Definitely more time could have been saved. I made a few OOB blunders, did some mis-menuing that caused extra load times. I still think a sub 4:30 is possible with grinding, a 4:34 should probably be free with someone dedicated enough to perfectly execute, even with a little poor RNG. My RNG was not as strong as other attempts that day, and you can easily save over a minute with really strong RNG. Items definitely seem a lot less important on Easy and more time could be saved with just giving up on Tiger Amulet after Battle of Tong gate outside of maybe Bai Di Castle. I'm also coming around to maybe skipping Mosou + pickups in future runs as it just doesn't seem worth it. 8 hit combos early on for +2 attacks do seem worth it if you can not waste any attacks getting them.

I did try a lot harder to be cognizant of managing my depth of field issues. You want to keep P1 as far away from allies and enemies as possible to avoid having commanders not appear. But sometimes it's unavoidable.