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| Title | The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II |
| Developer | Nihon Falcom Corporation |
| Publisher | NIS America, Inc. |
| Release Date | February 14th, 2025 |
| Genre | RPG |
| Platform | Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG) |
| Age Rating | ESRB – T for Teen |
| Official Website | |
Author’s Note: This review may contain spoilers for Trails through Daybreak II.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak impressed me with its characters, story, and the implementation of a hybrid action/turn-based combat system not previously seen in the series. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and felt with a few improvements to its new combat system and if it still had minigames, it could’ve been granted that coveted perfect score. Now, the sequel’s release is upon us, only a couple months after the first game’s launch in what I believe to be the shortest turnaround between Trails games in the west. The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II is the second game in the Calvard arc and the twelfth mainline title in the long-running Trails series. I very much looked forward to playing this sequel due to how much I enjoyed the previous game. Was Trails through Daybreak II able to live up to the greatness of the first Calvard game? Did it improve upon the foundations laid by its predecessor, or did it stumble out of the gate? Let’s see how Arkride Solutions fared this time around.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II takes place shortly after the events of the first Daybreak. The members of Arkride Solutions have temporarily gone their separate ways while Van has stayed active as a spriggan in Edith. One day, Van is visited by Elaine, and she informs him of a series of murders that took place across Edith and a mysterious crimson beast. This beast bears an eerie resemblance to Van’s transformation, the Grendel. Van sets out to determine the identity of the murderer and this crimson beast. What relation does this beast have to the Grendel? And what of Agnès’ 4SPG and the eight Geneses? Could this investigation lead to the final Genesis?
The story in Daybreak II does a good job of answering some of the mysteries posed in the first Daybreak while also posing new questions that leave you wanting more. I will admit, I wasn’t a fan of the answers to some of these mysteries, but I do appreciate Falcom actually giving answers instead of leaving them unsolved for eternity. The major characters also got a good amount of development as the story progressed. We got to see more of Quatre’s backstory, Feri and Aaron find their own paths, and even see Renne find some closure from events first disclosed in Trails in the Sky the 3rd. Renne is one of my favorite characters in the Trails series, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her get this much focus, especially since I thought she’d be considered less important than the Arkride Solutions members. The individual major events that occur across the story were actually very interesting and I found myself enjoying them very much. But, there’s a reason I specifically mention the word individual, and that’s because of a new plot mechanic introduced in Daybreak II.
Time rewind, that’s the mechanic added to Daybreak II. However, this ability comes with limitations. It can’t be activated at will, and it only occurs when something tragic occurs to the Arkride Solutions members or those that are close, or have a connection, to them. The closest thing I can compare this to is Subaru’s return from death ability in Re:Zero. When Subaru dies, he’s sent back to a checkpoint where he can try to perform different actions to avert his fate. Something similar occurs for Van and company. When someone perishes, Van and crew are sent back to a set checkpoint where they have a chance to change fate. They cannot choose what time they go back to. They also do not retain all memories of what occurs in the future, but enough is retained so that they know something different must be done.
I have mixed feelings regarding the time rewind. The way the mechanic was introduced was great and I really didn’t see it coming. I enjoyed playing through the story and trying to avert the tragic fates that could befall the characters. This mechanic also helped to humanize the characters. In Trails games, the main characters tend to find ways out of difficult situations, but in Daybreak II, that isn’t the case a lot of the time. These characters can perish, even overpowered characters like Shizuna. It was a good reminder that though they are skilled and capable, they are still mortal. However, as the story progressed, I started to get numb to any tragic events that occurred because I already expected the time rewind to happen so I could fix things. I also found myself getting frustrated with the time rewinds sometimes because I would go through this whole storyline and these interesting events, and then I’d be hit with a time rewind at the end, and now all of those events never happened. I physically threw my arms up at one point because of this. It was really a “why now” moment.
My biggest gripe with the time rewind mechanic is how it adversely affects the main story in the grand scheme of things. So, without giving too many details, later on in the story you have to gather key items. Once you get to the end of an act, you get one of the key items, but an event occurs where a time rewind is necessary. You go through all of these time rewinds, but for some reason you still keep the key items, and it just doesn’t make sense, it goes against the fundamentals of the time rewind. How are you keeping these story items that are obtained in the future? And the worst part is, once you gather all of these required story items, the characters once again go through a time rewind, and they realize these items are somehow in their possession. At this point, I thought they’d give some type of explanation for why this is, but no, they just sweep it under the rug. I don’t care if the reason is silly, at least give an explanation for this. It just left a very sour taste in my mouth.
Trails through Daybreak II didn’t have a bad story, I found enjoyment in it. The characters and their development were handled well, and the events that occurred were interesting. But the time rewind mechanic muddied things a bit. While compelling at first, I did sour on it due to how often it was used to get out of bad situations, and because of the plot hole I previously mentioned that’s connected to the mechanic. The story also isn’t too kind to newcomers. Certain character arcs, especially of characters from past Trails games, won’t have as much impact on you if you haven’t played certain previous games. For example, you won’t understand Swin and Nadia’s story as much if you haven’t played Trails into Reverie. Daybreak II does make efforts to give players as much info as possible regarding these characters or certain events. These are done in the form of short movies, and they’re usually unlocked after completing certain parts in the story. The short movies are actually pretty helpful, and I appreciate Falcom implementing this, though nothing beats playing the past games for yourself.. You can also read up on the events of past Trails games in the Archives menu, but these are brief summaries at most. At the very least, you need to play Trails through Daybreak to enjoy Daybreak II’s story.
