Nintendo Switch; Intelligent Systems/Omega Force/Nintendo
The combination of frenetic Dynasty Warriors-style combat with Fire Emblem’s lovable cast of characters makes this an engaging trip back to the Officers Academy
Traditionally, Fire Emblem has been a series about emotionally over-investing in the triumphs, romances and deaths of anime-styled characters on fantasy battlefields. It’s been tactical and slow-paced, giving you plenty of time to wring your hands over strategic decisions before you end each turn. Three Hopes, however, is what’s known as a “musou” game, an action-heavy twist on the series that follows up 2017’s Fire Emblem Warriors. It’s also a companion to 2019’s Fire Emblem: Three Houses, a story about how three classes from the same Officers Academy become opposing war factions.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes plays as an alternate-universe version of Three Houses, leading to changes in how the story develops, and providing new context to the events of the previous game. You don’t need to be familiar with Three Houses in order to play Three Hopes, but I’m not sure why you’d play it if you weren’t. This feels like another piece of an established story: it doesn’t explain the relationships between characters, for instance, trusting players to remember these connections instead. Besides, the joy of Three Hopes lies in how it plays around with previously established events in Fire Emblem history, and how it (re-)introduces characters whose stories were cut short or merely hinted at before.
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Originally posted in the guardian.
