The not so long awaited sequel
After around just 6 to 7 months since its western release Trails Through Daybreak welcomes fans with the next instalment in the Trails series with Trails Through Daybreak II.
Trails Through Daybreak is one of the first in the series that follows a new arc in the Trails series taking part in the Calvard Republic. Fans of the series will already know as this is mentioned many times and documented in previous entries. Being a fan of the series as a whole is a daunting prospect with each game easily taking 100 hours to finish and for that reason and for the purpose of this review I will be delving into Trails Through Daybreak II without having finished the first part. This may be a disservice to myself in terms of spoilers, as I would always recommend to anyone wanting to dive into this series is play the previous games to understand the story going forward, a long feat by any means but worth it to get the full context. Like always Trails Through Daybreak II does feature a Story so Far catch up feature if you wish to memorise yourself with the past so you’re up to speed.
Trails Through Daybreak starts off with the Hero Van as we know is a Spriggan, otherwise a bounty hunter that does odd jobs for just about anyone whilst trying to keep himself out of the way of law enforcers who are privy to his motives. It isn’t long before Van is forced back into the underworld where a familiar threat known as the Crimson Grendel goes on a rampage brutally killing anyone in its way including Van and Elaine within the first two hours of the game. Game Over? Well, not quite, as Agnes arrives on scene with Van impaled by the beast she makes a desperate attempt to rewind time in which she succeeds using the Genesis device, an essential story part of the game however Trails Through Daybreak II is the first in the trails series to make use of an alternative timeline and with it is mixed results.
I am all for Time Travel within video games or alternate universe of sorts being used, even RPG’s with this mechanic can be done well but Trails Through Daybreak II implements this with some unfavourable results. As already mentioned within the first two hours of the game, Van and Elaine are miraculously alive to a previously played cutscene where Agnes previously saw Van and Elaine for the last time prior their impending doom and Van has a case of Deja Vu and calls Agnes in a state of panic the second time the cutscene plays out, Agnes whilst busy with her studies still manages to meet with Van and Elaine before coming into contact with the Crimson Grendel meaning Van has access to his Grendel form and manages to fend off the beast with no casualties. The rest of the scene plays out and the game continues.
After a few cutscenes play out Trails Through Daybreak II implements its second new feature early on known as the Marchen Garten which is a high tech fancy digital world consisting of different floors where characters can train themselves and is as lifelike as the real world in that monsters, items and everything that exists in there is real so you can still die and anything taken from it is is rewarded to the player including a currency used to boost your characters skills. While this is a cool feature and part of the game I did not expect it to be implemented as soon as the cast dealt with the Crimson Grendel retreated from the last battle, once you’ve finished the first few floors of this digital world you’re back in reality and then finally you can take a breather. Now whilst Trails Through Daybreak II does have some incredible character development, which is a given as it’s hard not to find a game in the series that doesn’t, I feel the campaign feels largely bloated and most of that is playing through the same cutscenes due to the reverse time feature that does play out many times during the course of the game, also a lot of these Dead Ends where you die seem so frequent and not even due to the Crimson Grendel but more due to Van being in the wrong situation at the wrong time, it just feels very off when we’ve gone through one game where he doesn’t die and suddenly he is so careless to his surroundings.
Outside of the story the gameplay remains as fresh as ever with some new features implemented, although minor these features do allow for much better control and flow of battles. Much like the first game in the Daybreak series battles are both action and turn based orientated where you’re able to attack enemies with your weapon whilst dodging enemy attacks on the field or you can opt into turn based battles keeping in line with all the earlier Trails games. Bosses themselves require you to fight in a turn based arena and making the most of your most powerful skills whilst also buffing your party and keeping everyone alive. Notable new features include the ability to swap characters at the end of a dodge meaning they will come in with a powerful attack when executed correctly that can stun an enemy, you can also use arts to deal area of effect damage to enemies in real time.
During turn based battles you can still execute S-Crafts which can be boosted by Shards however the game won’t let you spam them all at once to take advantage of a battle, I feel that enemies and bosses are more weak because of this but is by no means a bad thing, previous entries had bosses with unfair regeneration boosts and massive health pools meaning you had to do these things in order to get an advantage, as this is no longer a thing, battles feel more fair, you can take advantage of positioning and skills will tell you if a skill is more powerful and viable from the back, you can also take advantage of an upcoming attack as you will know if an enemy is coming in with a Stun attack so you can prepare yourself accordingly.
The gameplay itself is probably some of the best we have seen yet, it is a culmination of everything great that the Trails series has added over time but with added new features that really bring out the best in combat. Arts feel useful as you can see enemy weaknesses, Crafts can be exploited in different ways to take advantage of the enemy and strengthening your characters feels rewarding especially as you can upgrade your roster of characters, thanks the the Marchen Garten which I enjoyed it a lot more than Reverie corridor from Trails into Reverie. Getting to directly upgrade character’s skills is a good incentive, here you will unlock many costumes for your characters and if you’re someone that likes to dress up your characters then you’re sure to be here for some time. Some of the Mini games included in Trails Through Daybreak II have had upgrades whilst some haven’t. I highly enjoy fishing this time as you are not required to mash a button at certain points and instead move the analogue stick to certain points and tap at the right time, it feels way more intuitive and relaxing overall and I could spend hours doing it. The Card Game better known as Seven Hearts serves less purpose and I did not find it that interesting at all, then again I felt the same about every card game that has been added in the series since Blade. I get they added it in as a means to boost your characters relationships but honestly it’s forgettable.
Overall I feel Trails Through Daybreak II is a good addition to the series, it is certainly the most mature themed with some graphical adult scenes, but it is lacking some aspects that made previous games so good. It looks stunning as ever and the music is phenomenal as you would expect it to be, however the story left me feeling like I want a more traditional Trails game with a huge story arc and a conclusion that leaves me feeling satisfied, or at least on a cliff-hanger that ends on a high in knowing the next game will conclude on it. The Time Travel added in feels forced, and adds unnecessary padding.
A PlayStation 4/5 Review Code was provided by NIS America
