The final Trails game will be announced in 2031

Nihon Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo has announced that the final entry in the long-running Trails RPG series will be revealed in 2031. The timeline aligns with the studio's 50th anniversary.

Kondo shared the roadmap during a recent interview in Weekly Famitsu, which was translated and reported by Noisy Pixel. The interview covered several of the developer's upcoming projects, but putting a definitive expiration date on the Kiseki saga is the biggest takeaway.

27 years of continuous plot

The Trails series began in 2004 with The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky on PC. Since then, Falcom has released over a dozen mainline games across multiple story arcs. Unlike most RPG franchises that reboot their worlds with every numbered entry, Trails tells one massive, interconnected story on a single continent. Characters from 2004 still show up in games released today.

The franchise is split into distinct geographical arcs. It started in the Liberl Kingdom, moved to the Crossbell State, spent four massive games in the Erebonian Empire, and is currently working through the Calvard Republic. Every NPC in these games has their own name and ongoing storyline. Their dialogue updates after almost every major plot event. That level of detail is exactly why the games take so long to develop.

Committing to a 2031 announcement means the series will have run for at least 27 years before its final chapter even begins. Players who started the series in middle school will likely be pushing forty by the time the credits roll on the finale. The sheer volume of text in these games is notoriously massive. This makes localization a constant hurdle for Western publishers like XSEED and NIS America.

Western fans will likely be waiting even longer. Falcom games traditionally release in Japan first. English localizations usually arrive two to three years later due to the enormous word count. If the final game is announced in 2031, English-speaking players might not see the conclusion until 2033 or 2034.

Sky 2nd Chapter music and Horizon II

The Famitsu interview also touched on Falcom's more immediate release schedule. Kondo confirmed that recording is already finished for "Silver Will, Golden Wings", the theme song for Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter. Falcom recently revealed a full 3D remake of the first Trails in the Sky game for the Nintendo Switch. This new music update suggests a remake of the direct sequel is already well into production.

Kondo also noted that the plot for The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon II is completely finished. This game is planned to be the fourth and final entry in the current Calvard arc, which began with the Daybreak games. It pushes the narrative closer to that 2031 finish line.

2D exploration and 3D bosses

Outside of the Trails universe, Kondo provided new details on Kyoto Xanadu. The upcoming action RPG will use a hybrid combat system. Players will navigate the world using 2D side-scrolling for exploration, but the game switches to a fully 3D arena for boss fights. This clarifies earlier rumors that suggested the game was shifting entirely to 2D combat.

Falcom built its reputation on action RPGs like Ys and Dragon Slayer in the 1980s. Kyoto Xanadu looks to be pulling from that arcade-style heritage while mixing in modern design ideas. It is a departure from the purely 3D action of 2015's Tokyo Xanadu.

Falcom has a habit of expanding its story arcs when writers come up with new ideas. A planned two-game arc often turns into three or four releases. Setting a hard date for the finale might be exactly what the studio needs to actually wrap up a story that has been running since the PlayStation 2 era.