My Thoughts/Hopes for Three Houses

[DMan64]

Like many people, I"m incredibly excited for Three Houses; seeing as it will be the first home console Fire Emblem in  ten years, and for many the first home console FE they've played (for myself it will be my second after Path of Radiance).  So that said, of course I have my predictions and hopes for how I want/think the game will be.  So I wish to discuss that here in depth, looking at the series up to this point and the possible directions this game may be taking with game play, story, and more.

Story and Writing - It's no secret that many people were not happy with the stories presented with Awakening, and especially Fates, and while Echoes was much better by comparison, the story was still pretty standard for Fire Emblem stories go and it was a remake.  That said, I feel IS is aware of how fans feel about the recent entree with the story, in particular Fates; with many complaining about the overindulgence of the self-insert character of the avatar, overall poor writing, general focus of the marriage aspect over the story, and quantity over quality when it came to support conversations.  That being said, I'm not going to give large story or writing predictions seeing as we don't know much about the game right now. 

However I do have my own personal feelings on it.  Seeing as we actually know the name of the continent, many of the countries and territories, and certain organizations such as the Church of Seiros exercising power over the land, I have a suspicion that it's going be like a traditional FE story, but it will take it to into a bit of a different direction(not to mention the sheer fact we know what the continent is called tells me that the writing will at least have better world building or general writing than Fates).  For some reason, I feel the woman that is prominently featured in the trailer may very well be an antagonist of some sort, albeit one were not used to seeing(Think Garon done right, you work with her for a good amount of time and understand/sympathize with her motives, but you soon discover that her way of doing things is not good in the long run).  While we do have the older, menacing man with the chain sword later on who very much appears to be an antagonist of sorts, I feel that he'd be similar to Emperor Rudolf, in that he appears to be the bad guy(given he looks like he wouldn't be part of this church), but he actually has different, noble motives.

As for the four main characters we do know a little bit about; I personally think Edelgard may be the either the main character, or similar to Lyn in that she serves as the way to introduce us to the story and this world, once again given her prominence in the trailer.  As for Byleth, it seems clear that he will possibly be the avatar of this game, though I think he may be more along the lines of Robin, though not as important.  I feel he would be an up and coming instructor/scholar, and is assigned to be a teacher to Edelgard at the beginning of the story, and given that he looks much younger than one would think when thinking "teacher", she may be a bit skeptical of you at first, given her line "it's time to measure your worth as an instructor", and throughout the story, Byleth serves as more of an emotional backbone to the three other main characters.

As for supports; Byleth will probably be able to support with everyone in the game, so I'm not going to talk much about that, though I do hope that other characters will have fewer, though much higher quality supports.  As for quality, if they can be more like Awakening(which in my opinion had some of the best support conversations in the series), I will be happy.

Like I said, I don't want to make super bold predictions when it comes to the story, but that's what I personally get when I think about the trailer.

Gameplay - Like the story, I don't want to jump to any bold predictions yet, though I do get the sense that they want to combine elements from previous games in the series; most likely/notably Echoes, Awakening, and Tellius, while doing its own thing.  Durability is of course back, and the way the game looks, mostly with the maps, evoke the spirit of the Tellius games.  That said, seeing as we don't see pair up, it may be safe to assume that IS may be removing pair up to some degree, possibly replacing it with the formation mechanic.  In fact, the game invokes a lot of feelings of the classic Fire Emblem games to me aside from the formation mechanic, magic being a separate command, and the fact that it is bringing in elements of Echoes/Gaiden such as command arts.  So I feel that the game is going to be a culmination of past elements from across the series, similar to the intention of Awakening and Fates, though it's going to trim the fat of previous games to make a very refined, smooth tactical experience.

Casual and Classic mode are likely going to return, though I have a feeling it will include two new options when selecting difficulty; we'll call them Conquest mode and Birthright mode for now.  As the names imply, selecting Conquest mode will continuously push you forward in the story(with the exception of areas where your able to run around, like a base, town, or dungeon), and if you decide to skip over side chapters, then you will have no way to play it after, either you do it, or you don't.  Birthright mode on the other hand will allow you to grind and do side chapters whenever you like.  Of course, the game would have balance changes to accommodate these modes, and this ties into my next prediction.  I feel the maps you play and how you play them will be either be dictated by the decisions you make throughout the story, or more likely be dependent on which character you decide to follow, if the story takes that route.  So, for example, Edelgard will have maps with more varied objectives and complicated map design, Dimitri would have more varied objectives, yet simpler map design, and Claude would have more simple objectives and simple map design.  I get this idea because IS from what we've seen have been trying to make Fire Emblem games have as many ways to play as possible, not just to welcome in new players, but to keep in older fans with the promise that if they want a more hardcore, tactical experience, they can get that.

As for out of battle, roaming around would be for areas such as a base area, towns, or dungeons.  Thus, of course, you could interact with characters in some form of conversation, objects, and get into potential skirmishes, but why stop there.  What if it were possible that certain maps, such as a defense chapter, allowed you to explore these maps a for a few maps before a battle began to find different points of interest, marking them down for tactical use.  So, during preparations, you could take that point of interest to possibly add another spot to place a unit, put down a barricade, a long range weapon, or find a wall that can be broken to access a new part of the map.

As for things such as support systems, child units, and marriage, once again we don't know much about that so I'm not going to be too bold in those predictions; though I can say that if pair up isn't in the game, I would love it if the support system worked like Path of Radiance, where just having units in the same battle would be enough to build support.  Marriage will probably still be in the game, and child units may be included if they are implemented into the story in some regard.

Miscellaneous/Other Things I Like - Personally, I really like the art style, as it seems to be combining the expressive, colorful look of Awakening, with the somewhat more down to earth design of Echoes, and I find it to be a huge step up from Fates.  The music for the trailer was really good, and the lyrical song for the trailer while different compared to the other songs we've had, I think worked very well for the trailer and sounds good in its own right.

I apologize that this post was so long, but I had a lot that I wanted to let out, and this was my way of doing it.  I'd love to here everyone else's thoughts and hopes for the game, and what you would most want from the game in terms of both game play and story.

Edited August 14, 2018 by DMan64

[Dinar87]

I'm very cautiously excited for three houses...however, there's still some things that worry me like the player being the main character, or the fact that romancing is hinted at as you can "build relationships" in what looks to be a new version of mycastle from fates, except you can walk around in it now.

Tellius is my favourite series for fire emblem, but sadly there's still ways IS could mess up or throw older fans under the bus, despite the marketing for the game so far seemingly trying to take inspiration from the tellius games. Firstly, echoes sold horribly compared to awakening and fates, not even reaching one million copies cold while the others got over 2 million.



Then there's the fact that, if Nintendo made a "Fire Emblem Three houses-Pet Your Waifus!!" trailer the fanbase would honestly eat it up as we older fans are a minority-IS doesn't need us and they know it. The sad, sad truth is that world building, character development, base conversations, etc... are still at risk of being pushed to the side in favour of pretty anime girls and a bare bones, functional plot (that might not even bother to have a continent name like in fates).


Don't get me wrong, I desperately want to be wrong about all this and have three houses basically turn out to be kind of a "tellius part 3" in terms of style and gameplay...but I just can't get widely hyped and excited knowing the risks attached to this game.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Dinar87

[Arcphoenix]

I want to see a few things from Tellius return. Recently I've been working on Path of Radiance, and there are so many things different there.

To quote myself:

Spoiler

On 8/12/2018 at 4:11 PM, Arcphoenix said:

I was just talking with a friend yesterday about differences in Path of Radiance's AI that I noticed and am liking a lot in my current playthrough. Some bosses - for example - actually start moving if you're in range while others wait as per standard. The ones that wait sometimes have allies nearby also not moving. Some enemies, when their health gets critical begin to fall back either to go to a healer or find a unit with a vulenary to TRADE with. Seeing enemy units that actually care about living is interesting in itself. It's also the first time I've seen any Fire Emblem NPCs ever trade. Addtionally, there are foes that don't immediately aggro when you're in their range, so picking off foes one at a time in favorable conditions isn't always possible. I once had to put a unit in range of two additional foes to draw out one single unit. Idk if these things carry over into Radiant Dawn, but PoR's AI I definitely found interesting.

 

There's the also the shove mechanic which I found really, really useful in Path of Radiance (not as a skill that can only be used by one class, but able to be used by everyone with a weight rule). Partnered allies that operate with a Direct Command I'd also like to see returning in some form. On that note, I'd like to see rescue again, even if pair ups return it would be a nice other option.

I'm also hoping for an explorable world, akin to how you can visit towns in Shadows of Valentia but with free-roaming like in dungeons or the Fates My Castle (just done with models rather than sprites) rather than Shadows of Valentia's Visual-novel esque town navigation (it would be a nice way to quick travel though).

If tomes are the way magic is used in this game, I'd also like the Anima, Dark, Light magic trinity from Blazing Blade to return.

[DMan64]

@Dinar87 In regards to Echoes, it's important to consider that it came out pretty much right when the Switch came out, so people were likely holding out for it.  Also remakes in general typically don't sell as well as brand new games.  But considering the fact that Echoes is a remake of a game not many people knew about, which also came out right as the Switch released, the sales while not Awakening and Fates were honestly not that bad.  Also, I feel that even if older fans are the minority, it's a minority that they still don't want to lose, after all part of Fates design philosophy was to appeal to both new and long time fans, and Echoes itself was a love-letter to old school fans.  So based on VGChartz sales, that's still a couple hundred thousand fans that you could potentially alienate.  While I've no doubt there's going to still be elements of what made Awakening and Fates popular, even those who love Awakening would agree that Fates kind of took the whole waifu thing a little too far.  Even then, I don't think people would've minded that much if the story and writing was good, or at the very least decent.

[Dinar87]

8 minutes ago, DMan64 said:

@Dinar87 In regards to Echoes, it's important to consider that it came out pretty much right when the Switch came out, so people were likely holding out for it.  Also remakes in general typically don't sell as well as brand new games.  But considering the fact that Echoes is a remake of a game not many people knew about, which also came out right as the Switch released, the sales while not Awakening and Fates were honestly not that bad.  Also, I feel that even if older fans are the minority, it's a minority that they still don't want to lose, after all part of Fates design philosophy was to appeal to both new and long time fans, and Echoes itself was a love-letter to old school fans.  So based on VGChartz sales, that's still a couple hundred thousand fans that you could potentially alienate.  While I've no doubt there's going to still be elements of what made Awakening and Fates popular, even those who love Awakening would agree that Fates kind of took the whole waifu thing a little too far.  Even then, I don't think people would've minded that much if the story and writing was good, or at the very least decent.

It's just that echoes' sales I'm worried will be interpreted by Nintendo as "hmmm....that game where we mocked pair up in a trailer didn't do as well as awakening and fates..." rather than "well...it did alright considering the game's time of release and how it was a remake of an obscure game". Other companies have made sweeping decisions about series based on the sales of their games, regardless of circumstances unfortunately.

Yeah I'll admit if the writing was better and the characters weren't one-note for a lot of fans, then even I'd be fine with the marriage and stuff. It's just that Nintendo hyped me up for fates and a lot of us thought it'd be even better than awakening was story-wise...but for a lot of us, our hype was wrong in the end and I don't want to feel stabbed in the back ever again.

I'm going through a difficult period of my life right now and seeing series I loved get transformed makes it even tougher for me to keep going in general...

Edited August 14, 2018 by Dinar87

[DMan64]

@Arcphoenix  I' d personally like to see Bonus EXP and Base Conversations.  I'd like to see direct commands as well, as I think it had a lot of untapped potential and can make for some really unique maps.

@Dinar87  I understand where your coming from, and don't get me wrong I definitely have my reservations on the game, mostly when it comes to the story and writing obviously.  Yet that said, the fact that we got Echoes at all, and the fact that so much of Three Houses seems to have elements of Echoes, I feel that has to say something about IS's attitude when developing this game and the effect that Echoes had on it.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel that Echoes was used to gauge the size of the older, hardcore fans, seeing what they like and elements that people like about the game in general, and added some of those elements to Three Houses, to make a game that can appeal to as many people as possible. 

And if Three Houses had been early in development at the point of Echoes release, then I feel that it having elements of Echoes could be indicative of quite a bit.  Again, that's just what I feel about it.

Also, I'm sorry to hear that your going through a hard time right now, but you always got people around you to talk to at anytime.  Also, just remember that so long as the series is still going, anything can happen with it, and the fact that Echoes exists at all  should speak volumes that IS still remembers and honors the roots of the series.

Edited August 14, 2018 by DMan64

[eclipse]

When I see religion and fantasy RPGs, I get nervous - so far, the only universe that I liked that had both of these themes was the world of Berseria/Zestiria (Trails is a runner-up because the church so far is part of the world, but not the reason why you're fighting, to my knowledge).  As long as the characters are believable, and the story has some nuance, I should be okay with it.

[LucarioGamer812]

Oh boy, well here is my take to these questions.

1. I want the avatar to support the protagonist trio and it focuses on the trio. But I do also think that the women in the trailer will be some form of antagonist. My evidence for this is we see Claude attacking one of the soldiers that is also identical to the soldiers defending the women earlier in the trailer.

2. Tellius gameplay additions would be excellent. I specifically like the bonus exp method in that game, shove, canto, class mastery skills, and the Soldier>Halberdier>Sentinel class line.

3. Edelgard because she's the most memorable design from the trailer due to most screentime

4. Definitely getting the game asap after release, though IDk if day one or day one special edition. For the special edition at least I need to see what's in it.

5. A direct would be great to promote it and discuss more about it, doesn't even have to be a tree houses direct, a second Fire Emblem direct or a general direct with more details will be enough for me..

Now I wanted to share what I think the game will be like storywise, since the way I answered question 1 is based heavily off this possibility, as unlikely as it would be. The women in the trailer is most likely a high priestess or priestess general leading the holy army against rebels while also searching for pieces of the fire emblem (The house crests) and or falchion of this game. I say she is something like a priestess due to her resemblance to the mural seen at the start which worshipped this games divine dragon equivalent. I'm guessing that the church of this holy religion is very strict and has much influence over the continent. There is a rebel group, possibly from a country within the continent, who has control over a crest(s) and or pieces of the Falchion. I will say that they're probably going to be the real bad guys in terms of actions, while the church is against them. Now bring in Edelgard, a former priestess of the church who left (her lines of she'll return and don't forget me to her mentor, who I'll assume may have been the priestess or the girl who resembles Tiki sleeping on the throne) the church possibly due to a different view of religion and how the church has been using it to control the continent and Edelgard is also assumingly a princess of a small country, hence why she would be part of the church due to royal obligations but also not a big country so her leaving wouldn't be too impactful. Edelgard attends a military academy in her own country and learns under the avatar. Claude and Demitri are also from small countries and were not forced into serving the church like Edelgard did for a time and also attend the same military academy. Now Eedelgard most likely influenced her father into an alliance with Demitri and Claude's countries, most likely for not only military strength but possibly also an agreement to disagree with the church's hard fist of religion. Anyways Claude and Demitri temporarily return to their home countries and then Edelgard remains at the academy. The academy is then attacked by the church who found out about the upcoming mutiny (the alliance was done under the table in a way as to not bring immediate action upon themselves until preparations were finished. Edelgard and avatar defend the castle with the forces they have until Claude and Demitri pull an Ephraim and break through the enemy siege. The three are united and now have to liberate most of their countries before taking the church's center countries head on. Also probably clashes with the other rival group as well. Basically the church is an anti-hero group with misunderstood beliefs about the religion, Edelgard and co view the religion in a not-so strict way and want to try to change things, and the rebel countries want to completely dispose of the religion due to long times of oppression performed by the church. I know the whole religion plot I've explained is very very likely to be somewhat offensive to many groups. But I do want to say that I'm not saying that the church is wrong or evil or religion is bad, just different interpretations of the same source material happen and that may cause wars over it. One of the most famous examples in history would be the crusades, which coincidentally could be an inspiration for this with how Fire Emblem draws a lot from general medieval history (obviously it's not 100% accurate to it since it is also a fantasy series) and even if it's based on the crusades the character designs by no means have to be from that era, which we can tell isn't with Edelgard and co's military-ish outfits. In short this is just an idea I have on what the plot could be but I'm probably wrong.

[RexBolt]

23 minutes ago, LucarioGamer812 said:

Now bring in Edelgard, a former priestess of the church who left (her lines of she'll return and don't forget me to her mentor, who I'll assume may have been the priestess or the girl who resembles Tiki sleeping on the throne) the church possibly due to a different view of religion and how the church has been using it to control the continent and Edelgard is also assumingly a princess of a small country, hence why she would be part of the church due to royal obligations but also not a big country so her leaving wouldn't be too impactful. 

It's an interesting theory/plot but it kind of falls apart here. First because there's nothing that really connects Edelgard with being a member of the church, but also because the country she associated with (having her colors on the map and surname as a central location) is the biggest one in Fodlan. That's actually a point i like a lot because i never played a FE game where you are not the underdog country, but the big empire-like one and it could be the basis for a very good story, specially if it's examined what they had to do to others to become so big themselves.

[Ivy Wife Supremacy]

Oh boy this is gonna be what I want/expect

1. (Focus on Byleth/Avatar's relationship with the three and his growth as an instructor.): ok hear me out since that official sheet states he'll be the protagonist. In positive with obvious certainty he'll bond with all 3 (not obviously talking about supports only but much further in the game) together which will have their importance well Edelgard will most likely be the primary main one out of the 3 as the trailer clearly implies. Plus I definitely want to see him grow and learn with the other 3 MCs of the game an instructor has to keep striving after all.

2. (Remove child characters, and come up with a new reward for marrying units, like unique skills and weapons given as blessings.): I honestly feel this is going to happen. This particular feature is very negatively received on both sides after Fates clearly forced it just cause they surely have seen the feedback on this and I feel IS wants to develop most of their time towards making even more ways to build relationships between characters, a better more grounded story and more worldbuilding(the fact that the map has an actual name this time, a backstory and the tone is more mature is a strong indication this is gonna be the case at least to me). Plus I've been thinking of many better rewards to marrying characters like exchanging unique skills/passives, combat arts, bond weapons and blessings as mentioned.

3. (Edelgard!!!): Well this is definitely obvious for me! Gorgeous design, the colors of her hair and eyes are perfect. Being a female axe MC with Magic capabilities is just too good. If marriage or at least romance is in (which I'm definitely sure it will) definite pursuit for my first playthrough!

4. (I'm getting the Limited Edition day one!): Well yeah that's all I got to say on this part. Although I'm cautious since my hype could change if things I want are clearly not present in future reveals then I'll worry.

5. (Have a Nintendo Direct focused on it.): Likely the best answer its more open to everyone especially fans of the anime/JRPG genre that could convince to get(well it really didn't work for SoV for some obvious reasons but that's in the past so no need to dwindle there). As much as I like some new FE Smash representation particularly with Edelgard or even Byleth I feel it won't happen this time around (and no its NOT because of those Smash "fans" that put down FE getting love) which it doesn't need to boost sales FE now thanks to Awakening can hold its own now but hey if it does happen I'd be happy either way!

 

So I guess that's it for my choices.

Disclaimer: all my opinions

Edited August 15, 2018 by Regal Edelgard Axe Master

[LucarioGamer812]

1 hour ago, RexBolt said:

It's an interesting theory/plot but it kind of falls apart here. First because there's nothing that really connects Edelgard with being a member of the church, but also because the country she associated with (having her colors on the map and surname as a central location) is the biggest one in Fodlan. That's actually a point i like a lot because i never played a FE game where you are not the underdog country, but the big empire-like one and it could be the basis for a very good story, specially if it's examined what they had to do to others to become so big themselves.

Like I said it's just a theory. I don't think it's said but I thought the main voice in the trailer, at least towards the end, was Edelgards and that is what I based that part of. Huh I haven't looked at the map too much but I thought her country while decently sized wasn't among the biggest, I'm probably wrong though.

[Maimishou]

I voted in the poll awhile ago but I guess I should reply too?

1. (Choose between the three and see the conflict from their perspective) I loved the route split of Fates and this option seems like the closest of those listed. I would love to play as Byleth and choose one of the three to support with the story changing based on who you sided with. Basically take the three routes of Fates but make the LE where all three routes are on one cart the default.

2. (Find materials to craft unique weapons.) I like Pair Up and child characters too much to want them removed. I don't know what you mean by adding more elements from the Tellius series since I haven't played those but as someone who likes to play games for the story any elements that'd make the game harder are not elements I want to see. Call me selfish but that's my stance. I don't know what you mean by getting to choose a Birthright or Conquest mode or what that would entail. So that leaves finding materials to craft unique weapons. Being honest it wouldn't impact me as I tend to stick to the default weapons anyways but it could be fun for others.

3. (Edelgard) I love her design and her voice. The relationship we see between her and Byleth is just icing on the cake.

4. (I'm reserved about it, though I'll still get it.) I rarely buy games day one and we don't know enough about the game yet for me to make that decision. Maybe my mind will change in the upcoming months but for now it isn't a day one buy.

5. (Have a Nintendo Direct focused on it.) While I would love to have a character in Smash as DLC I don't expect it until the game has been released. Not only that but not everybody plays Smash so I don't think it would be a good advertisement. The same goes for Heroes. Sure not everyone watches Directs either but a Direct would be the perfect way to give us fans more information on the game and to hype up those who do follow Directs/give us fans something to show to nonfans as a way of getting them interested in Three Houses.

[RexBolt]

2 minutes ago, Maimishou said:

2. (Find materials to craft unique weapons.) I like Pair Up and child characters too much to want them removed. I don't know what you mean by adding more elements from the Tellius series since I haven't played those but as someone who likes to play games for the story any elements that'd make the game harder are not elements I want to see. Call me selfish but that's my stance. I don't know what you mean by getting to choose a Birthright or Conquest mode or what that would entail. So that leaves finding materials to craft unique weapons. Being honest it wouldn't impact me as I tend to stick to the default weapons anyways but it could be fun for others. 

He explains his definitions of Birthright and Conquest modes in the first post, basically being that in Br you can grind against random enemies and Cq not. Really just calling it Grind/No Grind would have been enouth.

As for the Tellius things, i believe he's talking about 3th Tier classes (like Myrmidon > Swordmaster > Trueblade) and the Mastery Skills (ultimate skills tied to a class line, were nerfed to become Sol/Luna/Astra etc).

Another Tellius thing i would like to come back is choosing your secondary weapon on promotion. There was a Cavalier for each weapon type and upon promotion o choose what their 2nd weapon would be, same with Sages and choosing between Staves and Daggers. I just think that adds a lot of personality to characters of the same class.

[DMan64]

Went away for a bit, and I love what I see from the poll and posts, definitely quite a few differing opinions and thoughts and I appreciate everyone sharing.

I suppose I'll talk about what I want;

1) Focus on the three - While I like the idea of Byleth growing as an instructor alongside the three protagonists, I feel like it shouldn't be the main focus, instead I think it should focus on the plights of, well, the Three Houses and their relationship with one another as the conflict progresses.

2) More Tellius Elements - I feel the Tellius series had a lot of great ideas that unfortunately never caught on as much as they could due to poor sales.  Bonus EXP, shoving, direct commands, the skill wheel, etc. I feel that some of these features could really make for a fantastic experience when pair with some of the modern conventions.

3) Have to go with Edelgard - I absolutely love everything about her design, but what takes the cake for me are her eyes.  Weird as it may sound, to me, I'm a sucker for eyes as I feel they can say a lot about a character and people in general, and Edelgard is no exception, there just so serene and pure to put it in some way and it really makes me love her design all the more, @Regal Edelgard Axe Master honestly right there with ya, definitely gonna pursue.

4) Aiming for the limited edition - While I have my reservations towards the game(mostly with the story and writing), I'm a shameless fan of the series, and given that I personally really like the art style of this game, I'd get it for the art book alone.

5)  Nintendo Direct - One of the biggest reasons I feel so many people were against FE Warriors was because they didn't show people a full, in-depth look at the game/game play until much closer to release, and instead only showed characters and bits of the story mode(which most people didn't really care for at that point)  But, seeing as this is a major spring title and brand new game, and the fact that Fire Emblem is now a major IP, I feel a Nintendo Direct for the game, or heck, even just a ten minute segment showing off the game would be a wise idea.

 

@LucarioGamer812 I really like the idea you had for the story, and while I don't think it will go exactly as you stated, I think that it would be an amazing take on an FE story. @RexBolt  I also like the idea of being among the bigger kingdoms, and it could very much delve into possible moral gray of high nobility, along with the heavy theme of religion.

@Maimishou What I meant by the Birthright and Conquest mode is that picking a Birthright mode would open up the option to grind and take up side chapters whenever you like; while a Conquest mode would push you forward like the classic games(with the exception of rest areas like base in the Tellius games, or My Castle in Fates), meaning no grinding, and you have to take up side chapters when they appear, otherwise you can't do them later; so that way you can choose what type of experience you want to have; something more relaxed and dictated by your own pace, or a hardcore, tactical experience.  Just gave it those names because I'm use to saying that in discussion.

Also, in regards to the Tellius games, those games had certain mechanics like reward EXP, in which after a battle you could give EXP to any of your units to level them up; or direct command units, which were basically yellow units who were allied to you, though unlike blue or green units, you don't directly control them, rather you control their AI patterns(ex: if you want it to attack, click attack, if you want it to retreat you hit a fall back command).  There was also the skill capacity, in which characters/classes had a certain capacity for learning certain skills, and depending on the skill, it used a different amount of points, so you had to careful choose what skills you want to have within the capacity available to you.  Also in Tellius, building support was more of a matter of units simply partaking in the same battle with one another, rather than whether or not they were close by when in an action phase.  @RexBolt brings up good ones as well, such as 3rd tier promotion, choosing secondary weapons upon promotion, and the mastery skills.

Edited August 15, 2018 by DMan64

[Maimishou]

19 minutes ago, RexBolt said:

He explains his definitions of Birthright and Conquest modes in the first post, basically being that in Br you can grind against random enemies and Cq not. Really just calling it Grind/No Grind would have been enouth.

As for the Tellius things, i believe he's talking about 3th Tier classes (like Myrmidon > Swordmaster > Trueblade) and the Mastery Skills (ultimate skills tied to a class line, were nerfed to become Sol/Luna/Astra etc).

Another Tellius thing i would like to come back is choosing your secondary weapon on promotion. There was a Cavalier for each weapon type and upon promotion o choose what their 2nd weapon would be, same with Sages and choosing between Staves and Daggers. I just think that adds a lot of personality to characters of the same class.

That all sounds pretty interesting. Honestly so long as we still have Classic, Casual, and Phoenix Modes I wouldn't mind any of those things being implemented into the game.

[DMan64]

@Maimishou Yeah, the Tellius series was a very bold approach for Fire Emblem all things considered, and given the addition of the modern elements of FE, such as Classic, Casual, and Phoenix, I think having them brought back would be really cool to see.

@eclipse  Interesting, without spoiling much, what do those games do to make you like those two themes together? Don't really have experience with the Tales games, though I hear good things about them, and I might pick up Vesperia or Symphonia since those are the ones I've heard mostly about.

[RexBolt]

15 minutes ago, Maimishou said:

That all sounds pretty interesting. Honestly so long as we still have Classic, Casual, and Phoenix Modes I wouldn't mind any of those things being implemented into the game.

Honestly i don't really see the point of Phoenix mode? Maybe in Conquest if you want to play just to see all possible supports else all it does is take the challenge out of the game. I haven't played Echoes, only watched a LP, but i think the Turnwheel is a better way to save an unit from death and have it still on the battlefield.

[Maimishou]

2 minutes ago, RexBolt said:

Honestly i don't really see the point of Phoenix mode? Maybe in Conquest if you want to play just to see all possible supports else all it does is take the challenge out of the game. I haven't played Echoes, only watched a LP, but i think the Turnwheel is a better way to save an unit from death and have it still on the battlefield.

I mean not everyone wants a challenge but still wants to experience the story. I know I personally always play games on the easiest mode available and while Casual is a thing there's really nothing wrong with having an easier difficulty in Phoenix Mode.

[eclipse]

2 minutes ago, DMan64 said:

 

@eclipse  Interesting, without spoiling much, what do those games do to make you like those two themes together? Don't really have experience with the Tales games, though I hear good things about them, and I might pick up Vesperia or Symphonia since those are the ones I've heard mostly about.

Fair warning: I don't like Symphonia.

The games that I like the least tend to use religion as an antagonistic force.  I don't mind when it's done with some realism in mind, but when there's nothing redeeming about the religion itself, it makes everything less believable.  Three Houses appears to have religion as an antagonistic force of some sort, so I hope it doesn't make the church some sort of mustache-twirling villain for the sake of making the good guys look good.

Tales of Berseria spoilers:

Spoiler

I make an exception for this game, because the ham-fisted religion is necessary for Zestiria to work.

And general Trails spoilers:

Spoiler

The church is one of the entities in the world, but it's not the main villain (my knowledge only goes up to CS2).  It's clear that they have their own agenda (SC's ending shows this).  Yet each major city has a church of some kind, and we see the church's good side when disaster strikes.  I don't mind this kind of religious portrayal - it justifies the church's continued existence in the community, without making it an unrealistic paragon of good.

For those specific "good" things:

CS2

Spoiler

After the Noble Alliance shoots up a town whose name escapes me, the church opens its doors for those who are wounded.  They later allow Our Heroes to hold a concert in there to cheer up the populace.

3rd

Spoiler

Kevin probably would've grown up on the streets if a certain sister didn't take him under her wing.

FC

Spoiler

The church offered sanctuary to Julia when all hell breaks loose.  Had the rebel faction found out, they would've been imprisoned, at best, and executed at worst.

 

 

[YingofDarkness]

Going down the list:

1) I am hoping that the story centers around Edelgard, Dmitri, and Claude. The less focus on the Avatar the better although since he is going to be their teacher it would make sense for him to be there for them to lean on during emotionally charged moments. I also think the fourth choice here will also be true. I wouldn't even be surprised if she is going to be our final dragon boss.

2)As somebody who likes the marriage mechanic but is meh on the children in Awakening and find their method of inclusion downright idiotic in Fates, I think my choice here is kind of obvious. I do like to ship characters, but more then that I like to read all of their support conversations and get to know them better. Obivously this could be done without marriage but if I can have the best of both worlds then why not? I don't think that everybody should be able to marry everyone else, and would like to see more same sex conversations show up though.

3)My favs go Dmitri ->Claude ->Edelgard----->Byleth. I have no interest in Byleth at all, and am kind of hoping he doesn't end up being an Avatar even though he probably will. Edelgard reminds me a bit of Lucina whom I was pretty meh on. Claude has husbando bias and that is about it. Dmitri also is pretty much husbando bias but since everyone kept picking on him I've kind of felt bad for the guy and favor him a bit. Plus he looks like he is going to be the more serious one, and I tend to like those characters quite a bit.

4)I choose three but I'll probably get it day 1. The question whether I will play it day 1. I've been pretty meh on a lot of what I've seen so far, and nothing has really made me very interested besides it being another FE game.

5)Number 1 is the only way they are going to get a lot of positive advertisement I feel. If somebody makes it into Smash a lot of the Smash fanbase is going to be mad that yet another FE character made it into the roster. I mean it will still be good long term if people like playing as them, but I already saw some of this sentiment with Chrom and he is just an Echo fighter + a character people feel got snubbed last game (giving him more positive feedback). The third one is definitely going to happen. We already saw them do it with Echoes so it will definitely happen with Three Houses. How much of that translates into sales is another thing entirely.

Edited August 16, 2018 by YingofDarkness
Wrote something wrong by accident

[DMan64]

@eclipse I see, seems pretty interesting, I'll definitely try to check that out whenever I get a chance, whether that be playing them some day, or checking out an LP or something.  (As someone who is going into creative writing, and loves fantasy, politics, and religion especially when it comes to world building and character development, these seem like interesting things to check out for what I have interest in.)

@YingofDarkness  I think Dimitri's cool enough, though I do hear people pick on him quite a bit (most common thing I've heard people say about him is that he looked like he had Cup Noodle dumped on his head for hair.)  Other than that, Claude isn't really doing much for me in terms of design.  As for Byleth, I don't know what it is but something bothers me about his design.  Maybe it's the hair or the the fact that the other characters have more color to them and just stand out compared to most other main characters in Fire Emblem, but Byleth isn't really doing much for me.

[Dinar87]

Thinking back to this topic now that some time has passed...I'd be fine with the marriage (not child units though as that's a bit too much imo) but the romancing would only be ok for me if the characters were well written in my opinion. Having a lot of ""quirky"" or """funny""" characters destroys the atmosphere and immersion for me.

That being said, I do sometimes wish we could get a well written fire emblem with stuff like marriage in it.

[RexBolt]

That said i wonder what could be used as a new reward for marriage, because just acess to your partner's class isn't as instantly satisfying as a paralogue + a kid.

The easiest i can think of is that marrying some one gives you a set skill representing that person. Like, everyone who marries Edelgard receives Vantage or something. Or maybe their partners personal skill instead so there's no chance to get a skill you already have.

Edited August 15, 2018 by RexBolt

[thecrimsonflash]

for 1 I rather they not try to be too out there, a linear story is easier to handle

for 2 I detest pairup and would like to see more of the tellius mechanics especially the shifters

for 3 I prefer claude, edelgard and demitri just look boring, not stoic, just boring, I predict them to be uber wet blankets, and their designs really don't stand out to me (cept for ugly shorts and tights, but given that description I think I don't need to say much more), as for byleth... let's not talk about byleth.

for 4 day one obviously, while I have my reservations, I am a blind fire emblem fan who buys everything day 1 without looking at reviews, I will wait and see about that limited edition, I am not in the best position finantaily as of late and I rather not risk overdoing it, I have people to bail me out, but I don't think this is worth the shame personally.

for 5 a nintendo direct, smash bros says nothing (corrin looked like a jackass then he still looks like a jackass now) and heroes is a given, I expect a three houses themed banner in february.

22 hours ago, DMan64 said:

As for Byleth, I don't know what it is but something bothers me about his design.  Maybe it's the hair or the the fact that the other characters have more color to them and just stand out compared to most other main characters in Fire Emblem, but Byleth isn't really doing much for me.

I think it is byleth's everything that is bad, the colors are not very complimentary and he looks too edgy in my opinion and given that name that may not be too far from the truth.

Edited August 16, 2018 by thecrimsonflash

[YingofDarkness]

21 hours ago, DMan64 said:

I think Dimitri's cool enough, though I do hear people pick on him quite a bit (most common thing I've heard people say about him is that he looked like he had Cup Noodle dumped on his head for hair.)  Other than that, Claude isn't really doing much for me in terms of design.  As for Byleth, I don't know what it is but something bothers me about his design.  Maybe it's the hair or the the fact that the other characters have more color to them and just stand out compared to most other main characters in Fire Emblem, but Byleth isn't really doing much for me.

Yeah there was that, and also people leaving him out of a bunch of fanart unless it was picking on him. That died down pretty quick, but I still felt bad enough for him to give him some bais. Honestly though, none of their designs really stand out that much to me. I just favor guy characters so they get ahead haha. It is why I call it my husbando bias. I actually made a couple of typos when I was writing about Byleth because I was exhausted. I meant to say I don't have any interest in him because he looks too much like a bad guy. His name implies he is, his design implies he is, but his role is that of a teacher? And of such obviously good people? It doesn't match up and makes me wonder if they are going to play it off as him being in league with the bad guys all along, and then he'll either change his mind or be revealed as the big bad later. However, if he is an Avatar that is going to piss a lot of people off if they play it straight so they might just pull a Conquest on him. Except if they are going to do that then they shouldn't even flipping bother because it is going to go down terribly. He is actually part of the reason I am so reserved on this game. Depending on how they play him + how integral he is too the story it could ruin it really quickly. Of course this is all speculation and I'm probably wrong, but this is what I am getting from him so far.