Topic: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I know that I'm very, very late on this, but I just want to say how much I ADORE Three Houses. This is my favorite Fire Emblem game that I've played. I'm currently on a Crimson Flower playthrough, and I struggle to put it down. I really love all the characters in the Black Eagles, and I can't wait to replay through the other paths.

Despite being way behind with Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I am still interested in the game

It’s good.

I always intended to go back and do other houses but never did. I started a Blue Lions playthrough after finishing Black Eagles but am only at the time skip, I believe.

Maybe Three Hopes will get me back into it. Then again there’s Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak, Xenoblade 3 and Splatoon 3 so maybe not.

It's really good, but most people never get past the first route they are playing since a lot of the stuff repeats itself.
Although i liked Black Eagles the most, Golden Deer is just worth it for God Shattering Star alone.

I have a question about this game: Does it keep its momentum the whole way through? I played about 3 hours of the game recently and really enjoyed it. From what I played, I really enjoyed the Persona-like aspect of interacting with characters and managing your time. The combat is fun too. Does the game get better over time? I'm considering picking it up if that's so.

@StarPoint Absolutely. The game is structured into chapters which represent calendar months. Each chapter is similarly structured in that you have 3-4 weeks of free time (whether that be hanging around the monastery, playing optional maps, or otherwise training your units), followed by a story event (with a story map).

While this sounds repetitive, it's an incredibly satisfying game loop, and it ensures that both the gameplay and story are progressing with good pace.

I'd also say it's a highly replayable game. Not just for the multiple pathways - but the game really feels better each successive playthrough with New Game+. Carrying over e.g. Professor Level allows greater flexibility in the weekly activities you can perform, how quickly you're able to recruit people from different houses, etc. Combine this with higher difficulty levels and varying character builds and there's a lot of value in replaying the game.

@Buizel Thank you! I will probably pick this one up soon, then.

Just started a NG+ for my second playthrough after about 6 month break in between, On the easiest difficulty i definitly found it far to easy towards the end, so put it on maddening for this one, the walking around the school is enjoyable but i do find the school is a bit to big of a space and can definitly feel a little more like a chore towards the end of the game, even though i like talking to the pupils.

Is the DLC for this game worth it? I’m looking at the contents and while stuff like the new outfits and mission look cool, I’m not sure if it’s quite worth $25.

@StarPoint How much it's worth depends a lot on how into the base game you are.

Cindered Shadows is much shorter than any of the four story routes, let alone all four of them combined, so you're not getting a great amount for your money with it alone.

However, you are probably going to get a lot of use out of all the extras you can unlock in the main game, especially if you go on to play all four routes.

If you're not sure, leaving it until you've finished the game once isn't a bad idea.

@Matt_Barber Okay, thank you. I’ll see what my feelings are once I beat the Black Eagles storyline.

I finally finished it. I took the Black eagle route (the 21 chapter route). Overall the game wasn't that hard, the last couple of chapters where harder but very do-able. Maybe because by that time I had a very strong roster of characters and good weapons. It was a long game, it took me more then 84 hours. The last mission alone took me 2 hours (I took my time since I wanted to get it right). However, the endboss of Shadows of Valentia was a lot harder (and that might not be the proper final boss either, there's still some unfinished endgame stuff waiting for me). And now I learned that if you take other routes you get other endbosses. Well, maybe I attempt that another time or not.

Overall it was a very enjoyable Fire emblem (though I am not a fan of school-settings), but a real slowburner. The first half is mostly getting to know your team with lots of fun dialogue. However when the main-conflict arises it feels a bit rushed in terms of story. What was Edelgards real motive? Why did Hubert blindly follow here at all times. Why did Edelgard work together with such vile people (those who slither in the dark). Where do they come from? They are ancient, but seem like they come from the future. And what was that with the Dimitri vision? Also, most people from the other houses are totally gone if you failed to recruit them, like me.

Anyway, looking forward to Engage. I hope they bring back the tandem-attacks from Awakening. As for Three houses: One day I'll play the dlc.

@Henmii Congrats on finishing!

Hard to tell if you enjoyed it enough from your post, but I would really suggest having a go at one of the other routes (even if you don't intend to play all of them). While not all of your questions will have satisfying answers, this is certainly a game where you gradually piece things together as you play through different routes.

The main downside is that the first half of the game (which you yourself found to be pretty slow?) is pretty much the same across all routes. But I guess you could mix things up by recruiting new characters, picking up the DLC (adding the Ashen Wolves to your roster), and by skipping any repetitive dialogue. The New Game Plus features (e.g. carried over Professor level) help streamline subsequent playthroughs as well.

I'd also recommend trying out Three Hopes, if you're at all keen on the Musou gameplay. But, based on my experience, that would only make you question Edelgard's motive more... It's a different continuity so won't necessarily answer any of your questions (if anything, it makes many things more confusing) - but definitely a worthwhile experience if you're at all invested in the Three Houses lore.

@Buizel ,

Thanks for your reply. I definitely try Three hopes someday. Not a gigantic Musou fan, but the Zelda ones are pretty fun (I haven't finished Age of Calamity yet though), and I have the first Fire emblem warriors (I have yet to play it). And if I ever try another route, I probably use Game+.

Well I finally beat a route (silver snow) and yep the Flame Emperor is an idiot. I do find it interesting that she was supposed to be Byleth’s foil as successor to Sothis’ power but she really is a weaker and crueler version of Serios. A lot of it I suppose is chalked up to youth and her childhood but her hubris kills a lot of people while she was a pawn overall. I’m going to try to play another route but at this point I don’t think I can play Black Eagle. I couldn’t save the Immaculate One but I think she was given a fair end. Romanced Sothis because with all the vessels and blood and stone giving, romancing anyone else feels like polyamory or incest. I just wish that whomever at IS is on the pedo/incest (how many dragon love interests look 12 in this series now? How many love interests do you find out your character is in some way related to…fates made me nuts. The one character you think is safe… turns out to be your cousin.) kick would get fired. I will say that I am disappointed that Sothis remains this broken/fragmented/regressed state but I assume if she and her successor live a long time and or go back to sleep she may recover her memories and power (if she slowly turns her successor into a dragon). I’m sure they left her that way to make Seiros’s fail at restoring her people (pretty sure the plan was to have the time goddess reverse death on her slain children and likely take over as archbishop as it is obvious Seiros only sees herself as a regent until the goddess returns) but it still bothers me.

@Ryu_Niiyama Black Eagles is probably the shortest and worst route anyway. I've heard good things about Blue Lions, but, for my part, I was very satisfied after finishing the Golden Deer route, which is probably the one that's most complete story-wise in this entire game.

My first go as fem Byleth, I romanced Dorothea. She's a great character. Although Hilda was probably the most memorable overall, in that you start the game kind of hating her, but she grows as you play through the second half, both as a character and as a unit.

My gay dude route, I ended up going for Linhardt. Not out of some special love for the character, but because I think he's literally the only gay option that couldn't also be my dad.

When I eventually do my hetero route, Bernadetta is 100% who I'm going for. I deeply vibe with her. Favorite character in the entire game.

The game isn't totally without its issues (Sothis is a little young looking for a romanceable character; it's kind of creepy to date your adult former students; and, yeah, bloodline issues abound), but it felt about a million times more respectable than the Fates games, lol.

@Ralizah You're dead to me as Black Eagles was my choice as I really liked the Edelgard character.

Granted I never finished the game as I started it when I was transitioning back into playing my PS5 almost exclusively and only occasionally play it from time to time, if I had given the game a better chance, I would have stuck with that route.

@Ralizah yeah I found my earlier post about my playing (I was around chapter 14 then I think) so I knew enough but yeah after finishing I just want to do a silver snow where Seiros lives. Working on the DLC currently for the story unlocks before I switch to Three Hopes to palette cleanse.

I almost romanced Dorothea (she was my original intention, I like Petra more but the spoken language barrier problem would have bothered me) but like I said the nature of Byleth made it for me at least impossible to be with anyone but Sothis (if Sothis had died/been absorbed rather than just permanently leaving her crest stone I would have just been single or with Dorothea I think). I’m super annoyed by that given Sothis’s childlike appearance and that she has an adult form (seen in the opening and of course the mural of the saints that I am sure Seiros designed). I had sorta hoped that in time as Byleth’s power grew (even with her being a walking war machine she is still weaker than Seiros or Sothis at full strength) that since it seems that Sothis (and likely Seiros with worse results as she is not the progenitor goddess) created her children from blood (and maybe dirt or flowers given how Sothis reverts at the end (and how she looks covered in thorns when she is driven into a rampage)… ) that they could create a new body somehow but since Sothis also powers Byleth’s lifeforce I guess two minds, one soul, one body, one working heart is the only way they work. I just don’t want Byleth to have to spend eternity with a wife that is intangible. Although I suppose one could argue that Sothis’s ability to manifest later is that in a nutshell and she and Byleth are closer than any two beings can be given what they share. I over analyze plots I know.

I do feel much, much worse for Seiros than I thought I would. She really is the last of her kind in many ways (Cichol and his daughter can’t take their divine forms after all) and her people didn’t deserve what happened to them. However I am tickled pink that Dorothea and Petra ended up together in my play through. One thing I hate about player character romances is how artificial they are. Just how it is unrealistic to make everyone hetero it is just as unrealistic to make everyone bi. I love games where the characters have a sexuality outside of the player agency even if it doesn’t work in your favor (I wanted to romance Cassandra in DA: I for instance) and when NPCs come together on their own (or have no interest in the PC) it really makes me feel more immersed in the story.

Agreed fates tried way too hard to both give a harem to select from and a instant family. Which would have been ok if those relationships didn’t form the foundation of the story. It got really absurd.

While I appreciate they are only spiritually connected, with Engage around the corner and me being away with my folks and so only having access to my Switch, I decided to start this up again. I decided to do a fresh save and do a new house, picking the Golden Deer this time.

I played Blue Lion originally, put in around 30 hours and was post time skip - I really didn’t like a lot of the redesigns of the characters in that house post time skip, nor did I like some of the personality shifts. However, it wasn’t really the route that was the problem, Ijust go so bored of the game.

The monestary/social elements were both tedious, and sorta weirdly overwhelming, for me. Even after 30 hours I still didn’t really understand how to efficiently manage my downtime, and so many of the social activities seemed weirdly pointless. It seems like they’ve paired this stuff back for Engage, thankfully.

I still really like the tactical battles and their general presentation, although eventually my units were so insanely strong, battles were hilariously trivial. Dimitri could clear entire battles on his own, in just a couple of turns, entirely from retaliation hits (although they changed his class post time skip and he wasn’t quite as OP).

I dunno if a second go on a different route is gonna change anything, I guess we’ll see.

@KilloWertz Edelgard is a great character, but she has the worst route in terms of how satisfying the storytelling is, IMO. Which is a shame, since Black Eagles has the best dramatic potential of any of the routes in the game.

Don't get me wrong: it's still a good time. All the routes in this game are worth playing (not sure about the DLC one, though, since I never got it).

Out of interest, are you more of a docked or handheld player when it comes to your Switch?

@Ryu_Niiyama At least the romance stuff was basically non-existent until the very end of a route. Otherwise, supports just felt like they were developing character interactions, which I liked. It's interesting how the only FE game where my avatar has been an actual character with their own defined personality to date has been Three Hopes. Joycon Hair in Engage seems like another blank slate protagonist, unfortunately.

Yeah, I don't mind not being able to date all the guys. Not everyone is bi. I just wish there was parity. I feel like lesbians had a few good options in terms of endgame character romances, whereas the same wasn't true for gay dudes. Still better than the approach Fates took, where same sex options were limited to, respectively, a yandere and a sadist.

It'll be interesting to see how they approach the romance angle in Engage.

@Pizzamorg Difficulty balancing was one of my biggest issues with Three Houses. The best solution I found was to play on Hard mode and then keep my characters a bit underleveled, which helped a lot in the second half of the game. I quickly discovered a Maddening playthrough wasn't happening, though. It's almost comical how extreme the difficulty of Three Houses was on that setting.

Social stuff probably won't be as prominent in Engage as it was in Three Houses, but it bothers me how poorly integrated it looks in comparison. The structure of Three Houses makes the social gameplay fit so well with the SRPG aspects. And it's so fleshed out that the game ends up feeling much more like an RPG than a tactics game. In Engage, it just looks like you have some magical resort in the sky, which I feel won't fit great with a fantasy setting with any sort of gravity to it. Whereas the post-timeskip Monastery, while a bit empty and boring at that point, did a great job of communicating how much was lost when Edelgard declares war on the church and plunges the entire region into chaos.

I'll play this new one at some point and probably enjoy it, but I really, really hope the next game is a return to a darker, more grounded fantasy setting. Three Houses felt like the perfect mixture of the increased social elements of the newer games with the drama of the older ones, and now Engage just looks like a repeat of Fates in some respects.