Kuro no Kiseki 1 is absolutely stunning and plays like butter. I am by no means an expert on turn-based JRPGs, but I've played a few, and oh my God, this has the best gameplay of them all for me. Trails gameplay has always amazed me and been my favourite, but this sets a whole new bar. They revamped the combat system and now allow you to move across the map with just your joystick rather than it being a separate move like before, making the gameplay and strategising even more interesting, especially in regards to AoE arts. But also, before you even get into your encounter with an enemy, you can engage in action combat to either have an advantage when you get into combat, or to go through groups of enemies and level faster if you feel the need to. Trails games aren't grindy in general, but if you choose to grind, it'll not feel like one at all in this game.

The technical impressiveness goes beyond combat gameplay. Persona 3 Reload, a JRPG by a successful company released 3 years after this game, still does the thing where if you enter a building on the street, you get teleported into like a separate level, and also the encounter system where you get teleported from the dungeon into a separate stage and then get back out once you're done. Not in Kuro. You enter buildings like it's nothing, and go in and out of encounters in the exact same room you were in, like it's no big deal. Which means that if you get into one in a narrow hallway, you will have less space to evade AoE attacks. It's amazing.

The music is very inconsistent in this one. Some of the stuff is downright amazing (as expected of a Trails game), like the boss themes or the jazzy city music, but otherwise you get letdowns like one of the normal battle themes that I found uninspired by Trails standards. And the OP is really fire and gorgeous.

Van is an amazing protagonist. Likable, a grown 24-year-old and in a unique line of work that sets him apart from other Trails and many JRPG protagonists, his "solutions" agency that deals not in black or white, but in gray, makes for some interesting stories and quests. His journey is really cool too, but that's impossible to discuss without spoilers, so I won't.

Unfortunately, despite initially seeming like the automatic best Trails, it has some issues I can't look past. The biggest problem is the pacing in the middle of the game, mostly in the penultimate chapter and the first half of the final chapter. There is so much repetition and padding, even by Trails standards. I was shocked after this wasn't a problem in Reverie and early Kuro 1. I think I finally started to feel Trails burnout because of this. Additionally, the cast is compelling, but sometimes the chemistry feels forced. Lastly, I won't hold it against the game for this, but it feels a little... too complete for its own good, unlike other first parts of Trails duologies. I played a bit of the beginning of Kuro 2 and it honestly feels like an unnecessary follow-up. Outside of those issues I can see why this is "a return to form" as a new arc for many, though I did like Cold Steel myself.

Ultimately, a seriously good game, this series continues to amaze.

Peak Fiction, this game is so incredibly good.
Van is such a fantastic protagonist, and he has definitely become one of my favorite protagonists. But not only Van, the whole Kuro Cast is great, in my opinion. I also really loved Risette and Agnès. Especially Risette is great, I absolutely love her.
This was also, in my opinion, certainly the best start to a new Arc from any Kiseki/Trails game, I don't think it could've been much better as a start to a new arc.
In addition to that, I also really liked the new battle system. I at least think the action/turn-based hybrid system was really fun.
Besides the great story, the game also looks beautiful. It's certainly the best-looking Kiseki game, and I enjoyed just looking at all the areas in the game.
The only major criticism I have with this game is probably that the music placement isn't perfect in some cases. I love the whole soundtrack, though I think in some cases the music didn't fit perfectly in the moments it played. But all things considered, that didn't bother me that much.
But overall, this game has become my favorite Kiseki/Trails game and one of my favorite games in general. With the Sky trilogy, Zero, Azure, Hajimari no Kiseki and now Kuro no Kiseki, the Kiseki/Trails series has definitely become one of my favorite series, and I'm already looking forward to playing Kuro II next.

"You're the gentle color of the night, just before the dawn breaks through the darkness"

Kuro no Kiseki is not only the 11th game in Nihon Falcom's Legend of Heroes: Kiseki (Localized as Trails) franchise, but also for the first time in nearly a decade, the start of a brand new arc in the series featuring a new protagonist and supporting cast of characters alongside a whole new nation to explore and learn about as well, this time being set in the Calvard Republic, the 2nd biggest nation in Zemuria nonetheless. Kuro is also the start of the official 2nd half of the Trails series beginning the Eastern Zemurian Arc after Trails Into Reverie finally brought a close to the 10 game long Western Zemurian Arc. Needless to say, Kuro had some massive shoes to fill and I'm here to tell you that it not only fills said shoes, but also casually runs a 100 yard dash in them as well becoming not only my favorite starting game in a new arc (even surpassing my previous favorite Trails from Zero), but also becoming arguably one of the absolute strongest Trails games in general across the entire series and that was just after experiencing it with a fan translated English patch and I know I'll love it even more once the official localization comes out.

Kuro no Kiseki follows the misadventures of Van Arkride, a 24 year-old young man who runs his own private "solutions office" and is known as a "Spriggan" which is essentially a cross between a bounty hunter and a private investigator. Compared to previous Trails protagonists who worked for the Bracer Guild or the police, Van and his solutions office are in a more grey area of the law, being the balance between the criminal underworld and regular society. Van and his personality help reflect this sense of moral greyness as well seeing as how he is not your typical goody-two-shoes who feels like he has to help everyone out and puts their needs above his own. No, Van is only in this for the money (And sweets and his car) and Van is generally willing to do jobs for anyone from the Bracer Guild to Heiyue and even Ouroboros themselves, as long as the price is right and he doesn't have to accept every single job that comes his way like the Bracer Guild or police either, but instead he only accepts the ones he wants to as long as he doesn't deem the job as something that goes against his own personal "code" of honor.

Our story begins when Van is contracted by a student named Agnes Claudel from the prestigious Calvardian high school Aramis Academy to find an antique Obrment known as the "Genesis". Agnes herself wants to find this orbment because it somehow pertains to her own family history. It's from here on that Van and Agnes' search for the Genesis takes them all over the nation of Calvard while slowly recruiting allies and new members of the Arkride Solutions Office and has the gang unintentionally get entangled in the schemes of a mafia-like terrorist group known as Almata who also want the Genesis for their own nefarious purposes.

Kuro, much like Reverie before it has a great sense of mystery and suspense and some really mind-bending plot twists as well. The game will always keep you guessing and just when you think you've figured it all out, there comes another twist to make you question everything you thought you knew! Mystery aside, the writing in Kuro surprised me in more ways than one considering this is also easily the darkest and most mature Trails game to date not being afraid to show blood and death on screen and have some very tragic and unforgettable events occur. Which was pretty refreshing after 10 games of mostly safe shounen tropes and Falcom being afraid to commit to deaths (Reminder that this is coming from someone who loves Cold Steel and considers Trails their fave series in general btw). Kuro also has better pacing than most Trails games as well with one of the shorter prologues and the game wasting little time getting the player into the thick of the action while constantly amping up the stakes every new chapter until the climatic conclusion in the finale chapter.

The cast of characters in Kuro is one of the most diverse since the Sky series. Considering how in Zero almost all the characters were in their late teens and in Cold Steel they were all teens at a military school (minus the occasional teacher or two), the ages in Kuro range from 13 to almost 70 and this mixed with all the character's eccentric and unique personalities really keeps all the interactions between the cast fresh and entertaining. Whether it be Van and his overprotective dad-like personality to all his younger part-timers or Aaron and his blunt, crude, delinquent attitude or Agnes and her polite and naive girl next door outlook and how she slowly changes as she learns more about the world around her and of course Judith and her comically aggressive passion for all things film and justice, I could honestly talk about all these characters, their chemistry between each other and their development for hours. Without a doubt the strongest cast chemistry in a Trails game to date for me (Besides maybe the Imperial Picknicking Front in Reverie)

Another important factor to talk about whenever Trails is involved is the world-building because being such a deeply interconnected series, that's the best thing about Trails and Kuro is no different either. In the beginning chapters of the game I was initially worried that Kuro was going to be a soft reset like the first Cold Steel was because there was very little connection to the rest of the games (Aside from a few cameos) and the over-arching plot and going from Reverie which is the game that relies on the series interconnected lore the most to Kuro was slightly jarring at first, but by the end of the game that is definitely NOT the case and I strongly do NOT recommend playing this game if you've never played older Trails games especially if you haven't played the Crossbell games. All that aside though, Kuro also adds its own new concepts into the world of Zemuria, like private military companies, a thriving film scene, new parts of the criminal underground, a new tech institute, new factions of the Septian Church and even Van's solution office itself are just some of the ways Kuro helps expand upon the world and lore of Zemuria and that's not even mentioning all the countless side-quests that truly help flesh out the Calvard Republic and all the people who live in it as well.

So if you're familiar with my reviews or review format a lot of games I play are RPGs so I tend to focus on the narrative, characters, world and whatnot first since I believe those to be the strongest reasons to play a game like this, but now we've reached the point in the review when it's time to talk about gameplay and boy is there a lot to say with Kuro no Kiseki since it introduces a LOT of new mechanics to the series.

Since Kuro no Kiseki is the first game to be entirely on Falcom's latest in-house engine they basically did a complete overhaul on the combat system of the Trails series after the gameplay was mostly the same since the first Cold Steel, but just with small additions for each new game. Kuro introduces what's called "field battle" and "shard battle", now you can play both real-time action combat similar to Falcom's Ys series or in the old-school Trails style of tactical turn-base. Field battles definitely need some polish because currently they are very barebones including one simplistic combo, a power attack to stun enemies and a dodge roll button, but it's still a lot of fun and the biggest change in "Shard battle" is now you can have your character freely move around (Given they have enough MOV stat) and not use a turn to do so. Kuro encourages the player to use both modes, which can be freely switched outside of boss fights, which are exclusively fought in Shard battle turn-based combat.

On top of the combat system itself being overhauled, the Obrment system has had major changes as well. Gone are the ARCUS Obrments of Erebonia, no now we have the latest tech with the XIPHA 6th gen battle Obrment of Calvard. No more equipping Quartz to cast specific spells, now besides increasing stats Quartz are solely meant for special Shard bonuses like dealing extra types of element damage, recovering HP out of fights, dealing extra damage with preemptive strikes etc and you get these bonuses by combining the right amount of properly colored Sepith value from each Quartz on the right lines in a similar way to how the combat Obrments were back in Liberl and Crossbell, but you might be wondering how do we change our artes if Sepith isn't tied to it? Well there's an all new mechanic called "Artes Drivers" which are something you install into your Orbment and they come with a set of pre-installed artes and some empty slots to unlock and equip new artes alongside the ones built into the driver. You mostly buy these, find them in the wild and get them for doing side quests. I'd say Kuro was the most challenging and balanced Trails game since the Crossbell games because in the early chapters there were fights where I made it by the skin of my teeth. However as you get stronger and find better gear for your builds, the 2nd half of the game becomes just as unbalanced and breakable as the Cold Steel games and I was mostly one-shotting groups enemies with Van's S-craft alone. Honestly though, that's part of the fun of this series to me. Oh and slightly unrelated, but FINALLY after 10 games we can FINALLY sell unneeded Quartz. It's the little QoL improvements that really matter.

So as I mentioned earlier Kuro is the first game on Falcom's brand new in-house engine and boy does it show! If you played Reverie you'll remember a particular scene which tested said engine, but that's the quality you can expect from this whole game and it truly improves everything from the background lighting and shading, to the character models having more defined details and especially the in-engine cut-scenes and animations looking more polished. The new engine is fantastic and makes Kuro the best looking and feeling Falcom game to date and it's not even close, the more polished animations gives the impeccable action scenes and fight choreography more room to shine even brighter as well.

And finally as always what would a Trails game or any Falcom game in general be without an incredible OST from the master composers on the Falcom Sound Team JDK and performances by the JDK band? Well considering Falcom were one of the first game studios to have a dedicated sound team way back in the day, it's one aspect the company has always prided themselves on and you can always count on a consistently quality soundtrack alongside their games. Kuro is no different whether it be the classy and sophisticated jazzy atmosphere of a track like "What is Ahead of You" which perfectly captures the entire vibe of Kuro as a whole or the bombastic Tokusatsu sounding theme of the Phantom Thief Grimcatz, the J-Rock vibes of the opening theme for the game "Namonaki Akumu no Hate", the Middle Eastern exotic sitar style of "Girl Dancing in an Oasis" and of course no Falcom game would be complete without blazing neoclassical and progressive electric guitar metal battle and boss themes like "Unmitigated Evil" or "Diabolic Howl", nearly every track is just as masterfully composed as you've come to expect from Sound Team JDK and this is by far one of their most diverse and experimental OSTs yet.

I honestly don't have many complains about Kuro really all I can say is I wish there was more in the way of side content because this is probably the most barebones Trails game since Sky FC, not even featuring fishing and going from Reverie which had the most side content of any game in the series to Kuro was certainly a change in pace, but since the main narrative and side quests are some of the best the series has to offer the lack of side content isn't that big a deal and I still got over 100 hours out of a single playthrough of Kuro.

Featuring one of the best narratives the Trails series has to offer with a darker and more mature tone to the writing alongside an incredible cast of characters with equally incredible chemistry between them and a fascinating setting that expands upon the already insanely detailed world of Zemuria, a masterfully composed, diverse musical soundtrack, a beautiful new engine breathing the most life into a Falcom game to date and a fully revamped combat system for the Trails series which might lack the depth of Reverie or the later Cold Steel games, but still remained thoroughly fun and entertaining for my whole 100+ hours of gameplay, all of these reasons and more make Kuro no Kiseki a true triumph and masterwork for not only the Trails series, but Falcom as developers as a whole showing just how far they've come in the past 40 years in the business and that they still show no signs of declining in both quality and quantity, but also aren't afraid to evolve with the times and experiment and Kuro no Kiseki is one such experiment that was a massive success in my book and certainly one hell of a way to open up the Calvard arc with a bang!

A great palette cleanser that hearkens back to the more standard Trails from Zero rather than the massive saga that was Cold Steel IV or the episodic reflection of Trails into Reverie.

As is typical for a first game of an arc in this series, there are sweeping system changes, mostly to combat and how arts work. Combat-wise, the field combat is an amazing new addition and is a great base for future games. S-Crafts now also require S-Boost, a team-wide resource similar to Bravery Points in the last game, that mostly serves to curtail the S-Craft spam that dominated every fight that allowed preparation. The Arts system has even more complexity than previous games, but buyable plug-ins and drivers allow you to get the spells you want easily. Overall, arts are not as powerful as Zero or Azure, but are a little more interesting than Cold Steel.

Story and characters-wise, the game starts off a little bit slow as it eases you into Calvard, but picks up pace around chapter 2 or 3. The smaller cast and mostly self-contained story overall is what makes playing this game so much more relaxing than Cold Steel's marathon 5-game plot and massive cast of 50+ playable characters. Crawling around the city doing sidequests felt like Crossbell, and the slow introduction of new party members like in Sky helped you build a bond with every character, unlike Cold Steel, which gave nearly your entire core party for the first 2 games at the very start, and had to work to endear them to you as they fought for screen time.

I know I talked a lot about Cold Steel in this review but that shit seriously traumatized me and this game is much better. Overall, the missing star mostly represents a slower start and mediocre final dungeon (swear to god in the final chapter you have to destroy like 30 shields). But this is the best game since Azure.

This was such a needed pallet cleanse. new whole setting that starts the second half of the series with such a banger with the best arc starting game by a mile
it hits all the right notes and really makes me have hope for the future of the series. this is how arcs should start

this game is beautiful, it looks real good with the new engine and the combat is super fun it CLEARS everything that was in former games. the move to make it a mix of action/turn based hybrid was an unexpected but wholly welcomed change and it makes it 10x more fun

I ADORE the new cast all hits no misses in just one game a lot of them have become up there with some of my favorite characters in the whole series.
i really can't wait to see what they develop into with this new arc
Thank you Van Arkride

my only complaints would be
1. the music direction, not the music itself i think the music is generally great but god the placements of some songs just ruins a lot of the scenes that would've been fantastic with better choices
2. some unneeded padding here and there

Interactions in this game usually go like this:

Voice from off screen: “Hey Van, you called?” (Camera pans to reveal Blorpko Shitface, VA: John Voiceactor, returning from Trails Up Your Butt. You haven’t seen him in over 500 hours of gameplay.)

Van: Ah, Blorpko the Cum Drinker, good to see you.

Agnés: (Wait, the cum drinker? I’ve seen him in magazines before, didn’t he help out in the Bay of Poms incident?)

Blorpko: This is paying you back for helping me during Trails of Cold Steel 4, which I was notably absent from.

Don't Worry Trails Through Daybreak Drops Summer 2024 ‼️Listen ‼️
I was never bracer smart I'm Spriggan smart
Makes me more intelligent
Call me Mr. Z1 festival
I gota hella vans
Dingo cute and his circle too
Told him bring a friend
He gon make me slide with my dog
like im Quatre

Without a doubt the strongest game to kick off a Trails arc!
I'm so glad we didn't get yet another reset in terms of stakes but jumped right back to an experience as intense as Reverie before it - hell, even way more I'd say.

There's a lot to appreciate here; the new engine is gorgeous, the mixture of real-time and turn-based combat for overworld encounters works surprisingly well despite the real-time combat being a bit one-dimensional due to it working as a sort of prelude to regular turn-based encounters by giving you an easy-to-achieve break and follow-up on it as soon as you switch to turn-based afterwards and the more mature tone of the game is a very welcome surprise.

The fact that it gives you more reason to actively go for side-content is great to see as someone who wouldn't dare skip it either way; having full bonding points as long as you do all sidequests is SUCH a welcome improvement after Cold Steel requiring you to do a NG+ run to see all of them and the new Alignment system that goes up way easier through sidequests was a fantastic addition as well. It didn't end up mattering as much as I thought it would, but it's definitely made me more excited for my eventual replay when the official localization drops.

But the cast is easily my favorite thing about it. Right off the bat, Van Arkride is a phenomenal protagonist, and slowly realizing just how vast his connections are is such a blast, as his impact on the world at large adds so much to previous games too. His fractured and awkward friendship with René and Elaine is fantastic - it's rare to see something like that in these games, and it's easily one of my favorite things about the mature mood this game has. I'm sure everyone around his age has been there at some point in their lives, so there's a bittersweet catharsis in seeing them slowly warm up to one another yet again.
I'm genuinely surprised at how much Agnès feels like a second protagonist due to how involved she is in the story aswell; for a long while, Van feels more like the conduit that ties everyone together while the story revolves more around her; and considering we haven't seen something like that since Sky, I'm really glad about that. She has so much agency and story focus, and the stuff she's dealing with really strikes a chord with me, so she's a surprising favorite of mine considering I didn't expect that beforehand at all.
The rest of the cast is fantastic too, and the way they're nearly all united by grief in one way or another is bittersweet. The build-up from co-workers to feeling like a genuine family is perfect, and I'm glad the formulaic structure of the chapters is used well to properly give everyone some time to shine; sometimes in surprisingly non-linear ways.
Bonding Events are therefore not nearly as necessary to get to know certain characters properly here which is such a relief; it's simply an addition to the character that's properly established in the story, because this game knows what to do with it's entire cast despite it's size. No shade towards any class from a predecessor of this game or anything, ofcourse.

I'm also amazed at how well it follows up from Reverie - I fully expected that game to be closure for Crossbell and Cold Steel respectively primarily; but now I fully understand why Swin and Nadia are making a return in Kuro 2, and I can't wait to see them again.

Overall just a really solid game! I can't think of any complaints that really stand out to me as worth mentioning honestly, it's been an absolute blast from start to finish.

Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak takes players on a thrilling adventure through the multifaceted nation of Calvard, offering a deep and engaging narrative that explores various themes, cultures, and political landscapes. The game introduces refreshing gameplay mechanics, incorporating action RPG elements while retaining the essence of the Trails series' turn-based combat system. This blend of new and familiar gameplay styles keeps the experience engaging, eliminating monotony often associated with grinding in RPGs. Visually, the game marks a significant improvement for the Trails series, with graphics that finally match the contemporary gaming standards. While the OST starts off a bit mediocre, the hope for more impressive soundtracks in later stages keeps the musical aspect promising.

The protagonist, Van Arkride, stands out as a morally complex character, a departure from the traditional goody-two-shoes protagonists of the series. His interactions with the diverse cast of characters, including the endearing Feri and the charismatic Aaron Wei, contribute to the game's emotional depth. However, some characters, like Agnes, initially lack depth but serve their purpose as audience surrogates. Trails Through Daybreak excels in world-building, delving into the intricate details of Calvard's cultural diversity and political challenges. Each chapter introduces a new layer to the nation's tapestry, whether exploring bustling cities, the world of underground politics, or the clash between traditional values and technological advancements. The game artfully navigates sensitive topics like racism and immigration, making them integral parts of the story. However, the game does have its flaws, particularly in the characterization of certain villains. While some have compelling backstories, their execution feels lacking, leaving them less impactful than they could have been. Additionally, certain plot twists, like Van's connection to the DG cult, raise questions about the character's age range, causing minor confusion.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is a captivating addition to the Trails series, offering a rich, diverse, and culturally immersive experience. Its innovative gameplay, well-developed protagonist, and exploration of complex themes make it a must-play for both series veterans and newcomers. Despite some minor hiccups, the game succeeds in delivering an enthralling narrative set in a meticulously crafted world. Players can eagerly anticipate the future of the series, eagerly awaiting the continuation of this captivating saga.

NOTE: I used GPT to compile all my blogs into a single review kekw.