As we enter the back half of 2024, we at Reef Entertainment thought that it would be a good time to reflect on the amazing year so far, specifically on our work in getting the recent release of the highly anticipated entry in the long-running Legend of Heroes series, Trails through Daybreak, to audiences throughout Europe. The story follows the spriggan Van Arkride, an underground professional that accepts work from any client and acts as a detective, negotiator or bounty hunter with no allegiance. However, when he takes on a strange case that threatens an entire nation, the course of his life changes forever.
The game was developed by Nihon Falcom, a developer specialising in JRPGs that boasts an extremely enthusiastic fanbase worldwide. In partnership with NIS America, our team has distributed many Nihon Falcom titles to a variety of regions across Europe, working together with them on numerous games from the ever-popular Trails series.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak released to widespread acclaim from critics and fans, with some even calling the title one of the best of the year! Keep scrolling to see what some of the reviews had to say.
“A dark, more mature story, a great new cast of characters, and much improved turn-based action make Trails through Daybreak a fine addition to the franchise that’s accessible to fans and newcomers alike.”
9/10 - GameGrin
“Trails through Daybreak is easily the best looking Trails game to date and whether you are a returning fan or not you’d be doing yourself a massive disservice to pass up Trails through Daybreak.”
90% - GameHype
“Trails Through Daybreak takes the series to new heights of drama without losing any of the series’ strengths or structure, and features a fun double battle system that somehow doesn’t get in the way of itself. It’s also a viable jumping-in point that hasn’t come along in a while for those looking to dip their toe into this long-running series and finding it daunting. The dawn of a new era.”
8/10 – Finger Guns
“This is one of the best put-together Trails games in a long time, complete with some solid cutscene choreography and a near-seamless feeling of play in between combat and cutscenes.”
8/10 – NookGaming
In addition to titles from The Legend of Heroes series, Reef have also worked together with NIS America on a variety of entries from Nihon Falcom’s incredibly popular Ys series. The latest entry in the series, Ys X: Nordics, is set to release in the West on the 25th of October this year, being distributed to a variety of regions throughout Europe by Reef Entertainment in partnership with NIS America.
IGN recently got their hands on Ys X: Nordics to preview the game, and their early impressions have been positive, praising the “more focused experience” and describing the combat as “smooth, quick and even a little challenging”. Check out what they had to say below!
Additionally, GameSpot recently sat down with Toshihiro Kondo, the president of Nihon Falcom and one of the key developers behind the Ys series, who gave some insights on not only the series’ future, but the future of Nihon Falcom as well:
“We constantly want to keep an open mind and add new things to our games. We want to ask, ‘How can we make it better? What trends and what things are popular?’ These are things we always ask. And right now Ys X is the best example of that, but going forward, it's going to be an even bigger part of how we approach game development.”
Read GameSpot’s full interview with Toshihiro Kondo here: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/whats-next-after-a-20-year-old-rpg-series-ends-ys-and-trails-director-toshihiro-kondo-talks-falcoms-future/1100-6524780/
Reef Entertainment are extremely proud to see the warm reception that titles from the long-running The Legend of Heroes and Ys series continue to receive. We are honoured to have played such a large part in getting these titles to fans in Europe throughout the years, and are excited to see the JRPG genre continue to grow more in the future.
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