Tag: Nis America
News Trails through Daybreak 2 Is at Least Trying to Get You Caught Up on the Story
Official recap revealed
Both its greatest strength and its most apparent weakness, the Trails series is built on a huge, overarching story spread across 11 games at this point (13 if you're going by Japanese releases). For new players, getting into the franchise can be truly daunting — but Falcom and western publisher NIS America are at least...
Taking a (Day)break
With the release of Trails through Daybreak earlier this year, Ys X: Nordics fast approaching, and Trails through Daybreak 2 arriving in February, we once again got to catch up with Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo at a recent UK press event. We asked Kondo-san all sorts of questions about the Trails series in particular,...
News Trails through Daybreak 2 Adds to an Insane February Release Schedule on PS5
Bear the nightmare
February is looking like an absolutely stacked month for PlayStation fans. Having previously been pencilled in for 'early 2025', Trails through Daybreak 2 now has a confirmed 14th February release date on PS5 and PS4. As the name suggests, this is a direct sequel to this year's Trails through Daybreak — yet another fantastic...
News Try Ys X: Nordics' Fast-Paced Combat in PS5, PS4 Demo, Available Now
Adol Christin back at it again
The next title in the long-running series, Ys X: Nordics, takes series stalwart Adol Christin on a nautical adventure. The setting and environments are, interestingly enough, inspired by the coast of Normandy, France. Nordics will launch in its full form next week, on 25th October, for PS5 and PS4, with demo progress...
Mini Review Reynatis (PS5) - Beautiful Action RPG Is Far Too Repetitive
Shibuya showdown
Reynatis is an action RPG set in the vibrant ward of Shibuya, Tokyo, but it’s a very different place to the one we know. In this version, magic is real, very dangerous, and feared by the non-magical population. Magic users either hide their abilities or join a government organisation called M.E.A. to hunt down rogue witches and...
News Tokyo-Based PS5, PS4 Action RPG REYNATIS Will Receive Nine Free Updates
Rey to go
The promising Tokyo-based action RPG REYNATIS will be supported post-release with nine additional free expansions, publisher NIS America has announced. According to a press release, the updates will include “new story episodes for main characters Marin Kirizumi and Sari Nishijima, along with a secret episode”. Unfortunately, there’s...
News Trails through Daybreak 2 Gets Surprise Early 2025 Release Date in the West
Breaking
The West is now coming very close to being completely caught up on the Trails series. Trails through Daybreak 2 has just been confirmed for a Western release — and that's crazy, because its predecessor, Trails through Daybreak, only just launched today at the time of writing. It's a seriously impressive turnaround by publisher NIS America...
News Ys X: Nordics Carves Out an October Release Date on PS5, PS4
Ys please
Ys X: Nordics now has a confirmed release date on PS5 and PS4. Falcom's action RPG launches on the 25th October, which means that it's surrounded by heavy hitters like Metaphor: ReFantazio (11th October), Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake (14th November), and Assassin's Creed Shadows (15th November). The last few months of 2024 are looking...
Review Trails through Daybreak (PS5) - A Strong Step Forward for Falcom's Fantastic RPG Series
The Van with a plan
Kicking off a whole new saga in Falcom's storied Trails series, Trails through Daybreak represents a step forward for the franchise in so many ways. Boasting an updated game engine, fairly significant gameplay additions, and a completely new setting, this is probably the freshest that Trails has felt since the original Trails of...
News Trails through Daybreak 2 Leak May Point Towards Imminent Announcement
Daybroke
The first game isn't even out yet here in the West (it releases next week, on the 5th July), but a PSN leak appears to have just confirmed that its sequel is also heading our way — with a suggestion that a localisation announcement could be coming much sooner than anticipated. Trails through Daybreak's sequel is called Kuro no Kiseki 2:...
News PS2 Strategy RPG Series Phantom Brave Is Making a Comeback on PS5, PS4
Brave heart
It’s been almost 20 years since strategy RPG series Phantom Brave debuted on the PS2 to largely critical acclaim. Now, after a multitude of remakes and re-releases, the series is finally set to get a sequel in the form of Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero on PS5 and PS4. It’s due out at some point in 2025. The official blurb reveals:...
News Trails through Daybreak Demo Out Now, Progress Carries to the Full RPG
The day breaks
The Trails through Daybreak demo is available to download now on PS5 and PS4, weighing in at 12.7GB. It covers both the game's prologue and its first chapter, meaning that it's a fairly robust offering. What's more, the progress that you make can be carried over to the full release when it launches next month, on the 5th July. Just...
News Big Trails through Daybreak Demo Drops a Month Before Release, Progress Carries Over
A Trails trial
A fully playable demo for Trails through Daybreak will drop on the 4th June, giving eager fans just over a month to test the RPG out before its full release on the 5th July. Daybreak is coming to both PS5 and PS4, but it should be noted that this demo is releasing on PS4 only. We don't exactly know why that's the case, but PS5 owners...
Preview Trails through Daybreak Is Set to Push Falcom's Fantastic RPG Series Forward
Ad-Van-tage
It seems to be a universal rule that whenever we write about the Trails games, there's at least one person in the comments asking where they should begin with Falcom's long-running RPG series. Naturally, the ideal answer to this query is "with the first game", but not everyone has the time — or patience — to play through at least...
The Trails train never stops
We've said it once and we'll say it again: NIS America has been doing an admirable job of bringing Falcom's Trails games to the West — but boy does it sting when you realise just how far ahead the series is in its native Japan. In an age where most Japanese publishers and developers are going out of their way to ensure...
News Enticing Action RPG REYNATIS Hits PS5, PS4 in September
Shibuya scramble
REYNATIS, the rather intriguing action RPG that was announced a couple of months back, now has a confirmed release date on PS5 and PS4. It's dropping on the 27th September, which is roughly two months after the game's Japanese launch. That's not a bad turnaround, really. Set in the towering Tokyo district of Shibuya, a cast of...
News RPG Maker WITH Lets You Craft Your Own RPG on PS5, PS4 Next Year
Let's role
RPG Maker is a franchise that's largely steered clear of PlayStation consoles, but that trend is set to change with the release of RPG Maker WITH. Published by NIS America, it's headed to PC and Switch at some point in the autumn / fall, while PS5 and PS4 versions are locked in for 2025. If you're sat there wondering what RPG Maker even...
News Trails through Daybreak Release Date Set for July on PS5, PS4
The day breaks
NIS America has given Trails through Daybreak a confirmed release date. Previously, the Falcom RPG was simply slated for 'summer 2024', but now it's locked in for the 5th July. The title also has a new English trailer, which you can watch above. In Japan, Trails through Daybreak is known as Kuro no Kiseki — and it first launched...
News Trails through Daybreak Stream Will Showcase First English Gameplay Next Week
Falcom's RPG gets a release date...?
NIS America, the publisher in charge of bringing Trails through Daybreak — and all of Falcom's other RPGs — to the West, has announced that it'll be hosting an "early look" livestream of the game next week. NISA's partnering with speedrun charity RPG Limit Break, and the broadcast will air through its Twitch...
News Shibuya Action RPG REYNATIS Slated for PS5, PS4 Launch Later This Year in the West
A kinda magic
FuRyu’s compelling Shibuya-set action RPG outing REYNATIS has attracted a lot of interest since being announced for the PS5 and PS4 in Japan last week, but many were waiting on confirmation of a Western release. Following this week’s full-length trailer, that’s now come courtesy of NIS America, who’s signed on as publisher in...
News Falcom Action RPG Ys X: Nordics Sails West on PS5, PS4 This Autumn
Ys-y does it
NIS America will publish the latest game in the Ys series, Ys X: Nordics, this autumn / fall in the west. The action RPG originally launched last September in Japan, and a localisation announcement has been on the cards ever since. Nordics features recurring Ys protagonist Adol Christin, but this time around, he shares the spotlight...
News 3DS RPG Remaster The Legend of Legacy HD Is Yet Another Early 2024 PS5, PS4 Release
Same day as Dragon's Dogma 2
We're starting to sound like a broken record, but early 2024 is madness in terms of the release schedule. There are approximately 12 million games coming out between late January and late March, and now you can add The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered to the ever-growing list. The FuRyu-developed RPG, which originally...
News PS5 Versions for Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4 Coming 16th February
You're joking - not another one!
NIS America has today confirmed it'll be releasing its PS5 double pack of Trails of Cold Steel III and direct sequel Trails of Cold Steel IV on 16th February 2024. This new version hands both games a native PS5 version at once, and you can catch them in action in the gameplay trailer above. The PS5 versions will...
Mini Review CRYMACHINA (PS5) - Interesting Worldbuilding Can’t Save This Dull Action RPG
It’s the end of the world as we know it
The end of humanity has finally happened; partly due to disease but mostly due to war over a scarcity of resources. In one of the last acts of a dying species they created a vast structure in space, known as Eden. Outfitted with eight self-evolving artificial lifeforms known as Deux Ex Machinas, the hope was...
Review Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless (PS5) - The Crazy RPG Series at Its Best
To Hell with honour
The nonsensical turn-based strategy RPG series Disgaea has always marched to the beat of its own drum. With Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless, this tradition continues, for better or worse. We can't imagine new converts will be won to the cause here, but if you've stuck with the series this long, you'll likely have a Hell of a...
News 3DS RPG The Legend of Legacy Gets a PS5, PS4 Remaster
Out next year
NIS America has announced it's remastering the Nintendo 3DS RPG The Legend of Legacy for PS5 and PS4, with a view to release the enhanced version early next year. Catch the trailer above to see it in action. Details covering how the RPG will run better on Sony's consoles or any resolution upgrades haven't been shared. Officially...
The next Trails saga begins
Known as Kuro no Kiseki in Japan, publisher NIS America has confirmed that it'll be bringing the RPG westwards in the summer of 2024. Its official English name is Trails through Daybreak, and it's coming to both PS5 and PS4. This new beginning in Falcom's Trails saga first released in 2021, but over the last 18 months or...
News Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4 Double Pack Coming to PS5 in Early 2024
Steel yourself
NIS America will re-release excellent JRPGs Trails of Cold Steel 3 and Trails of Cold Steel 4 as a PS5 duology in 'early 2024'. The two games are currently available separately on PS4, but the publisher now has a history of porting Falcom titles to Sony's current-gen console. Ys 8 and Ys 9 are two such examples. The bundle, which is...
News Trails Announcements Incoming? NISA Confirms Special Falcom Stream for Tomorrow
Fingers crossed for Kuro
It's all very short notice, but publisher NIS America has announced that it'll be hosting a special livestream tomorrow (that's the 21st September, just to be clear). Said stream will feature a "special announcement" from Falcom — the Japanese developer behind the Trails RPG franchise and the Ys series. Our immediate...
Lost and bound
The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is an action RPG with platforming elements that started life on the PSP all the way back in 2012. And as is the case with so many of Falcom's lesser-known titles, it was never released outside of Japan. This new PS4 version, then, is a remaster of what some would consider to be a bit of a...
News Disgaea 7 Demo Gathers a Demonic Army on PS5, PS4
Out now
NIS America has released a playable demo for upcoming strategy RPG Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless. You can download it right now on PS5 and PS4, and the progress that you make can be carried over to the full game when it launches next month, on the 3rd October in North America, and the 6th October in Europe. Disgaea 7 hit Japan back in...
Grey area
A prequel to Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception, the verbosely named Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten is a fairly typical Japanese RPG. It follows the story of a young warrior named Oshtor, who, after a strange meeting with a mysterious girl, sets off on a grand adventure to uncover the secrets of his family's history. So far,...
News PS4 JRPGs Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4 Are Getting PS5 Versions, It Seems
Hot Steel
According to newly registered ESRB ratings, it looks like Falcom's excellent JRPGs, Trails of Cold Steel 3 and Trails of Cold Steel 4, are coming to PS5. The two sequels, which released on western PS4s in 2019 and 2020 respectively, are published by NIS America outside of Japan — and we all know how much that company loves its PS5 ports...
Mini Review Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles (PS5) - Musical JRPG Hits a Bum Note
Doesn't quite strike a chord
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles is the combination release of Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom. Originally released in 1999 and 2000 respectively, both games are now available for the first time in the west. Rhapsody II kicks into action by following the titular...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Trails into Reverie?
The beginning and the end
Calling all Trails fans: we need your help. As regular readers may know, we have our own Best Trails Games guide, which ranks each title in Falcom's RPG series, and it's all user rated. With that in mind, we need some ratings for the latest game, Trails into Reverie — and that's why we've constructed this poll. Now,...
News PS4 Action RPG The Legend of Nayuta Charms in New English Gameplay
The legend continues
Due out in just a couple of months on PS4 (on the 19th September in the US and the 22nd September in Europe), The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails has picked up a new gameplay trailer which is quite simply packed with charm. For those out of the loop, Nayuta is kind of a Trails series spin-off, although it has nothing to do...
News Surreal JRPG The Caligula Effect 2 Rights Past Wrongs on PS5 in October
Redo, indeed
The Caligula Effect 2 is getting another chance to make things right, with a PS5 port officially dated for October 2023, the 17th in North America and 20th in Europe. This particular entry bucks genre trends and tells a sci-fi tale in which a group of students suddenly realise they are living inside a simulation. Persona fans might...
Review Trails into Reverie (PS5) - Action-Packed Epilogue Is a Brilliantly In-Depth RPG
Everybody's here
Trails into Reverie is essentially an epilogue to the Trails of Cold Steel series. It brings every character — and we mean every character — back for one last hurrah as yet another threat casts a shadow over the continent of Zemuria. Just to get it out of the way: if you haven't played through the four Cold Steel games, as well...
Interview Falcom Boss Talks Everything Trails, Reverie, Importance of Western Fans, and More
Also answers our dumbest questions
Trails into Reverie's long-awaited release is just days away at the time of writing, and with the series finally ramping up here in the West, we wanted to reach out to developer Falcom in order to organise our biggest interview with the company yet. Luckily for us, Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo has been kind...
News Mechanical Girls Strive to Survive CRYMACHINA on PS5, PS4 This October
If YorHa can't beat 'em...
CRYMACHINA is an action RPG set in a world where humans went extinct millennia ago, and a group of synthetic beings have been tasked with bringing them back. Along the way, they will apparently need to contend with what it means to be a "real human", and you can, too. While perhaps not the most original pitch (we'd take...
News Trails into Reverie Gameplay Builds Anticipation Ahead of Next Month's PS5, PS4 Launch
A tale long in the telling
The long wait for Trails into Reverie is finally drawing to a close, and we have the gameplay trailer to prove it. Whereas previous showings of the epic JRPG had detailed the cast of characters appearing, randomised dungeons and various minigames, today, we got a look
Not quite haute cuisine
Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook is a turn-based, strategy RPG roguelike that sees a group of adventurers in the wrong place at the wrong time, stuck in an increasingly difficult dungeon while on the brink of starvation. Picking your primary character, you’re instantly thrown into a whole host of customisation...
News PS5, PS4 JRPG Monochrome Mobius Journeys West in September
Gameplay trailer goes turn-based
Following on from last month's confirmation that NIS America would be localising the latest Utawarerumono game, Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten now has a release date on PS5 and PS4. The turn-based RPG arrives in North America on the 5th September,
News Trails-Style Action RPG The Legend of Nayuta Slashes to PS4 in September
Boundless Trails await
NIS America has revealed the release date for upcoming action RPG The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails. It's coming to PS4 on the 19th September in North America, and the 22nd September in Europe. For those totally out of the loop, The Legend of Nayuta was originally a 2012 PSP title that was never released outside of...
Poll We Need You to Rate the Trails Games
Be a hero
Over recent years, Falcom's long-running Trails series has gained a lot of traction here in the West. We're still a few games behind at the time of writing this article, but publisher NIS America has hit a steady stride in releasing title after title. And thankfully, we're now at a point where there are enough Trails games on modern...
News Taste Test Strategy RPG Monster Menu in Free PS5, PS4 Demo
Help yourself
NIS America’s bright and breezy Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook is marinating ahead of its 23rd May release date on PS5 and PS4 – but if you can’t wait to take a bite, then you can taste test a free demo on either of Sony’s systems starting from today. Most importantly of all, your progress in the appetiser will...
News Weird JRPG The Caligula Effect 2 Is Getting a PS5 Port Later This Year
Cause and effect
NIS America has announced that The Caligula Effect 2 is getting a PS5 version this Autumn / Fall. The quirky RPG originally released for the PS4 back in October 2021, and was fairly well received by fans of the genre. If you're out of the loop, The Caligula Effect 2 has some slight Persona vibes, as a group of highschool students...
News The New Utawarerumono RPG Is Coming West Later This Year on PS5, PS4
NISA localises Monochrome Mobius
The latest instalment in the Utawarerumono series, Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten, is heading West this autumn / fall on PS5 and PS4, courtesy of NIS America. Originally released in Japan last year, this is a turn-based RPG adventure set in the long-running franchise's fantastical world. The game was...
News Trails into Reverie Revels in Randomised Dungeons and Delightfully Dumb Minigames
Extracurricular activities
This is something that we didn't really know about Trails into Reverie: it's actually got a wide range of optional content, ranging from challenging dungeon delves to minigames. Obviously the upcoming RPG's main draw is its story, which basically acts as an epilogue to the Trails of Cold Steel series, but Falcom's clearly...
News Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles Gets Debut Western Release on PS5
Raise your voice in song
Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles bundles together two previously unreleased JRPGs here in the West, Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess and Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl. We have a release date, too, with the complete package launching in North America on 29th August, Europe on 1st September, and 8th September in...
