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Fire Emblem: Three Houses

It's been out for several months, now. We've gotten several DLC waves, and there is still another planned one yet to come. The game has been delayed twice during its development, and it was certainly worth the wait. That's right, I'm talking about the one and only...

Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

I have played this game by myself without spoilers, choosing one of the routes, and I can damn well say this is the best Fire Emblem game to date. Fully voiced characters for literally. Every. Single. Bit. Of. Dialogue. The archaic Weapon Triangle feature is removed, meaning you can have lance users kill axe users with the right strategy and not have to rely on tactical rock-paper-scissors. A huge explorable hub. Students to teach and to promote, students and other characters to recruit, an immersive story, and so much, much more.

The series has truly evolved over the years, learning from its mistakes in the past. I couldn't really get into the Fire Emblem series for some unknown reasons. Maybe it was because of the always on "classic" mode where if your character dies, they're gone forever, meaning if you want them to stay alive, you have to start all over. If your main lord dies, you have to start all over. The remake of Gaiden (Shadows of Valentia) fixed this issue by giving us Mila's Turnwheel, or in Three Houses, Divine Pulse. Fates had a lot of story issues, but overall had great potential to show the branching paths, yielding different results and consequences from each player choice. Three Houses took what Fates did and improved it greatly.

But, that's enough talking about the series as a whole: What did you think of Fire Emblem: Three Houses? Who is your absolute favorite character? Your favorite lord? Your favorite non-lord student? Your favorite non-student character? Or your favorite route in the game? Which route/class did you choose during your first (or only) run? Feel free to comment below and discuss.

As for me, my favorite character in Three Houses is none other than Bernadetta von Varley. She's got such a good personality (the shy ones are always the best), she's very powerful and useful, and I ended up S-Supporting her during my first run. For this reason, I chose the Black Eagles class, and took the Crimson Flower route, and really enjoyed it overall. I spoiled myself for what happens on the other route (for the most part), but I can't wait to see what the other routes have to offer.

Important: Avoid spoilers and starting arguments. The point of this game is we all have different opinions on characters, stories, etc. As for the spoilers, please put all story spoilers under collapsible test (use the "collapse" command) whether it's spoilers for all routes, or a specific route in the game. (For example, "collapse=Verdant Wind Spoilers").
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
I'm still on my first playthrough, though I already passed the
timeskip
so I'm closer to the end than the beginning. I'm really enjoying the story and the gameplay so far, the whole academy thing makes you feel more connected to the characters than the previous games. I'm mostly thankful for the changes that were made, especially the lines of sight, so you don't have to worry about the enemies not behaving the way you expect them to and lose because of that. I do miss the weapon triangle though, I feel there's not a lot of reason to choose one type of weapon over another without it, although it's still kind of there with the breaker skills, so that's good.

Aswering questions time:

Who is your absolute favorite character? See avatar. I like 1hko-ing enemies. Because I'll eventually change it, it's Lysithea
Your favorite lord? Claude, because of his laid back personality.
Your favorite non-lord student? Marianne, she starts out with a self-esteem that's way lower than her actual skills,
but she eventually gets more confident after the timeskip, which was nice. I really liked seeing her determined in her A support with Byleth.
Actually, it’s Lysithea, but choosing the same answer twice, would be boring.
Your favorite non-student character? Shamir. She is very cold on the outside, but she's a really nice person on the inside, at least that's the impression I get from her supports.
Your favorite route in the game? I need to see all the routes before I can answer that.
Which route/class did you choose during your first (or only) run? Golden Deer/Verdant Wind.
It's also the first Fire Emblem I played after Blazing Sword (bought it from the e-Shop as a sale) so it's pretty much a new experience, even excluding new additions.

Garreg Mach makes it feel different from the other games. The main chapters progress the same way as normal, though it also impemented Sacred Stones and Awakening's maps where non-story battles take place including paralogues (or side quests with a bigger emphasis on "quest"). There is a key difference, though: The academy part heavily resolves about activity points (including battles) so you can only do one mission (before increasing your) except for these which don't cost any activity points (and even then, only on normal). Aside from that, the class system also is quite different: Each character has got their own preference but there is no fixed class line (after all, everyone starts off as a trainee – here a commoner or noble) but everyone can, in theory, be promoted in every class (who hadn't diverged their character's classes?), assuming they have the necessary skill points. This can get very difficult (and annoying) on since the requirements get so high, the students need to specialise in skills – and that isn't an easy task because magic, cavalry, armour and flying can only be trained in their specialised classes (or commoner/noble for magic) which is why all of them (except reason due to its nature) have alternate ways to increase the skill – so you sometimes have to take some risks in order to prevent characters which stay for too long in their (it's this reason why Felix, whom I have trained in swords and bows, is my assassin and not swordmaster as that required was easier to get and also took a risk for Ashe, a cavalier, and Annette, a magician, as I really hated how they stayed in intermediate classes for having too low skill points for a guaranteed success).
Something what I also have to do more commonly in my playthroughs is to recruit more characters as I only recruted Lindhard, Dorothea, Manuela and Cyril (my Byleth focuses in this playthrough on swords [their staring weapon], magic [faith is budding] and later on axes [switched to mercenary class when I don't use magic] but I surely could have recruited more of them), especially since I was overleveled by a few levels after some time.

And although I have never played it but have read about it, Three Houses clearily takes inspiriations from Genealogy of the Holy War (including the dark setting, ancestor weapons which can only be worn by them or their successors, determined by their crests, repairable weapons and
the timeskip halfways through the game
).

Now to the story and let's be honest: The game hits hard. For starters: Chapter 5 involves
Miklan (Sylvian's brother) stealing one of the Hero Relics and you have to retreave it. The problem: It's the first chapter to introduce Shadow Beasts (a massive game changer to place) by turning Miklan into such a beast from using the relict without a crest. At that point it's pretty clear that the Hero Relics are, unlike their Judgral and Elibe counterparts, Unholy Holy Weapons (design including) which also gives the Ten Elites, the game's Twelve Crusaders and Eight Generals, a different perspective. I mean, hey, what did you expect from a lance named "Lance of Ruin"?

It becomes worse:
Chapter 8 on Blue Lions
is mostly known for its memetic "Kill every last of them." but it seriously shows who Dimitri really is: A person who isn't like Marth or Eliwood but rather motivated by revenge. The only lord who came in close to this behaviour is Lyn from Blazing Sword but unlike her, Dimitri's behaviour is plot-point in this game.

The next chapter
is a gameplay breather but it also has got the most painful dead of a protagonist's parent. Traditionally, the protagonists' parents are either dead from the beginning (such as Byleth's mother) or they'll later die later (such as Jeralt) so it was expected he would die but the fact that Byleth can revert the time makes Jeralt's death even more painful than other examples. You can't change fate indeed, Sothis.

And then there is Chapter 11 and 12
aka the reveal of Flame Emperor's identity as Edelgard and battle against the Empire (or the Church, depending on whether you agree with Edelgard or not). It also revealed Rhea's true form, a Dragon.

Finally, there is chapter 13
the first mission post-timeskip. Dimitri is now broken mess (especially since he's denounced for supposedly killing his uncle) and thinks only on fighting and (now rightful) revenge against Edelgard (did I mention that they're siblings in law?), even dismissing Byleth as a hallucination at first (it is shown he hallucinates quite often in the cutscene before chapter 14's mission). The intro scenes in part II also are more like the classic chapter introductions, stating what's going on and not describing the mythology. The return of the students also leaved me stunned (but in a positive way) as yup, five years really passed in this game (even if I'm not as convinced on some portraits or clothing, overall it's an improvement and Lindhard has got my favourite appearance so far). Oh, and the music, such as the general map theme Chasing Daybreak, became more awesome.


The paralogues also are something (not only because of its music) but also shows how messed up Fódland is and for, it's especially
Gilbert and Annette's one: Baron Dominic, Annette's uncle, doesn't like how Faergus is ruled as a puppet state by Cornelia but has to pretend his brother and niece have invaded them as she and the Empire will cut his head if he openly coorperated with them.


For sure, this game will be fun.

Given that I'm not too far in the game, relatively speaking (didn't finished Azure Moon, my first playthrough), I can only answer some questions.
Quote
Your favorite lord?
Difficult to tell because it's dependent on whom your lord is as each route gives you a different perspective from each lord. There is the more stern Edelgard, the calm Dimitri and funny Claude. Furthermore,
the time skip does skew the perspective.

Quote
Your favorite non-student character?

The Gatekeeper I... don't know as I didn't recrute many member of the church. But so far, Seteth seems to be my favourite. He is one of the most serious characters in the game as evident by his job, his comments in the battles and supports but he also has his friendly side. He does have a comical side, usually shown with his sister Flayn. Case point: If you assign them to a group task together,
Seteth says to Flayn that she should leave the job to him (remember: It's Seteth). If successful, he mentions that Flayn did a good job which (naturally, also because of her personality) leaves her wondering because he told otherwise before.

Quote
Which route/class did you choose during your first (or only) run?

I chose Blue Lions/Azure Moon because... I have a bias towards lances, lol. That being said, I'll chose the Golden Deer for my second playthrough as its students (see Claude) have such likable personalities (and also recruit more students from other houses, argh!).

Originally posted by Falconpunch
The remake of Gaiden (Shadows of Valentia) fixed this issue by giving us Mila's Turnwheel, or in Three Houses, Divine Pulse.

I have to say, the game is quite generous with Divine Pulses as when I have to use, I still have plenty of them left (though I also play on normal). Not using it (at least in normal) surely is a challenge which I will have to do once.

Originally posted by Aja
I do miss the weapon triangle though, I feel there's not a lot of reason to choose one type of weapon over another without it

That reminds me of the original Mystery of the Emblem where book 2 doesn't give you any axe user (it does give you a couple Silver Axes but since no one can use it, their only purpose is to sell them). Yup, this shows how truely irrelevant the weaepons types were except for class and their stats.

Originally posted by Aja
the whole academy thing makes you feel more connected to the characters than the previous games.

Very true or is it normal that an unnamed NPC became one of my favourite characters in the game?
I like how you actually changed your avatar to Lysithea just to prove your point, Aja.

I will admit, Marianne and Lysithea are really powerful and great characters. Marianne because of her Paralogue
and her Hero's Relic, Blutgang
, and Lysithea is just straight-up broken. It's also worth mentioning that Lysithea is one of the three characters that can be recruited after the timeskip, but only on
the Crimson Flower route, in Chapter 14. And she'll also be weaker than if you recruit her pre-timeskip, since her Faith level will down to E
. The other two characters being Lorenz and Ashe
on Azure Moon and Verdant Wind, respectively, and both of them on the Silver Snow route
.

Screw it, I'll just list my favorite girls from each nation/class.

Black Eagles: Edelgard and Bernadetta (Dorothea is also nice and Petra is incredibly useful, but I like these two more.)
Blue Lions: There's only three girls and I only recruited Mercedes on my first run, so I guess she's one.
Golden Deer: Lysithea and Marianne (Hilda is the runner-up. Sorry, Leonie.)
Church of Seiros: I can't decide... #wario{-_-?}
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
Originally posted by Falconpunch
I like how you actually changed your avatar to Lysithea just to prove your point, Aja.

I changed it over a week ago, actually.

Originally posted by MarioFanGamer
I only recruted Lindhard, Dorothea, Manuela and Cyril

How come you didn't recruit the rest of the church cast? Their only requirement is leveling.

I only recruited four characters from other houses: Sylvain, Bernadetta, Mercedes, and Dorothea; the first two stay to protect the monastery because they're too weak to go fight outside. From the Church of Seiros, I recruited everyone except Gilbert; this is probably because he was defeated in chapter 5 (I figured keeping a unit I can't control alive was more trouble than it was worth), after that he did show up in the monastery, but I never had the option to recruit him.
Originally posted by Aja
I recruited everyone except Gilbert; this is probably because he was defeated in chapter 5 (I figured keeping a unit I can't control alive was more trouble than it was worth), after that he did show up in the monastery, but I never had the option to recruit him.


Gilbert is only available on the Azure Moon route; that's why you couldn't recruit him.

On that note, Azure Moon and Crimson Flower both have three characters which are only available on their specific routes. Crimson Flower (Black Eagles) has Edelgard, Hubert, and Jeritza), while Azure Moon (Blue Lions) gives you Dimitri, Dedue, and Gilbert. Verdant Wind only has Claude as an exclusive character due to Hilda being able to be recruited while giving you no Alliance general to control (oddly enough), and Silver Snow (aka the Church route) has no exclusives.
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
I loved the game, I played through it four times. I thought I would wait for all the DLC to come out to start the fourth run, but I couldn't help myself.
I let someone borrow the game, so now I really have no choice but to wait until the new classes come out. Hopefully they change things up a bit and maybe add some more story stuff? I haven't bought the expansion pass because at the time the contents were so vague but with how much I enjoyed the game it might be well worth it once all the stuff comes out. I've been itching pretty bad to start a 5th playthrough, I think I'll just do golden deer again. Maybe. Silver Snow was a really good path imo.

Golden deer Is my favorite house. I picked it first, because Claude was super hot, but since I couldn't marry him, I ended up going with Hilda.

Though, are you really calling the weapon triangle archaic? It's rock paper scissors, come on man.
Originally posted by Aja
How come you didn't recruit the rest of the church cast? Their only requirement is leveling.

I know, I know, I just didn't think about them, okay?

Originally posted by Aja
From the Church of Seiros, I recruited everyone except Gilbert; this is probably because he was defeated in chapter 5 (I figured keeping a unit I can't control alive was more trouble than it was worth), after that he did show up in the monastery, but I never had the option to recruit him.

Gilbert is supposed to die in that chapter because the boss is built against his weakness (slow speed and low resistance) and there is no condition to ever keep him alive (though the same applies to Jerald and Catharine in chapters 1 and 3, respectively, it's only because it's the beginning of the game as Jeralt does need to be kept alive in later chapters).

Other then that, Falconpunch already mentioned that he's an Azure Moon exclusive
especially since he replaces Dedue, another Blue Lion exclusive with knight stats and loyality to Dimitri but has sacrificed himself for Dimitri.
. It's understandable, though because he's only character which
you can only get post-timeskip (especially since he openly works for the church) and he's such the only such character from the start (Jeritza only since v1.10 and openly opposes the church).
This is my personal opinion, but Claude is my least favorite lord in Three Houses and I just don't find him very interesting.
Looking at what happens in his route, he doesn't really change or learn anything like Edelgard, Dimitri, and Rhea do, depending on the route. His goal is still the same, to "end racism", and he's told, rather than shown like the others. Compared Edelgard, Dimitri, and Rhea, all such meaningful and deep characters related to the plot, Claude is just...there.


Even worse is that I have an issue with both Verdant Wind and Silver Snow:
They're exactly the same, but with 1-2 different chapters, different characters, and a different final boss. Everything else is pretty much the same. It's hard to tell which one was made first, but I feel like Nemesis would've been a better final boss for Silver Snow, and that they should have just redone Verdant Wind and made it an entirely different story. Azure Moon does reuse a few levels from the two routes, but at least it had more of a unique experience. Crimson Flower, as short as it was, also felt unique. And for some reason, Nemesis doesn't wake up in SS and Rhea doesn't go berserk in VW. Why did they do this? What changed the outcomes entirely? Was it ever explained anywhere?
Just so you know, I'm very active on the site anymore like I was before; I'm mainly on Discord now.
Hey nerds, there's a new side story coming to Fire Emblem: Three Houses and it's called...

Cindered Shadows

Cindered Shadows will add new story content to the Switch strategy-RPG. It introduces a fourth house, the Ashen Wolves, which comes with a new cast of characters that you can take into battle. It releases on February 13.

And oh, there's a trailer for that:

Link to the video if the embed doesn't work.

Discuss.

Also: Byleth is also in Smash, too!
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