Firepower - how does it compare to the competition in 2021?

Hi all, yet another Firepower thread. It's popcorn time!
Jokes aside, it is my intention to spark some constructive criticism or at least some neutral conversation.

Let me start with a statement: I am well aware of the bad reputation of the platform, and you might have seen my comments here and there at r/cisco and r/networking. I am familiar with the legendary "firepower rants" here on Reddit. I happen to be administering a Firepower box in the 4k series.
I tend to alternate between bashing the platform and self-reassuring myself that "it has become better" (coincidentally, not more than 2 days after I mildly defended FTD, our 3 HA pairs started acting up after a year of no issues. Karma).

Housecleaning done, my question is: ignoring the questionable architecture, the occasional instability, the slow and dated GUI, the cost, and the painful upgrade process, does FTD actually have the potential of being a solid and competitive platform for NGFW/IPS?

Based on the several books I have been reading and the online courses I attended, FTD seems to be a pretty capable platform, overall. I do wonder if the capabilities and the potential are overshadowed by the many horrendous limitations I listed above.

Thanks. I welcome your thoughts.