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Legend of Heroes series heading to smartphones
Good news: the best Japanese role-playing game you've never played is coming to smartphones, in English no less! Previously available only on the PSP, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky – along with other games in the Legend of Heroes Series – is being ported to smartphones in both Japan and North America by Aeria Games, reports Siliconera. Presumably, the deal covers iPhone and Android devices. Siliconera adds that the ports will be optimized for mobile devices, and will take advantage of online and social features. We've contacted XSEED, which published Trails in the Sky in North America, to find out whether or not it is involved with the smartphone publishing deal.
XSEED explains The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky's family history
click to embiggen A few weeks ago, we asked NIS America to explain the semi-inscrutable title of Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel. Having had our minds expanded by that new knowledge, we then went looking for more games with absolutely crucial information you (and we) might not know. And that's The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. Unbeknownst to most gamers, the PSP RPG is part of a very long, very populous series -- one with dozens of games, spinoffs, and even spinoff series. In fact, it's distantly related to the NES's Faxanadu and Legacy of the Wizard. In response to our query, Tom Lipschultz, localization specialist for publisher XSEED, dropped an unprecedented amount of RPG history on us. If you'd like to know more about Trails in the Sky's lineage than you thought possible, read on.%Gallery-119078%
Falcom games coming to PSP in Europe as downloads
In North America, XSEED is releasing a bunch of Nihon Falcom PSP games, including Ys Seven and several The Legend of Heroes games, on UMD, with Ys Seven getting the full limited-edition treatment. XSEED is also planning to provide Europe with a bumper crop of Falcom games -- in a convenient format. A comment left by XSEED on its Facebook page reveals plans to release the games in Europe as PSN downloads. The XSEED rep said that the releases would occur "shortly after the North American release, but a UMD release is unlikely in Europe." Unfulfilled desires for cloth maps aside, the PSN distribution method means a lot of new RPGs for Europe, and it means that XSEED is less likely to go bankrupt getting them there. The first game in the XSEED/Falcom partnership, Ys Seven, arrives in North America late this summer. %Gallery-96423%
XSEED and Nihon Falcom bringing six Ys and The Legend of Heroes games to PSP
PSP owners have a lot of RPGs to look forward to. XSEED has announced a new partnership with Nihon Falcom that promises to bring six new games for the North American audience. Ys Seven, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, and Ys I & II Chronicles will all arrive on PSP, with Ys Seven the first title to be released under this new agreement. According to the press release, Ys Seven is the first iteration of the long-running JRPG franchise to be built "specifically for the PSP system," promising "virtually no load times" -- a problem that has plagued many of Falcom's previous PSP efforts. In addition to Ys, XSEED will also be publishing the next three chapters of The Legend of Heroes saga (known as Sora no Kiseki in Japan). "I couldn't be more pleased to announce a partnership with a development studio as renown by gamers for consistently putting out quality titles as Falcom," Jun Iwasaki, President of XSEED Games, said in the press release. "Their titles have always been some of the most requested titles so it is going to be our pleasure to oblige the North American fans by delivering an amazing line up of in-depth and gripping RPGs."%Gallery-93055%
