Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga is a fighting game that loosely borrows RPG elements. Imagine taking the concept of Smash Bros. or even Final Fantasy’s Dissidia games and mashing a couple of Falcom IP’s together, and this is what you get. An idea that fans play around with, as most fandoms eventually toy with the idea of turning anything into a tournament brawler.
Sometimes, wishes do come true, and you get presented with games like this one. How well do the Ys and Trails in the Sky characters work as a cross-over fighting game? Find out in our Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga review!
Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: Refint/games, Nihon Falcom
Platforms: Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: October 10, 2025
Price: $34.99
The combat remains the quick and fast blasty anime action for anyone familiar with the Ys games. Jump around, attack your enemies, dodge, and use up two four skills in addition to EX attacks when the gauge is full.
However, since you only fight opponents in the style of a tournament fighter, battles are more focused and require pure concentration, reading their every movement.
You aren’t hacking and slashing your way through dungeons here. As expected, your opponents won’t be much of a threat in the normal or lower difficulties, but anything past that, be prepared.
Initiating an EX skill can also be done by your opponents, which will lock you into a very long animation of casually watching yourself lose a fraction of your health. If caught in one, put your controller down and reflect.
Battles take place in small arenas very reminiscent of the Power Stone game. Though environments are seldom interactable, the most important part about them is really just memorizing where the power-ups and pickups are.
In many cases, grabbing them is less important for yourself, but more important to prevent your opponents from getting them, as they immediately will retreat to prolong the battle, grabbing them for themselves.
In certain two-versus-two situations where you are given a teammate, it’s as if they have no interest in ever getting the pick-ups for themselves. This causes a frustration of balance in the economy as both the enemy AI seem to be more mindful of them.
During the story mode, however, there do exist non-playable creatures to fight based on certain story interactions. The Demon Lord’s monsters will at times occupy one of the four possible brawler slots and fight against you along with one of the protagonists that have been influenced by dark possession.
After defeating a hero, they come back to their senses and become playable during the story. The demon monsters themselves have incredibly questionable AI.
In some cases, the monster forgets how to attack and will aimlessly bumble around the battlefield with no explanation for its behavior. Actual characters, however, fight extremely aggressively and pose quite a fun experience.
Unusual for a tournament fighter, RPG features do manage to make an appearance. But it’s hardly serviceable and ultimately feels more like it was phoned in to appease usual Ys and Trails in the Sky fans at best.
Winning will earn you various currencies, allowing you to upgrade your character’s armor, weapon, and special attacks. In addition to that, the only real player agency that’s given to your builds comes in the form of accessories, which can allow you to specialize in more advanced strategies.
Every player here does possess more abilities than what is allowed to equip in your four-skill arsenal, which adds a bit more player agency as well. The system in multiplayer kind of falls apart when it comes to progression.
The multiplayer gives you full control over deciding how powerful you are, without the need to ever grind or build toward any true RPG busy work. Multiplayer brawling is where the game serves its greatest purpose.
Choose your favorite hero from one of the two series and enjoy beating the snot out of your friends’ and loved ones’ choices. Sherazard, my personal favorite alone, makes this experience one worth doing, simply because she’s one of the best character designs ever made.
The only rival here is Estelle Bright herself. Past a few short moment enjoyments mostly reserved for fans of the series, Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga isn’t a game I would openly recommend going into blindly due to its almost phoned-in concept and experience. Just stick to another crossover fighter if you want a good brawl with your friends, or boot up Power Stone 2 if you still have it. If you really want Trails in the Sky or Ys, new games of both series are released annually.
Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga was reviewed on PlayStation 5 using a code provided by Nihon Falcom. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga is now available for Windows PC (via Steam), PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
