Did you like the story? (Spoilers most likely)

[Johnathon Fortnite]

I have cold steel, reverie and daybreak on playstation. I love sky to an unhealthy degree and cold steel has some serious writing problems but it's at least fun.

This game is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mess. I'm 40 hours in and bored as ♥♥♥♥. I just read the story synopsis on wikipedia and ♥♥♥♥ me. This ♥♥♥♥ sucks ass. Tf happened? Why is that where the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ story went?

Bit of a weird franchise as a whole but jesus christ. I'm not alone in thinking the writing has taken a giant dump am I?

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ demon king. What is this tears of the kingdom?

[ToxiCyborg]

Another point you should consider is that every new arc Falcon makes sure to reintroduce a lot of features for newcomers, so, somethings on Daybreak may be boring to you who has been playing from the very first game, but commercially I don't believe it would be good for Falcon if they pushed the main plotline that has been going on for 20 years on the very first game of a new arc.

[ToxiCyborg]

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

Agreed with most of what you've said, however I've already uninstalled the game and I just wanna play cold steel again lol. Maybe I'll go back to it eventually.

Well, after finishing Daybreak I immediately jumped back to cold steel 1 too, wanna replay the whole Erebonia arc. I'm kinda of rushing a little tough, since I prefer CS3 and 4 over 1 and 2...

[Johnathon Fortnite]

Originally posted by ToxiCyborg:

Another point you should consider is that every new arc Falcon makes sure to reintroduce a lot of features for newcomers, so, somethings on Daybreak may be boring to you who has been playing from the very first game, but commercially I don't believe it would be good for Falcon if they pushed the main plotline that has been going on for 20 years on the very first game of a new arc.

Fair point, all in all it's not that big of a deal (my original post is a bit aggressive because I was tilted at the time lol) just like I've said. It frustrates me a little. I really liked the others even with their autism so i don't get why this one ♥♥♥♥♥ on my brain so hard.

Originally posted by ToxiCyborg:

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

Agreed with most of what you've said, however I've already uninstalled the game and I just wanna play cold steel again lol. Maybe I'll go back to it eventually.

Well, after finishing Daybreak I immediately jumped back to cold steel 1 too, wanna replay the whole Erebonia arc. I'm kinda of rushing a little tough, since I prefer CS3 and 4 over 1 and 2...

Atm my plan is to do what I did originally lol. Cold steel > sky > finish the second crossbell game (lloyd made that one tough for me)

Anyway I'm glad to know I wasn't alone in thinking it wasn't as good and also glad to known others did have fun. Not particularly surprising a franchise spanning 20 years would have a mere two titles i have not enjoyed.

[George14568]

I'm just disappointed about how little the voice acting was and how they cheaped out like wow were the new voice actor and you will barely hear us talk

[Book]

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

I think it's top-tier, on par with Sky SC and Azure.

You are crazy if you think this game is comparable to FC or SC.

[Book]

Originally posted by Reitschuster:

Yeah. The story was amazing. Don't really have any major criticisms for this.

I didn't like how it tries to portray itself as a darker and more mature game than Cold Steel, but ultimately it's just a stereotypical anime game about the power of friendship. At least Cold Steel was consistent in it's theme of being a light-hearted anime high school game.

[Ogami]

Originally posted by Bookworm:

I didn't like how it tries to portray itself as a darker and more mature game than Cold Steel, but ultimately it's just a stereotypical anime game about the power of friendship. At least Cold Steel was consistent in it's theme of being a light-hearted anime high school game.

I just read your review and you wrote " I doubt the series can ever reach the heights of the original trilogy, but hopefully Daybreak 2 can at least add depth and challenge to the gameplay and improve the next game's writing. "

As someone who already finished Daybreak 2 with the fantranslation patch a while ago, it does not.
Pretty much the opposite. Daybreak 2 is widely considered to be the worst Trails game of all times and always comes dead last in any poll in Asia for the series.
Its also the worst selling one.
One of the reasons is that it was released much too early, just a year after Daybreak 1 but FALCOM needed a yearly release to please their shareholders and Ys 10 was not ready yet.
So the game is 90% recycled assets from Daybreak 1 with a really stupid story.
After playing it i dont think its AS bad as some say but its definitely a bottom tier entry in the franchise and basically just a complete filler game that advances nothing in the main Trails storyline.
I gave it a 6/10 as a final rating. (Daybreak 1 i gave a 8.5/10, i enjoyed that one very much)

So definitely keep your expectations low for that one.

The next one AFTER Daybreak 2 which releases next month in Japan, "Kai no Kiseki - Farewell O Zemuria" seems to be an entirely different beast.
After the harsh criticism they got for Daybreak 2 it seems FALCOM is pulling out all the stops for that one and according to the director it will answer a ton of questions for the overarching storyline in Trails and actually bring it to about 90% completion.
Definitely looking forward to that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGJ5pyMF5Ek

[Book]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Originally posted by Bookworm:

I didn't like how it tries to portray itself as a darker and more mature game than Cold Steel, but ultimately it's just a stereotypical anime game about the power of friendship. At least Cold Steel was consistent in it's theme of being a light-hearted anime high school game.

I just read your review and you wrote " I doubt the series can ever reach the heights of the original trilogy, but hopefully Daybreak 2 can at least add depth and challenge to the gameplay and improve the next game's writing. "

As someone who already finished Daybreak 2 with the fantranslation patch a while ago, it does not.
Pretty much the opposite. Daybreak 2 is widely considered to be the worst Trails game of all times and always comes dead last in any poll in Asia for the series.
Its also the worst selling one.
One of the reasons is that it was released much too early, just a year after Daybreak 1 but FALCOM needed a yearly release to please their shareholders and Ys 10 was not ready yet.
So the game is 90% recycled assets from Daybreak 1 with a really stupid story.
After playing it i dont think its AS bad as some say but its definitely a bottom tier entry in the franchise and basically just a complete filler game that advances nothing in the main Trails storyline.
I gave it a 6/10 as a final rating. (Daybreak 1 i gave a 8.5/10, i enjoyed that one very much)

So definitely keep your expectations low for that one.

The next one AFTER Daybreak 2 which releases next month in Japan, "Kai no Kiseki - Farewell O Zemuria" seems to be an entirely different beast.
After the harsh criticism they got for Daybreak 2 it seems FALCOM is pulling out all the stops for that one and according to the director it will answer a ton of questions for the overarching storyline in Trails and actually bring it to about 90% completion.
Definitely looking forward to that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGJ5pyMF5Ek

Thank you for the warning. I am sorry Daybreak 2 didn't perform well. Hopefully the final few games can stick the landing. In spite of its flaws I love how ambitious this series is.

[Corey]

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

Also reddit got so mad at me for saying A was boring in comparison to ouroborus lmao. They're literally just haha we are evil. There's no cool little character quirks. No silly woman (duvalie), no obnoxious brat with magic cards. No cool maid, renne and joshua? And obviously knight woman who got btfo'd in cs4
She was my favourite tbh.

A is just a collection of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ lol.

I have to admit it was refreshing to run into a group of antagonists who didn't really have any grand goals beyond being... evil. Having irredeemable monsters you can choose to kill if you want was also an interesting dilemma if they capitalized on it more. Too many times in the middle of cold steel does a dude they teach you to hate reveal themselves as serving some grand and ultimately benevolent agenda. Even Weissman in Sky was serving Ouroboros agenda even if he was hella evil.

[Book]

Originally posted by Corey:

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

Also reddit got so mad at me for saying A was boring in comparison to ouroborus lmao. They're literally just haha we are evil. There's no cool little character quirks. No silly woman (duvalie), no obnoxious brat with magic cards. No cool maid, renne and joshua? And obviously knight woman who got btfo'd in cs4
She was my favourite tbh.

A is just a collection of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ lol.

I have to admit it was refreshing to run into a group of antagonists who didn't really have any grand goals beyond being... evil. Having irredeemable monsters you can choose to kill if you want was also an interesting dilemma if they capitalized on it more. Too many times in the middle of cold steel does a dude they teach you to hate reveal themselves as serving some grand and ultimately benevolent agenda. Even Weissman in Sky was serving Ouroboros agenda even if he was hella evil.

I wouldn't mind Almata if their motives were a bit more interesting. They're basically just angry because they all had ♥♥♥♥♥♥ lives, so they want to kill as many people as possible. It's not terribly compelling.

[ToxiCyborg]

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

Also reddit got so mad at me for saying A was boring in comparison to ouroborus lmao. They're literally just haha we are evil. There's no cool little character quirks. No silly woman (duvalie), no obnoxious brat with magic cards. No cool maid, renne and joshua? And obviously knight woman who got btfo'd in cs4
She was my favourite tbh.

A is just a collection of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ lol.

You're setting the target too high comparing others to Duvalie! She is just awesome!

[rachaellikesblue]

I loved the story! But I'm a sucker for found family and friendship and sticking together through hard times! I also liked that there was plenty of angst and death; it's nice to finally see some high stakes in this series.

I also felt Almata was refreshing, since Gerard and Melchior had no redeeming qualities and were just positively chilling villains. The nuking of Creil was so much more impactful than Market Manager Otto dying. And I love all of the main cast.

I don't really rank the games; I think they've all been fun to play. But I will agree with those who said this game's music did seem like the weakest. It just doesn't stick in my head like the music from the earlier games.

[Book]

Originally posted by rachaellikesblue:

I loved the story! But I'm a sucker for found family and friendship and sticking together through hard times! I also liked that there was plenty of angst and death; it's nice to finally see some high stakes in this series.

I also felt Almata was refreshing, since Gerard and Melchior had no redeeming qualities and were just positively chilling villains. The nuking of Creil was so much more impactful than Market Manager Otto dying. And I love all of the main cast.

I don't really rank the games; I think they've all been fun to play. But I will agree with those who said this game's music did seem like the weakest. It just doesn't stick in my head like the music from the earlier games.

I wouldn't mind the cast if their bond felt more natural, but it seems like the party become friends in an unrealistically short timespan.

As far as the music, I thought Grimcat's theme was really good.

I agree the villains are reprehensible, but they weren't really interesting either. You can have a villain who is irredeemable but still has an interesting motive for why they do evil things.

[Ogami]

Yeah , Almata were really weak as the villains. Melchior was amusing in a kind of "Joker from Batman" kinda way in just enjoying the carnage he creates but the rest?
All their characters came down to " i was treated bad, here is my sobstory, now i am chaotic evil and want the world to burn".
Thats super weak and kindergarten level of motivation.
Also, maybe i did miss it but at the end it was still not clear to me how Almata did rise from being a nothing low tier mafia organisation to basically being the top dogs and also why they had access to all the Octogenesis devices.
Was that ever explained where they got them from and how they exactly knew what each of them could do?
I felt that was kind of a plothole at the end. Maybe i just did not pay enough attention because by the last chapter i just wanted to finish it.
And its been like a year since i finished the fantranslation version.

[Tawm]

The game steadily declined in quality after chapter 2, and by the end it had reached the lows of the four last games in the previous arc. I'm still waiting for the day Falcom can write an actual character that isn't just an anime archetype glued together by a bunch of tropes. Really weak cast of characters. The villains were particularly awful. Even the dude voiced by Takaya Kuroda was absolute f*cking garbage. I can't believe he accepted that role. Wow.