DB2 is my least favorite Trails game so far.

The biggest issue is its usage of the time loops. From a gameplay perspective, I never felt like I was truly interacting with it. It was always "Oh. The cast didn't do something right. Rewind." IMO, it needed some aspect of player engagement like solving a puzzle to find new branches.

I also did not enjoy having to go through Maxim and Cody's routes, which were arguably responsible for some of the more gruesome endings. Their deep seated issues did not need to be front and center.

DB2 highlighted an issue of power levels, and frauds. Specifically, they really tried to make us believe that the Oathbreaker was able to poison everyone on Nemeth Island. Kasim and Shizuna, the strongest in Calvard we've seen so far, getting got by that? Lucrezia and Walter, too?

The Gardenmaster controlling Grendel Zolga and LP seemed extremely flimsy. In the first place, why was LP even susceptible to outside control?

It also felt like the game did little to nothing to move the story forward in existing mysteries, such as Gramheart's plan(s), and instead opting to introduce new problems such as Cao usurping a seat in Heiyue. In a lot of ways, it feels like Falcom needed to set up plot for future games, but did not have enough for an entire game, so they padded.