ESRB has revealed their rating for NIS America and Nihon Falcom’s upcoming overseas release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak. The game has been rated T for Teen for the following reasons: Blood, Drug Reference, Fantasy Violence, Language, and Suggestive Themes. For reference, the CERO rating for the game’s original Japan release was C: for 15-year-olds and above.
The ESRB’s Trails through Daybreak rating summary is as follows:
This is a role-playing game in which players assume the role of a hero hired to find a stolen heirloom. As players explore a fictional republic, they can complete missions/quests, interact with characters, and battle human enemies and fantasy creatures (e.g., giant insects, demons, robotic turrets). Players use swords, machine guns, and magic spells to defeat enemies in turn-based combat. Battles are highlighted by gunfire, impact sounds, and cries of pain. Some sequences depict blood-splatter effects as characters are attacked; a handful of scenes show blood on characters’ faces and underneath a corpse. The game contains some suggestive material: a gentleman’s club depicting female characters in lingerie dancing on poles; red-light district signage (e.g., “Show Girls”); innuendo/sexuality in dialogue (e.g.,“We’ve got a nice room out in the Entertainment District…[W]e’ll give you more girls…”; “Just don’t get too naughty, all right?”). The dialogue also references drugs (e.g., “…laced with illicit substances”; “hard drugs”; “…[I]f he’s going around selling drugs to children, he won’t be on the streets for long.”). The word “sh*t” is heard in the game.
NIS America describes the game as follows:
About the Game
In the aftermath of a brief war, Calvard is enjoying unprecedented economic prosperity. However, the public grows uncertain as the number of immigrants increases and questionable political reform runs rampant. Follow the spriggan Van Arkride on a unique request that will prove more than he bargained for. Will the nation fall into chaos?
The Story So Far…
The spriggan’s life is but one of many professions that has emerged from the Calvard Republic. Be it playing detective, negotiator, or bounty hunter, Van Arkride takes on the kind of work that legitimate sources can’t accept. Whether it’s best left out of the public eye or rooted in the dark corners of the underworld, almost any job is open for consideration.
The year is S.1208. A prim-and-proper young lady dressed in the uniform of an esteemed academy visits a rundown multi-tenant building in the Old Town district of Edith, the nation’s capital. With a most dignified gaze, she looks upon the plaque of the door before her. It reads: ‘ARKRIDE Solutions Office: Complicated Matters Only.’
Steeling herself, she knocks on the door three times.
“First thing in the morning…?” a relaxed yet surprisingly young voice grumbles with a yawn.
From the moment he opens the door to greet her, a new tale begins.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak starts a brand new arc in the long-running Trails series. It’s planned to launch in Summer 2024 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
SOURCES: ESRB Website via Hansuke21
