Incredible start for a new arc in the series, and a true comeback after the uneven quality of the Erebonia arc.

What I liked:

+ Van Arkride is a fantastic MC, the main cast is great!
He has an edge to him while maintaining a sense of playfulness and compassion towards the people who surround him. Really hard to not cheer for Van as the story goes on.
The main cast is full of personality and chemistry with each other, and they complement Van perfectly as a team.

+ Calvard as a setting.
Calvard gives the writers an opportunity to touch on many interesting themes that have direct relation with real world issues. I think they did a good job on making the setting feel unique compared to other parts of the Zemurian continent, with some great political tension in the backdrop as always. Gotta praise the quality of the NPCs too!

+ The story is emotionally poignant and extremely rewarding for series veterans

Not gonna expand on this at all - just know I really loved the story overall and how it concluded.

+ Actually threatening villains
Given the focus on a more "mature" story, the stakes of the plot got increased as well, which resulted in a cast of villain that actually mean business - it was honestly refreshing to see actual palpable repercussions happening.
The main villain here is easily on the top tier of best villains in the franchise. It's impossible to get to the end of this game without hating his guts, which is all I've been asking from a villain in this series for a long time.

+ The alignment system is a fun gimmick
There isn't really any groundbreaking decisions that massively affect the direction of the main story, but the alignment choices provides another layer of role playing that makes the playthroughs feel more distinct than in past Trails games, even if just a little.

+ The combat system feels fresh!
I love the traditional Trails battle system, but it was about time to change things up. Kuro introduces a new flow to the battle system, with the field attacks being more involved than before. I liked how the shard skill system worked - it made building characters even more interesting.

+ The music is good (somewhat)
There's a good amount of excellent tracks in this game. Nothing on the same level as some of the past installments in the series, but I still put it as a overall W for the game.

What I didn't like:

- Chapter 3 as a whole
Not gonna expand on this as well, but it's an unfortunate stumble in a game that's overall very well written.

- Some old problems still persist to an extent
Some parts of the game feel padded/bloated in a way that didn't really feel necessary.

- Combat system has some rough edges
Not a big deal, but I really don't like how they chose to represent the turn timeline here in comparison to the older battle system - doesn't feel as intuitive visually. The lack of S-craft cut-ins is unfortunate as well, I miss them!

- The music feels uneven in some places
Boss Themes have never been worse in the series, except a few ones. There's also no effort in building a "motif" for the game, so the soundtrack ends up feeling like a collection of music that doesn't really speak with each other.

------------

Overall, I can't recommend this game enough if you like this series, or if you're a newcomer who wants to jump in (even tho some of the references will confuse you). Can't wait to play Kuro 2 someday!

Digital Digimon Saga
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is a fantastic monster-raising RPG with some surprising qualities.
THE GOOD:
+ Simple and engaging combat system
The combat system flows really well. The dynamic of attributes / elements is easy to understand and provides enough depth to maintain the battles fresh throughout the game.
+ Extremely addictive gameplay loop
Raising your Digimon's just feel so rewarding - there's always a new evolution to look forward to, and the way the digivolutions/de-digivolutions are structured makes experimentation in team building really easy to achieve.
+ The story is... really good?!
Really well crafted narrative full of interesting twists, clever foreshadowing, engaging character arcs and a very, very satisfying ending.
+ Great presentation, from visuals to the sounds
Originally developed for the PSVita, Cyber Sleuth punchs above its weight using sheer artstyle - I love the look of the UI in general, the visual design of the dungeons. The Digimons are also brought to life really well in the 3D models, maintaining the charisma from the 2D animation.

Masafumi Takada's OST is perfect for this game - the soundtrack fits so well with the "pop", modern setting, while also branching towards really nice eletronic music to represent the digital aspect of the story. It explores ranges from him that I haven't really seen in his other works, which is always awesome to see.

THE BAD:
- Uninteresting, repetitive dungeon design
There's a lot of repetition in the dungeon's level design - they are visually interesting locations but not really that fun to go through. The game makes you go back to some of the ones you've already cleared quite frequently too.

- Inconsistent localization quality
There are so many examples of this on the script: it ranges from small errors (inconsistent Digimon naming, smaller spelling mistakes) to outright mistranslation of major lines in the story. It's not bad enough to ruin the game, but it's noticeable.

OVERALL: Cyber Sleuth manages to achieve its goals and delivers a very well-rounded, interesting RPG. Definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to play a monster-raising RPG with an anime aesthetic geared towards a more adult audience, compared to other similar games in the market.

Bamco, please greenlight a true sequel!