Fire Emblem has always been an important franchise for Nintendo. Previously kept as one of Japan’s exclusives, the franchise made a successful jump to the West with extremely popular entries on Game Boy Advance and Nintendo 3DS. At its core, Fire Emblem always felt like a handheld franchise although the 3D console versions definitely reached a lot of fans too. With the Nintendo Switch at hands, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is destined to unite both audiences with one game. A big task for the developers but after spending some hours with the game, this one is shaping up to become to most impressive Fire Emblem game to date.
Enter the battlefield
Right from the start, Three Houses feels like a homecoming. I’ve played all recent Fire Emblems games so I was prepared to enter the battlefield once more. At the start of this entry, that’s exactly what you’ll do. After an impressive animated cutscene, and after creating your new protagonist (male/female), you jump right into your first battle. You’re a nameless merchant traveling in the company of your father, an important war veteran. Your first fight throws you right back into the Fire Emblem we all know and love. For those new to the franchise, let me explain the combat briefly. Unlike other role-playing games, this one is played on a board, similar to chess. You move your characters from one square to another, hoping to destroy the enemy in the next round. After you’re done, it’s time for your enemies to move on the grid. It sounds easy but there’s a lot of extra strategy to it.
Although not really noticeable during the first fight, the later fights demonstrated just how deep Three Houses will go. There’s a lot to take into consideration before you start the combat and during my first hours, I had a feeling I only just scratched the surface. What I did before I entered the more complex battles was selecting my characters, making sure their items and weapons were up to date, wonder what kind of weapon would work best, and searching for advantages in my environment. Fire Emblem isn’t your typical game, it’s extremely deep and it looks like Three Houses might even become the most complex one to date. With special attacks, group attacks, special powers, and more to keep track of, it’s easy to lose yourself in the number of options given. Luckily for us, the game is filled with tutorials, explaining everything you need to know, you can read those at any time you want, and believe me, you’ll read through them a lot. As far as I can tell at this time, the battles became more complex but at the same time extremely rewarding thanks to the new visuals. But before we jump to that section of the review, let’s go to the Garreg Mach Monastery first.
Garreg Mach Monastery
Even though the game started with a battle, it quickly shifts focus to another main element, the Garreg Mach Monastery, home of the Church of Seiros, the main religion on Fódlan, and the Knights of Seiros. This church isn’t only there to maintain peace in the country but also houses the prestige Officers Academy. Those who train here will bear the responsibility of Fódlan’s future. It’s here where you’ll meet the three heirs to the most important houses in the region. Edelgard, leader of the Black Eagles, a future empress who adores magic. Dimitri, leader of the Blue Lions, excels at military tactics and Claude, leader of the Golden Deer, excels at long-ranged combat.
You’ll meet all three as students at the Acadamy and since you’re pointed out as a new teacher, you’ll have to pick one of the three houses to train for combat. This is a crucial decision in the game as it will form your battle party. Once chosen, you’ll follow the lives of one house and share their happiness and sadness throughout the entire game. During the first moments in the Monastery, you’re free to roam around and meet all the playable characters, to form the first bond and to wonder if their abilities will suit your playstyle. I went for the Black Eagles since Edelgard convinced me as a rightful leader and I was intrigued by the potential of magic. Of course, it’s up to you which house you’ll select but know that it’s without a doubt the biggest decision of the game. All houses have different stories, different characters, and different gameplay experiences.
Between battles, you’ll spend a lot of time in the Academy. During my first hours in the game, I really explored this place, visiting the inhabitants, solving small fetch quests for them and elevating my professor level. At the Academy, I was also entitled to teach my students. This will eventually increase their loyalty and more importantly, their skills on the battlefield. It’s during these lectures that they’ll unlock new abilities and special attacks. Since giving lectures is rather time-consuming, you can select automatic lectures to spare some time. I’m pretty sure a lot of gamers will use this feature to jump faster into the battles but understand that you have more impact on your party if you give the lectures yourself. Besides that, your main goal in the Academy is to explore and gain new achievements by solving (optional) problems. You can also choose to move forward on the calendar to the main event of the month, which was mostly a new battle during my first hours.
An impressive start
Needless to say, I’m really impressed by the way this game looks and feels. It’s by far the most complicated and most complete entry in the franchise but that’s possibly also the best part of it. Of course, I know there’s still a lot more to come and not everything will remain as peaceful as it is now but I enjoyed getting to know the characters, wandering around in the Monastery and fighting some thrilling first battles. It’s clear that this game is a product of love, love for characters and details. I already met with some truly interesting and mysterious characters but for the sake of this preview, I won’t spoil them. What’s best about the entire game is its new visual style.
The team really managed to combine the simplicity of grid-based combat battles with impressive 3D animations and gorgeous animated scenes. It’s also a great plus that almost every piece of text is narrated by talented actors. Again, in the great scheme of things, I didn’t really see much from what Three Houses will offer in the end but I can’t wait to jump back in and discover all its secrets. After playing all main Fire Emblem entries, I’m pretty convinced this one might become my favorite entry if it’s able to keep up with this stellar first introduction.
