Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter Fishing, Cooking, Poker, and Viewer Mode
Demo hobbies, Attack Food, and the photo mode that waits for the full game.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter will wait while you fish, cook, or sit at a card table. The demo that went live in August 2026 includes fishing, poker, and cooking. Viewer Mode and Movie Viewer are not in the trial. This page covers confirmed hobby rules, how to look for fishing spots without fake map pins, and what is worth doing before September 17. For the story route through Rolent, Ruan, Grancel, and Le Locle, use the demo walkthrough. Keep the combat system nearby when you start failing recipes on purpose.
Fishing
A full rod, notebook, and Lloyd-unlock guide is the dedicated fishing page. Fishing happens at designated spots. You will not hook a carp from a random cobblestone. Look for the markers the game places on rivers, coasts, and still water — especially around Rolent’s rural edges and Ruan’s waterfront. When a spot is real, the prompt appears; when it is scenery, walking in circles will not invent one. This wiki does not publish invented coordinates.
The loop is rod plus bait, a timed hook, and a reel with the stick. Change the combo when a notebook entry stalls. The Fishing Notebook is the reward track; stop when the next fish is clearly a full-game problem. Patch 1.00.1 (August 26) fixed a fishing crash — details on demo updates. Find spots the way a bracer finds jobs: walk the water, wait for a prompt, and try a new rod if you just bought one. If Le Locle water has no prompt, leave. Deck hook timing that feels late is often 40–50 FPS on Medium, listed on system requirements.
Cooking, Peculiar dishes, and Attack Food
Cooking has three outcomes: Success, Peculiar, and fail. Success is the dish you meant to make. Peculiar is a sideways result that may still be useful. Fail is not always a waste. Failures can create Attack Food that deals damage in Command Battle with no CP or EP cost. That is a real combat spend, not a joke item to vendor.
Some dishes buff Quick Battles. If you swap to Command Battle, the buff lasts up to two turns. The practical order is: cook before a fight you expect to start in Quick Battle, bank the dish, then swap when an Enforcer appears. Pair this with Brave Rush’s two-gauge cost so you are not eating, bursting, and starving the Command turn of both food and gauge. Full timing is on the combat page.
Recipes live in the usual Falcom places: shops, NPC talk, and story beats. Do not grind a recipe list this wiki has not been given. Cook what the demo offers, keep Attack Food in the bag for Le Locle and early Enforcers, and let Peculiar results surprise you once instead of reloading them away. Inventory carries into the full game through the save transfer title-screen load, so a stack of Attack Food is not a trial-only souvenir.
Poker
Poker is in the demo. Treat it as a parlor game with a Liberl table, not as a ranked ladder. Sit down when you are in a town that offers it — Ruan and Grancel are the likely social rooms — and stop when the story is waiting. This page will not invent chip totals, unlock tables, or odds. The value of poker in the trial is atmosphere plus whatever the game itself pays out into inventory or notebook flags. If a table is missing, you are not owed a casino; you may simply be in Rolent on a morning that has no dealer.
Use poker as a break after fishing, not as a substitute for orbment work. Seven quartz slots still matter more than a lucky hand. When the cards are done, return to the orbment guide or the party roster.
Viewer Mode (full game)
Viewer Mode lets you pose and photograph characters. It unlocks with the story. Costumes and accessories feed it, including the Classic Style SC outfits from 1st Chapter clear data. It is not in the demo, and neither is Movie Viewer. Do not hunt a studio in the trial. Take the costumes if you have them — save transfer explains the unlock — and wait until the full game’s story opens the camera.
That split is the most useful side-content fact in the demo window: you can fish, cook, and play poker now; you cannot build a screenshot gallery yet. People who only want photos can still play the trial for combat reps and a carry-over save. People who only want Viewer Mode should still finish 1st Chapter so the outfits exist when the camera finally appears.
What to do now versus later
Do now, in the demo: visit designated spots in each opened region, cook until Success / Peculiar / fail makes sense, keep Attack Food, and try poker once. The trial has no timer. The demo walkthrough is the spine that keeps hobbies around Le Locle instead of replacing it. Do later: Viewer Mode, Movie Viewer, and fish that belong after A Looming Shadow. Launch timing is on the release date page; extras sit on preorder notes. Fail a dish on purpose before the first Enforcer, and leave the photo mode for the day the full game arrives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for demo players and anyone waiting on the September launch.
Is fishing in the demo, and how do I find spots?
Yes. Use designated spots with rod and bait, a timed hook, and stick reeling. The demo walkthrough notes water-heavy regions like Ruan.
What is Attack Food?
A possible cooking fail result that deals damage in Command Battle with no CP or EP cost. How to spend it in a fight is on the combat system page.
Do Quick Battle dishes still work if I swap?
Some dishes buff Quick Battles; if you swap to Command Battle the buff lasts up to two turns. Pair that with orbments from the orbment guide.
Can I use Viewer Mode in the trial?
No. Viewer Mode and Movie Viewer are full-game tools. Costumes you can still unlock now via save transfer.
Is poker actually in the demo?
Yes. Treat it as optional parlor content. For what else the trial includes, see demo updates.
Will cooking and fishing progress carry over?
Demo inventory and story progress can transfer from the title screen. Keep the file; steps are in save transfer. The guides hub indexes the rest.