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The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak

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The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak
Developer(s)Nihon Falcom
Publisher(s)NIS America
  • JP: Nihon Falcom
  • PAL: Clouded Leopard Entertainment
Director(s)Takayuki Kusano
Producer(s)Toshihiro Kondo
Programmer(s)
  • Yuki Hirata
  • Toru Endo
  • Nobuhiro Hioki
Artist(s)Katsumi Enami
Writer(s)
  • Hisayoshi Takeiri
  • Yuuta Miyazaki
  • Syunsei Shikata
Composer(s)
  • Hayato Sonoda
  • Shuntaro Koguchi
  • Yukihiro Jindo
  • Mitsuo Singa
SeriesTrails
Platform(s)
ReleasePlayStation 4
  • JP: September 30, 2021
  • WW: July 5, 2024
PlayStation 5
  • JP: July 28, 2022
  • WW: July 5, 2024
Windows
  • CHN: July 28, 2022
  • JP: March 1, 2023
  • WW: July 5, 2024
Nintendo Switch
  • JP: February 15, 2024
  • WW: July 5, 2024
Genre(s)Action role-playing, Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak[a] is a 2021 action role-playing, role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom. The game is a part of the Trails series, itself a part of the larger The Legend of Heroes franchise, and is the first game in the Trails Through Daybreak story arc. It marks the second half of the Trails series and is the first to be set in the Calvard Republic. The game follows Van Arkride, a young man working at Arkride Solutions Office as a Spriggan, a bounty hunting detective.

Trails Through Daybreak was released in Japan for the PlayStation 4 in September 2021. A port for the PlayStation 5 was released in Japan and other Asian regions in July 2022, along with a Windows port in Chinese and Korean. A Japanese Windows port was released in March 2023. An English version by NIS America, including a Nintendo Switch port, is scheduled to be released in July 2024. A sequel, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II, was released in 2022.

Gameplay

File:Kuro no Kiseki battle.jpg
An example of a turn-based combat encounter

The story follows a chapter format. In each chapter, the player spends a day in the city of Edith, where they are free to interact with characters and do side missions. When the story progresses, it sends the player to a different place where a new member joins the party. The game has no load times for entering or exiting buildings, and generally has a larger overworld than seen in previous games in the series. A first for the series, Trails Through Daybreak features an alignment system based on law, chaos, and mix of the two. While the system does not affect the main story or ending, it unlocks options that allow the player to ally with certain factions at a particular point in the game, triggering unique events and dialogues.

The game's combat system is divided into two modes: real-time action battles similar to Falcom's Ys series and traditional turn-based combat featured in the series' past. The game encourages the player to use both modes, which can be freely switched between outside of boss fights, which are exclusively turn-based.[1]

Plot

In the year 1208, thanks to postwar reparations, Calvard Republic experiences unprecedented economic growth while continuously dealing with public unrest caused by immigration and new governmental reforms. In a corner of the city of Edith, a young man known as Van Arkride is working at Arkride Solutions Office as a Spriggan, a bounty hunting and private detective.

Combat real-time action similar to Falcom's Ys series

One day, Van is approached by Agnes Claudel, a high school student and the daughter of Calvard's new president Roy Gramheart. She asks for his help to find a type of orbment called Oct-Genesis, the last creation of her late great grandfather Claude Epstein, one of the greatest scientists in history. Along the way they are joined by Feri Al-Fayed, a Jaeger of the Khruga clan; Aaron Wei, a performer in Langport; Risette Twinings, an employee of a private military company; Quatre Salision, a pupil of professor Hamilton who is one of professor Epstein's disciples; Judith Ranster, a famous actor who has a secret identity as the Phantom Thief Grimcats and Bergard Zeman (Gunther Barkhorn), Van's mentor and a knight of the Church who was presumed dead. Their search for the Oct-Genesis brings them into Conflict with the terrorist group Almata led by Gerard Dantes. The Arkride Solution Office align themselves with other factions such as the Bracers, the government and even criminal organizations like Ouroboros and Heiyue against Almata, which itself is aided by Garden, a secret organization formed by Ellroy Harwood, the fourth anguis of Ouroboros who combined the remains of the D∴G cult in Crossbell with the remains of the group he formerly belonged to, the Order of the Moonlight Horse. Van also reunites with Elaine Auclair, a bracer who is his childhood friend and former lover and Rene Kincaid, a government secretary who is his and Elaine's childhood friend.

It is revealed that Van has become the host of one of the five demon lords known as Vagrants-Zion when he was young (which allows him to take a monstrous form known as Grendel), as such he became a test subject of the D∴G cult under the supervision of Gerard Dantes who was a member at the time. Using his position in the cult, Gerard claimed the power for himself and escaped the cult's extermination, he then took over the leadership of Almata to spread fear and strengthen the demonic power. It is also revealed that Gerard is actually a descendant of the Eldarion family, Calvard's fallen monarchy.

Van and his team face and kill Gerard, but he and other deceased members of Almata are revived by one of his subordinates named Melchior. The Spriggans face Gerard again who transforms into a demon, Van takes the demonic power back from him, killing him for good. Giving the last Oct-Genesis they found back to Agnes, Van becomes Vagrants-Zion and imprisons himself in another plane to save humanity, but his team, with the help of his orbment's artificial intelligence Mare, reach Van's prison realm, save him and together, defeat the demon lord.

Development and release

Trails Through Daybreak marks the start of the second half of the series' narrative, and the beginning of a new story arc that continues with its sequel Trails Through Daybreak II. It features a new proprietary game engine by Falcom that replaced the PhyreEngine used in the Trails of Cold Steel series.[2] Trails Through Daybreak was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan on September 30, 2021.[3] A port for the PlayStation 5 was released in Japan and other Asian regions on July 28, 2022, along with a Windows port in Chinese and Korean.[4]

A fan translation group released a spreadsheet and overlay program for the game,[5] but received a cease-and-desist removal order by NIS America in August 2022 after an unofficial patch that could directly insert the English text into the game was made.[6] NIS America later released a Japanese Windows port on March 1, 2023.[7] Trails Through Daybreak is scheduled to be released worldwide in English on July 5, 2024, in addition to a Nintendo Switch version.[8] A Japanese Switch version by Falcom was released on February 15, 2024, followed by a Chinese and Korean version by Clouded Leopard Entertainment the following month.[9]

Reception

In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version was the highest selling physical game of its release week, selling an estimated 50,100 copies.[10] It remained on the weekly top 30 sales chart for another two weeks, reaching a total of 58,300 physical copies sold.[11] The PlayStation 5 version debuted at the bottom of the chart, selling 2,400 copies.[12]

The international release was well received overall by reviewers, though with mixed opinions on whether this is a good place to start the franchise.[13][14][15]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: 英雄伝説 黎の軌跡, Hepburn: Eiyū Densetsu: Kuro no Kiseki

References

  1. ^ Galizio, James. "Kuro no Kiseki ushers in a new dawn for the Trails series". RPG Site. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  2. ^ Stenbuck, Kite. "Nihon Falcom reveals The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki, set for release in 2021". RPG Site. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki launches September 30 in Japan for PS4". Gematsu. May 25, 2021. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  4. ^ Romano, Sal (April 28, 2022). "The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki coming to PS5 on July 28 in Japan and Asia, PC in Asia". Gematsu. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  5. ^ Joshua, Orpheus (July 25, 2022). "'The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki' English Fan-Translated Spreadsheet Overlay Announced for PC Version This Week via ZeroField". Noisy Pixel. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  6. ^ Joshua, Orpheus (September 2022). "[UPDATE] NIS America Asks The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki Spreadsheet Creators To Cease Their Work". Noisy Pixel. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
  7. ^ Joshua, Orpheus (March 1, 2023). "UPDATE: NIS America Publishes The Legend Of Heroes: Kuro No Kiseki On PC Via Steam; English Release Confirmed - Noisy Pixel". Noisy Pixel. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  8. ^ Romano, Sal (March 5, 2024). "The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak launches July 5 in the west". Gematsu. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  9. ^ "The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak for Switch launches February 15, 2024 in Japan, in March 2024 in Asia". Gematsu. November 2, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  10. ^ "Famitsu Sales: 9/27/21 – 10/3/21 [Update]". October 7, 2021. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  11. ^ Romano, Sal (October 21, 2021). "Famitsu Sales: 10/11/21 – 10/17/21 [Update]". Gematsu. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  12. ^ Romano, Sal (August 4, 2022). "Famitsu Sales: 7/25/22 – 7/31/22 [Update]". Gematsu. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  13. ^ Fuller, Alex. "The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak Review". RPGamer. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  14. ^ Macintosh, Rob. "The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak – Review". NookGaming. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  15. ^ Vogel, Mitch. "The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak Review". Nintendo Life. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
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