Is it a good game to check out after Xenoblade 2? Noticed recently that I had it on Steam for quite some time now but never got to it as I struggle with motivation when it comes to JRPGs.
The first Trails in the Sky is roughly 30-40-ish hours, give or take. It's relatively short. It is very text-heavy and it focuses on world building and character development. With that being said, Trails is phenomenal at what it does right; it's one of the best series in the genre, IMO. Its continuity is bonkers; very minor things said by a random NPC could actually be foreshadowing for future events like 4 games later. The series encourages you to explore and talk to every NPC consistently, and you are rewarded for it; dialogue depends on story progression and it is constantly updated for everyone.
The combat uses a turn-based grid system; there's a tactical element to it. Positioning is important; you can move characters away from enemy's attacks and vice versa. Turn order is very flexible; if you play wisely, you can prevent enemies from attacking by slowing them down, speeding yourself up, interrupting their turn, activating special attacks to prioritize your turn, etc. Enemies have physical and elemental weakness that you can try to exploit, but you have to analyze them first; that's kind of like Persona. Later games add new mechanics like summonings, power-ups, and team-based attacks. Overall, it's pretty fun and easy enough to get the hang of. Combat improves/evolves with each new installment.
Cold Steel adds a bonding system; events change depending on who you hang out with. It has a ton of replay value.
Nihon Falcom are known for their music and Trails has some bangers like:
The overall story is well written. There is so much to enjoy. Everything from intimate moments like two people having fun, to optional in-universe books you can collect, etc. There's tons of action, suspense, political intrigue, social commentary, romance, comedy, and so on. And ALL OF IT IS RELEVANT. Everything is connected. There are plot twists all over the place. And those plot twists have plot twists. And just when you think you have it all figured out, next thing ya know, you're casually sipping tea with the all of the main antagonists. There's even a high-stakes fishing minigame subplot that spanned multiple games that ended up being way more entertaining than it had any right to be.
Part of the reason I taught myself another language as a teen was so that I can enjoy this series in its entirety lol. It is that good. Though it takes a little time because there's a lot of world building, but when shiola hits the fan, it hits hard. The first Trails made me cry; The 3rd made me cry; the Trails of Cold Steel games probably did it once or twice (I'm not done); Ao and Second Chapter was just AMAZING.
NPCs or otherwise, there are countless lovable characters. More importantly, they know how to write likeable protagonists. Estelle Bright is testament to that, for example.
You might not have the motivation to play an RPG, and I can understand that. But this is a fantastic game in general that is worth checking out. If it's not for you, that's okay. Though nothing ventured, nothing gained.