Until Dawn Remake

While the state of Ballistic Moon’s Until Dawn Remake baffled many fans of the original at launch, it’s since received numerous bug fixes and improvements. Granted, the altered lighting in some scenes is still odd, but the remake has otherwise done a great job with its overhauled character models, shadow quality, and revamped cinematography.

As the Western release of Kuro no Kiseki, Trails through Daybreak occurs in Edith, the capital city of the Calvard Republic. Players control Van Arkride, a Spriggan who takes on all kinds of jobs, some skirting the line of legality. He eventually takes on a case for Agnès Claudel and embarks on a lengthy journey involving entities like Ouroboros, Almata, the Bracer Guild, and more.

While it references other titles, The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak offers a fresh slate for newcomers, complete with a new engine, real-time combat option, and more. Check out our review for more details.

NIS America has confirmed that the sequel, Trails through Daybreak 2, will launch in early 2025 for the West. The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki – Farewell O Zemuria, the third title in the arc, also launches on September 26th in Japan for PS4 and PS5.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak

If you talk to every NPC and exhaust all the dialogue available, there’s no escaping a 100-hour playthrough in Trails Through Daybreak. In Trails games, NPCs each have an ongoing story of their own that updates as you progress key story milestones. The main narrative of Trails Through Daybreak has tons of text on its own, not even counting the NPCs. Trails Through Daybreak’s English word count is well over 1 million, making it the second-largest script in the series to date. By contrast, the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy contains 455,125 English words while The Bible contains about 1 million. The ‘high speed’ fast forward toggle mitigates the time this can take by a bit, but unless you’re a super speed reader, sifting through the reams of text available here will be time-consuming. Interestingly enough, Trails Through Daybreak doesn’t feature the series-staple fishing minigame, so players can focus more on the intricate storyline and characters.

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

The latest entry in the Yakuza series also happens to be the largest. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth features a turn-based RPG combat system, a distinct shift from Yakuza’s familiar beat-em-up formula. The 100-plus hour playtime is partly due to the turn-based combat, but mostly because Infinite Wealth is so chock-full of minigames. Infinite Wealth features well over a dozen minigames, some of them being full-blown games with progression and a grind all their own. For example, the Dondoko Island minigame has its own control scheme, which is fitting considering what it involves. Within Dondoko Island, you build an island resort destination by scrounging up resources and then placing objects around the archipelago. Other minigames are more basic, though no less intriguing, such as the returning karaoke songs, as well as fun parody games inspired by Pokemon and Crazy Taxi. But Infinite Wealth has much more than just minigames to occupy your time. The main campaign consists of 14 meaty chapters that take anywhere from 50 to 60 hours depending on playstyle, which makes it one of the longest campaigns in the Yakuza franchise to date.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a massive game unto itself despite it covering ‘just’ the middle section of Final Fantasy VII. Rebirth retreads some of the most beloved parts of the original Final Fantasy VII and recontextualizes them: the Gold Saucer, Barret’s Corel story, and Cloud’s famous flashback sequence all take place in this middle chapter, not to mention all the twists and deviations toward the end. Much like the previous game on this list, Rebirth goes all in on minigames. You have Chocobo Racing to enjoy, as well as the array of Gold Saucer attractions. Even without the minigames, Rebirth boasts a seamless open world rivaling the size of Final Fantasy XV’s map. There’s a checklist of stuff to do in the open world, but the Protorelic quest is particularly noteworthy since it features some core story content and culminates with a showdown against a familiar character making Rebirth one of the longest games of 2024.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes

This turn-based JRPG features a wide number of allies you can recruit. There’s a total of 120 recruitable allies in this game, though less than half of them don’t join you in combat, instead helping you out by giving you intel and whatnot. The process of recruiting these characters can range from merely speaking with them to doing fetch quests, so it’s not quite as time-consuming as it could’ve been. The range of other side activities helps make Hundred Heroes a 100-hour RPG.

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn’t have the longest story campaign on this list, but the open world littered with side quests and activities will take you some time to explore for sure. Some of the side quests are substantial affairs, taking you around the world map and requiring multiple steps to complete. With over 40 side quests, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is not wanting in content. That said, the real heart of Dragon’s Dogma 2 lies in its procedural gameplay. Enemies react and behave in unpredictable ways, further compounded by the interactable environments. This leads to many hours had just messing with different builds and finding different ways to defeat monsters. It’s one of those games where you spend hours just messing around experimenting with stuff.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink

Granblue Fantasy: Relink’s campaign is swift and punchy, with about 24 hours or so of gameplay time. While it’s generally a well-received story with memorable characters, the real substance of this game revolves around its endgame content and co-op component. Think of Monster Hunter and you have the right idea. Raids feature difficult bosses and dungeons that you can tackle solo or with others. Leveling up characters and gear is a fixture of Granblue Fantasy: Relink’s endgame gameplay loop, and can take 100s of hours until you feel a sense of completion. All in all, this is a nice hybrid package that includes your traditional RPG story alongside a grindy endgame raid loop to dig into.

Rise of the Ronin

As an open-world samurai game, Rise of the Ronin features a lot of checklists and content to explore. There’s a total of 750 collectibles with 100 fugitives to save in Rise of the Ronin, some of which are very well hidden. The map in Rise of the Ronin measures 10.4 square miles. By comparison, Ghost of Tsushima’s map rounds up to 11 square miles. Though the main campaign comprises only three chapters, there’s still lots of side quests and stuff to collect in the open environment, making Rise of Ronin one of the longest games of 2024 so far.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic

In the video game world, you can’t really get any bigger than World of Warcraft. The Cataclysm expansion had the most lengthy story at its time of release, which is saying a lot considering WoW’s legacy. For reference, 25 players are polled on HowLongToBeat stating that Cataclysm takes around 385 hours to complete the main story and additional content. Cataclysm is the latest expansion to receive the Classic treatment, which helps smooth some things over with conveniences, but also adds additional wrinkles into the mix. Some additional features include the ability to use mounts, transmogs, and pets across all accounts, a streamlined auction house, and overhauled difficulty.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Just about everyone was surprised to hear that Elden Ring’s expansion featured another huge open-world zone separate from Elden Ring’s Lands Between. When we actually booted the game up and played ourselves, that feeling of discovering an ever-expanding map hit us all over again just like the base game. The Shadow Realm is far larger than the game’s director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, said it would be in previews. The new zone is roughly the size of Limgrave, Caelid, and half of Liurnia of the Lakes combined. Add to this the additional verticality of the unpredictable terrain and you have another solid 60 or so hours of content on your hands, even if some of it is just empty space with one of those silly cookbooks waiting at a dead end.

Helldivers 2

As a live service co-op shooter, Helldivers 2 doesn’t have a definitive endpoint due to a lack of a traditional campaign or story. Still, despite having a mission-based structure, players clock in an average of 50 hours in Helldivers 2 according to HowLongToBeat. The mission structure revolves around 40-minute timers with a list of objectives to complete. There’s something to be said about completing stuff in 40-minute chunks. The compact time limit lets players know what they’re getting into while giving a sense of accomplishment, encouraging further commitment to the game’s loop. Getting to max level is one of the clear milestones you can achieve in this game, and that feat is typically accomplished around or just above that 50-hour timeframe.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Unlike the police and Bracer Guild, Van takes on jobs which can skirt the lines of legality. When Agnès Claudel arrives at his office to look for her great-grandfather’s missing orbment, the duo undertake a journey that could determine the world’s fate. Of course, there’s also the matter of political and criminal elements in the capital city of Edith, like the ruthless Almata.

Featuring new and returning characters, The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is the first title in the series developed on Falcom’s new engine. It also allows switching between real-time and turn-based combat (except in boss fights). Van can also harness the power of Grendel, a powerful form to unleash combo attacks.

For more details on The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak, check out our review here.

That’s why The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak arrives at such a pivotal point. It’s not a reset – far from it – and doesn’t shy away from the many, many connections to previous Trails titles. However, it is a clean slate in terms of the setting, characters and conflicts, setting the groundwork for a new story existing within the greater framework of the franchise. There’s also the new engine, finally bringing the series into a more contemporary graphical era (circa 2021), and revamped combat that incorporates real-time action into the usual turn-based commands with some twists and turns.

"Those world-threatening circumstances that the series is known for will emerge, but Daybreak does a great job setting the foundation, making you care about its new characters, and telling its story."

While it’s not going to completely change your mind on everything you like or even dislike about the series, Trails through Daybreak is a new frontier, one more grounded and initially less epic than its predecessors. With a dash of Kamen Rider, ancient mysteries in the hands of teenagers and Cyber Elf-like beings, of course.

The story picks up two years after the Great Twilight and Operation Jormungandr. The Erebonian Empire, Crossbell State and the Calvard Republic are at relative peace with each other, with the latter especially thriving under the newly elected president Roy Gramheart. The underbelly of Edith, Calvard’s capital, is a completely different atmosphere, swelling with illicit deals, mafiosos and murders.

Meanwhile, Aramis High School student Agnes Claudel arrives at Arkride Solutions Office to enlist the help of a Spriggan, Van Arkride, to recover her late great grandfather’s missing orbment. Unlike the Bracer Guild or police, Spriggans often skirt the edge of the law to get things done. Van is especially noteworthy due to his manifold connections (in both the Guild and government, no less) but is otherwise easygoing. Things take a turn, however, when he embodies the powerful form of Grendel, and he chooses to “bear the Nightmare” at the behest of his AI, Mare, who mysteriously comes to life.

I’m glossing over many other plot points to avoid spoilers, but Trails through Daybreak takes a steady approach with the pacing. Edith and its inhabitants, like Van’s landlord and “diva” of the Montmart diner Paulette to CID agent René Kincaid, who shares a history with Van, are introduced and receive enough time to shine without bogging down the lead cast. The general setting and its current events progress evenly, allowing players to learn more about the world without completely overwhelming them.

"There’s an altogether different dynamic between Van and Agnes – part business-minded, part camaraderie, and it certainly feels refreshing compared to what we’ve seen before."

The mood can feel slice-of-life before deftly switching to political intrigue and crime drama. Don’t get me wrong – those world-threatening circumstances that the series is known for will emerge, but Daybreak does a great job setting the foundation, making you care about its new characters, and telling its story. The fact that it’s doing all this while slotting in returning characters and advancing the overall plot of the franchise is especially noteworthy.

Much of this wouldn’t have been possible without strong leads, and Falcom has more or less knocked it out of the park. Van has his past, like Joshua Bright, but lives in the moment and proceeds with a cooler, more tactical approach than, say, Rean Schwarzer (with yes, less motivational speeches). Agnes is similarly compelling, as the in-over-her-head-teenager with a strong will to pursue her great-grandfather’s legacy.

While nowhere near Estelle Bright, her manners (which belies her pushy behavior) and determination ultimately help her stand out. There’s an altogether different dynamic between Van and Agnes – part business-minded, part camaraderie, and it certainly feels refreshing compared to what we’ve seen before. Of course, the strong performances by Damien Haas and Amanda Lee reinforce the characters all the more.

The other party members, from the tenacious Jaeger Feri Al-Fayed to the innocuous but scheming Aaron Wei, also add to the atmosphere. Then you have the likes of various factions, whether it’s Elaine Auclair of the Bracer Guild or Shizuna Rem Misurugi of Ikaruga (perhaps one of the best new characters). Of course, you also have all the returning characters, from the villainous Walter the Direwolf from Ouroboros to Fie, Zin and Rixia Mao. This combination of new and old characters intertwining through the plot makes it all the more compelling, and while there are still moments where characters may repeat details, they’re much fewer than what the worst of Cold Steel has offered.

"While the combat has made significant strides over previous titles, the dungeon design still leaves something to be desired."

The other major aspect of Trails through Daybreak is combat. For the first time in the series, players can attack enemies in real-time, rolling out of the way and perfectly dodging certain moves to retaliate. You can shift to turn-based command battles and back to real-time at any time, providing more impetus to mainline different characters during exploration since certain enemies are vulnerable to specific damage types. It’s not quite as fluid as, say, the contemporary Ys games, but it works well, even if more options would have been great.

It’s worth landing some blows before shifting to a command battle to take advantage of the new Shards. These are passive effects that come into play during the command battles, from a chance to add elemental damage to attacks to cast a barrier to heavily reduce damage from some hits. The effects vary based on the Quartz slotted into the Xipha orbment, which also affects the different Arts you can cast. It’s a unique approach that adds more depth to your overall builds, accentuating the new flow to combat without completely ripping away everything that makes Trails’ battles unique.

There are also mechanics like Boost, in which you can expend points to temporarily strengthen a party member, and party members in proximity can benefit from buffs and follow-up attacks. However, you also want to take your positioning into account.

Will you stick close to any ally for those buffs and potentially risk both characters receiving the brunt of AoE attacks? Or reposition to mitigate the damage? That you can move around in real-time during combat (albeit within a limited radius) is also a game-changer for more dynamic strategies. Then there’s Grendel, who can chain multiple attacks in a sequence for flashy combos, providing an extra destructive layer to the already compelling combat.

While the combat has made significant strides over previous titles, the dungeon design still leaves something to be desired. They’re serviceable overall, but the flow and design don’t feel like a major step up, especially when traversing sewers or underground areas. The field areas are better overall, but I would have appreciated something more complex for the pivotal story-focused levels.

"If you enjoyed the previous titles yet yearned for something fresh but familiar, Daybreak provides this in spades while expanding upon the overarching world and venturing in compelling new directions."

On the bright side, at least the requests and overall decision-making are spruced up thanks to the LGC Alignment system, which allows for teaming up with different allies based on your choices. It doesn’t make any significant difference to the plot but provides some nice variance while fitting all the conflicting factions running around.

Presentation-wise, The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak isn’t going to compete with your Final Fantasy 7 Rebirths – not that it has to anyway, given Falcom’s budget and resources. The new visuals are still noteworthy, especially during the more subtle movements in cutscenes, and the art style feels faithful to the series as a whole while establishing its own identity.

The performance is also solid all around, though there were some odd frame rate drops when exploring underground. I’m a bit mixed on the soundtrack, enjoying the music from wandering around Edith Old Town and combat (especially when Grendel awakens for the first time), while the main theme is excellent. It’s not my favorite Trails soundtrack by a mile, but the overall vibe is still good.

Whether The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak should be on your radar depends on many things, but that’s nothing new for the series. Perhaps the best compliment is that it’s not overwhelming for newcomers, embracing a more personal narrative while not maintaining its connections with past games. However, if you enjoyed the previous titles yet yearned for something fresh but familiar, Daybreak provides this in spades while expanding upon the overarching world and venturing in compelling new directions.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Set in the Calvard Republic several months after Trails of Cold Steel 4 and Trails into Reverie, Daybreak focuses on Van Arkride, a Spriggan. Part-mercenary, part-detective, he’s intertwined in a case with Agnès Claudel, who seeks to recover her great-grandfather’s Orbment. Of course, other characters get involved, like Feri Al-Fayed, a Jaeger searching for her friend.

The latest trailer also showcases Bergard Zeman, a Kunlun master and Van’s teacher. Along with a Law and Chaos Alignment system affecting party members and events, there are options to switch between real-time and command-based combat in field battles.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak arrives on July 5th for PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for updates till then.