For your first run, play Normal/Casual. And get the female avatar. Hard is just hard for the first couple chapters then it gets really easy. When you get to postgame, train some Spotpass/Streetpass/DLC characters (like giving all the women Galeforce and Lethality, which makes them unstoppable) and update them in your Avatar Logbook. Then when you go to Lunatic, you can recruit these characters directly from your logbook after a few chapters and breeze through the game. I strongly recommend buying the Golden Pack, because you're going to need the Golden Gaffe and EXPonential Growth maps for grinding.
Among the parents, Olivia is the best character other than the Avatar. I trained her some and she's an Assassin with Astra, Swordfaire, Pass, Lethality and Galeforce. She's totally unstoppable. I'm using her in my final team for the Apotheosis DLC. I gave her the boots so she has extra move points.
Among the parents, Olivia is the best character other than the Avatar. I trained her some and she's an Assassin with Astra, Swordfaire, Pass, Lethality and Galeforce. She's totally unstoppable. I'm using her in my final team for the Apotheosis DLC. I gave her the boots so she has extra move points.