Hard to imagine it’s been less than a year since we received Trails Through Daybreak. After spending so much time with them, I was a little hesitant to leave The SSS and Class VII. I had just grown accustomed to their presences. But as all good sagas closes, time moves on and new stories must be told. Thankfully, what we got, was Van Arkride and his associates, weaving another interesting tale of a team brought together through circumstance, conspiracy and maybe a touch of destiny? The first half of the Daybreak arc brought in a huge new cast of characters, a new approach to its combat and character customization. While Van and his crew reached a climactic point, there were still a few mysteries involving Almata and The Mysterious Geneses. Trails Through Daybreak II has some excellent payoffs on the character development side, even if it takes a while to get there in some points. It has some small but meaningful improvements, and remain consistently strong in other areas that the series does quite well with. How much has changed in the short amount of time? Here is my review.
Trails Through Daybreak II picks up roughly two months after the first. Elaine pays a visit to Van in his office, worried about a rumor of something called “Almatas Legacy”. Worried about possible future crises, the two spring into action setting us up for another adventure through the Calvard Republic. This is where the first of the mixed elements comes into play: The pacing of the story between major beats. The biggest offenders here are the 4SPG quests and some of the requirements to progress the story to it’s next queue. The quests are well written enough that they keep you entertained, but some of the actions required feel under baked or unnecessary. Nobody likes to do tailing missions unless you have fun ways to approach the mission. Tailing involves you not getting too close, occasionally hiding in a spot via prompt, and then just waiting. It feels almost pointless. The counter balance is that by completing these requests, you get plenty of money and resources via your ranking at the end of each chapter. When the story eventually picks later on when the world opens up and you are able to engage powerful enemies. What furthers this, is the new changes made to the combat system.
Starting with the field battles, if you dodge just before an attack hits you, you can now perform a Cross Change, which changes your active character and does a severe amount of stun. Using this not only grants an early tactical advantage, and plays very well into the new turn based mechanic, EX Chains. When you have stunned an enemy, if you power up using an S-Charge, performing a regular attack or an offensive Craft will trigger an EX Chain, which allows the the attacking character a second attack and a follow up with another close character. With these two new additions you can really rack up combos, massive damage and replenish your S-charge and CP gauge quickly. It’s just as fun as it’s always been, but the additional changes add a new layer of opportunity and engagement. While you can’t make “any character as any class” like you could in earlier titles, you can still customize each character with different cores, arts and quartz to really tune them to your liking. I was a bit surprised that the next decision was hidden behind an entirely different activity though, The Märchen Garten. The Garten brings three different activities to the front, and this is the best way to acquire cosmetic items, additional EXP and as well as the ability to upgrade crafts. By exploring the outside world as well as the Garten, you’ll discover shards that serve as a currency that you can use for bonus item, costumes and Craft Shards. This optional item allows you to increase the power, accuracy and can reduce the cost of crafts. The Garten itself si a series of randomized dungeon lay outs with a simple objective, like “Kill X Medium sized enemies” or “Break X objects”. Participation in it is optional, but the additional EXP and rewards that you earn absolutely reward you for the effort.
Trails Through Daybreak II increased the presentation from its Predecessor. It went in a different direction in overall aesthetic, but was still quite easy to follow, even when there was a ton of detail on screen. The overall graphics, lighting, animation, and general polish were all big steps up as well. Daybreak II is more than comfortable with enhancing other parts of its experience. Falcom has always excelled at its sense of place. When you visit a location you really soak it in. Other aspects like music and sound effects are all at the same level as before, but this is not a bad thing. I would argue that the storytelling approach has suffered, while the combat system got a nice upgrade.
Daybreak II is another great entry in the long running series. While there are some pacing issues, when the game does get to it’s revelations and main points its rather engrossing. The new changes to the battle system and an alternate method for easy grinding and extra content make for a decent distraction that rewards the effort put in by the player. I highly recommend picking this and the first Daybreak up. And I cannot wait to see what what Falcom has in store for use with “Farewell O’Zemuria”.
