Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Just like the title says: this game was voted by gamers as Best Game of the Year.Not the critics, the PLAYERS voted for it so, yeah, it wasn't an award they bought.From what I understand, this is the first Fire Emblem title to hit it big anywhere outside of Japan and, having played it, I'm glad the devs got some recognition.At first glance (or first couple hours of play time) the game seems straightforward enough. It's a turn based RPG. Pretty much 'nough said in most cases. You either like them or you don't.But.When you're "released" from the normal and necessary exposition and tutorial that always comes with starting an RPG, and you can wander around you meet all the usual characters. Of course you do. It's an RPG.Yeah, this time the premise seems interesting and the "downtime" activities might be a little unusual-- voice acting is certainly a solid notch above what you usually get in an RPG but it's still an RPG though. I mean, you even have the standard archtypes (if quite a few more than usual): the jock, the socially awkward girl, medieval cheerleaders, geek with the glasses in the back.... They're all there.At least, that's how it STARTS...As you start playing though, between managing inventory, leveling, combat, and, of course, unraveling the main plot etc, etc, etc-- something starts to happen.The One Dimensional archtypes that you've written off actually start taking on... well, DEPTH.And the STORY actually starts getting interesting too!!!!I won't front, it had been SO LONG since I had seen this level of good writing that I had honestly forgotten that it was even possible in an RPG. And the acting is just... WOW.Ok. Yeah. Graphics won't make you weep at the beauty and magesty of realistic 4k as you count the individual hairs on the back of your character's head but... that story and that acting more than make up for it.First off you canNOT hope to get through everything on just one playthrough. Forget multiple ENDINGS, this game has MULTIPLE PLOTS. No joke. The WHOLE STORY is different depending on what you pick in the first few hours.Now, you want multiple endings? OMFG!!!Apparently, after spending do NOT tell me how many hours with these characters, the game actually generates a little ending for each and every single character you have gotten to know based on what YOU were doing during your playthrough.Computer-wise, it probably didn't take that long but the writing chops to go through and figure out what would happen to every single possible pairing of 40 characters and never miss a single beat...Wow. Just. Wow. You have REALLY got to have a definitive idea of who these characters are in your head and remain true to that idea in order to do that- I mean, Hollywood has a hard time doing that with less than FIVE over 90 minutes a lotta times. So, yeah, hat's off there. Lol.So, the writing and the acting rocks but, this is a GAME, how's that gameplay, you're asking...I haven't had this much fun with a turned based in a long, long time.The loads of menus IS a little intimidating at first but it's honestly not that difficult to get the hang of things. Tiny touches and flourishes make things both a little easier to pick up and a little rewarding as you do. I love the real time prediction mechanic that shows you how much damage a character can make to an enemy and how much damage they can do back so you can experiment a bit BEFORE you confirm a command. Another nice touch is the little action cutscenes when an attack is made. You CAN turn them off if you want but I left them on because they actually seemed to add a little more drama to the fights.Now, I will admit that this game is a Completionist's NIGHTMARE. Because of all of the different characters and all of the different details and all of the different plots. I tried to do my normal grinding for levels, etc but eventually learned that that's NOT how you're supposed to play this game. You're supposed to just play the game and pretty much let the cards fall where they may when it comes to the details. And that is how I recommend playing it.Also, folks who gots ta has their eye-candy and/or looove that space bar when it comes to playing on the computer (skip cut scenes alot) will NOT find any fun here. Nor is this a good game for action junkies. Y'all got Devil May Cry, etc for that. Go enjoy Astral Chain. Great game too and far more enjoyable for button mashing.You want to wander through a great story with interesting characters and excellent acting though?Yeah. Stop debating, just hit that buy button and-- well, cancel any future plans you got for the next few months. U gon b buzy.:D

As always, straight to the scores:Graphics quality: 9/10. Almost every game that releases is capable of looking better, and FE3H is no exception. However, whether it is the animated cutscenes, traversing the monastery, or engaging in large-scale tactical battles, FE3H looks great for a game on Switch. I genuinely believe this is one of the reasons the game pulled me in so quickly, and I am so happy to see that time was taken to ensure the game looks as good as it does.Animation: 9/10. Again, same thing. Beautiful. I was very happy to see things that were not previously animated, being animated. The best way I can describe this is that there are smaller things you will notice from time to time that you never thought would make a difference - like the fact that there is no longer an animation for "entering" an attack. Those things make a difference. All of the difference.Story: 9/10. "Harry Potter" is not an accurate description of this game's story, because the only thing FE3H shares with Harry Potter is a House system. House systems are a tradition of England's schooling dating back hundreds of years. If anything, FE3H is historically accurate. And I am really disappointed that some of my fellow Fire Emblem veterans have simply dismissed the game for this reason, because the nuance of the story is something I really appreciate as opposed to many of FE's former titles. I won't tell you what to do, but in short, I do not believe you can actually "play" the game and walk away thinking it is like Harry Potter, so if I were you, I would strongly disregard anyone who brings that view to the table.Characters: 10/10. Characters in this game are excellent. Dialog is snappy, and time spent with students really draws you into the world and its story. If you do not spend time with these characters, you will be missing a HUGE part of the game. Take the time to individually "instruct" them when the time comes and you will see that you care a lot about your students and their progress. You will definitely be invested in them and their lives.Customization: 10/10. Your students progress is the foundation for FE3H customization options. Every single student has the ability to become so many different classes. It is your responsibility to see to it that they achieve their goals, true. But it is also your responsibility to ensure they try new things. If you do, you will find that some characters have a knack for classes they had no interest in - just like real life. This is a really fun part of the game that I think a lot of people are overlooking, so take your time with it.Gameplay: 10/10. Honestly, FE3H feels as great as FE always has. They brought back weapon durability, which adds some busy work, in my opinion, but the classic battle system is there with just a few more layers to keep veterans interested. And its great! I also think the battle-to-schooling ratio is perfect, making battles feel more intense and more important then previous titles.Voice-acting quality: 10/10. This entire game is voice acted. This ENTIRE game. I love the voices involved and I am really happy with all of the casting choices. I recognize many of the names, but generally the voices are a "good fit" for the characters you are speaking with.Music: 8/10. The music is well implemented. There some interesting decisions with sound design in the battles that I think I just need to play more to understand, but it seems like the music shifts depending on what is occurring, which is cool. None of the tracks stand out to me so far though, which is a shame. "You are the ocean's gray waves" comes into my mind every so often, and I miss that.Price of game: 10/10. No MTX BS, no content cut before launch just to sell as DLC. Just a really great game for $60.Extrinsic positive/negatives: +0/-1 points for auto advance/auto-scroll during conversations not being as tight as it should be. This may seem like a minor nitpick to some, but when the story and the characters are this good, I just want to enjoy them like a movie, not continuously click after their lines are delivered.Average score: 9.3/10. I got the game a day early and said, "oh wth, I will just play an hour or two." I had planned to play considerably the next day, but since it came a day early, why not, right? Well, I ended up playing for five or six hours and I did not realize it. Because I was just having fun. Having said that, I am only about eight hours in now, so I will be returning to update this review as I play through the rest of the game.I hope this review helps you make an informed decision.

I played Fire Emblem: Three Houses for 38 hours after only 3 days of it being released. Yes, you read that right. I spent on average 12.67 hours/day over 3 days. Needless to say, I LOVE this game. There are 3 routes (4 if you count a shorter, secret route) that are about the same length. It took me 44 hours of playing at what I consider to be an average speed to beat one of the routes on hard difficulty. Basically what I'm trying to say is that you'll be getting many hours out of this game if you enjoy it.For anyone who has played any Fire Emblem games in the past, you might be skeptical to hear that this game changes up the formula in more ways than one. For example, the weapon triangle (swords > axes > lances > swords) was removed and magic tomes aren't items anymore (they're more like skills with charges now). Do NOT be dissuaded by these changes because they ultimately improve the gameplay experience.For newcomers to the Fire Emblem franchise, this is a great entry to start with. Compared to the previous titles, Three Houses definitely feels much easier. Not only are enemies not as strong, but new mechanics such as Divine Pulse, which lets you turn back time to fix mistakes, were added.To conclude, there are tons of dialogue in Three Houses and ALL of them are voice acted by very capable voice actors. Rather than moving on to the next text box after I finished reading, I found myself letting the text auto-advance so I could appreciate the voice acting. It absolutely blows my mind how Fire Emblem went from mostly having grunting noises and short phrases such as "yes" to this masterfully voice acted game.TL;DR: Buy this game.