Fire Emblem Three Houses is the most unique in the entire series: here's why (Spoilers)

[Zihark11]

So i just wanted to ramble a bit and yes this is just my opinion feel free to disagree.

Fire emblem three houses is a very different fire emblem game from the rest in the series and not just because of its new gameplay mechanics but also because of how many options/choices as the player you are given. Your choice impacts how the entire world of Fodlan plays out. You are essentially choosing an ideal to uphold and follow through with to the bitter end. This is the basis for why Three Houses is so different from the rest. 

A common goal in the fire emblem series has been that there is always a evil villian pulling the strings behind the scenes and manipulating everyone and your goal is to stop him with your soldiers and friends. With Three houses they basically throw out this over 2 decade trend and let the player decide who they think is worthy. Is it the emperor? is it the king? is it the alliance? is it the archbishop? Its really all a persons perspective who they think is right. This also where some of the games flaws are most relevant which is its writing.

Now before i go anymore i love this game. i give it a 9/10 but it still has flaws which for me is the writing. The animations could use some fine tuning as well but thats beside the point.

Depending on what route you decide to go the story is constantly changing and many things. A big example of this is the Blue lions route compared to the Crimson Flower route. BL Always references back to the tragedy of duscur which is what plagues more then half of the house while in other routes the existence of this event is maybe mentioned twice. Your house has one goal in mind and literally focuses only on that and nothing else. Their ideals, their pain, and there desires are all that matter. Byleth is the foundation for Fodlan, you are the tipping point so to speak.

As a person who wants to see the bigger picture and have all the facts i always find myself a little disappointed with every ending because it doesn't address everyone's struggles and hardships or in some routes doesn't even acknowledge its existence. 

This makes me miss the idea of a common villian enemy that threatens there existence/way of life.\

I believe there are  may people unlike me that love the idea of your choices depicting how the world turns out but for me personally i always am feeling unsatisfied. 

I think Three Houses is the step in right direction for the company but now they gotta do a better story next time because the world itself is fantastic, they really did a good job on world building it is the story itself for me that is lacking.

 

Anybody have a different perspective then me? do you agree or disagree?

[TheArchsage]

I absolutely love the direction the series is taking with this installment. The fact that you can have such starkly different parts -- that who you define as the enemy is up to your choice? That's honestly amazing, and how they did that with the crimson route was great to me.

The more the merrier. I wanted to get more stark paths as well, not just in crimson. 

I do see what you mean, about not having complete perspectives by game's end. I'll not sure how they could remedy that...

[Zihark11]

3 minutes ago, TheArchsage said:

I absolutely love the direction the series is taking with this installment. The fact that you can have such starkly different parts -- that who you define as the enemy is up to your choice? That's honestly amazing, and how they did that with the crimson route was great to me.

The more the merrier. I wanted to get more stark paths as well, not just in crimson. 

I do see what you mean, about not having complete perspectives by game's end. I'll not sure how they could remedy that...

Yeah they would have to rewrite the entire game. I can see why lots of people enjoy the different perspectives of how fodlan can turn out its just for me the important things are never really answered clearly/acknowledged in some routes, how can the foundation of ones entire war (BL) never be addressed in other routes. i also think maybe its that the routes vary to much as well like if you dont go Blue lions dimitri isnt an Asylum patient but I guess it just goes to show the power one person can have on the entire world. 

[Flere210]

Except you don't chise any ideal, you chose something whit no information watsoever and  20 hours later you find out that you are actually trying to take over the world. This is not how routes work usually. The best srpg that used them is Valkyrie Profile:covenant of the plume, but like, 3 people played it.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Flere210

[Yexin]

as i already said elsewhere, i don't exactly love branching paths, because they give me the feeling that making the player feel like god is prioritized, while the writing is somewhat left behind, because the latter must change depending on what the former decides, and this results in the writing being inconsistent (to me), and i don't like this

i prefer already established worlds, with its already established story, which develops through already established characters

i play games to be inspired by compelling stories, not to influence them: i already have my real life for that

 

this said, i'm really enjoying 3H, but yeah, i'd like IntSys to stop with these branching paths and avatars most of all

Edited August 12, 2019 by Yexin

[Zihark11]

9 minutes ago, Yexin said:

as i already said elsewhere, i don't exactly love branching paths, because they give me the feeling that making the player feel like god is prioritized, while the writing is someehat left behind, because the latter must chance depending on what the former decides, and this results in the writing being inconsistent (to me), and i don't like this

i prefer already established worlds, with its already established story, which develops through already established characters

i play games to be inspired by compelling stories, not to decide them: i already have my real life for that

 

this said, i'm really enjoying 3H, but yeah, i'd like IntSys to stop with these branching paths and avatars most of all

THIS wow literally took the words out of my head. 

[timon]

I agree on the explanation part, I feel like every path should reveal to the player the truth of some things that happen in every route (eg. TWSITD, the Nemesis war, Byleth's origins, those are topic that MUST be addressed regardless of your choices). Mostly because the game should be made to be "closed off" in one run, playing through all 4 paths is a thing most people won't do, and it's not a thing the developers should ask.

That said, I do like the different stories it can take you in, afaik they're all well written, and it's nice to see how characters drastically change depending on apparently small choices, it's kind of how it works in the real world to some extent.

The fact that there is no "true evil villain pulling the strings" is an amazing upgrade over your usual FE (or RPG in general) story, you choose your side and that determines who you see as the bad guy, and even then you'll never see them as complete villains, you know perfectly well you're fighting actual people with reasonable motives. It gives a moral struggle to the characters, that creates depth. If you're fighting horrible evil monsters that are the work of hell or an invading army of ravagers who want to dominate the world you'll never get that same feeling.

Edited August 12, 2019 by timon

[Zihark11]

35 minutes ago, timon said:

I agree on the explanation part, I feel like every path should reveal to the player the truth of some things that happen in every route (eg. TWSITD, the Nemesis war, Byleth's origins, those are topic that MUST be addressed regardless of your choices). Mostly because the game should be made to be "closed off" in one run, playing through all 4 paths is a thing most people won't do, and it's not a thing the developers should ask.

That said, I do like the different stories it can take you in, afaik they're all well written, and it's nice to see how characters drastically change depending on apparently small choices, it's kind of how it works in the real world to some extent.

The fact that there is no "true evil villain pulling the strings" is an amazing upgrade over your usual FE (or RPG in general) story, you choose your side and that determines who you see as the bad guy, and even then you'll never see them as complete villains, you know perfectly well you're fighting actual people with reasonable motives. It gives a moral struggle to the characters, that creates depth. If you're fighting horrible evil monsters that are the work of hell or an invading army of ravagers who want to dominate the world you'll never get that same feeling.

Maybe because it feels relatable to actual real life things and ideas that make me like the idea less. I think the idea behind choosing who you wanna support and lead the world is fine and all i just wished more time was put into explaining things, Those who slither in dark, fodlans history, the noble families, byleths origins, the church and its histroy, dimitri and the blue lions past, edelgards childhood and hatred, Claudes ideas and tricks, and more. I just think that all of this should be more relevant in each playthrough.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

If the intent of the route split is to make the player feel influential, maybe give the player longer than an hour in this world and around these characters to decide their choice? The only one of the Lords that seems trustworthy out of the gate with his intentions is Claude, and that's more of his laidback blabbermouth personality that lays his cards on the table. He's got a secret to keep like the others, but it's not the sort of secret that shatters your perception of him.

I think Fire Emblem needs a break from route splits. Having our choices matter doesn't require three separate games to play. Whenever the game prompts me to choose what content I'd like to see, I have no way of making an informed decision. And the dialogue options can feel frustrating since none of them impact the course of the plot, just support points. Choosing your own adventure in a game should feel like a gradual process, not signing a three year contract. Western RPGs often have this freedom. In Fallout New Vegas, you can do work for the NCR, Ceasar's Legion, and Mr. House all in the same playthrough before deciding none of them are ideal rulers and instead creating an independent Vegas. This arrangement screws over a lot more people than it sounds, but it's the sort of hard choice the player is always allowed to make.

[Zihark11]

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

If the intent of the route split is to make the player feel influential, maybe give the player longer than an hour in this world and around these characters to decide their choice? The only one of the Lords that seems trustworthy out of the gate with his intentions is Claude, and that's more of his laidback blabbermouth personality that lays his cards on the table. He's got a secret to keep like the others, but it's not the sort of secret that shatters your perception of him.

I think Fire Emblem needs a break from route splits. Having our choices matter doesn't require three separate games to play. Whenever the game prompts me to choose what content I'd like to see, I have no way of making an informed decision. And the dialogue options can feel frustrating since none of them impact the course of the plot, just support points. Choosing your own adventure in a game should feel like a gradual process, not signing a three year contract. Western RPGs often have this freedom. In Fallout New Vegas, you can do work for the NCR, Ceasar's Legion, and Mr. House all in the same playthrough before deciding none of them are ideal rulers and instead creating an independent Vegas. This arrangement screws over a lot more people than it sounds, but it's the sort of hard choice the player is always allowed to make.

I agree with this. I am person who would rather be reading something already written then writing the book myself. A tailored story that is impactful and makes me wanna play more then once.i also think if they were dead set on having to do route splits then each house should have had there own goals, Edelgard trying to suck out the nobility and crest ridden histroy that plagued her country and made her family suffer, Dimitirs would be an internal struggle of power with outside forces at hand and his internal battle with himself and claudes would be kinda like a wild card, while the church route would be the battle against those who slither in dark.

This way everything in the world is still happening at once 

Edited August 12, 2019 by Zihark11

[Humanoid]

10 hours ago, Zihark11 said:

You are essentially choosing an ideal to uphold and follow through with to the bitter end.

Except that you don't really. Unless you've looked up spoilers beforehand, you're simply choosing which pre-defined group of 8 students you like the most and then (with one exception) are forced to go along with that choice no matter what. There is absolutely no ideal being upheld here. For example, I'm currently with the Golden Deer I've just finished a dialogue with the Flame Emperor in which they ask me to join them. Am I actually allowed to do that? Oh my, no. You're just along for the ride. And while I'm supportive of there no longer there being a clear black-white divide, they've only changed it so now it's black-grey: the evil villain pulling the strings still exists, after all. It's an improvement, but I'd love to see them ditch the safety blanket altogether.

I believe that the branching paths should diverge more gradually and at times collapse back into each other. Let us build rapports with all the houses even if we're not directly responsible for them. And after the timeskip, if we have built up enough trust with a house leader, let us support them even if it wasn't the house we picked at the very start of the game - an independent choice based on the context of the world as it stands, not that of the one 40 hours ago.

 

10 hours ago, Zihark11 said:

As a person who wants to see the bigger picture and have all the facts i always find myself a little disappointed with every ending because it doesn't address everyone's struggles and hardships or in some routes doesn't even acknowledge its existence. 

I'm actually somewhat of the opposite opinion here. The fog of war is a thing, so if I'm playing as Golden Deer, I neither can or should know the specifics about court intrigue in the Empire or Kingdom beyond a few fuzzy rumours. And if it were the opposite and I was trying to conquer the world, why should I concern myself with the petty little tragedies of the soon-to-be-conquered?

I'm a firm believer that in an RPG, we should only ever know what the player character is in the position to know. I would prefer if they cut out all the cutscenes in which Byleth is not present for example, especially ones where villains are talking to each other in private. We have no business knowing that. The Witcher 2 famously has a split featuring two completely different second acts, where you end up on opposite sides of the war. You explicitly only have knowledge of what happens from your side of the trenches, and you miss out on huge revelations either way. I don't mind that at all, it just feels so much more organic. I did end up getting the full picture by repeating the second and third acts later on, but even if I did not, I would find the outcome still more satisfying than if we were arbitrarily granted plot omniscience.

[Zihark11]

10 hours ago, Humanoid said:

Except that you don't really. Unless you've looked up spoilers beforehand, you're simply choosing which pre-defined group of 8 students you like the most and then (with one exception) are forced to go along with that choice no matter what. There is absolutely no ideal being upheld here. For example, I'm currently with the Golden Deer I've just finished a dialogue with the Flame Emperor in which they ask me to join them. Am I actually allowed to do that? Oh my, no. You're just along for the ride. And while I'm supportive of there no longer there being a clear black-white divide, they've only changed it so now it's black-grey: the evil villain pulling the strings still exists, after all. It's an improvement, but I'd love to see them ditch the safety blanket altogether.

I believe that the branching paths should diverge more gradually and at times collapse back into each other. Let us build rapports with all the houses even if we're not directly responsible for them. And after the timeskip, if we have built up enough trust with a house leader, let us support them even if it wasn't the house we picked at the very start of the game - an independent choice based on the context of the world as it stands, not that of the one 40 hours ago.

 

I'm actually somewhat of the opposite opinion here. The fog of war is a thing, so if I'm playing as Golden Deer, I neither can or should know the specifics about court intrigue in the Empire or Kingdom beyond a few fuzzy rumours. And if it were the opposite and I was trying to conquer the world, why should I concern myself with the petty little tragedies of the soon-to-be-conquered?

I'm a firm believer that in an RPG, we should only ever know what the player character is in the position to know. I would prefer if they cut out all the cutscenes in which Byleth is not present for example, especially ones where villains are talking to each other in private. We have no business knowing that. The Witcher 2 famously has a split featuring two completely different second acts, where you end up on opposite sides of the war. You explicitly only have knowledge of what happens from your side of the trenches, and you miss out on huge revelations either way. I don't mind that at all, it just feels so much more organic. I did end up getting the full picture by repeating the second and third acts later on, but even if I did not, I would find the outcome still more satisfying than if we were arbitrarily granted plot omniscience.

i am writing this as having completed all the paths. so i know what the choices are and what they are all about so sure if its your first time playing the route that may not be the case but im looking at the bigger picture. 

I like the idea of working with other houses like that.

Thats totally fine but since all the information is presented to the character and nothing is done about it (Especially in BL route) is just awful writing. theres no satisfaction of finding the truth. I agree that if the character doesnt know about some piece of information etc then there should be no reason for him to seek it out but he has all the clues and hints to find out a lot and it is almost never pursued. The combining of the routes should have been better written rather then "i wanna change the world and nothing else matters".

[timon]

11 hours ago, Humanoid said:

I'm actually somewhat of the opposite opinion here. The fog of war is a thing, so if I'm playing as Golden Deer, I neither can or should know the specifics about court intrigue in the Empire or Kingdom beyond a few fuzzy rumours. And if it were the opposite and I was trying to conquer the world, why should I concern myself with the petty little tragedies of the soon-to-be-conquered?

Absolutely, but then there are some things that you (as Byleth) should want to know and there's no reason as for why you can't. In the Black Eagles path your origin is never addressed if not for a brief dialogue that doesn't say anything explicit or comprehensible. I'd say your character is supposed to be curious about themselves no?

Corrin was wrong on so many levels, and one of those was that he was way too emotional for an avatar. But Byleth is the opposite, there are some things that are just frustrating, why doesn't he want to know stuff, to inquiry (about himself, about the thing that lives in his head, about the reasons of the war) he just goes along with what other people say and do. I'm not saying give me a cruciual choice on every chapter, but at least let me ask questions.

Then there's the final slap in the face, when the game tells you in the endings that there was a hard fought war against TWSITD. I really wonder what the hell the point is of just telling you about it when you could've fought it yourself, if we consider that Crimson Flower is 3-4 chapters shorter than the other routes it seems something purely related to running out of development time or something like that.

A game should be "completable" in one run, the cruciual lore/story points should be addressed regardless of the path you take (in different ways, with different importance, but explained nonetheless). I mean it's just 3 things really: Byleth's origins, dealing with the dark bois and at least some explanation on what the deal is with Sothis/Seiros/Nemesis/Crests/Relics. Those 3 topics are basically the questions that run in the player's head throughout the whole game, you can't leave everything hanging.

What should be route exclusive is stuff like Dimitri's backstory, what happens to Rhea, Edelgard's motives, ecc.

[Wolfen09]

On 8/13/2019 at 12:33 PM, timon said:

Absolutely, but then there are some things that you (as Byleth) should want to know and there's no reason as for why you can't. In the Black Eagles path your origin is never addressed if not for a brief dialogue that doesn't say anything explicit or comprehensible. I'd say your character is supposed to be curious about themselves no?

Corrin was wrong on so many levels, and one of those was that he was way too emotional for an avatar. But Byleth is the opposite, there are some things that are just frustrating, why doesn't he want to know stuff, to inquiry (about himself, about the thing that lives in his head, about the reasons of the war) he just goes along with what other people say and do. I'm not saying give me a cruciual choice on every chapter, but at least let me ask questions.

Then there's the final slap in the face, when the game tells you in the endings that there was a hard fought war against TWSITD. I really wonder what the hell the point is of just telling you about it when you could've fought it yourself, if we consider that Crimson Flower is 3-4 chapters shorter than the other routes it seems something purely related to running out of development time or something like that.

A game should be "completable" in one run, the cruciual lore/story points should be addressed regardless of the path you take (in different ways, with different importance, but explained nonetheless). I mean it's just 3 things really: Byleth's origins, dealing with the dark bois and at least some explanation on what the deal is with Sothis/Seiros/Nemesis/Crests/Relics. Those 3 topics are basically the questions that run in the player's head throughout the whole game, you can't leave everything hanging.

What should be route exclusive is stuff like Dimitri's backstory, what happens to Rhea, Edelgard's motives, ecc.

This, specifically all the main plot points need to be wrapped up in every route.  The only thing that the branching routes should offer is a different perspective of the main story.

In all honesty I have the feeling that fates was the start of a grand idea in their story telling, and 3 houses is a big step forward towards the goal, but it's not quite there yet.  I guess in game terms, Fates was like early alpha stage of development, 3 houses is a proper release, and the next game is the much anticipated sequel that will improve on the first game... In gamer terms, not to say 3 houses needs a sequel