Yep, you're mathing correctly - it took me over two years to beat this. I'm notoriously slow at beating long RPGs. In May 2023 my gaming got railroaded by the release of TOTK, which ate up the next 6 months. I took a detour to a few other games before picking this back up.

For anyone unfamiliar with the series, the core elements of Fire Emblem are the tactical RPG battles and permadeath for your party members. If the main character Byleth dies (or your house leader, it's game over, try again. This is my second FE game after Awakening, battles require just as much strategy as usual though seem to have more depth in this than the rock-paper-scissors formula of Awakening. I loved the variety of battles, not to mention all the options for character classes. Some modern amenities like rewind in battle and casual mode make this easier....I was turned off by it at first but when gaming time is scarce, it's nice to rewind a bad move instead of burning 10-20 minutes restarting the battle.

Inbetween battle segments you explore the monastery, a great break from the action. Talk to characters to learn story bits and improve your relationships, participate in activities to improve skills and give temp stat boosts, of course there's a fishing minigame. The back stories of each character and their development throughout the game really pays off at the end. The overarching story involves gods and battles over lands, and it's done well.

Replayability is definitely a thing with 3 different routes to play. I may only make time for the one, but I appreciate that it has all 3. Definitely recommend this game!