I've tried to write down some early impressions but after a short while I've realized this is a rather different entry in the series and I had to play some more of it to make up my mind.
Fire Emblem Three Houses is at its core still a turn-based strategy game, but instead of being focused solely on battles, FETH devotes almost half of its playtime to managing your party. The main plot device is that your character (of whom you can only select the sex, appearance is fixed) is forced into a teaching position at Garret Mach Monastery, where the scions of the three nations ruling the continent of Fodlan are to learn about the art of war.
This setup is my first problem with th game: while Fates took its time in introducing the two factions and let you see how your character interacted with its families, FETH simply asks to choose between the three after a simple cursory introduction. Also your character is basically silent, so I don't really feel a connection between me and him or any of the other NPCs.
As a teacher you have to guide your students towards their goals, or combat classes in game terms. You can change these goals as you like to get the combat classes you want, although every NPC has a one/two strenght and weaknesses (like someone is good at magic, someone else with axes) and of course most of them start as archetypes for certain combat classes. The game is divided into weeks (think Persona) and at the beginning of the week you set the goals, and then hope everyone is a diligent student to get the various weapon proficiencies up. Sunday is a free day, where you can explore the Monastery, attend to Seminars to enhace your stats, or partake in extra battles. Sundays can also host story-related or random special events: the Monastery is huge, it has a pond where to fish and a green house where you can plant seeds, and special events can boost results of these actions.
As usual with a lot of entries in the series, FETH rearranges combat class progression: every character start with a basic class, then is promoted to a beginner class (chosen among four), then to an intermediate job (like cavaliers, fliers, thieves, or specialized mages), and finally to an advance class. All characters have a level cap at 50, but it's an amount covering all three levels, so if you overlevel one stage, characters might not have enough levels to maximize more advances choices.
Characters are not limited by a class tree, they can become any kind of class as long as they pass an exam; the rate of success is determined by a set of prerequisites for weapon proficiencies, and characters can study for proficiencies not directly related to their combat class.
It's frankly a very complex system that I feel is too complex for its own good, there are a lot of variables to take into account and it's hard to decide whether strenghtening a character's strong points or try to shore up his/her weaknesses, which might not be used anyway...it all depends on the combat classes you want.
Add in that the Monastery acts as a overworld with quests, gifts to collect, lost items to return, and you have a massive part of the game that overshadows the strategy missions. And this is a choice I'm a particular fan of, both Fates and Awakening had extra activities that did add depth to the game without turning strategy missions into an (almost) afterthought.
I must admit it's strangely addictive to do this kind of activity, but I still think that as a side activity, it's a bit too much.
Just like combat classes, the strategy part has seen a bit of a shakeup, although not as massive. First, no weapon triangle. Second, we're back to weapons with a finite number of uses. Third, magic doesn't require tomes, characters learn spells as they improve their magic proficiency, spells can be used a limited number of times per mission, and those recharge at the end of one. Fourth, characters can use battalions. Fifth, characters can learn special attacks. It might sound like a lot, but in fact most of them are from previous Fire Emblem games, with only the battalions being the real new mechanic.
Battalions must first be purchased at the Monastery and assigned to a character. There are a ton of battalion types, from offensive mages, healers, or normal fighters. Battalions do not take part in normal battles unless you use the Gambit command, which unleashes the battalion and its special attack.
Strategy parts play more like the two Radiant games (GC and Wii) than the last three GBA entries: they are more methodical, with enemies able to deal more damage, thus encouraging grouping of friendly units to minimize the chances of enemies ganging up on a single character.
It must also be said that the strategy parts look rather poor, the 3DS games looked more lush and detailed, but probably that was due to the lower resolution and smaller screen. But let's just say that FETH doesn't look particularly good, it does its job but I'm sure a lot more could have been done to make things look better.
So, while I'm liking FETH now, I can't shake the feeling Intelligent Systems lost some focus and tried a bit too many new things.
Fire Emblem Three Houses is at its core still a turn-based strategy game, but instead of being focused solely on battles, FETH devotes almost half of its playtime to managing your party. The main plot device is that your character (of whom you can only select the sex, appearance is fixed) is forced into a teaching position at Garret Mach Monastery, where the scions of the three nations ruling the continent of Fodlan are to learn about the art of war.
This setup is my first problem with th game: while Fates took its time in introducing the two factions and let you see how your character interacted with its families, FETH simply asks to choose between the three after a simple cursory introduction. Also your character is basically silent, so I don't really feel a connection between me and him or any of the other NPCs.
As a teacher you have to guide your students towards their goals, or combat classes in game terms. You can change these goals as you like to get the combat classes you want, although every NPC has a one/two strenght and weaknesses (like someone is good at magic, someone else with axes) and of course most of them start as archetypes for certain combat classes. The game is divided into weeks (think Persona) and at the beginning of the week you set the goals, and then hope everyone is a diligent student to get the various weapon proficiencies up. Sunday is a free day, where you can explore the Monastery, attend to Seminars to enhace your stats, or partake in extra battles. Sundays can also host story-related or random special events: the Monastery is huge, it has a pond where to fish and a green house where you can plant seeds, and special events can boost results of these actions.
As usual with a lot of entries in the series, FETH rearranges combat class progression: every character start with a basic class, then is promoted to a beginner class (chosen among four), then to an intermediate job (like cavaliers, fliers, thieves, or specialized mages), and finally to an advance class. All characters have a level cap at 50, but it's an amount covering all three levels, so if you overlevel one stage, characters might not have enough levels to maximize more advances choices.
Characters are not limited by a class tree, they can become any kind of class as long as they pass an exam; the rate of success is determined by a set of prerequisites for weapon proficiencies, and characters can study for proficiencies not directly related to their combat class.
It's frankly a very complex system that I feel is too complex for its own good, there are a lot of variables to take into account and it's hard to decide whether strenghtening a character's strong points or try to shore up his/her weaknesses, which might not be used anyway...it all depends on the combat classes you want.
Add in that the Monastery acts as a overworld with quests, gifts to collect, lost items to return, and you have a massive part of the game that overshadows the strategy missions. And this is a choice I'm a particular fan of, both Fates and Awakening had extra activities that did add depth to the game without turning strategy missions into an (almost) afterthought.
I must admit it's strangely addictive to do this kind of activity, but I still think that as a side activity, it's a bit too much.
Just like combat classes, the strategy part has seen a bit of a shakeup, although not as massive. First, no weapon triangle. Second, we're back to weapons with a finite number of uses. Third, magic doesn't require tomes, characters learn spells as they improve their magic proficiency, spells can be used a limited number of times per mission, and those recharge at the end of one. Fourth, characters can use battalions. Fifth, characters can learn special attacks. It might sound like a lot, but in fact most of them are from previous Fire Emblem games, with only the battalions being the real new mechanic.
Battalions must first be purchased at the Monastery and assigned to a character. There are a ton of battalion types, from offensive mages, healers, or normal fighters. Battalions do not take part in normal battles unless you use the Gambit command, which unleashes the battalion and its special attack.
Strategy parts play more like the two Radiant games (GC and Wii) than the last three GBA entries: they are more methodical, with enemies able to deal more damage, thus encouraging grouping of friendly units to minimize the chances of enemies ganging up on a single character.
It must also be said that the strategy parts look rather poor, the 3DS games looked more lush and detailed, but probably that was due to the lower resolution and smaller screen. But let's just say that FETH doesn't look particularly good, it does its job but I'm sure a lot more could have been done to make things look better.
So, while I'm liking FETH now, I can't shake the feeling Intelligent Systems lost some focus and tried a bit too many new things.
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