As someone who’s been following the Trails series since it first started being localized, it’s almost unreal to believe we’re approaching the start of Calvard in The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak. For those unfamiliar, the Trails series is known for its rich storytelling, intricate world-building, and deep character development. This new era is finally a welcoming jumping-on point for prospective players, thanks to the introductions of a new cast, a new region, and even a newly structured gameplay system.
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Regarding that lattermost facet, details on how it exactly works may be unknown to most newer players, so let’s perform a brief deep dive on that set of collective points, seeing as I already shared my thoughts on this entry’s premise when NIS America launched the PC version in Japanese.
The Innovative Combat System of Trails Through Daybreak
The most generally identified facet of Daybreak’s combat, seen in advertising and conversation, regards the melding of action and turn-based systems. This refreshing revamp will even be seen in Atlus’ upcoming Metaphor: ReFantazio, and its primary strengths are rooted in convenience and greater combat cohesion.
Action and Turn-Based Combat Integration
Action combat is only available on the field against non-boss foes, with each character having their own combos that deplete health in real time. This implementation is expectedly lite, though, as this style mainly serves to cleanly shift into turn-based with the press of a button.
This new era is finally a welcoming jumping-on-point for prospective players thanks to the introductions of a new cast, a new region, and even a newly structured gameplay system.
Alongside gaining a leg up on enemies by taking advantage of the action scenarios, the transitions into turn-based encounters are seamless. When considering these factors, you can imagine that the potential tedium induced by previous Trails games’ lengthy dungeon design has been mitigated significantly.
The Orbment System and Shard Skills
As for the turn-based battles themselves, which is where the real meat of combat lay, several alterations have been made, inherently differentiating it from the likes of every previous entry in the franchise. Firstly, the Orbment System has seen a shakeup as we moved from ARCUS to Xipha, leading to the introduction of Shard Skills.
Shard Skills are passive boons with select percentages of activating, and the types you gain rely on which Quartz you slot into which character’s lines. These passive effects vary significantly, with fundamentally defined avenues of Shard Skill functionalities, like bolstering one’s attack or defensive capabilities. To put it more simply, you can view Shard Skills as an altered return to the Sepith Value system from Sky and Crossbell.
Arts Drivers and Plugin Customization
Arts have also seen shifts in how they’re obtained, as they’re now contained within Arts Drivers. Interestingly, Arts Drivers are equipment with predetermined configurations determining which Arts a character will have. Plus, there is some player choice when adding specific Arts via adding Plugins.
Enhancements and New Mechanics
During turn-based combat, even more additions like Shard Boosts, which heighten the chances of Shard Skill activation, further diversify the systems here in ways that put dedicated fans and new-time players on a somewhat even playing field. Positioning is also more vital than ever due to character Crafts benefitting from which sides you hit enemies.
The potential tedium induced by previous Trails games’ lengthy dungeon design has been mitigated significantly.
Familiar Mechanics and New Dynamics
Still, it’s not like everything in here is entirely foreign. The SCLM (Scrum) mechanic effectively replaces the combat links from the Cold Steel saga and Reverie. Plus, the Connect Events are akin to Cold Steel’s Bonding Episodes, letting you see Van’s dynamics with several members of the cast.
A Promising Future for Trails Fans
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is an ambitious breakthrough for this storied franchise, with its gameplay identity taking centerstage above all else. Every facet has been handled in such a way as to appeal to a vaster pool of players than ever before. So, if you’re even remotely intrigued by what Daybreak has put on the table, you should give it a go when it’s released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC on July 5, 2024.
A free demo of The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak will be available on June 4, 2024, for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. The former will only have the prologue, while the latter will also have chapter one. Save data will transfer to the full release.
Thank you for interacting with Noisy Pixel, and you can read more of our previews here.
