The longrunning Trails series is one of the most engrossing RPG storylines ever, spanning more than a dozen different games and counting, all of which take place in the same universe and are interconnected in some way. The series is broken down into multiple arcs—shorter stories-within-a-story. 

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie served as the end of the last arc—and as the culmination of two decades of storytelling. The next arc served as a "soft" reset of the series, kicking off with the recent The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak and continuing with the direct sequel Trails Through Daybreak II, which got its English release last year. The Trails Through Daybreak games took place in a new region called Calvard and followed an entirely new cast, making it a good place to start the series without requiring newcomers to play all of the previous games.

Even Nihon Falcom president Toshiro Kondo recommends starting with Trails Through Daybreak if you haven’t jumped into the Trails series just yet. “There’s lots of onboarding points, but the thing that would probably be the best right now would be Daybreak 1, simply because it’s a brand-new location within the world, meaning it has a brand-new cast of characters,” he explained in an interview with TheSixthAxis. “Also, the system has been completely revamped over what’s come before, so it really lends itself well to being a good jumping on point.”

The latest entry in the series, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon, launches later this month and is essentially the third Trails Through Daybreak game in all but name. But should you play the other Trails games first?

It’s certainly daunting to figure out whether or not you’ll need to play other games in the series to understand what’s going on The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon, especially as the Trails series has spanned multiple platforms over the years. Today, we’re going to clear everything up—here are the Trails games you'll need to play if you want to enjoy The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon.
 

Do I need to play the previous Trails games?

To get straight to the point, yes, you will need to play some of the previous games—but not all of them, like you had to for Trails into Reverie. You should at least play Trails Through Daybreak and Trails Through Daybreak II to understand what’s going on in Trails Beyond the Horizon. 

Fortunately, both games are available to play here on the Epic Games Store. With Trails Beyond the Horizon coming to the platform as well, players will have access to all of the games in the Trails Through Daybreak saga so far.

That said, there are additional Trails games you should check out if you want the full story. Trails Beyond the Horizon features three protagonists: Van Akride, Rean Schwarzer, and Kevin Graham. Van is the mercenary hero and star of the Trails Through Daybreak saga, while Rean is the main protagonist of the Cold Steel saga and Kevin comes from the Trails in the Sky trilogy.

As a result, you’ll also need to be up to date with both Rean and Kevin’s stories, if you want the complete picture. Rean is featured in all four Cold Steel games, of which Cold Steel III and Cold Steel IV are on the Epic Games Store. As for Kevin, you’ll need to catch up with him elsewhere on different platforms.

The Crossbell duology, Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure, are also available on the Epic Games Store. While they were essential to understanding Trails into Reverie’s story, that’s not the case for Trails Beyond the Horizon. Lloyd and his Special Support Section crew don’t play any role in its story this time around—although they’re still well worth playing if you have time, as both are excellent games about fighting for freedom.

Including the upcoming release of Trails Beyond the Horizon, the Epic Games Store has eight Trails games available for purchase:

• The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon

You’ll want to start with Cold Steel III first, and then make your way down the list in sequential order, ending with Trails Beyond the Horizon.
 

Why should I play the other Trails games first?

Aside from the obvious answer of keeping up with events that have already transpired, playing the previous Trails games gives you a better understanding of why characters act the way they do, and how they’ve grown over the past few years.

In the Cold Steel games, Rean starts off as a regular student at Thors Military Academy and eventually becomes an instructor. A few of his former classmates and students join him on this adventure, and being aware of their dynamics can make Trails Beyond the Horizon’s character interactions more enjoyable. Rean also gained several useful powers over the course of multiple games, and knowing how they manifested is helpful for understanding the plot.

In the Trails in the Sky trilogy, Kevin plays a relatively small role in the first two games compared to the rest of the cast. But he takes center stage in the third game, as he goes on a personal journey and confronts his past. It’s important character development for him and lets you sympathize with him easier during the events of Trails Beyond the Horizon.

Furthermore, some of the main characters from Trails into Reverie join Kevin on his journey in Trails Beyond the Horizon, which makes the former an essential game to play to understand their origins.
 

Can I just play the previous Daybreak games?

Sure, you can skip out on all of the other Trails games and just play the previous two Trails Through Daybreak entries. Fair warning though: You might feel lost when playing as Rean or Kevin, as you’ll be missing important context from their previous adventures. It’s recommended that you play the previous games sans Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure to fully understand the events in Trails Beyond the Horizon.

Currently, there are 13 games in the Trails series, and this is the sequential order to play them:

• Trails in the Sky
• Trails in the Sky SC
• Trails in the Sky the 3rd
• Trails from Zero
• Trails to Azure
• Trails of Cold Steel
• Trails of Cold Steel II
• Trails of Cold Steel III
• Trails of Cold Steel IV
• Trails into Reverie
• Trails Through Daybreak
• Trails Through Daybreak 2
• Trails Beyond the Horizon

You should ideally play through the entirety of the Trails in the Sky trilogy and the Cold Steel saga, as well as Trails into Reverie and the two Trails Through Daybreak games before diving into Trails Beyond the Horizon. Visit the Epic Games Store once you’ve decided where to start!

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon launches on January 15.