Kuro no Kiseki 1 is absolutely stunning and plays like butter. I am by no means an expert on turn-based JRPGs, but I've played a few, and oh my God, this has the best gameplay of them all for me. Trails gameplay has always amazed me and been my favourite, but this sets a whole new bar. They revamped the combat system and now allow you to move across the map with just your joystick rather than it being a separate move like before, making the gameplay and strategising even more interesting, especially in regards to AoE arts. But also, before you even get into your encounter with an enemy, you can engage in action combat to either have an advantage when you get into combat, or to go through groups of enemies and level faster if you feel the need to. Trails games aren't grindy in general, but if you choose to grind, it'll not feel like one at all in this game.

The technical impressiveness goes beyond combat gameplay. Persona 3 Reload, a JRPG by a successful company released 3 years after this game, still does the thing where if you enter a building on the street, you get teleported into like a separate level, and also the encounter system where you get teleported from the dungeon into a separate stage and then get back out once you're done. Not in Kuro. You enter buildings like it's nothing, and go in and out of encounters in the exact same room you were in, like it's no big deal. Which means that if you get into one in a narrow hallway, you will have less space to evade AoE attacks. It's amazing.

The music is very inconsistent in this one. Some of the stuff is downright amazing (as expected of a Trails game), like the boss themes or the jazzy city music, but otherwise you get letdowns like one of the normal battle themes that I found uninspired by Trails standards. And the OP is really fire and gorgeous.

Van is an amazing protagonist. Likable, a grown 24-year-old and in a unique line of work that sets him apart from other Trails and many JRPG protagonists, his "solutions" agency that deals not in black or white, but in gray, makes for some interesting stories and quests. His journey is really cool too, but that's impossible to discuss without spoilers, so I won't.

Unfortunately, despite initially seeming like the automatic best Trails, it has some issues I can't look past. The biggest problem is the pacing in the middle of the game, mostly in the penultimate chapter and the first half of the final chapter. There is so much repetition and padding, even by Trails standards. I was shocked after this wasn't a problem in Reverie and early Kuro 1. I think I finally started to feel Trails burnout because of this. Additionally, the cast is compelling, but sometimes the chemistry feels forced. Lastly, I won't hold it against the game for this, but it feels a little... too complete for its own good, unlike other first parts of Trails duologies. I played a bit of the beginning of Kuro 2 and it honestly feels like an unnecessary follow-up. Outside of those issues I can see why this is "a return to form" as a new arc for many, though I did like Cold Steel myself.

Ultimately, a seriously good game, this series continues to amaze.

The new saga of the Zemurian continent begins, this time in Calvard, and it's one of the best games in the series to date, without a doubt. In summary, our protagonist this time is a mercenary/jack-of-all-trades who, due to various factors, ends up helping a girl recover something important to her.

In terms of gameplay, this game implemented a real-time combat system that was very interesting and gave a fresh feel to the game, making it more dynamic. Being able to move during turn-based battles, similar to what happens in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, for example, was a great addition to the game. With graphics that are undoubtedly more beautiful than the previous ones, in terms of graphics, UI, gameplay, absolutely everything, it's the best game Falcom has ever made by far, only falling behind in my opinion to the most recent Ys games.

In terms of story, this game follows the classic Falcom style, full of characters with their own stories and objectives that you get to know better throughout your journey. Unlike previous games in the Zemurian saga, where the first game tends to be more introductory as it presents the world and the characters, in this one, the story is already incredibly interesting. I can't wait for them to translate Kuro 2!

A great palette cleanser that hearkens back to the more standard Trails from Zero rather than the massive saga that was Cold Steel IV or the episodic reflection of Trails into Reverie.

As is typical for a first game of an arc in this series, there are sweeping system changes, mostly to combat and how arts work. Combat-wise, the field combat is an amazing new addition and is a great base for future games. S-Crafts now also require S-Boost, a team-wide resource similar to Bravery Points in the last game, that mostly serves to curtail the S-Craft spam that dominated every fight that allowed preparation. The Arts system has even more complexity than previous games, but buyable plug-ins and drivers allow you to get the spells you want easily. Overall, arts are not as powerful as Zero or Azure, but are a little more interesting than Cold Steel.

Story and characters-wise, the game starts off a little bit slow as it eases you into Calvard, but picks up pace around chapter 2 or 3. The smaller cast and mostly self-contained story overall is what makes playing this game so much more relaxing than Cold Steel's marathon 5-game plot and massive cast of 50+ playable characters. Crawling around the city doing sidequests felt like Crossbell, and the slow introduction of new party members like in Sky helped you build a bond with every character, unlike Cold Steel, which gave nearly your entire core party for the first 2 games at the very start, and had to work to endear them to you as they fought for screen time.

I know I talked a lot about Cold Steel in this review but that shit seriously traumatized me and this game is much better. Overall, the missing star mostly represents a slower start and mediocre final dungeon (swear to god in the final chapter you have to destroy like 30 shields). But this is the best game since Azure.

Amazing start to the Calvard Arc. I hadn't loved any of the set up games for trails since Trails from Zero, mainly to their formulaic nature among other problems. While Kuro still retains that formulaic aspect, it manages to keep the game fresh while telling a mostly self contained arc for the protagonist (with many many loose ends that I'm sure will be explored in future games) and great new additions and changes to the trails formula.
The new turn based combat is probably the best in the series, though it still suffers from being too easy sometimes, and the field battles are an amazing addition that I never got tired of. By CS4 and Reverie the field advantage attacks had become a bit more complex so it was the logical next step, and I hope they keep expanding it.
The story is one of the game's strongest aspects. I was suspicious of the shift in morality they were advertising for this game and, while they still maintained the known trails tone through most of it, the different perspective the protagonist has truly is felt in the story and the choices you have to make. The alignment system is good for what it does and I thought it was well implemented as well.
This game made me very excited for the future of the series and I hope they keep dropping games of this quality.

I really enjoy Final Fantasy XVI. I think it's fun. But as I was playing Kuro for the first time and experiencing how it handles action based gameplay combined with turn based combat I fell in love and immediately wished Square's cash cow would liberally steal from Kiseki because this is the sort of gameplay I want out of a more action-focused role playing game.

I don't think Kuro has the deepest narrative in the Kiseki universe, but I love the cast of characters and seeing the state of the world after the Erebonian saga. It's so weird seeing this world enter such a modern-feeling age. A must-play, as usual.

Peak Fiction, this game is so incredibly good.
Van is such a fantastic protagonist, and he has definitely become one of my favorite protagonists. But not only Van, the whole Kuro Cast is great, in my opinion. I also really loved Risette and Agnès. Especially Risette is great, I absolutely love her.
This was also, in my opinion, certainly the best start to a new Arc from any Kiseki/Trails game, I don't think it could've been much better as a start to a new arc.
In addition to that, I also really liked the new battle system. I at least think the action/turn-based hybrid system was really fun.
Besides the great story, the game also looks beautiful. It's certainly the best-looking Kiseki game, and I enjoyed just looking at all the areas in the game.
The only major criticism I have with this game is probably that the music placement isn't perfect in some cases. I love the whole soundtrack, though I think in some cases the music didn't fit perfectly in the moments it played. But all things considered, that didn't bother me that much.
But overall, this game has become my favorite Kiseki/Trails game and one of my favorite games in general. With the Sky trilogy, Zero, Azure, Hajimari no Kiseki and now Kuro no Kiseki, the Kiseki/Trails series has definitely become one of my favorite series, and I'm already looking forward to playing Kuro II next.

This was such a needed pallet cleanse. new whole setting that starts the second half of the series with such a banger with the best arc starting game by a mile
it hits all the right notes and really makes me have hope for the future of the series. this is how arcs should start

this game is beautiful, it looks real good with the new engine and the combat is super fun it CLEARS everything that was in former games. the move to make it a mix of action/turn based hybrid was an unexpected but wholly welcomed change and it makes it 10x more fun

I ADORE the new cast all hits no misses in just one game a lot of them have become up there with some of my favorite characters in the whole series.
i really can't wait to see what they develop into with this new arc
Thank you Van Arkride

my only complaints would be
1. the music direction, not the music itself i think the music is generally great but god the placements of some songs just ruins a lot of the scenes that would've been fantastic with better choices
2. some unneeded padding here and there