87) Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019)

As the sixteenth entry in the Fire Emblem series, Three Houses marked the first home console release in over a decade, with 2007's Radiant Dawn being the last entry before the series made the jump to handheld. After the unexpected success of 2012's Fire Emblem: Awakening, which helped save the franchise from cancellation, and after working on both Fates and Shadows of Valentia, the team at Intelligent Systems decided to partner with Koei Tecmo in order to create what they felt would be the biggest and best game in the series. The game's scenario was written by Koei Tecmo's Yuki Ikeno, who took particular inspiration from the series' 1996 title Genealogy of the Holy War as well as the Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The game's chosen subtitle for the Japanese release, Fūkasetsugetsu, is a yojijukugo of the four seasons, representing the four branching paths available to the player. As this translated awkwardly to English, the subtitle Three Houses was chosen for the international release.

The story takes place on the continent of Fodlan, a landmass divided into three rival nations that are currently at peace. At the center of the continent is Garreg Mach Monastery, home of the Church of Seiros which serves both as the primary religion in the region as well as a neutral fourth party that helps keep peace in the region. The Monastery also serves as an Officer's Academy, which teaches students from across the three nations in the art of war and tactics. Each nation is represented by their own house, which divides the students by nationality while mixing both commoners and nobility together. The majority of students bear magical crests, ancient marks that are passed down via bloodlines which allow the bearers to wield powerful and sacred artifacts which the church monitors closely.

We begin the game playing as Byleth, a mercenary who has recurring dreams of war and conflict. While speaking with our father, Jeralt, we're soon interrupted by three students of the Officer's Academy who are being pursued by bandits. After aiding them, they introduce themselves as the heads of their respective classes while asking us to accompany them back to Garreg Mach for safety. Though reluctant, Jeralt agrees to this, and along the way we get to learn a bit more about the three students we saved. Once at the monastery, we learn that Jeralt once served as a knight of the church, and we're asked by Archbishop Rhea to enroll at the academy as a professor. Having no real say in the matter, we're allowed to choose which of the three houses we wish to teach. We're given time to explore the monastery and meet our potential students before we make the decision that will, for the most part, determine which of the four paths we set ourselves upon.

The students are one of the primary highlights of the game, with each one being distinct and most of them being likable. Regardless of which path we choose, it's possible to recruit students from the other houses to our class with the exception of the house leaders and their second in commands. It turns out that this year happens to be special, in that the house leaders are all heirs to their nation's thrones. While I like all three of the house leaders and most of the students, the divide between the three classes doesn't become apparent until the latter portion of the game, with the majority of the missions and story being identical regardless of which we choose.

The gameplay loop becomes a simple yet enjoyable affair, with each month seeing us and our students being given a goal or task to accomplish by the end of said month. Our time between then consists of exploring the monastery, interacting with students, leveling up via small, optional battles, and of course, teaching our students. The teaching aspect is actually one of the most interesting, albeit fairly blunt, gameplay mechanics. Every student can be trained in whatever way you like, giving us full control over how each unit grows. Though each student has particular areas in which they are more or less suited, there's nothing to prevent you from forcing them into roles they may not be best for, and the majority of them will actually work pretty well in whatever way you choose to develop them. This gives us plenty of control over our units and ensures that any loss we may sustain isn't completely detrimental.

Combat is a tactical turn-based system rewards smart planning and cautious progress. After a certain point in the story, any unit who falls in battle dies and is permanently removed. That is, unless you choose to play in casual mode, in which case they're just out for the rest of the battle. In addition, regardless of difficulty level, Byleth gains the limited ability to turn back time, allowing us to undo turns to a limited degree. This allows for a certain margin of error, though it is completely optional to use unless you would otherwise fail the mission, and even then it has limited uses. In a lot of ways, this completely removes the stakes of combat that the franchise is known for, though again, it is mostly optional.

The story, as with some of the characters, is a mixed bag that very much depends on which path you choose to take. While the early sections of the game are consistent among the four branching paths, they do diverge at a certain point, and while some of the maps are reused during the different routes, the goals and motivations change pretty drastically. After a five year time skip, we reunite with our students as we try to bring peace back to Fodlan. As we do so, we learn a bit more about what's happened during the time skip and more about Byleth and their origin. Frustratingly, no one path will give us all of the answers, meaning to fully understand everything we have to play through and choose a different path. While it's certainly interesting to see how the story plays out, it becomes a little frustrating when a simple conversation or two would likely clear up the conflict. Granted, that's also pretty true to real life, so it's at least realistic in that way.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a bit odd, as the gameplay is pretty simple and straightforward while also providing plenty of depth if you really want to crack into it. The character's are fun, well written, and wonderfully voiced, though one or two of the characters seem to miss the mark. Some of the characters that seem one note at the start actually have interesting backstories and really come alive as you get to know them, while others are simply groan worthy and easy to hate. The gameplay loop is incredibly satisfying, and I often found myself wanting to play just a little bit longer. Even after beating the game, the urge to play again and see the story from a new perspective was undeniable, and I found myself eventually playing through all four of the branching paths, with each playthrough providing new insight, new experiences, and new opportunities to interact with this mostly lovable cast of idiots.