By Kristina Lanuza Introduction After a period of prosperity on handheld devices, the Fire Emblem series makes its way back into the living room with Fire Emblem: Three Houses – the 16th installment in Nintendo’s Fire Emblem series, a series that was relatively unknown up until its resurgence in 2012 with the release of Fire Emblem: Awakening. Staying true to its roots while introducing us to an entirely new world to explore and a cast of new characters to bond with, this new game introduces a new era of tactical JRPG games that’s unlike anything that came before it. This story takes place on the continent of Fodlan, ruled by the three main powers – the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance. The division of power of what drives the main decision of the game, which is what house you choose to support in your playthrough (and, trust me, each house brings a completely different perspective to the story). From teaching your students how to fight in an academy to waging an all-out war for control over the continent, each route took me around 70-80 hours (all worth the effort) to complete. On the Battlefield with your Students As veteran players of the Fire Emblem may have noticed, this game does not include the famous ‘weapons triangle’ that was prominent in every game that came before it. – swords beat axes, axes beat lances and lances beat swords. Rather than focusing on which weapon to give to who, there is a much bigger emphasis on the unit’s individual skills gained from tutoring sessions. Each unit has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it is up to the player to choose which skills to focus on training and which skills aren’t as important. Teaching your students also allows for the unit to take leadership of different battalions. Battalions are a brand new function in the Fire Emblem series and can be used to change the tide of a battle in an instant. From stunning an entire line of enemies to raining down bolts of lightning on a large area, battalions open up new possibilities in terms of strategy. Keep in mind that enemy units also have access to battalions, so simple strategies may backfire on you depending on the situation. Exploring the Monastery Three Houses isn’t just about the large gridded maps or the turn-based strategy, it makes you interact with those in your house and explore the large Garreg Mach Monastery and Officers Academy. Every other day that you don’t teach your student, you have the opportunity to explore the gigantic map of Garreg Mach and interact with all the students and staff there, building relationships in the form of unique support conversations. All of the students are divided into three houses (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, and Golden Deer) based on which ruling power in Fodlan they hail from. For example, those who are from the Holy Kingdom on Faerghus are enrolled in the Blue Lions. Depending on the house you choose at the beginning of the game, you’ll get to lead and teach a unique band of students as they learn the meaning of fighting in a war. Something that I really appreciated about this game was the different characters and the voices that gave them personality. Each and every character had a different personality to flesh out their characters and make them relatable to us, as well as distinct voices to suit those personalities. Not only that, but each character had their own story and each story was connected to the plot as a whole and allows us to see perspectives we may have never even considered before. Students with Personality Ever since Awakening, characters have had the ability to talk with each other and form relationships through fully-voiced support conversations, and I must say that the voice actors have done a phenomenal job with voicing every character. Fewer romance options in Three Houses allow for some more focused and grounded support conversations between characters that have good chemistry (whether they be friends or romantically involved with each other). All of the conversations were also realistic, such as the slightly hostile conversations, which goes to show the amount of detail that has been put into all of the characters. Living by the Calendar Everything that you do in this game is dictated by a calendar system, in which all (or most) of your weekdays are dedicated to teaching and your Sundays off can be spent either battling, resting or exploring the monastery. At the beginning of each week, you can choose to personally tutor any student of your liking as long as they are motivated enough and you can set goals for your students to focus on throughout the week (for example, swords and flying). Sometimes, your students will even come up to you to ask questions about either their personal lives or about class changes. At the end of the week, once all the teaching is done and all of the statistics are added up, you have the choice to either battle and complete quests, paralogues (character side-quests) or explore the monastery. Whichever option you choose will greatly affect your gameplay in the future, so choose wisely about what you want to do for the remaining month. The Flames of War
The story of Three Houses is just absolutely phenomenal in every way. The plot is woven together in a way that touches on realistic issues that we can relate to – discrimination, social classes, politics and so much more. It also focuses on the three main lords (Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude) and their relationships with each other; their separate pasts and how they are all connected to each other, deepening the plot even more. The first route that I played was the Blue Lions route, and I adored how you could see the main lord, Dimitri’s change of personality before and after the time skip. As you play through the route, you can see his past slowly unfold into a deep and emotional story that tells you why he is the way that he is now, and it is done in an engaging and expert way. Amongst all the Pros Everything about this game to me is top-notch, and it is possibly one of the best JRPG’s that I’ve ever played so far. Although, if there were a few things that I could change in the game, it would be the backdrop of the conversations taking place in the story and the variety of the battle objectives in the game. All of the conversations are really engaging, but the 2D backdrop of the conversation can sometimes really take away from the immersion of the game. The battle objectives are also good enough to keep the player invested in the game, but a bit more variety from the typical ‘Rout the enemy’ of ‘Defeat the Enemy Commander’ would make the game a tad bit more enjoyable. The Verdict Overall, I believe that Fire Emblem: Three Houses has done an amazing job in succeeding the games before it in the Fire Emblem series and that its story, ambitious as it is, has been told in an incredibly engaging way that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Each and every character is relatable to us in their own ways and the depth of the characters brought on by their well-written personalities and voice acting brings us into the immersive experience of a JRPG. With a classic yet fresh take on strategic elements and new functions to enhance gameplay, this game makes you want to pick it up over and over to see what’s coming next.
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