players a break. I would say most if not all doors are essential to viewing for players who already played through FC and SC. It’s certainly worth it to see how Falcom is setting things up in the next arc.

The Graphics

Continuing on my journey into the trilogy. 3rd doesn’t elevate the graphical department much. Even with Evo mods installed the game is still aesthetically pleasing to look at and robust enough to play on an old laptop of mine near flawlessly. I do miss the towns you can explore in and the many NPCs, here in 3rd the most you will see changing is the dungeon layout, a different color palette, and sometimes background changes. It isn’t boring to go through however, usually, if you have the turbo on you can complete a plane in less than 30 or even 15 minutes.

The Sound Design

The music in the 3rd continues to exceed my expectations. Never have I gotten tired of the series' music so far. And in 3rd this is no exception either. The usage of wooden string, acoustic string, and guitars are decently well oriented to not bore my ears. The voice acting is still a standout for displaying some incredible variance, between returning voice casts and some new ones. I was impressed once again at the quality and
breadth of every voiced line so far.

Final thoughts/Ruminations

During my playthrough, I didn’t experience any major bugs or glitches that hampered my experience.

3rd does some things well and some things I kinda wish was still in the game like a regular world to meet other NPCs and converse with the civilians. Yet, the world of Phantasma and doors is still a solid experiment to finish the trilogy and sets up what the series has in store. I had a lot of fun finding new doors and witnessing what they had in store for me. Some more than others. Others who shocked me to hell and back. And one in particular I had to close the game and change my whole thoughts about one character.

The combat system remains the same except, in addition to the old casts you can finally use some new characters you wouldn't otherwise be able to back in SC. I love the freedom in customizing your main party as you go deeper into Phantasma. Changing up your old party from the original team in FC to a new one is nice. Even better when the game lets you use characters from the previous entries. Was a welcome surprise for sure.

Music and graphics didn’t change drastically. But I enjoyed the 3rd for what it tries to do. It wasn’t as great as SC. but the game more than makes up for it, by setting up the future arc it teases for new players. And answers questions players had in regards to previous entries and some plot points. The ending was very well thought out. And by the time the end credits rolled I was very satisfied to end the Sky trilogy.


From developer studio, Nihon Falcom and directed by Toshihiro Kondo. Trails in the Sky 3rd is an incredible send-off to finishing the Sky trilogy. The music and graphics are decent, but still, remain top-notch for me. The story which explores the dimension of Phantasma and introducing new characters rather than our main dual protagonist back in FC and SC is a bold move. Even bolder to throw the conventional worldbuilding outside and experiment with running through a series of dungeons. I felt the doors were an adequate replacement due to the sheer amount of revelations each one poured out for me upon witnessing every single one. For every Trails fan who has finished FC and SC. I would highly recommend playing the 3rd to see how the final game sends off this arc to its conclusion.



Total Times Beaten: 1
Score: 8.3/10
Date Finished: 11/15/20
Hours Played: Steam says over 37 hours, but in-game, I’ve accumulated over 55.30 hours using 6x Turbo

[h1]Kevin’s Story [/h1] Basic premise/Story From developer studio, Nihon Falcom and directed by Toshihiro Kondo. You play as Kevin Graham. A priest from the Septian church to recover an artifact from the bottom of a lake in Liberl. He is joined by a squire and old friend of his Ries Argent. Unfortunately, while investigating the artifact the two are pulled into a dimension called “Phantasma.” Together the duo will need to keep their wits about them as they try to escape and embark on what mysteries lie hiding in the dimension. [h1] Final Stretch [/h1] Unique Gameplay The gameplay in 3rd is a bit unconventional from its predecessors. Whereas before you would explore and talk to NPC’s moving from different towns while completing the main story quests. Here, those conventions have been thrown out the gate. Instead, you will explore multiple planes(dungeons) while unlocking different doors and recruiting allies as you travel. This isn’t a detriment in my opinion at all. And while I do miss conversing with the many NPC’s of the past games. 3rd does it in such a convenient formula where when traversing through the plane you still have optional content go tread through. You can grind, but you can also venture into three different doors. Moon doors which are long cutscenes sometimes allow the player to participate in the memory of the character. Star doors which are shorter cutscenes, allow the player the same as above sometimes with just witnessing the events. And Star doors which are minigames. One can even go back to the hub area and converse with many of the reserve characters you can’t take on your main party to know their thoughts and impressions on the journey so far. One of the strongest points in the game’s favor, are the doors you can enter. Some doors go into past events from the past games in FC and SC providing great context and perspective during key moments mentioned in the past. Some of these doors even go further and operate under a perspective in a different nation. Other doors go into past events in the aftermath of SC and introduce characters you hear mentioned, but never meet. It's a great way to balance the amount of story progression you go through in 3rd then watching a short or long cutscene from a door to give players a break. I would say most if not all doors are essential to viewing for players who already played through FC and SC. It’s certainly worth it to see how Falcom is setting things up in the next arc. [h1]3rd Times The Charm [/h1] The Graphics Continuing on my journey into the trilogy. 3rd doesn’t elevate the graphical department much. Even with Evo mods installed the game is still aesthetically pleasing to look at and robust enough to play on an old laptop of mine near flawlessly. I do miss the towns you can explore in and the many NPCs, here in 3rd the most you will see changing is the dungeon layout, a different color palette, and sometimes background changes. It isn’t boring to go through however, usually, if you have the turbo on you can complete a plane in less than 30 or even 15 minutes. [h1] Falcom’s Trails Music Still Hits All the Right Notes [/h1] The Sound Design The music in the 3rd continues to exceed my expectations. Never have I gotten tired of the series' music so far. And in 3rd this is no exception either. The usage of wooden string, acoustic string, and guitars are decently well oriented to not bore my ears. The voice acting is still a standout for displaying some incredible variance, between returning voice casts and some new ones. I was impressed once again at the quality and breadth of every voiced line so far. [h1]To the Sky Finish Line [/h1] Final thoughts/Ruminations During my playthrough, I didn’t experience any major bugs or glitches that hampered my experience. 3rd does some things well and some things I kinda wish was still in the game like a regular world to meet other NPCs and converse with the civilians. Yet, the world of Phantasma and doors is still a solid experiment to finish the trilogy and sets up what the series has in store. I had a lot of fun finding new doors and witnessing what they had in store for me. Some more than others. Others who shocked me to hell and back. And one in particular I had to close the game and change my whole thoughts about one character. The combat system remains the same except, in addition to the old casts you can finally use some new characters you wouldn't otherwise be able to back in SC. I love the freedom in customizing your main party as you go deeper into Phantasma. Changing up your old party from the original team in FC to a new one is nice. Even better when the game lets you use characters from the previous entries. Was a welcome surprise for sure. Music and graphics didn’t change drastically. But I enjoyed the 3rd for what it tries to do. It wasn’t as great as SC. but the game more than makes up for it, by setting up the future arc it teases for new players. And answers questions players had in regards to previous entries and some plot points. The ending was very well thought out. And by the time the end credits rolled I was very satisfied to end the Sky trilogy. [i] From developer studio, Nihon Falcom and directed by Toshihiro Kondo. Trails in the Sky 3rd is an incredible send-off to finishing the Sky trilogy. The music and graphics are decent, but still, remain top-notch for me. The story which explores the dimension of Phantasma and introducing new characters rather than our main dual protagonist back in FC and SC is a bold move. Even bolder to throw the conventional worldbuilding outside and experiment with running through a series of dungeons. I felt the doors were an adequate replacement due to the sheer amount of revelations each one poured out for me upon witnessing every single one. For every Trails fan who has finished FC and SC. I would highly recommend playing the 3rd to see how the final game sends off this arc to its conclusion. [/i] Total Times Beaten: 1 Score: 8.3/10 Date Finished: 11/15/20 Hours Played: Steam says over 37 hours, but in-game, I’ve accumulated over 55.30 hours using 6x Turbo