The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is the exciting start of a new tale in Zemuria, bringing players to the Calvard Republic after one of the most climactic arcs in the Trails series. Coincidentally, Trails through Daybreak is also the next phase of an overarching Trails story that continues to build and connect many pieces that have been teased for years. These threads are woven from the spriggan Van Arkride, a charismatic protagonist that quickly becomes one of the most memorable and relatable characters in the entire series.
Alongside a new crew of characters (and many familiar faces), Trails through Daybreak introduces a revamped combat system that allows players to hack-and-slash their way through enemies in the field. The Trails franchise’s turn-based combat system is still intact, and it’s actually better than ever too, as shown in Final Weapon’s Trails through Daybreak preview. It’s clear that Falcom wanted to emphasize quality of life and new features in Trails through Daybreak, and they certainly exceeded my expectations in terms of the story and content as well.
The Calvard Arc Finally Begins in The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak
Trails through Daybreak begins in August 1208, which is only a year after the events of The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie. Van Arkride operates out of Calvard’s capital, Edith, and takes on jobs that bracers and police wouldn’t touch. As a result, Van knows the many questionable and morally gray areas that exist in Calvardian society and uses them to his advantage for business. This sets a very intriguing theme for Trails through Daybreak that explores more mature themes while retaining the franchise’s charm. The game’s opening cutscenes really drive this point home as it depicts an underground criminal operation going south before focusing on a wholesome scene in a lovely Edith restaurant.
Van’s workday begins with knocks on his front door from Agnès Claudel, a first-year Aramis Academy student. Agnès wants to enlist the services of Arkride Solutions in order to find a stolen object known as the Genesis, an orbment-like object that holds great importance. Further into the prologue, it is revealed that Agnès seeks to acquire all eight Geneses left behind by her great-grandfather, the enigmatic Professor Epstein. These items must be collected before the year “120X,” or the end of the world will come as prophesized and teased in prior Trails games. From there on, Van and Agnès’ journey begins in earnest, with the pair accepting many jobs across the country, recruiting capable allies, and unraveling hidden truths beneath Calvard’s prosperous surface.
The story of Trails through Daybreak is superb and invokes a sense of adventure, since it explores many areas of Calvard and Zemurian society that have long been teased. Moreover, the story’s dark undertones make Trails through Daybreak feel more grounded and realistic. Fortunately, these elements do not compromise the fantasy and trope-like elements that make Trails so special.
The Story Context Matters
As mentioned in our preview, Trails through Daybreak looks to be a starting point for new players to jump onto, thanks to the new setting and cast of characters. However, it would be unwise to overlook recurring themes and plot points from previous games that continue to make itself relevant in Trails through Daybreak.
Trails through Daybreak presents its story in a way that it assumes the player has already played Trails into Reverie and prior games. In fact, Van is well acquainted with many faces from these games, and important events like Crossbell’s occupation in 1207 are referenced in almost every chapter.
Although Trails through Daybreak can be a decent place to start, new players will be left with so many questions as they listen and read through many references that provide valuable context for this game’s setting. A lot of the story’s major moments and intriguing callbacks are made special due to the connections that were established in the games leading up to Trails through Daybreak.
Trails Combat Evolved
Trails through Daybreak shakes up the Orbment system by introducing the new Xipha system, which incorporates Quartz differently compared to the ARCUS system. Unlike ARCUS, the Xipha comes with a Holo Core and Arts Driver, which bestows a preset number of Arts.
Instead of gaining new Arts, inserting Quartz into each line will grant special effects and bonuses known as Shard Skills. Each Quartz has an element value counting toward the Weapon, Shield, Drive, and Extra parameters that grant skills for their associated elements.
Despite this change, Xiphas give players more room to customize each party member’s abilities, since there’s a wide range of effects to consider. Additionally, the Plugin system allows players to insert their favorite Arts, regardless of the Holo Core or Arts Driver being equipped.
These Orbment improvements definitely have an effect in Command Battles, which still play out like standard Trails turn-based battles. Players will notice Shard Skills go off in combat more frequently while linked. Fortunately, party members may move freely within a radius and link up automatically without button presses.
Before initiating a Command Battle, Van and his party may attack enemies repeatedly on the field. Field Battles give the party an opportunity to deal damage and stun enemies before releasing the Xipha’s shards and entering a Command Battle with a great advantage. Stunning basic enemies in the field ensures their downfall in combat, as field battles are a great opportunity to build up the points needed to unleash an S-Craft—the character’s ultimate skill.
Boss fights are Command Battles only, as these encounters demand a more thoughtful approach. Players should also consider the S-Boost meter as well, which fills up over time. S-Boosts greatly empower a party member with numerous effects and boosts, and they’re required to unleash S-Crafts this time around.
The Life of a Spriggan
Van’s life as a spriggan is quite busy, with plenty of jobs that will take him across the country. There are plenty of destinations to explore, such as the Eastern Quarter in Langport, the Longlai Hot Springs, and the highly advanced town of Basel. Each destination is full of content that makes use of new and returning features that make Trails through Daybreak feel compelling and fresh.
Trails through Daybreak retains the series’ ranking system, which grants points in each chapter based on the number of side quests and main quests completed. However, this game brings a new twist to side quests with its alignment system, granting values associated with Law, Gray, and Chaos. This falls in place perfectly with Van’s job, since spriggan duties don’t always bring happy endings. Alignments affect certain story elements later on during the playthrough.
Recipes return in Trails through Daybreak as well, granting valuable heals and other bonuses once consumed. Alongside these bonuses, the party will gain Gourmet Points, which grant permanent stat increases upon leveling up the Gourmet Rank. This adds a valuable incentive to cooking recipes and buying food from all the shops in the game, while satisfying Van’s sweet tooth.
Stat boosts are also given after completing Connection Events and ranking up the connection between Van and the associated character. These events are available during free time segments, just like the Cold Steel games. Once more, spending free time with a character is quite enjoyable, as Connection Events let players see Van grow closer with the party and his associates in Edith. It’s definitely recommended to complete all the side quests available within a given segment, since it will add an extra free time point to use.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is a Stellar, Must-Play RPG
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is an actual journey, and completionists will definitely get well over 100 hours out of this tremendous RPG. Falcom truly made a leap from Trails into Reverie to Trails through Daybreak in nearly every regard, ranging from the game’s vivid and clear graphics to the updated combat system. The game’s lively cast of characters, an amazing and dramatic English voice cast, the incredible score by Falcom Sound Team jdk, and well-written story cannot be understated as well.
Trails through Daybreak II has high expectations to meet, especially as Trails heads toward one of its climactic titles yet in Kai no Kiseki. Thankfully, Trails through Daybreak nails the landing in all aspects and beautifully introduces Calvard after many years of anticipation. This anticipation absolutely adds to the overall experience, which is why I continue to recommend playing the previous Trails games up to this point. The payoff in Trails through Daybreak and beyond is very much worth the time investment in this brilliant RPG series.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak launches on July 5 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam in the west. Read up on Final Weapon’s reviews of Falcom RPGs below:
- The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails Review
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie Review
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III Review
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Review
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure Review
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero Review
- Ys IX: Monstrum Nox Review
Disclaimer: NIS America provided a PS5 copy of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak for review purposes.
