On Western shores final yast 12 months, Falcom began a recent arc in its long-running flagship franchise with The Legend of Heroes: Trails by way of Dawn, respiratory new life into the collection whereas providing an excellent jump-in level for newcomers on the lookout for a spot to begin. With the general Trails collection quickly nearing the conclusion of the epic story it’s been increase for the final couple of many years, Falcom has now launched The Legend of Heroes: Trails Via Dawn II, allegedly the ultimate launch on this arc. This sophomore outing for Van and crew feels slightly extra uneven than its predecessor, however is in the end a worthwhile new entry.
The plot picks up not too lengthy after the earlier sport, beginning as soon as once more with protagonist Van Arkride taking a noon nap on the sofa in his workplace. He’s quickly visited by his previous buddy Elaine from the Bracer Guild, who alerts him to reviews of a brand new serial killer on the free in Calvard. Because the native Spriggan (a kind of non-public investigator), this is able to already be in Van’s wheelhouse, however there’s a further element that raises the stakes: the killer someway has their very own Grendel type, which was beforehand regarded as distinctive to Van. The 2 thus set out on the path (heh) to trace down the killer.
Suffice it to say, that is solely the setup and much more occurs later that expands the scope significantly and notably entails time-travel shenanigans. Though we nonetheless loved the narrative, notably the depth of the characterisation, it does really feel slightly extra oddly paced than its predecessor and depends an excessive amount of on the time journey parts to present the protagonists a ‘do-over’ virtually anytime one thing goes flawed.
And whereas this isn’t essentially a nasty factor, vital characters and plotlines from earlier Trails releases characteristic right here, which takes away from the properly self-contained and extra newcomer-friendly strategy of the earlier entry. Even given the contributions of the older forged members, longtime followers of the franchise can also be pissed off by the shortage of development for the overarching collection plot—in some ways, that is very a lot a ‘bottle episode’ or facet story that doesn’t do a lot to change the established order.
Contemplating that the top of the Trails collection as a complete is rapidly coming into sight, it may really feel slightly disappointing to play by way of a launch that’s content material to idle in place as an alternative of answering some longstanding questions.
Fight follows an expanded model of the system launched with the earlier entry, neatly mixing each live-action and turn-based parts. Whenever you first encounter enemies within the subject, you possibly can decide to easily beat the tar out of them together with your weapon of selection, and new additions like quick-fire arts and cross assaults with different occasion members provide you with just a few different choices. Nonetheless, this motion fight is much less of a spotlight than the turn-based system, which you’ll all the time set off with the faucet of a button.
As soon as in turn-based mode, issues unfold extra such as you’d count on out of a typical Trails sport, with loads of tactical choices to demolish your foes. A redesigned timeline on the high of the display screen particulars issues like who strikes subsequent or how lengthy a given skill’s forged time will take, and every character has a wide range of Arts and Crafts to benefit from elemental weaknesses and debuffs.
Positioning actually issues right here, so when a personality takes their flip, they’ll transfer freely inside a set vary to evade assaults enemies are winding up for whereas establishing their very own counterattacks that may garner bonuses for being inflicted from the facet or behind.
As a consequence of its depth, fight is the spotlight right here, although the ‘motion’ facet may have slightly extra meat to it. The brand new additions actually assist to flesh it out, nevertheless it does not really feel like a viable various to the turn-based fight for something stronger than the frequent trash mob. Even when it clearly isn’t meant as the first technique of fight, we’d’ve appreciated slightly extra effort put into making it extra partaking; the present system remains to be awkward and we discovered ourselves utilizing it much less over time as its shallowness grew to become extra obvious.
One space during which you’ll get loads of alternative to place this method by way of its paces is a brand new facet mode referred to as the Marchen Garten, a procedurally-generated dungeon that takes after the True Reverie Hall from Trails into Reverie.
Right here, you’re tasked with taking a celebration of any 4 unlocked characters and dealing your means by way of flooring with randomised goals, comparable to breaking a sure variety of objects or defeating particular enemies, that culminate in a tricky boss battle. Good efficiency provides you further cracks at an in-game gacha with rewards like new cosmetics and, importantly, upgrades for crafts and S-crafts.
We respect what Marchen Garten goes for—a facet mode like this feels prefer it completely belongs in a Trails sport—however the execution is lacklustre. It doesn’t take very lengthy for the repetitive nature to make development really feel like a grindy slog, and the rewards you’re typically given in your troubles not often really feel like they justify the trouble to get them. Certain, it’s good for grinding your characters into peak form, however there’s a lingering sense of ‘missed alternative’. Marchen Garten looks like padding— not inherently unhealthy, however hopefully Falcom will preserve iterating on what it was making an attempt right here for future video games.
Aside from the fight and the core gameplay loop, there are additionally a wide range of enjoyable minigames and facet actions to interact in as a kind of palate cleanser. Issues like a hacking minigame with Mare for opening particular chests or a fishing minigame wherever there’s operating water assist to interrupt up the gameplay loop a bit and introduce some enjoyable distractions that may additionally web you some tasty rewards. Whereas none of those minigames overstay their welcome and so they’re not often compelled upon you as a part of the core development, we appreciated what they added.
Visually, Trails Via Dawn II borrows lots of property from its predecessor, however there are some enhancements evident within the usually smoother and flashier battle animations. And although the environments and fashions total look first rate (if a bit simplistic), this entry falls into the identical pit of getting textual content that’s means too small for the Change’s transportable display screen, to the extent that sure letters will merely not show correctly. Contemplating how closely it depends on prolonged, text-heavy cutscenes and detailed tinkering with character loadouts, we’d advise these of you with poorer eyesight to play primarily with the Change docked.
That mentioned, even when the textual content clearly isn’t optimised effectively for the Change, the underlying sport engine nonetheless runs cleanly on the standard {hardware}. Body drops had been minimal and principally unnoticeable in our expertise, whereas load instances are saved to a minimal and are affordable once they happen.
As for the music, Trails Via Dawn II contains a welcome combination of the anticipated bombastic rock tracks with extra downbeat jazz and funk tunes that assist to present issues extra ambiance. It’s not a soundtrack that calls for a radical pay attention in the identical means that among the greatest Persona OSTs do, however total it’s robust to be upset by the range and high quality that the composers delivered right here.
Conclusion
Trails Via Dawn II doesn’t really feel almost as refreshing as its predecessor, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a strong entry within the long-running collection that ticks the mandatory packing containers (legible textual content apart). Although its story isn’t all that distinctive, the fight is as rewarding as ever and new gameplay options just like the Marchen Garten assist to make this really feel distinct and worthwhile. And whereas we wouldn’t essentially recommend that it is a nice place to begin for newcomers, collection followers will discover heaps to like right here, even when it received’t be topping many lists as a collection favorite.
