The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II Review – Calvardian Corruption

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II on PS5

The best part of this sequel is that it comes only eight months after the previous game. Considering I waited about three years between Cold Steel IV and Trails into Reverie, eight months is a blessing. However, I admit I didn’t quite wait for this English release, so I imported The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II right after I finished the first game. Despite not knowing any Japanese, I beat the game, and I’m pretty pleased I got the story’s gist. Even with that, nothing beats playing through it in English, and the takeaway is still one of immense satisfaction.

Daybreak II starts only a few months after the end of the first game, and all of the temporary employees of Arkride Solutions are off on their own. The story starts with a new red Grendel showing up in Edith, and its host has been photographed with the eighth Genesis. Elaine and Van set off to search for more information about this new adversary.

After a literal dead end, the Geneses reveal their newest function: a time rewind. The first instance lets the game show off gory deaths that it usually doesn’t. However, almost all future ends that lead to a rewind ditch the gruesome part, which was a little disappointing. It’s not that I wanted to watch characters I like die, but it felt weird to lean into the horror and then later walk that back entirely.

At this point, two new arrivals come to town: Nadia Rayne and Swin Abel from Trails into Reverie. As Van is pulled away from Edith due to trouble elsewhere in Calvard, Nadia and Swin take over as substitute Spriggans for Arkride Solutions. This creates split chapters where you actually choose whose chapter you want to follow first. I liked this difference, as it gives different characters a chance to shine and not only focus on Van.

Most of the story in The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II takes the cast to new locations, so I loved learning more about Calvard as I had Erebonia and Crossbell before it. There are even new sections of Edith to explore, making the city feel much more alive than in the first game. Even the places the game returned to felt like a fresh experience rather than treading old ground.

The locations aren’t the only new thing, either. Combat has gotten a bit of a boost. These changes flesh out the Field Battles and make the game more like an action RPG like Ys X: Nordics. You can now fire off arts called Quick Arts. This does feed off EP and drains the pool rather quickly, but it’s nice to have additional ways to deal with damage. The other new facet is a Cross Charge. Upon making a well-timed dodge, you can have a different party member take over for a damaging attack.

In Daybreak 1, I was a little frustrated because the only chance you had to level up was through the story, which tapers off in level. This made the Nightmare difficulty playthrough much more of a struggle when I went to get the Platinum trophy. Fortunately, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II brings in something like the Reverie Corridor called the Märchen Garten. It’s more involved as you must traverse several maps per stage to get to the end boss.

Each map features a different objective that you must complete to unlock the exit portal. The objectives are things like destroying a set number of objects or defeating small/medium/large enemies. They aren’t anything too tricky. I was just thrilled to have a way to out-level the final bosses, as they cap out at 70, and the Märchen Garten goes far above that.

Unlike the first game, Daybreak II isn’t all about progression/combat and allows for goofing off. It finally reintroduces minigames after they were completely absent in Daybreak 1. The most prominent is the return of the series mainstay fishing, with all-new mechanics that make fishing the best it has ever been. Instead of being a button-mashing nightmare like in the Cold Steel titles, it’s now timing-based, as you have to catch a needle in a specific area as it spins around a circle.

While you still have to go to specific locations to catch different fish, the game now lists what is possible to grab at the body of water you are checking. You can even incorporate the new Shard Search function to find unique fishing spots with more fish or better odds than just picking a random place.

The other big minigame is a hacking minigame specifically for special chests that can be found throughout the story. These are essentially a bunch of time-limited mazes where you must dodge scanners and hit button combinations to get through gates until you reach your goal. They aren’t all that difficult, but it’s nice to have involved chests with a more valuable payout than usual.

The other two minigames are a new card game called Seventh Hearts that I have never completely understood but is thankfully played in very short rounds. The other is basketball, but in a really condensed way. You first play offence and must accurately fill a bar to make the shot, or defence, where you either block shots or knock the ball away. It’s incredibly simplistic to say the least.

The other best new feature of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II is that all shops with new inventory are given a different coloured icon on the map. This was a massive help in tracking down essential items, as I no longer had to waste time checking every single shop or consulting a guide. Considering the number of missable items in Trails games, knowing which shops to visit and when was a massive relief.

As the first Daybreak was something of a reset for the series, I loved seeing the way the developers intended for the first game’s mechanics to evolve. One of my favourite parts of the first game was the Field Battle because not only did it offer a new wrinkle to combat, but it no longer made fights mandatory. Instead of being forced into battle, you can quickly get through areas. To then layer new things onto it is a really good sign, as it appears the Sky FC remake will incorporate those mechanics.

It’s crazy how Daybreak II makes the first game feel so barebones when it felt just about perfect the first time I played it. The only criticism I have to say is that it feels like the ultimate middle game. I don’t know if there will be a fourth game to this arc, but this latest entry does a lot more to wrap things up from the first game and reminisce rather than push the plot forward noticeably.

That’s not to say I didn’t like the story. I love the story; it does everything a Trails game should do. The gameplay and combat are impeccable, as always. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II is yet another fantastic entry for fans to enjoy, and absolutely not a starting point for new players. I don’t think I can call this game my favourite, but it further proves that this is one of the most consistently terrific JRPG franchises in existence. I’m pretty confident the next game won’t be localised this year, but I’m crossing my fingers for early 2026.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II launches this February 14 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.