AA + 60fps mod makes Three Houses look genuinely pretty good from a character model and animations viewpoint. Now if only we could get the support environments and text boxes from Hopes then it'd be perfect.

I think thats why i believe Azure Gleam even with all its issues is a bit better than the other two routes in the game since it actually tries to commit a bit more to having everyone be worse off. Even in the half ending it had everyone ended miserable and worse off than ever.

Probably, Three Hopes was supposed to be worse versions of the original houses routes so I'm very prone to directly comparing them. Rodrigue dying in Gleam only pushes Dimitri further down for instance instead of being the reason he recovers. (Also god the secret route really ruins Azure Gleam)

That's the core difference between Azure Gleam and Azure Moon is whether Dimitri actually wants to live or not. He outright commits suicide fighting in 3/4 routes in Three Houses after all.

Thats the opposite interpretation i think you're meant to have. Dimitri is weak against magic and doesn't make any effort to dodge Thales because in Azure Gleam he has zero self-preservation or personal aspirations. The entire route he's just going along with whats expected of him not what he wants.