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My Thoughts on Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Yes, All of Them


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So just having beat Three Houses: Azure Moon this morning I'd like to share my thoughts on the game and what I took away from it. I will obviously be talking spoilers in full in order discuss story since I have a lot of feelings on what I just experienced, so caution ahead for readers who haven't finished the game, but I will talk gameplay first and foremost as to bury the spoilers a paragraph or so down and give you something to read, but if you'd like fresh eyes on absolutely everything thank you for clicking on this post and please see yourself to some other lovely user's thread. In spoiler-free brief, Three Houses is a fun take on the long-running series mechanics with a narrative that, while coated in highly marketable tropes, explores interesting and surprising stories that build off the best of what older series tales have to offer.

 

Starting with the gameplay and mechanics, the driving design philosophy behind this entry in my opinion seems to be "customize, customize, customize." Previous entries have slowly grown in their ability to make each run of the game to feel different. First starting with growth rates to change characters' area of expertise slightly, then adding branching promotions to create variety in mid to late game, followed by allowing characters to become basically any class you desired so long as you put the work into it. Three Houses clearly looked at the positive reception to reclassing and said "let's make this an accessible and central part of this one." The Certification system is an incredibly fun way to build armies with strategies of all kinds in mind, leaving no class and character combination off the table, barring gender specific and unique classes of course. The skill proficiency system is obviously in place to encourage a diverse army and keep beginners from getting choice paralysis, but the progression to off-beat builds is left wide open and it's a refreshing way to play differently each time. The most surprising aspect of the class system was just how impactful an intermediate or beginner class could be on  party role. By the end of the game I had two characters in the Paladin class (I didn't bother getting to Master Classes because I didn't want the spend a ton of time grinding out Riding ranks when I could be advancing the story, and I wanted to mostly use the canon outfits), Sylvain and Ingrid. Sylvain was previously of the Caviler class and did typical blaze-a-path-through strategies often associated with the class. Ingrid on the other hand spent her intermediate rank in Pegasus Knight, and more or less retained that class' benefits, making her a mage killer and generally great rescue character with good defensive stats. Impact like that makes me excited to explore new options for characters on subsequent playthroughs, or just really pumped to play a true mono-class run (I'm thinking Holy Knights!).

Beyond the classing system though, by the end of the game it was easy to feel like there was a little too much micromanaging going on with the abilities and combat arts. I recognize that having access to all of them a once would have broken the game in half but perhaps a "would you like to equip this now?" window each time a character obtains an ability or combat art would cut back on the tedium of having to go through each character individually to decide which of the 3 new skills they acquired since last you updated you want equipped, if at all or something. This would allow you to tweak your build mid-battle theoretically, but that price doesn't seem particularly high in a long-term balance sense. This also by extension made swapping weapons and battalions feel a little more tedious than it otherwise might have, especially when you can just repair and replenish them respectively and still preform pretty well.

The battle system itself hasn't changed much fundamentally, but what it does change is many of the elements surrounding the system. Weapons no longer being class-locked plays into the customization elements well, and the weapon triangle's absence shifts the game away from simple rock-paper-scissors and more into playing around each character's innate strengths. The magic system is pretty well thought out too, especially in the early game where healing is a real strategic choice, but I'll fully admit that the critical rate on spells is maybe too darn high. Combat arts are an interesting system, but I only ever used them in do or die scenarios since I wasn't keen on breaking weapons (though when I switched out everyone's iron weapons to steel weapons later in the game, I did feel more comfortable throwing them out more due to the increased durability). Gambits are in a weird spot for me because I tended to either forget they were there or feel unenthusiastic about their lower damage, but it's and understatement to say that the Stride Gambit sealed the deal at the final boss. The other major addition was the large beast enemies, which are frustrating in the moment but in hindsight were a good challenge that spiced up some of the battles. My one big complaint with the combat design is that in the later chapters it feels like ballista-esque structures and spells get way too numerous by the end and it doesn't feel like there's and great way to defeat these enemies other than sending your dodge tank after them and hoping for the best.

Finally for mechanics, I'll lightly touch on the monastery. The monastery exploration sections of the game serve as a great way to further flesh out the world and characters in the story and it was fun to see what everyone had to say each month. That said, activity points had a lot of untapped potential, in that increasing motivation in the dining hall is so good that it can be hard to want to do anything except eat (well, also choir practice because projecting my passion for liturgical music into a video game is the ultimate self-insert for me). This is remedied somewhat after the time-skip as advanced training becomes a great option to keep the main protagonist at pace with his students, but tea party remains pretty useless through out thanks to how easy it is to get support points between the protagonist and the rest of the army.

 

Now I'm going to move into the game's narrative, mostly in order of important elements. I'll open by saying going in I was overall hopeful for the game's story, but was pretty skeptical with how many tired ideas it seemed to be pulling from, in particular its academy setting. Also keep in mind I've only played through the Azure Moon route so bear with me if I fail to properly discuss certain characters or plot elements in detail that you find important, but I'd rather discuss the story fresh as to preserve the purity of this first perspective. The first element I'd like to cover is the avatar character, who I'll simply call Byleth from here on. After the disastrous reception Corrin received in the Fates trio of games, Byleth had a lot of baggage attached to his existence going into Three Houses, and at the other side of it I can safely say that it's a pretty mixed bag. On one hand, the game impressively manages to keep him feeling like he's an important part of the group through the whole story without taking away from the leading lord Dimitri. In many ways, Byleth almost feels like a narrative device in that his position of authority allows his students to open up to him about their internal conflicts without feeling forced and I enjoyed that. On the other hand... when Byleth does become the center of attention, it's basically only to either play up his mystery or awaken some spectacular new talent or ability to the point when it's almost comical and pandering how powerful he becomes, and being an emotionally challenged silent protagonist the game can't really dive into how he feels about all of it. It's not a huge loss, but getting to explore the burden of those powers, while a little overplayed in this superhero dominated media landscape, could have been interesting.

In regards to the antagonists side of things, I'm aware that a certain group of sneaky puppet masters are mostly missing from the Azure Moon route, but I found this to be in its favor as it allows the story to better focus on the main conflict between the Holy Kingdom and the Empire. The plot twist that Edelgard is the main villain of the story was incredibly daring on the part of Intelligent Systems, and contextualized the church of Serios and Rhea's harsh actions as not there to force morally gray aspects onto an otherwise good faction, but as a basis from which to see why Edelgard would want to change disrupt the current order of things. It was executed on really well, but I'll get into more of that later.

The supporting cast of characters is one of my biggest highlights of the story, and all for one small reason: scale. While the ensemble casts from previous Fire Emblem are good in their own right, their massive size usually prevented all but a group of characters you could count on one hand to feel relevant to the story at any given time, and the games relied completely on support conversations to keep everyone else relevant after their introduction. Three Houses fixes this by keeping the party's size small through the whole game, and it's wonderful. Each character has something to say about the current state of affairs in the monastery exploration sections, and in cutscenes they all almost always get to make suggestions and observations about what's happening. This is especially so within the Blue Lions when you consider that the only character that hasn't known at least one other character since childhood is Ashe, and even he doesn't fall behind in making engaging remarks about his peers. I got to know each and every one of my students very well over the course of the game, and once Flayn joined the group in chapter 6, I realized that I could make the story even better by only recruiting characters forced upon me, and I loved it. In a series that encourages you to make as many friends as possible, I was motivated to intentionally avoid bugging other houses and knights, and in doing so endured the heartbreak of having to face them on the battlefield, making each clash that much more weighty and dramatic. My final party size was a whopping 12, and I at least "liked!" every one of those characters by the end of the game. I've no doubt this will apply nicely to the three other routes, though maybe not as quite strongly due to the aforementioned familiarity between the Blue Lions.

Finally, I want to talk about Dimitri, because he is the single most fascinating thing about this game to me. I think its really easy to write him off as a melodramatic character, but this ignores how much thought was put into his characterization. Watching his composure and ability to handle his grief over over the Tragedy of Durscur slowly deteriorate was powerful because it felt so human, the idea that even the strongest of hearts can't truly emerge from tragedy without scars, and the pain of trying not to let it show. Watching this sweet young noble rise to the occasion, fall into despair, then rise again was truly moving, but that's not the main reason I hold Dimitri in such high regard. I loved Dimitri's story because it is a fascinating re-imagining of the series original protagonist, Marth. I get this is a REALLY sensational thing to say but hear me out. Both characters are similar in that they are both princes who suffer great tragedy at the hands of an enemy nation and are forced to flee their homeland, then ultimately return to take back their kingdom, afterwards finally laying to rest the belligerent force that put them in that situation. What Three Houses does to re-imagine this story is simply ask, "Where does the greatest obstacle in the way of each protagonist lie?" For Marth, the answer is the enemy before him, as he is a strong willed character who uses his tragedy to motivate himself and others to face down his usurper courageously, and help others along the way, his challenge being in demonstrating his military prowess to overcome battle after improbable battle. Dimitri on the other hand is only able to really accomplish his goals by conquering his own fears and grief. As far as I'm concerned, it would have been difficult for Dimitri and the gang to retake the Holy Kingdom, but with a little help from the eastern lords of Faerguhs and the Alliance he could have rallied his people to victory well before ol' teach woke back up. Instead, he wanders in darkness, blindly ignoring his people's plight in pursuit of absolution and revenge, only succeeding and fulfilling his duty when he is saved from himself by his friends.

The final step in his journey once wide awake and ready to fight the Empire is seeing whether he can extend this salvation he's found to the last of his family, his stepsister Edelgard. In the final chapter of the story Dimitri meets with the empress of Adrestia on purely diplomatic terms in an attempt to understand what it is she's trying to do by having started this war. It becomes clear to the prince that his kin is too fixated on her idea of who the world should be, but just as his closest friends never gave up on him, he reminds her of the peace that is possible between the two in and act of faith in their humanity, offering a dagger like he did all those years ago. Later that week the Kingdom forces attack Enbarr and in their final confrontation Edelgard seemingly throws away her humanity in a last ditch effort to overpower Dimitri, but Dimitri prevails. In the final scene (minus the S-Rank cutscenes which feel surprisingly natural thanks to the fact they don't happen during a bloody war) Edelgard's humanity is restored, emblematic of what Dimitri was really fighting for, and the prince offers her his hand in mercy. But true to her ideals to the end, the young empress takes up the dagger Dimitri gave her and tries one final time to carve a path to her future, and Dimitri thrusts his lance into his stepsister to protect himself. The scene ends with the prince and the professor solemnly and silently leaving the war behind and stepping through the door to a peaceful world. This final scene is what Three Houses: Azure Moon is all about. People are broken, but they're also capable of overcoming that brokenness, and so long as that remains true we can't ever give up on one another's ability to change for the better, even if we fail to help them change in the end.

 

As of now, I've updated my profile to indicate Three Houses as my favorite Fire Emblem. I'm sure there must be a bit of honeymoon bias at work and we'll see if I feel that way later down the line, but for now I can't really justify not giving the title to it. It was a truly great month playing this game, and I'm excited to spend months more completing every route and more adventures still. Thank you for reading this brain dump of mine, and please let me know your thoughts on Three Houses, these crackpot leylines I'm drawing between Archenaea and Fodlan, or which mono-class run you're going to undertake.

Or tell me who best boy and best girl is, and why it's these two.

Spoiler

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Edited by PeaceRibbon
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You certainly have a way with words my friend(despite a few typos here and there). Your interpretation of the story and themes is probably far more elegant than this game deserves. I've personally had a lot of fun with the game myself, not really best-in-the-series material in my book, but still good enough that I'd confidently recommend it to anyone. Also BLUE LIONS FOREVER!

Edited by TheGoodHoms
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2 minutes ago, Crysta said:

I might have missed it somewhere, but have you played all three routes so far?

 

56 minutes ago, PeaceRibbon said:

Also keep in mind I've only played through the Azure Moon route so bear with me if I fail to properly discuss certain characters or plot elements in detail that you find important, but I'd rather discuss the story fresh as to preserve the purity of this first perspective.

Sorry if you were seeking something a bit more comprehensive. :Jaffar:

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It's much deserved, every single side character being relevant to the plot and having something to say REALLY helped the cast. Meanwhile in a lot of games the majority/a lot of characters rarely ever acknowledge plot events and it's lame.

Three Houses took a step other games should follow. 

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Don't think I see the Marth parallels as clearly as you do, and I also didn't read Edelgard's last gesture the way you did(from a lower position, targetting the shoulder makes no sense if you're trying to do significant damage, and Dimitri didn't move an inch so it wasn't a result of him dodging), but I'm generally in agreement with all of what you said. I don't know if I'd qualify 3H as my favorite however; I had the same problem with BotW, as I adored both games but they were a bit too different to be classified among the rest of the series. That or I'm just really bad at picking favorites.

In any case, nice writeup.

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1 hour ago, Cysx said:

Don't think I see the Marth parallels as clearly as you do, and I also didn't read Edelgard's last gesture the way you did(from a lower position, targetting the shoulder makes no sense if you're trying to do significant damage, and Dimitri didn't move an inch so it wasn't a result of him dodging), but I'm generally in agreement with all of what you said. I don't know if I'd qualify 3H as my favorite however; I had the same problem with BotW, as I adored both games but they were a bit too different to be classified among the rest of the series. That or I'm just really bad at picking favorites.

In any case, nice writeup.

Glad you enjoyed it! I definitely respect your hesitance on calling the game the best in the series due to mechanical departure, and you'll get no complaints from me. Breath of the Wild is certainly one of those games, though personally the weapon breaking mechanic really held me back from fully making it in the running for best in series because... I get it's effective game design but I just wanna keep swinging a big claymore ok!?

Also regarding the last gesture, keep in mind the attacks are not actually shown on screen so therefore it's possible that A) Dimitri may have (and probably) landed his blow first, causing Edelgard to misfire from the pain, and B) Dimitri would have had to move his torso to at least some degree in order for his attack to land so it's not as though his heart was a stationary target. If you still think otherwise though that's alright, I'm not trying to be the end all interpreter over here.

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17 minutes ago, PeaceRibbon said:

Also regarding the last gesture, keep in mind the attacks are not actually shown on screen so therefore it's possible that A) Dimitri may have (and probably) landed his blow first, causing Edelgard to misfire from the pain, and B) Dimitri would have had to move his torso to at least some degree in order for his attack to land so it's not as though his heart was a stationary target. If you still think otherwise though that's alright, I'm not trying to be the end all interpreter over here.

Same here, I'm not trying to force my vision of things on you, I just like establishing things, I guess. And I do think there is only one slash sound in that cinematic, implying both hit at the same time; also you're right, Dimitri had to move a bit, but mostly just his right arm, his position barely changed at all. I could flesh this a bit more, but don't want to get into spoiler territory. Ultimately it is indeed possible that the pain made her miss, just in general.

... though I guess I didn't actually post my interpretation. I think Edelgard attacked to force Dimitri to kill her, and it was primarily her decision rather than his. I feel it's more in character for the both of them. Using the dagger can also be seen as symbolic, resulting in her giving it back to him.

Edited by Cysx
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👍 to the review. I love reading things like this, I thought Azure Moon's story as it concerned its principal characters was deftly told and it's nice to see people able to convey that well.

Edelgard was definitely trying to kill Dimitri at the end in my interpretation, the woman does not half-ass things and it shows how completely committed she was to her goals. The shoulder is so close to the heart that it's easily within the error range of someone trying to throw a dagger from a lower, concealed stance. If she'd wanted to die she would have just stabbed herself instead; I actually thought that's what she was going to do in that cutscene, but what she actually did makes more sense for the character and puts an exclamation point on just how driven she was.

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3 hours ago, Cysx said:

I think Edelgard attacked to force Dimitri to kill her, and it was primarily her decision rather than his. I feel it's more in character for the both of them. Using the dagger can also be seen as symbolic, resulting in her giving it back to him.

That's my interpretation as well, she knows Dimitri wasn't going to kill her so she "attacked" him to trigger a reflex in him. She committed suicide by Dimitri basically. 

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