using this as a review of a realm reborn

there isnt really anything bad about the game, but nothing about it was especially good.
most of the story was nothing
the gameplay was shallow
the characters, with the exception of alphinaud, were barebones
some of the patches were alright (mainly everything leading up to heavensward, 2.4-2.55) and i loved the parting glass
but thats pretty much the only parts of ARR that did anything at all for me

this is really really good and makes u rlly uncomfortable the entire time but also its way too short and the endings r kind of unfulfilling

amazing game
a few cases do feel a bit slow at points but
everything about the final case is perfect
havent played the extra case yet

good start to the series, very slow paced but it doesn't feel like its drawn out or wasting your time. also really good ending

act 1 is probably the most boring part of trails yet, i hated almost all of it except for the last part in bareahard
but act 2 completely makes up for it, being easily the most consistently good part of any trails game imo.
the finale is even better, being the first time this seires has made me cry (i cant listen to I'll remember you without crying)
the extra chapter and epilogue were great as well, with the epilogue being surprisingly satisfying even after the finale's ending.
gameplay is about the same as cs1, very fun. ost is great, first game to ever have a yaoi leitmotif ily blue destination

suffers a bit more with pacing issues and some really boring parts more than FC did, but makes up for it with how amazing the story is. gameplay is also much better as you pretty much always have 4 party members. love u loewe

has the best story out of the sky trilogy imo, plus the best gameplay and boss design. was initially kind of turned off due to how different it was but the heavier focus on gameplay worked out really well. also has a sort of dual protagonist thing like fc had but kevin and ries are much more interesting than estelle and joshua were in fc. love them sm

gameplay is a bit of a downgrade from 3rd but still fun. SSS r amazing (except kind of elie) and are what makes this game so good. the self-contained plot here is good but nothing mind blowing (which is a given since its another set-up game) and didn't leave me as excited as the endings to FC or CS1 did. also has the (so far) best map in the series with how much smaller it is, gives the game a very intimate feeling since everything takes place in basically one city

probably one of the best games ever, only real complaint is that crossbell does get a tiny bit tiring to explore after 50 hours in Zero and another 50 in this.
gameplay is mostly the same here, not much to say.
the story and characters are amazing though, mainly fragments and the finale. the SSS r one of the most fun cast of characters ive ever seen and i lvoe all of them so much. KeA and the whole sequence with her and lloyd at the end ruined me forever

a lot of gameplay improvements here, new quartz system felt limiting initially but i grew to love it a lot. having as large a cast as it does a majority of them don't get a ton of exploration or development, but it isnt at all bad. Comparable to my feeling of FC in a lot of ways, but what makes this one better imo is Crow and the whole final few chapters, which again invokes a similar feeling that FC's ending did, just the story didn't take as long to get exciting.