Trails in the Sky will release on both PSN and UMD on March 29th for $29.99. The UMD version of the game comes in both a Standard and Limited Edition package. The LE will contain a soundtrack CD, a 13-inch by 19.5-inch poster and a Bracer Guild replica metal badge for the suggested retail price of $39.99.

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Salutations, readers. My name is Jessica Chavez, and I have worked on such delights as Half-Minute Hero and Rune Factory: Frontier, and inserted something salacious about Pikkards into Ys I&II. I also toiled for months on the enormity that is The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, which hits the PSP on March 29, and I shall tell you about it today.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (also known affectionately as “TitS” thanks to the tender caress of the internet) is an RPG that was first released in 2004 for the PC. It gained fame and notoriety on the computer circuit by virtue of being both massive and the first 3D iteration of its kind within the Legend of Heroes series. Fast-forward to 2011 and you now have a PSP version crammed with all the original goodness, polished to a blinding sheen and accented with newly added battle voices. There’s also one crucial addition that is very relevant for you, the reader: those ~1.5 million characters of Japanese have since been put through the translation grinder. Trails in the Sky is ready for its Western debut.

Which brings me to you, the buyer. How will you know if this is the game for you? Let us count the ways…

1) The script for the game was so huge that the translation/editing process straddled 3 separate years (November 2009 to February 2011), which translates to a) employee dementia and b) some serious value for your money.

2) You will travel this huge, detailed world and bludgeon things to death.

3) The dismembered body parts of your foes are great for cooking.

4) There are no random encounters.

5) You do not need to grind, but if that pleases you, you may mill your little heart into tiny, tiny stats.

6) There is a sizeable and painstakingly crafted plot under all those text windows.

7) There is a rotating 3D camera function, and holding either the L or R buttons for prolonged periods of time will make any secondary parties that are watching quite motion sick (I have tried this and enjoyed their suffering; you will too).

8) The soundtrack was composed by the Falcom Sound Team JDK

9) You get to go fishing.

10) A select few NPCs will say unexpected and offensive things. Please enjoy them.

11) There is a dictionary… for cats.

12) There are several in-game books and one very, VERY long novel.

and finally,

13) There is a bath scene.

Anyway, between all the unfolding plot points and dungeon crawling, you have rock-solid gameplay and a virtual interactive novel. As our in-house Falcom fanboy has said before, “It strikes a nice balance between hardcore and accessible, and as long as you don’t mind a game that’s about 70% narrative and 30% action, I guarantee you’ll be hooked.” He’s also said that Dinosaur Resurrection is the pinnacle of gaming, but I think he’s right on this one.

Trails in the Sky will release on both PSN and UMD on March 29th for $29.99. As mentioned above, there will also be a Limited Edition package which will contain a soundtrack CD, a 13-inch by 19.5-inch poster and a Bracer Guild replica metal badge for the suggested retail price of $39.99.

For more information and/or facetious musings join us on Facebook and Twitter!

*Bracer badge, soundtrack and poster are all Limited Edition bonus content

So 3, 2, 1, START!

Half-Minute Hero is NOT the title of a porno with a very small budget. It actually had a modest budget and most characters stayed clothed.

The Exception:

What Half-Minute Hero is, is a speed RPG/RTS (Real Time Strategy)/Shooter/exercise in affectionate satire. It’s a frantic, multi-mode, 8-bit foray into a seemingly stereotypical RPG that will test your skills against the clock and probably make you wonder how wearing a “Charisma Wig” and “Swimming Goggles” can possibly help you save the world.

Only 30 seconds, huh…?

30 seconds may not seem like enough time to save the world, let alone play an entire game, but Half-Minute Hero promises to deliver a true time challenge…over the course of many-many stages, modes, bosses and maps. (Over 20 hours of gameplay and each mode contains 30-50 distinct stages to be exact.) So fear not, brave player. For a 30 second game it’s decidedly more meaty than the title implies.

There are four main adventures in all, each starring their own unique protagonist with similarly unique, story-driven goals and final bonus modes that can be unlocked if you manage not to sprain your fingers trying to keep up. Players can enjoy a solo adventure along the lines of the main story, challenge each other to a one on one battle, or engage in a multi-player free for all against the clock.

The main mode, Hero Mode, is a speed RPG complete with leveling up, weapon/armor collecting and saving the world, all in 30 second episodes. In this mode you play as the unlucky traveler who strives valiantly to vanquish evil before the world is destroyed…and before the Time Goddess REPOs everything but your undies.

Evil Lord Mode is an RTS game that employs a ‘chain-system’ of summoning monsters to complete stages. Similar to paper-rock-scissors, the chain-system allows monsters summoned by the player to tackle enemies based on their characteristics. In this mode the player will take control of an evil lord so gorgeous that all are driven to madness at a single glance of his perfect ivory skin.

Princess Mode features fast shoot-em-up-style gameplay and the heartwarming tale of a girl and a crossbow that can punch holes in a mammoth. Several mammoths even.

Knight Mode puts the player in the position of a less-than-bright (but ever so earnest) bodyguard who must protect a character known as the Sage until a special spell that destroys all evil can be cast. As we like to say, “He tries a lot…and dies a lot.”

Each mode utilizes a “half-minute” rule where certain tasks must be completed before 30 seconds go by. There are additional even more punishing unlockable modes, but only the most skilled of time managers will get this far…

Half-Minute Hero also has a lot rocking music, grandiose villains and bat-umbrellas. What to know more? Ask and ye shall receive!

Half-Minute Hero will be shipping in North America tomorrow, October 13, 2009 for $29.99 exclusively for the PSP.