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Did You Get The Impression That Five Years Truly Passed?


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Ever since we got news that Three Houses would have a timeskip, I was curious about how well the game would give the impression that five years passed in gameplay, story, and presentation. Doubly so since while timeskips are nothing new in Fire Emblem, the only other game that really gave it as much focus was Genealogy of the Holy War. Since I finally managed to reach the timeskip portion of Three Houses yesterday (I like the game, but good lord does it take its sweet time at points. Juggling several other games at the same time didn't help), I am curious about how others thought it was handled and whether or not they got the impression that five years truly passed inbetween parts 1 and 2.

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Well I do find myself asking what these kids have been up to and what sort of life they're leaving behind to join Byleth. A lot of their support conversations pre-time skip include constant angst about where they're going to end up post-graduation. Now five years later they suddenly pretend to be high schoolers for another year even though there's no promise of finally graduating. Their bios update with a sentence of information, but it's frustratingly vague, usually some variation of "they went home after the war started". I would have loved to get an update on their situation, or how the war changed their plans. Their return to the monastery also makes me think they haven't made any friends in the last five years or have any commitment to their families. Or that none of these ultra-attractive teens found time for marriage. Doubly suspicious that characters like Dorothea and Lorenz would still be unmarried. Obviously to be left open as S support options for the player, but it seems wildly unlikely given their stated goals for marriage.

In terms of gameplay, nothing changes except the students can potentially train you in some skills if they surpass Byleth's skill level. Also it's a freaking miracle that all your consumable food stuffs haven't spoiled or that the greenhouse has been locked in stasis so you can harvest the last thing you planted before the time skip. Or maybe it's more accurate to say the greenhouse is full of miracles if you can plant and harvest something every single week. Maybe even harvest the same freaking crop every week - haven't these guys ever heard of crop rotation?

But I guess it's not all video game-y oversights. I remember in CF if you talk to recruited Felix post time skip, he's on the verge of switching sides again, and that makes you want to work hard to turn things around. The disappearance of Dedue, Lorenz, and Ashe in certain routes also builds up a compelling mystery - provided the player notices they're gone. In SS, I noticed Lorenz was gone, but not Ashe until he appeared as an enemy. Whoops.

Edited by Glennstavos
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I felt like they handled it alright, better in some routes than others. Since Dimitri has just been gone in his route, it means the other members of his house had to be doing other things, and I feel like they do a decent job of making it feel like the were busy, so it feels like time has passed. On the other hand, in Edelgard's route, everyone seems to just be serving in the empire army which is at a stalemate with the other nations, so it feels like not much has happened. I think mistake in general across all routes was in letting players just get back the majority of their characters immediately post-timeskip. I vastly preferred the characters you had to re-recruit on the battlefield, and frankly I think every non-main house unit should have been handled this way in order to give the feel that time had passed and people had changed their alliances in the player's absence.

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Short answer is somewhat. Yes, these high schoolers have grown up to be young adults. But other than the some of the bios, there is little impact that five years went by, with the exception of Dimitri really. There are few stories of what happened between the two periods. People are continuing a conversation they had five years ago makes certain supports bizarre. Makes it seem it seen that were was one year of intense fighting, followed by four years of a stalemate until Byleth came along.

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I gave the game the benefit of the doubt, but they definitely didn't do a good job. Apart from the new student designs; more of that in the future, please(just apply it after class changing if there's no opportunity in the story).

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I did in the three normal routes but not in Crimson Flower due to absolutely nothing having happened while Byleth was asleep. In the other routes Edelgard uses those five years to completely dismantle the Kingdom and turning Dimitri in a crazy hobo. In Crimson flower everyone just sat on their hands for five whole years. 

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19 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I did in the three normal routes but not in Crimson Flower due to absolutely nothing having happened while Byleth was asleep. In the other routes Edelgard uses those five years to completely dismantle the Kingdom and turning Dimitri in a crazy hobo. In Crimson flower everyone just sat on their hands for five whole years. 

No in the other routes, it is Cornelia that dismantles the Kingdom. 

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No, for the reasons already stated by Jingle Jangle. Honestly, to me it felt like the 5 year timeskip was less about showing how much changed and more about making sure that every single student in the game was an adult by the time you decided to S-support them.

Edited by UNLEASH IT
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45 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

No in the other routes, it is Cornelia that dismantles the Kingdom. 

Sure, she did the heavy lifting but the Dukedom is an imperial puppet state. The opening narration calls her an imperial loyalist and says that its Edelgard who incites the coup. Furthermore it also shows the western portion getting added to the Empire with troop movements going from the Empire to the Kingdom. The borders of Edelgard's expansion seem to stop at former Blaiydeth territory, indicating the Dukedom is around that area while Edelgard controls the rest of it. 

The coup might not have happened without Cordelia but she does it in the Empire's name and accept Empire troops and brings the Empire under the sway of the empire. 

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1 minute ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Sure, she did the heavy lifting but the Dukedom is an imperial puppet state. The opening narration calls her an imperial loyalist and says that its Edelgard who incites the coup. Furthermore it also shows the western portion getting added to the Empire with troop movements going from the Empire to the Kingdom. The borders of Edelgard's expansion seem to stop at former Blaiydeth territory, indicating the Dukedom is around that area while Edelgard controls the rest of it. 

The coup might not have happened without Cordelia but she does it in the Empire's name and accept Empire troops and brings the Empire under the sway of the empire. 

I thought so too but apparently it was a mistranslation and Edelgard was against the coup. The western portion willingly allowed Edelgard to enter to prevent the Dukedom from taking over. The 5 year war makes a lot more sense in this context or else why isn't the combined power of the Dukedom and the Empire not strong enough to dislodge the eastern Kingdom resistance? 

I can't find the proof but if you insist I'll go ask for it. 

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Just now, Icelerate said:

I thought so too but apparently it was a mistranslation and Edelgard was against the coup. The western portion willingly allowed Edelgard to enter to prevent the Dukedom from taking over. The 5 year war makes a lot more sense in this context or else why isn't the combined power of the Dukedom and the Empire not strong enough to dislodge the eastern Kingdom resistance? 

I can't find the proof but if you insist I'll go ask for it. 

That would be a pretty significant translation error. Though miss Cornelia is no stranger to those as her death quite is also remarkably different. However even if the two versions change then its up in the air which one would be canon. 

As for the combined power of the Dukedom and Empire, the narration does say they are forming an army. I always assumed it just didn't get ready before the war ended. Or that they are just bogged down since houses Fraldarius and Gauthier don't seem the pushovers that Howe and Dominic are. 

 

 

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18 hours ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I did in the three normal routes but not in Crimson Flower due to absolutely nothing having happened while Byleth was asleep. In the other routes Edelgard uses those five years to completely dismantle the Kingdom and turning Dimitri in a crazy hobo. In Crimson flower everyone just sat on their hands for five whole years. 

I think people forget that invading the kingdom is significantly harder during the time skip on Crimsion flower. Crimison flower timeskip period still has an active Rhea and the knights of serios in the kingdom. Unlike other routes where Rhea goes MIA and the knights of Serios go in a bunch of different directions trying to find her they can stay united and ally more with the kingdom. Its also why Cornellia can't really do as much in Crimson Flower until her chapter in Crimson Flower because she has to worry about Rhea's forces who have made the kingdom her new base. Where as in other routes she is much more of a problem because she has less to keep her in check.

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