Trails through Daybreak introduces a hybrid combat system, a departure from past games in the series. It consists of two styles of battle: Field Battles and Command Battles. Field Battles are a more action-oriented style of combat. You can perform regular attacks, charged attacks, and dodge rolls. You are limited in ways to deal damage in this style, as you do not have access to any Attack Arts or Crafts. From this mode, you can press the square button to immediately switch to Command Battles, the combat style most Trails fans are familiar with. Command Battles are turn-based affairs. Characters have a limited range of movement, but they have much more options to fight foes. Like past games, characters can perform regular attacks, defend, use items, use Crafts by expending Craft Points (CP), and utilize Arts (Attack and Support) by expending Energy Points (EP). New to this game are Shard Boosts (S-Boost), SCLMs (Shard. Circular. Linked. Metafield.), and Shard Skills. S-Boosts are limited time buffs which you can activate by pressing the L1 button. This can last a couple turns and the amount of turns increases based on the S-Boost level. These benefits can give temporary buffs such as increased attack power, increased evasion rate, and health point (HP) regeneration. Using an S-Boost expends one bar of the Boost Gauge. Using one bar gives a level 1 S-Boost, while using 2 bars gives a level 2 S-Boost. Unlike past games where you only needed 100 CP to use an S-Craft, you also need to be at S-Boost level 2 to use it. This applies to S-Breaks as well, the mechanic where you can use an S-Craft immediately. In order to use an S-Break, you would need 100 CP and at least two bars in the Boost Gauge. Using an S-Craft will increase the max Boost Gauge limit for that specific battle, up to a total of 9 bars, so using S-Crafts will give you future opportunities to spam consecutive S-Crafts. SCLMs are pretty similar to the Combat Links from the Trails of Cold Steel games. The difference is, these are not active 100% of the time and are dependent on the distance between characters. Once a character is close enough to another party member, a ring glow around the two characters. When the ring appears, you have access to two different types of features: SCLM Chain and SCLM Support. SCLM Chain allows party members to perform follow-up attacks after the controlled character performs a normal attack. SCLM Support power up the controlled character’s Crafts or Arts. Shard Skills are percentage based abilities that give numerous boons to characters. These can add elements to attacks, increase the power of Attack Arts based on its element, allow characters to perform a follow up Shard Attack on enemies after using an Attack Art, and much more. The activation percentage can be increased by using an S-Boost. You can unlock new Shard Skills based on the quartz equipped in the Orbment menu. Each quartz adds a certain amount of element to the line it’s inserted, and once a certain element amount is reached, you can unlock a new skill.
The combat system in Trails through Daybreak is pretty stellar. It was great to see how seamless the transition from Field to Command Battles was and vice versa. You just have to press the square button to start a Command Battle, and holding the circle button lets you go back to Field Battle. You can keep doing this as much as you want throughout the battle. The only time you can’t do this is during important event battles or boss fights. It’s impressive how Falcom was able to implement such a system. Command Battles are the meat of the gameplay, and you really had to utilize all features available to come out on top when facing tough foes. Field Battles, however, are a different story. While it was cool being able to switch back and forth between the battle types, I felt Field Battles were a bit too barebones to be considered a viable option in combat. Enemies felt very tanky, there weren’t enough attack options, and it felt clunky to control at times. In order to heal, you’d have to pause to use an item or healing Art, which really put an unnecessary stop in the combat flow. I mostly used Field Battles to stun the enemy and start a Command Battle with an advantage. I’m not saying it needs to be as robust as Command Battles, but I do think it would benefit to add some Field Battle-exclusive Crafts and a type of quick menu that lets you access some healing items and healing Arts quickly. Other than those grievances, I did have fun with the game’s combat.
I do have another complaint about the gameplay, and that is the omission of minigames. Coming from Trails into Reverie with its numerous minigames to a game that has none is pretty jarring. The fact that it did not have fishing, which has been a staple in every past Trails game, is pretty disappointing. I also think there was a missed opportunity to add a racing type minigame because of Van’s skill with driving automobiles. You could watch movies (not a full one but a specific clip), but that’s not really a minigame, it’s just more dialog with some special images depending on the film. But, I did appreciate the movie dialog being fully voiced. While not a super important feature, I did find minigames a fun little break from the main story in past games. I hope they reimplement these in the game’s sequel.
Trails through Daybreak looks great, and the character models have greatly improved from past games, especially the main characters. They look so clean and pleasing to the eye, and their movement is much more natural and fluid. I felt the 3D models were a little clunky in their movement in past games, so this is a major improvement. You can really see the full extent of the models’ movement in the game’s full motion cutscenes, which are pretty epic. The switch to this new engine did wonders. The minor NPC models seem to be recycled from previous games, but they do the job well. As they say, don’t fix what ain’t broke. The main character designs are varied, unique and really showcase the characters’ personalities and their culture. I personally really like the designs of Van, Feri, Grimcat, Shizuna, and Grendel. Van dresses like a true bad boy, but he doesn’t overdress to the point of absurdity, he actually looks really cool. Feri’s design showcases her Central Eastern roots and really stands out from others around her, it suits her to a tee. Grimcat is scantily clad, but her outfit also has a supernatural appeal to it, it’s a nice combination of sexy and cool. Shizuna’s design combines the look of a silver-haired beauty with an outfit that mixes Eastern and modern aesthetics. Truly a design fitting of someone known as the Divine Blade of Silver. Now the Grendel is something otherworldly. It looks like something out of a Super Sentai series or Karas, it really speaks to my inner child. The enemy designs are equally as impressive with some terrifying monstrosities and imposing humans. Moving on from characters, let’s talk about the setting designs. Each city in Calvard has its own unique culture and aesthetic, and it was interesting visiting each one. My personal favorites were the Eastern Quarter of Langport and the Hot Springs Village of Longlai. Both have Eastern architecture which I’m a big fan of. I really have no complaints on the game’s visual aspects.
Like with past Trails games, Trails through Daybreak does not disappoint in the music department. From events to battles to just walking around town, each BGM fits the intended situation well. If I were to pick out tracks that stood out to me, I would say tracks like “Rise of the Grendel,” “In the Dawn,” “I’m Grimcats!,” “Unmitigated Evil,” “Marginal Crisis,” “What is Ahead of You” did that, but the entire soundtrack is great. In fact, I liked it so much I already own the physical soundtrack. You really won’t be disappointed in this department at all.
