If I had a nickel for every modern Fire Emblem game that undermines its cool overworld mechanics, gameplay intrigue, and handful of diamond in the rough characters with a central INCEST MYSTERY I would have two nickels.

This game has so much that works. A charming central hub, fun dialogue, great voice acting, replay value from every orifice, engaging (though WILDLY unbalanced—in a fun way) combat, and a cast of characters that has really grown on me over the years since this game's release. However, very little of this game works together because the connective tissue, the story and the presentation, are both cobbled together in increasingly frustrating ways. Frustrating is a great word for this game, honestly. I want to like it—I do like it, for hours at a time, before I have to talk to Rhea again or interact with Those Who Slither in the Dark or watch Edelgard and Claude change personalities and/or intelligence levels every two cutscenes. Fodlan is interesting, this cast is interesting, this game is interesting, but your intrigue is met with nothing substantial. The best parts of this game are its musings on how war is just waste with no winners (hence the absence of a so-called 'good end' or 'true end', which is a choice I agree with), and Fire Emblem Awakening did that better in a single chapter than this game did in its entire run. I have a friend who burned through all three routes of this game in a week and a half by skipping all the dialogue and they had the better experience of the two of us.