Finished Kai, and I'll say it... Sky SC has finally been dethroned

This is my new favourite game in the series. There's no question about it. And I'll probably do a full review eventually, but right now I'll just say a few things.

Kevin's route is the most fascinating part of any Trails game. 13 games in, I've finally realised what my favourite thing about Trails is (I know, took me long enough). It's the intrigue. The mysteries and their development. Kevin's short route alone has more intrigue and shocking revelations than most entire arcs!

Hamilton's plan. Ouroboros' plan. The Alter Core. The artifacts. The time warping. The Church. Nina. Dingo. Simeon. Every ending of a section of Kevin's route I didn't think they could upstage but they did. Every. Single. Time.

Rean's route is high-octane excitement. Battling Calvard's latest super space-mech. Going through one of Trails' absolute best dungeons with its traps and lasers. The Shizuna fight. The Yun Ka-Fai fight that we'd been waiting for so long. And it all ending - like Kevin's route - with the rocket taking off. All tied down with some great comedy.

Van's route provided a whole different sort of intrigue to Kevin's route. It was much like Sky SC, giving you a sense of how powerful your foe is, really convincing you - even after two games of levelling up - that you might be up against something truly beyond you, with the terrifying Executors who are as strong as the Grendel, can teleport limitlessly and can regenerate their body at speed. Not to mention the Remnants, the causality effects, Ixs' insanity, Jolda's development, A∵D, Fabio the anti-Spriggan, cyber-mechanical bodies, and the anticipation of the rocket launch.

Ulrica is indeed the best and it is a crime she was locked away to the Grim Garten and the little Act intermissions. I want more of her in the next game, Falcom! How about a CD Drama where we hear one of her proper streams? Or more interactions between her and the other Enforcers? Also, my personal hope is that she'll be voiced by Amber Lee Connors in the English dub. Hearing her voice as Shirley makes me certain she'd be perfect for Ulrica.

That finale. Do I even need to say a word here? I think this was already my favourite game in the series before this, but after it, there was just no contest. Its deceptively lowkey motivation and dungeon (saving your friend from a military base. The kind of thing you'd do in CS2&4's Act 2) not preparing you for the insanity that's about to go down.

Not a big fan of the Grim Garten, and there seems to be more mandatory time spent in it than in DB2, but at least most of it is optional. And it's more interesting than in DB2.

I also think the OST suffered a bit from "Quantity over quality" with its massive 105-track count.

But those are minor issues. This is an incredible Trails game, to the point where I ended up writing so much more in this post than I meant to. I can't wait for its English release, reaction and its eventual sequel. With a cliffhanger like THAT the wait will really be something.