Gameplay is definitely a downgrade from the last few games however that’s pretty much my only gripe with the game.
Characters are amazing, Side content is fun, the game feels very homey, Story is pretty good up ch3 and then ch4 onwards is straight fire, one of the best finales in the series, a great antagonist which is rare for this series, one of my favorite Trails scenes in the finale, and the craziest thing is this is an arc-starter game that held no punches and just went all out from the start and I love that. Addresses literally ever problem with the last arc’s starter game