Throughout The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure, players may encounter character cameos initially added in this game’s Japanese PlayStation 4 release. While these inclusions aren’t necessary for understanding Azure’s plot, their presences do provide appreciative context.

Before moving on, note that some of my statements and screenshots, viewable below, will contain spoilers for Trails of Cold Steel and certain events in Trails to Azure. 

Firstly, the easiest-to-miss cameos relate to Juna Crawford, a party member introduced in Trails of Cold Steel III. Without delving into her intricacies, she is a Crossbell native, a critical part of her characterization. Before meeting Rean and company, she was training in Crossbell’s Police Academy, with the Special Support Section being an incredible source of inspiration.

In Trails to Azure, unless I missed her at some point, she is out-of-the-way compared to the other Cold Steel cameos, only ever appearing at the Crossbell Police Academy. Save for specific story sequences, this area is wholly optional, and Juna is only ever present during the latter. During one of the first times players can encounter her, she doesn’t interact with the SSS directly. Instead, she’s shown to be late reporting near the start of her time training. Tio remarks how Juna is Lloyd’s old neighbor as he and Noel briefly reminisce on the academy’s strictness.

Later in the story, the conversation is far more personal, emphasizing Juna’s weakened will following Crossbell’s latest tragedy. However, Lloyd radiates his usual energy and cheers her up.

Juna’s younger siblings, Ken and Nana, are also in this release. You can find them in the Crossbell Cathedral’s classroom and on West Street. They don’t say anything especially significant, but their being around at all is cool. Although their lack of interaction with the other children does look rather odd.

Next is Towa Herschel, a character introduced in the first Trails of Cold Steel. She’s present in Chapter 2 during the trade conference and doesn’t directly talk to the party, but she has a decent amount of dialogue. For those unaware, Trails to Azure is roughly concurrent to the first two Trails of Cold Steel games, with this particular segment being in-line with Trails of Cold Steel I’s fifth chapter.

Rean and the rest of Class VII made their way to Garrelia Fortress after their Field Study in Legram, and they found themselves contending with the Imperial Liberation Front, who were trying to wrest control of the Railway Cannons. In the second half of this cameo, Towa is on her ARCUS, speaking to Angelica, also namedropping Crow.

During this same chapter, Gideon is present during the assault on Orchis Tower. He and his allies temporarily team up with Calvard’s anti-immigrant extremists to storm the area, but they eventually part ways. Then, Gideon and company are brutally killed by the Red Constellation, who were hired to protect Osborne. Granted, his face is covered by a helmet, but it’s clearly him. In Trails of Cold Steel, you hear of his death but don’t actually witness it firsthand.

Lastly, Duvalie of the Stahlritter is depicted in Azure’s endgame. She, alongside Ennea and Ines, were in the original releases of Azure, but they did not have portraits. However, Duvalie received one from the PlayStation 4 version onward.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure is releasing for Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via the Epic Games Store, GOG, and Steam at the following times:

• March 14, 2023 – North America
• March 17, 2023 – Europe
• March 24, 2023 – Australia, New Zealand

If you missed it, check out our review.

Check out the game’s hidden treasure chest message story.

Our coverage for the game is listed below: