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9/10

Bought this again after finished with china version with english fan-translation it's my favorite on Trails/Kiseki franchise right now. In terms of content, it got a lot more than the previous arc around 1,5x or almost 2x, TLDR at the bottom.

Story and Characters:

A much needed breath of fresh air to the series, not only new casts and new Calvard region. It's how the story unfolds which isn't afraid to touch on some topics that previous arc were afraid to touch upon like death, the underworld and the adult industry, these make daybreak’s story darker than Trails to Azure, so the flow is unlike J-RPG I play so far. If you at least play one trails game you should know Falcom standards are pretty high. Unlike crossbell and cold steel games that forgive villains like naughty boy/girl like your usual J-RPG games there are consequences for the villains on daybreak, falcom finally do them justice like killing them or turning them into underworld organization, ended without cliffhanger too. Side quests got more weight to them too, Van doing it as a job and not acting as an errand boy like Rean but he always investigates more of what actually happened, that is when most quest turns around giving plot twists. Side activities like watching film are fun and connect events with NPCs that not only romance interest makes it more interesting, gourmet system on food items which each level raising some stats so there’s an encouragement to collect them. Being in the first title of Calvard arc it starts like previous arcs which are exploring the region but with a lot more places and cities to visit, solving problems in a particular place, and finding actual plot-related stuff for the whole arc, it is still really fun nonetheless and the formula still works for the veteran and newcomers.
8 Main Casts of trails through daybreak are amazing from Van to Bergard with their own unique personality. Van is a really complex but at the same time easy liked protagonist, he is mature before the game even started, unlike other protagonists, he is on gray side and not acting like goody two shoes, unconditionally funny and instant-liked based on how he act, he like sweets too but I think that Falcom way of ‘moe gap’ that he is actually serious, not naïve and mature. He is on par or maybe even better than Estelle on some parts. Agnes while seeming naïve and sheltered girl becomes more adapted to how spriggan (3rd party fixer) works as the game goes so she is not only acting as the main heroine and eye candy, unlike *cough* Alisa from cold steel. Aaron with adult jokes which made me burst laughing and complementary of Van since their age are almost the same. Feri is an innocent little kid with jaeger (hunter) experience. Risette looks cold and unexpressive but is actually very social and drops some unexpected jokes. Quatre is diligent and looks girlish but actually boy (it’s a trap!). Judith looks mature and sexy but easily flustered and panicked. Bergard is the wise old man at the party. Elaine while she isn't in the main party she has great older sister personality and good characters design, she and Van are like ‘frenemies’, since they work on the almost same field as the time goes the interaction gets funnier it hilarious. NPCs got their own story to tell, correlated to each other and some closure like a girl who always studying on school days then complaining she doesn’t have any friend. In the final chapter, suddenly a cat comes up and accompanies her.
While daybreak marketed as soft reboot and Falcom claimed made it from scratch in an interview that happen end of 2020, those aren't what happened in the game. So many casual mentions and some parts of the story still correlated to the previous arc, I collected around 100+ screenshots for something like this. They are not straightly mentioned by name or event and usually use words like “certain people i know” or “that event x years ago” only veteran fans understand. Beyond I made an easy comparison for each arc, remember I only compare based on the first game :
Which better and story weight: Trails through daybreak > Trails from zero > Trails in the sky > Trails of cold steel
Newcomers to enter the series: Trails of cold steel > Trails in the sky > Trails through daybreak > Trails from zero
Main characters of each arc: Estelle = Van > Lloyd > Rean

Gameplay:

To be honest, Falcom can do same and no innovation to battle system every release, they entitled to do so because their budget is really limited and actually an indie studio, i am sure the fan will keep buying it. And yet they experiment, overhauled, and did high-risk high-reward moves by changing their whole battle system with hybrid of action and turn-based, they did great, and feels great to play. The difficulty feels more balanced and harder on nightmare than previous arcs. Some equipment in the previous arc that obtained mid-game, on Daybreak it can be obtained early in the game, and it still feels balanced. Surprisingly for the first game of the Calvard arc, there are not many strategies that can be exploited.
I also appreciate what Falcom did on some things, this is only noticeable if you play previous arc that the special attack (crafts) and spells (arts) feel less repeatable sequence and faster, with arts actually not feeling like a video playing but happen on combat field too, everything becomes much more seamless. Lots of new crafts and arts not all copying from the previous arc. They made mechanics which move characters not using turns, because of this they can add new area of effect (AoE) on some craft and arts also make character's positioning actually matters. No loading screen when battling, changing from action to turn-based, and entering the building unlike previous arcs, for veteran fan like me this is actually a mindblown experience.
If you optimize orbment so it fills shard skills requirements, the game becomes deeper and adds complexity such as counter attack, counter spell if enemy spell misses, additional attack when the enemy is stunned, auto status buff, auto arts buff, replenish mana and hp, resurrection one time when got killed, and many more. Though for the first game, it's hard to fill the requirements due orbment limitation the game gives and most obtained in-game achievement prize, I need a lot of hours tinkering with it. Because it’s highly customized you can make each character become DPS, tanker, healer, caster, etc.

Graphic and OSTs:

The graphics got noticeable improvements from the character's model are better and not too white like Genshin impact (I like what falcom did with this one!), the field area looks good and beautiful, and shadows not only on the characters but on buildings and trees, new assets, new crafts and arts are done nicely and different, beautiful city design like chinA town and science city with vertical design because it’s on the plateau, more NPCs for immersion so the city does not feel deserted, interaction like falling down when party or enemy got hit pretty hard. So the overall graphics fidelity are better. The UI while personally looks and feels nicer still needs some time to get accustomed to.
OSTs are the trails through daybreak biggest criticism. It is either good or not leaving much impression, I like it because they tried to change and bring something new, and they deserve handicap since one of their veteran composer out, the new composer instead copying he bring his own style while still maintain falcom OSTs soul and trademarks.

TLDR:

It’s trails I know and love while getting more better, it scratch so many itches you can think of on J-RPG such as grand scale lore and world-building, previous event mentioned, van is really good and unique protagonist, returning characters that got older, overhauled combat making it more fun, improvements to graphics fidelity, and many more.