Those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II takes this notion and runs with it, offering several chances for players to experience “do-overs” of significant plot events that can open up markedly different outcomes. Ultimately, does the narrative coalesce into something coherent despite the myriad time loops Arkride Solutions and its allies face? The answer is a tentative yes, especially from a character growth standpoint. However, those hoping for this sequel to have more of an impact on the overreaching plot set up by the first game might be left wanting.
As evidenced by my review, I immensely enjoyed the time I spent with The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak. It quickly cemented itself as one of my favorites of the long-running LoH: Trails series with Van and company’s phenomenal early adventures in the Republic of Calvard! Naturally, I was looking forward to the game’s sequel upon its localization announcement. Overall, Trails through Daybreak II is an enjoyable experience; however, it was not without some caveats. The first being that I’m hard-pressed to truly call the game a standalone sequel, as it feels more like an expansion. Sometimes it seems as if Falcom had some bits and pieces of story and lore they wanted to explore that hadn’t made its way into the first game, so they cobbled it together with some padding in the form of minigames and optional dungeon-crawling to create the illusion of a “full” game. In that sense, I’d probably say it’s more apt to refer to Trails through Daybreak II as a “1.5” instead of a true sequel.
But that isn’t to say the result isn’t enjoyable! I love the cast of characters in the Calvard story arc, and that continues to be the case with Trails through Daybreak II, along with the familiar faces from Trails of Cold Steel and Trails into Reverie who make appearances. The game even includes some deep cuts from the series by bringing in characters mentioned heavily in previous storylines, such as Judith’s capable grandmother, Dominique, and Prince Sherid’s intelligent sister, Princess Zita. Seeing everyone from the first Trails through Daybreak alongside these relative newcomers is excellent! I especially love the character development and personal journeys that party members such as Agnes, Feri, Aaron, and Quatre go through amongst the believable growth of NPC allies like rookie journalist Marielle, who is still trying to follow in Dingo’s footsteps. Various townspeople from the first game also have their surprisingly fleshed-out narratives carried over and continued, showcasing the phenomenal attention to detail that Falcom puts into the world-building the Trails series is known for. As far as character journeys go, Trails through Daybreak II truly delivers.
Unfortunately, it’s the bigger narrative where the sequel somewhat flounders. [Editor’s Note: Minor but vague plot spoilers follow at the end of this paragraph.] The addition of time looping adds to the narrative concept that there’s more to explore, and while some dangling plot threads from Daybreak get resolved, just as many remain mysteries that the sequel seems content to save for later. While this may be unsurprising considering that the follow-up game, The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki — Farewell, O Zemuria, released in Japan in September 2024, the result is that Trails through Daybreak II offers a “come back next time” type of finale versus a conclusive one. Those hoping for answers to the more burning, expansive questions surrounding Ouroboros’ intentions, relations between the Republic of Calvard and its neighbors, or the mysteries surrounding the Geneses will be left disappointed at this installment’s conclusion.
Players familiar with Trails through Daybreak‘s gameplay will easily fall into the routine again in Daybreak II. Players take charge of a main character (and this time, it’s not always protagonist Van) and their respective allies for a given story arc, traversing an area while solving optional side quests alongside advancing the main plot. As before, decisions you make during quests earn you law, gray, or chaos morality points. However, this morality system doesn’t have much impact this time compared to its effects on certain story scenes in the first game. In dungeon areas, you have the option of a more action-oriented combat style giving you direct control over your main character, or you can seamlessly switch to a more turn-based combat style with the press of a button. During the turn-based combat, you decide moves for your entire active party of up to four characters, moving them across the battlefield to best position them for abilities or to link up attacks together. It’s a pretty polished system already, and adding the EX Chain when you stun an enemy offers even more strategic maneuvering.
I mentioned previously in this review that minigames were added to Trails through Daybreak II for extra padding, with fishing, in particular, making its triumphant return. I admit to not being immensely fond of fishing in the other The Legend of Heroes: Trails games. However, I think Daybreak II‘s iteration of the hobby is probably the strongest, especially the more I practiced. There’s also a fun “hacking” minigame where you play as either Mare or FIO, progressing through a timed virtual reality maze while overcoming obstacles. There’s even a basketball challenge.
These minigames are often more entertaining than frustrating, though the stealth minigame unfortunately falls on the more annoying side of the spectrum. In this minigame, you must sneakily follow a painstakingly slow-gaited NPC during a longer-than-necessary walk, hiding in glowing squares along the way to avoid detection. The meter for not getting caught and the spacing between the safe zones are both frustratingly sensitive. If you get caught or lose track of the target NPC, you fail the minigame and must choose to either restart the segment or continue with the story while sacrificing any potential SP reward for your spriggan ranking.
Beyond the minigame additions, there’s the optional dungeon of the Märchen Garten. The Märchen Garten is a nine-floor dungeon that allows you to use any character in your party lineup who, at one point or another, allied with Arkride Solutions in the main story. This roster even includes the Gralsritter duo of Celis and Leon, despite them typically only being temporary party members. While traversing the Märchen Garten, you’ll gain shards you can trade in for various random items in a “gacha” style mechanic. While this area is optional, it helps keep everyone leveled up for the main story and nets you “skill stones” to strengthen the party’s abilities. I mainly used the Märchen Garten to keep my go-to party of Elaine, Quatre, Agnes, and Shizuna nicely leveled and outfitted even if they couldn’t be together at specific points of the main narrative.
Besides those added extra features, the most significant new gameplay and narrative component is the implementation of time loops. Essentially, you advance the game’s plot until you reach what the story denotes as a “dead end.” You then return to a point earlier in the story, wherein the script plays along the same until some variance happens and you decide on a new outcome. It’s an interesting mechanic, and I’ve experienced worse time-traveling mechanics in other games, but it isn’t without flaws either. In one instance, the scene repeated for ten minutes identically to what happened previously, making me worry that I’d somehow messed up in the looping process. It was annoyingly repetitive when it didn’t need to be. Fortunately, I eventually got a clue I hadn’t previously seen, but taking that long to get to something new certainly wasn’t ideal. The game’s third act, in particular, also relies on the time-looping mechanic so much that it’s ridiculous, becoming frustrating and feeling dragged out until finally managing to course-correct itself.
In my review of the prior game, I stated Trails through Daybreak could be a good tentative starting point for newcomers to the overall Trails series, but I need to recant that statement with Trails through Daybreak II. Not only does the sequel rely on you knowing what happened in its predecessor to fully appreciate its character stories and how they develop, but the additions of Trails into Reverie characters such as Swin and Nadia further muddy the waters and perhaps require a playthrough of that title in particular (which, as you can note from my Reverie review, isn’t is a bad thing since I adore those characters), which in turn leans into you also needing to know several of the games that came before it. Once again, what is the biggest strength and weakness of The Legend of Heroes: Trails series returns with a vengeance: its impressive interconnectivity and world-building is a double-edged sword.
Graphically, Trails through Daybreak II is just as good-looking as its predecessor. I love the artwork used for the more prominent characters, too. That pesky “jiggle mechanic” for several female characters remains, but I’ve mostly just learned to eye-roll in regards to it and move on. You’ll see hair going through arms at times, and many NPC models get reused, sometimes within the same scene. Many people in Heiyue are perhaps unknowingly pairs of identical twins.
Audibly, Trails through Daybreak II‘s sound effects and soundtrack are nothing short of astounding, as expected of Falcom by now. The opening song, “CRIMSON SiN,” and tracks like “Gimmicks and Traps” and “Buster the Ghost of Garden” are excellent examples of the OST’s caliber. The voice acting is also nicely done in English, with special mention going to the voice actors for Van, Agnes, Quatre, Aaron, and Nadia. From a script stance, beyond the odd typo here or there and some written lines not matching what was said at the beginning of the game (which might get patched later on), the localization is quite impressive, given that the title is so text-heavy. I also want to give the Daybreak games credit for their exploration of LGBT, gender identity, and various social issues as well, even if some of the commentary on prejudice and immigration might hit uncomfortably close to home these days.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II is an enjoyable RPG experience, especially from a character stance. It isn’t the most substantial sequel within The Legend of Heroes: Trails series’ lineup, but it’s far from a terrible game. I enjoyed playing it and eagerly await the next adventure to hit the Zemurian continent. We should heed the lessons of the past, if only so that brand-new possibilities might emerge, and I feel The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II encapsulates that message well.
