After stumbling back into Fire Emblem Heroes, I found myself jonesing for a fully fledged FE game. I realised I hadn't actually finished Revelations before, so I've hopped back into Fates.
I replayed Birthright again in full to reacclimitise myself to the game and dipped my toes into Conquest to realise I don't have the patience to strategise my way through this campaign (although Chapter 10 was actually fun to solve, just took bloody ages) and I've now started Revelations. Part of me wishes I'd just gone back to the other campaigns I've yet to do in FE:TH or even fired up Echoes again.
I do think this is my least favourite FE game that I've played to completion. The writing is absolutely miserable and exemplifies everything I dislike about this style of FE game. A huge chunk of the supporting cast are so miserably one note and even in the main cast, there's nobody that even approaches the likes of Dimitri or Edelgard in FE:TH. The plot reflects that with some absolutely nonsensical writing at points.
The child system makes zero thematic sense in Fates, but the game hides a huge chunk of its roster and a ton of chapters behind engaging with that nonsense, so it's not like you can ignore it either. Plus, the whole structure of the game means finishing Birthright or Conquest don't exactly feel satisfying as the proper ending is undoubtedly hidden behind a DLC paywall.
I'm supremely glad that the series seems to have turned away from the direction that Fates was leading it down and vastly improved my complaints with FE:TH.