I didn't turn the easy mode on, I don't think I ever saw the option, in fact. The best character for me to use was the centaur mainly because of her special, but every other character was much harder for me, though that could just be because I'm bad at the game.
I didn't know that my choices affected how hard the AI would go on me, I'll be sure to try that out and get back to you on it.
I'm happy you got back to me, cause now I feel like I have a better chance at actually winning the game (not that losing is all that bad). But I still feel like the AI gets way too hard way too quickly, and doesn't give a new player much time before they get steamrolled by her. But nonetheless I'm loving the series so far and cannot wait for more in the future!