A month after buying it, I just completed my first playthrough of the game. I probably would have completed my first playthrough a week or two sooner if not for the fact I bought 20 other games–all but two digital as of this writing–after I bought this game and got sidetracked. Originally released in early 2019, Fire Emblem: Three Houses (henceforth I’ll refer to it as “3H”) was the first new main series game in the franchise released on the Switch. It also answered the question “Is Nintendo done making standalone Fire Emblem games after the massively successful Fire Emblem Heroes mobile game?” with a resounding yes to say the least thankfully. By this point, most fans of the series who bought 3H after its release have likely cleared the main game at least three times along with the Side Story. I’m aware the game was released almost four years ago but this review is for those who may not have played it or might not have played 3H in a long time.
Like the 3DS era Fire Emblem games, Casual Mode makes its return in 3H. First introduced in Fire Emblem Awakening, with Casual Mode you don’t permanently lose characters when they fall in battle. It was a controversial feature to series fans when it was first introduced as Permadeath was a signature feature of the series. Just so we’re clear, Casual Mode is 100% optional on that note. Even with Classic Mode (Permadeath turned on), certain characters integral to the story are not lost forever.
One handy feature brought over from Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the ability to rewind time during battles. You can only do this a limited number of times at first but eventually you’ll be able to do this indefinitely (you can rewind time from the start in the Side Story). Basically, you can roll back turns and actions on your phase to any point you want. This includes all the way back to the very beginning if you want to. No doubt anyone playing on Classic will abuse it though since it’s a part of the game, no worries!
Like Awakening and Fire Emblem Fates, the game’s protagonist Byleth can be Male or Female. It looks like Male Byleth is canon which isn’t surprising given Male Robin is canon in Awakening and Female Corrin is canon in Fates. One thing I can appreciate about 3H is the lengths the game went to balance Byleth’s importance to the story with the importance of the three nations represented at the monastery. At the beginning, you’re given the choice of the three factions to lead as the new Professor at the Officer’s Academy:
- Black Eagles: This faction hails from the Adrestian Empire to the southwest and is led by its crown princess Edelgard.
- Blue Lions: This faction hails from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus to the north and is led by crown prince Dimitri.
- Golden Deer: This faction hails from the Leichester Alliance to the east and is led by its next leader Claude.
Whichever you pick, that will be your main faction for the rest of the game. It gets easier to do this in subsequent playthroughs–more so after you’ve played through the Side Story–but you CAN recruit everyone from the other two houses EXCEPT the leaders (Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude) as well as certain other characters in two of the other Houses. Before I forget, you can only recruit people from the other two houses during Part 1 of the game. Once the game moves to Part 2, whoever you don’t recruit is an enemy in Part 2 though some can be recruited depending on what house you pick.
At a certain point in Part 1 with one House, you will have to make a choice that will automatically make some party members leave. Also depending on that choice, that House’s leader will turn on you. If you are leading the Black Eagles, some additional characters aligned with the Church can’t be recruited until much later. Two such characters will automatically leave depending on your “Fateful Decision” as well. With the Blue Lions, a certain character will automatically join as long as a certain House member is still alive. I know most probably know what I’m talking about but for the sake of spoilers, I’m being vague on purpose.
Moving on. Renown is arguably the most important currency in the game. Why? Because 3H introduces New Game+ and it’s about time! You use Renown on subsequent playthroughs to buy progress for everyone on your new playthrough. The only things that don’t carry over are Gold, Items and Levels. Everything else can be restored with Renown. When I did my first playthrough, my Professor Level was B+ and I chose the Golden Deer (Leichester Alliance). I’m gonna be spamming repeatable battles to power level as well as gain renown. I’ve so far recruited Lysithea but plan to get a few more Golden Deer members once I’ve bought more of my Weapon Skill levels back. On that note, you can use Renown to buy Support levels back. If you gained a B+ Support level with a recruitable House member and buy it back with Renown, you can ignore the Stat and Skill level requirements to recruit them. In fact, they’ll just randomly approach you and offer to join your House.
I got some strong Persona vibes from 3H because of the calendar system the game uses. Each month, you have preset activities you can engage in each week:
- Explore: Walk around the Monastery’s grounds. From here, you can interact with everyone from all Houses. You can also engage in a variety of activities as they become available. As they become available, there are some shops in the marketplace that can only be accessed via Explore. Once you’ve used up all of your activity points, you can press the L Button to continue the game.
- Seminar: Pick someone to instruct 6 other character in two Weapon Skills they specialize in. Advances time.
- Battle/Mission: During the month, you can engage in some battles to level, get some money and get some items. If you see a “1” next to a battle, it will use an activity point. If you don’t see anything next to it, you can repeat it without using an activity point. At the end of each month you will have a story battle (Mission).
- Certification: Take an exam for a class for a unit. Only one exam per unit can be taken per day. The classes from the Side Story require the Exam Seal for them which you will get access to after you’ve progressed in it to a point. Does not advance time.
- Marketplace: Access the game’s main shops (Item Shop, Armory, Blacksmith and Battalion Guild). Does not advance time.
- Rest: Take the day off. Boosts everyone’s morale and partially repairs the Sword of the Creator for free.
- Skip: Do nothing but no morale boost or free repairs.
I figure from your second playthrough onward, you would focus on farming Renown. When you Master a class, like past games you can freely set Class Skills regardless of your current class. Unlike most of the games you can freely Reclass to any class you unlocked via Certification. On New Game+? Save your money and spend renown to reclaim classes you unlocked and mastered in previous playthroughs! Classes are split by tier and you not only need to have high enough Weapon Skills but must also be the minimum required level for the next tier.
One new mechanic introduced in 3H is Battalions. Basically, you can recruit backup that accompanies each unit in battle. They provide stat boosts and also allow you to use a unique Gambit exclusive to each type of Batallion. Gambits, in general are learned as you train your Weapon Skill though some Gambits are exclusive to certain weapons such as Sword of the Creator’s Ruptured Heaven. I don’t want to say any more than that so just expirment and have fun. It adds an extra layer of strategy and more so given enemies can benefit from these mechanics too.
I eluded to this but the game’s story is split into two parts. At the end of Part 1, there is a 5-year time skip. If you picked the Golden Deer or Blue Lions, you’ll see the House’s leader at the beginning of Part 2. Depending on your choice with the Black Eagles, you may or may not see Edelgard at the beginning of Part 2. Everyone will be older visually except Byleth and the adults from Part 1. If Edelgard awaits you at the beginning of Part 2, former allies are now enemies.
The DLC trend started with the 3DS era games but 3H takes it a step further with the Expansion Pass. The Expansion Pass ($25) gives you a full-blown additional story as well as some other nice aesthetic stuff and a repeatable Free Battle added to the Battle list. The Side Story introduces the Ashen Wolves, a secret 4th House that resides under the Monestary. Who are they, why are they living as outcasts and what do they have to do with an old legend? You’ll have to play the Side Story to find out. What I will say is all the battles drag on for a bit too long but at this point I doubt Nintendo cares.
The Side Story is separate from the main story and even has separate Save files. Unlike the Main Story, you will control characters from all three houses along with the four new characters introduced. Speaking of, yes you can recruit them for the Main Story. As you progress through the Side Story, new features will be unlocked in the Main Story. When you complete the Side Story, you’ll get a unique accessory and 10,000 Renown. You only really need to do the Side Story once on that note. After you’ve been to Abyss at least once in the Side Story, you can visit it in the Main Story. There are a few additional facilities down there for you to make use of. You will also find the Ashen Wolves down there while Exploring the Monastery even after you recruit them. In addition, you will get some extra quests and paralogues in the Main Story. On that note: You will see a VERY familiar face from the Side Story about halfway through Part 1 of the Main Story.
Overall, I rate Fire Emblem Three Houses a 10/10. Like all the 3DS Era Fire Emblem games, it’s got a LOT of replay value. I can’t believe I almost left this out but this is the first game in the series to be fully voiced. Byleth is a silent protagonist though they do have recorded lines upon level up and during battles like Robin and Corrin each do. I played 3H entirely in handheld mode but once the Switch Controller I just ordered arrives, I’ll probably try playing it in TV Mode and Tabletop Mode sometimes as well.
If you liked 3H, I strongly reccommend these two games:
It’s a critically acclaimed game available on Steam. Released a few months ago, it’s Fire Emblem all but in name for the most part. I have it and admittedly only played for a few hours before I got distracted by other games in my Steam Library. The game boasts over 50 hours in a single playthrough and updates are still coming from time to time.
I can see this getting ported to the Switch if it continues to do well. Do yourself a favor and try this game on the PC as soon as you can!
Of course this was going to be the other game I would reccommend.
The interesting thing is this game was released within a year of another Nintendo-themed “Warriors” sequel: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. While that game is a prequel to Breath of the Wild, Three Hopes is a remake of 3H which “Warriors” mechanics and a new protagonist. The Ashen Wolves can be recruited to join you in this game–no DLC required!
The game’s story opens like this: After the mercenary group they recently joined gets decimated by Byleth aka “The Ashen Demon”, Shez encounters the 3H leaders and helps them dispatch bandits (sound familiar?). Shez ends up enrolling at the Officer’s Academy as a student and joins one of the Houses. It’s a mostly rebranded tellimh of 3H’s story so if you played 3H you’ll find the plot very familiar. It’s a revamped version of 3H’s story to fit the game. It’s definitely NOT a remake though. I can say that much.
If you have Save Data from 3H and/or the Switch version of Fire Emblem Warriors, you can get some bonus items in-game. Same if you scan Amiibos just like 3H. Oh and yes you can recruit Byleth at a certain point in the game. Until then, beware the Ashen Demon!
Announced by surprise last month, the next main series Fire Emblem game arrives on January 20.
I haven’t yet decided if I will buy it digital or physical but I do plan to wait until March or later to buy it because of my backlog of just Switch games. The leaders of the Three Houses from 3H were just announced to be part of the first wave of DLC for this game.
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