While often seen as aggressors in the Erebonian war during Trails of Cold Steel and during the conflicts surrounding Crossbell in the Crossbell Duology (Trails From Zero, Trails To Azure), not much was actually known about the Republic of Calvard aside from their military history. Now it’s time to open the doors to one of the biggest powers in the Trails games and pull back the curtain so to speak. Trails Through Daybreak takes place after everything has wrapped up in both the Cold Steel series and the Crossbell duology. There are clear references to events in both series and the technology has advanced even further. This feels like a natural evolution in the series ongoing direction as well, so don’t be put off by some of the new tech!
You play Van Arkride, a spriggan (they don’t really define the term) who fixes problems that are on the grey side of the law. Part fixer, part detective, part good Samaritan, Van is fairly far from previous protagonists in the Trails series, definitely edging closer to the far side of the law than gentle Rean Schwarzer or straight-and-narrow Lloyd Bannings for those of you familiar with the games. In short, Van does what he wants, helps who he pleases, and plays by his own rules and he’s carved a niche for himself out in Edith City and around the Republic of Calvard. That’s not to say he’s an unlikable sort of guy but think more of a James Dean rebel vibe than you might be used to.
Joining Van is Agnès Claudel, a young student who comes to him with a rather unique problem. Naturally there’s a lot more going on and it’s all the start of a rather fascinating adventure. There are a total of 8 playable characters in Trails Through Daybreak and some additional characters you’ll manage here and there to boot over the six and a bit chapters in the game. That doesn’t sound like much but between side quests, missions, and additional optional character development, the game gets fairly long, weighing in at anywhere from 50-80 hours or so depending on your play style and how thorough you are. As usual, we won’t be weighing in on the further details of the story (spoilers suck!) but there are some interesting things going on with unique orbal devices and by the time you work through chapter 5, you are pretty much guaranteed to be utterly hooked on Trails Through Daybreak. Just be prepared to have some emotions!
Let’s take a look at what else makes this a different experience than previous Trails games – the gameplay. On the surface, Trails Through Daybreak seems like other games in the series. It’s a standard JRPG format with turn-based combat and subsystems that allow for speed variances between characters. Orbal arts are prominently featured, as is the norm in all Trails games, though the orbal devices are a bit more advanced this time around. For anyone who’s never played a Trails game, orbal arts are essentially magic abilities based on crystals called sepith that use a variety of different elemental affinities to generate offensive and defensive effects. By slotting crystals into an orbal device you can essentially fine-tune your arts (read: magic) and mold characters to your preference.
This time around, your orbal device (Xipha) has a different slot orientation because Calvard’s tech is different. Your orbal slots are in rows and can be unlocked independently per row with 4 slots each. Putting certain quartz (refined sepith) in line with each other generates additional cumulative shard skills as well, giving further boosts to careful crafters. On top of that, you can also unlock two Arts Driver slots, letting you put chips into your Xipha that can add additional skills to your craft attacks. There’s a lot going on here, but don’t worry, the game walks you through the basics pretty thoroughly.
There are also some big changes to combat that change the way you’ll be playing. First and foremost is action mode. In combat areas, instead of standard turn-based combat, you can instead choose to simply physically attack the enemy, using regular and strong attacks and switching between characters for different strengths and weaknesses. This allows you to skip some of the weaker popcorn enemies or whittle down more powerful ones before you face them. There’s a bit of a drop in XP and sepith earned if you choose to go the action route but it definitely streamlines grinding a fair bit!
Changes abound in the turn-based combat too. Craft attacks and arts are back like normal (based on your loadout choices and character) and so are S-Break attacks too. The S-Break attacks are particularly powerful in Trails Through Daybreak and ignoring them means some tough battles, especially with bosses. However, instead of using S-Break attacks, you can actually drain your special bar by using S-Boosts as well. These allow you to give an extra boost in power to any art or craft attack. Tactically used, these can be devastating to enemies as you can boost attacks that you know they are weak against, multiplying damage and slaughtering them rapidly.
Finally, there’s a new approach to combat positioning as well. Trails Through Daybreak has a Shard Circular Linked Metafield (SCLM) system. Basically this is a tactical positioning system where characters that are near enough to each other are able to provide additional support, both offensively and defensively. By keeping the blue SCLM rings near enough to each other, your characters can create a support web that boosts damage and protects each other from harm. Walk too far away and you’re out of the SCLM’s range, making you more vulnerable. Naturally, you’ll have to balance this new system with enemy attacks to avoid getting wiped out, but SCLM adds an interesting additional wrinkle to tactical turn based combat in Trails Through Daylight.
Whew! That’s just the combat and story and there’s still so much going on! The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daylight is nothing if not complex and you’ll slowly develop meaningful attachments to the entire character ensemble throughout the game. One of the ways you do that is through optional support quests called 4SPGs (you’ll see why). These add additional character depth and flesh out the Republic of Calvard, as well as being occasionally surprisingly emotionally charged for optional content. They’ll also earn you some much needed cash and gear, so don’t hesitate to finish every side quest you can because things will get a fair bit easier!
You’ll also earn connect points by maintaining relationships in Trails Through Daybreak. Buying and giving gifts and going to movies with characters increase you relationships with various characters and add significantly more character development to the game. While there’s no overt romance, learning about all the characters is quite compelling and you’ll definitely want to make sure you use those connect points every chance you get. It isn’t possible to max out every relationship in a single game either, so focus on the people you’re most interested in and if you want to continue on after everything is said and done, you can go back in New Game + and try the relationships you missed out on.
Of course, Trails Through Daybreak is also a gorgeous game, but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Visuals have been steadily crawling up in quality throughout the Trails series and Daybreak looks amazing on the PS5 with fancier shading and color depth and some really excellent design work, both in the graphics and the GUI. Honestly, this is a beautiful game across the board and the pinnacle of Trails design work so far. The framerate stays consistently high, the character designs are fantastic (even if there are still some old JRPG visual tropes) and the cities feel more lifelike than ever before. Even NPCs have full names and seem more like real people than other games. It’s truly an impressive-looking game that you will want to see in all its HD glory.
There’s nothing shabby in the music department here either. Falcom is known for some of the best soundtracks in the business and Trails Through Daybreak is no exception. Sweeping instrumentals and tense music abound, matched elegantly to the game’s story and events. There’s never a song that sounds out of place and this is one of those soundtracks you’re going to want to own. Sound effects are equally impressive with the foley artists really nailing all the sounds of Calvard. Last but not least is the excellent voice acting. Trails Through Daybreak offers Japanese and English voice acting as options. We went with English for this review and the English voice actors are excellent. While there are a few scenes that are a smidge over the top, everyone felt incredibly realistic without any ridiculous voices that grate on the nerves. The acting is top notch too, making intense scenes feel all the more real. It’s a shame that not every single line is voiced but the voice work that is there is a joy to listen to. All in all, there’s no question that this is an outstanding sound package all around.
While it would be wonderful to expound endlessly about Trails Through Daybreak, it’s hard to go much further without giving things away. This is a game that you’re definitely playing through for the story, bolstered by outstanding voice acting and gorgeous visuals. The usual high speed mode, dialogue log, automatic read mode and all the other QOL stuff that NIS uses are included as well of course. There’s even an additional (and incredibly thorough) archive of the entire Trails series backstory if you don’t want to play through all the games (but you SHOULD!!!) and a series glossary that explains all the unique terms to the Trails universe. There was no need to include all this stuff but it’s certainly handy to have and a fascinating resource that you might learn a few things from, even if you’re a Trails veteran.
What you won’t see here are any negatives. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is very nearly as perfect as a modern JRPG can get. From gameplay to story to design, everything oozes quality and as long as you’re interested in the type of story being told, it’s hard to even think of one that comes close to matching. That’s not just puffery either. Trails Through Daybreak is really that damn good. Even the load times are fast and every need you can think of has been considered and fulfilled. This is JRPG gaming at its absolute finest and a game that is not to be missed, whether you’re new to the Trails series or an old hand. There’s something for everyone and every skill level here and this is the kind of game that’s worth every penny of its price. Don’t even consider hesitating. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak belongs in your collection, period.
This review is based on a digital copy of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak provided by the publisher. It was played on a PS5 using a 55” Sony 1080p TV and on the Playstation Portal (where it plays quite well). The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is also available on Playstation 4, Switch, and PC on Steam.
Nate Van Lindt has been a gamer since the days of yore (aka Commodore 64), and has played a bit of virtually everything out there. He's also an avid comic book collector, both vintage and current, and reads a fair amount of sci-fi and fantasy. On top of that, he watches a fair number of movies and TV shows as well. Oh, and he has a family, a full-time job, and lives somewhere in the urban wilds of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, foraging for old video cables and forgotten game soundtracks.