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Do you want a 4th, "true" path the provides closure for all three houses/lords/paths?


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For me, it honestly depends on the themes of the game and how things end up playing out.

I think one of the big issues of Revelations is that Fates billed your choices as important, while eventually invalidating those choices. Conquest and Birthright played out as pretty much complete mirror image versions of each other, and most of the fan favorite characters were railroaded into dying either way... unless you decided to play the true route. And then you can’t even really pick Revelations first because you have to buy a base game, making it feel a little cheap even though the third option is basically just saying “no thanks” at the predetermined Big Choice Place and saying “no thanks” apparently costs twenty real life dollars.

I think Three Houses might already be better off on this foot, because you can micromanage things a little harder. They’ve been billing the ability to save/spare potential enemies of your own power and blur the lines of your houses/nations before the game is even out, and time travel is already an important plot device in the game. So, I could see a potentially satisfying true end if, for instance, playing through routes gives us a true end because Byleth travels back in time with newfound information that enables choices that you wouldn’t have reasonably been able to make at that point in your first run. Especially since we already know the nations are in an alliance and not at each other’s throats since long before Byleth was even born and are already willing to further blur their borders in the right circumstances.

I guess to sum it up— I think Three Houses is already on a better track than Fates because you can kinda make out the foundations of a third route that could make more sense, so I’m cautiously optimistic.

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No. For two reasons:

1. As mentioned with Revelations, it would invalidate the other paths if there was a simply a superior system.

2. I'm fed up with GameFreak releasing the third "true" path after releasing their intial pair of games. I don't need Fire Emblem following a similar path. 

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It depends on the execution for me too, but I don't think "true ending" focused story structure makes much sense for FE's genre? 

I like the use of true endings in some VNs where it feels like you're uncovering secrets by going down different routes and finally put it all together in a final route. In particular I love the Zero Escape series' diegetic take on that structure.

But I don't think it's a structure that empowers player choice. Like @Digitibird mentioned it really undercuts Fates' Big Choices based set up. It serves stories where intrigue and mystery are central, which isn't really best engaged with through big tactical battles, imo. Three Houses might be different though! The school phase stuff with the Flame Emperor and Death Knight seems like it could maybe be a set up for some more engaging intrigue/secrets than "villain is controled by evil deity B"...not that I'm really confident in that but I won't dismiss the possibility.

Edited by Capella
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Part of me hopes it does, but after what Fates was, I'm hella skeptical. Granted, 3H seems like it's going to be a much better game, but Fates looked like a good game before release as well, so it isn't much to go off by. Would I like for everyone to be happy? Yes. Do I think that Fire Emblem should let that happen? Honestly no, since war doesn't allow everyone to be happy.

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1 hour ago, Chaotix said:

I'd only want to see a "true" path as available after clearing the three house paths first, and definitely not as DLC like Revelations.

Since there's time-travel in the game, I'd envision it as a sort of Chrono Trigger-like scenario where you can only figure out how to make the right decisions and maneuver yourself onto the true path after having made the mistakes and seen the outcomes of each of the three other paths. In that way it would feel more like earning the happy ending (rather than just purchasing it).

However, that's probably an unrealistic expectation to have.

Pretty much this. I think if handled right fourth route would be more of climax  then replacement of original three routes. Even if game is not out yet I dare say it already showed enough to not be put on same level as the  Revelation 

My answer is optimistic yes. 

Edited by Tenzen12
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37 minutes ago, Capella said:

It depends on the execution for me too, but I don't think "true ending" focused story structure makes much sense for FE's genre? 

I’ve been thinking about this lately and wondering if this was an innate element of tactical strategy games or if it was just a lack of utilization. I feel like the genre almost has a lot of untapped potential for making calculated story-based risks and moral choices feel visceral and terrifying, and making getting it ‘right’ feel so satisfying. Zero Escape is a favorite of mine, too, and I’ve been thinking about how well it empowers mistakes— when you screw up in ZE, you’re better for it. In FE, it kinda feels like there’s no real reason not to savescum unless you’re going for that Authentic Fire Emblem feel. The recent introduction of turnwheel/divine pulse mechanics could even facilitate the ability to have maps with multiple win/loss conditions, and being able to jump back to that map should you find yourself on a bad path...

I’m probably hoping for a little too much out of Fire Emblem, but my heart just wants to imagine the possibilities, lol.

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2 minutes ago, Digitibird said:

I’ve been thinking about this lately and wondering if this was an innate element of tactical strategy games or if it was just a lack of utilization. I feel like the genre almost has a lot of untapped potential for making calculated story-based risks and moral choices feel visceral and terrifying, and making getting it ‘right’ feel so satisfying. Zero Escape is a favorite of mine, too, and I’ve been thinking about how well it empowers mistakes— when you screw up in ZE, you’re better for it. In FE, it kinda feels like there’s no real reason not to savescum unless you’re going for that Authentic Fire Emblem feel. The recent introduction of turnwheel/divine pulse mechanics could even facilitate the ability to have maps with multiple win/loss conditions, and being able to jump back to that map should you find yourself on a bad path...

I’m probably hoping for a little too much out of Fire Emblem, but my heart just wants to imagine the possibilities, lol.

 

If that kind of thing intrigues you then I'd recommend you check out Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume. It's a tactical RPG where character deaths/sacrifices aren't just permanent, but also a central gameplay mechanic. And they also affect the story.

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i'm ok if each house has multiple endings, but i'd be very disappointed if only one house has the "true ending", in spite of the other houses

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I'd like a true ending path, either joining forces later in every route or in a hidden path that unlocks after clearing the other three. I want to play with the full roster. I'll be mad if I can only play with a third of the cast in each gameplay.

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While i liked that in Der Langrisser, that game has an underdevoloped cast so i don't really mind to slaughter 70% of the playable characters no matter what choice i make, but in Three House i am going to care. I am not going to sit well with a game with nothing but downer endings where everyone that is not in your House is six feet under. So it really depending in what happens to the sympathetic characters that don't join you. 

I am ok with Genealogy because i get to kill Arvis later, but i can't have this satisfaction if i am the one killing Edelgard and Claude.

Edited by Flere210
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4 hours ago, KillianVermont said:

I'd like a true ending path, either joining forces later in every route or in a hidden path that unlocks after clearing the other three. I want to play with the full roster. I'll be mad if I can only play with a third of the cast in each gameplay.

2 hours ago, Modirufa6317 said:

I don't mind it, as long it doesn't present an easy solution to everyone's troubles.

The one thing I will not tolerate, however, is a pay-to-see--true-ending DLC.

I agree with both of these. I don't want to play a third of the cast only, I don't want an easy solution (but I do want an ending that isn't doom and gloom) and absolutely no pay-for-canon-ending DLC! Nobody wants that ever again.

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I would much like a 4th path who would revolve around the Church of Seiros.

I don't mind having a 4th path that actually unites all the houses but I definitely don't like the idea of this 4th path ending being the One True Ending.

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Frankly, I think it's stupid. Unless you give it difficult requirements to unlock, like all the old "true endings" from FE games. I don't want to recruit everyone and make all the other paths irrelevant. But if you have to convince them by showing your prowess in battle (perhaps by LTC or something of the sort) that's at least an acceptable sacrifice. 

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8 minutes ago, 0 Def Cleric said:

Frankly, I think it's stupid. Unless you give it difficult requirements to unlock, like all the old "true endings" from FE games. I don't want to recruit everyone and make all the other paths irrelevant. But if you have to convince them by showing your prowess in battle (perhaps by LTC or something of the sort) that's at least an acceptable sacrifice. 

This

While I feel really bad with the possibility to kill other students, I don't want another Fates type "join us in the name of friendships" path.

It would be better that instead killing them, in the NG+ they could be captured when certain conditions were met,(like reached certain support level back in school) and convinced to switch sides.

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No, because then everyone would just play that path and ignore the others.

Having access to all the characters would be great, allowing min-maxing to the extreme.

I have a feeling that's what the DLC will offer.

Edited by bufkus
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