Still plenty of series left, so even if you do catch up you'll end up in the Trails waiting room with the rest of us. π€·ββοΈ
An 88 metascore is above average for the series, but it might come down a bit as more reviews roll in.
The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is rated 'Mighty' after being reviewed by 20 critics, with an overall average score of 88. It's ranked in the top 2% of games and recommended...
Game Information --------------------
Game Title: The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak
Platforms:
- PC (Jul 5, 2024)
- PlayStation 4 (Jul 5, 2024)
- PlayStation 5 (Jul 5, 2024)
- Nintendo Switch (Jul 5, 2024)
Trailer:
Developers: Nihon Falcom, NIS America
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 88 average - 95% recommended - 20 reviews
Critic Reviews -------------
ComingSoon.net - Tyler Treese - 8.5 / 10
>Trails Through Daybreak is the strong start to a new chapter that The Legend of Heroes franchise needed.
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Console Creatures - Matt Sowinski - Recommended
>The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is another hit in the beloved series, delivering a darker narrative, revamped combat, and an excellent cast of characters. It has a ton to offer to both new players and existing fans of the series.
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Everyeye.it - Antonello Bello - Italian - 8.8 / 10
>While not matching the epic nature of Trails of Cold Steel IV, which for its part had the advantage of being the final chapter of a painful and well-oiled tetralogy, The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is configured as one of Nihon Falcom's best recent productions.
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Final Weapon - Raul Ochoa - 4.5 / 5
>The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak serves as a brilliant introduction to the Republic of Calvard, the setting for what appears to be the most exciting Trails story arc yet. Van Arkride explores the gray areas of Calvardian society alongside allies that are just as tough and driven. The game's story is complemented by a revamped combat system that retains the identity of Trails, and there's of plenty of improvements made that make this one of the best Trails games to date.
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GameGrin - Mike Crewe - 9 / 10
>A dark, more mature story, a great new cast of characters, and much improved turn-based action make Trails through Daybreak a fine addition to the franchise that's accessible to fans and newcomers alike.
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Hardcore Gamer - Jordan Helm - 4.5 / 5
>Nihon Falcom needn't have gone about overhauling things as radically as they have. But with a newfound energy and purpose to its real-time/turn-based hybrid of a premise, as well as a bountiful amount of new and returning mechanics to experiment with, Trails Through Daybreak is nothing less than another fantastic reinvention for what was already some of if not the best turn-based combat in any JRPG series. Aided on top by that familiar dedication to player customization, intriguing world-building and that ongoing desire to spend a bit longer in getting the most out of the systems on show. Countless entries later, Trails continues to prove itself as one of the most satisfying and engaging role-playing experiences available. It wasn't exactly begging for such reinvention, but with The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak, Nihon Falcom's opener to the Calvard arc is as close to perfect a new chapter, as you can possibly get.
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IGN - George Yang - 8 / 10
>The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreakβs new cast of characters, revamped battle system, and engaging story is exactly what the series needed to reach new heights.
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IGN Italy - Alessandra Borgonovo - Italian - 7.5 / 10
>An eleventh chapter that tries to revamp the series from a gameplay point of view, only partially succeeding.
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Nintendo Life - Mitch Vogel - 8 / 10
>Trails through Daybreak stands as another great entry in the storied Legend of Heroes series, making the most of its new setting with its memorable characters and engaging turn-based combat. Though it's held back a bit by things like the awkward introduction of action-based combat and some irritating quirks (and nearly unreadable text in portable mode), this is still an entry that we would strongly recommend to both series fans and, yes, newcomers, too. Trails through Daybreak is a strong inaugural outing, offering another fresh start for this franchise; we'd suggest you give it a shot.
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NintendoWorldReport - Jordan Rudek - 9 / 10
>Van is a charming and vocal protagonist who gives as good as he gets, and rest assured, he isn't shy about giving a loving head patting when the opportunity arises. Those who have played earlier Trails games will enjoy the returning characters, mentions, and nods to earlier events and people, but even if you're an RPG player unfamiliar with the Trails games, you'll find plenty of reasons to sink your teeth into this latest one. It's no surprise that the hero of Daybreak has a proclivity towards indulging in cakes and pastries; he happens to star in one hell of a sweet adventure.
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NookGaming - Rob MacIntosh - 8 / 10
>The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak made for a rather enjoyable playthrough that was hard carried by its main party and how fun combat was. I also like that it trims some of the fat that had begun building with the bloated previous arc. This is one of the best put-together Trails games in a long time, complete with some solid cutscene choreography and a near-seamless feeling of play in between combat and cutscenes.
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PSX Brasil - Thiago de Alencar Moura - Portuguese - 90 / 100
>The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is a darker and more interesting take on one of the best JRPG franchises of all time. The gameplay additions enrich the experience, but what really makes it so remarkable is the excellent cast and storytelling that lives up to the series' fame.
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RPGamer - Alex Fuller - 4.5 / 5
>Offering an incredibly welcome refresh for the series with its story, cast, and gameplay, The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is a delightful way to re-enrapture existing fans while being an excellent opportunity for newcomers to get on board.
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Siliconera - Cory Dinkel - 10 / 10
>Trails through Daybreak is a triumph for both long-time fans and newcomers to the series. For veterans, it builds upon and expands nearly every aspect that makes the series great, from its intricate storytelling to its deep character development and strategic gameplay. For new players, while itβs a challenge to dive into such a complex series, the game makes a commendable effort to provide an accessible starting point into the rich world and lore without feeling overwhelmed.
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Spaziogames - Gianluca Arena - Italian - 7.5 / 10
>Trails through Daybreak marks the first time Falcom takes a bet with its franchise, changing its combat system to a degree and some of its gameplay mechanics. The changes are all good for newcomers, which will find an ideal entry point here, but are not so for the longtime fans, who could dislike the action-focused shift and the decrease in the overall level of challenge.
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The Games Machine - Danilo Dellafrana - Italian - 8 / 10
>Trails Through Daybreak is a rather classic role-playing game and will delight Nihon Falcom fans, if only to inaugurate yet another narrative strand in a now endless dynasty. The combat system isn't quite as polished as the one seen in Trails of Cold Steel, however, and the plot likes to keep the pace a bit too slow, but as a start there's nothing to complain too much about, thanks also to the charisma of a protagonist like Van and an intriguing game world as only Falcom is capable of creating.
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The Outerhaven Productions - Scott Adams - 5 / 5
>The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak gives us a new area of Zemuria and a lot of new characters to love. Van Arkride is a great character and I hope to see more of him going forward.
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TheSixthAxis - Miguel Moran - 9 / 10
>The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is the spark that this series needed, and an incredible new chapter for such an iconic franchise. The shift in tone for the story and the addictive dual-mode combat had me hooked from beginning to end. If you play any game in this series, make it this one.
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Twinfinite - Cameron Waldrop - 5 / 5
>Though I will always have a soft spot for the Cold Steel games, Trails Through Daybreak arrives as the new best game of the series. Between giving a more mature protagonist and redefining the combat, the Calvard arc starts with its best foot forward. The fact that things have already become this hectic with the very first game means we're looking at probably the craziest arc to date. Sadly, these take a bit of time to localize, and we'll be two behind in September, but I will be right there when the next one hits.
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VGChartz - Thomas Froehlicher - 8.5 / 10
>Although it only partially fixes Falcom's woes in terms of story pacing, Trails Through Daybreak is nonetheless a journey full of wonders.
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Yes, it's a light remaster of the 2005 release. Seems to be part of a larger effort on Falcom's part to get their older games more accessible on newer hardware. Players have needed a PC to have access to their catalog.
Azure is so amazing. I loved both games though. Zero is nice in that it gets rolling quicker than the other Trails games.
I nibbled a bit more at Unicorn Overlord but it still hasn't grabbed me. Other than that, haven't spent much time in JRPG Land; I got sucked into Honkai Star Rail big time last month.
This month will definitely be Trails through Daybreak month for me, though.
XSEED Games will release Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana in the west, the company inadvertently revealed.
A number of Tactics Ogre fans will tell you that the PSP version, whether vanilla or with the One Vision mod, is superior to the recent Reborn PC release. Each version has its pluses and minuses, so it's largely a matter of taste. The port itself was fine on release, despite the recent trend of SQEX PC ports that were messy on release but were fixed later (like Chrono Trigger and Cross).
I still play the Intellivision's Treasure of Tarmin on my phone from time to time. People would probably call it a first-person roguelike or something today. Amazing how a little randomness can give even a 1983 game so much replay value.
For actual hardware, I doubt I'll ever play anything especially retro/vintage now. I'm spoiled by today's gamepad ergonomics (I'd never play much Treasure of Tarmin on an Intellivision pad, woof). However, I do sometimes think about setting up some sort of hardware to play on a CRT with a wireless gamepad.
Oof, I can't agree with this at all. Departure is one of my favorite tracks from the whole era, and the ending song was also excellent. I felt the soundtrack did a lot of heavy lifting to carry the game's somber tone.
Notable though that Miyoko Kobayashi was on "Departure," not Hikichi. Hikichi only had a few tracks on the game.
This isn't an anthology like most games in this genre (or video games in general). It's a continuous narrative, like a long-running novel or TV series. Newcomers could get on board with this one, since it's introducing a new cast and location, but they'll have to go back at some point. Otherwise, they should start at the beginning (Trails in the Sky). Even if newcomers start with this one, they are going to be lost in Daybreak 2.
Funny thing is, out of all the disc "cleaners" we sold while I was at Gamestop, we got very few complaints about it. Make the discs look like they went through hell but the product worked.
That was Matsuda. He was replaced last year.
I suppose this is newsworthy because Kiryu's biggest splash so far has been saying they were cutting back on smaller projects.
The highlight of an excellent soundtrack, and it feels incredible with the gameplay. I love that it's not super up-tempo like it would be in some action games.
It's hard to top the inkjet printers I've owned. I still can't believe 30 years later home printer tech is not only unimproved but worse between lower quality production and squeezing people on ink costs.
Yeah, I think if the interviewer was asking questions in English, they probably would have used the term "AA" or "small" for the type of games in question.
Semantics aside, everyone here knows what Kiryu is talking about.
Square Enix's CEO Takashi Kiryu has addressed shareholders' concerns about whether his new business plan includes indie games or not.
Hah, it does get better, but it's one of the worst offenders of the whole "20-hour tutorial" problem in gaming.
Love this one. My favorite regular battle theme from the series. That violin sings.
At this point, AliExpress is my #1 choice for anything a) made overseas anyways and b) that I don't need right away. It's usually parts or trinkets; for example, the last thing I bought was a kit to supplement my mahjong playing set.
In this case though, this feels overpriced for a used/refurbished model. If you were going to take on this much perceived risk, I'm surprised you didn't go with one $150 or less on eBay or a local exchange like Facebook Marketplace or something.
It's been just a drip feed of news for us the past few months. The games showcase season started out slow for the genre, with Expedition 33 possibly the biggest early surprise, but Nintendo dropped a whopping eight announcements on us today. We also recently had a date set for Visions of Mana and the Baten Kaitos PC shadow drop.
What's got you excited? What do you want to see more of? What hasn't turned up that you wanted to see?
Yes, finally out of jail. I'm seeing some reports that they reduced the difficulty after player feedback. I guess "Hard" or whatever will be the original difficulty.
I'll probably get to this eventually. I was pleasantly surprised with Lost Odyssey.
The accompanying Dragon Quest I & II announcement was a surprise. DQIII is the kind of game that could sell massively in Japan, so this is likely not the last we'll see of HD-2D remakes.
Publisher Bandai Namco and developer logicalbeat have released Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster for PC via Steam for $49.99.
Publisher Bandai Namco and developer logicalbeat have released Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster for PC via Steam for $49.99.
Bloomtown: A Different Story caught my eye immediately when I first saw it at last year's PC Gaming Show. Beautiful, smooth sprite animations and a clear Persona influence interested me enough to finally pick up the demo yesterday when I was browsing Steam's Next Fest.
It has a somewhat slow start, but I'm sure Earthbound fans will dig the the game's Americana setting with a dash of whimsy and humor as you poke around town. Of course, things take a turn and you end up fighting demons.
There's more than a little Persona 5 in the game's battle system, with familiar music, UI, gameplay elements, and concepts like companion demons. Some of it is parody, such as slapfights to determine who gains the initial advantage in battle. Some might feel outright borrowed, such as the battle music (which is nonetheless excellent).
Like many early demos, there are bugs and rough elements I'd expect to get smoothed out. However, the overall experience was far better than I was expecting. I'm excited to get my hands on the full game.
The demo is available on the game's Steam page if you'd like to try it yourself.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a new turn-based RPG developed by Sandfall Interactive, a team founded by Ubisoft veterans.
This is another French-developed JRPG-ish thing. Kinda got Lost Odyssey vibes.
This showcase focuses on the job system and other aspects of combat.
As previously speculated, it indeed has a system quite similar to SMT's Press Turn, but with some additional quirks.
This year marks FINAL FANTASY VIβs 30th anniversary! In honor of this, we decided to interview the titleβs character and monster designer, Tetsuya ...
Ashtear @lemm.ee Getting it done with the power of friendship since 1991.
π₯π¨π§π πππ β¨ ___
Some suggested Lemmy communities:
!patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
!jrpg@lemmy.zip
!letstalkaboutgames@feddit.uk
___
Discord for Japanese-style role-playing game (JRPG) discussion: https://discord.gg/vHXCjzf2ex