The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak Review

The story itself effortlessly weaves topical themes into your actions, with shadowy figures taking benefit of anti-immigrant sentiment to achieve energy and the meteoric rise of a brand new mafia group threatening the established order of the underground world. These themes aren’t completely obvious early on in Van’s journey, however he finally begins to comprehend simply how a lot affect the completely different factions of this world have, making Daybreak really feel extra like an engrossing political drama the deeper you go.

It is a nice leaping in level for the Trails sequence, free from the shackles of having to instantly hook up with earlier video games, however Daybreak does additionally deal with longtime followers like myself by incorporating lore from them when it fits the story. For instance, it takes place within the Republic of Calvard, a spot referenced in earlier Trails video games however by no means really proven. Equally, when Van fights in opposition to the native mafia early on, they take efficiency enhancing medication to get an edge on him, and he deduces that they might be much like those that the native gangs in Crossbell took, referencing each Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure. It’s a unbelievable solution to hold this universe interconnected whereas making a clean slate to work with for brand spanking new tales.

The lovable, tight-knit solid of fundamental characters helps set the stage, too. Some standouts embrace a younger lady named Feri Al-Fayed, who Van takes in after she is exiled from her village, slowly rising to just accept her teammates as her second household all through the story. A private favourite of mine is the enjoyable Grimcat, who’s clearly an homage to Persona 5’s Ann, sporting a skintight swimsuit and cat masks. (Grimcat even calls herself a “phantom thief.”) Her sturdy willed character amusingly contrasts together with her position because the comedian reduction – she’s a horrible liar and infrequently slips up when making an attempt to speak her approach out of a state of affairs, which isn’t one thing you’d anticipate out of a supposedly slick trickster.

It’s additionally nice that Daybreak’s comparatively smaller solid means every character’s growth is far more centered. They’re in a position to get extra consideration all through the story and have room to develop, which is one thing the Chilly Metal arc particularly had hassle dealing with as its storyline progressed and its solid ballooned. Veterans will catch a number of character cameos from the earlier Chilly Metal, Sky, and Crossbell arcs in supporting roles as effectively, however they’re neatly positioned in order to not steal the highlight or alienate newcomers.

If you’re not tied up within the political intrigue of the primary story, you’ll be finishing numerous aspect quests that may earn you factors in the direction of Van’s Regulation, Grey, or Chaos stats. These are framed as a kind of morality system, however they function extra equally to the way in which Persona handles its social stats. Sure aspect quests give out predetermined values for these stats, and you’ll see which is able to enhance earlier than accepting them – nonetheless, they’re all value accepting and finishing anyway, as having a excessive degree in a single alignment doesn’t lock out the advantages from the others. This strategy provides a higher diploma of freedom because you received’t really feel such as you’re being railroaded into one single morality path.

It additionally provides an additional layer of depth to Van’s character and influences how he handles sure encounters exterior of his default cool, bad-boy demeanor. Some quests allow you to resolve how they finish, offering additional factors to a sure alignment based mostly in your alternative. For instance, one quest has you chasing down a cashier who’s stealing cash from his job, nevertheless it seems he was being extorted by another person: You will have the choice to encourage the cashier to return the cash and are available clear because the Regulation strategy, or take the Grey route and return the cash however hold it a secret. As a result of I didn’t really feel pressured into following a strict path like with the morality programs of another video games, I cherished that I might choose the choice that I’d almost definitely do if I used to be in Van’s sneakers. (If the cash is again the place it belongs and the enterprise remains to be working, nobody is damage and ever has to know, proper?)

Daybreak’s quests additionally present nice worldbuilding. One notably enjoyable one has Van’s get together journey to a secluded island to clear its monsters so vacationers can safely discover. In an amusing twist, a tour information seems and offers the get together a guided expedition whereas they’re busy combating. They’ll periodically cease at sure factors to explain native legends, however whereas the get together retains hoping to study enjoyable info, every of the tour information’s tales as a substitute entails one thing horrifying, resembling folks getting devoured by monsters when a excessive tide happens or a sure cavern being named “Dying’s Head” as a result of it was affected by human stays. The size and energy that these aspect quests go to with a purpose to make them genuinely entertaining is one of the most effective facets of the sequence.

Afterward, relying on how excessive Van’s morality is in sure alignments, you may select to staff up with sure factions. Whereas choosing any given faction doesn’t change the general story, Van’s resolution could make battles simpler for that particular chapter. Some factions have stronger playable characters that may make the enemy encounters and executives a cakewalk whilst you have entry to them. On the flip aspect, the faction I picked had two purely AI-controlled characters, so generally it was irritating not having the ability to give them direct instructions after I wanted to. Selecting sure factions over others additionally results in distinctive character interactions, which provides some enjoyable replayability for future playthroughs.

One of the most important gameplay modifications in Daybreak is its battle system, which is now a hybrid between real-time and turn-based fight. On the sphere, you may run as much as enemies and begin hitting them, however you may also provoke turn-based fight on the press of a button any time. By breaking their shields first, you’ll begin the turn-based portion in an advantageous state, with enemies dazed and unable to behave for a short while. Sadly, these real-time parts are very rudimentary; regular hits and charged assaults that stun enemies are all you are able to do apart from dodging. It will get extremely repetitive over a 50-plus-hour RPG, and I want extra choices had been launched all through the marketing campaign to maintain the real-time moments from stagnating.

Nevertheless, the turn-based fight picks up the slack due to some noticeable enhancements over its predecessors. Loading screens are gone exterior of boss battles, so fights in Daybreak transition seamlessly from the sphere to battle. It’s a lot smoother now that the get together isn’t magically whisked away to a separate dimension only for battles; the battlefield is similar actual measurement because the room Van was in when he encountered an enemy.

This battle system additionally sees the return of the sequence’ timeline mechanic, which is comparatively unchanged however simply as nice as ever. Bonuses land in random spots within the motion timeline, so when you see {that a} vital hit bonus goes to land on the enemy’s flip, you may cleverly manipulate the order through the use of an assault with the Delay impact, pushing the enemy’s place and hopefully having the icon land on one of your allies as a substitute. This makes for some extremely partaking battles because it’s necessary to take benefit of these bonuses every time you may, particularly throughout boss fights and different excessive problem moments.

One other welcome change is that characters are not required to make use of up their flip to easily transfer across the battlefield, and may as a substitute roam freely inside a sure motion vary. Whereas transferring your get together into advantageous positions earlier than attacking isn’t precisely a brand new RPG idea, this tweak opens up a complete new facet of tactical gameplay when mixed with Trails’ already wonderful fight mechanics.

For instance, Van’s Stun Slash has the Impede impact, which may disrupt enemies within the center of casting spells, nevertheless it additionally does extra harm when Van hits an enemy from their flank reasonably than the entrance or again. That provides it a twin goal, letting you select whether or not to extend your harm by prioritizing positioning along with your new motion choices, or utility by specializing in manipulating the order of the timeline. It helps some assaults keep helpful even when their major results don’t apply in sure conditions, which wasn’t at all times the case in earlier Trails video games since transferring round counted as its personal motion.

Daybreak’s customization system provides a lot of flexibility in the way you construct out every character’s stats and skills with completely different gems. What’s nice concerning the customization is that it may be as simple or as advanced as you need it to be. Each gem has a component related to sure stats and skills, which may then be positioned in any of the 4 customization traces of every character: Weapon, Defend, Drive, and EX. For instance, purple gems are related to the hearth aspect and have traits that profit bodily attackers, in addition to give them fire-based attributes when positioned in sure traces.

It’s all wonderful and dandy when you merely need to slot within the purple Assault +1 gem in any obtainable slot because the character will get the assault stat increase it doesn’t matter what. If you wish to take it a step additional, nonetheless, that you must be strategic in the place you place your gems. Daybreak introduces Shard Abilities, which act like passive buffs influenced by the completely different line choices. Putting a purple gem within the Weapon line has an opportunity of including fireplace elemental harm to regular assaults, whereas placing them within the Defend line boosts your probabilities of avoiding the Burn standing. Realizing learn how to make the most of these passive buffs will be the distinction between successful and dropping, particularly throughout late-game boss battles and when taking part in on increased difficulties

The approach gems and Shard Abilities synergize additionally makes customization enjoyable. Activating extra highly effective Shard Abilities requires meticulous gem placement. Burst Achieve, for instance, has an opportunity of recovering HP when attacking, however requires each a purple gem and water-based blue gem within the Weapon line to unlock. I might fortunately lose monitor of time optimizing every character and making an attempt completely different mixtures.

Bonding occasions referred to as Connections make a return in Daybreak, letting your protagonist casually hang around with different characters throughout their free time, which is at all times so much of enjoyable – particularly for returning followers. In a single standout scene, Van catches up with Rene, his buddy inside Calvard’s intelligence division, and finally ends up discussing a double agent of theirs who additionally occurs to be working for a key political determine from the Chilly Metal and Crossbell video games. So not solely are these bonding moments entertaining and well-written, the Trails sequence is ready to use its in depth historical past to include previous occasions for much more spectacular worldbuilding, which is one thing that video games with comparable options can’t go almost as in-depth on.

Different options from previous entries are conspicuously gone, although. Minigames in earlier Trails RPGs that had been entertaining distractions, resembling the cardboard video games Vantage Masters and Blade, aren’t in Daybreak in any respect, and there’s nothing new to fill the void they’ve left after I’m between missions and on the lookout for a change of tempo. Cooking has additionally been drastically restricted, with every get together member now solely in a position to cook dinner a number of choose dishes reasonably than having their strengths and weaknesses inside the full menu. For instance, if somebody was sturdy within the curry recipe, they’d an opportunity to create an enhanced model that restored extra HP than common, whereas a weaker curry cook dinner might doubtlessly screw up and offer you a dish that may very well be detrimental. That selection added character to characters exterior of battle, so it’s a little bit disappointing that every character solely cooks their specialised recipes with out fail right here.

Fishing is lacking, too, which is stunning given it had beforehand been included in each single mainline Trails sport – although that’s to not say that Daybreak is missing in content material. There’s an unlimited quantity of stuff to do and see between all of the aspect quests and the morality system, however the absence of these conventional Trails minigame staples does make Daybreak just a bit bit much less charming.

And whereas it might probably’t make up for all the things, Daybreak’s soundtrack is wonderful. It incorporates the rocking guitars and melodic piano that the sequence is understood for, and whereas each the opening theme and the tune that performs because the credit roll sound a bit extra laid again in comparison with previous video games, that’s a becoming reflection of Van’s character. As at all times, the battle themes are explosive and designed to get you within the temper to struggle, and the vigorous tunes within the metro areas make exploration enjoyable.