i'm not sure if i can say anything worthwhile about berwick saga that hasn't been said before, but this game is absolutely shouzo kaga's magnum opus. berwick saga encapsulates all of the man's strengths and eccentricities when it comes to story and game design, culminating in what is the most satisfying srpg experience i've ever had. no other srpg i've played has had the feeling of a grand war epic like genealogy of the holy war while being a small part of a much, much larger whole ala thracia 776, and the way its handled here feels downright masterful. you simultaneously feel like the underdog main character on a "main" quest while also knowing and not being allowed to forget that this story is only part of something bigger, with major story events that you would see directly unfold in any other fire emblem-adjacent title being mentioned off screen.
in regards to gameplay, berwick saga while very much straying away from not only the modern identity of fire emblem and its identity before kaga's departure, feels as if it is the natural evolution of what fire emblem could have become had it had someone like kaga at the helm to keep innovating in the ways he had. strategies and mechanics that are all encompassing and centralizing in a game like fire emblem are barely even considerations here, as well as innovations like the hex grid making strategies feel much more deep and satisfying to pull off. the game is incredibly difficult and a bit slower paced though in a way unlike any other kaga games, which i can imagine being a bit of a turnoff to anyone who isn't playing on emulator.
berwick saga is a strategy game for freaks. you shouldn't even think about playing it unless an experience like thracia 776 barely even tickled your thirst for difficulty, and even then you need to go into it expecting a slow, unfair, and brutal experience because more than anything, more than any fire emblem or srpg in general, berwick saga strives and succeeds to be, in shouzo kaga's own words, a human drama on the stage of history and war.