The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II is everything I could imagine in a sequel, as it’s more of what I enjoyed in the first game, but amped up in many ways I didn’t see coming. The country of Calvard sets the stage for one of the best RPGs I’ve experienced in recent memory, and many of its intriguing but contentious attributes make Trails through Daybreak II stand out from the rest of the Trails series thus far. I thoroughly enjoyed the tonal shift that Trails through Daybreak brought to the series, and Trails through Daybreak II nails that point further by introducing a murder mystery that links together many narrative threads.
Trails through Daybreak II improves the core Daybreak gameplay systems while bringing a vastly different approach to story structuring. The sudden appearance of the Crimson Grendel, the return of a fan-favorite pair from Trails into Reverie, and the virtual Märchen Garten dungeon certainly piqued my interest in the story in the hands-off previews. In addition, I was once again surprised by what Falcom was capable of, thanks to a certain new mechanic. Where Trails through Daybreak serves as an incredible introduction to Van Arkride and the country of Calvard, Trails through Daybreak II is the game that really solidifies the Calvard arc’s place in the Trails series.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II Raises the Stakes from the Very Start
I knew about the Crimson Grendel well before even starting Trails through Daybreak II, but I was still surprised to see how gruesome and menacing such a beast of an antagonist can be. Trails through Daybreak II starts out with the monster killing a squad of Calvard’s special forces, with blood spurting all over the scene. The Crimson Grendel is led by a red Holo that looks very similar to Mare, adding even more mystery into the equation. Hot on the trail of his monster is Swin Abel and Nadia Rayne, the Three and Nine pair that people fell in love with in Trails into Reverie. Immediately, I knew Trails through Daybreak II was going to touch on many different characters and happenings in Calvard, and I was locked in to see it happen.
Back in Edith’s Old Town, returning protagonist Van Arkride enjoys some sleep in his office, and Trails through Daybreak II proceeds in a manner that is reminiscent of the previous game. This time, Elaine Auclair, Van’s old flame and the most renowned bracer in Calvard, visits him for a request he cannot deny. Due to the Crimson Grendel’s murder spree and the events of the past year, Calvard’s Central Intelligence Department will potentially pin the incident on Van and arrest him since he has similar powers. While the rest of Arkride Solutions is handling their own personal matters, Van is thrust back into the limelight as an interconnected story unfolds.
Time and Time Again
Players will progress the Prologue of Trails through Daybreak II with Van and Elaine as the main party members as they seek to find and apprehend the Crimson Grendel. Without delving too deep into spoilers, Trails through Daybreak II pulls off something very bold in the early hours and introduces a mechanic that allows you to rewind time in order to reach a different outcome.
I’m all for time-rewinding as a Science Adventure fan, so I found this to be a very intriguing element for a Trails game, and it avoids being a catch-22 in this case, too. Since the time mechanic is present, Van and the crew will discover many revelations by unfortunately meeting the worst fate possible several times over. This element adds much more to the dark narrative and themes that the Calvard arc aims to portray, and there were definitely scenes that shocked and surprised me.
The story is also handled similarly to Trails into Reverie during some of the acts, as parties will progress down their own paths in order to discover clues, reunite with old allies, and get one step closer to the Crimson Grendel. The first half of the game also includes helpful refreshers on the lore of Zemuria, including Renne Bright’s backstory and the Gardens, in order to prep players for what’s to come. There are some slower-paced story segments that may seem out of place at first glance, but Trails through Daybreak II manages to make everything come full circle.
Welcomed Touches to Daybreak’s Combat
Trails through Daybreak’s field and command battle systems are back with quality-of-life improvements and new features. Once again, you can release Shards to enter a command battle, and it’s advantageous to do so after stunning enemies in field battles. Characters can now cast Arts in field battles by holding down Triangle or any other equivalent button per your configuration, and you can unleash a Cross Charge attack if you perfectly dodge an enemy’s attack. Doing a Cross Charge will swap to the indicated party member in the prompt, and the attack is capable of stunning enemies.
EX Chains are another new addition to Trails through Daybreak II, allowing two characters to perform their Crafts together in a very powerful attack. EX Chains can be unleashed by activating a Craft or normal attack with a linked party member to trigger SCLM—typically when Shard Boosts are activated. It’s quite useful when wanting to grind and clear enemies, and it can yield plenty of bonus XP as well.
There are more Drivers, Arts, Quartz, and Holo Cores than ever before in Trails through Daybreak II as well. As a result, there’s much more variety in each character’s Orbments. The new Dual Arts are very powerful as well, allowing characters to exploit enemy weaknesses even further. Overall, Trails through Daybreak II’s combat is more refined and doesn’t fix what isn’t broken. Field combat is flashier this time too, thanks to the improvements and additions.
The Märchen Garten
If you’re a completionist or want the best party setup possible, you will be spending a lot of time in the Märchen Garten. This dungeon exists in a virtual space developed by the Marduk Security Company, and it does take some cues from the Reverie Corridor in terms of scenery and level traversal. Although it doesn’t have any sort of story episode-like elements from Trails into Reverie or Trails in the Sky the 3rd, you can unlock some great bonuses and partake in mini-games at your leisure in the Märchen Garten.
Each floor of the Märchen Garten contains areas with simple objectives to complete, such as taking down a certain number of enemies or disarming objects on the field. New floors are unlocked as you progress the story, and there are more than plenty of them to complete for rewards like Quartz, equipment, upgrade items, and consumables. You can also earn plenty of S-Tokens in and out of Märchen Garten, which can be used on the Mystic Cube to earn even more rewards. These rewards include Repair Data that can be traded to unlock music tracks and cosmetic items for the party.
The Märchen Garten is not the most vital piece of story-related content, but it certainly has its purpose in the narrative and there are major incentives here. For example, there are post-game floors, two more playable characters, and more story content after clearing the main story. The dungeon also lets you utilize over 15 characters, so you can build your Calvard dream team and grind as much as you want to make your favorite characters stronger than ever. This includes Renne Bright, Shizuna Rem Misurugi, and Swin and Nadia, just to name a few.
The Path to Power
The Märchen Garten comes with the introduction of Skill Stones, which are used to improve Crafts and S-Crafts for each character. Skill Stones are only available in the dungeon from chests and the Mystic Cube, so completing floors and grinding is the name of the game if you want to maximize each character’s combat potential. Using Skill Stones can improve Craft power, reduce Craft delay, and boost other attributes, such as max HP or accuracy.
Some upgrades are locked behind level requirements, including reaching levels 25 and 50, so there’s plenty of progress and growth to be made over the course of the game. Trails through Daybreak II is upwards of 80 hours long or more, depending on how you approach the Märchen Garten and these upgrades. Grinding can be off-putting for some, but fortunately, the game does offer easier difficulty options for players wanting to prioritize the story.
With Recipes making a return, the Gourmet Points system also makes a comeback with permanent stat boosts for eating food and leveling up. Similarly, leveling up Connections with each party member and notable NPCs via Connection Events and movie screenings will grant permanent bonuses as well. The Connection Events are really great, and at times, bring more context to the story, so they’re worth doing.
Mini-Games Galore
Trails through Daybreak II finally brings back mini-games, which were greatly missed by fans who spent a lot of time in Trails into Reverie. One of the most notable additions is fishing, and it’s back in all its glory, with some improvements. For example, fishing spots and the number of fish in each spot are more abundant, and you can track the probability of catching fish, including those you haven’t caught yet. This time around, the fishing mechanics require you to move the rod in a specific direction and press the reel button at the right time until the fish is caught.
The Hacking mini-game is one of the most prominent since many locked chests in the world will require you to complete it within a time limit in order to gain rewards. In Hacking, Mare or FIO will traverse a virtual maze, input codes, and avoid enemy AI on the way to checkpoints and the goal. This mini-game is really straightforward and nothing to write home about, but I do think it’s an interesting new addition, nonetheless.
Seven Hearts takes the place of Vantage Masters, but it’s not as heavily featured throughout the game as the latter once was in Trails into Reverie. In Seven Hearts, you essentially play a Trails version of UNO with an elemental twist. As a result, it’s not as in-depth or competitive as Vantage Masters, so it won’t be taking up much screen time, either. This also applies to the One-on-One mini-game, which is basically a short game of basketball where one character attempts to make 3-pointers while the other defends.
The Ancillary Systems
There’s so much to Trails through Daybreak II that’s worth mentioning, and this includes the Achievements system. I came close to earning all Achievements in Trails through Daybreak on my first playthrough, and I will say, there are quite a lot of them in the sequel. The rewards are much better this time too, with some including Dual Arts, Arts Plugins, Drivers, and Skill Stones. Completionists should have a field day with this, as there’s so much to unlock by doing everything you can.
One element that takes a back seat in Trails through Daybreak II is the Alignment System, which was a crucial part of the previous game. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t have the same importance here as it’s mainly tied to the many 4SPGs that are available to complete. I do think the Alignment System served its purpose in the main story last time, but the time mechanic taking center stage here definitely gives a good reason for it to not be as prominent now.
The ability to choose outcomes for 4SPGs is still present, and I thought the side quests were really engaging for the most part. There’s also a tailing mechanic similar to the one from Ryu Ga Gotoku’s Judgment series. I thought this was a surprising addition that adds some stakes to both 4SPGs and certain main quests, and it makes Van feel more like that roguish spriggan he’s meant to be.
The Sights and Sounds
It’s subtle at first, but Trails through Daybreak II is a more optimized and vibrant game than its predecessor. You will especially notice those details on character models, especially in the many story cutscenes that play out. Some of Trails through Daybreak II’s music, which was composed by the talented Falcom Sound Team jdk, sounds grungier to fit the darker narrative. Other tracks sound like they take some inspiration from the Science Adventure series, including the theme that plays whenever you have to go back in time.
With the exception of a few text errors in the Prologue not lining up with character speech, NIS America’s localization is really great too. There will be a day one patch that addresses this issue and fixes other lingering issues with the Steam version, but the 1.0 release is almost flawless on PS5. The features fans know and love from recent Trails releases, such as Turbo mode, are also back without problems as well. It seems like with each subsequent Trails release, it’s becoming more difficult to find or point out flaws in the localization or port, and I think that bodes well for the franchise’s future.
Trails through Daybreak II’s Story and Content Make it Stand Out
Going into Trails through Daybreak II, I already expected the game to be more character-focused with many different character arcs and stories having a presence here. I was expecting the sequel’s narrative to not escalate to the heights that Trails through Daybreak reached naturally, but I was still thoroughly impressed with what Trails through Daybreak II achieves. Once more, the usage of the time mechanic was great and led to some really crazy developments in the story.
I enjoy seeing the Reverie crew’s story finally progress and intertwine with that of Arkride Solution’s. The story of the Crimson Grendel and the red Holo is dark and intriguing, and the many aspects tied to that continue the epic world-building that Trails is known for. In fact, this game continues to tie the Calvard arc to the greater, overarching narrative of Trails that has been ongoing for two decades, and that’s one of the key things it needed to do.
Moreover, the amount of content and the way it’s presented in Trails through Daybreak II kept me hooked for nearly 100 hours. Whether it’s the fast-paced Prologue or the slow-simmering Fragments chapter, there’s so much to this game that caught my attention and kept it without feeling like a step down from Trails through Daybreak.
Trails through Daybreak II Shows that Trails Sequels Never Miss the Beat
From beginning to end, Trails through Daybreak II is a wild ride. It takes many routes, and there’s so much to experience, including moments those characters didn’t want to see. Trails through Daybreak II is a really great RPG, and it’s a sequel worth playing if you’ve played Daybreak and have caught up with the series. From its tried-and-true combat system to a roster of diverse and compelling characters, Trails through Daybreak II shows that Falcom can’t miss with its sequels, and NIS America is doing well to catch us all up with the series.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II launches on February 14 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store in the West.
Disclaimer: NIS America provided a PS5 copy of The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II to Final Weapon for review purposes.
