The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak’s new cast of characters, revamped battle system, and engaging story is exactly what the series needed to reach new heights.

Trails through Daybreak is one of the series' best games, and its most impressive in terms of scope. It's a robust, engrossing RPG that often demands patience, but it's hard to turn your back on such a strong cast of characters and a story that's stuffed with memorable moments. Throw a fantastic combat system into the equation, and Daybreak is right up there with Falcom's finest releases.

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.

Despite my issues with some of the characters, Almata, and the underlying Xipha system, I still enjoyed my time at Calvard, seeing old friends and meeting new ones, and I am eager to return to one of my favorite long-form fictional works.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is a must-play for JRPG fans.

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.

An especially rough port to the Nintendo Switch adds further issues to a game already struggling with its own problems. While still a reasonably good time, The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II is perhaps the least essential entry yet in the Trails series.

While Trails through Daybreak has an ambitious yet imperfect story, it offers captivating gameplay and exploration that still shapes an above-average experience in the end.

Nihon Falcom continues to feed its endless franchises with titles that improve or maintain the level of the previous title. This is the case of The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak, another title for the Trails series that fans of the franchise and JRPGs in general should not miss.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak offers a fun and engaging JRPG experience and is a great jumping on point for people who may have been overwhelmed by starting the series and unsure of how to take the plunge. It’s packed full of interesting characters and great performances, and its unique combat system helps keep things interesting for the many hours it will take you to beat it.