Fire Emblem Three Houses is less than two months away and oh boy, am I excited. Tons of information has been released from Famitsu articles and although people are definitely talking about it, it seems like large publications are being kind of quiet on all the info. There are a bunch of mechanics being added to this game, old and new, and Three Houses definitely has the potential to be the most popular Fire Emblem to date. I want to compile the information that has come out over the past few weeks so that people have a better understanding of what this game has to offer, and so those less hardcore fans might get more excited!
The whole “tactician” avatar approach from previous Fire Emblem games hasn’t always had a positive response from the fan base. When they announced that the main character of this game would be a teacher at an academy and that you would lead your students in battle, a lot of people instantly groaned. The avatar character always felt shoe-horned in and this game appeared to be doing the same. But once we got more information, the whole professor aspect of the game seems really interesting and in depth!
One of the cool, new mechanics that this Fire Emblem game revolves around is the calendar system. Much like in Persona 5, the main character of Fire Emblem, Byleth, can only do so many tasks a day (teaching students, taking exams, training their own skills), so each daily choice will have a huge impact on your units and the gameplay as a whole. There is also the typical battle/chapter that you will have to do once a month, so between each battle you will be preparing for the wars to come. Apparently you won’t have to go through every day of the week, just days where there are events/classes, and you will have weekends off to do as you please. Students from the other three houses can also be talked to regardless of which house you pick. Overall, it’s just really nice that this theme of the game doesn’t feel tacked on like in previous titles. The whole “your choices in Fire Emblem don’t really matter” meme, is relevant for a reason. But in Three Houses, the choices you make, and the actual mechanics they incorporate into the theme seem meaningful.
Probably the thing most RPG fans are excited for, is the classes in Fire Emblem Three Houses. Unlike previous games in the franchise, the class system is heavily integrated in with the professor mechanics that are mentioned above. Every unit that you get starts out as either a commoner or a noble character (they just seem to be typical starter classes like from Fire Emblem Echoes), then at level 5 they can promote to a basic class. Once they get to a basic class, they can start training in proficiencies and then take class exams and if they pass, they can then become a certain class. Just because you train in a certain proficiency, doesn’t mean there is only one choice for said proficiency. Training in swords means you could become a myrmidon, thief or mercenary. So the player has options, within their initial choice of what to train their party members in. Each member of your party also has proficiencies that they are good and bad in, but training them in proficiencies that they are bad in might yield bigger and better results down the line. They might hold secret talents in that one area that can be awakened once they train enough. It’s a really interesting concept that makes this game replayable, in a series that is already known for replayability.
If you haven’t been a huge fan of Fire Emblem over the years, then you might not know that this is the first game in the series to be made in HD. The last console release was made 12 years ago for the Wii and was not an HD game, Fire Emblem Three Houses however, will be an HD game, and since the Switch is a hybrid console, will be considered a console Fire Emblem game. This just means that the scope of the game can, and will be much larger than ever before. It will look much better, have more content, and hopefully just be a longer and more in depth game. Much like the older console Fire Emblem games such as Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, the characters will have custom sprites on the battlefield, a departure from the more recent games, Awakening and Fates.
There are lots of smaller details that are being added into this game that deserve to be mentioned. As seen in the first reveal trailer, battalions are on the field with your team as they fight. You can put them in certain formations, boosting your characters stats, attacking before you, or defending you. Battalions have health, can level up, and are hired before chapters. Personal skills are also making a comeback, on top of class skills. Just like in Fates, every character will have their own skill tailored to their personality, which makes each units feel very special. In past Fire Emblem games, the members of your army do communicate and talk to each other, but it’s really only through support conversations. But in Three Houses, it seems like your teammates can hang out with each other, train together, eat together, and much more! It’s just nice to see the characters in this game actually acting like a team, and not feeling like their own separate entity in a large army. Oh! And fishing! There is a fishing mini-game in Three Houses! Because it wouldn’t be a true JRPG without a fishing mini-game.
There is a ton more being jam-packed into this game, but the major things were covered here. Fire Emblem Three House comes out in just under 2 months, and these were a few of the many reasons why you should get excited about it. If you want to read up more on what this game has to offer, go check out the coverage by Youtubers Mangs, Ghaststation, and Lucky Crit. They have been releasing tons of news and keeping up to date with everything that is released. Comment down below why you’re excited for the new Fire Emblem game, and let’s talk about it!
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