I've only found love for this game on my second play-through. On Normal, the game isn't hard enough for your to interact with all of the mechanics. I didn't forge or engrave weapon, barely inherited any skills, didn't care about what the unit types did, and just relied on the rings to carry me.
Now playing on maddening, the mechanics and what to do become more relevant and that's when the game shines. The amount of customization and build variety is insane, you can make anyone viable if you try hard enough. Clanne is starts as a mage with really weird growths, his magic growth is meh and his strength is alright. He also has very good speed and decent dex. Without really knowing what to do with rings, engraves, and forges, most people will drop him for later magic units. What I did was reclass him into a swordmaster with a Robin ring, Levin Sword, Alacrity + Canter, and watch him destroy everything in his path. Without knowledge of the game mechanics, which the game doesn't do a good job of showcasing, the average player wouldn't be able to think about a unit this way.
As for the story, it's garbage. I got bored around chapter 18 and skipped until the end. The game-play carries this game hard, but I've never really thought a Fire Emblem story was above a 7/10 so it didn't bug me. The characters are really fun though, a bunch of insane people gathered in one place harassing each other. Just like any other game, the characterization is locked behind supports. But, since the story doesn't do a good job at utilizing any of the characters, this choice was even more egregious. Overall, I can see why people don't like the game.
Now playing on maddening, the mechanics and what to do become more relevant and that's when the game shines. The amount of customization and build variety is insane, you can make anyone viable if you try hard enough. Clanne is starts as a mage with really weird growths, his magic growth is meh and his strength is alright. He also has very good speed and decent dex. Without really knowing what to do with rings, engraves, and forges, most people will drop him for later magic units. What I did was reclass him into a swordmaster with a Robin ring, Levin Sword, Alacrity + Canter, and watch him destroy everything in his path. Without knowledge of the game mechanics, which the game doesn't do a good job of showcasing, the average player wouldn't be able to think about a unit this way.
As for the story, it's garbage. I got bored around chapter 18 and skipped until the end. The game-play carries this game hard, but I've never really thought a Fire Emblem story was above a 7/10 so it didn't bug me. The characters are really fun though, a bunch of insane people gathered in one place harassing each other. Just like any other game, the characterization is locked behind supports. But, since the story doesn't do a good job at utilizing any of the characters, this choice was even more egregious. Overall, I can see why people don't like the game.