This game is a slowburn 40 hour slice of life rpg, that generally is treated by the fanbase as a slog to get to through to get to the good stuff in SC. I can understand the viewpoint of someone who does not like this game if it is their first trails game but I think this game does an excellent job of using a simple rpg narrative to build up larger narrative intrigue, plant the seeds and hints of greater things to come, and make the cast of characters feel very genuine. It is a slowburn but it is immersive and warm and fun, the soundtrack is one of my favorite of all time, and it is just as good as the second chapter, its just less grand due to it being the start of the journey. Since this was my 3rd trails game, after cold steel 1 and 2, I kind of knew how to approach this mentally since they can be slow and it helps to be expecting this.