Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)On Western shores last yast year, Falcom started a fresh arc in its long-running flagship franchise with The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak, breathing new life into the series while offering a great jump-in point for newcomers looking for a place to start. With the overall Trails series rapidly nearing the conclusion of the epic story its been building up for the last couple of decades, Falcom has now released The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II, allegedly the final release in this arc. This sophomore outing for Van and crew feels a little more uneven than its predecessor, but is ultimately a worthwhile new entry.The plot picks up not too long after the previous game, starting once again with protagonist Van Arkride taking a midday nap on the couch in his office. Hes soon visited by his old friend Elaine from the Bracer Guild, who alerts him to reports of a new serial killer on the loose in Calvard. As the local Spriggan (a sort of private investigator), this would already be in Vans wheelhouse, but theres an additional detail that raises the stakes: the killer somehow has their own Grendel form, which was previously thought to be unique to Van. The two thus set out on the trail (heh) to track down the killer.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Suffice it to say, this is only the setup and a lot more happens later that expands the scope considerably and notably involves time-travel shenanigans. Although we still enjoyed the narrative, particularly the depth of the characterisation, it does feel a little more oddly paced than its predecessor and relies too much on the time travel elements to give the protagonists a do-over almost anytime something goes wrong.And while this isnt necessarily a bad thing, important characters and plotlines from previous Trails releases feature here, which takes away from the nicely self-contained and more newcomer-friendly approach of the previous entry. Even given the contributions of the older cast members, longtime fans of the franchise may also be frustrated by the lack of progression for the overarching series plotin many ways, this is very much a bottle episode or side story that doesnt do much to alter the status quo.Considering that the end of the Trails series as a whole is quickly coming into sight, it can feel a little disappointing to play through a release thats content to idle in place instead of answering some longstanding questions.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Combat follows an expanded version of the system introduced with the previous entry, smartly mixing both live-action and turn-based elements. When you first encounter enemies in the field, you can opt to simply beat the tar out of them with your weapon of choice, and new additions like quick-fire arts and cross attacks with other party members give you a few other options. Still, this action combat is less of a focus than the turn-based system, which you can always trigger with the tap of a button.Once in turn-based mode, things unfold more like youd expect out of a typical Trails game, with plenty of tactical options to demolish your foes. A redesigned timeline at the top of the screen details things like who moves next or how long a given abilitys cast time will take, and each character has a variety of Arts and Crafts to take advantage of elemental weaknesses and debuffs.Positioning really matters here, so when a character takes their turn, they can move freely within a set range to evade attacks enemies are winding up for while setting up their own counterattacks that can garner bonuses for being inflicted from the side or behind.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Due to its depth, combat is the highlight here, though the 'action' side could have a little more meat to it. The new additions certainly help to flesh it out, but it doesn't feel like a viable alternative to the turn-based combat for anything stronger than the common trash mob. Even if it clearly isnt meant as the primary means of combat, we wouldve liked a little more effort put into making it more engaging; the current system is still awkward and we found ourselves using it less over time as its shallowness became more apparent.One area in which youll get plenty of opportunity to put this system through its paces is a new side mode called the Marchen Garten, a procedurally-generated dungeon that takes after the True Reverie Corridor from Trails into Reverie.Here, youre tasked with taking a party of any four unlocked characters and working your way through floors with randomised objectives, such as breaking a certain number of objects or defeating specific enemies, that culminate in a tough boss fight. Good performance gives you extra cracks at an in-game gacha with rewards like new cosmetics and, importantly, upgrades for crafts and S-crafts.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)We appreciate what Marchen Garten is going fora side mode like this feels like it absolutely belongs in a Trails gamebut the execution is lacklustre. It doesnt take very long for the repetitive nature to make progression feel like a grindy slog, and the rewards youre often given for your troubles rarely feel like they justify the effort to get them. Sure, its good for grinding your characters into peak shape, but theres a lingering sense of 'missed opportunity'. Marchen Garten feels like padding not inherently bad, but hopefully Falcom will keep iterating on what it was trying here for future games.Apart from the combat and the core gameplay loop, there are also a variety of fun minigames and side activities to engage in as a sort of palate cleanser. Things like a hacking minigame with Mare for opening special chests or a fishing minigame anywhere theres running water help to break up the gameplay loop a bit and introduce some fun distractions that can also net you some tasty rewards. While none of these minigames overstay their welcome and theyre rarely forced upon you as part of the core progression, we appreciated what they added.Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)Visually, Trails Through Daybreak II borrows a lot of assets from its predecessor, but there are some improvements evident in the generally smoother and flashier battle animations. And though the environments and models overall look decent (if a bit simplistic), this entry falls into the same pit of having text thats way too small for the Switchs portable screen, to the extent that certain letters will simply not display properly. Considering how heavily it relies on lengthy, text-heavy cutscenes and detailed tinkering with character loadouts, wed advise those of you with poorer eyesight to play primarily with the Switch docked.That said, even if the text clearly isnt optimised well for the Switch, the underlying game engine still runs cleanly on the humble hardware. Frame drops were minimal and mostly unnoticeable in our experience, while load times are kept to a minimum and are reasonable when they occur.As for the music, Trails Through Daybreak II features a welcome mixture of the expected bombastic rock tracks with more downbeat jazz and funk tunes that help to give things more atmosphere. Its not a soundtrack that demands a thorough listen in the same way that some of the best Persona OSTs do, but overall its tough to be disappointed by the variety and quality that the composers delivered here.ConclusionTrails Through Daybreak II doesnt feel nearly as refreshing as its predecessor, but its still a solid entry in the long-running series that ticks the necessary boxes (legible text aside). Though its story isnt all that exceptional, the combat is as rewarding as ever and new gameplay features like the Marchen Garten help to make this feel distinct and worthwhile. And while we wouldnt necessarily suggest that this is a great starting point for newcomers, series fans will find lots to love here, even if it wont be topping many lists as a series favourite.Combat gets a nice upgradeEffective characterisation in the central plotMinigames help diversify the gameplay experience a bitRebalanced turn-based combat offers more challengeTime travel gimmicks take more than they give to the plotAction combat can still feel rather anaemicTiny text, stillGood 7/10 Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.