#Also awakening reminds me a lot of triangle strategy

[these-detestable-hands]

Fe awakening chapter 9 and 10 are doing things to me

[callioope]

Continuing my reactions to Avatar: The Last Airbender

This post is about Book 3. See my overall impressions and thoughts on Book 1 here. See my thoughts on Book 2 here.

ETA: crap i forgot the keep reading line initially SORRY if anyone saw this before i edited. anyways. please see the tags as a disclaimer before reading. gosh it’s late i need to go to bed.

General

Starting S3 now and dang Katara & Toph have gotten so powerful!!!!!

I literally recorded ZERO reactions from Chapter One through Chapter Twelve. And my first reaction is basically my excitement that Zuko is finally with the Aang crew! But let me try to skim through an episode list to recall my reactions.

You may have already seen my post expressing shock that MARK HAMILL voiced the Fire Lord. Still not over that revelation.

So, ultimately, I binged this show in less than a week. I think I started on Monday? And finished Saturday afternoon. That alone should speak to how much I enjoyed it! 

Aang

Okay, a bit weird to have barely any thoughts under Aang when he’s literally the protagonist, but I think (since I wrote other sections before this) that I touch on some of my thoughts on him under other characters. 

I will say, his journey really intensifies in this season. First, when he awakens after being unconscious for several days and has no idea what’s going on, and is still healing and more helpless than he’s probably ever felt in his life. I did really like his arc in this season, but what a stark contrast to the Aang of Book 1. He has to grow up so fast. I gotta say, a lot of Aang’s journey reminded me just a little of Ender in Ender’s Game. 

I do say this later, but his final decision about how to handle Ozai was amazing. I loved every second of his journey to get there, and I was rooting for him to find a path that felt true to him — and not what everyone else kept telling him he had to do. 

There was one small thing that bothered me, which was that his eventual regaining of the Avatar state did not really seem to come about through intentional action of his own. After he goes down at the end of Book 2, sorta feels like they never even talk about him going into the Avatar state again and he doesn’t until the final moment. That moment doesn’t seem a conscious choice on his part; the scar on his back collides with a rock jutting out and seems to jolt him into the Avatar state. I would have liked to see a little more agency on his part in regards to the Avatar state. 

Sokka

My boy! My boy Sokka! Truly the mother of the group. IDK why they pretended in the beginning that Katara was the mom because it’s definitely Sokka. His maps! His scheduling! He is ridiculous and I love him for it. 

I adored that he got his own training master episode! He got to learn some sword stuff and even got to make a fancy space sword! Everyone else got super powerful with their bending and I’m glad Sokka got his own arc of self-improvement. He has come a LONG way from episode 1. He couldn’t really hold his own at all that early, and now look at him! Planning battle strategies! Taking down the Fire Lord’s air fleet! He’s come so far and I’m so proud!

Oh, you know, I just realized that I didn’t really talk about ships with Sokka in Book 2 but he did continue to have the most active romance arc. It was nice to see Suki return in Book 2, and I am glad we found out what happened to her. I liked Sokka and Suki, I have nothing against it. I was very surprised that so little happened with Toph and Sokka. There did seem to be moments where it seemed like Toph might actually harbor a crush on Sokka, but nothing came of it and she certainly didn’t say anything about it. That felt a little odd to me. Why hint at something but then make nothing of it? 

Katara

Sigh. This is early in the post, but probably one of the last parts of it that I’m actually writing. I’ve definitely been putting it off. Unfortunately most of what I have to say about Katara is about shipping, and I’m really not happy about that, but then it’s what comes to mind over anything else. Which is sort of ironic considering some of her lines in the theater episode...

So in the theatre episode, Aang confronts Katara about how nothing has happened in their relationship after they kissed. She responds by saying she is “confused.” I had some issues with the script here, to be honest. It seems to imply that she’s confused about her feelings for Aang. But she also says that she’s been more focused on the war, and that totally makes sense. I really would support this moment if that’s where they left it: “I don’t have time to think about romance, my mind is preoccupied with the war.” 

But no, they say she is “confused.”

This is pretty baffling to me, and honestly seems to come out of nowhere. Book 1 it was very obvious that both Katara and Aang have feelings for each other, and Book 2 might have backed off a little from that but then we get moments where Katara is so keyed in to Aang’s struggles with the Avatar state and also the only one who can bring him out of it. Now, all of a sudden, she is saying she is confused? Where is this coming from? 

I could definitely see people argue that it’s because she has feelings for Zuko. If I shipped them (I don’t, but I also Get It), I could point to numerous moments in the series as ‘clues/support’ for this ship. Zuko and Katara have a moment at the end of Book 2 where they talk about the loss of their mothers. (“We’re both sad about what happened to our mothers!” not really a foundation for a relationship, but Katara is the most betrayed and distrustful of Zuko when it comes to the idea of letting him join their crew and it is because of this moment. She obviously begins to feel some kind of connection — I��d argue platonic but ship and let ship.) 

And yeah, Zuko and Katara have their bonding adventure, but again I don’t think this has to be read as romantic. Clearly the idea here is that Zuko “understands” a part of Katara that Aang doesn’t — except that in the end, Aang is the one who is right about her. She cannot give in to revenge. It’s not her, and Aang knows that. I mean, they’re both right — Katara had go to on the journey to learn that about herself, and it was important that Zuko was the one who helped her. But still. 

Finally Zuko and Katara go together to face Azula. Again seems like plot is pushing them together for Tension. They definitely work together here and Katara heals him and all that but she’d have healed anyone. (Like yeah if you ship it of course you’re gonna be excited over those moments.)

But.

Like. The thing is. When the dust settles? Zuko and Mai return to each other like moths to a flame. I could believe that Katara might have had feelings for Zuko, but I don’t think he ever returned them. I think it was always Mai for him. 

I don’t really want to fan the flames of ship wars — I’m trying to walk a fine line of “I totally understand why people ship this, but I don’t,” and hopefully I’m succeeding, but I’m sorry if I’m not. 

My main gripe is how the show handled this dynamic. It seemed like they half-heartedly thought about creating a love triangle, but then they didn’t follow through. I don’t particularly like love triangles, so I’m not actually mad that there wasn’t one. But what bothers me is that the Aang and Katara moments are so heavy handed in the beginning, that a sudden subtle take on how Katara feels in Book 3 feels strange. It feels like if she was having feelings for Zuko, it should have been more blatant. The depictions are inconsistent — if the writers were even ever intending for Katara to have feelings for Zuko in the first place.

Like, I really can’t tell if those moments implying Zuko and Katara were intentionally trying to start a love triangle OR if it was just sort of a mistake OR if it was maybe creators trying to address and then negate Zuko and Katara as a ship? I mean it’s weird because the play episode really emphasizes Zuko and Katara but then that play is really supposed to be all levels of inaccurate and get under the characters’ skins. 

So, I don’t know. Obviously we all bring different interpretations to a piece of media and I am by no means saying anything here is a “correct opinion” (because I hate that attitude when it comes to story interpretations). Sorry if you don’t agree, hope I didn’t make anyone mad. Ship what you like! You do you, man. 

On that note, please see further disclaimers about shipping and canon at the end of the “Zuko and Mai” section below.

Toph

Loved how Toph was the first to warm up to Zuko. It made a lot of sense. I mean obviously they were looking for a fire bender to teach Aang and it was like “Hello, powerful fire bender on a silver platter!” but also, Toph is someone who joined the crew later on. The group had to adjust to her, and she probably knows what it feels like to be an outsider. Now, granted, she was never alienated from the group in the same way that Zuko (rightfully) was. But she can also understand Zuko’s position as someone who comes from a wealthy family, the sort of pressure that comes from that. None of this was really addressed explicitly, and it might not have really fit then and there, but it was what I was thinking as she was standing up for Zuko.

Um, and also, on that note? Huge bummer Toph did not get her special bonding adventure with Zuko. Toph, I’m with you on that one! Why did Sokka get two episodes for his? 

Zuko

No “& Iroh” on this post because — Iroh spent much of this season in jail, and then the next half just ??? who knows where. 

So, I believe I stated in the last post how shocked I was at Zuko’s betrayal. Knowing he eventually joins Aang’s crew, it seemed like his time in the prison with Katara would ultimately lead to that, and then NOPE! He has this nice heart to heart about his mother, and then… it really shocked me.

But.

As I watched this season, it became clear that this has to be Zuko’s journey. He has to go back to the Fire Nation. He has to win the approval of his father. He has to get everything he wants in order to realize that it really isn’t what he wants. This is integral to his ultimate revelation and redemption and he couldn’t have stayed truly good without verifying and knowing how empty the win of his father’s approval is.

Realizing this, I loved it and appreciated the moments we get. Zuko’s visits to Iroh. Even when Zuko is being cruel, you can see how hurt and lost he is. And Iroh gives him the cold shoulder he deserves, even though of course this is breaking Iroh’s heart, too. 

Now, I absolutely must discuss the Fire Kids Beach Party episode! Because as ridiculous as parts of it are, it provides such an important and necessary insight to all four characters (Zuko, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee). You see the privilege that they’re all used to, it’s good that no one knows who they all are. (although maybe a little surprising because Zuko’s scar certainly reveals who he is but anyways.) 

and it’s funny how you almost end up rooting for them before you’re like “no no no. they are bad people doing some bad things.” I mean, almost rooting for them. And sure, the campfire scene is a bit Breakfast Club-y but I do think it’s important. And I just loved the moment Zuko admits he’s angry at himself, how his burst of fire as he says it almost covers it up, it’s so hard for him to say. Fabulous character development going on here, fabulous. 

[Uh, side note, so apparently Zuko is descended from Avatar Roku! This is ridiculous but can we get Zuko calling Aang great-grandfather, mainly to get on his nerves?! O:-) this would amuse me greatly]

And GOSH the catharsis when Zuko finally realizes his father’s approval is not what he wants and not worth it! It’s so well earned. It’s so satisfying. I was so excited and just like, so anticipating Zuko going to meet up with the crew. Zuko practicing his speech in the woods to the frog? Amazing. Endearing. I love him so much. 

And despite that and because of it, I also loved how difficult it was for him to earn their trust. It had to be difficult. It would not be believable if it wasn’t. Every character regarded him exactly as you would expect them to, exactly as he deserved. And Zuko tried so hard to be sincere and contrite, and it was hard for him, but he was doing pretty well all things considered! And still, they distrusted him. Yes. This was good and right. And I loved it. 

AND ANOTHER THING I LOVED was that once that initial barrier was surpassed, Aang actually warmed up to Zuko pretty quickly. This is not surprising; he’d reached out to Zuko in the past. First when Zuko (masked) rescues him, and Aang says they could have been friends. Later, at the end of Book 1 when Zuko again kidnaps him, there’s just a moment… I think when Aang spares him. It’s like, my impression is that Aang can sense that their destinies are connected, and he’s not really sure how but he knows that Zuko is important. Also, I mean, Aang just doesn’t kill people and revenge is not his way. 

Each character getting their own side story with Zuko was also integral to his arc — perhaps moreso, theirs, though. Because it was necessary for them to overcome their distrust and forge the bonds necessary for the Avatar’s crew to function. Bummed he didn’t get one with Toph. Toph was robbed.

And side note, but I really would have like an Aang and Sokka bonding episode? Like, Book 1 is all Aang and Katara and Sokka, but some 1:1 time would have been nice. There was almost a chance when Aang flew Sokka to his father and the water tribe (and at the time I was like, “Oh? Aang and Sokka bonding?!”) But then it was really only a few minutes. But yeah, that said, it does make sense to focus on carving out 1:1 time for Zuko and each member of the crew to ease him into the group.

Sokka: You happy now?

Zuko: I’m never happy.

This made me sad. And also made me go “classic Zuko.”

Every time Zuko was like, “What would uncle say?” And then say the most ridiculous thing? Fantastic. Amazing. Fuel for the fire that was my love for this show.

Zuko and Mai

Mainly the Beach Party episode was important in helping me warm up to Mai. Once Zuko is back in the Fire Nation and they’re together, I was of the mindset that Mai would have to do something pretty big in order for me to enjoy seeing their relationship become canon. This episode is not that episode, but it is an important insight into Mai’s character that explains some of her actions. The fact that she’s basically internalized apathy because she’s been forced to repress her emotions. It wasn’t enough for me but we get more later, this is an important stepping stone. 

It’s also important in establishing just what Zuko and Mai’s dynamic is. It’s a bit shaky in this and they end up breaking up but then they just get back together like immediately (moths to a flame…) In hindsight, I just think they’re behaving like normal teens who care about each other but are still navigating what it means to be in a relationship. At this moment in time, their relationship is not good, but by the end of the show I can believe as they mature that it could be a good relationship.

So the actual moment that I was like, “Okay, officially supporting Mai and Zuko now” was when she helps them escape Boiling Rock. I don’t think we’re ever told the full contents of Zuko’s letter to her, but considering what she says to Zuko earlier in this episode, it doesn’t seem likely he explains himself very well. At least not for Mai to understand. And he still isn’t able to explain himself well to her as they talk face to face. Then he locks in a cell and flees! He leaves her again. 

You wouldn’t blame Mai for hating Zuko. You wouldn’t blame her for actively working against him. But is this what happens? No. Not at all. She helps them get away. She betrays Azula for Zuko. Azula!!! Azula who is very powerful and very scary! This is a clear and distinct line in the sand, and … it almost comes out of nowhere, but what it demonstrates is how she really feels about him. She’s decided to trust him and put her faith in him when she really would have been justified in not doing so. 

I’m also going to say that despite some rather odd implications of Zuko and Katara in parts of the series (namely with other characters who really don’t know them), I never feel like Zuko is interested in Katara. I would buy interpretations that Katara might have considered Zuko, the way some parts of her story are portrayed, but I don’t get anything on Zuko’s side and that is all the more reinforced by how he acts around Mai, especially in the end of the series when they’re reunited. 

(Now, that said — because I don’t abide ship wars, ship and let ship, and power to multi-shippers — I can totally 100% see the appeal of shipping Zuko and Katara, and I would contend there is even some canonical implication of it. And I can’t blame people for not totally loving Zuko and Mai. Now, I do think the canonical implications are sort of muddied and confusing, but though I have actually not written it yet, you’ll have read my thoughts there in the Katara section already. OH, and OF COURSE, MORE IMPORTANTLY — ships being canon should not matter! Ship what you love! Who cares if it’s canon! Finding canon justification for ships should not be necessary for shipping! It can be a fun exercise but should never ever be a reason for approving or disapproving of a ship, it’s just a cherry on top!)

Azula

We get some pretty interesting insights into her character this season. I’ve already mentioned the Beach Party episode, and there was some good stuff in there for her. I particularly appreciated the moment that she admitted she knew her mother thought she was a monster, that she even admitted to being a monster, and then admitted that it still hurt anyways. Honestly that’s probably her best moment.

I also thought her breakdown at the end was well done. Mai and Ty Lee’s betrayal just broke her. She probably knows her attitude puts people off, but those two were the only ones she ever really got on with. And it turns out, she really didn’t get on with them, they’d only ever been intimidated and manipulated into being her friends. She has no one, she pushes everyone away. Literally — and it is ultimately her downfall. 

It’s an interesting contrast to her brother. We literally get an episode “Zuko Alone,” and then it turns out the theme of “Azula Alone” is such an integral part of her arc, as well. The last person she has is her father, and he leaves her, too. Sure, he tells her it’s because she’s to stay behind as the new Fire Lord, but honestly Ozai was never truly close to anyone, either. But yeah. Iroh spends a lot of time and effort trying to help Zuko redeem himself. He never tries with Azula? I think, maybe it would have been nice to see him try with her, and be just utterly rebuffed. Now, Zuko also rebuffed him a lot, too. So Azula’s rejection of Iroh would really have to be something. This is the kind of stuff I’d look for in fic. Speaking of fic: I mean, I’d really love Zuko to find his mom, mom to come back, and then maybe some kind of attempt at reparations between mom and Azula. It doesn’t have to work, I just want to see the effort, you know?

Final Thoughts: Ending & Denouement

I loved Aang finding a different way to defeat the Fire Lord. I loved how every past Avatar he talked to was like “no dude just kill him.” And I loved that that was not enough for Aang. He’s pushing himself and ultimately the spirit of the Avatar to think harder, to try harder, to seek a different way. And that mercy was so integral to Aang’s character, and important to his arc that he struggled so much with it. And he’s just a kid! Oh, Aang. And I loved that he was able to find the answer he needed, the fact that it was taking away Ozai’s fire bending. Yes. Perfection.

I was a little disappointed by how little we got post-Ozai’s defeat. I was hoping the epilogue might have shown a little more in the years and decades following. It would have been nice to see glimpses of everyone prospering as they got older. 

Also, as I was watching Zuko’s coronation, I was sorta like, “uhh wait that’s a little too easy.” Now we don’t know when that happens so it’s possible some bit of time has lapsed and I’ll take that. But I thought there would have still been some trouble with some of the Fire Nation troops. Some of them would have remained loyal to Ozai. Many of those general had probably committed war crimes and would have needed to be rounded up and put on trial and put in prison. There’d be so much work to do!

That said, I do understand that we want to see our heroes with a happy ending, ultimately. I guess just a simple like “X years later” before the ending scenes would have sufficed for me to be satisfied that enough time had passed for those things to have been dealt with. IDK, I can probably suspend disbelief enough to headcanon that myself. I’m just saying. Some acknowledgement of resolution and reconstruction as a *process over time*, albeit unnecessary, would have been nice to have!

On that note, we don’t actually find out what happens to Azula. Presumably she is also in prison with her father. 

More importantly, we were Robbed of a Zuko and Ursa reunion scene!

[metalempire]

Fire Emblem Three Houses Review: A Great Game Crippled By Squandered Potential

Now that the clickbait title has grabbed ur dick and engaged the hate boner it’s time to sit down and take a look at the newly released Fire Emblem game everyone loves (including me, to an extent, despite what the title says.) 

I’ll put the whole thing under a readmore to safeguard from spoilers, save dashboards and for anyone who doesn’t give a shit to just stop reading now at a convenient point. As for mobile users, fuck you, I’m a phone hating old man. Read this on an Apple Refrigerator or die.

The TL:DR version is: Game good overall, but not enough variety and near lazy repetition makes both gameplay and story feel a bit disappointing overall once you play all the routes. 

Also you can’t fuck Rodrigue so 0/10 worst game in the series. 

Right now I’ll address the good points about the game since I do in fact have heaps of praises to sing it’s just easier to clickbait with negativity of which I do have but the positive bits come first cos I said so. 

The gameplay is good Fire Emblem, unlike SoV which was ass don’t @ me, as the kids say. Aside from fog of war and a very occasional desert map there’s not too much unpleasant shit and there’s not really any spam which is great since the past few games were getting guilty of that. The maps are a bit plain in layout but they’re not bad either and the enemy placements, choices, map features and terrain are all nicely put together to make a fairly pleasant experience with each one. There are no desert fort maps surrounded by 5 range archers on all sides. There are no cantors spamming infinite terrors or infinitely spawning faceless reinforcements. The weapon triangle might be absent but the breaker skills have been retooled and brought back to allow you to choose if you feel like opting into it or not on your own end. It allows alot of units and weapons to shine and combined with the class freedom the game gives to allow you the wiggle room to make your own playstyle, so if an entire army of Wyvern Lords if your thing then the game is nothing short of an enabler there. Combat Arts are back and nicely well balanced and feel more useful than in SoV, not to mention gambits being a natural expansion on them, Battalions being a positive this game brings to up the scale of warfare rather than it just being Anime Teens VS The World and adds another combat art not tied to a weapon and nice stat boosts and effects to change how you interact with enemies, such as using Assembly to drag a boss off a heal tile, and so forth. The more options the better, and the game is full of freedoms for you to play around with. 

Garreg Mach Monastery is where most of the game takes place and where a good chunk of hours are spent. Being able to train weapon and movement type ranks outside of battle is also great and adds more micromanaging onto a series about alot of micromanaging and helps units keep up with each other, as well as letting you farm your own resources, bond with the gang and do little activities to give you some reprieve between fights. You can tell Koei Tecmo did alot of work on the development of Three Houses since this section of the game reminds me of Dynasty Warriors when you go back to your base and sort things out there and wander around. It also breathes some life into the setting and gives a good sense of permanence to the world and its’ characters. 

The world of Fodlan is also a major strong point, there’s lore, backstory, history, politics, a culture and even clashes and divides. It’s the most well realised world in a Fire Emblem game since Jugdral which it clearly has drawn inspiration from and I cannot praise Fodlan enough for being as well realised as a setting as it is, since the characters and exposition really give you a proper impression of how this world functions on social and political levels. The school setting of Garreg Mach is one I was initially iffy about but it fits surprisingly well and definitely grows on you over time since the game does a good job of immersing you in the role of a teacher. 

Tying into the world is also Crests, which, when combined with the Ability system, is great, making you pay attention to your characters crests, what they do, how they can benefit you, how you could use them, and to pay attention to enemy bosses and minibosses to see what crests they have, and in turn, pay attention to abilities some more too, to both create your ideal units, and keep an eye out for the same on the enemy team. It’s quite well balanced overall and is a sneaky hint of a possible Genealogy remake on the way someday.

The characters are also wonderful, often three dimensional with their own political views, own social perspectives, quirks, oddities, backstories, character conflicts, relationships, and of course, boatloads of trauma. Watching them all interact with each other and reacting to the story events and getting to know them was an excellent experience in proper character writing and interactions that the series has been starved of thanks to the very hit or miss (mostly miss) characterisation from Fates. The main lords are also incredible, from Edelgard and her dark as fuck backstory and her powerful resolve and willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve her wider scale goals, to Dimitri and his intensely personal conflicts and emotional baggage and his journey of highs and lows, to Claude and his boundless charisma and similarly his own ambitions and dreams all wrapped together in a charming package. The characters are all great and I can’t really find myself with any grievances about them that don’t boil down to wanking off over nitpicks over Hubert’s left testicle being out of place in a cutscene or something daft like that. 

The soundtrack is good. Not my favourite one but as always with Fire Emblem it’s good and makes the maps more fun since you can listen to a nice tune while thinking about how to murk the pair of armour knights. My only gripe really is the normal versions of songs all sound better than the in-battle variations they get. I also like that a boss theme or miniboss theme will continue to keep playing on the map itself until you beat that character, so you dont have to dip and dive into chip damaging Lyon to hear The Prince’s Despair anymore. 

The overall story is fairly decent, not as bad as Fates’ writing, or the fairly bland writing of some of the past games like Awakening that play it too safe. It’s willing to go in dark directions and focus in worldbuilding with its’ plot. However I do have alot of negatives to say about it by contrast but know that the overall story of the game and its’ many routes is one that I don’t hate, but I certainly feel wasn’t as well handled, especially in the second part of the game, as it should be. On an individual level, each route is decently well paced, aside from Edelgard’s route which is mysteriously 4 chapters shorter than the rest for no discernable reason at present until developer interviews shed light on that. The plot is for the most part decently well executed on an individual level. 

Now I’m going to insert a very important opinion of mine. I think a game can have a bad story, or no story at all, and still be great, so long as the gameplay is good, because gameplay is what makes a video game a video game, rather than just a dvd with an interactive menu. A game can have a great story, but if the gameplay is shit, the game suffers as a result, and it needs to play its’ focuses very well in order to redeem that. I try not to put as much important on story if I can’t help it, since I’m playing games for the game part first and foremost.

I bring that up because unlike Fates, where you can ignore the plot and have a good time with it, Three Houses isn’t so merciful, due to how much raw time is spent in cutscenes before, during and after battles, as well as engaging with the story at the monastery too, alot of time in Three Houses is not spent in the gameplay portion, but interacting with the story instead, so I have to place importance on the story because the game is, so I have to put more focus than I usually do on it because the game does by necessity of raw amount of time. Otherwise I honestly wouldn’t mind either way if the story was bad or good. 

This is to transition over to the negatives. 

For the bits where I’m not tying the gameplay and story together for reasons seen in a bit, understand that I was wary about the removal of the weapon triangle. While I don’t mind how it’s been handled, I still think the game is missing something for not having it since the beginning, and it’s definitely a core aspect I enjoy about the series, since now you can forgo unit variety and planning weapon level ups and just use whatever to win, and that level of freedom can hamper strategy in thinking on a more necessity based level, which in turn has subtle but noticeable effects on difficulty. 

The amount of time you spend not doing maps is honestly still jarring. Most of the time in these games if you’re ever spending lots of time between maps, it’s usually to get through a mountain of supports you forgot about, rather than spending alot of your time in cutscenes and doing stuff in a monastery. While I don’t hate it, I find alot of my time is spent not doing the Fire Emblem parts of the Fire Emblem game I’m playing and considering the fact that each route is 18-22 chapters long, compared to most FE games which go more than that typically, and you come to realise that the other stuff is sort of padding to distract from the low chapter count overall.

Now this is where I tie gameplay and story together in terms of the more major flaws to the game and what really held it back for me. 

Three Houses has 4 routes, all of which I’ve played; Edelgard’s route, Dimitri’s route, Claude’s route, and the Church route. The big problem here in both story and gameplay is the raw amount of repetition and lack of variation the game has with this. Unlike Fates, where the three routes all featured both unique maps, variations on maps, or if they did share maps, usually put them at different stages in the game, Three Houses doesn’t do that at all. Map variety is something this game is weak in, since paralogues just reuse story maps, and so far, only 2 or 3 maps seem exclusive to paralogues, and even then can be repeated by other paralogues. Worse still, earlier paralogues, like Ingrid and Dorothea’s, can spoil maps later on, and don’t even make sense when you get the context for that location. In every other past FE game, the paralogues all got their own maps. Repeating maps in a single run is already a risky business, but then there’s overall repetition. The first part of the game is exactly the same on all routes, it follows the same story and overall beats, an the only variation is chapter 12, if you’re playing Edelgard’s route, if not, it’s the same for the other 3. And for context, I did Edelgard first, Dimitri second, Claude third and Church last. In hindsight, that was a terrible order, since I basically ended up repeating myself 3 times in a row thinking I was getting something different. When the timeskip hits you expect each route to get different, but only Edelgard’s does. the other 3 routes are all about fighting the Adrestian Empire to save Rhea. That’s it. Dimitri, Claude and the Church routes all follow the same story, and by extension, maps, making you do them all in the same order as each other, with a minor variation here or there like Dimiri getting a chapter to retake Fhirdiad then resuming the static map path. The only difference is in the plot contrivances that don’t come up on the other routes despite following the exact same events to steer you towards a different final boss. Those Who Slither In the Dark are a great example of this. They destroy Fort Merceus only in Claude’s route, and for no reason are barely involved in the fights of the other routes and are never dealt with. They themselves are also wasted villains, with Kronya and Solon shown off once, then killed off in their second appearances, then Thales barely being in the game only to die in Claude’s route. The game sort of forgets about them in the other routes, and, insultingly, they’re fought by Edlegard in her route, but only in the epilogue, rather than having her missing 4 chapters cover that conflict. 

Really, the only point to playing a route is to get a different final boss, and to get some different lore in the final chapter. You only learn about Nemesis right at the end of Claude’s route, you only learn Byleth’s origin story at the end of the Church route. Outside of things like that, you’re just playing the same game, same maps, and same story but with different playable characters over and over again with no real variety until right at the very end, which is highly hollow. Edelgard’s route offers the most variation on all this, and yet it’s 4 chapters shorter than the other routes, so you’re either condemned to play the same shit over again, or you barely get any time with the one that’s a bit different. It really sucks since the map variety really is nonexistent. You play the exact same game for 12 chapters, think you’re getting some variety, then just get the same shit as the last run, or, only get a few maps and then you’re done. Either way, the sheer lack of variety in maps and accompanying story really makes the hyped up timeskip feel like a colossal disappointment in hindsight, and when Fates, a 3DS game, has more map and story variety (yes even if that story was awful) than a home console game, then something is deeply flawed about this game.

The pacing is also fairly bad if not close to terrible. At most the game is 22-23 chapters at the most, 18 at the least, and it spends 12 of these on the Academy phase of the game. The game drags its’ feet with the story for the first half, slow burning its’ way along, feeding you hints of lore to come and setting things up and, to be honest, doing a good job at worldbuilding. Then the timeskip happens and the war phase just rushes by at one hell of a fast pace. The maps being the same across them doesn’t help, but pacing can also damage the routes. For example, Verdant Wind builds up to fighting the Agarthans, it builds up to them but only with hints and setup while you’re busy fighting Edelgard, and then once’s that’s done, you have two chapters left, one of which has you fight the Agarthans in one map, beat them, and then have the final battle with Nemesis, which, while the map itself is arguably the best of the 4 and really feels like a final battle, story-wise comes out of fuckin nowhere just to have a cool end to the game. And then there’s Crimson flower, which steamrolls through the game and is definitely missing chapters, with key events like the battle at Gronder just not being there at all. In general the story pacing is just too wonky and every route really needed more chapters to flesh out the conflicts rather than rushing along the most engaging bits of the game.

Also the graphics are kind of weird looking for a 2019 game and some of the cutscenes are animated so stiffly it’s strange to watch. Honestly the visual presentation in Fire Emblem has never really been very good outside of fully rendered cutscenes in previous games like Awakening or Radiant Dawn, but it’s a shame the Switch’s capabilities weren’t fully utilised, especially with some textures, although Warriors with its’ JPEG stone floor in Hoshido Castle is no doubt to blame as well for that influence. That said, it’s not all that big of an issue for this series, and you really don’t notice it as much, just felt the need to address it since it is there and the Switch launched with Breath of the Wild which looks wonderful and then there’s Three Houses looking like it just got out of bed by comparison.

My main issues with the game stem mostly from the larger segment above, the constant repetition of maps in almost perfect order after each other, the exact same story playing out for the majority of what should be different routes, and the school phase being the most repetitive as well really dragging the game down. The first time I played the game I loved it, no doubt, but the subsequent runs made me realise that alot less overall variety was put into the game than I thought would be, and that hurts the quality for me, to know that 3/4 options have me doing 95% the same thing but with different units, and the other option is just a bit too short to be able to fully enjoy what it has to offer. Fire Emblem is a bigger name now than it used to be, and Three Houses honestly deserved to be a bit better than this overall. 

Also you can’t fuck Felix’s dad so what’s even the point of it all, really. 

 I have no doubts though that people will still love this game, and rightfully so, it’s a great entry in the series, just not the best. I’m sure people who’ve only done one or two routes will think it’s fantastic, but once you do all four of them, I think the honeymoon period will pass by, and the initial spark of excitement of a new game will wear off, and just like how everyone tore into Fates a year after release, I think Three Houses might end up suffering a slightly similar fate as well once people realise that the game really doesn’t offer as much variety as it seemed to be offering. Maybe there are people who don’t mind all the repetition and the sameyness of it all, but for me, it held the game back from being truly great. The Lords are what really carry their respective routes, due to their character strengths, and a certain route definitely suffers for only having Byleth (and Seteth of all people) as the main driving force of that route. 

All that said, I really recommend any Fire Emblem fan or even any Switch owner to play Three Houses. It’s not perfect, and it certainly loses it’s magic over time and really needs some reworking in places and major injections of variety, or a really good DLC,  but it’s still definitely got plenty of good quality to enjoy and the bits that are good are really good and worth sticking through each route to be able to play with. 

The score this game gets is a

Forever Pissed I Can’t Marry Rodrigue/10

[coredrill]

okay s3 of korra made me feel things too

first of all, a thought struck me earlier this week. is korra related to yue? yue was the princess of the northern water tribe, and i would assume that her family would retain power. since tonraq was the rightful chief of the northern water tribe, and unalaq was his brother and ruled the northern water tribe, would that make korra a descendant of one of yue’s relatives? obviously not yue herself lmao. i’ll have to check once i finish lok and can google without running into spoilers, but i hope she is. i just like the idea of yue’s legacy continuing on in korra, somewhat. and i like to think that the moon smiles down on korra and loves her and guides her. 🥺🥺🥺

on a wildly different note, airbenders being in danger awakens some absolutely PRIMAL desire in me to protect them through the screen. i’ve felt that way about aang’s family since the beginning, but now that there are MORE of them???? you do NOT get to touch them!!!! there are like twenty trying to rebuild an entire culture!!!!

AND THE NORTHERN AIR TEMPLE ON FIRE I DEFINITELY CRIED THAT WAS DEVASTATING

this show is so stressful lmao. s2 was stressful and the first half of s3 was nice and calm and “a breath of fresh air” but dear lord the back half of s3 was. STRESS.

ESPECIALLY THE FINAL BATTLE BETWEEN KORRA AND ZAHEER. that was literally so intense and korra is SO powerful. seeing her be an absolute force of nature was absolutely incredible! (it reminded me of the scene in captain marvel where carol flies around and blasts through everything, since that was what was korra was doing.) it was so fun to watch but at the same time, my heart was absolutely shattering for korra.

god, the ending. i am so terrified for s4. i know there’s a three year gap between s3 and s4 and i read the summary and it said “team avatar has gone their separate ways.” like WHAT??? EXCUSE ME???? no no no they definitely all share a tiny apartment in republic city and order takeout and take care of each other and visit air temple island on the weekends and jinora and ikki and meelo and rohan love them. and korra was SO broken down at the end of the season. s4 is gonna break my heart isn’t it??? (answer: no. it’s already broken.)

speaking of jinora, i love everything about that funky little airbender. i LOVE her studiousness, i LOVE her connection with the spirits, i LOVE her strength, i LOVE her confidence yet willingness to learn and!!!! i LOVE her shaved head and airbending tattoos!!!!

(side note: i shaved my undercut this morning and every time i do that i have a deep urge to shave the rest of my head and i definitely screamed when i saw that she shaved her head. lmao.)

ALSO when they were recruiting airbenders and tenzin was like “you will be vegetarian! and shave your head! and covered in sick arrow tattoos! and travel the world! and be friends with a giant sky bison!” like um HELLO sign me up sir!!!! i’ve always wanted to be an earthbender and i still do, but being an air nomad doesn’t sound to bad lmao.

THERE WAS MORE ASAMI!!!! WE GOT TO SEE ASAMI BUILD THINGS!!!! WE GOT TO SEE HER GENIUSNESS AND HER ENGINEERING SKILLS AND HER KINDNESS!!!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!! every time asami is on screen it makes the scene a bajillion times better, i love her SO. MUCH. AHHHHHHHH.

and mako and bolin! i loved them so much more this season! one of my favorite things with them was that they showed how they got better and more creative with their bending. like, they established from the start that they were strong benders since they (should’ve lmao) won the pro-bending championships on their first time as a team, but pro-bending had a lot of arbitrary rules and strategy. and you could see that in mako and bolin’s bending styles. like, mako fired a lot of short bursts of fire, since there was a time limit on pro-bending. and bolin did a lot of rock-throwing as opposed to the kind of stuff toph did (changing her opponent’s footing, etc.), since that’s what he did in pro-bending. so when they fought ghazan and ming-hua the first time, they didn’t do so well. BUT the next time they did, bolin was able to lavabend, and mako used his lightning to take advantage of the water. i wish they had touched on it more explicitly, but i like that they showed the progression of their bending styles away from pro-bending to something more creative.

speaking of toph, i hope we run into her again. since she’s still alive and she’s the only living member of the gaang we haven’t seen yet, i would like to know what she’s up to and why she’s “wandering the world.” especially now that we’ve seen a bunch of her descendants. they left that super open-ended imo and i think it would be nice to get some closure with her.

TO BE HONEST THOUGH i liked that they had bolin say that toph was his hero. not bumi, not any of the guy earthbenders, but toph. i just loved that a lot 🥺🥺🥺

ALSO it was super fun to meet mako and bolin’s family. the moment with their grandma where she was like “mako! korra and asami are beautiful and wonderful! why don’t you have a girlfriend like one of them?” and all three of them died inside ALMOST made the ridiculousness of the love triangle worth it, lmao.

SPEAKING OF, i ALSO also loved the moment where zuko, tonraq, eska, and desna were all on their way to see sparky-sparky-boom-woman and zuko, in classic zuko humor, says “ironically, i hired someone with a similar ability to chase down and kill avatar aang” and then eska goes, “yeah, i tried to kill korra for ruining my wedding. it happens.” LIKE! again, that made the eska/bolin ridiculousness almost worth it lmao, i laughed so hard at that moment.

WHEN KORRA MENTIONED THAT SHE TALKED TO IROH AND ZUKO WAS LIKE “YOU MET MY UNCLE????” DON’T TOUCH ME I’M EMOTIONAL

ZUKO HAS A DRAGON. PROBABLY RAN OR SHAW, WHICHEVER ONE WAS THE RED ONE LMAO

ALSO ZUKO HAS A DAUGHTER!!!! i was kinda wondering in s1 / s2 why zuko’s grandson was named iroh, since i thought zuko would name his own kid iroh. but it makes sense, because he has a daughter 🥺🥺🥺

basically, every time zuko is on screen, i am Soft

okay last thing is that seeing an evil airbender was just cool as fuck. i thought it was fun since we’ve never seen that before.

overall i am SO NERVOUS for s4 but also SO EXCITED ahhhhhhhh

[operationrainfall]

Title Fire Emblem: Three Houses Developer Intelligent Systems, Koei Tecmo Games Co. Ltd Publisher Nintendo Release Date July 26th, 2019 Genre Strategy RPG Platform Nintendo Switch Age Rating T for Teen – Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence Official Website

In a way, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a culmination of the Fire Emblem games that have released over the past decade. It builds upon the previous entries in interesting ways, takes elements from several and generally excels. Three Houses has combat and a magic system that reminds me of Fire Emblem Echoes, without the focus on a Weapon Triangle and a ton of flexibility. Story-wise it reminds me a lot of the mystery and menace of Awakening, whereas the multiple narrative routes distinctly reminded me of Fates. There’s a lot of inspiration in this game, and for the most part they do a tremendous job. Which brings us to the question – is this the best Fire Emblem game in a decade? Or is Three Houses less than the sum of its parts?

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The story starts with a massive battle being joined by two armies. One is guided by the gruff Nemesis, wielding the Soulcalibur-esque Sword of the Creator. The other is guided by the green haired, furious beauty, named Seiros. You’d think she was the weaker of the two leaders, but after an epic fight she comes out the victor, brutally murdering Nemesis with several angry thrusts of her dagger. Then we’re dragged from the scene of battle, seemingly through time to another green haired woman laying at rest in a throne. Without too many spoilers, her name is Sothis, and she’s vitally important to the story and your main character in particular. For some reason, she’s a sort of guardian angel for the hero, Byleth. You can hear her in your head and she’s seemingly able to protect you from harm. But we won’t linger too much on that, for the sake of those who haven’t played Fire Emblem: Three Houses yet. Instead, let’s move onto the larger plot of the game.

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You play as the young mercenary Byleth. Working with your father, Jeralt, you’ve roved the land and earned your bloody keep for many years. But your whole life changes when three young wards, Dimitri, Edelgard and Claude, beg for your assistance in the dead of night. Turns out, they are all students attending the school at Garreg Mach Monastery. Not only that, but they’re all royalty (well, two out of three are), and after you aid them with a bandit problem, they all implore you to come with them to the Monastery. Once you arrive, you’re introduced to the basics and given a choice of which House you’ll instruct. Your choices are the Black Eagles, the Blue Lions and the Golden Deer. Depending on your decision, the flow and narrative focus of the game will change dramatically. My first time I chose Blue Lions, and was made professor of Dimitri’s band of goofballs. Their story is one of duty and adherence to religion and ideals. But no matter which House you choose, you’ll grow quite fond of the students whose lives you instruct. Not only that, but you’ll also go into battle with and watch them grow from fledgling fighters into battle-hardened warriors.

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Before we get too far into combat, we need to spend some time talking about Garreg Mach Monastery. It’s the seat of power for the Church of Serios, and each of the three Houses of the Officer’s Academy therein represents a different faction. Dimitri is set to become King of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, Edelgard is princess of the Adrestian Empire and Claude leads the disparate band that is the Leicster Alliance. While they all play together nicely in the first part of the game, some very dramatic events change all that for the second, and final, part of the game. Your goal in the interim is to spend time doing odd jobs and instructing your pupils. In a weird way, it almost seems like Three Houses takes nods from the Persona series. Each month, you can explore, grow closer to your wards, and fulfill quests for the Church. As you do, more options open up, and you’re rewarded with Renown. At first it seemed superfluous, but later on you can spend it at holy Statues to increase the growth rate for your students. You can make it so they learn how to use a Bow or Axe faster, for example. This is especially useful since all these attributes are used to determine which class your students can become.

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Like in previous games, you’ll need Seals to promote units. One way it’s different is that there’s not always a guaranteed chance your unit will be promoted. It depends on how closely you adhere to the class’ recommended attributes. If you want to become a Pegasus Knight, you’ll need a good Lance and Riding proficiency, for example. Quick note, if you liked Archers before, you’ll love them now, especially since they all learn Close Counter early, which lets them retaliate if attacked head on. Another way this game is different is the use of magic. Unlike previous ones, it’s not tied to a weapon. As you level up your Reason or Faith attribute, you’ll learn Black and White magical spells. These have a set number of uses in each battle, but thankfully that refreshes upon completion. Once learned, you can use your magical spells with any class, so long as that class is capable of using magic. I admit this took me a while to wrap my head around, but thankfully there’s a lot of choices for classes that can multitask this way. Though such classes tend to be squishier than physical only ones, they make up for it with a versatility of options, such as healing others with Heal or Restore, putting protective Wards on allies or draining health with Nosferatu. Or if you prefer Black magic, there’s tons of attack spells, such as Wind, Fire, Thoron and much more.

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Since you’re a professor at Garreg Mach, it stands to reason you need to actually teach your students. At the start of each week, you’re given the opportunity to teach them. Depending on their Motivation level, they can get more sessions in. These are incredibly simple to do, you just pick an attribute such as Sword proficiency or Charisma, and the student will improve a bit in that category. Usually they’ll get a Good or Great, meaning they only earn a bit of experience, but sometimes they snag a Perfect, which gives you another chance to teach them. They’ll also get Bad on occasion, but by properly reading the student, and either critiquing or consoling them, they’ll rally through. You can also set Goals for each student, and they’ll focus on improving those stats at the end of each week. If that all sounds too complicated, you can always choose auto instruct, though I preferred just figuring it out through trial and error. As you move through each week, you’ll celebrate student’s birthdays, answer their pressing questions and attend ceremonial events. You can also invite other professors to teach Seminars, helping increase your student’s proficiency in their areas of strength.

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Besides all that teaching, there’s other things to do. You have the option to Explore a few times each month, which lets you wander around Garreg Mach picking up odd tasks and further bonding with students. You’re able to eat with them, sing in choir with them, garden and fish (which is surprisingly fun), and lots more besides. Though your focus is your small group of students, you can also befriend characters from other Houses. If you can impress them with specific accomplishments in attributes they respect, you’re able to recruit them to your House. Just expect a lot of effort to get your stats up to task. As you progress, more areas are unlocked in the Monastery, opening up even more options. Thankfully, you get the ability to fast travel to any location you’ve visited, which makes running around Garreg Mach far less of a chore. You also are able to take on optional quests and Paralogues, which reward you with items and increased Motivation for your students. Frankly, there’s more things to do than I can spend talking about in this review, but suffice to say, you can spend your time in Three Houses pretty much how you choose. The only thing you can’t avoid are the story battles that occur towards the end of each month. They start pretty easy and ramp up slowly. For most of Part I, I had little to no problem winning battles. But the farther I got, the more wrinkles they add, such as reinforcements and blinding fog. There’s other things I can’t mention, so just be wary and never expect any mission to be as simple as it first seems. Oh and if Part I is too easy for you, just wait for the battles in Part II.

More Fire Emblem on Page 2 ->

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Now, let’s touch upon the combat. Fire Emblem games live or die based on their battles, and I can say those in Three Houses are very satisfying. While I will always miss the Weapon Triangle, I also don’t feel its loss too keenly. Maybe that’s because the last Fire Emblem I played was Echoes, but regardless the tactical component of the game is no joke. While your weapon choice won’t dramatically affect your performance, there’s tons of other factors to keep in mind. As you grow, all your units will learn new abilities based on their class. You can also learn budding talents unique to certain characters, usually by having them focus on a weaker attribute. Proximity to your students will also improve their efficiency in battle, more so if you’re emotionally close with them. One of the coolest new mechanics in the game is the Divine Pulse. Essentially it lets you rewind the clock in battle, undoing a stupid mistake or saving a character who suffered an ignominious defeat. There’s a limit to how many times you can do this per battle, though that can be increased over time. Most importantly, it gives older Fire Emblem fans who are used to resetting their games anyway a more seamless way of doing so.

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As far as the interface, that’s also wonderfully efficient. You can rotate the camera, as well as zoom in or out on any map, and by zooming out completely, you get a full view of the area. It displays enemy positions, numbers, you goal and factors which cause you to fail the mission. You are even able to enter the Marketplace or your Convoy before you start the mission proper, which is a nice touch. Pretty much the only thing you can’t do is take Certifications to change your class, so make sure to do that before you accept any mission. Also a nice touch, you can use the shoulder buttons to both toggle the enemy’s entire attack radius as well as shifting between units. One nice new feature is that you can see a glowing red line which indicates which units enemies will target for attack next turn. You can even see a preview of how much damage you’ll receive, which is a life saver. Another new feature unique to Three Houses are Battalions. You can equip these like weapons, and they’ll provide the equipped character boosted stats and the option to use Gambits. These are powerful attacks involving hordes of soldiers that usually inflict a status effect, such as poison or freezing a foe in place. Battalions level up with your characters, up to level 5, and they can be pretty helpful. Similar are Adjutants, which lets you support one of your units with another that isn’t taking direct action in combat. Adjutants will sometimes attack with their ally, and other times support them with special effects, such as healing them, or deflecting an attack against them. Finally, there’s Combat Arts, which lets you sacrifice item durability to utilize powerful attacks. You’ll learn these as you get more proficient with any weapon, and they directly parallel how you learn spells. I liked the give and take of Combat Arts, but found most of them somewhat underwhelming. Especially since when you’ve used up a weapon, they don’t disappear entirely, and can be repaired at the Blacksmith, which hurts the urgency of using them for Combat Arts.

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There’s one last thing I need to mention regarding battle, and that’s the demonic beasts in the game. These reminded me fondly of the many monsters in Sacred Stones, though these tend to be much more powerful. For one thing, each demonic beast has multiple layers of armor you’ll need to slice through to finally kill them. For another, they get more dangerous the less armor they have. There’s a wide variety of these creatures in the game, and they’re massive and terrifying in equal measure. To beat them you’ll usually need to surround them with units and pray they don’t kill anyone in the process. Around the time you first encounter them in the game, you can expect things to get a lot more challenging.

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The plot in Three Houses starts strong but ends on a weak note. Part I seems very well organized and purposeful, giving players a glimpse of the world of Fódlan and the secret machinations happening on the shadowy periphery. I quickly grew very suspicious of the Church of Seiros’ motivations during the game, but there are other more immediate threats you face, such as the Flame Emperor, the Death Knight and Those Who Slither. I liked the how the game kept you constantly guessing as to who you could trust, and had dramatic unmaskings for certain characters. There are great aspects such as magical Crests passed through bloodlines which determine nobility. What I liked less was how the story dropped the ball towards the end of the game. Several mysteries were left unaddressed, such as the character of Sothis, the identity of the Death Knight, the story behind the Flame Emperor’s creation and much more. Frankly, I was a bit shocked there wasn’t a part III to the game, cause I truly felt there were too many unresolved dangling plot threads. While it’s certainly possible these will be clarified by playing through the other two routes, I can’t help but feel the plot was somewhat incomplete for not addressing them. Also, fun fact, while you can romance and marry your own waifu or husbando, you literally don’t get married til the very end of the game. That struck me as incredibly awkward and anticlimactic. Having said that, there’s still a lot to enjoy here, but you’ll mostly be invested for the characters, not the story. Which is a shame, since it initially seemed like it was going to be an incredible one.

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On the point of aesthetics, this is a very pretty game. They have a cel shaded visual style, and animation during combat is very fluid and fierce. Each character also has a great design, though that can change dramatically after the time jump you’ll encounter. Some characters age well, others less so. I personally loved the design for the demonic beasts in the game. Some are scurrying rat-like creatures, others are winged fiends and some are even heavily armored titans. Likewise, the villains in the game all look dramatic and eye-catching, from the least important to the most significant. A good example is Cornelia, who is dressed like a Victorian call girl, and who I would gladly make my waifu if she wasn’t such an evil bitch. Another cool and very distinct artistic touch are the illustrated scenes that display at the start of each chapter, which all look like they could have come from a beautiful old book. Musically, this is a very enjoyable game. The music differs wildly depending on the the tone of the scene, and it’s always catchy. The voice acting is wonderful as well, though the faceless narrator can be a bit mechanical at times. Put together, this is a very attractive package.

This happened way too late in the game.

While there’s very few serious complaints I have about Three Houses, I want to address some minor inconveniences. While it’s true the user interface is mostly pretty helpful, there are some areas it’s less than intuitive. Such as how you need to press X before you can move the cursor over menus to get a more clear view regarding details about abilities or stats. Another is that Unique classes, which are only available for certain characters, can be hard to find on some menus. Furthermore, it wasn’t clear at first that the star by a class meant it had been mastered. I was a bit disappointed that, in such a big game, the pleased animation while instructing characters is the same for all boys and all girls. It felt strange to see an older woman like Manuela leaping for joy just like the sprightly young Annette. Mostly I felt this hurt their individuality somewhat. Also, if you liked visiting villages and homes to acquire items and save villagers in other games, you’ll be sad to hear that feature is absent here. Which is strange, since supposedly the Church of Seiros’ primary goal is to help those in need. Also, there are significantly less playable characters than in previous games, only about 8 per House compared to Awakening, which had around 40 playable characters, or even Echoes which had around 15. That said, this does make you care more deeply about your students and work harder at keeping them alive, as well as making recruiting other characters far more important.

At first, I honestly thought Fire Emblem: Three Houses was going to get a perfect score. There’s a lot of great stuff here, both old and new. Unfortunately, a few minor issues coupled with an ultimately disappointing story kept it from those lofty heights. That said, I’m still very impressed with the game. I spent about 48 hours to beat my Blue Lions campaign, and you can multiply that by 3 to fully beat the game. Then there’s New Game+ which lets you get through the game faster and bring over hard to get items with you. If that wasn’t enough, there’s cool features such as finding spirits that provide weapons and extra experience when you play the game while connected to the internet. And that’s not even talking about the DLC and amiibo functionality. When you factor all those in, you get a lot of game for $59.99. I’m happy I was able to play this latest Fire Emblem, even if it stops short of being perfect. Even then, this easily might be the best Fire Emblem game in a decade. If you’re a returning fan or just like strategy RPGs, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4.5″]

Review Copy Provided by Nintendo

REVIEW: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Title Fire Emblem: Three Houses