Kicking off an entire new saga in Falcom’s storied Trails sequence, Trails via 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 very new setting, that is most likely the freshest that Trails has felt for the reason that authentic 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 obtained supercomputers, laptops, its personal F1-style sport, robotic pets, and a thriving movement image trade. It is a nation that is vastly benefitted from its struggle 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 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 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 almost all would deem shady. The place prior Trails leads have been righteous through-and-through (obnoxiously so, at instances), Van is a real breath of recent air — a hero who’s keen to get his fingers soiled. His considerably aloof persona finally ends up being a incredible focus, as he is slowly surrounded by a vibrant forged of get together members and supporting gamers.
Certainly, Falcom’s managed to create one more crop of memorable characters — a feat that grows increasingly spectacular with each sport that it releases. Dawn’s obtained quite a lot of new faces — and fairly a number of returning ones — however preserving observe of so many roles hardly ever overwhelms. That is largely right 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 by way of world constructing.
That mentioned, there isn’t any 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 totally colossal, and issues get extremely wordy at instances. Once more, this method helps Falcom in its makes an attempt to flesh out virtually each doable element — and it’s engrossing if in case you have the persistence for it — however it does sluggish proceedings to a crawl from time to time.
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 non-obligatory English dub, however very similar to its Japanese counterpart, it skips nearly all of the dialogue. Now, when a script is that this massive, it is simple to just accept that corners should be minimize — however fashionable Trails video games have this jarring factor the place some characters’ traces shall be totally voiced, whereas others will reply with voiceless textual content packing containers. We dare counsel that you simply get used to it, however it’s a difficulty that stands out in Dawn as a result of there are simply so many interactions.
Thankfully, the storytelling holds up all through, and we would go as far to say that this is likely one of the greatest, most well-rounded narratives you may discover in a Trails title. Sure, it leans on occasions from earlier video games — particularly afterward — and sure, recurring characters could have rather more influence in the event you’re truly acquainted with 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 would suggest Dawn to newcomers, with the caveat that you simply may wish to work backwards via previous titles with the intention to get the total image. Its solely new setting and important characters go a good distance in making the sport really feel like one thing of a recent begin. And who is aware of, you may simply spark an enduring relationship with this very good sequence.
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 part earlier than leaping into a conventional turn-based mode. Out-of-battle assaults are nothing new for these video games, as you’ve got at all times been capable of smack an opponent on the sector with the intention 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 somewhat stiff throughout these action-based assaults, however they add an pleasing rhythm to the same old dungeon crawling, as you seamlessly swap between the 2 modes of play. For the report, the motion portion of fight is solely non-obligatory — though as talked about, beautiful a foe does afford you an enormous benefit forward of the total encounter, and you’ll defeat a lot weaker enemies outright if you cannot be bothered taking turns.
In the meantime, on the tactical aspect of issues, fight is extra fluid. Throughout their flip, get together members can now transfer freely throughout the designated enviornment, whereas making use of intelligent positioning to overwhelm opponents with workforce assaults and skills that hit tougher from the aspect or behind. The system strikes a very nice steadiness between strategic pondering and turn-by-turn adaptation, as encounters are typically extra dynamic total.
However the underlying mechanics of previous Trails titles stay in place, they usually’re nonetheless a few of the greatest you may discover in fashionable RPGs. Every character has entry to various magical arts and distinctive crafts, in addition to omnipotent tremendous strikes. You have obtained quite a lot of choices to mess around with proper from the beginning, and exploring the person toolkits of your get together members is a constant pleasure.
Nevertheless, there isn’t any doubt that Falcom has tweaked fight steadiness as an entire. Within the Chilly Metal video games, you possibly can fully break the system via particular character builds and techniques, and though you possibly can nonetheless unleash some pretty busted mixtures in Dawn, the mechanics merely aren’t as abusable as they as soon as have been. This adjustment could come as a disappointment to some gamers, however we do assume that the title’s overarching problem curve is best for it; battles are typically a bit extra backwards and forwards, with consideration afforded to defensive techniques, versus merely nuking your enemies as rapidly as doable.
On the subject of character builds, the sequence’ returning quartz system has been given a fairly substantial overhaul. In previous titles, gadgets referred to as quartz granted new spells and stat boosts when outfitted — not not like materia in Remaining 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 — via totally different gadgets, often called ‘drivers’. Separating these two parts of get together customisation offers you extra freedom, however it does really feel convoluted — particularly through the opening couple of story chapters, if 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 will 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 limitless provide of NPCs as a substitute of walloping all method of monsters. Certainly, a few of Dawn’s aspect quests fall into disappointingly tedious territory — the form of duties that, in idea, 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 via 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 must resolve on methods to settle a quest, selecting between conclusions which might 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 should always focus on Dawn’s improved visuals. It is not a large leap over the later Chilly Metal video games — and it is positively not what you’d name graphically spectacular by immediately’s requirements — however it’s a lovely launch given the developer’s comparatively restricted sources. The primary 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 so far.
