Two Major JRPG Titles Will Return to Modern Platforms

Edia announced it will bring the Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes 1 & 2 duology to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC in a global release sometime in 2027. These two titles are spin-offs developed by Nihon Falcom in 1989 and 1992, respectively, originally for the PC-88, with the second never receiving an international release.

Nihon Falcom is known as one of the oldest and most established Japanese developers in the market and, to some, the true creator of JRPGs. In 1983, they released Panorama Toh, which can be loosely considered an RPG. However, in 1984, Dragon Slayer came out, called by many the first full action RPG in the world. Since the game didn't make as much noise as Dragon Quest, Yuji Horii's title earned the nickname forefather of JRPGs, but Nihon Falcom had already been dipping its toes in the genre for a while before you started slashing slimes.

Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes Is the Precursor of the Trails Series

With Dragon Slayer's success in Japan, Nihon Falcom kept investing in the series until it released the sixth entry, Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, with a subtitle that revealed it was a spin-off. Going against the grain of the current JRPG industry, Dragon Slayer went from an action RPG to a turn-based RPG with The Legend of Heroes, in the most traditional way possible. The first Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes came out on countless platforms and had only one international version for the TurboGrafx-CD, featuring some pretty suspicious voice acting.

On the other hand, Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes 2 never left Japan, but it maintained the same mold as the first game. Shortly after, Falcom dropped the Dragon Slayer moniker and continued with just The Legend of Heroes series, creating what is known as the Gagharv trilogy with the games The Legend of Heroes III: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch, The Legend of Heroes IV: A Tear of Vermillion, and The Legend of Heroes V: Song of the Ocean. The games take place in the same region but in different eras, while still referencing one another.

Going against the grain of the current JRPG industry, Dragon Slayer went from an action RPG to a turn-based RPG with The Legend of Heroes.

If you're familiar, you know The Legend of Heroes eventually became Trails in the Sky, the first in the series now more commonly known simply as Trails. While the first The Legend of Heroes games have no relation to Trails, you can already see the design and focus on script and world-building in the Gagharv trilogy, both in the rotating NPC dialogues and in the shared setting that complements itself across different games. The trilogy received a lackluster PSP remaster, and Nihon has already announced that The Legend of Heroes III: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch will return to modern platforms after a deal with NEOWIZ.

Now, for the first time in over 35 years, Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes 1 & 2 will receive a collection from Edia, a Japanese publisher specializing in retro game compilations. As reported by Gematsu, details are still limited, and we only know that the duology will release worldwide in 2027 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC. As a global release, it will likely include at least English text, which already makes these titles more accessible than before.

This initiative to bring Dragon Slayer and other classic Nihon Falcom titles comes from the developer itself. Following the resounding success of the Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remake, the developer stated that it will not only bring more Trails remakes, but also possible remakes of other franchises. It was previously reported that Falcom was working on another Dragon Slayer, so it remains to be seen whether this collection is it or a brand-new title. Either way, if it is a JRPG from Falcom, I will definitely be there.

Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes JRPG Systems Released September 10, 1989 ESRB t Developer(s) Nihon Falcom Franchise The Legend of Heroes Platform(s) NEC PC-98, FM Towns, TurboGrafx-CD, SNES, Sega Genesis, PS1, PC, Sega Saturn, NEC PC-8801 Genre(s) JRPG 0:00 / 0:00