Obviously, spoilers.

I saved Cai for second.  The game clearly expects that you'll pick Cai first, but I sensed that it would likely impact my experience, and I was spot on.  You see, Cai's segment is richer than Leda's by a wide margin, but it's also significantly easier (except the final battle).

Cai's is where I saw the first of the 'gimmicks' - things like being able to plant crops and catch mounts.  It's also the first time being able to hit above C+ on the skill rankings, simply because I was now comfortable with the game flow and could better time what was going on.

Cai's wish is to save his father, who is condemned to death.  Getting there unravels twists and turns that result in a fascinating story; although Cai's pure nature might be a turn-off for some.

What I Liked

✅ For a beginner, or someone who didn't play Three Houses, Cai's story does an excellent job at helping you keep up with what's going on.

✅ Because the flow of things is so much smoother, I was able to finally get to A Support, which does confirm romantic pairings.  In some cases there are close-to-harem style outcomes, which is also good.

✅ Cai himself is actually quite overpowered.  In some situations (like that last battle), he was one of the few left standing.

✅ Almost all of the women seem to fawn over Cai like never seen before.

✅ The overall story is very well put together and engaging.  It does start out a bit slow, but it's paced very well, and has a few curveballs near the end.

What I Didn't Like

👎 Cai can only access half of the map - he doesn't get to explore the full continent like Leda could.

👎 Some of the quest requirements deal with obscure items that require excessive travel to get to them.  Cai does not get the carriage unlocked until later, and it requires a tedious quest.

👎 Some of the characters feel arbitrary, like Ultand and Guzran, which is slightly jarring.  Leda's crew felt closer to her and more 'relevant' if that makes sense.

👎 Not very many support conversations, which was surprising.

Summary

I had a blast with Cai's story.  I simply think that for the best experience, people should not do it first unless they're new to Three Houses.