The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion

About

The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion is a turn-based RPG with deep character progression and strategic combat. You play as Avin and Eimelle, two kids navigating a world of political intrigue and ancient conflicts. Battles use a grid-based system where positioning and skill timing matter. The story weaves personal stakes with grand-scale warfare, balancing quiet moments like tending to a kitten with sudden chaos like city sieges. This PSP remake brought the series to English-speaking audiences for the first time, earning 83% positive reviews on Steam with an average 4.2/5. Fans praise its large narrative and tactical depth, though the dense dialogue and slow pacing might not suit everyone. Set in the Gagharv Trilogy’s El Phildin, it’s a self-contained entry that still rewards attention to lore.

Storyline

The setting for the fourth Legend of Heroes game and the second in the Gagharv Trilogy takes place in the fictional land of El Phildin, fifty-six years before the events of "Moonlight Witch". The story begins with an insight to the past. Avin and Eimelle are orphaned children, ages 10 and 8 respectively, who are living in the city of Cathedral after being taken in by Supreme Priest Esperius. Avin is seen bringing milk for the kitten Eimelle snuck into the chapel. They both watch it drink to its heart's content. Before long, Oracle Ollesia appears. The children panic at being caught with the smuggled kitten, but Ollesia doesn't seem too concerned with that, yelling at them to take cover. Cathedral is under attack.