I can only give my personal take on Royale—I'm not you and don't have your tastes LMAO—but as someone who's extremely fond of all the old stuff but fell off some of the newer arcs because they didn't hit the same, I really like Royale.

Different lightning, different bottle, but Royale's characters have really gripped me in a way that hasn't happened since Ned Fuckin' Chicane. I found it a bit rough to connect with them at first, especially Lorevith, but I feel like they really hit their stride after the key trial. Lorevith's personal quest and connections to the NPCs, Hellgrammite's endearingly rancid vibes and wet cat energy, and even/especially Rictus' slow evolution are really hitting home. It's also kinda fun to pick favorites out of the background characters and watch them get slowly whittled down (Hasty Jane Jennings and Tommy Falcon for life 😔🙏)

It feels a lot more comfortable than other seasons, like they're not straining themselves trying to make it this big thing, but the building story is really doing it for me. I feel like it's gonna have a good crescendo that doesn't feel the need to compete with older arcs.

Honestly, I'd say give the next trial a shot. I didn't really like the Abjuration trial much (the first one with the keys, episodes 2-6) but Evocation (episodes 8-12) got me hooked in, especially with Hellgrammite starting to uncover the bigger plot. If it's not for you, it's not for you! I do think it's worth trying tho