80%PC

This one doesn’t quite reach the highs of the first game, but I still had a great time with it. The pacing stumbled in places, and some story beats didn’t land as hard as they could have, but overall it felt like a worthy continuation. I actually enjoyed it more than a lot of the fandom gives it credit for it had solid character moments, strong combat design, and some intriguing world-building that set the stage for what’s coming next.

For me, it sits comfortably as a very good entry, just not the flawless package the first game was.

80%PC

Trails through Daybreak II does away with the series' usual "monster of the week" structure in favor of more complex plot progression. Its big feature are the "Dead Ends" - characters take a wrong route - they die, and go back in time to fix that. Alas, this is repeated way too often, making the party look incompetent, and destroys tension by not placing any limits on this ability. Tellingly, Fragments and Act III do something unusual with it, and thus are much more interesting than Acts I and II, where it served as a basic "save/load". 8/10.

70%PC

Great overall story, poor execution (what with all the time rewinds).

75%PC

7.5

70%PC

This is the worst Legend of Heroes game i have ever played. 90% of this game is a pointless filler. There are some nice moments, but that's just not enough. Looking at the game formula and story this looks more like a Reverie 2 than Daybreak 2. Gameplay is very good obviously but narrative could be a lot better. There is nothing really engaging and interesting in this game.

70%PlayStation 5

Gameplay-wise it's certainly my favourite Trails game. Story-wise it often comes close to be really awesome, but yet again, Falcom's fear of making impactful narrative decisions ends up preventing the game from reaching greatness in that regard. Still, i'll always love trails characters, and even if I think they could be a little wiser and complex, Daybreak 2 is just another example of Falcom's talent in creating endearing characters.

85%PC

ACT III obviously super rushed. Final Boss fight almost makes up for it.

80%PC

Another great addition to the saga, I really enjoy Van as a main character. Some of the party members are meh, but a lot of them are great.

100%PC

Holds up as an excellent sequel to the 1st in the Calvard Arc. It's definitely been interesting to see how these games have evolved over the years to the point of remastering the 1st game to start the saga. This one is becoming my new favorite and I'm excited to see how they're finally going to end this Zemuria saga and what may come next. Falcom continues to give us a loveable cast of characters embarking on a deep investigation in a very rich world. Also bringing back the Reverie Corridor as Maerchen Garden is nice cause now I can grind levels out for the small army of characters you get to have in your party so there isn't just one characters staying at lower levels because they aren't getting used as the story progresses. Ending nicely ties up loose ends while also foreshadowing. 5/5

95%PlayStation 5

I’ve just beat The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II, so here’s my spoiler free review!
Overall, I found the game very enjoyable (surprise, surprise from a Trails fan), with somewhat improved combat over the first game, especially the field combat. The story was enjoyable for the most part but struggled in Acts 1 and 2.
Acts 1 and 2 suffered from being very disjointed, hopping from one event to another as you went between acts and parts without great explanation of the events in between. The game would flashback to explain why you ended up where you were, but the structure made the overarching story feel much weaker and more like “Here’s a chapter focusing here on this” then “And here’s a chapter focusing there on that.”
However, from Fragments on, the story felt much better developed and tied together. The whole of Act 3 plays really well and makes good use of game mechanics, though I do have some story complaints from those same uses to elaborate on in my spoiler review. For most of the game, the story of Daybreak II felt more focused on character development rather than building upon the long, ever-expanding tale of the Trails universe from prior games.
The combat in all felt great and was definitely a further development of the combat in Daybreak, without introducing any new major problems. Starting with the field combat, it felt like a whole new level of intricacy in contrast to the first game; Whereas in Daybreak the field combat was more of a simple phase to stun the enemies and go into the real fight for me, in Daybreak II the additional features of quick arts and cross charges, as well as generally better feeling combos from many of the party members and more unique attacks from enemies, made the field combat in Daybreak II into its own beast. At first the quick arts seemed underwhelming and difficult to use due to EP usage, once you get further into the game where you have more EP at your disposal and plenty of EP charges from the Garten, using quick arts can be very useful in the Field Battles.
On the Command Battle side, the EX Chains made further use of stuns, which often felt lackluster in the first game with how quickly they’d go away before you had a good character up to attack them. Additionally, S-Breaks felt much better when they can now steal AT bonuses from the next acting character on the timeline. However, I still believe the Daybreak AT bonus system is a step down from the past games, since you can only take the upcoming AT bonus with S-Breaks, not manipulate the whole bonus order with S-Breaks or even simple turn manipulation.
The recast limitations resolved a problem I never really made extensive use of in the first game due to my playstyle: spamming S-crafts with their new 100 CP cost. However, it did create a new problem for my playstyle, because I typically enjoy taking advantage of the S-boost duration lasting until your next turn, rather than immediately dispersing like other buffs. Now, if you S-break after your third (last) turn of boost, you cannot S-break or S-craft until your character boosts on their own turn and once more runs out three turns of boost. This interaction, which felt unintentional, makes these last-minute S-breaks much less useful unless you finish a fight with them before needing to attack again.
On a different note, the activities, both in the Fragments and Finale chapters, were significantly worse than their equivalents in previous Trails games. Usually for these types of events, there’re some unique experiences to be had with each character you invite and meaningful dialogue or scenes to see with them. However, in this game, it felt more like a chore you complete after getting a couple throwaway lines of dialogue from the character(s) you invite. I didn’t get much joy from the activities in this game, it was more of a slog to get through the 10 or 15 points it allots you to run through to get extra connect points.
On the flip side, the Connection Events in Daybreak II were astounding. Almost every event meaningfully dived deeper into the character(s) you were meeting with, explaining important material that is not otherwise discussed in the main story. While in Daybreak I felt comfortable leaving my unseen events for my NG+ run, in Daybreak II I knew I had to go through each and everyone to not miss any important character development.
The Garten made for a great way to easily grind out the much-needed sepith and mira for putting together character builds and such. The craft enhancement, while unnecessary and not game changing, made the Garten exploration feel more meaningful and less like a chore as you got significantly rewarded for doing so. In my personal experience, I highly recommend randomizing the BGM (especially if you get the BGM DLC) to spice up the experience in the Garten.
Overall, a 9.5/10 for me, as a massive Trails fan.

80%PC

The gameplay really saves the title. The story is certainly not a highlight, possibly the worst story in all the series. The gimmick simply took out any sense of danger, immediacy or excitement. I still enjoyed the characters a lot and their growth. Also, the OST was great as always.

80%PlayStation 5

7.9

80%PC

Probably my least favourite game in the series. It's a good game but not a good Trails game. It's got weak pacing and a subpar plot. The plot is hopefully relevant to future entries but it feels like it's just filler. Character develpment is fine but could have been better and the soundtrack is fairly weak. I still enjoyed my time with it but there are much better games in the series.

60%PlayStation 5

Best Trails game, but avarage again

80%PC

https://www.reddit.com/r/Falcom/comments/1aj0ha8/just_finished_kuro_no_kiseki_2_for_the_first_time/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

80%PlayStation 4

A good game but middle of the Kiseki pack for me!
Some pacing issues but otherwise solid. A very predictable formula in a certain chapter as well.
Felt similar to several other Kiseki titles where you get a good chapter then the next one is a real slog to fight through!
Music also pretty weak (for Falcom) bar a few select tracks! (Jindo bangers as always).
Game performance GREATLY improved compared to Kuro 1 on a launch PS4.