#It'd been a while since I'd done something a bit more polished for myself so I was playing with this off and on last month

[yunyin]

When I realized the akumatized Couiffaine family had a theme, I had to draw it!

[ren-a-ren]

I have mixed feelings about Fire Emblem: Three Hopes (though having said this, I haven't completed all routes in the demo so far. Not to mention, I really don't think it's at all bad; I just feel conflicted overall).

I understand the collaboration from a logistical point of view; I think why they did it is quite smart. It would give Fire Emblem devs time to polish everything noncombat related and allow for fresh gameplay without reinventing the Fire Emblem system on its own. Bring in fans of the musou games I suppose, as well (though it is first and foremost a Three Houses sequel/notasequel, and honestly probably not a great entry point with the extremely brisk start to the game, not to mention with so much background information they may be missing).

From a player aspect, it really is more polished than Three Houses, and if this were simply Fire Emblem: Three Hopes minus the Warriors part, I suspect it'd tredge too similar waters for a decent about of fans (even if the storylines are quite different, from what reviews seem to say). I think a large part of the Fire Emblem systems integration is pretty clever, and I'm glad they kept in so much even if it does make for some clunky parts.

Considering the amount of alternative timeline shenanigans of Fire Emblem since Awakening (and honestly it wasn't new of the franchise then either, like how it was somewhat there in Sacred Stones and FE7). Frankly, I've been enjoying Shez as a character and I'm excited to see where their flaws take us even if the whole vengence thing was already sort of forgotten in the demo (I know it'll come up later, but for how it was focus on at first, it's still awkward). The voice acting is good (I enjoy the female Shez's VA a lot), everything looks pretty good (even if base camp looks dreary).

But all that aside, I feel my greatest mixed feelings come from the fact that Fire Emblem only has a few consistent things between games. Dragons, magic, often too obvious big bads and the Fire Emblem strategic system and mechanics (and permadeath, ish nowdays with casual mode). Not to say Musuo isn't strategic, but it does feel like a loss for people who don't enjoy that. I LOVE the grueling hard and maddening mode strategic, and just how much love and knowledge has to go into that slow, specific game play loop. That and decent enough fantasy story are the draws to the franchise. Having gameplay that is fast paced action is... the opposite of all that. It's stressful for me personally, relatively boring after a while, and something I'll be somewhat enduring instead of enjoying since I do very much love the Three Houses world. Honestly, I'd mind quite a bit less if it wasn't Three Houses; a remake of an old title, a new combined title, ect. I get Three Houses draws in customers, but it does leave a lot of Fire Emblem fans in the dust who love Three Houses. I'd still play it, honestly, but it wouldn't be alienating to people who like Fire Emblem for its true staple: the turn based strategy.

I say this as somehow who will probably still end up enjoying Three Hopes a hell of a lot, and will definitely be clocking in well over 100 hours again. It's just. I really do wish they wouldn't have done this with a potentially cannon, or to say "best end" storyline tucked into Three Hopes. I want my little lords to be happy and defeat TWSITD; it's just annoying it's going to be enduring a large part of the gameplay instead of enjoying myself fully.