The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II

Trails Through Daybreak II tells a great story with many twists and turns. NIS has also made quality-of-life improvements throughout the game to make everything flow as smoothly as possible. With excellent writing and entertaining combat, Trails Through Daybreak II shows it can stand on the same mountain as the biggest titans in the genre.

Throughout 90 hours with Trails Through Daybreak 2, it was hard to shake the feeling that it was a game that would resonate strongly with JRPG fans, regardless of whether they had played previous games in the Legend of Heroes series or had followed the other Trails games from the sidelines.

Being one of my favourite RPG franchises, I'm very happy to discuss The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II today so let's get to it.

For some reason, the screen slowly rotates by default when entering a new scene or shop screen. The problem persisted after I unplugged my mouse. And there seem to be fewer than usual NPCs you can talk to on the streets. But these issues are far from dealbreakers for me.

Whilst the story isn’t as strong as the previous title, the endearing, well-written characters and exciting battle systems make this a Trails game that’s well worth it for long-time fans of the franchise.

Trails Through Daybreak 2 is a fantastic continuation of the franchise, even with some stumbles in story pacing, and it's a joy to play on the Steam Deck.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2 is an ambitious, but flawed, sequel to one of last year's best JRPGs

While the narrative has its share of tedious moments and some repetitive missions, The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II is still a great sequel. It delivers a compelling, immersive story and exhilarating combat, improving upon its predecessor in many ways while upholding the series’ JRPG excellence.

The latest addition to Falcom's long-running RPG series isn't a complete disaster, but it's far from a triumph, and the new features barely raise it above the underwhelming story.

Return to the Calvard Republic and unravel the mystery of the crimson beast! One day, a shocking series of murders set the wheels of fate into motion once again. Chaos looming on the horizon, the spriggan Van Arkride receives an unexpected visitor. Who is behind the murders, and what is their goal? Nintendo Switch version reviewed. Review copy provided by NIS America for testing purposes.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 2 makes a few missteps with the pacing of its multiversal story, but it puts a focus on quality character moments and impressive worldbuilding.

With that in mind, Daybreak 2 sits in a weird space in which it’s a must-play for fans of the series, as it sets up events that will be built upon in future games, but it’s also really difficult to recommend. If you’re determined to go in regardless, keep your expectations in check, brace yourself for a seemingly endless amount of filler, and you should have a decent enough time.