Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Ys vs. Trails in the Sky Remaster Announced

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Dec 232024
 

When we talked about the Trails in the Sky remake, Ys X: Proud Nordics, and Memories of Celceta for the Switch on Friday, I figured we’d have Falcom news covered for a little while.

Little did I know that later that same day, a remaster of Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga would be announced for 2025, with a western release already confirmed.

Ys vs. Trails in the Sky is a fighting game originally released for the PSP only in Japan, featuring characters from the Ys and Trails games. It’s now being remastered for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC by publisher refint/games.

It will have remastered graphics, both local and online multiplayer, and an English dub.

And, like with the Crossbell games, the fan translation from Geofront has been licensed for this release.

One especially interesting thing about this is that Falcom is working with a variety of different publishers now. NISA is still handling the major new releases, but Aksys published the Switch version of Tokyo Xanadu, Xseed did Ys Memoire, GungHo has the Trails in the Sky remake, and now refint/games is here with Ys vs. Trails.

Now I’ve never been a big fan of fighting games, so I probably won’t end up playing this one. At the same time, however, I’m more tempted to try it than any other fighting game. So we’ll see. I certainly have plenty of games in both series to catch up on in the meantime.

Are you interested in Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga?

Trails in the Sky Remake Set for Fall 2025

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Dec 202024
 

During the incredible Nintendo Direct back in August, we got the surprise reveal of Trails in the Sky the First, a full remake of the first game in the Trails series.

After that, things got a little confusing, as it seemed even Falcom themselves didn’t know what platforms it would be on or who would publish it in the west. But now, we finally have answers!

Now titled Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter for the west, the remake is being published by GungHo Online Entertainment, which no one saw coming.

They announced that it will be released in Fall 2025 for the Switch, PS5, and PC. Not only that, but it seems it will be a worldwide release.

Judging by the new trailer, it looks like it has the hybrid action/turn-based combat system introduced with Daybreak, along with other new features. It looks absolutely beautiful, too!

A standard edition will be sold through Amazon (or Clear River Games in Europe), and there will be a Collector’s Edition available only from Limited Run Games.

The announcement also says it has “brand-new English, German, and French localizations,” so that might mean it’s not using the original translation like we expected. (On the other hand, it could be just oddly worded, since it never had German and French localizations before at all.)

Now, I’m still in the middle of playing the original Trails in the Sky games, and I have many Trails games ahead of me, so who knows if I’ll be ready to play the remake when it comes out. Either way, though, it’s exciting to see. I’m sure this will make it easier for new fans to get into Sky, too.

Meanwhile, Ys X: Nordics is getting an enhanced edition next year in Japan, which feels strange for a game so new. Yes, it’s been out a year longer in Japan than it has here, but that’s still pretty soon for a new version of the game. Memories of Celceta is also coming to the Switch in Japan.

Are you planning to play the Trails in the Sky remake? How do you feel about Ys X getting an enhanced edition already?

Capcom Will Revive Dormant IPs, Bandai Namco Plans “Consistent” Tales Remasters

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Dec 182024
 

The biggest surprise of the Game Awards for me was Capcom reviving both Onimusha and Okami, two series that looked like they’d never return.

Onimusha’s last full entry was in 2006, a whole 18 years ago. Only a browser game and a VR experience came out since then. The remaster of the first game was followed by rumors that subsequent remasters had been cancelled.

As for Okami, it also came out in 2006, with a spiritual successor called Okamiden coming out in 2010 and a remaster of the first game in 2012 (with ports in subsequent years).

So it’s been quite a while since Onimusha and Okami saw any love, much less a brand-new entry for each both being announced at the same even. We Ace Attorney fans think we’ve got it bad, but it’s only been 7 years since the last one – hardly any time at all in comparison.

But what makes this even more exciting is that an official press release from Capcom says they’re “focusing on re-activating dormant IPs that haven’t had a new title launch recently.” That opens up the doors for more than just Onimusha and Okami to return.

I’ve believed for a while now that a new Ace Attorney game is coming sooner rather than later, but what else could they revive? Dino Crisis has been dormant since 2003. Breath of Fire’s last entry was in 2002 (all right, technically Breath of Fire 6 came out in 2016, but let’s try not to think about that). Is it finally their time to shine again?

Moving aside from Capcom, this week also saw some interesting news from Bandai Namco. After Tales of Graces f Remastered was announced, we learned that they intended to remaster more Tales games as well. Now they’ve doubled down. In a new message translated here by Gematsu, producer Yusuke Tomizawa said there’s now a dedicated development line for Tales remasters and that they’re planned to be released “fairly consistently” and “as much as possible.”

This is exciting news, and it gives me hope that it will be more than just a handful of the newer games in the series. My hopes that we’ll get some of the untranslated games officially released are renewed!

In short, we could have a lot of good stuff coming. What dormant Capcom franchises do you hope to see revived, and what Tales remasters would you like to have follow Graces?

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