Ok, I'm going to state up front for the record that I have never played a Fire Emblem game before.

RPGs, particularly JRPGs, have been, and remain, my favorite genre of video game.. growing up, they were all I needed through the SNES era, and what killed the N64 and later Nintendo consoles for me was the dearth of good RPG titles made available (mostly due to Nintendo's lack of 3 party support for those systems).. I stopped playing video games pretty much before the N64 died..

But on a whim, I purchased a Nintendo switch last year, and now I'm on a sort of Renaissance of my video gaming era. This time, however, I am branching out and trying new genres, and really enjoying the variety.. I haven't played a new game in awhile.. I think my last purchase was Super Smash Bros.. and.. meh.. it kinda sits on the shelf.. so, ready for something new, I thought I'd try out..

~ Fire Emblem: Three Houses ~

I was a bit hesitant about purchasing this game.. I like turn based battles in RPG, but traditionally the Fire Emblem franchise is known for turn-based strategy, or tactical role playing.. imagine Stratego or Risk turned into a hybrid JRPG.. it mostly focuses on raised army units and maneuvering them around the battle field like chess pieces.

Also, they have seemed overly complicated. However, Fire Emblem has been growing more and more in popularity over the years, and there has been a bit of hype behind this game.. I've kept a passive eye on the developments, and when I saw the high ratings it was receiving upon release, I decided to give it a go..

and so far, I am extremely pleased with that decision.

_{[you are tasked with becoming the head professor of a house, ala hogwarts style, but instead of grooming witches, you are grooming an army]} src

At this time, it's still very early days for me. I've sunk only about 5 hours in the game over the last few days. But it has been enough for me to get a gist of it and give my first impressions. Is it perfect? No..

There are a few things that I don't love about this game.. I feel like game developers have been pushing more and more for metrics like playtime and replayability to justify the ever increasing price tag that they attach to their products. I don't appreciate that.. making a sandbox type world to roam around in, and an extravagant complicated battle system, cooking abilities, weapon forging, scavenger hunting.. etc etc.. becomes overwhelming.. I don't have time for that.. and it can be a paralyzing factor, for me, rather than a liberating one.

This game is complicated, but.. it leaves it up to you about how complicated you want it to get. You can completely ignore all minute intricacies that they have included and just focus on getting through each month, each campaign, and be completely happy.

The are aspects like the romance, and affinity system, where every choice you make when answering NPCs questions affects positively and negatively your relationship with that character and even starts to shape the outcome of the game. I do think it's cool that there is a choose your own adventure style type game.. I just don't want to have to fret over every single decision all the time..

Perhaps that's the point..

_{[In the real world, there's no playbook, and just like real life, trying to please EVERYONE in the game will only lead to frustration and disappointment]} src

The part that I thought I would hate the most, is actually very engaging. Every in game 'month' you take your army of students out on a battle campaign. The battles get progressively harder. (and if you want a real challenge, you can go Classic Mode, which means any character that dies in battle is permanently gone for the rest of the game..). I find myself looking forward to trying off new skills that My character and his students have learned during the month.

It's not your traditional RPG to be sure, but I feel like the surprising depth of characters, the real-consequence choices, and the variety of activities the game provides end up melding together well into an well oiled machine.. Again, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is complicated, but unlike past games, it eases you into it rather than knocking you overside of the head with it's mechanics.

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One thing the choice mechanism allows for and what can propel this game from good to great lies hidden in the title.
In the beginning of the game, you have to pick from ONE of three houses.. all of the characters from all houses interact with you throughout the game, but each house storyline is a completely unique experience.

One playthrough is estimated to take about 80 hours, but this game seems to have really nailed replay value, because, if you honestly want to capture the whole thing, you're going to want to play through the game three times.. one for each house..

I'm excited to see how different storylines of each character will play our from the different perspective of each house. Does Fire Emblem have enough in it to keep it fresh and engaging for not only one, but three playthroughs.. I guess we'll have to wait and see.. but it's off to a good start.

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