The gameplay in Trails through Daybreak II, specifically the combat system, is very similar to the first game, so I won’t go into too much detail on its basics. There are two battle modes in Daybreak II: Field Battle and Command Battle. Field Battle is an action combat system while Command Battle is a turn-based system. You can switch between the two systems on the fly at the push of a button, and the transition is seamless. I was very impressed with this hybrid system in the first game, but I felt it was just a few tweaks away from being great, and my criticism was mostly towards the Field Battle mode. It felt really bare bones and didn’t really seem like a viable way to take on foes.
I’m happy to say Falcom did make improvements to the Field Battle system. First off, they actually added a quick menu function where you can access your Healing Arts quickly in the heat of battle. No more pausing the game to get to the main menu, finding the Arts menu and then healing. You just hold down the quick menu button, press the button corresponding to Healing Arts, choose the Art you need, and then you exit out quickly to get back in the battle. Items can also be accessed from this quick menu, so it’s a very helpful feature. Next off, you can actually use Attack Arts during battle now. No more wailing on the enemies with just physical attacks. This is called Quick Art, and it allows you to use a specific attack art to damage foes during Field Battle. The designated Quick Art is determined by the Arts Driver equipped by the character at the time. This is great to use against enemies that are strong against physical attacks but weak against Orbal Art damage.There are also limiters in place so this function doesn’t get abused. One, using Quick Art still consumes Energy Points (EP). Two, there’s a cooldown timer after using a Quick Art. The cooldown timer goes down quicker if you hit enemies with physical attacks during this time, so it won’t be too long before you’re blasting enemies again. Finally, they added a function known as Cross Charge. Before when you perfectly dodged an enemy attack, all it did was fill the Charge Attack meter. Now when you perfect dodge, you have the option to switch with another party member during the slowdown. Once your party member comes in, they automatically use a Charge Attack and get a temporary power up during Field Battle. It’s just another great option to damage foes during Field Battles. I do have a gripe with Cross Charge in that sometimes, my party member would jump in and completely whiff their Charge Attack, but it’s not too big a deal.
Field Battle wasn’t the only system with changes as Command Battle mode also saw some tweaks. I felt Command Battle was perfectly fine in the first game, but I did welcome the changes made this time. First off, they limited the amount of S-Crafts you can use in battle. Before, you could use S-Crafts multiple times during a single full S-Boost (using two segments of the S-Boost gauge), as long as you had enough Craft Points (CP). This time, however, you can only use an S-Craft once during a full S-Boost. If you want to use another S-Craft by the same character, you’ll have to wait for their S-Boost to run out and then full S-Boost again. A simple change that prevents one from spamming S-Crafts which I think is a good change so Command Battles aren’t too one-sided. Next change is the addition of a new tandem attack known as an EX Chain. These can only be used when an enemy is stunned, and the controlled character must attack the stunned foe while S-Boosted and in the vicinity of another party character (SCLM Chain or SCLM Support). Once the SCLM is activated with a regular attack or an attack Craft, the EX Chain is activated. This is an extra combo attack performed by two characters on a stunned enemy. I found this most useful during preemptive starts to Command Battles as the enemies start off stunned, allowing me to quickly dispatch enemies and get on with exploration. It was also viable to use against boss enemies as they could stay alive long enough for their stun gauge to fill where the EX Chain could be utilized.
All in all, I loved the changes made to both Field Battles and Command Battles. Field Battles actually felt like a viable method to fight enemies, and it felt much smoother and fun to fight in those types of battles overall. Command Battles were already good, but they got better and just a bit more fair with the implemented changes. Though battles still had an issue of losing some of its challenge later on in the game once I found that perfect party and orbment setup. This can be remedied by changing the game’s difficulty, so it’s not too much of an issue.
While I’m on the subject of battles, Trails through Daybreak II had one of the coolest, and most fun, final boss fights in recent memory, so you definitely have that to look forward to. In conclusion, I’m very happy with the changes Falcom made to the battle system. It was already good and just got even better.
Let’s continue talking about the gameplay, shall we? Other than the combat improvements, there are two major additions to the gameplay in Trails through Daybreak II: minigames and the Märchen Garten. Minigames are back! It feels so good to say that. I was very shocked to find minigames were not implemented at all in the first Daybreak, so I was ecstatic when I learned they would return in Daybreak II. There are four minigames available: fishing, one-on-one basketball, hacking, and a card game called Seven Hearts. Fishing is timing based where you have to stop a spinning arrow at the right time in a highlighted area. You fail when the Reel Gauge runs out or you mistime the arrow stop three times. Basketball is a simple minigame where you take turns on offense and defense against a selected opponent. In the hacking minigame, you control Mare through a virtual labyrinth and have to maneuver your way past security and blockades to reach a designated goal. Seven Hearts is a card game where each card represents a different element. Your goal is to deplete another opponent’s life points to zero. Your final score is calculated based on your remaining life points and amount of cards in your hand.
Of these minigames, I enjoyed fishing and basketball the most. Fishing is pretty relaxing, though you had to go out of your way to find a fishing hole if you wanted to play in the early parts of the game. Basketball was much more accessible, and it was simple to play. It was a joy shooting circles around other characters in the game. I, personally, liked using Feri in this minigame because it was fun seeing one of the shortest characters beat taller characters at a big man game. Hacking can only really be done to unlock chests, and there are only three different maps that are easily accessible for you to play at will if not unlocking a chest. Seven Hearts is an ok card game, though I tended to just play random cards until I won. I felt Vantage Masters in previous Trails games was a more fun card game, and I enjoyed the card collecting aspect that game offered.
Now, let’s enter the Märchen Garten. The Märchen Garten is an optional virtual space Van and crew enter due to a 4SPG from Marduk. It’s similar to the Reverie Corridor featured in Trails into Reverie. The Märchen Garten can be accessed at most rest points and via portals found throughout the game’s world. There are certain points in the game where the Garten can’t be accessed, but you can usually access it more than not. The main objective in the Garten is to clear the different floors that open up throughout the game. Each floor consists of multiple areas, and each area’s map is randomized with a different objective. These objectives can range from slaying certain monster types, destroying objects, or activating certain mechanisms. When an area objective is completed you receive a reward, and you can move on to the next area. The final area of a floor always features a boss monster, and defeating this monster will clear the floor. Pretty simple, right?
Other than this dungeon crawling feature, the Garten has multiple other aspects available to players. First off is the Mystic Cube. Here, you use S-Tokens acquired during your exploration of the Garten and in the real world to open different cubes. These cubes contain different items including costume data, BGM data, skill stones, different quartz, and more. I’m usually not a fan of gacha systems in paid video games, but there is no option to pay for S-Tokens with real life currency, and S-Tokens can easily be obtained during Garten exploration, so I’m fine with this particular system. Other than the Mystic Cube, there is an option called Craft Enhancement. Here, you can use skill stones obtained via the Mystic Cube and the Garten floors to enhance any of your character’s Crafts. More enhancement levels open up the higher the level your characters are. Each character has their own unique skill stone, so you won’t have to worry about taking enhancements away from other characters. Other than these three main options, you can also use the costume data and BGM data obtained from Mystic Cube to unlock different outfits for characters and music to be used in Garten exploration and battles. You can also play the minigames I mentioned earlier in the Garten, though fishing isn’t unlocked until much later in this virtual space. There is also an option to recover your CP in the Garten, though I didn’t find much use for it in my playthrough. I think the Märchen Garten was a great addition to this game. You can strengthen your party before going through the main story and unlock costumes for use in-game. It was refreshing being able to unlock outfits, including swimsuits, for most of the characters without having to pay for DLC.
Almost there Mare-Bear! Final thoughts and conclusions on page 3 ->
