Initial release date 31 August 2016 | Genre Role-playing video game | |
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Similar The Legend of Heroes games, Role-playing games | ||
The Legend of Heroes: Akatsuki no Kiseki (英雄伝説 暁の軌跡), sometimes unofficially called The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Dawn, is an online role-playing game released in Japan on 31 August 2016. A spin-off of the Trails series of Nihon Falcom's long-running The Legend of Heroes franchise, it was developed by Taiwanese company UserJoy Technology, and is operated by its subsidiary UserJoy Japan.
Contents
Gameplay
Akatsuki no Kiseki is a browser game, and requires the Unity Web Player. Its gameplay comprises a mix of role-playing and simulation elements. Portions of the dialogue of major characters are recorded by well-known Japanese voice actors. Haccan, who previously worked on character design for Trails in the Sky the 3rd, is responsible for the character artwork in Akatsuki. Screenshots released in December 2015 showed cel-shaded graphics and in general a different visual style than recent Falcom releases such as Tokyo Xanadu or Trails of Cold Steel, with a battle system resembling the earlier Crossbell arc (Zero and Ao). Like in other Trails games, combat is turn-based, and the player can move their characters freely on the field of battle. Management of the player's airship also plays a major role in the game.
Akatsuki is free-to-play, with no initial purchase or monthly subscription fee required. Payment is required for certain in-game items.
Characters
Akatsuki no Kiseki introduces a new cast of characters. The two main protagonists are both bracers, harking back to the original Trails in the Sky games.
Additionally, Akatsuki offers players the opportunity to build a party out of characters who appeared in previous Trails games. For example, as part of UserJoy's pre-release promotion campaign, users who pre-registered for an Akatsuki user ID and followed the game's official Twitter account had Noel Seeker, who first appeared in Zero, added to their party as a bonus character; players who pre-registered received further bonuses based on the total number of pre-registrations. Seeker will continue to be voiced by Masami Asano, who also voiced the character in Zero and Ao.
Setting
Akatsuki revisits locations seen in previous Trails games, such as Bose and Crossbell cities in the Liberl Kingdom and the Geofront complex under Crossbell, and also introduces a new country, the Principality of Remiferia.
Early announcements
Akatsuki no Kiseki was first announced in June 2014 as a project to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Trails series. Falcom's press release included a general description of the setting and artwork for the two main characters Nacht and Chloe. Akatsuki was initially scheduled to begin service in 2015. UserJoy Technology opened a preview site for the game in July 2014. Though UserJoy rose to fame mainly for PC MMORPGs such as Angel Love Online and The Legend of Three Kingdoms Online, and later began branching out into mobile games, the early press releases did not clarify the platform for Akatsuki, nor whether it would be a purely single-player video game or if it would have some type of online multi-player functionality.
In November 2014, during a live event at Shinjuku LoftPlusOne, Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo revealed a few details about the working relationship between Falcom and UserJoy. He noted that Falcom was collaborating closely with UserJoy on the story, and praised the UserJoy Akatsuki development staff for their knowledge of the Trails series, stating that they were ardent fans who knew details about the games that even Falcom employees themselves did not remember. Kondo went on to state that Falcom might consider producing more online games in the future, depending on user response to Akatsuki.
Delay
The two companies remained silent about Akatsuki no Kiseki until December 2015, when Falcom announced that the game had been delayed until 2016. Falcom's press release at the time included the first four screenshots of Akatsuki game play. Userjoy also updated the game's teaser site with information about more characters. Falcom made no further concrete announcements, only a vague statement in April on Twitter and Facebook that operation might begin soon. Mainland Chinese news sites speculated that Akatsuki would be released in the second or third quarter of 2016, while Taiwanese business news reports on UserJoy's Q1 2016 earnings conference in May stated that Akatsuki would be released in Q4 2016 in Japan and the following year in Taiwan. UserJoy revealed further details at the China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference in late July, and began tweeting on a dedicated Twitter account for Akatsuki in early August.
On 9 August, UserJoy opened the official site for Akatsuki no Kiseki and posted the first promotional video of the game.. After a brief open beta test, service began on 31 August 2016.