The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki

The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki (英雄伝説 の軌跡, literally "Trails in the Dark") is the eleventh installment in the main Trails series. It was released in September 30, 2021 on PlayStation 4.

Setting
The game marks the second half of the Trails series, set in Calvard. The story is set in S.1208, a year after. Thanks to postwar reparations, the multinational state of Calvard experiences unprecedented economic growth while continuously dealing with public unrest caused by immigration and the new president's radical reforms. In a corner of Edith, a young man working as a Spriggan receives a peculiar job that will result into something larger, affecting the entirety of the Republic.

Prologue
EN="Spriggan" -

A type of underground business born from the diversity that is the Calvard Republic.

At times as a detective, at times as a negotiator, at other times as a bounty hunter, they accept all types of requests from anyone.

Subcontract work from the police on request that they can't handle, consultations about things "can't see the light of day" from civilians, even "legitimate" requests from criminals and underground groups.

That is the way of those that are called the "Spriggan".

The year is 1208 of the Septian Calendar.

In the slums of the capital city of Calvard, in a rundown old building, a refined looking girl wearing the uniform of renowned school was paying visit.

"Arkride Resolution Office"

She stared dignified at the simple letters on the plate.

She swallowed audibly and knocked on the door three times

...

"(YAAAWN), a visitor before lunch... that's unusual..."

At a glance, lazy but composed, seemingly mature but rather quite the young man's voice rang out and the doorknob turned slowly.

-Here is the beginning of a new "Trails (story)".
 * -|JP=『』――

カルバード共和国という多様性のから生まれた、ある種の“裏稼業”.

ある時はとして、ある時はとして、またある時はとして、彼らはどんな、そして誰からの依頼でも受ける.

警察では扱い切れない依頼の下請け、市民からの“表沙汰にできない”相談事、さらには犯罪者やアンダーグラウンド勢力の“真っ当な”依頼も.

それが、『裏解決屋』と呼ばれる彼らの流儀であった.

時に、七耀暦1208年――

共和国首都・旧市街にある古ぼけた雑居ビルを名門校の制服に身を包んだ、いかにも育ちの良さそうなひとりの女生徒が訪れていた.

『アークライド解決事務所』 素っ気ない文字で書かれたそのプレートを、凛とした眼差しで見つめる少女.

コクンと喉を鳴らし、意を決してノックを３回.

…………

『～ふわああっ、昼前に珍しいな……』

だらしないようで落ち着いた、大人びているようで意外と若い男の声が響き、ドアノブがゆっくりと回り出す.

――ここから、新たな “”が始まる.

Characters

 * Van Arkride
 * Agnes Claudel
 * Feri Al-Fayed
 * Aaron Wei
 * Risette Twinings
 * Quatre Salision
 * Judith Ranster
 * Bergard Zeman

Development
Nihon Falcom announced Kuro no Kiseki', alongside and  for Switch, on 17 December 2020. The character for "kuro" (黎, black) is taken from the Japanese word for dawn, for the game promises to shed light, like a sunrise, on the mysterious of previous games. On 20 December 2020, Falcom revealed character artwork for the protagonist and heroine, and that artist Katsumi Enami would return as illustrator for Kuro.

Trivia

 * Kuro marks the second time the first game of an arc did not end on a cliffhanger, the first being Zero.
 * Also similar to Zero, the game does not contain Olivert within its story, with his only appearance being a brief cameo in the ending credits.