The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II follows hot off the heels of Trails through Daybreak, which brought some innovation to the Trails franchise with its updated engine and the Field Battles system. Fortunately for fans, Trails through Daybreak’s addicting gameplay mechanics and memorable party members are back and seemingly better than ever in the sequel. Thanks to NIS America, Final Weapon attended a preview event for Trails through Daybreak II to see what the new RPG brings in store for returning Trails fans.
Similarly to Trails through Daybreak, Trails through Daybreak II begins with Van Arkride getting a knock on his front door, waking the roguish protagonist from his slumber. This time, the Almata crisis is over, and Arkride Solutions is fully established as a crew instead of a one-man operation. The main story is set three months after the ending of Trails through Daybreak, placing the sequel’s events at the beginning of year 1209. Undoubtedly, time is also something players will have to take note of in Trails through Daybreak II.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II Offers a Different But Familiar Form of Storytelling
A mysterious “Crimson Grendel” is causing chaos all over Edith, and Arkride Solutions are tasked with finding out what exactly is going on. This isn’t surprising since the blue Grendel is intrinsically linked with Van, as Trails through Daybreak’s story previously showed. Meanwhile, Swin Abel and Nadia Rayne are now in the capital of Calvard on the search for a certain someone. You can definitely expect their paths to intertwine with Van’s as Trails through Daybreak II has a different approach to its story, taking cues from Trails into Reverie.
A “Timeline” system is present in Trails through Daybreak II, with each act having multiple viewpoints to experience the story from. At the preview event, we saw the party consist of Elaine Auclair, Zin Vathek, Swin, and Nadia as they investigated the Condemned Sector. This is an entirely different branch in the timeline from Van’s in Act 1, and certain events in the story may have you going back to a specific point to head down another branch on the timeline. The preview event was rather light on story details, but it’s clear that Arkride Solutions and the leading stars of the Picnic Squad are involved in a grand plot.
I’m very intrigued to see how the story will unfold in Trails through Daybreak II, since it’s more character-focused than Trails through Daybreak. Essentially, the story will delve into many different character arcs throughout it’s course, so players will know some answers to questions they may have had about certain Arkride Solutions members in Trails through Daybreak. It’s also worth noting that the Alignment system from Trails through Daybreak also makes a return, but there’s less emphasis placed on this feature during the main story this time.
Refined and Flashy Combat
Field and command battles return with some great quality of life improvements and new features, including a better UI and some new field attacks. Characters can now cast Arts in field battles, and you can unleash a Cross Charge attack if you perfectly dodge an enemy’s attack. Pushing the correct button prompt on the screen will swap in another party member to execute a powerful Cross Charge and empower the swapped-in character for a duration.
Players can now perform EX Chains in command battles by meeting certain conditions. After meeting these conditions, a Craft or normal attack with a SCLM, a linked party member, against a stunned enemy will activate an EX Chain. This joint attack will also impact nearby enemies in a radius, dealing major damage. The UI in command battles has been adjusted to improve readability as well.
You can usually expect more in a sequel compared to its predecessor, and that’s certainly clear with Drivers and Arts. There are more Drivers with varied Arts layouts, new Holo Cores, and all-new Dual Arts, which combine two elements for a high-level Arts attack with special animations and effects. Dual Arts are available from certain Drivers and Quartz in the game, so there’s an added level of customization to explore with Orbments.
With these improvements and new additions, it’s clear that combat is flashier than ever before in the Trails series. It appears that combos and field attacks in field battles are also more responsive as well. The improved quality of life will certainly have a positive impact on the Märchen Garten virtual dungeon, which acts similarly to Trails into Reverie’s True Reverie Corridor. The Märchen Garten wasn’t shown at the Trails through Daybreak II preview event, so we’ll need to wait a little longer to what’s in store.
Trails through Daybreak II Looks to Wrap Up Some Loose Ends in Calvard
Trails through Daybreak gave players an in-depth look into Calvard, the country’s struggles, and the direction the Trails series is going. As a direct continuation, Trails through Daybreak II will wrap up the loose ends with some characters and, of course, the crisis involving the Eight Geneses.
Arkride Solutions and the other playable characters will go on an adventure once more across Calvard, so I’m also excited to see what’s new and different this time around. For instance, Messeldam, a major trade hub mentioned quite often in Trails through Daybreak, will be explorable. There will be plenty of side quests to discover too, without a doubt.
I’m very curious to experience the story and uncover the mysteries behind the Crimson Grendel and Eighth Genesis. It’s also clear that the Timeline system is there for a specific purpose besides adding a new dynamic for overall story progression. As a result, there’s a lot of intriguing elements in Trails through Daybreak II that adds a sense of mystery early on.
In short, the preview event showed that Trails through Daybreak II looks to be another exciting RPG from Falcom with dozens of hours of content. Moreover, the quick localization turnaround bodes well for future releases. NIS America was able to streamline their process with their most recent releases, including Trails through Daybreak and Ys X: Nordics, thanks to Falcom handing over the scripts a lot sooner.
Preview Video
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II launches on February 14, 2025 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store in the west. To experience more of what Falcom brings to the table, check out Final Weapon’s reviews of the Trails and Ys series below:
- Ys X: Nordics Review
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak Review
- 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
