In town maps, the player can visit various shops to purchase items, replenish health at an inn and, for the major cities, take on and report quests to the local guild.
Quests can be a variety of tasks for the player, ranging from defeating monsters in the field map to delivering items and finding lost cats in town.
[2][3] The game follows protagonists Estelle Bright and her adopted brother Joshua, who journey through the country of Liberl to train to become senior Bracers, members of a non-governmental multinational organization that acts to keep the peace and protect civilians.
During their journey, they uncover a plot by Colonel Alan Richard, head of the country's intelligence division, to overthrow the monarchy and obtain an artifact known as the Aureole, one of seven treasures said to be gifted to mankind by the goddess Aidios.
Alba reveals that he is actually Georg Weissmann, a high-ranking member of a secret society called Ouroboros, and that he was the one who manipulated Richard into pursuing the Aureole.
[6] Evolution updates the user interface and incorporates new features such as voice acting, redesigned character portraits, and a new animated opening cutscene.
[9][10] The length of the script for Trails in the Sky FC, which contains approximately 1.5 million Japanese characters, presented a challenge for the team's editors.
Xseed localization programmer Sara Leen stated much of the code needed to be rewritten from scratch because of technical differences between the PlayStation Portable and Windows versions; these changes frequently introduced new software bugs, further complicating matters.
[14][15] Falcom had previously suggested a remake of Trails in the Sky was under consideration before it was officially revealed at a Nintendo Direct presentation in August 2024.
[19][20] Neilie Johnson of IGN gave it a positive review, stating that, though "First Chapter is not the most original ever made, like any good JRPG it offers amusing writing, dynamic combat, interesting tasks, an absorbing narrative, and hours upon hours of gameplay" and concluded that "while the game's 50/50 balance between combat and story may not be to everyone's taste, its charm and overall entertainment value make it well worth the investment".
They also praised the open-ended story, quest design, and combat system, and for having "one of the most complete and enthralling worlds ever rendered", concluding it to be "one of the finest JRPGs in the history of the genre".
[1] Despite the series's popularity in Japan,[29] Trails in the Sky FC sold poorly in North America and Europe upon its initial release for the PSP,[30] but USGamer's Kat Bailey described its later Playstation Vita availability and PC port as a useful revenue stream with little overhead for niche publisher Xseed Games.