Despite the weird designed maps which are often called bad I think the game is fast enough and charming that most of the time I didn't care, until act 3 where the game becomes really sicko on hard mode. In general the hard mode isn't good in this game the maps and pacing don't hold up for the extra challenge to be engaging. Hard mode is just tedious the dungeons are fun addition to the formula without consuming the game although I would like future games to explore them in way thats more than just a hub area. However the dungeons become annoying in hard because the amount of times you have to run through them sometimes and the box maps with fast as fuck flying enemies which force boxing clerics and the forced deployed bad units with your own units. Meanwhile Normal mode feels really fast and allows the momentum of the early game carry through the late game. You could also use whoever you want and not just Palla, Catria, Alm, Dread fighter and cleric. The characters are well written (which in FE means not annoying and for the most part aren't a single quirky trait/ bit). The instigating force behind the story doesn't make sense and it is a dragon turns evil plot but the story is so character driven it doesn't matter when I play the game the main story that sticks is Alm and Celica, their bonds with their main group, and the deliverance revolt against annoying nobles.