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A great sequel to Zero with some of the best but also worst writing of the franchise so far.

Trails to Azure is often being called "Peak Trails" for various reasons and I'd probably agree with that statement, but unfortunately some of its glaring narrative flaws keep it from becoming a perfect sequel, at least in my eyes.
But first... the good:
Combat is a straight-up evolution from Zero. Like with Sky SC, the Liberl arc's equivalent to Azure, there are more (Combo) crafts, S-Crafts, Quartz and available arts. The biggest addition are the new Master Quartz, which are able to gain experience and abilities as you level up and help to define a character's role in combat more easily.
The encounters themselves are a step-up as well, especially the few fights you are supposed to lose but are winnable anyway with some "dodgy" tactics (if you catch my drift).
I feel like a broken record for mentioning this yet again, but the music is top-notch. The amount of instant bangers in this game is outstanding and this includes not only the battle music, but also the various casual daily life and cutscene tracks. Falcom Sound Team jdk, I salute you. There are some issues with combat sound effects, though. A few of them sound really low-quality (even though they're the same as in Zero), but I was able to get used to it pretty quickly.
The side quests and unique NPCs really make Crossbell feel alive. This naturally also applies to Zero, but some of the conclusions of certain NPCs' stories felt really endearing, especially if you've completed certain quests from previous games and arcs.
The writing:
Aside from the rather uneventful first chapter and some lazy writing near the end of the game, this game feels like an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. The way the deteriorating political situation in Crossbell with threats looming beyond both borders is portrayed feels compelling and exciting. The tension keeps rising and rising the closer you get to solving the mysteries that have been introduced in Zero and while I can only speak for myself, the whole sequence from the end of chapter 3 to the beginning hours of the final chapter had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Even with recency bias in mind, this might have become my favorite chain of events in JRPGs ever.
As for the protagonists, you can clearly feel that the writers were struggling to give them all equal time in the spotlight. Some of them feel like they have whole chapters dedicated to them, while others just kind of exist and never do anything of note. A few of them fit right between these two extremes, but in most cases I can only say that an attempt was made.
My biggest point of contention is the bonding system, which allows you to raise your affection with your party members throughout the story. This then culminates in a final bonding event near the end of the game with the character who has the most bonding points. While I usually like these kind of systems in other games and didn't mind it in Zero because of the smaller party, here it feels like some of the more underdeveloped characters' backstories and inner struggles were part of the final event because the writers didn't know where else to put them, so it's entirely possible to miss out on them by favoring a different character. Also, since all the ladies are potential partners for the protagonist, there aren't any interesting dynamics like Estelle / Joshua or Schera / Olivier from Sky.
The antagonists this time around are, with a very few exceptions, so cartoonishly evil that it is hard to take them seriously. The events leading up to their reveal were exceptional, but afterwards, it kind of went downhill, mostly thanks to masterful writing such as:
(slight unspecific spoilers)
"Wow, that was fun! Too bad my presence is needed in another game, so see you all!"
"Thanks to your two-minute speech I now realize that I have been wrong this whole time, Protagonist. I give up."
and
"NO! You've ruined my master plan! Oh well, I got another gig coming up soon, so whatever."
Thanks to this and the fact that the writers thought the final dungeon was yet again the best place to resolve all the character conflicts they had forgotten to resolve earlier, the final hours felt like a product of lesser quality compared to what came before. Sky SC did something similar, but back then I brushed it off because I was excited to dive into a new franchise. Seeing it all over again in Azure, I cannot ignore it anymore.

Conclusion:
The sloppy bits and pieces of writing near the end aside, this game is stellar. I can see why many consider it peak and in my opinion, it certainly is the best game in the franchise I've played so far, even if this overly critical review might suggest otherwise. As always, see you in the next game - after a short, well-deserved break.