Kicking off a complete new saga in Falcom’s storied Trails collection, Trails by way of Dawn represents a step ahead for the franchise in so some ways. Boasting an up to date sport engine, pretty vital gameplay additions, and a totally new setting, that is in all probability the freshest that Trails has felt for the reason that unique Trails of Chilly Metal — and that was 5 complete video games in the past.
The Republic of Calvard has all the time been a staple in Trails lore, however in Dawn, followers lastly get to discover this much-discussed nation. The place Chilly Metal’s Erebonian Empire was a rustic on the cusp of technological revolution, Calvard is borderline futuristic by comparability. It is bought supercomputers, laptops, its personal F1-style sport, robotic pets, and a thriving movement image business. It is a nation that is vastly benefitted from its battle with the aforementioned Empire, with reparations paving the way in which for an enormous financial growth.
Taking all of this into consideration, Calvard makes for an thrilling backdrop. Falcom is ready to push themes and concepts that will have felt misplaced in earlier titles, and the result’s a surprisingly mature instalment. This newfound maturity is mirrored in Dawn’s protagonist, a 24-year-old ‘spriggan’ by the identify of Van Arkride.
Van’s been across the block. He is primarily a mercenary working out of Calvard’s capital metropolis, and he isn’t averse to selecting up jobs that the majority would deem shady. The place prior Trails leads have been righteous through-and-through (obnoxiously so, at occasions), Van is a real breath of recent air — a hero who’s keen to get his fingers soiled. His considerably aloof character finally ends up being a improbable point of interest, as he is slowly surrounded by a vibrant solid of occasion members and supporting gamers.
Certainly, Falcom’s managed to create yet one more crop of memorable characters — a feat that grows increasingly more spectacular with each sport that it releases. Dawn’s bought so much of recent faces — and fairly just a few returning ones — however conserving observe of so many roles not often overwhelms. That is principally all the way down to the title’s methodical pacing, as every story chapter progressively introduces new locations, characters, and ideas. The Trails video games proceed to be a masterclass when it comes to world constructing.
That stated, there is no getting away from the truth that Dawn is very heavy on textual content. The script — which spans a marketing campaign that lasts round 100 hours — is totally colossal, and issues get extremely wordy at occasions. Once more, this strategy helps Falcom in its makes an attempt to flesh out virtually each attainable element — and it is engrossing in case you have the endurance for it — however it does sluggish proceedings to a crawl from time to time.
Nonetheless, we have to reward the localisation crew. The English script is immaculate and emotive, and that is one hell of an achievement given the sheer dimension of the factor.
Talking of localisation, Dawn comes with an non-compulsory English dub, however very like its Japanese counterpart, it skips the vast majority of the dialogue. Now, when a script is that this massive, it is easy to just accept that corners must be reduce — however fashionable Trails video games have this jarring factor the place some characters’ strains can be totally voiced, whereas others will reply with voiceless textual content bins. We dare recommend that you just get used to it, however it’s a problem that stands out in Dawn as a result of there are simply so many interactions.
Thankfully, the storytelling holds up all through, and we might go as far to say that this is without doubt one of the greatest, most well-rounded narratives you will discover in a Trails title. Sure, it leans on occasions from earlier video games — particularly afterward — and sure, recurring characters could have far more impression in the event you’re really aware of them, however as a standalone story, Dawn feels full; this is not a case of 1 massive sport being sliced into two halves, like with Chilly Metal 3 and 4.
As such, we might advocate Dawn to newcomers, with the caveat that you just may wish to work backwards by way of previous titles with the intention to get the complete image. Its completely new setting and important characters go a great distance in making the sport really feel like one thing of a recent begin. And who is aware of, you may simply spark a long-lasting relationship with this very good collection.
Anyway, let’s discuss concerning the gameplay. Probably the most vital change to the Trails blueprint comes within the type of an overhauled fight system, which now incorporates a full-on motion section earlier than leaping into a standard turn-based mode. Out-of-battle assaults are nothing new for these video games, as you have all the time been in a position to smack an opponent on the sector with the intention to achieve a bonus when the right combat begins — and that mechanic has advanced fairly dramatically in Dawn.
Van and his allies can assault, dodge, and straight-up stun enemies earlier than opting to enter a turn-based battle. The controls are a little stiff throughout these action-based assaults, however they add an pleasant rhythm to the standard dungeon crawling, as you seamlessly change between the 2 modes of play. For the file, the motion portion of fight is completely non-compulsory — though as talked about, beautiful a foe does afford you an enormous benefit forward of the complete encounter, and you may defeat a lot weaker enemies outright if you cannot be bothered taking turns.
In the meantime, on the tactical facet of issues, fight is extra fluid. Throughout their flip, occasion members can now transfer freely throughout the designated area, whereas making use of intelligent positioning to overwhelm opponents with crew assaults and talents that hit more durable from the facet or behind. The system strikes a very nice stability between strategic considering and turn-by-turn adaptation, as encounters are usually extra dynamic total.
However the underlying mechanics of previous Trails titles stay in place, they usually’re nonetheless a number of the greatest you will discover in fashionable RPGs. Every character has entry to plenty of magical arts and distinctive crafts, in addition to omnipotent tremendous strikes. You’ve got bought a whole lot of choices to mess around with proper from the beginning, and exploring the person toolkits of your occasion members is a constant pleasure.
Nonetheless, there is no doubt that Falcom has tweaked fight stability as a complete. Within the Chilly Metal video games, you may utterly break the system by way of particular character builds and methods, and though you may nonetheless unleash some pretty busted mixtures in Dawn, the mechanics merely aren’t as abusable as they as soon as have been. This adjustment might come as a disappointment to some gamers, however we do suppose that the title’s overarching problem curve is healthier for it; battles are usually a bit extra backwards and forwards, with consideration afforded to defensive techniques, versus merely nuking your enemies as rapidly as attainable.
On the subject of character builds, the collection’ returning quartz system has been given a fairly substantial overhaul. In previous titles, objects known as quartz granted new spells and stat boosts when geared up — not not like materia in Remaining Fantasy 7. However in Dawn, quartz is tied solely to stat will increase and passive perks, whilst you achieve entry to new spells — or arts — by way of completely different objects, often known as ‘drivers’. Separating these two parts of occasion customisation provides you extra freedom, however it does really feel convoluted — particularly through the opening couple of story chapters, once you’re nonetheless attempting to wrap your head across the fundamentals.
A part of the issue is that the sport virtually starves you of motion at factors. When fight encounters may be this a lot enjoyable, it is an actual disgrace when Van and the gang are pressured to tackle detective work that sees you run round city, speaking to a seemingly countless provide of NPCs as an alternative of walloping all method of monsters. Certainly, a few of Dawn’s facet quests fall into disappointingly tedious territory — the type of duties that, in principle, ought to solely serve to bolster the sport’s world constructing. However in follow, they quantity to little greater than trekking between goal markers and wading by way of a brief novel’s value of dialogue.
Fortunately, the all-new ‘alignment’ system provides a contact of spice to those in any other case dreary escapades. Being a morally murky man, Van will typically must determine on the right way to settle a quest, selecting between conclusions which can be both law-abiding or rule-bending. In flip, your selections can decide sure story beats, and though it stops in need of being a really branching narrative, your alignment does have some cool implications down the road. We would like to see Falcom dig deeper into this form of stuff.
Earlier than we wrap up, we should always talk about Dawn’s improved visuals. It is not a large leap over the later Chilly Metal video games — and it is undoubtedly not what you’d name graphically spectacular by at the moment’s requirements — however it’s a pretty launch given the developer’s comparatively restricted sources. The principle character fashions specifically look nice, though their glow-up does imply that the usual NPCs can look tough by comparability. Nonetheless, the general artwork course’s sturdy, and Falcom’s crafted a few of its largest, most detailed environments to this point.