Review: The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II Struggles to Move Forward

Nihon Falcom's The Legend of Heroes: Trails series became quite the juggernaut, with its interconnected baker's dozen of narrative-rich JRPGs presenting a near-thousand hour epic for players to chew on. Arguments are had about where a newcomer should or shouldn't start, and which titles if any are inessential. It often feels unwieldy, but the characters and well-realized settings keep fans coming back for more. The latest game to get a localized release courtesy of NIS America is The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II. We're taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version, and it's rough in more ways than one.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II is available on the PS4, PS5, PC via Steam, and the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo's aging console is obviously the low hardware on the pole here, as it often is. Nihon Falcom games on the hybrid console have been all over the map, and this is regrettably not one of the better ones. To be frank, if you have the option to play the game on any other platform, you should do that. If your only option is the Nintendo Switch, you're going to have to put up with some considerable technical shortcomings this time around.

A lot of sacrifices have been made for this version of Trails through Daybreak II, and visually it ranges from hideous to adequate. A generally low resolution with jaggies galore, textures inconsistently swapping between low and high detail, and a ton of shimmering all add up to make this game look a lot worse than it should. The framerate in this Nintendo Switch port is a little bit worse than the first game in places, but broadly speaking performs similarly. That's not really a good thing, but compared to the drop in image quality, it's easier to overlook. The game isn't unplayable by any means, but it's curious how it manages to make the same locations look so much worse than they did in the Switch version of the original Trails through Daybreak. This is a way to experience the game, but it's not the one I would personally recommend.

With that topic dealt with, let's move on to the game itself. Unfortunately, it has a lot of problems of its own. The story picks up a few months after the events of the original Trails through Daybreak. It's once again set in Calvard, with the bulk of the game taking place in the bustling city of Edith. There's a lot less traveling involved in this adventure, with the game instead choosing to expand on and more fully explore the main city. It's something of a theme here, as you'll see. There are new locations to visit within the city, so you can expect to cover some fresh ground in the course of the game despite the more focused approach.

The story hits the ground running, with a cutscene showing a bunch of people being murdered by a crimson creature that looks a lot like Van Arkride's Grendel form. It's even accompanied by a Holo that seems curiously familiar. Naturally, suspicion falls on Van. Elaine Auclair stops by Van's office to hire him to investigate the situation, something he'd likely be inclined to do anyway in order to clear his name. After following a relatively short trail of clues, they catch up to the killer. From there, things decidedly do not go as expected.

I've hemmed and hawed about what I should or should not spoil about Trails through Daybreak II in service of this review. Ultimately, there's one aspect of the game that kicks off rather early and is so prominent that I can't really talk around it. If you really don't want to know anything about the story beyond the basic premise, consider this your warning to bail out on this review. I won't be going into excruciating detail, but there is one major and frequent plot device that I feel I have to address. Seriously, that's the warning.

Time travel is a very risky element to bring into any story. When used carefully and effectively, it's an interesting way to explore alternate possibilities. Many great games take advantage of time travel to flesh out their stories and characters in ways a more traditional plot would not be able to. Still, one must tread cautiously with time travel. It's very easy to drain all of the drama and stakes from a story if any bad outcome can simply be rewound. It can come off like a cheat on the writer's part, and it makes it hard to get invested in anything once it has been introduced.

Trails through Daybreak II leans hard on time travel, and it uses it in the worst possible way. Whenever the heroes meet a bad ending, time gets rewound to an earlier point in the story. Some of these bad endings can be avoided, but most can't be. In the first couple of acts, this is used sparingly enough that things still hold together well enough. In the game's third act, it's like the writers fell asleep on the time travel button. It's absurd, and it makes it feel like nothing you're doing actually matters. The game runs about as long as the usual Trails story, but a great deal of what you see and do ends up never canonically happening at all. It's a bummer.

On top of that, Trails through Daybreak II also suffers from being a seemingly inconsequential entry as a whole. Basically none of the questions raised in the first game get addressed here in any form. I hesitate to call it a filler story, but it certainly doesn't advance any of the main story threads set up in the last installment. I'm not opposed to that idea in principle, but I can't help but think this wasn't the right time or place in the series for this kind of thing. Of course, we can't predict the future. It's possible later entries in the series will pick up on things that happen in Daybreak II, but at least here and now this is probably the easiest entry to skip.

Still, the narrative is not without its merits. Ignoring the nonsense hamburger salad that is the main plot, there is a lot of solid character work in Trails through Daybreak II. Many characters get a chance to have interesting interactions with each other via Connection Events, and the game makes it a point to fill in a lot of back story this way. Trails games typically have great casts of characters, and that ends up being the saving grace of this game's narrative. If you had a nice time with the first game, you'll likely appreciate the breathing room that the characters get in this follow-up. It doesn't hurt that the voice cast does a great job with the material they've been given. The localization is up to the usual standards for this series, as well.

Mechanically speaking, there isn't a whole lot new on offer in Trails through Daybreak II. You've got the usual assortment of side quests to complete, a few mini-game activities like fishing or playing a card game, and some hidden treasures to keep your eyes open for. There aren't many stand-outs among the side quests this time around, but they remain a nice change of pace from the main story. At the very least, they serve to remind you that Van does indeed have a life outside of all the noise we seem to catch him in the middle of. Like before, the way you choose to handle these side quests will determine how your character grows along three parameters, even if that ultimately doesn't add up to a lot in terms of gameplay or narrative.

There are a few additions to the battle system, but it too largely carries over from the first Daybreak. Once again you can engage weaker enemies with your choice of action-based or turn-based combat. There are some new actions you can take when opting for the former, with the most notable being Cross Charges. If you do a Perfect Dodge with the right timing, you'll be able to swap in another party member to deliver a charged strike. The swapped-in member will be buffed and you'll have a much easier time stunning the enemy to boot. I continue to appreciate the addition of this real-time system, as it makes it a lot less irritating to deal with weaker enemy encounters.

In turn-based fights you're offered the same array of options seen in the previous games, with a new wrinkle or two to play around with. EX Chains are the big one, giving you yet another way to deal heavy damage if you can set things up right. Stunning enemies is one of the necessary conditions, so it's more important than ever to aim for that. You can play the game on a variety of difficulty settings, and if you're playing on Normal or higher you'll want to make full use of this new addition. Some of the bosses can be absolutely brutal if you fail to use your whole combat tool box. Of course, you can always bump the difficulty up or down as you like during the game. That's another tool in the box, I suppose.

The last main gameplay element to talk about is the Marchen Garten. You can assemble a party from any of the characters from the main story no matter where they might be, and even make use of a few others who you wouldn't otherwise get to use in Trails through Daybreak II. You'll then explore procedurally-generated virtual spaces, completing missions and battling bosses as you go. You'll be well-rewarded for doing so, but it's an enjoyable enough activity in and of itself. The big prize here comes in the form of shard tokens, a resource that will always be welcome. You can pop into the Marchen Garten anytime you want once it's unlocked.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a good time playing The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II, despite its many shortcomings both technical and otherwise. It's far from being my favorite game in the series, and I think in a lot of ways it's a very disappointing follow-up to the first Trails through Daybreak game. What works here works well however, and for fans of the series that might be good enough. I will caution potential buyers to treat this Nintendo Switch port as a last resort option, but it is at least an option. Here's hoping that Nihon Falcom can turn this around as we head into the second half of the Calvard arc.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II will release on the PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam on February 14th, 2025.

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