Not really. When I say beaten, I mean that my first playthrough eventually degraded into lords and whoever else was available or joined, and I haven't played the original versions of 1 and 3 since beating them. Ranking just takes planning, and can be done since all info you need is here at SF. I could've gotten an S in LNM, but due to using everybody, she couldn't survive an attack from Lundgren, even with the Lancereaver. I guess no deaths is somewhat credible.
Unless you like playing for turn counts, just watch what you do, and don't be too aggressive if you don't have to, but don't be too conservative either.