Developer(s): Intelligent Systems and Koei Tecmo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Play-time: 90 hours (Golden Deer Route completed)
When faced with the decision of what to write about first on this blog, there was no shortage of topics, but I wanted it to be something quintessentially Charles. In the end, one video game stood out after having consumed nearly 90 hours of my summer this year. The steady drip-feed of information leading up to the game’s relatively quiet release piqued my interest, sure, but I was approaching this one with a healthy hint of scepticism. Fire Emblem has burned me before: an embarrassing number of hours sunk into Fire Emblem Fates‘ (2016) by-the-numbers three campaigns had extinguished my flame for the series. That wide-eyed console strategy player who was charmed by Fire Emblem Awakening in 2013, who then feverishly sought out any earlier instalment he could, was taking a hiatus. Coming out of hibernation, I’m so happy to report that not only is Fire Emblem: Three Houses the stunning reinvention the franchise needed, but it solves just about every problem that Fates‘ design produced, and most of it has to do with the way the game frames its story. In the year I finished formal education, perhaps forever, let’s take a look at how going back to school was the best decision Intelligent Systems and Koei Tecmo ever made.
The first two thirds of the game are framed by the player character Byleth’s employment as a mercenary-made-teacher at the illustrious Officer’s Academy, where nobles, their retainers, and some lucky commoners are educated in fighting, government, and more fighting. Think of it like Eton, but with even more sword-fighting. These 40-50 hours do so much work at establishing that attachment to characters and understanding of the politics of the region that the series excels at. What elevates Three Houses above its predecessors is how this narrative framing of teaching at the Academy recontextualises mechanics from past games and injects them with immeasurable charm. When you aren’t ordering your students to cut down bandits on the Church’s behalf, you are free to explore the monastery where the Academy resides. Taking inspiration from RPG series Persona, you can spend this time violently throwing gifts at your students to encourage them to join your class or improve their motivation, leading a choir service in the cathedral, or improving your own fighting skills. What links these activities to the wider tactical gameplay loop is the fact that the number of actions you can perform in any one in-game week is limited. Decisions, decisions: should I have tea with Ingrid or Leonie? Will the other teachers find that weird and report me? Micromanaging your units’ gear, stats, and supports was always the core of Fire Emblem’s addictive gameplay loop, but now the ways in which you can interact with them have been supercharged. The fact that engaging in these activities rewards you with more time for participating in more activities which then feeds back into the ultimate goal of making your students better fighters makes Three Houses dangerously captivating. Reclassing a unit is no longer tied to their level, but students must pass an ‘exam’, their chances of passing increasing with how much you’ve levelled up their respective skills. This is not only a neat gamble if you want to progress to new classes quickly and nab powerful skills, but it is thematic details like that that kept me smiling the whole way through the story. Whereas Fates tries so desperately to get you to care about the rivalry between its two kingdoms in a matter of minutes, Three Houses takes its time to get you invested in the world of Fodlan whilst fun events like dancing competitions and the secrecy of the Church keep the plot from feeling meandering. By the time the story jumps ahead five years to a Fodlan riven by war, seeing my students return to the battlefield all grown up had me close to tears.
What you experience during those school years lends significant weight to events post-timeskip. Schoolmates who once sparred with each other on Gronder Field five years ago in a mock battle return to those very same grounds, this time with the fate of a country at stake. It’s anime meets high medieval fantasy in the best way. The plot is undoubtedly one of the most intricate in the series yet, touching on themes of legacy, class, loss, organised religion, and prejudice with a respectful humanity. Unlike previous titles, no main lord takes precedence in the story, not even the leader of your house. It truly feels as if all the units, besides Byleth, have equal importance, which feeds into the commentary on status. The game introduces Hero’s Relics, legendary weapons which, when wielded by a noble born with the corresponding crest lends them great power. Certain characters’ support conversations tease out the human implications of these genetic gifts in upholding the status quo and keeping nobles in control of their lands. Sylvain, the noble son of House Gautier, will aggressively flirt with anything that moves, but sit him down for a Deep and Meaningful Chat and you will discover that this is a self-destructive persona he has adopted since women fetishise him because of his crest and his brother abuses him for being the favourite child for that same reason. The game solves this potential imbalance by offering sidequests which reward the commoner, crestless characters with weapons equally as powerful as the Hero’s Relics, tapping into the story’s emphasis on challenging preconceived social norms. Later, it is revealed that the Relics are made of the crushed remains of a near-extinct race of followers of the goddess and you’re left wondering how this game got away with a PEGI 12 rating. All this suggests that relying on crests and Hero’s Relics is an outdated practice and that the right to govern should be judged by the worth of one’s character.
With regards to race and nationhood, presenting the Academy as a hub for interactions between the three territories of Fodlan and beyond allows for a diverse cast. Support conversations were a nice distraction in previous entries, but a lot of their charm arose from leaning into endearing anime stereotypes. In Three Houses, they are no longer a means to force your units into marriage so their offspring gain a few stat boosts (this series is weird), but relationships instead develop organically for the sake of finding out more about characters’ experiences of the outside world. One character, Petra, from the neighbouring land of Brigid, is traded to the Empire to protect her homeland and struggles to learn the language of the other students, falling back on an overabundance on present participles. Her conversations with Cyril, an Almyran peasant taken in by the Church, and Shamir, a mercenary from Dagda, on the topic of their national identities are personal favourites of mine. Backed up by some genuinely good writing and voice-acting compared to the rest of the series, these scenes depict some great dynamics and character development. It would have been nice to see some instances of prejudice first-hand, rather than much of it remaining text (a perspective for the upcoming DLC, maybe?). Still, seeing these students from disparate backgrounds with their own interests grow and learn from each other in front of your very eyes is immensely satisfying.
Of course, not everything is perfect. Depending on which house you choose, the plot does cop out with the tired ancient evil plot when it could have relied on the more intriguing human drama of going to war with your old classmates. Visually, the strain on the Nintendo Switch’s hardware is evident in some washed-out textures, characters conversing against blurry JPEG backgrounds, and some framerate issues when bolting across the Monastery. The game is also decidedly easy, even on the hardest available difficulty as of this review (don’t try to tell me that anyone will derive any kind of fun from Lunatic + mode once it drops; it is a thing of pure evil).
Despite that, as the latest instalment of Fire Emblem, Three Houses does all it needs to and then some, not to mention the plethora of quality-of-life changes it makes to the core gameplay. This is precisely the kind of structural innovation that I geek out about, where one central concept snowballs into further ideas and recontextualises time-honoured mechanics. Truly, I cannot remember a game that has so consistently hit me in the feels and provided such hype-inducing moments while still looking like the lovechild of chess and anime – many of them happening mid-mission to boot, presenting the tantalising possibility to change fate with a spontaneous change of tactic. If you’re looking for something to tide you over for autumn, or winter, or the next year, I can’t recommend Three Houses enough. With four 70-hour campaigns, secret craftable weapons, literally hundreds of unique support conversation scenes, and DLC on the way, this game is so content-rich that it is staggering. Not only did Fire Emblem: Three Houses make me fall in love with the series all over again and keep me enthralled for the span of its epic narrative, but I cannot wait to dive back in and go back to school all over again.
I hope this wasn’t too gushy for a first post: this blogging malarkey is still all very new to me, after all, so it may take some time to see what works, find a groove, figure out what a consistent upload schedule looks like, etc. Writing about something you love is hard enough, but for something that really exceeded your expectations and had you grinning like a madman it becomes monolithic. Let me know what route you picked/your favourite unit (Ingrid is best girl) below. More to come soon. Ciao.