I think that's true, if the ducts exist already that's simplest and cheapest. If they don't mini-split type systems are. But I suspect that long term those are going to be a pain in the butt because you have a lot of failure points.
Mini splits seem to be pretty reliable. They’re very common outside of North America. Most of the leading manufacturers seem to be from Japan (Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, Daikin)