Tag: Three houses

‘Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Makes Death Mean Something

by Josh Jackson

Warning: Minor Three Houses spoilers! Turn away if you want to go into this three month old game blind.

It can’t be said enough. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of the best games of 2019, if not the year’s finest. It serves as a true evolution of the franchise, adding a slew of social mechanics such as a calendar system, more ways to interact with the supporting cast and more side activities than you’ll care to take part in. This is on top of the game improving on the battle mechanics set forth by the fantastic Shadows of Valentia while presenting three different story paths that offer drastically different outcomes. But while the decision to make the main character a professor at a military academy seemed like a risky one on paper, this is where the soul of the game shines through. Because the opponents you fight aren’t just your run of the mill bad guys; they’re your students.

Despite the game forcing you to choose a house fairly early, which determines the student body you’ll teach as well as the story paths available to you, taking advantage of the social mechanics allow you to get to know and even recruit most of the kids from the other houses. Even if you don’t end up luring them to your class, getting to know them opens up a series of scenes where you can have heart-to-hearts, giving you the chance to learn about their motivations. On occasion, students from other houses may even assist you on missions, appearing with advanced classes that show their growth as soldiers. Even though Byleth, your self-insert main character, doesn’t have a direct hand in teaching them, it’s still rewarding to see them grow alongside your own students, who you’ve likely developed a strong attachment to at this point. This is only furthered by anonymously acting as a counselor to help them through their insecurities, having lunch with them at the dining hall, hosting or attending seminars with them or standing side by side during school festivals. While school life is dangerous as you take on thieves and bandits every month, these days feel like bliss as you learn from your kids as much as you teach.

Sadly, in typical Fire Emblem fashion, a catastrophic event at about the halfway point of the story shatters the foundation of the school, plummeting the region into a war that pits the titular three houses against each other for the right to rule over their shared land of Fodlan. While the academy sections still exist, the tone is drastically different. What used to be classroom lessons have become war room meetings, devising strategies meant to develop the skills needed to crush their enemies. What used to be mock battles have become fights to the death, as each of your wide eyed kids have now grown into battle hardened fighters who you’ve trained to prepare for days like this. Then the time comes to hit the battlefield, and as your opponents arrive…

They’re your former students from the other houses. They’re the professors you once stood on the same faculty with. In one path in particular, they’re the students from the house you once took under your wing. They’re no longer nameless, faceless bad guys that you won’t think twice about killing for the greater good. And when it comes time to clash on the battlefield, it’s absolutely gutting.

During my Golden Deer playthrough, I did my absolute best to avoid former students, wanting to avoid killing the people my Byleth shared so many memories with. War doesn’t afford that luxury, because while it is possible to complete main objectives without killing students in some cases, more often than not, the students would attack us before we could avoid them. Slaying these kids one by one as their leaders mourn their deaths alongside the player gives these fights the gravity that is usually lacking in even the most pivotal Fire Emblem moments. It brings no pleasure to win these fights, with the victory music upon leveling up almost feels like it’s mocking you as if killing those close to you is worthy of praise. Even the students at your side will lament on the horrors of having to oppose those they once called friends, often leading to some heartbreaking moments. For example, Dorthea, a Black Eagles student that I had recruited to the Golden Deer, shared this bit of dialogue after her former classmate, Ferdinand, was killed in the previous battle.

In fact, Dorthea might be the best example of the effect the war has on the player. This happy-go-lucky girl who’s biggest concerns are being able to sing and finding a suitor turns into a defeated, melancholy young woman who is being crushed under the weight of her sadness. This is the drawback of only being able to recruit some students, since you’ll inevitably be faced with pitting classmates against each other. This naturally leads to many more scenes like Dorthea’s, showing your students coping with death in their own way. With so many different combinations, it creates scenarios that feel unique to your individual story, making it common to see players sharing agonizing experiences that others never saw. Moments like these that brought a sense of dread to the story that I couldn’t look away from, which is why the game has stuck with me long after finishing it

There are ways to avoid this fate to an extent. Recruiting students to your house before the war breaks out keeps them with you, removing opportunities to kill them in the future. However, due to the nature of the recruitment system, it’s impossible to save everyone you want during a single run. If you have a strong enough relationship with students you never recruited, you might be able to speak to them on the battlefield and have Byleth convince them to defect without unnecessary bloodshed, but the characters that this is possible with are few and far between. Even then, there are some that are too closely tied to the conflict to convince, making their deaths necessary to advance towards victory. Others never appear during the war to begin with, implying that they had died long before having the chance to reunite. It sucks.

Oddly enough though, this is what drove me to keep playing after my initial Golden Deer run was complete. I led Calude and his band of misfits to the Fodlan throne, but I didn’t want them to be the only ones who got a happy ending. Despite sinking close to 70 hours into the game for a single run, I gladly set out on my next 70 to see what directions Byleth’s leadership would take Dimitri and the Blue Lions, the house that was unceremoniously dispatched my first time around. Only this time, I can carry over my relationships from before, allowing me to save my Golden Deer kids long before they’re ever in danger. It’s this attachment that makes Fire Emblem: Three Houses so powerful. Enemies are former friends and you have the power to ensure that they can find a happy ending when any other game in the series would make you see them as battlefield fodder. Even Fates, a game with a similar premise where your enemies are characters close to you, didn’t allow much interaction with the opposition once you choose the side of the war you’ll stand on. Not only does Three Houses allow this, it sets it up for the first 35 hours of the game, making the last 35 hours so much richer as a result.

What aspects of Fire Emblem: Three Houses stood out to you? Were there any characters that you refused to kill, or that sunk your heart when it was time to fight them? Or do you just want to discuss the game as a whole? Let us know in the comments!

Meet The Blue Lions In ‘Fire Emblem: Three Houses’

by Josh Jackson

Last week, we learned about the first of the three houses featured in the upcoming Fire Emblem title for Nintendo Switch. With only two weeks until the game releases on July 26, we’re being introduced to the second house of the three. As those who “walk the true path of justice”, the chivalrous Blue Lions walk the straight path towards strength.

Dimitri, the prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, leads this band of straight laced fighters. Flanked by Dedue, Dimitri’s servant who doubles as a deadly combatant, Sylvain, Dimitri’s skirt chasing childhood friend and Ingrid, a knight to the core who exemplifies the principles of her kingdom, this group of warriors fit the medival theme pretty strongly. As the much more traditional group compared to the Black Eagles, the Blue Lions might be the house for those with a strong moral compass and a penchant for sword fighting.

With the Golden Deer waiting in the wings, it won’t be long until it’s time to choose where our allegiance lies when Three Houses finally launches. Meet the Blue Lions in the video below and let us know who has won your support so far.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfeIED_-VHs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfeIED_-VHs</a>

‘Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Introduces The Black Eagles… And An Expansion Pass

by Josh Jackson

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is already loaded with hours of content if the Nintendo Treehouse presentation at E3 is anything to go by. Yet somehow, it’s looking like we’re about to get much more courtesy of a nearly year long expansion pass.

Nintendo has announced that the upcoming game in their storied strategy RPG series will receive four batches of DLC between its July 26 release date through April 2020. Promising new maps, costumes and playable characters, specific details were few. Past games have brought in protagonists from past games, enemies and NPC’s that wouldn’t be usable otherwise, as well as a combination of challenge maps and easy maps meant for easy leveling for your units. The idea of playing as Marth, Celica Lyn or Ike with the new Switch graphics engine sounds incredible, so I’m hoping this trend continues.

For anyone who pre-purchases or purchases the expansion pass, these players will unlock a special costume for both the male and female versions of Byleth, the main character of the game. As professors at the Officer’s Academy, this formal wear helps the leads blend into such a formal role.

If you’re having trouble on deciding which house you’ll ultimately align with, the Black Eagles have also received an introduction video presenting their school of nobles and mages. Led by the future emperor of the Adrestian Empire, Edelgard, classmates such as the cool headed Hubert, the foreign student, Petra and the lazy crest researcher Linhardt round out some of the units we’ll be introduced to. Check out their introductions in the trailer below.


Which house calls your name at this point? And what are you hoping we’ll see in the Expansion Pass? Let us know in the comments!

E3 2019: Class Is In Session In ‘Fire Emblem: Three Houses’

by Josh Jackson

The next installment in the Fire Emblem franchise is right around the corner with Three Houses, the first mainline console game in the series since Wii’s Radiant Dawn in 2007, (or 2016’s excellent Tokyo Mirage Sessions if we’re including spin-offs). Ahead of its July 26 release, the strategy RPG’s Switch debut was heavily detailed during Nintendo’s E3 Treehouse presentation, showing off its school setting and the ways we’re able to interact with the students both both on and off the battlefield.
As Byleth, a professor at a military academy that enrolls students from three different kingdoms, players will take the unique role of mentor to their military units. Seemly expanding heavily on the social aspect of the game, each student can develop in a variety of ways depending on how you teach them. For example students will be inherently skilled at certain class types, such as magic, sword or axe wielding. However, if you feel like your current army is lacking coverage in a particular area, you can encourage your class to take up studying a new combat type. With enough lessons and a final examination, characters can eventually take up entirely new class types, replacing the Master Seal item that upgraded character classes in the past.
Beyond combat functions, getting to know your students has strong implications for both the present and the future of your time at the academy. Through optional conversations, figuring out the senders of confidential questions through a feedback box and addressing student concerns, their motivation in battle will increase alongside their trust in you. This is important going past graduation since as expected, the three kingdoms will eventually go to war following a five year time skip. As an attempt to avoid awkward and inappropriate classroom romance, it’s after the time skip that your character can romance their past students, which is still kind of creepy. Even creepier is that your relationship as student and teacher helps plant the seeds for future options, but this can be completely platonic. In fact, if you have students you were particularly fond of that are part of a house that you’re fighting, having enough influence with them can lead to them changing sides to fight at your side. This also goes for your faculty, since you can get to know other teachers and learn skills yourself from experts in areas you’re weak in.
If it wasn’t clear already, Three Houses will still be a turn based combat RPG at its core. The battlefield has also seen a variety of changes, both visually and through combat. When two units clash, the camera zooms in on the same location that they’re standing on, creating a seamless transition between the overhead grid and the combat animations. This also leads to more detailed environments during combat as opposed to the background changing to a generic field like in past games.
Speaking of past games, the combat borrows many mechanics from 2017’s 3DS remake, Fire Emblem: Shadow of Valentia. Like in Alm and Celica’s adventure, each unit will have special abilities that are tied to their weapon and class. Rather than drain HP, a controversial choice to say the least, weapon durability returns. This leads to weapons weakening when used, especially after using special attacks.
While Classic Mode returns, which brings back he permanent death mechanic that the series is known for, the turn wheel mechanic, now known as the Divine Pulse, returns. This allows you to rewind bad moves for a limited amount of times during a battle. This way, if an enemy gets a lucky critical hit that kills your favorite student at the end of an hour long battle, you can back up a few turns instead of losing the character permanently, (or soft resetting if we’re being honest). Or you can skip this problem altogether and turn off perma-death. Whatever.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is looking like an almost overwhelmingly large game, making it the first time we’re looking forward to summer school! With so many characters to meet and teach, three story paths and multiple ways to tackle challenges, the series’ Switch debut is likely to impress.