Fire Emblem: Three Houses

[sebas]

So did anybody play this, is it any good?

 

[Morality Games]

I liked it, but I greatly enjoy stories about cadets at a military school developing into soldiers.

Although they all appear superficially good at first, the characters and factions are all pretty gray in this narrative. The core conceit of the plot is that there are 3 (actually 4) routes that involve siding with 1 of the 3 (actually 4) Lord characters. Each Lord is a combination of good and bad traits; in the second half of the game, the Lord you side with realizes their potential thanks to your tutelage (becoming more of a Fire Emblem hero in the classical sense) while the others go in a different direction.

In terms of systems, they brought back weapon durability and impose limits on how quickly you can buy Killing or Silver weapons (which you can't really use in the hardest difficulty modes anyway because nobody has a high enough to use them more than once per combat round, so you are incentiviized to just use Iron weapons most of the time except for particular enemies that require stronger weapons). Skills (like Riding, Flying, Lances, etc) level up an experience bar that receive incremental boosts from combat, but mostly depend on various types of training you can do outside of combat (this is where a lot of the Persona-style simulation, school setting stuff comes in).

In terms of combat, it's just Fire Emblem; there added some interesting innovations and a decent amount of variety and detail, but true challenge can be elusive if you aren't on the absolute hardest difficulty mode (which was added after release).

There's a decent amount of content, although the second half of the "secret" 4th route (most route specific content is relegated to the second half of the game) is a bit underdeveloped.

 

[GhostCow]

So did anybody play this, is it any good?

I'm on my third playthrough. Great game but not so great that playing it four times for each ending isn't a drag. It's still my 2019 GOTY

 

[Siveon]

There's a decent amount of content, although the second half of the "secret" 4th route (most route specific content is relegated to the second half of the game) is a bit underdeveloped.

It's my favorite route this far but they brush by so many chances for interesting moments, it's bizzare. I imagine they spent too much time on the other routes.

 

[cruel]

Three Houses is on its way of becoming best selling Fire Emblem game ever. Already surpassed Awakening, in just 3 months.


https://www.dualshockers.com/fire-emblem-three-houses-best-fire-emblem-sales-ever/


I'm not surprised to be honest. The only big weak point of the game is piss easy difficulty on normal. Hard requires some planning, and I imagine Maddenning to be challenging. Probably my GotY of 2019.


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[Deitti]

The only big weak point of the game is piss easy difficulty on every difficulty.

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Fixed that for you. Hard mode is easy enough to use gimmick builds freely and Maddening is literally the Awakening treatment, first five or so chapters require some planning and after that it's just hard mode again.(With perhaps couple expections, mostly paralogues)

Also Three Houses DLC was a pretty massive shitshow, personally would not recommend for anyone to bother with it. Otherwise Three Houses still is one of the better FE games from this decade.

 

[cruel]

Interesting. I expected that some of the later levels, with range 10 ballistas and enemies having Bolting / Meteor will be difficult on maddening.

For now I'm doing second route on hard, maybe will try maddening for the third one.

 

[GhostCow]

This thread needs more activity. Is anyone else excited to play the new DLC on Wednesday? The new classes sound nice and Constance looks like she might be the first decent blonde waifu in the game

 

[Siveon]

This thread needs more activity. Is anyone else excited to play the new DLC on Wednesday? The new classes sound nice and Constance looks like she might be the first decent blonde waifu in the game

I'm a little disappointed that it's just a standalone thing. Not sure if it'll even add much to the plot.

 

[GhostCow]

This thread needs more activity. Is anyone else excited to play the new DLC on Wednesday? The new classes sound nice and Constance looks like she might be the first decent blonde waifu in the game

I'm a little disappointed that it's just a standalone thing. Not sure if it'll even add much to the plot.

It's not entirely standalone. You'll be able to recruit the Ashen Wolves in other routes after you've played the dlc. It will be interesting to see their supports with the main cast.

 

[GhostCow]

New DLC just went up. I'm downloading it now.

 

[GhostCow]

I finished the DLC a day or two ago. It's pretty good. Definitely harder than the main game. The new characters are decent except for this disgusting faggot:

Spoiler

The lack of supports with the new characters in the main game is a little disappointing. I really wanted Felix to have supports with Yuri because an edgelord like Felix definitely would have called him a faggot or at least been grossed out by him. Balthus ended up being my favorite of the new characters because his King of Grappling shtick reminds me of Zangief. Overall I don't think the dlc was worth $25 even though I enjoyed it. You basically get a story that lasts about 6 hours, four new characters, a sauna that doesn't bring in any fanservice, and a bunch of shitty costumes that suck. The only good costume is Byleth's SS outfit.

Spoiler

 

[cruel]

Playing the DLC, chapter 4, on hard - makes me think that a lot of Codexers would be very happy with this game. They really adjusted the difficulty here, I can't imagine doing this on Maddenning. Plus, finally varied objectives in missions instead of usual 'kill all enemies'.

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[Morality Games]

Playing the DLC, chapter 4, on hard - makes me think that a lot of Codexers would be very happy with this game. They really adjusted the difficulty here, I can't imagine doing this on Maddenning. Plus, finally varied objectives in missions instead of usual 'kill all enemies'.

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They might, but most Codexers don't like JRPGs, most that like JRPGs don't have a Switch, and most Fire Emblem fans are extremely picky.

 

[Ventidius]

I liked the Cindered Shadows campaign. It easily has the best map design in the game. Very Conquest-ish stuff, with some Kaga-style tricks occasionally thrown into the mix for good measure. It figures though, that they had to limit build and loadout variance like they did, as the franchise's ability to balance campaigns took a heavy hit once character building options started to seriously expand around the DS and 3DS era. In fact, the map design of TH's main campaign is often not bad at all, it's just sometimes undermined by all the OP options available to the player (Flier Emblem, battalions, ability-collecting, etc.) Not that this aspect is entirely bad, as it makes the games more interesting as RPGs, and TH arguably has the best squad building in the series.

Still, with Cindered Shadows, the Paralogues (excepting the cheesier ones), the better maps in the main game routes, and Maddening early game, I don't think anyone can't complain at this point that Three Houses lacks sufficient content from the point of view of tactical combat and map design. It may not be as good as Conquest in that regard, but it is superior to it in pretty much every other respect, and I think it easily gets a spot in the Top 5 of the series even from a pure gameplay point of view.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Is the season pass worth 24$ dolars just for Cindered Shadows? I wished i could buy only Cindered Shadows because the rest of the bundle is pretty bad.
Btw I love this game. Played 2 routes for 180h.

 

[Ventidius]

Is the season pass worth 24$ dolars just for Cindered Shadows? I wished i could buy only Cindered Shadows because the rest of the bundle is pretty bad.
Btw I love this game. Played 2 routes for 180h.

If you are the kind of player who liked the game but wished it had more challenging content, then the Cindered Shadows campaign alone should make it worth it, even though it is only seven chapters long. That was my situation, and I was thus satisfied with the DLC. If that isn't your case, then paying full-price for it is probably going to come off as a raw deal, as there is very little of substance to it apart from the campaign.

However, the four new characters are very good, gameplay-wise. Constance and Hapi are some of the better mages in a game with plenty of good mages. Balthus is IMO the only unit of his type that's actually good, plus he's a bro. A lot of people say Yuri is OP, but I haven't really used him that much. His relic is great though. The new characters also have quite a bit of content in terms of support conversations and Paralogues. You also get access to Abyss, which has a few perks that are not at all bad, like the unit appraiser. I think you also need the DLC in order to unlock the new classes, which are solid.

All of that said, getting the DLC for the Ashen Wolves, Abyss, and the new classes alone is probably not worth it unless you really love the game and plan to replay it a few more times, as the new content does make further replays less repetitive.

EDIT: Bear in mind though, that you'll have to progress a bit on the CS campaign to unlock a lot of that content.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Is the season pass worth 24$ dolars just for Cindered Shadows? I wished i could buy only Cindered Shadows because the rest of the bundle is pretty bad.
Btw I love this game. Played 2 routes for 180h.

If you are the kind of player who liked the game but wished it had more challenging content, then the Cindered Shadows campaign alone should make it worth it, even though it is only seven chapters long. That was my situation, and I was thus satisfied with the DLC. If that isn't your case, then paying full-price for it is probably going to come off as a raw deal, as there is very little of substance to it apart from the campaign.

However, the four new characters are very good, gameplay-wise. Constance and Hapi are some of the better mages in a game with plenty of good mages. Balthus is IMO the only unit of his type that's actually good, plus he's a bro. A lot of people say Yuri is OP, but I haven't really used him that much. His relic is great though. The new characters also have quite a bit of content in terms of support conversations and Paralogues. You also get access to Abyss, which has a few perks that are not at all bad, like the unit appraiser. I think you also need the DLC in order to unlock the new classes, which are solid.

All of that said, getting the DLC for the Ashen Wolves, Abyss, and the new classes alone is probably not worth it unless you really love the game and plan to replay it a few more times, as the new content does make further replays less repetitive.

Understand. I think i gonna bite bullet next month because i still need to beat Golden Deer and Rhea's route so the new classes sees a good way to avoid fatigue with overrall gameplay . Especialy War Monk because i wanted to make some punch girls before. Thanks.

 

[GhostCow]

Understand. I think i gonna bite bullet next month because i still need to beat Golden Deer and Rhea's route so the new classes sees a good way to avoid fatigue with overrall gameplay . Especialy War Monk because i wanted to make some punch girls before. Thanks.

I'm pretty sure that war monk is a male only class

 

[Tigranes]

Playing the base game now finally, plague being a good excuse.

It's pretty good. The big gameplay changes - no rock paper scissors, gambits, divine pulse, a wider array of combat arts, telegraphed enemy attacks - have their obvious disadvantages that I worried about, but they also work together to create their own experience a bit different from the old FE formula.

E.g. FE was always like a puzzle in many ways, and adding a wider array of 'magic abilities' (gambits, even some combat arts) loosens up the tightness of how you could mentally calculate & expect exactly what every unit does. So that is then mitigated through telegraphed attacks & divine pulse, as a way for player to handle the increased uncertainty. I wouldn't put this over the classic FEs, but it works OK in its own right.

The maps are not super creative and there's too much reliance on scripted reinforcements - who on Maddening can attack on the turn they appear, which would be crazy stupid if not for divine pulse. But they're not bad, they're enough of a foil for the combat system.

Game is definitely not very hard, and I think Maddening is always the way to go once you know how it works. Maddening I'm finding has some difficult early moments but generally is arguably easier than Conquest Hard, or comparable. So that's a bit disappointing. (I started with Edelgard all the way route on Hard, and now I'm doing Blue Lions Maddening. And I'm generally picking classes I like, not doing 18 Wyverns with Triple Attack or anything.)

Story/characters/etc is tolerable. That is, compared to the "every nanosecond of this actively destroys all of my brain cells" Fates: Conquest. It's still painfully one-dimensional weeaboos in a monkeys-at-typewriter generic story. "Hi I'm big muscled dumb fighter with heart of gold and I love to eat haha!" "Ohhhhh but I'm so shyyyy ohhh". But you can skip most of it very quickly as always.

I guess I should try Cindered Shadows?

 

[Ventidius]

I guess I should try Cindered Shadows?

If you were disappointed with the base game's difficulty (as you seem to be), then yes, as it's the hardest content the game has to offer, even more so than Maddening IMO. Difficulty is also more reliant on actual map design than fudging enemy stats, unlike Maddening. I recommend playing CS on Hard - the highest available - as it seems pretty well balanced on that difficulty to me.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

I'm pretty sure that war monk is a male only class

Actually , no, War Monk is both gender. Dark Flier and Valkery are female only tho.

Btw Talking about Gender locked classes, it's pretty fucking stupid. It prevents character for getting great classes for them because reason.
I would liked to see a War Master Hilda (or F!Byleth), Dark Mage Lysithea , A Male counterpart of Gremorie for Linhart , etc..

Instead i just make everyone into a Wyvern Lord because it's broken.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Story/characters/etc is tolerable. That is, compared to the "every nanosecond of this actively destroys all of my brain cells" Fates: Conquest. It's still painfully one-dimensional weeaboos in a monkeys-at-typewriter generic story. "Hi I'm big muscled dumb fighter with heart of gold and I love to eat haha!" "Ohhhhh but I'm so shyyyy ohhh". But you can skip most of it very quickly as always.

There's some good characters tho. One of my favorites is Ferdinand Von Aegir, his supports are great.

 

[Ventidius]

I don't have a problem with gender-locked classes per se. Wizardry and its clones usually do it well, for example. The issue here is the implementation, and particularly the fact that males got screwed: females get Gremory (the best magical class in the game) and earlier access to plus two different options for flier classes (arguably the best type of unit in the game). Males get very little to compensate. War Master is fine, but there are very few units that can take it that aren't better off doing something else; and out of the four units that it best fits, only one is any good (Balthus).

 

[Tigranes]

Story/characters/etc is tolerable. That is, compared to the "every nanosecond of this actively destroys all of my brain cells" Fates: Conquest. It's still painfully one-dimensional weeaboos in a monkeys-at-typewriter generic story. "Hi I'm big muscled dumb fighter with heart of gold and I love to eat haha!" "Ohhhhh but I'm so shyyyy ohhh". But you can skip most of it very quickly as always.

There's some good characters tho. One of my favorites is Ferdinand Von Aegir, his supports are great.

I mean, let's be fair. While they are all cardboard cutout characters, that's partly a necessity when you have 30 students you have to get to know & recruit, which is a cool system.

And some stereotypes can be fun enough. Ferdinand is fine, Felix is OK, Edelgard is OK, and so on. The ones that are unbearable are the "aaaah! im so shy and scared arent i cute????" types like Flayn, and the stupid "oh hey im a bikini clad girl in your mind with the mental age of a 4 year old also im a goddess!!!" thing.

I don't have a problem with gender-locked classes per se. Wizardry and its clones usually do it well, for example. The issue here is the implementation, and particularly the fact that males got screwed: females get Gremory (the best magical class in the game) and earlier access to plus two different options for flier classes (arguably the best type of unit in the game). Males get very little to compensate. War Master is fine, but there are very few units that can take it that aren't better off doing something else; and out of the three units that it best fits, only one is any good (Balthus).

It's weird how they did all that work to make Dark Seals a difficult & unique reward to chase after, and then you realise if you don't have a male mage it's a completely useless item.