Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes Review

Fire Emblem Three Houses is by far one of my favourite games and the first Fire Emblem game I was introduced to. So, it was a surprise to no one that I felt like I had to play Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. I’ve always loved Musou games, and when I found out that Three Hopes would offer an alternative storyline, I was hyped.

As you know, I wrote a preview for Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes prior to the game’s release. But now I return to you all with a fully-fledged review. Judging by the preview, I had a lot to look forward to, and I can safely say that I wasn’t disappointed. However, I will take the time to warn you now: this review will have spoilers to both Three Hopes and Three Houses, so read at your own risk.

In Three Hopes, we are introduced to the new protagonist, Shez, who is from a rival mercenary troupe that crossed paths with Three Houses’ hero, Byleth. After their battle, a mysterious entity named Arval introduces themselves If you’ve played Three Houses, you’ll know that Byleth has a similar entity living inside of them.

You can decide Shez and Byleth’s genders before you begin the game. So if you had Female Byleth in the first game, don’t worry; you can select her. However, that is all you can decide for Byleth, who has a more antagonistic role in this spin-off.

While Three Houses focuses on you taking on the role of teaching at Garreg Mach Monastery, Three Hopes allows you to have a brief start to your academic career. However, it is a short semester, so you spend more time in the Leicester Alliance, the Kingdom of Faerghus, or the Adrestian Empire. Where you live will be decided on whether you choose the Golden Deer, Blue Lion, or Red Eagle house at the Academy.

Naturally, I chose the Golden Deer, as is my own little tradition. As Shez, I work as a mercenary for Claude and go in Musou-style battles against the other armies. You can expect to fight the Kingdom of Faerghus and the Empire, but you are also introduced to the Prince of Almyra, Shahid. While Almyra is your primary enemy in the first section of the game, the war quickly shifts to the Empire, and eventually, Claude’s sights are set on the Kingdom.

The story lends itself to the hack-and-slash gameplay, as you’re a part of the army. You aren’t a commander in charge, so it works better than the turn-based combat of classic Fire Emblem games. While the weaknesses are the same as in the classic games, you need to fight armies with your allies and reclaim territories you may have lost. However, this formula does get a little bit exhausting after a while. So, the story makes up for the repetitive gameplay that can occur, even with the shift between characters.

In between levels, you can partake in the social elements of the Fire Emblem series, where you can increase the support rank of your allies around camp. You can give them gifts, invite them for meals, train with them, and you can take them out for expeditions. The expeditions replace the tea time from Three Houses and are essentially the inevitable dating sim portion of the game. On these expeditions, you can talk to your ally, ask them questions, and hope that you don’t react badly to their responses. If you do well, you can give them a gift and observe them, but if not, you simply return to camp together with a slightly stronger bond.

My only issue stems from getting time locked out of certain bonding events with specific characters. For example, I spent a great deal of time ensuring that Claude and Hilda’s support would go up, only to get locked out of having their bond deepened because I hadn’t done it quickly enough. However, prior to this happening, there is no way of knowing when you can’t deepen a bond anymore. It’s a bit of a general complaint for Fire Emblem in general, but if there is a time limit, I would generally like to know. While it does encourage you to use New Game + for these situations, Three Hopes is the type of game where I would much rather find out what is going on if I went down the routes of one of the other leaders.

It’s a frustration, but it’s one that I’ve come to accept out of Fire Emblem. Even a timer would be preferred, rather than upping the relationships only to discover nothing is left to salvage. While I was still heartbroken about this turn of events, I could still continue with the main story.

However, I admit that some of the deaths that you have to cope with aren’t nearly as painful as they were in Three Houses. Let’s use Jeralt as my example. During Three Houses, Byleth moved to Garreg Mach and opened up her emotions more, so we had a stronger bond with Jeralt. I won’t lie, I cried when he passed away in this game. However, Byleth doesn’t have that level of emotional development here, as she doesn’t have the same experiences. While she is emotional, it’s not the same level of emotion, and so I was apathetic to Jeralt’s death, by my own hands, in Three Hopes.

I think my issue with this is that these characters are the ones I love, but they’re also different from the originals. I got to spend more time with the other students in Garreg Mach in Three Houses, while I only got to spend roughly a chapter with them as Shez. The only attachments I felt were to my allies, and even then, I played in casual mode, so the key sad moments didn’t really feel… sad.

While it’s a fun game and a very interesting “what if” scenario, I think that I need to play more in New Game + before I feel any sadness over what happens to the iterations of these characters. The concept itself is interesting, but it’s hard to feel particularly attached when you’re a simple merc who isn’t that close to the other characters.

Ultimately, Three Hopes is a great spin-off that offers fun twists and turns, it doesn’t have quite the heart and soul of Three Houses. However, if you enjoy Musou games, you’ll find that Three Hopes offers you an original story you can lose yourself in as you discover how it differs from Three Houses’ original storyline.

So, if you enjoyed Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I can heartily recommend Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. It offers a great combination of both Fire Emblem and Musou gameplay, with plenty of hours to lose yourself in.