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.