"It's not black, white, or any shade of gray in between. It's sort of in the realm of being bluish-black."

I'm already locked into this series for the foreseeable future, and I sure hope the rest stay as amazing as this one was. This is my favorite start to a Trails arc no contest. It's a significant change of pace to have setpieces and themes for a more mature audience.

Honestly, I didn't have high hopes for most of the cast going in. After finishing the game, I was completely blown away by how much I loved these guys. Judith was one of my favorites and someone I did not expect to like in the slightest, especially at the start. Agnes was also a real standout for me, as I expected another Elie or Alisa (completely inoffensive 100% of the time), but was speechless with the genuine conviction and personality traits she gained throughout working with Van.

The music, while still Falcom Sound Team, feels like they need a breath of fresh air. I don't hate the songs in the slightest, but MAN do they feel out of place in some spots. Some terrific songs play that would be SO hype if they'd played somewhere actually impactful and not when I'm fighting a random pillar (YES I AM TALKING ABOUT DIABOLIC HOWL) to get into the final dungeon. This is a small gripe because the songs are still great. Just a missed opportunity in my opinion.

I could write on and on about how the themes, tone, and whatever else is different blah blah blah. I'd encourage fans of Zero/Azure to check this one out. To sum up, GOAT PROTAGONIST VAN ARKRIDE!! DON'T FUCK WITH HIS STYLE, SNACKS, MOVIES, OR BATHS!!!!!!!!!

New engine, new graphics, new mechanics. Pretty ambitious game in a series known for its conservatism. The biggest improvement, without a doubt, is the elimination of loading screen. Every time I enter a new building without being greeted with a black screen, a warm feeling fizzled in my heart. But Falcom took it even further. Switching between exploration and combat is now instant. With one push of a bottom, you are in turn-based combat, with the position of your team and the enemies retained. I wish more RPGs adapt this feature. Reverie already showed how the new engine enables more sophisticated cutscene direction, but the new found cinematic capability really shines through in Kuro. Better direction and whole new level of details in character models elevate the presentation to stand toe-to-toe with contemporary anime JRPGs. We all know how much Kondo loves dancing scene in his game. This time we finally have legitimate dance performance.

The new cast is a breath of fresh air that blows away the staunch of harem bullshit that had been plaguing the series for a decade. All of them, including the main protagonist, are likeable and seem to have further part to play in the saga. Usually each arch starts slow, but this one dumps the kitchen sink in your face right from the start. Some of the characters feel like they should be reserved for act 2. As a result, the game is bigger than it should be. I guess it's better than stretching it into two games, but seriously, a bit over the top for a mafia shakedown.

Without a doubt the strongest game to kick off a Trails arc!
I'm so glad we didn't get yet another reset in terms of stakes but jumped right back to an experience as intense as Reverie before it - hell, even way more I'd say.

There's a lot to appreciate here; the new engine is gorgeous, the mixture of real-time and turn-based combat for overworld encounters works surprisingly well despite the real-time combat being a bit one-dimensional due to it working as a sort of prelude to regular turn-based encounters by giving you an easy-to-achieve break and follow-up on it as soon as you switch to turn-based afterwards and the more mature tone of the game is a very welcome surprise.

The fact that it gives you more reason to actively go for side-content is great to see as someone who wouldn't dare skip it either way; having full bonding points as long as you do all sidequests is SUCH a welcome improvement after Cold Steel requiring you to do a NG+ run to see all of them and the new Alignment system that goes up way easier through sidequests was a fantastic addition as well. It didn't end up mattering as much as I thought it would, but it's definitely made me more excited for my eventual replay when the official localization drops.

But the cast is easily my favorite thing about it. Right off the bat, Van Arkride is a phenomenal protagonist, and slowly realizing just how vast his connections are is such a blast, as his impact on the world at large adds so much to previous games too. His fractured and awkward friendship with René and Elaine is fantastic - it's rare to see something like that in these games, and it's easily one of my favorite things about the mature mood this game has. I'm sure everyone around his age has been there at some point in their lives, so there's a bittersweet catharsis in seeing them slowly warm up to one another yet again.
I'm genuinely surprised at how much Agnès feels like a second protagonist due to how involved she is in the story aswell; for a long while, Van feels more like the conduit that ties everyone together while the story revolves more around her; and considering we haven't seen something like that since Sky, I'm really glad about that. She has so much agency and story focus, and the stuff she's dealing with really strikes a chord with me, so she's a surprising favorite of mine considering I didn't expect that beforehand at all.
The rest of the cast is fantastic too, and the way they're nearly all united by grief in one way or another is bittersweet. The build-up from co-workers to feeling like a genuine family is perfect, and I'm glad the formulaic structure of the chapters is used well to properly give everyone some time to shine; sometimes in surprisingly non-linear ways.
Bonding Events are therefore not nearly as necessary to get to know certain characters properly here which is such a relief; it's simply an addition to the character that's properly established in the story, because this game knows what to do with it's entire cast despite it's size. No shade towards any class from a predecessor of this game or anything, ofcourse.

I'm also amazed at how well it follows up from Reverie - I fully expected that game to be closure for Crossbell and Cold Steel respectively primarily; but now I fully understand why Swin and Nadia are making a return in Kuro 2, and I can't wait to see them again.

Overall just a really solid game! I can't think of any complaints that really stand out to me as worth mentioning honestly, it's been an absolute blast from start to finish.

this game is mid because it has too much singa

this game is mid because it has no unisuga

this game is peak because it has resonance of ray

this game is peak because it has lots of koguchi

this game is peak because it has van

this game is peak.

An amazing start to the new Arc, but not one without its issues. The middle of this game drags pretty hard, and difficulty balance is all over the place (while never really truly getting hard, outside of the last boss, fuck that guy), but the refinements to various systems including cooking, Connect events and Orbments, as well as the complete overhauling of Combat have landed in a very, very solid base in which to build from, and im excited to see the Field Combat be expanded.

Van is an amazing character, and (most) of the main crew is excellent too, specifically Aaron and Agnes (and Elaine, but thats kind of cheating). Excellent stuff here.