Trails Beyond the Horizon Finally Gives Gaming’s Most Overlooked Hero His Due
The onion-head is back.
I’ve probably spent upwards of 2000 hours in the Trails series’ Zemuria, digging into the world’s seemingly boundless culture, history, and characters. And despite everything the series has done right over the last decade, there’s one cardinal sin it’s committed — not bringing back the singular best character, until now. Even if you’ve played a half-dozen Trails games, you might not know who Father Kevin Graham is, but boy, you’re abut to. Essentially, the James Bond of Trails’ Septian Church, Kevin is one of the most delightful and complex characters the series has ever seen — and after playing a few hours of Trails Beyond the Horizon, Falcom hasn’t missed a beat. But perhaps more interesting, this game feels like it marks a shift in the series, a moment where all the pieces are now on the chessboard, and Trails is starting to careen into its grand finale. And I couldn’t be more excited.
Trails Beyond the Horizon is the 14th mainline entry in the franchise, furthering the continuous story that’s been playing out since the release of Trails in the Sky in 2004. Horizon takes place shortly after the events of Trails Through Daybreak 2, and while it’s technically the third game in the “Calvard Arc,” it takes a much different approach to its storytelling. (For the purposes of this preview, I’ll mostly be focusing on story and setting - but you can read our preview from a few months ago focusing on combat.)
Horizon is split into three distinct story paths that each follow one of the series’ major protagonists. The first follows Van Arkride (Daybreak) and his assistants, the second Rean Schwarzer (Trails of Cold Steel) and a few of his key friends. But the third follows Kevin Graham (Trails in the Sky the 3rd), the first time we’ve seen the protagonist in nearly a dozen games — and he’s joined by the ragtag band of characters that Trails into Reverie focused on (Swin, Nadia, Rufus, and Lapis). I played through roughly an hour and a half of both Kevin and Rean’s routes, with sections taking place partway through the game. I also got to play on both PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2, and am pleased to say the Switch 2 runs like an absolute dream — practically indistinguishable from the PS5 version.
Kevin is a member of the Gralsritter of the Septian Church, a kind of spec-ops unit that deals with supernatural and ultra-dangerous threats. He’s essentially the guy who gets sent in when things really hit the fan. But what makes Kevin so fascinating is his almost dual personality. When off the job, he’s an absolute goofball, carefree in every sense of the word. But that carefree facade is, in some ways, intentional, making Kevin’s enemies severely underestimate him, as he drops most of his antics when on a mission. He’s an inherently likable and tremendously complex character, and that lackadaisical air gives him a truly compelling rapport with the rest of his group.
Kevin’s lighthearted air provides some nice slapstick comedy against Swin and Nadia.
The section I played through had Kevin and his party investigating a string of events in the desert city of Tharbad. One of the more scintillating parts of this section is a kind of clash of wits between Kevin and Rufus, two characters who like to hold their secrets close to their chest. But, more than anything, it’s nice to see Kevin in the slower-paced “cozier” style of storytelling the series has leaned into — as Trails in the Sky the 3rd had a demanding pacing that didn’t let the characters revel in monotony. That tinges Kevin’s character in an integrally different way, one that’s fascinating to see play out. There’s a vibrant spirit to Kevin’s route that’s already clear to see.
On the other side of things is Rean, who has an equally interesting wrinkle to his new story. It’s interesting to see Rean and others from the Cold Steel cast integrated with characters from the Daybreak games, with his party investigating the technical haven of Basel.
But far more fascinating is how “grown up” this version of Rean feels, moving far past the young man we’ve seen before. It’s clear Falcom wants Rean to feel like he’s fallen more into the role of swordmaster, and there are subtle details you can see in the way the character carries himself, and how drastically different his combat style feels — much more visceral and deliberate. Rean’s actor, Sean Chiplock, has even made some subtle changes to add more gravel to the character’s voice.
Horizon, even more than Trails Into Reverie before it, feels like the disparate era of the series finally meeting — the start of building to the end.
Horizon still has that heavy storytelling focus the series is known for, but I’m hopeful the game’s three routes can inject a nice sense of variety into the game’s narrative and thematic ambitions. It helps that each party feels quite different in terms of gameplay and combat as well, with Kevin’s ranged attacks letting you pepper enemies from afar, while Rean likes to get up close and personal.
And there’s a final wrinkle to Horizon, an evolved version of Daybreak 2’s Marchen Garten, called the Grim Garten. This virtual world is a kind of training ground where you can find treasure and level up allies, as you progress through a kind of tabletop board themed as a gothic castle. It’s essentially the same idea as Marchen Garten, but the format and presentation are much clearer to understand — and overall doesn’t feel quite as grind-y.
I know three hours out of a 100-plus-hour game is a bit like only tasting the sugar you’re using to bake a cake — but Trails Beyond the Horizon genuinely feels like a step-up for the franchise. The combat has been refined into a dazzling shine, making just the right amount of changes and tweaks to make the blend of action and turn-based feel perfect. Falcom’s graphical and animation talents have clearly been refined, and there’s an inherently ambitious approach to the storytelling that seeks to unite three eras of the franchise into one.
Grim Garten feels like a smarter, more refined version of Daybreak 2’s endless dungeon.
Trails Beyond the Horizon already feels like Falcom operating at a level we haven’t seen yet, a burgeoning studio smartly using the lessons it’s learned from making so many of these games. And considering the studio has been on a hot streak for the last few years, I don’t see any chance of that stopping with this one. And the icing on top is that anyone and everyone now gets to experience the glory that is Kevin.
