Crimson Flower was actually my very first 3H route (yes, literally because it had the Waifu Lord, and also because Bernadetta), but I definitely had some unfinished business with it. When I first played 3H I was still a FE Noob who played without Permadeath, and I'm a hell of a lot better at the game now. Also, there were a lot of bad choices/outcomes from my first playthrough that needed correcting:
- Saving Flayn and Seteth instead of killing them
- Killing Claude instead of sparing him
- Enabling Dimitri and Dedue to rest in piece instead of being consumed by revenge
- Actually doing a good job at Hubert's Paralogue, so that Lord Arundel doesn't get to talk shit.
- Wyvern Lord Edelgard instead of her shitty Emperor Class
The route was actually really fun - I was worried that after playing Engage, 3H would seem pretty plain and boring by comparison, but thankfully I was at the point of the game where I had access to some really great abilities like Warp and Rescue, and then post-timeskip I got Raging Storm on Edelgard, which is just crazy fucking busted - imagine looking at Awakening's Galeforce ability and thinking "nah, that's not NEARLY broken enough, we need to buff that ability hard." Oh well, while hardly well-balanced, Raging Storm Wyvern Lord Edelgard sure was fun to use, unlike my Tank Edelgard during my original playthrough.
Speaking of crazy fucking busted and Edelgard, my Edelgard was pretty damn Blessed this run - I think she only got like a couple of bad level ups during the entire game. She was just SUCH a beast, as a unit she was probably even better than my Dimitri from the Blue Lions route. In addition to Raging Storm, beastly stats and being a perfect fit for the best Class in the game, Edelgard has multiple Crests, and the fact that her Crest of Flames can randomly heal her based on damage dealt makes her potentially Godly on enemy phase.
Also, while Crimson Flower is a short, rushed route (seriously, it has like *1* actual cut-scene), its missions are all fun, especially the final two. I had played the route before the DLC and updates, so playable Jeritza was completely new to me, and I had no idea that Anna actually has her own Paralogue on the route. Definitely made replaying it all the more worthwhile.
Finally, quick thoughts on Edelgard - she's not "Based" nor is she evil, and she's much more of a Napoleon than a Hitler (make your Short jokes now). While I don't agree with her, I find her to be a much better person than Claude, her vision of Fodlan as a pure Meritocracy at least sounds good in theory, and Edelgard really believes it will benefit the people, unlike Claude's Diversity bullshit that's literally just motivated by him personally being a rootless Mutt. Obviously, Dimitri is the superior Lord with the superior Route, but I can at least somewhat understand Edelgard Defenders.
