7.5/10
+ Trista and Thors OST are peak vibes
+ The arts system feels less restrictive compared to the games before this. Fire and Earth casters feel more viable now with the new quartz system.
+ Actual mini-game for fishing
- While this is another setup game like Sky FC and Zero, I feel that the pacing in this one is worse than Zero but better than FC. A lot of the story is already quite predictable based on knowledge from Azure, and this game already has an overlap in time coverage as late Zero and early to middle Azure.
- Going right from Azure to CS1 is emotional whiplash. With the stakes for the characters (and Crossbell as a whole) being what they were, going back to the more casual SoL in this one feels a bit jarring.
- Bonding points feel restrictive and prevent you from seeing all events for every character until NG+
- The 3D assets in this game (also CS2) are rather poor, especially for the characters and how they appear in dialogue boxes. It unfortunately doesn't get better until CS3.

7.5/10 + Trista and Thors OST are peak vibes + The arts system feels less restrictive compared to the games before this. Fire and Earth casters feel more viable now with the new quartz system. + Actual mini-game for fishing - While this is another setup game like Sky FC and Zero, I feel that the pacing in this one is worse than Zero but better than FC. A lot of the story is already quite predictable based on knowledge from Azure, and this game already has an overlap in time coverage as late Zero and early to middle Azure. - Going right from Azure to CS1 is emotional whiplash. With the stakes for the characters (and Crossbell as a whole) being what they were, going back to the more casual SoL in this one feels a bit jarring. - Bonding points feel restrictive and prevent you from seeing all events for every character until NG+ - The 3D assets in this game (also CS2) are rather poor, especially for the characters and how they appear in dialogue boxes. It unfortunately doesn't get better until CS3.