Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
So despite having never seriously played a Fire Emblem game prior to this (other than more than a few hours of Path of Radiance on the GameCube) I have gone all in on the new release in the series on the Switch.
I picked up the BEAUTIFUL Limited Edition with art book, coins, badges, locks of hair, underwear and art book.
I enjoy tactical combat games, recently I've played Wargroove, Mario Rabbids and while I understand that this is/will be different to those, I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm family with the sort of pace and structure of these games - but this will have more.
So far, I'm taking my time and settling into the characters, the combat feels fun and compelling and the introduction (to me) of enemies carrying and dropping items seems really fun and interesting.
I've picked the Leicester Alliance house, mainly as it fitted my sort of idilic structure and it looks cool as cats with its brown stag on a yellow crest.
I've named my character Charles, after my Son, and I'm RP'n this as I'd like to think he would make decisions - which is always fun to do as it gives me some sort of direction and vision for the character.
I've just enrolled as professor in the Monastery and I'm now meeting the house leaders and their students.
It's cool, as there's not millions, form what I can see each house has one leader and seven students, each one is introduced with good chapters screens and a short but detailed introduction from the house leader.
It's bitsize enough to not be daunting to take in, yet detailed enough to be interesting and fun.
I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the students and really getting into the battles.
This will be my holiday game this year I think. Lat year I took away Octopath Traveller and very much enjoyed getting into that, this year it will be my sole Holiday game.
Two things of immediate note,
1 - Some of the cut screens are in a weird resolution/frame rate, compared to the game, which I find jarring. Not the full on animated scenes as such but theres something different about the astehetic of it at times which I find awkward. MK11 had a similar issue with me.
2 - It has auto-play on cutscenes and dialogue !!! This is amazing. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had the same option, which makes cutscenes and dialogue areas a real pleasure to sink into and take in.
Having to press A to progress speak I find extremely mood breaking and I look forward to seeing the little dialogue interchanges now and really listen properly and focus on what is unfolding.
The little anime videos and class, real class and I'm enjoying them a lot.
This is a first for me, I feel like enough things are lining up correctly for me to actually enjoy this style of game.
Although I'm still very early in.
I picked up the BEAUTIFUL Limited Edition with art book, coins, badges, locks of hair, underwear and art book.
I enjoy tactical combat games, recently I've played Wargroove, Mario Rabbids and while I understand that this is/will be different to those, I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm family with the sort of pace and structure of these games - but this will have more.
So far, I'm taking my time and settling into the characters, the combat feels fun and compelling and the introduction (to me) of enemies carrying and dropping items seems really fun and interesting.
I've picked the Leicester Alliance house, mainly as it fitted my sort of idilic structure and it looks cool as cats with its brown stag on a yellow crest.
I've named my character Charles, after my Son, and I'm RP'n this as I'd like to think he would make decisions - which is always fun to do as it gives me some sort of direction and vision for the character.
I've just enrolled as professor in the Monastery and I'm now meeting the house leaders and their students.
It's cool, as there's not millions, form what I can see each house has one leader and seven students, each one is introduced with good chapters screens and a short but detailed introduction from the house leader.
It's bitsize enough to not be daunting to take in, yet detailed enough to be interesting and fun.
I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the students and really getting into the battles.
This will be my holiday game this year I think. Lat year I took away Octopath Traveller and very much enjoyed getting into that, this year it will be my sole Holiday game.
Two things of immediate note,
1 - Some of the cut screens are in a weird resolution/frame rate, compared to the game, which I find jarring. Not the full on animated scenes as such but theres something different about the astehetic of it at times which I find awkward. MK11 had a similar issue with me.
2 - It has auto-play on cutscenes and dialogue !!! This is amazing. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had the same option, which makes cutscenes and dialogue areas a real pleasure to sink into and take in.
Having to press A to progress speak I find extremely mood breaking and I look forward to seeing the little dialogue interchanges now and really listen properly and focus on what is unfolding.
The little anime videos and class, real class and I'm enjoying them a lot.
This is a first for me, I feel like enough things are lining up correctly for me to actually enjoy this style of game.
Although I'm still very early in.
Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Yeah interested to read thoughts on this. It's a series I've always admired from afar and never got involved with. The thing that struck me the most about this new one is how different it looks from the others, almost Persona style. I've actually just started the GBA Fire Emblem, and whilst I know full well I'm highly unlikely to finish it, it's fun so far.
Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
The reviews seem to suggest its a more tactical and deep game than the more recent 3ds ones have been, but at the same time I really dislike the anime tropes you usually get around these ‘military academy, but really it’s just a high school anime” settings (I never did get to the end of Valkyria 2)
Visually it’s definitely a different beast isn’t it?
One I’d be tempted to get if I saw it cheaper later, but I suspect if I don’t get it soon it’ll join games like Tokyo Mirage Sessions in the ‘hah, you think you can buy this for less than £100?’ category.
Visually it’s definitely a different beast isn’t it?
One I’d be tempted to get if I saw it cheaper later, but I suspect if I don’t get it soon it’ll join games like Tokyo Mirage Sessions in the ‘hah, you think you can buy this for less than £100?’ category.
Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I've somehow racked up twelve hours on this since release and I'm loving it. A recent playthrough of FF7 and the sweltering heat has got me in the mood for something a little more patient and meditative than my usual arcade fayre. I've never played a FE game before and, more so, I have never enjoyed a tactical RPG/SRPG, whatever they're called. I got virtually nothing from Wargroove, Into the Breach, Mario + Rabbids, X-Com, Advance Wars, any of that stuff. I quite liked Hero Quest and Space Hulk when I was nine but that was about it. I've also never enjoyed Persona (which this lifts loads from) and despite putting twenty or thirty hours into P5 hoping for it to click, there were only a few moments of dialogue and character stuff which made me feel like I wanted to play any more.
Anyway, this has clearly hit the spot in a very different way. I really like the setting, it's fairly compact but with enough variety of stuff to do. The roster of characters is quite large but almost every single one is distinctive enough that you get a good feel for their individual personality pretty quickly. Some therefore seem little one-note and broad at first, I assume to help shape them as distinct, but within a couple of months of chats and seeing them interact and doing various activities, you see that they all have some depth. Some of the characters are great. I had also expected it to be a bit freshers' week waifus, but it's really not. It's all quite modest and wholesome and good-natured. Really lovely comforting atmosphere. It's not completely unlike Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in that respect, the small moments and certain interactions were the highlights of that game for me, but the writing and voice work and narrative are all in a different league here.
I won't go into the combat much other than to say it's brought me in quite gently (as a total noob/non-believer) but always with something interesting and new to learn. Even the very first battles are fun and have some basic tactical requirements or benefits. Twelve hours in, there are some pretty challenging moments, to be honest. I've had to actually stop, look at the map and actually plan all my moves out. This is not my thing whatsoever, I can hardly stress that enough, but here it is gripping and so much fun. I'm also playing with Permadeath on which adds a whole lot more tension.
Massive recommendation from me and currently right up there with Sekiro and Cuphead as my GOTY.
Anyway, this has clearly hit the spot in a very different way. I really like the setting, it's fairly compact but with enough variety of stuff to do. The roster of characters is quite large but almost every single one is distinctive enough that you get a good feel for their individual personality pretty quickly. Some therefore seem little one-note and broad at first, I assume to help shape them as distinct, but within a couple of months of chats and seeing them interact and doing various activities, you see that they all have some depth. Some of the characters are great. I had also expected it to be a bit freshers' week waifus, but it's really not. It's all quite modest and wholesome and good-natured. Really lovely comforting atmosphere. It's not completely unlike Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in that respect, the small moments and certain interactions were the highlights of that game for me, but the writing and voice work and narrative are all in a different league here.
I won't go into the combat much other than to say it's brought me in quite gently (as a total noob/non-believer) but always with something interesting and new to learn. Even the very first battles are fun and have some basic tactical requirements or benefits. Twelve hours in, there are some pretty challenging moments, to be honest. I've had to actually stop, look at the map and actually plan all my moves out. This is not my thing whatsoever, I can hardly stress that enough, but here it is gripping and so much fun. I'm also playing with Permadeath on which adds a whole lot more tension.
Massive recommendation from me and currently right up there with Sekiro and Cuphead as my GOTY.
Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
You got me Suits, you got me good
- KSubzero1000
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Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
You lot just completely ignored my four years of shilling for the series and now have the audacity to act all surprised that this game somehow magically doesn't turn out to be a complete turd. Some friends you are.
Anyway, it might be a while before I get the opportunity to play it myself, so can we please use spoiler tags when discussing plot details? I'd love to read everybody's reactions and opinions without having to worry about that kind of stuff. In any case, very glad to hear some of you are already on board with it.
And yeah, that LE is spec-ta-cu-lar.
Anyway, it might be a while before I get the opportunity to play it myself, so can we please use spoiler tags when discussing plot details? I'd love to read everybody's reactions and opinions without having to worry about that kind of stuff. In any case, very glad to hear some of you are already on board with it.
And yeah, that LE is spec-ta-cu-lar.
Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Absolutely. I'll keep any plot stuff to spoilers if I even mention it. Having a fantastic time with it, though. My wife has been in work and she's out this evening. I've barely moved from the sofa...
- KSubzero1000
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Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I'm happy to see the positive reception this game is getting, on here and elsewhere. It's just a bit difficult for me to know how much of that would translate to my personal experience and expectations of the series, since most of the enthusiasm seems to come from either series newcomers or Awakening fans, both of which are probably looking at this game under a very different lens than me.
I hope this game can cross the gap between the two factions, really. As long there is solid map design, substantial tactical options and a great story to keep me happy, I'll look past the MU, social aspects and customization options that others seem to love so much. I guess I'll have to play it myself to find out.
I was tempted to grab a Switch to play this, but since I've already been waiting so long for a hardware revision then I'm sure I can wait a bit longer. I would have gladly borrowed my mate's unit if the save data was transferable, though...
And hey, the soundtrack appears to be god tier, at least!
I hope this game can cross the gap between the two factions, really. As long there is solid map design, substantial tactical options and a great story to keep me happy, I'll look past the MU, social aspects and customization options that others seem to love so much. I guess I'll have to play it myself to find out.
I was tempted to grab a Switch to play this, but since I've already been waiting so long for a hardware revision then I'm sure I can wait a bit longer. I would have gladly borrowed my mate's unit if the save data was transferable, though...
And hey, the soundtrack appears to be god tier, at least!
- ColinAlonso
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Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I'm really interested to see how you all get on with it. I may be remembering wrong but I thought Fates got a good initial reception. So I got it when I got a 3DS but even though I finished Birthright, I never really got into it and left disappointed. I think there was a fair bit of backlash to Fates afterwards anyway. I'm still pretty curious about the series and may get Three Houses a bit down the line if the general reception stays this high.
Yeah, I made the worring comparison to Valkyria Chronicles 2 (the weakest main VC) too when I saw the setting.
Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I’m surprised by how much I love Three Houses. The only one of these I played before is awakening on 3DS and I never really got into it, but this feels right, it’s a joy to play.
- JadePhoenix
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Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Maybe my perspective will help then, I've been a huge fan of the series since the fist English GBA game, which competes with Radiant Dawn for my favorite. I also quite enjoyed Awakening, and tolerated Fates, so that's where I'm coming from.KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑July 27th, 2019, 9:10 pm I'm happy to see the positive reception this game is getting, on here and elsewhere. It's just a bit difficult for me to know how much of that would translate to my personal experience and expectations of the series, since most of the enthusiasm seems to come from either series newcomers or Awakening fans, both of which are probably looking at this game under a very different lens than me.
I've been having a fantastic time with 3 Houses so far. It's been out for less than 80 hours in the US, and I'm closing in on 25 played. It definitely shares some DNA with the 3DS games, but in ways that feel a lot more refined than before. For example, while there are 100s of support conversations, every one I've seen so far has been well written, and really made me feel like I was getting to know the characters. As far as I can tell, only your character can get a S-rank support, though that could change, and maybe it will be as cringy as the ones in Fates, but so far I'm optimistic. Another example is the class system, you can have any character be almost any class, but rather than change willy-nilly, you have to build up the weapon skills a class uses before you can change to it. This does lead it to be a lot heavier on micro-management than previous games, but I've enjoyed planning out what I want my students to learn. I have found the map designs to be pretty interesting, but to be fair, that wasn't one of the things that bothered me about the 3DS games anyway. The story has me totally hooked, and I can't wait to see where it's going. If I have one complaint, it's the difficulty, playing on normal has been laughably easy, but I haven't tried hard yet, and Nintendo has announced Manic is coming soon.
TL,DR: It takes a lot of ideas from the 3DS games, but executes them far, FAR better.
- KSubzero1000
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Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Nice, thanks for sharing!JadePhoenix wrote: ↑July 29th, 2019, 1:52 pm TL,DR: It takes a lot of ideas from the 3DS games, but executes them far, FAR better.
I'm not a fan of S supports or of the general idea of turning the entire support mechanic into a dating sim, to be honest. Supports in the 3DS games tend to be either romantic or goofy with very few exceptions. I clearly prefer it the way it works in the GBA games: Keep the romantic endings as a sweet bonus for selected pairings during the epilogue and focus on actual content for the rest of the game. I can look past the existence of S supports if they're exclusive to Byleth and if the others are substantial enough, though.
Not a fan of loose class changes either. Do you know if there are class skills and/or other bonuses that are kept after a class change, though? Because that is what turns Awakening's endgame into a min-maxing grindfest and encourages the players to break the entire game with their overpowered units. Strategy requires hard data and hard data requires restrictions. I'm afraid that allowing every unit to change classes at will would trivialize the map design and break the difficulty curve.
Are there any freely available grinding options with infinite EXP?
Good to hear about the story. I haven't dared look up anything on other forums and such for fear of open spoilers, but I'll certainly be looking forward to your future impressions since we appear to have very similar experiences with the series. Although I'm definitely a PoR > RD person.
- JadePhoenix
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Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I don't mind the idea in theory, it's not all that hard to believe that people put through the immense stress of war would try to find happiness with each other, but the execution was quite bad. 3 Houses takes place over a much longer period of time, so I think it will make sense, but I haven't gotten far enough to actually see it yet.KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑July 29th, 2019, 2:43 pm
Nice, thanks for sharing!
I'm not a fan of S supports or of the general idea of turning the entire support mechanic into a dating sim, to be honest. Supports in the 3DS games tend to be either romantic or goofy with very few exceptions. I clearly prefer it the way it works in the GBA games: Keep the romantic endings as a sweet bonus for selected pairings during the epilogue and focus on actual content for the rest of the game. I can look past the existence of S supports if they're exclusive to Byleth and if the others are substantial enough, though.
The vast majority of skills come from skill growth (weapon levels + a few others like riding), so they're interchangeable between classes, and the exact skills learned seems to be somewhat character-specific. Each class gets one mastery skill, but it takes quite a bit of grinding to earn. I don't know how easy/possible it will be to rank up skills once school ends, so I'm not sure if changing classes freely and earning all the abilities will be an option.KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑July 29th, 2019, 2:43 pm Not a fan of loose class changes either. Do you know if there are class skills and/or other bonuses that are kept after a class change, though? Because that is what turns Awakening's endgame into a min-maxing grindfest and encourages the players to break the entire game with their overpowered units. Strategy requires hard data and hard data requires restrictions. I'm afraid that allowing every unit to change classes at will would trivialize the map design and break the difficulty curve.
In normal mode, yes, in Hard, apparently no.KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑July 29th, 2019, 2:43 pm Are there any freely available grinding options with infinite EXP?
From a design perspective, PoR is probably a better game, it's certainly better balanced, but I have way too much fun with how broken the characters in RD are .KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑July 29th, 2019, 2:43 pm Good to hear about the story. I haven't dared look up anything on other forums and such for fear of open spoilers, but I'll certainly be looking forward to your future impressions since we appear to have very similar experiences with the series. Although I'm definitely a PoR > RD person.
- KSubzero1000
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Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Mate, tell me about it. The third tier promotions alone are unlike anything the series has seen before or since. Vanguard Ike wielding Urvan? No sleeve, no problem. Marshall Gatrie? An impenetrable cubic fortress of raw power. Dragonlord Haar? Death from Above. Trueblade Edward? Astra la Vista. Archsage Soren? More like Soren the White. And he came back to us now - at the turn of the tide.JadePhoenix wrote: ↑July 29th, 2019, 3:48 pm From a design perspective, PoR is probably a better game, it's certainly better balanced, but I have way too much fun with how broken the characters in RD are .
The FE10 endgame is absolutely legendary. I just wish the rest of the game was better balanced and the various characters' availability was less restrictive, really. I also don't think the plot in Parts 3 and 4 quite lives up to its predecessor's potential, unfortunately.
Nevertheless, Radiant Dawn is superb. Have fun with Three Houses!
Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
The game card version of this game was sold out everywhere, but a local etailer got a small stock in and I got mine in last Saturday. Since wife and kids are still on holiday, I had an unabashedly old fashioned video game Sunday and I put over 10 hours into this game, on Hard Classic. I picked the Black Eagles house for this first playthrough.
Can I say where it stands in my ranking of all the localised FE games yet? No, but there is nothing that aggravates me about it yet and funnily enough, all the fine tuned raising of your units you do via the school and social sim aspect is incredibly involving and has kept me hooked until now (something I wasn't expecting). Where in other games in the series I need to put the game down after winning a particularly stressful map (or losing a unit that I didn't want to lose and resetting and erasing 45 minutes of playtime) all this in-depth unit and resource management certainly increases my continuous, consecutive playtime with this one.
The tactics have dynamics that are very much their own. I was fearing that the absence of the weapon triangle would make the distinction between melee weapon classes meaningless, but the different abilities and skills that are attached to them prevent that and do retain that tactical combat puzzling game of positioning that typifies the series, in that - for example - an axe wielder will learn the helm splitter ability, which is effective against heavy armor, so you'll naturally will position axe fighters vs. armored knights, etc. Abilities and gambits are a very cool addition and I don't think the tactics are dumbed down from traditional FE. The focus is just different and there's possibly even more to consider.
Can I say where it stands in my ranking of all the localised FE games yet? No, but there is nothing that aggravates me about it yet and funnily enough, all the fine tuned raising of your units you do via the school and social sim aspect is incredibly involving and has kept me hooked until now (something I wasn't expecting). Where in other games in the series I need to put the game down after winning a particularly stressful map (or losing a unit that I didn't want to lose and resetting and erasing 45 minutes of playtime) all this in-depth unit and resource management certainly increases my continuous, consecutive playtime with this one.
The tactics have dynamics that are very much their own. I was fearing that the absence of the weapon triangle would make the distinction between melee weapon classes meaningless, but the different abilities and skills that are attached to them prevent that and do retain that tactical combat puzzling game of positioning that typifies the series, in that - for example - an axe wielder will learn the helm splitter ability, which is effective against heavy armor, so you'll naturally will position axe fighters vs. armored knights, etc. Abilities and gambits are a very cool addition and I don't think the tactics are dumbed down from traditional FE. The focus is just different and there's possibly even more to consider.
- raisinbman
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Re: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Spoilers ahead and me putting this game to bed:
- Spoiler: show