I’m still playing Trails to Zero and plan to play Trails from Azure afterwards. Hadn’t much time in July, but August will be better…maybe…

I tore through Trails through Daybreak last month. For personal enjoyment among games in the Trails series, I’d rank it mid-tier, so still pretty good! It’s a highs-and-lows game. I loved the new MC but didn’t connect with the party all that much. It had great chapters and a really not good chapter. The new orbment system was a good move, but the battle system (and especially its UI) was a major step back, for the first time in the series. I was seriously eating good with the returning character fan service, but they might have had a bit too much of the spotlight. I was thinking of making a post here on how suitable Daybreak is for newcomers, but that last point is a big reason why it may not be. I thought it did an okay job of introductory writing at first, but the more I process the game I don’t think I can recommend it as an independent package. All that said, the new engine is a major positive for the game and the series as a whole. I think it represents an important step forward in their storytelling presentation.

I’ve fewer JRPG plans this month with a friend and I doing the tourist thing in World of Warcraft as the new expansion drops in a few weeks. Kind of a tradition for us at this point. I am however planning on trying Chrono Trigger in Japanese when another friend picks it up soon. His first time with the game (he’ll be playing in English), my first time in Japanese (but probably my 12th playthrough or something ridiculous like that).