After spending about three years last night figuring it out, I finally installed the Birthright units in Conquest patch. Must say: Charlotte dunks on Rinkah in the early game.
Oh, did you ever get Kaden afterwards, Shrimp? I know you said he stayed green, but I don't recall you saying if you got him after the map or something.
GAA game 1 completed. Kazuma might have to start swinging his sword at some people, because hoo boy there's some... tension, let's say, between Ryunosuke and van Zieks.
Anecdotally I think 2 is incredibly padded (it's the only Trails game I'd say I didn't fully enjoy plot and character-wise), but all games are important enough in their own right. NISA and Falcom have both stated you can start with 3 since the game has briefs recaps as a separate menu and takes place two years after 2, but 3 and 4 (and I guess the same would be the same for Reverie/Hajimari) were all clearly made with the expectation that the player has played all previous games because of how much they lean into them.
Oh yeah, I enjoyed them too. And thanks for the reminder that I really should finish my XBX save. Though at this point I may as well restart it--been years.
And thank YOU for reminding me I need to finish Oath in Felghana. I literally stopped at the final boss, lmao.