Kicking off an entire new saga in Falcom’s storied Trails sequence, Trails by way of Dawn represents a step ahead for the franchise in so some ways. Boasting an up to date recreation engine, pretty vital gameplay additions, and a totally new setting, that is most likely the freshest that Trails has felt because the unique Trails of Chilly Metal — and that was 5 complete video games in the past.
The Republic of Calvard has at all times 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 acquired supercomputers, laptops, its personal F1-style sport, robotic pets, and a thriving movement image trade. It is a nation that is enormously benefitted from its battle with the aforementioned Empire, with reparations paving the best way 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 may 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 title 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 prepared to get his arms soiled. His considerably aloof persona finally ends up being a incredible point of interest, as he is slowly surrounded by a vibrant solid of celebration members and supporting gamers.
Certainly, Falcom’s managed to create one more crop of memorable characters — a feat that grows increasingly more spectacular with each recreation that it releases. Dawn’s acquired plenty of new faces — and fairly just a few returning ones — however holding monitor of so many roles not often overwhelms. That is largely all the way down to the title’s methodical pacing, as every story chapter steadily introduces new locations, characters, and ideas. The Trails video games proceed to be a masterclass when it comes to world constructing.
That mentioned, there is no getting away from the truth that Dawn may be very heavy on textual content. The script — which spans a marketing campaign that lasts round 100 hours — is completely colossal, and issues get extremely wordy at occasions. Once more, this strategy helps Falcom in its makes an attempt to flesh out nearly each attainable element — and it’s engrossing when you’ve got the persistence for it — nevertheless it does gradual proceedings to a crawl every so often.
Nonetheless, we have to reward the localisation workforce. The English script is immaculate and emotive, and that is one hell of an achievement given the sheer measurement of the factor.
Talking of localisation, Dawn comes with an optionally available English dub, however very like its Japanese counterpart, it skips the vast majority of the dialogue. Now, when a script is that this huge, it is easy to simply accept that corners have to be lower — however fashionable Trails video games have this jarring factor the place some characters’ strains will likely be totally voiced, whereas others will reply with voiceless textual content containers. We dare counsel that you simply get used to it, nevertheless it’s a problem that stands proud in Dawn as a result of there are simply so many interactions.
Luckily, the storytelling holds up all through, and we would go as far to say that this is without doubt one of the finest, 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 rather more affect for those who’re really conversant in them, however as a standalone story, Dawn feels full; this is not a case of 1 huge recreation being sliced into two halves, like with Chilly Metal 3 and 4.
As such, we would advocate Dawn to newcomers, with the caveat that you simply would possibly wish to work backwards by way of previous titles with a purpose to get the complete image. Its totally new setting and essential characters go a great distance in making the sport really feel like one thing of a recent begin. And who is aware of, you would possibly simply spark an enduring relationship with this excellent sequence.
Anyway, let’s speak 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 part earlier than leaping into a standard turn-based mode. Out-of-battle assaults are nothing new for these video games, as you’ve got at all times been in a position to smack an opponent on the sphere with a purpose to acquire a bonus when the right battle begins — and that mechanic has developed 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 slightly stiff throughout these action-based assaults, however they add an gratifying rhythm to the standard dungeon crawling, as you seamlessly swap between the 2 modes of play. For the report, the motion portion of fight is totally optionally available — though as talked about, gorgeous 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, celebration members can now transfer freely throughout the designated area, whereas making use of intelligent positioning to overwhelm opponents with workforce assaults and talents that hit tougher 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, and so they’re nonetheless among the finest you will discover in fashionable RPGs. Every character has entry to a lot of magical arts and distinctive crafts, in addition to omnipotent tremendous strikes. You’ve got acquired plenty of choices to mess around with proper from the beginning, and exploring the person toolkits of your celebration members is a constant pleasure.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Falcom has tweaked fight stability as an entire. Within the Chilly Metal video games, you would 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 issue curve is healthier for it; battles are usually a bit extra forwards and backwards, with consideration afforded to defensive ways, versus merely nuking your enemies as shortly as attainable.
On the subject of character builds, the sequence’ returning quartz system has been given a fairly substantial overhaul. In previous titles, objects referred to as quartz granted new spells and stat boosts when geared up — not not like materia in Ultimate Fantasy 7. However in Dawn, quartz is tied solely to stat will increase and passive perks, whilst you acquire entry to new spells — or arts — by way of completely different objects, referred to as ‘drivers’. Separating these two parts of celebration customisation provides you extra freedom, nevertheless it does really feel convoluted — particularly in the course of the opening couple of story chapters, once you’re nonetheless making an attempt 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 could be this a lot enjoyable, it is an actual disgrace when Van and the gang are compelled to tackle detective work that sees you run round city, speaking to a seemingly limitless provide of NPCs as a substitute 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 concept, ought to solely serve to bolster the sport’s world constructing. However in apply, 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 usually should determine on the way to settle a quest, selecting between conclusions which can be both law-abiding or rule-bending. In flip, your choices can decide sure story beats, and though it stops in need of being a very branching narrative, your alignment does have some cool implications down the road. We might like to see Falcom dig deeper into this type of stuff.
Earlier than we wrap up, we must always talk about Dawn’s improved visuals. It isn’t an enormous leap over the later Chilly Metal video games — and it is undoubtedly not what you’d name graphically spectacular by immediately’s requirements — nevertheless it’s a horny 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 robust, and Falcom’s crafted a few of its largest, most detailed environments to this point.