New action-adventure RPG with triple-protagonist system launches on Steam with 93% positive rating

Nihon Falcom’s massive, interconnected Trails saga finally hit its official launch on January 15, 2026, with the Western release of Trails beyond the Horizon. It is a game that is almost impossible to recommend to anyone who hasn't already spent the last decade playing twelve other RPGs, yet for the 1,977 players who crowded into the Steam servers on launch day, it is still a solid achievement for the crowded genre. After moving towards the Calvard Republic’s "Project Startaker" and the literal heavens, Falcom has moved the needle on a plot that has been alive since 2004. This game is a 70-hour epic that is one of the most technically impressive entry in the series.

Beyond the Horizon is built around a triple-protagonist system that divides the narrative between Van Arkride, Rean Schwarzer, and Kevin Graham. This "Reverie-style" structure allows the game to juggle several complex political threads at once, but it also creates some uneven pacing, as per some players. While the high-tech training exercises and the race is electrifying, the middle act is bogged down by mandatory "Grim Garten" dungeon crawling - a VR-space grind that feels like filler designed to pad the runtime. That said, the actual "hybrid" combat - which lets you swap between real-time hack-and-slash and tactical turns - is the snappiest it has ever been, some players say. This is thanks to new "Z.O.C." time-slowing mechanics that make standard mob encounters feel better and immersive.

The PC port - handled by PH3 GmbH (headed by Peter "Durante" Thoman) is a great example of transparency. Thoman stated that the game allows players to "screw up" their own settings if they ignore the warnings, though they have hard-capped certain Ultra-level settings in specific scenes - like a high-fidelity grain field - to prevent even the most powerful rigs from choking on "absurd amounts of individual stalks". The game is also a dream for Steam Deck (curr. $685 on Amazon) users, with a Verified status and a high level of optimization that should give players a stable 60fps experience.

On one hand, this is a polished, technically sound JRPG , with a villain named Ulrika who seems to be a genuine highlight of this new game. On the other hand, it is undoubtedly designed for long-term fans, since it's biggest emotional moments and plot twists are entirely dependent on knowing twenty years of previous story. As of writing, 1,635 players are in-game, and the game features a low number of 61 reviews. However, most of those are positive and that's a good sign for Beyond the Horizon as it goes into the weekend. You can read more about the game here.