With less than a month remaining before the launch of Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, the follow-up to Nihon Falcom’s 3D reimagining of the classic Trails in the Sky series, excitement is building among fans.
Ahead of the game’s arrival, GungHo Online Entertainment America, the international publishers for the Trails in the Sky remake, sat down with Level Up to discuss the localization efforts behind the title.
The conversation centered on the use of artificial intelligence in localization, a practice gaining traction among developers aiming to streamline workflows. GungHo representatives clarified that their team does not employ AI for translations and has no intentions of adopting it in the foreseeable future.
According to the interview, GungHo relies exclusively on human translators throughout the entire localization process. While acknowledging that players value content crafted by people, the company also stressed the importance of maintaining uniformity across the extensive Trails series. Given the vast world-building and the diverse cast with unique voices, GungHo maintains that “that level of detail still requires human judgement.”
The company’s objective is to “ensure every character sounds exactly as they should, terminology remains consistent, and all of those small details carry over from one game to the next,” highlighting why preserving the human element is essential for the series.
Notably, during a 2024 conversation, Nihon Falcom CEO Toshihiro Kondo expressed openness to using AI in the early stages of localization to enhance global distribution efficiency. However, he also emphasized that human oversight would still be necessary for refinement.
Nevertheless, with GungHo’s support, Nihon Falcom successfully released the first chapter of Trails in the Sky remake worldwide without AI assistance.
Regarding the simultaneous global release of the first chapter (with the second chapter following suit), Kondo explained that it was achievable because the remake did not necessitate a brand-new narrative. This allowed Nihon Falcom to work on both Japanese and international versions concurrently, as discussions with GungHo began early in the remake’s development.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter will debut on September 17, available on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5. A playable demo is already accessible for players.