Alm or Celica.

[ThunderKeybladeMaster]

I personally like Alm's route better. I just really hate Desert Maps, and Swamp Maps. And I just like Alm better. Plus keeping Celica's army alive is a pain.

Edited December 28, 2017 by TheXGamer

[In-Sain Arcane Birdbrain]

Celica's route is not too bad in echoes in terms of maps(Gaiden is another story) but I like Alm's route more for the antagonists he encounters such as Burkut, Rudolf, and Nuibaba. Alm also has a bit more variety with character classes as he gets several villagers while Celica only gets Atlas who I don't really like gameplay wise anyways.

[Jingle Jangle]

Alm, his maps were less of a pain to get through.A bit on the bland side, but it didn't annoy me as much as some  of the maps on Celica's route.

[omegaxis1]

Alm. It's really sad that despite how Celica's quest was more noble, trying to end the war through more peaceful methods, her quest ended up screwing itself over near the end of Act 3 and all the way in Act 4. In the end, Alm's route ended up being the correct one, because whereas Celica insisted they needed the gods, Alm believed they no longer did and had to grow on their own by the end of his.

[Florete]

Celica. I found her to be a more relatable character and I liked the cast on her side more. Additionally, a lot of units on Alm's side were subpar for me, including Alm himself, and I just had more problems with his side of the story in general.

[Carter]

I loved the sea levels in Celica's route but I absolutely hated the desert maps. Alm's maps, on the other hand, were a bit too plain for me. They were nice, and I liked some of the battles themselves, but the maps were just too bland overall imo.

Overall I prefer Alm's route because of Faye Celica's desert levels were horrible for me.

[Ace Pelleas]

As a Gaiden only player, I gotta choose Celica, because I liked her desert maps. Yes, they slow you a lot and there's freaking Sonya teleporting near to you, but it was fun as heck. Most FE games just follow the staple, levels on the plains, a few on snowy terrains(midgame), a volcano level and one desert level. Gaiden on the other hand, threw you a lot of old traditional things with another perspective.

[Etrurian emperor]

I preferred Celica's route since there's more variability to be found in her missions then in the big plains Alm usually finds himself in. In the first chapter you got bandit boats, zombie boats, hostile mage boats and dragons while the siege of Grieph's citadel is just awesome. It starts with you slowly moving to the gates through desert terrain while archers and mages shoot at you from safe distance and when you're finally inside you got to fight almost infinately spanning skeleton soldiers in the tight corners of the city street with a boss eventually rushing at you.

The swamp is annoying but at least its unique and you got to besiege a fortress in the swamps while dragons keep coming at you. With all the distinct locations and stage designs its just more memorable than anything Alm finds himself in.

The variety is reflected in Celica's party too. If you're in Alms army you're either a soldier or a villager but Celica is accompanied by kid mages, militia soldiers, mercenaries, foreigners and a witch with ties to the villains. 

[Hawkwing]

I chose Alm, if only because he has a more likable personality and less frustrating maps that his counterpart. That being said, I don't mind Celica's character (and I'm not annoyed by her actions in act 4 as many other's are, even thought I do agree that the whole scenario could have been handled better.), and I had a good amount of fun playing on the boat and even desert maps (even if it was the only reason I enjoyed the latter was the catharsis factor. They were a pain in the butt to complete, but seeing Wolf, Deen/Sonia, and especially Grieth bite the dust made the whole battle worth it), with the swamp maps preventing her route from being as fun as Alm's.

Unit-wise, I found them about equal in usefulness:

Celica has a useful array of spells, and the fact that she can wield swords means she can handle melee combat without much trouble. She is also a solid unit overall, having good bases and growths, with only a lackluster promotion both stat and design-wise (seriously, she only gains a shield, an ornament, a fancier cape on her model. I'm not asking for her to suddenly look like a Disney princess, but come on!). Her personal weapon and skill aren't as good as Alm's, but they're still pretty useful, and at least she gets one in Echoes (even though the holy/blessed sword was often considered to be her personal weapon in Gaiden, anyway).

Alm is also a solid unit overall, with solid bases and growths as well. Similar to how Ike filled the role of the mercenary class in the Tellius games, Alms covers the role of the fighter class (except he can actually hit something). Unlike Celica, though, both his class promotion and personal weapon(s) are great. As a hero, his access to bows proves surprisingly useful, as Alm has access to the convoy, and can switch between his sword and a bow quite easily depending on the situation. The Royal/Regal sword has access to both the Double/Twin Lions and Scendscale, with the latter being one of the best (if not thee best) skill(s) in the game, and I'm surprised at how useful and versatile Scendscale is, despite the high HP cost.

23 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

The variety is reflected in Celica's party too. If you're in Alms army you're either a soldier or a villager but Celica is accompanied by kid mages, militia soldiers, mercenaries, foreigners and a witch with ties to the villains.

Despite agreeing with you, at least Alm has the rare honor of being a Fire Emblem lord who's army consists of actual professional and volunteer soldiers, instead of looking like a ragtag bunch of misfits.

[SoulWeaver]

I'll say Celica, but it's mostly because she has the Whitewings - dang they did those three just right in SoV.

[SavageVolug]

I'd have to say Alm though part of this be might be my favouritism for units like cavaliers plus Kliff awesome character. Celicae's route on the other hand well it's an army of mages (technically not 100% true but we all know what I mean) with Celica being the tankiest and most well rounded of the group till Saber joins. I DO like though the boat battles on Celica's path, and while swamp battles are not my favourite I enjoy the one where there's an army of Necro Dragons guarding a fortress, fortresses in general I enjoy in this game.

[LucarioGamer812]

Alm, overall I found his side stronger gameplay wise and more likable, I mean there was Alm himself, the ram quartet, Lukas, Forsyth, Python, Clair, Clive, Mathilda, Delthea and Silque. Meanwhile Celica only had herself, Mae, Boey, Sonya, Saber, Jesse, Kamui, Atlas, and the whitewings. (By this I mean units I like to use and can actually hold their own in battle). Alm also had the better story revolution and acceptance of his role in reforging Valentia, Celica helped but it was basically her beliefs that started her journey and kinda screwed her over in the end until Alm shows up, though Celica's map variety and initial purpose are notes of praise.

[Regent]

I didn't find Celica's maps too bad, and I enjoyed having her mages and pegasus knights in battle. I found her maps more diverse than most of Alm's who had a few good maps too.  I do like how Alm was more open about his intentions to his allies at least.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I enjoyed Celica's route more overall, but I think that's because mages are by far the most fun class to play with (being the only ones who actually have multiple "weapons" in the classic Fire Emblem sense) and she gets a lot of them. Alm's route was tougher, certainly, but not always in ways that were fun.