I think that's an excellent summary of the potential of the MiniBrute and the questions that need to be asked/answered. (Or maybe I'm just happy to see someone else who thinks like I do.) The potential of the MIDI/CV options attracts me as well, and the chained polyphony question is an important one.
Over the last week I've thought about my initial response to the MiniBrute. My positive thoughts about the MIDI/CV aspect are still there, but also I'm not so down on the short keyboard as I was initially. I'd still like to see a rack version, but presumably Arturia needed to settle on one basic format to get the synth on the market and see what response there is. Weighing the pros and cons of that, I can see how the small keyboard fits the `go anywhere' ethos of this synth. It's compact, but so long as you've got an amp to plug into, it'll do something good without any fuss. On balance I think that was a good decision.