Kicking off a complete new saga in Falcom’s storied Trails collection, Trails via Dawn represents a step ahead for the franchise in so some ways. Boasting an up to date recreation engine, pretty important gameplay additions, and a totally new setting, that is most likely the freshest that Trails has felt because the 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 received supercomputers, laptops, its personal F1-style sport, robotic pets, and a thriving movement image business. It is a nation that is drastically benefitted from its conflict with the aforementioned Empire, with reparations paving the way in which for an enormous financial growth.
Taking all of this under consideration, Calvard makes for an thrilling backdrop. Falcom is ready to push themes and concepts that might 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 almost all would deem shady. The place prior Trails leads have been righteous through-and-through (obnoxiously so, at occasions), Van is a real breath of contemporary air — a hero who’s keen to get his palms soiled. His considerably aloof character finally ends up being a implausible focus, as he is slowly surrounded by a vibrant forged of get together members and supporting gamers.
Certainly, Falcom’s managed to create yet one more crop of memorable characters — a feat that grows increasingly spectacular with each recreation that it releases. Dawn’s received lots of latest faces — and fairly a number of returning ones — however preserving monitor of so many roles not often overwhelms. That is principally 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 stated, there isn’t any 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 completely colossal, and issues get extremely wordy at occasions. Once more, this method helps Falcom in its makes an attempt to flesh out virtually each potential element — and it is engrossing you probably have the persistence for it — however it does sluggish proceedings to a crawl every so often.
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 measurement of the factor.
Talking of localisation, Dawn comes with an optionally available 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 easy to simply accept that corners must 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 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 will discover in a Trails title. Sure, it leans on occasions from earlier video games — particularly in a while — and sure, recurring characters may have way more impression if you happen to’re truly acquainted with them, however as a standalone story, Dawn feels full; this is not a case of 1 massive recreation 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 a view to get the complete image. Its fully new setting and primary characters go a great distance in making the sport really feel like one thing of a contemporary begin. And who is aware of, you may simply spark a long-lasting relationship with this excellent collection.
Anyway, let’s discuss concerning the gameplay. Essentially the most important 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 have at all times been in a position to smack an opponent on the sector with a view to acquire a bonus when the correct 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 a little stiff throughout these action-based assaults, however they add an pleasurable rhythm to the standard dungeon crawling, as you seamlessly swap between the 2 modes of play. For the file, the motion portion of fight is fully optionally available — though as talked about, gorgeous a foe does afford you an enormous benefit forward of the complete encounter, and you possibly can 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 crew 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 general.
However the underlying mechanics of previous Trails titles stay in place, and so they’re nonetheless among the greatest you will discover in fashionable RPGs. Every character has entry to quite a lot of magical arts and distinctive crafts, in addition to omnipotent tremendous strikes. You’ve got received numerous 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 a complete. Within the Chilly Metal video games, you may utterly break the system via particular character builds and methods, 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 had been. This adjustment could come as a disappointment to some gamers, however we do assume that the title’s overarching issue curve is healthier 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 potential.
On the subject of character builds, the collection’ returning quartz system has been given a reasonably substantial overhaul. In previous titles, gadgets referred to as quartz granted new spells and stat boosts when outfitted — not not like materia in Ultimate Fantasy 7. However in Dawn, quartz is tied solely to stat will increase and passive perks, when you acquire entry to new spells — or arts — via completely different gadgets, referred to as ‘drivers’. Separating these two components of get together customisation offers you extra freedom, however it does really feel convoluted — particularly throughout the opening couple of story chapters, whenever 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 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 sort 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 via a brief novel’s price 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 determine on the best way 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 talk about Dawn’s improved visuals. It isn’t a large leap over the later Chilly Metal video games — and it is undoubtedly not what you’d name graphically spectacular by as we speak’s requirements — however it’s a lovely launch given the developer’s comparatively restricted sources. The principle character fashions particularly 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 so far.