Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Every Thursday GTA 6 O'clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts. Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon. Every Thursday The Setup Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Every Saturday The Watchlist Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! The Trails series has grown to near-legendary status among JRPG fanatics, and with good reason – it offers a uniquely massive story that's been developing nonstop over the course of 13 games in 22 years. Developer Nihon Falcom's sporadic assertions that the series is nearing its conclusion have become something of a running joke among fans, but the latest game does seem to be pointing toward a climax. In fact, that's part of why the studio is now remaking the games that started it all. A remake of the first Trails game, titled Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, launched in 2025 to critical acclaim, and a remake of the second game is currently set to release in 2026. According to Falcom president and Trails producer Toshihiro Kondo, speaking in an official interview with publisher GungHo, "one reason" for the new remakes is that "the latest game, Trails Beyond the Horizon, has brought the series close to its conclusion after more than 20 years." If you want to play through the entire Trails saga from beginning to end, it's a massive time investment. Back in 2023, I estimated the time to play through every game at 658 hours, but the four additional games that have seen global releases since then have increased that number to around 984 hours. Then you'll need to add a few more hours onto that if you play the expanded remake of the first game instead of the original version. A JRPG series that's been running for 21 years is going back to remakes because "the player base was shrinking" Trails Beyond the Horizon review: "This JRPG's thrilling real-time and turn-based hybrid combat is finely balanced" I've fallen in love with Dragon Quest 7 – not the JRPG's breezy new remake, but the 25-year-old PS1 original "Throughout that time," Kondo continues, "we've always had people say they're interested in the series, but don't know where to start. As we near the finale, we started wondering. Would it be right to end the story without doing anything for them? So, before concluding the story, I felt like we needed to properly remake Trails in the Sky." Kondo has made a similar case for the remakes in the past, and cited a "shrinking" player base as a contributing factor. It's easy to see the argument. Trails fans are eager to evangelize the series to other players, but those players see 13 massive JRPGs in front of them and often just nope out. The remakes, then, offer an attractive, modern onramp for those on the fence. Exactly how many games those new fans might be committing to before the actual ending comes around remains to be seen, but they do at least have a way to get started. Here are the best JRPGs you can play today.