In my three-plus decades of gaming, my experience with strategy RPGs has somewhat been mixed, with Shining Force on the Sega Genesis my first title in the roleplaying subgenre, though I wouldn’t see it through to the end until a few generations later. We would eventually get a Sony PlayStation, among the titles we purchased being Final Fantasy Tactics, which I thought would be a good experience, since it was my second tactical RPG, although it frustrated me to the point where the game disc got scratched and I had to pay for another copy, given the Japanese RPG kusottare of potentially wasting significant time on losing battles unlike in Shining Force, nice to players when they die.
Around the time I finished the first Shining Force title did another prominent strategy RPG series come to America, the Intelligent Systems-developed Fire Emblem games, which would on the Nintendo DS see a remake of the very first game in the franchise, subtitled Shadow Dragon for Anglophone players, and I saw it a good opportunity to dive into them. However, it became, for several years, one of few games I wouldn’t be able to finish, given the potential to lock oneself in an unwinnable situation, and I gave up on the franchise until the Nintendo 3DS release of Awakening, which made optional one of the series’ staples, the permanent death of player characters.
Awakening restored my faith in the franchise, and I had a similar positive experience with the trio of Fates games. However, along came Echoes, a loose remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden on the original Famicom, which like Shadow Dragon I found myself unable to complete due to the game locking me into the final battle without a chance to back out, although I did give it another playthrough from the beginning and finished it. The Nintendo Switch would eventually come along, and Intelligent Systems would develop the latest entry of the tactical franchise, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which definitely has appeal to different player skillsets.
When starting a new game, the player has several difficulty settings from which to choose, such as making permanent character death optional. Three Houses has a somewhat-different setup from its precursors, integrating social elements akin to the third Persona game and beyond, the player’s character being a professor in a schoolhouse setting, with turn-based tactical battles in between, along with optional battles for supplemental experience if desired. The aforementioned social elements, maybe a few optional battles depending upon the difficulty setting, and other things such as teatimes with allies, cost activity points the player receives in between storyline struggles.
Battles follow generally the same formula as in previous Fire Emblems, minus the weapon triangle system part of many mainstream entries, with the player and the enemy having separate turn sessions, players able to move around their units, bring up a helpful “danger zone,” and have their units attack the enemy, with both participants in a skirmish exchanging commands. Should all the player’s characters die, they can reverse time to a point before their defeat, or trigger a Game Over, though on the easiest difficulty, they can restart the battle with all experience acquired in the recent attempt retained.
The class system in Three Houses is somewhat different than in prior series entries, with the player able to reclass their characters into intermediate, advanced, and eventually master classes with the use of seals that allow class-changers to take exams that they have a percentage of passing, depending upon how much experience they have in certain affinities such as mounted combat, reason, swords, axes, and the like, and if they pass, they naturally advance to the new class, though compulsive players who flunk exams will most likely desire to quit and reload until the desired character passes.
Fortunately, players can definitely live without changing classes until their characters have a better chance of passing reclassing examinations, and character levels remain the same regardless of their current occupation. Levels tend to rise quickly in combat, with a few characters becoming potential tanks that can take on pretty much anything. The weapon durability system which was absent from Echoes return, with each character having special moves that cost more sturdiness than standard attacks, although consumption of materials and money can allow players to restore broken weapons to working condition, and the protagonist eventually acquires a special armament that resting and passing days instead of participating in scholastic activities can restore.
The game mechanics generally work well, with plentiful anti-frustration features making this particular entry more accessible to mainstream players that a few prior entries, although there are a number of issues such as the potential to overlook certain mechanics without the accompaniment of an online guide, not to mention the unwieldly disposition of the battle controls, which may make many players want to use AI options for their whole party instead of manually inputting commands for their characters, although these techniques aren’t foolproof. The game also locks players into battles if they want to retain experience unless they reload, although the battle system definitely has its positives.
Not so much the control, however, the awkward battle interaction among the many issues prominent in Three Houses, whose menus definitely require a lot of getting used to, with the inability, for instance, for the player to access their item convoy directly, the difficulty of exchanging items among allies given finite inventories, the lack of an auto-dash feature when the protagonist navigates the monastery school (although fast travel is available), and the need to have consumables that increase character stats in the inventory of the character whose stats the player wishes to increase, among other things. Granted, the game is definitely beatable without a guide, given the linear structure preventing players from losing themselves, but the developers could have given the control aspect a once-over.
One can say the same about the storyline, although it definitely has its positive aspects, with the conversations between characters that unlock eventually when they perform actions close to one another in combat adding some development, and as the game is fairly rigidly-linear, there’s virtually no getting lost. While most of the dialogue is skippable as well, some parts of the narrative feel forced down the player’s throat, and there are derivative elements such as a protagonist with a mysterious past and ambiguous age and an “evil” empire later on in the plot, although a choice of one of the three eponymous scholastic factions adds some motivation to go through the game again, and beating the game gives epilogues to surviving player characters.
The localization is probably the nadir of Three Houses, with Nintendo America demonstrating that not even their translations are infallible. While the general storyline is coherent, and there is some profanity they didn’t censor and mature themes, there are plentiful odd stylistic choices such as the use of “OK” instead of “okay,” and there seems no fathomable excuse, except alcohol, why anyone would think it natural for a character to say, for instance, “How vexing” before dying. There are also some discrepancies such as the use of the oath “Gods” when the game’s world has a singular goddess, and some horrid names such as a villain named “Nemesis.” In the end, the translators could have definitely made an effort to make the dialogue sound more believable, polished, and natural.
The soundtrack, however, is significantly better, with a version of the franchise’s musical motif played on an organ, alongside other uses such as the monastery’s bell mimicking the theme’s opening notes. Most of the battle themes, with a few exceptions such as vocals in the final battle theme that sound like yodeling, are good, as are the sound effects. The voice acting is largely solid as well, despite a few weak performances and hiccups such as the annoying of characters’ whining when low on health in battle and death cries. Regardless, Three Houses is largely easy on the ears.
The game is easy on the eyes as well, with a beautiful cel-shaded style accompanied by occasional CG cutscenes, although there are technical issues such as a fair bit of choppiness, poor collision detection, and plenty of pop-up of character models when navigating the monastery.
Finally, a single playthrough can take players, especially if they turn off all the things that tend to pad games of this sort, at least twenty to thirty hours, with the choice of three academic houses theoretically adding lasting appeal, although a single playthrough was enough for me, given the general user-unfriendliness and absence of achievements.
Overall, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is for the most part a decent strategy RPG that hits the right notes regarding its game mechanics, musical direction, and above-average artistic vision, although it does have issues of which potential players need to be aware such as the ponderous control, the derivative plot with lackluster localization, and the consequential belief that one playthrough would be enough despite theoretical replay value. Regardless, I definitely don’t regret experiencing this game and would consider it a step above Echoes, although I am somewhat glad that I borrowed instead of purchased it, and diehard Fire Emblem fans are the ones likely to get the most out of it.
This review is based on a single playthrough of a physical copy borrowed by the reviewer.
The Good:
+Deep, strategic mechanics with adjustable difficulty.
+Good soundtrack.
+Nice visuals.
The Bad:
-Very user-unfriendly.
-Lackluster plot and translation.
-One playthrough may be enough for most players.
The Bottom Line:
A half-decent strategy RPG.
Score Breakdown:
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Game Mechanics: 7.5/10
Controls: 4.5/10
Story: 6.0/10
Localization: 4.0/10
Music/Sound: 7.5/10
Graphics: 7.5/10
Lasting Appeal: 6.5/10
Difficulty: Adjustable
Playing Time: 20-30+ Hours
Overall: 6.5/10
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