Finally finished this one after hearing, for literally years, from certain subsets of Falcom's community about how it's utter tripe -- as one of most recent reviews calls it, "Falcom's Newest Low". It put me off the game for quite a while, and I'm annoyed, yet also very glad, to say they were wrong. Daybreak II is a filler game. Yes, it's true, the overall 'grand' plot of the series hardly develops. Within this experience, however, the excellent cast of the Arkride Solutions Office (and friends) get ample chance to be further developed, to have meaningful and touching interactions, to get a chance to shine and have their moment in a manner that wasn't present in Daybreak I. For that alone, it's worthwhile. Even beyond that horizon, though, the story being told is -- whilst, at times, repetitive -- decently strong, with some excellent high points that kept me engaged throughout. Even where there were lulls in the narrative, the interactions between the characters kept things entertain...
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II
- Release Date:
- Feb 14, 2025
- Developer:
- Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH
- Publisher:
- NIS America, Inc.
- Platforms:
- Windows
Game Tags
About This Game
No longer threatened by the mafia organization Almata, the people of Calvard have returned to their peaceful lives. But one day, a shocking series of murders involving a mysterious crimson beast sets the wheels of fate in motion once again. Various factions spring into action – both those who abide by the law to uncover the truth and those looking to capitalize on any new developments wherever possible, no matter how sinister.
With chaos once again looming on the horizon, the spriggan Van Arkride receives an unexpected visitor, prompting his own investigation. Who is behind the murders, and what is their goal? The sands of time bring old and new faces together for this thrilling second installment in the Trails through Daybreak saga.
STORY
Year 1209 of the Septian Calendar.
The threat posed by Almata has passed. Peace has finally returned to Calvard. And, for a time, that peace goes uninterrupted—until a CID special forces unit is slaughtered by an unknown assailant.
With authorities working to contain the situation, criminal forces take the chance to make their own moves.
Meanwhile, a spriggan by the name of Van Arkride begins his own investigation—after prompting from an unexpected visitor.
Who could be responsible for this massacre? What was their objective? And how does it all relate to Agnès' search for the eighth Genesis?
A crimson beast's roar. A chance meeting with a boy and girl, both embroiled in a mysterious search. These are the circumstances that lure Arkride Solutions down the trail of an inescapable fate.
SYSTEM
Battle System
The game builds on the seamless transition between field battles and command battles introduced in the previous game with new mechanics that can be used in both: Cross Charge & EX Chains! Mastering the use of these two combo mechanics can provide you with overwhelming firepower to use against your opponents.

Cross Charge
If you manage to Perfect Dodge an enemy's attack during a field battle, the Cross Charge icon will appear! Pushing the correct button while the icon is on-screen will swap in another party member, who will simultaneously execute a charge attack on your foe! As a bonus, the party member that you swap in will have enhanced attack power for a period of time.
EX Chains
EX Chains can be activated by fulfilling specific conditions during command battles. Once these conditions have been met, using a craft or normal attack against a stunned enemy will automatically activate an EX Chain! This allows party members with SCLM activated to launch a simultaneous attack that will also impact nearby enemies, dealing massive damage.
Choose Your Chapters
Van and his collaborators will not always travel together during the events of Trails through Daybreak II. At times, some of the group may split off in order to take care of tasks in different areas of Calvard concurrently. Because of this, each act contains multiple chapters you can play in any order. Progress the story in the order you choose! Each chapter features a different cast of characters as we see their side of the act's story play out.
Once you've completed your chosen chapter, the next one will start up automatically.
Unique Missions
Certain chapters will feature missions that utilize the unique skillsets of the characters in that chapter's party. For example, directly controlling the holo core AI, Mare, to hack the orbal network, or using Swin to silently tail a suspicious individual.
CHARACTERS
Van Arkride
The man at the head of Arkride Solutions. A lover of sweets, saunas, and orbal cars. Due to his job as a spriggan, Van has a tendency to take on legally-questionable jobs. However, the fact that he occasionally walks on the edge of the law does not preclude him from doing good by others—as is evidenced by his numerous personal contacts. While tracking down the Oct-Geneses at Agnès' request, Van developed the ability to transform into an armored form known as the Grendel with the help of Mare, the holo core installed within his combat orbment. It was with this new ability that he was able to fend off the mafia group known as Almata. Having once terrorized the entirety of the Republic, Almata was eventually brought to its knees by the Arkride Solutions team during the fight for the Oct-Geneses. Upon the quelling of this threat, however, they decided to temporarily go their separate ways. Now left to himself in a less-than- lively office, Van is free to return to his lone-wolf lifestyle once more.
Agnès Claudel
A first-year at the prestigious Aramis Academy who currently serves on its Student Council. Despite her polite manner of speaking and at times meek demeanor, Agnès has shown great strength and determination while employed at Arkride Solutions—especially when facing off against the seedy underbelly of society. Agnès first met Van while searching for eight prototype orbments known as the Oct-Geneses, which she inherited from her great-grandfather. As thanks for taking on her request, she began working as one of Arkride Solution's part-time assistants. At present, Agnès has recovered seven of the eight Geneses. Unfortunately, while continuing her search for the last remaining Genesis, she's had no choice but to also divide her time between preparing for the Aramis Academy Festival and periodically helping out around Arkride Solutions. Regarding her relationship with Van, she both respects and admires him as her employer. However, she seems to be harboring some more amorous feelings for him as well...
Elaine Auclair
An A-rank bracer affiliated with the Calvard branch of the Bracer Guild. She is occasionally referred to by the moniker 'Beauty's Blade.' Due to her dignified beauty and masterful skill with a sword, Elaine tends to catch the eye of the media more often than not. Unfortunately, this also leads to talent agencies offering her contracts for modeling and acting—she always declines. Outside of being the poster girl for the Bracer Guild, Elaine has no present interest in joining the world of entertainment. During her high school years, she enjoyed a brief and fleeting romance with Van before he suddenly vanished without so much as a word. It was only recently, after seven years, that the two were able to reunite. Although their lingering feelings for each other have left their current relationship a bit tense, their time fighting Almata together was able to strengthen their bond once more. Some time after the events involving Almata and the Oct-Geneses, Elaine received word that the Central Intelligence Department's elite Gamma Squad had been brutally murdered by an unknown assailant, and that a 'crimson' monster was spotted at the scene of the crime...
WORLD
The Republic of Calvard
A large country located in the central region of the Zemurian continent. Its current leader is President Roy Gramheart. Due to the unfortunate circumstances created by the desertification of eastern Zemuria, Calvard has a substantial history of receiving both immigrants and refugees. The resulting mixture of cultures and ethnicities has made the country into something of a melting pot. One hundred years ago, Calvard was under the heel of its monarchal rulers. It was only after Sheena Dirke and her compatriots brought about a democratic revolution that the nation was transformed into a democratic republic. Though in constant conflict with Erebonia over the control of bordering regions, Calvard has recently been on the receiving end of reparations from the empire following the Battle of Jormungandr. These reparations enabled Calvard to enter a period of rapid growth and development, leading to its eventual overtake of Erebonia as the most powerful nation on the continent. Regarding the region's recreational interests, recent technological advancements in orbal vehicles and filmmaking have caused a boom in both the motorsports and orbal cinema industries.
Messeldam
A moderate-sized city located in the north of Calvard. Due to its long-standing role as one of the Northern Sea’s major trading ports, Messeldam was often tasked during the days of monarchal rule with the delivery of imports to the capital of Oración—along with fresh seafood, of course. Although the port remains active to this day, developments in airship technology have greatly diminished its significance. The city itself, however, remains an important gateway to Remiferia and its surrounding nations. Unlike Langport, Messeldam possesses very few tourist destinations. That being said, the townscape's architecture tends to be quite popular with visitors, as its design has seen little change in the past century. The city’s Eastern and Central Eastern populations are fairly meager due to its geographical location. As such, it lacks a community that values cultural traditionalism. This has, fortunately, been a boon for Messeldam, as new art movements and customs are accepted with relative ease. It was this very attitude that led to the city serving as the venue for the Orbal Film Festival for a number of years, until its relocation to Tharbad in 1208.
Screenshots
User Reviews
shitty game with questionable design choices. sluggish combat with little-to-no challenge even on nightmare (even tho they nerfed the s-crafts to the ground), meaninglessly empty märchen garden unironically ten times worse than reverie corridor (which was already bad), rewinding system that makes no sense and never got explained throughout the game, felt forced after act 2 and it was conveniently abused by falcom. the ost was again bad. filler game while we wait for his game.
Boring. Worst game in the Trails series by far. Plot: The plot makes no sense. Characters’ motivations are contrived and not credible. The game gives no reason for us to care about (or even know/think about) an important villain. Explanations of events/phenomena are usually references to some sort of vague magic with arbitrary rules. Battles: Battles are tedious. Managing shard boosts dominates every other choice by forcing you to do particular things on particular turns. Battles are either over on the first turn (if enemies are stunned) or go on for many slow turns. Ex Chains discourage using S-breaks. Stun mechanics discourage using arts because stun usually lasts just one turn. Characters have access to few arts, and there are so many crafts that apply better buffs than any arts do, so buff/debuff arts don’t get used. Only characters built specifically for arts should ever use attack arts (even on a free art turn). Keeping track of shard skills is nearly impossible (I’m sup...
After finally completing the entire series this year, I have context to say that [b]Trails Through Daybreak 2[/b] is probably the closest I’ve come to disliking a Trails game, which makes it very difficult to provide it a recommendation without the caveat of: You will need to play this game if you are committed this far into the series. I have major problems with this game, and I feel like these issues would have been deal-breakers in your average JRPG, but when a series is riding this high on so many critical-hits, I have to give it tough-love as a result. I probably should be giving this game a thumbs-down, but I also feel like to do so would be akin to telling someone to skip it, and if you have played the series, then you know that skipping isn’t an option. Does it ruin the series? No, thankfully. The main positive I can give it is in two areas: It has an intriguing first half, especially at its midpoint Fragments chapter when fans of the series are given an ultra-dose of pay...
God I thought Cold steel 4 was a low point but this game makes me want to just drop the entire franchise. Evidently Falcom doesn't know how to write compelling stories anymore.
Another really good game from Trails that expanded on the first Daybreak game. I thought the time rewind part of the game was very cool, albeit it started to get old towards the end. Wish they gave you more time with the Dominion characters during the story and had less padding but thats a usual trails issue.
If you're here you're already invested in the series. Its a good addition. Characters are still great, and enough throwbacks to get you to point at the screen like Leo.
While not as fresh as the first one this was still great. I liked the 2 routes structure in the first half, the plot’s main gimmick was fun and the way it was maximized in Act 3 was really good and the character writing continues to be top notch.
Shizuna in the pit-girl outfit is the best main character design in any game ever.
Love this series. bit of a grind at the end. but the story overall is very good.
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System Requirements
Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10/11
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 22 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Settings: 1080p, 30 FPS, Performance Graphics Profile
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10/11
- Processor: Intel Core i5-10400
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 22 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Settings: 1440p, 60 FPS, High Graphics Profile
FAQ
How much does The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II cost?
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II costs $59.99.
What are the system requirements for The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II?
Minimum: Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10/11 Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 22 GB available space Additional Notes: Settings: 1080p, 30 FPS, Performance Graphics Profile Recommended: Recommended: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10/11 Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 22 GB available space Additional Notes: Settings: 1440p, 60 FPS, High Graphics Profile
What platforms is The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II available on?
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II is available on Windows PC.
Is The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II worth buying?
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II has 78% positive reviews from 23 players.
When was The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II released?
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II was released on Feb 14, 2025.
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