Nintendo - Fire Emblem: Three Houses Switch

My favorite game on the Switch console. The game has been out for almost four years and it has stuck with me through all of them. I enjoy the writing, the support conversations that the characters have with each other, and the voice acting (Japanese and English). The music is also great, encompassing everything from gentle/sweet vocals to boss fight dubstep. The DLC is worth the expense as well. The extra four characters make the game more fun. Sewer kids in the basement? What’s not to love? I coped with my least favorite route by dressing the characters in pajamas.

A fun and engaging installment to the FE series!

If you're a fan of tactical turn based gameplay, you are likely familiar with FE by now. If not, this game is a decent entry point. I say decent because it does deviate from some of the classic FE mechanics.Specifically, past games had a 'weapons triangle' system of strengths and weaknesses that operates like rock paper scissors. That system did offer satisfying tactical complexity, but was mostly considered unrealistic. FE: Three Houses deemphasizes that system by only implementing it through specific abilities. If you were to play this FE first and return to older games in the series, you'd notice the impact this makes on gameplay.Otherwise, Three Houses retains the permadeath mechanic for units that fall in battle, like other FE games. However, it does allow ... MoreIf you're a fan of tactical turn based gameplay, you are likely familiar with FE by now. If not, this game is a decent entry point. I say decent because it does deviate from some of the classic FE mechanics.Specifically, past games had a 'weapons triangle' system of strengths and weaknesses that operates like rock paper scissors. That system did offer satisfying tactical complexity, but was mostly considered unrealistic. FE: Three Houses deemphasizes that system by only implementing it through specific abilities. If you were to play this FE first and return to older games in the series, you'd notice the impact this makes on gameplay.Otherwise, Three Houses retains the permadeath mechanic for units that fall in battle, like other FE games. However, it does allow players to choose not to play with permadeath, which is a bit different. As much as I appreciate the challenge that comes with permadeath, I do think that making it optional does make the game much more accessible compared to previous FE games. A welcome change.There is a lot to like about the game. I withheld a star in my rating because the 'Monastery' home base mode is a little rough around the edges still, mostly pertaining to camera motion and navigation, UI related issues that cause a little friction. It's not terrible though, seeing as most (if not all) games have some sort of imperfection. I've yet to notice any imperfections resulting from bugs, which would be more concerning to me.The monastery offers a lot of value to the experience, since it is the primary means of building support between characters and raising their skill levels between battles via training.I would certainly recommend this game to anyone interested in this genre of gameplay.

Amazing for both franchise veterans and newcomers

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a masterful blend of strategic turn-based combat and detailed worldbuilding. While there are some evident flaws, they don't detract from the enjoyability of the overall experience.Exploring the monastery and interacting with the wide range of characters in this game is a real pleasure. The game is incredibly well-written, and while some characters are more relatable than others, they all have their own backstories, motivations and quirks that can be explored through their dialogue and support conversations. The writers did an amazing job creating a living, breathing world, which is impacted greatly depending on your actions throughout your playthrough.The combat, meanwhile, is... still turn-based Fire Emblem. Between the new assist ... MoreFire Emblem: Three Houses is a masterful blend of strategic turn-based combat and detailed worldbuilding. While there are some evident flaws, they don't detract from the enjoyability of the overall experience.Exploring the monastery and interacting with the wide range of characters in this game is a real pleasure. The game is incredibly well-written, and while some characters are more relatable than others, they all have their own backstories, motivations and quirks that can be explored through their dialogue and support conversations. The writers did an amazing job creating a living, breathing world, which is impacted greatly depending on your actions throughout your playthrough.The combat, meanwhile, is... still turn-based Fire Emblem. Between the new assist mechanics, unique battle animations and quotes, and many quality of life changes, every battle section is enjoyable. However, for series veterans, even Hard mode can seem somewhat easy due to the overpowered nature of battalions and gambits, overtuned mounted and flying classes, and the predictable AI which now broadcasts its next move for attacking units. While the player has access to many unbalanced techniques, the enemies never seem to use mechanics such as combat arts, let alone grand-scale strategic planning. Additionally, any mistakes you make are nullified by the fact that you can rewind to any point in the level and rethink your strategy up to around 10 times per battle by the end of the game. Hopefully, the eventual addition of Lunatic mode will solve several of these problems.I only have a few complaints with this game, most of them concerning the franchise's move over to the Switch. For one, while the graphics look great in handheld mode, there are some noticeable flaws when playing on a larger screen. Many textures and shadings seem to clip through each other, and moving the camera around in the overworld shows how jagged some of the background rendering is. Additionally, some of the flavor text is incredibly small and harder to read from far away. I wouldn't say that these problems "ruin the game", just that these oversights can break the immersion of the experience at times.Although I didn't cover every aspect of this 150+ hour game, it is a very strong entry in the Fire Emblem series. Once you get past the drab background graphics and bad enemy AI, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a combination of strategic combat sequences and beautifully written character moments.

Best Fire Emblem in ages.

This game is filled with a lot of what makes a Fire Emblem title great. Huge cast of characters, an epic story (with a nice twist that reminded me of FE4) and soundtrack, some of the most strategic and balanced gameplay the series has to offer.I do have some personal gripes, though. The avatar character (Byleth), he (or she if you prefer) is a pretty cool one by design and concept but they should be taken out of the series IMO, they serve no purpose other than constantly coddling the player in praise (which really isn't necessary), and stealing the spotlight of story from the real main characters, even watering down some of them because of their existence. For example, I think Edlegard is a mostly cool character but it seems like a lot of her motivation comes from ... MoreThis game is filled with a lot of what makes a Fire Emblem title great. Huge cast of characters, an epic story (with a nice twist that reminded me of FE4) and soundtrack, some of the most strategic and balanced gameplay the series has to offer.I do have some personal gripes, though. The avatar character (Byleth), he (or she if you prefer) is a pretty cool one by design and concept but they should be taken out of the series IMO, they serve no purpose other than constantly coddling the player in praise (which really isn't necessary), and stealing the spotlight of story from the real main characters, even watering down some of them because of their existence. For example, I think Edlegard is a mostly cool character but it seems like a lot of her motivation comes from this guy even if you don't side with her and it's like...why? He doesn't even talk, and in perspective of the lore, really has no idea who he is unlike some other certain characters. Along with being completely mute for the most part, most of the dialogue choices don't even matter and there are so many situations where you only have one option of dialogue. I work out and put autoplay dialogue on during cutscenes, why should I stop for such a pointless feature?Exploring the monestary, a new feature to this game, was also something I'm not a fan of. It was alright the first playthrough, but for a game where they expect the players to grind through 4 times to fully understand the story it's a bit much of a time sink to rinse and repeat buffing your party Monster Hunter style, clicking on a dot and studying which characters to give them to (out of about 40+ etc. I prefer FE to be more straightforward, FE7 style or FE9 where you do have a break in between battles but it's purely for inventory management, supports and bonus exp(which is a way better feature than all the grinding nonsense,IMO)One last gripe I have is the games UI and graphics. It runs off the FE: Warriors engine and let's just be honest, for this day and age especially, it just looks ugly and I think mostly everyone agrees. I prefer the battle map to have the sprites personally too, over the FE9 and 10 style models.Overall, I had a lot of fun and enjoyment from this game. Hopefully Intelligent Systems continues to make FE even greater once again, Happy 30th anniversary to the series!(Just to clarify this reviewer has owned since day 1?, purchased from another retailer.)

Diana's review of Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Great Fire Emblem game in terms of gameplay and novelty, but the length is somewhat disappointing. No offsprings, a meh love confession, it felt to me like the game stopped in the middle! No relevant DLC quests either! No possibility to create your own couples for the other characters. All these things that made the DS Fire Emblem cool aren't present.Even the side characters aren't nearly as interesting as the ones from the previous games, except for the three leaders. Also, so many important questions left unanswered!This game could've been the best yet had the elements from previous titles been there in addition to the new ones, but it's just a cool game that isn't particularly memorable. Nonetheless, I enjoyed playing it, so it deserves a 7/10.

Good entry point for players new to Fire Emblem

I'd never played a Fire Emblem game prior to Three Houses, but now I can safely say I'm looking forward to the upcoming DLC and whatever game comes next.Three Houses is a turn-based strategy RPG focusing on your silent protagonist, Byleth (or whatever you name them), and the students of the titular three houses of Garreg Mach monastery. You choose one of the houses in the beginning of the game after interacting with the house leaders and their classmates, and then follow a storyline revolving around whichever house you chose.I've completed two different routes through the game, and there was a surprising level of variance between the two. They do share several similar missions, but it certainly does a lot more than just creating a template and inserting the ... MoreI'd never played a Fire Emblem game prior to Three Houses, but now I can safely say I'm looking forward to the upcoming DLC and whatever game comes next.Three Houses is a turn-based strategy RPG focusing on your silent protagonist, Byleth (or whatever you name them), and the students of the titular three houses of Garreg Mach monastery. You choose one of the houses in the beginning of the game after interacting with the house leaders and their classmates, and then follow a storyline revolving around whichever house you chose.I've completed two different routes through the game, and there was a surprising level of variance between the two. They do share several similar missions, but it certainly does a lot more than just creating a template and inserting the different characters' names depending on the route for all of them. However, certain story elements aren't as well resolved in one route as they might be in another.On the topic of the characters, you get to know not just the students of your house, but also the members of the other houses, and the members of the monasteries staff. You can even recruit students from other houses if you have high enough Support level with them, and have a high enough level in certain skills. So you could theoretically choose the Blue Lions at the start and get every single other student in your house, with the exception of the other house leaders.As for the gameplay, it's pretty fun. You move individual units around a grid-based map in order to take down your enemies, and they'll do the same. Your units can each acquire classes that'll increase the speed at which they develop certain skills, grant them various buffs, and some even allow them to use magic. You also have access to an ability called Divine Breath, which allows you to rewind a couple of terms back, in case a unit dies or you feel like you made a bad move.Overall, the game is fun and accessible, but perhaps a bit too easy. I haven't played the higher difficulties, but from what I've heard from series veterans, the higher difficulties are still easier than one would expect, primarily due to the introduction of the Divine Breath mechanic, and the fact that enemies will telegraph when they'll move to attack a unit when you're deciding where to move them.In spite of this, I'd still recommend the game to anyone who has a Switch. I found myself captivated with numerous characters I thought I wouldn't be able to care about less, to the point that I'd spend several hours grinding just to increase as many Support levels with them as I could. And the lower difficulty level made it easy for me as a series newbie to get into it.Thank you for reading.

Great game with baffling story and poor graphics!

Great game. The graphics are very poor though. And the story while good, leaves so much to the imagination. Characters often talk of places and events that you as the player never get to see.For example there is this event that is going to take place at the monastery. But you never get to see it, a battle takes place somewhere outside of the monastery “during” said event and then thats it. The event is over. Before the event was supposed to start characters can be heard talking about how amazing the event is and how different the monastery becomes when it opens up, but you literally never get to see or experience it. I just find it odd that they go to great lengths establishing events and locations that never get to be seen, experienced or explored. Overall I ... MoreGreat game. The graphics are very poor though. And the story while good, leaves so much to the imagination. Characters often talk of places and events that you as the player never get to see.For example there is this event that is going to take place at the monastery. But you never get to see it, a battle takes place somewhere outside of the monastery “during” said event and then thats it. The event is over. Before the event was supposed to start characters can be heard talking about how amazing the event is and how different the monastery becomes when it opens up, but you literally never get to see or experience it. I just find it odd that they go to great lengths establishing events and locations that never get to be seen, experienced or explored. Overall I enjoyed the game, even if the story left a lot to be desired.I enjoyed the actual gameplay though! Thats where this game shines, that and the music and voice acting are phenomenal!

Tactics and Tea

I've never been too into the FE series, since the permadeath gave me anxiety, plus the series was never heavily promoted in the West. Remember when Roy and Marth were the new characters for one of the Smash Bros games and everyone was like "who?".Unlike the grindfest of the portable FE Heroes, Three Houses has you following the story of a brand new cast of characters in between battles. As a newly recruited professor for the Garreg Mach Monastery, you are tasked with heading one of three houses (think Harry Potter and House Gryffindor) full of students, learning about them and teaching them new skills along the way.The battle system in FE:TH eschews the traditional weapon triangle system from previous titles, which helps newcomers and feels more freeing not ... MoreI've never been too into the FE series, since the permadeath gave me anxiety, plus the series was never heavily promoted in the West. Remember when Roy and Marth were the new characters for one of the Smash Bros games and everyone was like "who?".Unlike the grindfest of the portable FE Heroes, Three Houses has you following the story of a brand new cast of characters in between battles. As a newly recruited professor for the Garreg Mach Monastery, you are tasked with heading one of three houses (think Harry Potter and House Gryffindor) full of students, learning about them and teaching them new skills along the way.The battle system in FE:TH eschews the traditional weapon triangle system from previous titles, which helps newcomers and feels more freeing not being locked into the axe > spear > cavalry or whatever roshambo meta.Upgrading your students to have the best skills requires you to get out of your room and wander the grounds of the monastery, talking to the students and staff and joining them in activities like choir practice, chats over dinner, and tea parties. Each of the students has their own back story, and conversing with them and understanding their desires, likes, fears, and goals, helps with successfully completing tasks requiring that you know certain details about your wards.When I mentioned that I had to have tea parties with students to get points to level up axe abilities for one of my main damage dealers, my wife perked up and after watching one happen, wanted to play the game herself despite never having played any of the previous entries. After hearing her squee throughout the intro after the first battle, I knew that it would be a while before I got my game back so that I could play. Thankfully she has her own Switch, so at least I can play something else while she attempts to talk to Claude about cats and fend off Sylvain's advances.

Unbelievably fun and replayable - nearly 300 hours!

Before I started this game, Monster Hunter was the game that kept me playing in excess of 200 hours per game. I couldn't imagine any other game which could match the MH series. Enter Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I have clocked nearly the 300 hour mark (including 4 playthroughs - I won't put spoilers here but you'll find out - of the main game and a playthrough of the DLC) and all this is because of the combination of riveting stories and excellent gameplay. The Fire Emblem series is based on its turn-based, tactical and addictive gameplay.The reason we kept coming back for more is the outcomes of relationships between members, the multiple divergent paths you can take, and the diverse number of characters you can battle with, each with their own strengths and ... MoreBefore I started this game, Monster Hunter was the game that kept me playing in excess of 200 hours per game. I couldn't imagine any other game which could match the MH series. Enter Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I have clocked nearly the 300 hour mark (including 4 playthroughs - I won't put spoilers here but you'll find out - of the main game and a playthrough of the DLC) and all this is because of the combination of riveting stories and excellent gameplay. The Fire Emblem series is based on its turn-based, tactical and addictive gameplay.The reason we kept coming back for more is the outcomes of relationships between members, the multiple divergent paths you can take, and the diverse number of characters you can battle with, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The difficulty level is completely up to you. You can play super-hard and have perma-death on your characters, or you can play on casual and have any dead characters mercifully revived in the next mission.The story is so well written, and the in-game animation during the "exploration" days in the monastery is utterly beautiful. There are so many things to do during exploration too, so it's not just a tactical turned-base game. This is hands-down the most unique, most beautiful game (characters especially) and character-driven Fire Emblem of all Fire Emblems. I cannot recommend enough of this game. It really caught me unaware how the game never grows old despite multiple playthroughs, because it feels different in each playthrough.I highly recommend this - well worth the money paid for both the main game and the DLC.

You Got Your Persona in My Fire Emblem!

FE:3H is at times a great entry in the series, and has tons of content and replay value, but the obvious Persona influence has fractured the gameplay experience. Unfortunately, Garreg Mach is not fully realized enough to justify its existence and serves as nothing more than padding to delay the gratification of the series' (mostly) stellar battles.It also doesn't help that this game seems to have been made on a threadbare budget. Character models are great, but the environments would've looked underwhelming during the Gamecube era. That is if they're even rendered, as support conversations stretch and warp 2D backgrounds into unnatural shapes to mimic depth. Those support conversations also get tiresome after a while as characters stick to their one defining trope ... MoreFE:3H is at times a great entry in the series, and has tons of content and replay value, but the obvious Persona influence has fractured the gameplay experience. Unfortunately, Garreg Mach is not fully realized enough to justify its existence and serves as nothing more than padding to delay the gratification of the series' (mostly) stellar battles.It also doesn't help that this game seems to have been made on a threadbare budget. Character models are great, but the environments would've looked underwhelming during the Gamecube era. That is if they're even rendered, as support conversations stretch and warp 2D backgrounds into unnatural shapes to mimic depth. Those support conversations also get tiresome after a while as characters stick to their one defining trope (I'm a noble, I need to marry someone, I'm a female character in this game so I was abused and/or tortured somehow).Outside of supports, the mostly motionless characters weave a decent plot in cutscenes, but the main issue the story has is that it is entirely told and not shown. It's almost as if we're getting the cliff notes version of the events. Also, splitting the story into 4 paths (and an eventual 5th through DLC) only serves to fracture it further, pad it for "value", and make the entire experience a repetitive, grueling slog.Gameplay has seen a bit of a boon with a large increase in customization, but when characters have designated strengths and weaknesses, this is nothing more than a smokescreen as only a few classes are truly viable for each character. Also, most classes tend to do about the same thing, so don't expect any customization satisfaction on the level of Final Fantasy Tactics. This is still a basic strategy game as the series has always been. Unless this system becomes much more flexible, I would personally prefer a return to predefined classes instead of this homogeneity.In the end, I enjoyed this game but I hope this isn't the direction it takes in the future.