Review – The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II

It comes as an ambitious sequence that tries to balance tradition and innovation, but ends up increasing complexity in its history and is lost amid content that looks more like a filler episode and not a direct sequence. Developed by Nihon Falcom and published by NIS America, the game maintains the dense narrative formula of the series, while introducing good and new mechanics to renew the players’ experience.

In this sequence, the plot takes place months after the events, with Van Arkride investigating a series of murders linked to a mysterious Carmesim beast. What seemed to be something that was in the past needs to be investigated before it ended with the little world of Zemuria. For those who did not play the previous chapter, maybe it can be lost at the beginning of the game, but soon you end up with the events that are unfolding and without curling much (even with a mini of fishing early on).

However, contrary to the proposal created by the Nihon Falcom franchise, developers have created the Dead End system, which allows you to reverse fatal decisions in a kind of time travel through genesis power, reducing the impact of history. At the same time as you make you care less about the consequences of what happens, Trails Through Daybreak II can maintain engagement and interest in coming back in time to follow different paths, slightly changing history events to get new results.

There and back again

This novelty adds new layers to the narrative, as well as the inclusion of characters such as Swin and Nadia Trails, who participated in trails into Reverie, and camera of iconic figures like Zin Vathek to please veterans fans. This is the bad part for those coming now, but maybe it is an invitation to return to the previous arches, as the game takes on familiarity with mythologies from Crossbell and Erelonia.

The first game’s hybrid combat (action and shift action) returns with adjustments, including the new cross cartoon, which allows you to change characters during perfect dodges, creating devastating combos, and ex chains, with synchronized attacks after stun, ideal for epic confrontations. To limit excessive use of special skills, developers have implemented Retast Timer to balance the difficulty of the party’s advancement.

Although these additions deepen the strategy, the gameplay still looks the same as the previous game and trying to detach the franchise characteristic, even though it seems slightly dated and with some rhythm problems. The best decision of developers was to work the transition between real-time combat and shifts fluidly, but the absence of significant innovations in exploration or puzzle leaves the feeling of more of it. The controls remain responsive of the first game and easy to play, including avoiding many menus to perform skills.

Impossible to stop dealing with the complex cast of The Legend of Heroes: trails through daybreak II, which mixes family faces and new additions, following what Nihon Falcom knows how to do better to cross missions and feelings, balancing continuity and news while developing the construction of the characters. Van Arkride maintains its enigmatic charisma with new dynamics compared to Agnes Claudel, which had a great evolution in this game. With 13 major playable members, the game a good game offers variety and prioritizes emotional connections established in previous games.

Again in search of evolution

The return of Gerard Dantes, almata’s leader, carries his legacy as former cult of worship and his ambiguous motivation maintains tension throughout history. The addition of Melchior, a new antagonist that manipulates behind -the -scenes events, using the Carmesim Beast as a chaos tool to recycle some questions from the previous game, but can add mystery and dynamism to narrative construction. Elaine, Renne and Shizuna are some of the many names that return to increase the diversity of options for your party, as well as chancel the good choice of characters for the cast.

In the end, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II acts as a narrative bridge, deepening local conflicts in Calvard while preparing the ground for an upcoming bow. The dependence on temporal resets and the lack of progression in the series plot make a very different feeling for those who follow the franchise. After all, the most faithful fans will vibrate at various times throughout the game and the opportunity to control several important names, but the fragmented narrative, excessive temporal loops and the absence of real consequences can negatively impact experience.

If the first trails Through Daybreak was received as a renewal tip for Nihon Falcom games, this sequence is a step to the side. Undisputed the jump in visual quality, with beautiful graphics and the soundtrack that is still captivating, still fun and very interesting, the game ends up prioritizing some points that are not necessarily part of the way the game series has settled, telling good stories and exploring your characters.