Let’s face it: JRPG monsters are pure nightmare fuel. Sure, there’s a certain subset who are plain ol’ cute, but for the most part they’re a horrifying mash up of real world animals and mythical monsters, chimeric creatures amalgamating whatever bits and pieces the artist decided to chuck in the blender that day.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you—it wouldn’t be a JRPG for me without them. I took absolute delight in Metaphor: ReFantazio’s “humans” when I finally got around to playing it last Christmas, a wonderful take on the idea of what a monster even is, channeling Hieronymus Bosch’s 500 year old paintings into some extremely distressing bosses.
But I never thought I’d find a top tier creepy JRPG monster in a Trails game. The series does have its darker moments, but for the most part, it’s pretty homely and rustic, following the lives of regular folk. Trails in the Sky in particular is very chill, as you wander around Liberl as Joshua and Estelle, completing requests and odd jobs to earn their Bracer stripes.
However, while playing the Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter Remake recently, I ran into a monster in Kaldia Tunnel in the game’s Zeiss region who freaked me out. The Faerie Epitaph was in the original game and kind of resembles a melted angel statue, but with this full 3D remake, Falcom added a fun trick to this monster.
The Faerie Epitaph doesn’t move, at least, not when you’re looking at it. As you can see in the video, it moves Weeping Angel-style, inching closer whenever you look away. Obviously, I hit the first Faerie Epitaph I saw because it’s clearly a monster, but it took me quite a while to realise that another was following me around Kaldia Tunnel. I only clocked it when I turned around after opening a chest and came face-to-face with one. Maybe it’s just me, still scarred from the first time I watched Blink, but monsters that move when you’re not looking are uniquely terrifying.
It’s such a wonderfully creepy little detail to add as part of a full 3D remake, but it’s kind of indicative of the lengths Falcom has gone to reworking these games for modern audiences. As a fan of Trails of Cold Steel, I was super impressed by Trails in the Sky’s 1st Chapter Remake last year, and I’ve been having a great time with the 2nd Chapter Remake so far—when I’m not getting spooked by monsters, that is.
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