Not really? I feel they are not as fleshed out and unique to do so. Edelgard's path is half assed. Claude and Rhea's path are quite identical too so I wouldn't see how you could charge for those either.
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Fire Emblem Three Houses is a remarkable achievement
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Is it still steeped in anime dating weird cutesy flirting things with some women not wearing much clothes stuff? Feels like they kept adding more of that as the years went on
The character models are pretty good though, it's just that the low resolution and lack of AA doesn't do 'em any favors. Up close though they look really good, arguably better than Persona 5's. But sure, they're anime style so they're obviously not gonna be competing with the likes of Death Stranding or anything like that.
Animations, eh they're fine. The battle animations are fun, and the simple exaggerated canned emotes during stuff like support conversations are to be expected for this type of game and art style. Support conversations have never been fully fleshed out cutscenes, and with how many there are, nobody should expect them to be either.
Honestly the only egregious exaggeration I feel the OP made is the part where they said "everything is very fluid". Unless the game's performance has been improved with a patch since I last played it, it was pretty choppy while exploring Garreg Mach. And they also failed to mention the janky ass backgrounds used in the support convos, lol.
There's some of it, yes, but tbh the only game that was ever egregiously bad about it was Fates.
You can marry by the end of the game, and you do get some tame PG13 art of your waifu/husbando as reward. And you can go out of your way to try and form ships between your various other units if you care to do so... they don't marry or have children during the course of the game, but they might get acknowledged in the character epilogue blurbs at the very end. There's also the tea time stuff, which is definitely a bit... odd. But overall It's definitely far from being the focus of the game, and what is there feels a little bit more grounded than what's in Awakening or Fates, with the anime cutesy factor being dialed back somewhat.
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Aside from Edelgard, it's probably the least fun I've had with a FE game. It felt so unpolished and low budget.
Intelligent Systems did not make this game. Koei-Tecmo did (specifically, the Romance of the Three Kindoms team made Three Houses).
IS had literally no involvement in the making of this game.
IS had literally no involvement in the making of this game.
I recently beat the game and I do somewhat agree that the game is good. Unfortunately, strategy games and social sims are my least favorite genre by far and of course Three Houses is exactly just that combined into one. Thus, my enjoyment of the game was doomed to be limited and never would my personal score go beyond a 7/10.
My biggest issue with the game was the way in which the game told its story; way too many gosh darned text boxes. Eventually I just started skipping all the support dialogue because I just hate listening to people talk lol. The Cutscenes were by far the best part of the game from a storytelling perspective.
My biggest issue with the game was the way in which the game told its story; way too many gosh darned text boxes. Eventually I just started skipping all the support dialogue because I just hate listening to people talk lol. The Cutscenes were by far the best part of the game from a storytelling perspective.
I think it's a very impressive game, and I appreciate what it accomplished. That said, if it had lived up to its full potential, it would be one of the all-time greats. Expecting that much from what is apparently a pretty modest production probably isn't too realistic, though.
Enthralling drama right here. I was on the edge of my seat.
I liked it for what it was but hope they step up the presentation next time.
I love Koei and Koushibusawa Productions as much as the next guy, but this is what their SNES games look like in 1994. The year of Donkey Kong Country.
A great game, but it is a technical mess.
Despite having a good art design, I honestly feel it's an ugly game dragged down by the limitations of it's presentation.
Despite having a good art design, I honestly feel it's an ugly game dragged down by the limitations of it's presentation.
Is this opposites day? The presentation is incredibly underwhelming as with all Tecmo Koei games.
The game is amazing but performance is sub par considering that the graphics are pretty bad outside of the character models.
That it can't sustain native resolution in handheld mode is baffling to me. Character models end up looking like ass on maps as a result.
That it can't sustain native resolution in handheld mode is baffling to me. Character models end up looking like ass on maps as a result.
My GOTY 2019. Everything about this game is excellent and a unique step away from the usual formula of the series.
I've been listening to the OST during my workouts and it really gets me pumped up.
I've been listening to the OST during my workouts and it really gets me pumped up.
They didn't have literally no involvement—just more minor supporting involvement and oversight. There are 13 people from IS credited (plus 4 from NPD), ranging from Director (Kusakihara), Producer (Higuchi), programming support, character design, illustration, sound direction, and music. From this interview, translated from Famitsu:
But yes, KT's Three Kingdoms team did the vast majority of development on Three Houses. (Which is why it has so many visual and technical flaws, lol.)
Kusakihara admitted that it was his direction that led to the game ballooning in size—so one of the game's biggest issues (over-ambition) can be squarely attributed to him, and by extension IS:
Technically, the game is meh. Nothing outstanding but nothing horribly bad either.
From a writing perspective, the game is also kind of a mixed bag. The four routes approach is a cool idea but it's obviously half baked and never fully realized. Two of the routes are practically the same and one of them feels like it was cut short. Not to mention the huge amount of shared content between all four of them. I love the game but it really was too ambitious.
I will say that the characters are genuinely amazing and well realized. Over 30 playable characters and everyone, except maybe Cyril and Gilbert, has a dedicated fanbase. The fact that they're all memorable and distinct from one another speaks to the quality of the work that was put into making them. On that front Three Houses is undoubtedly an achievement.
From a writing perspective, the game is also kind of a mixed bag. The four routes approach is a cool idea but it's obviously half baked and never fully realized. Two of the routes are practically the same and one of them feels like it was cut short. Not to mention the huge amount of shared content between all four of them. I love the game but it really was too ambitious.
I will say that the characters are genuinely amazing and well realized. Over 30 playable characters and everyone, except maybe Cyril and Gilbert, has a dedicated fanbase. The fact that they're all memorable and distinct from one another speaks to the quality of the work that was put into making them. On that front Three Houses is undoubtedly an achievement.
thanks, that's helpful.
I played Fates and Awakening but honestly the last FE I really enjoyed throughout was Path if Radiance/Radiant Dawn. May bite here though
Man I feel real dumb because whenever I would hear that it was the Three Kingdoms team at KT that made Three Houses, I assumed that meant the Dynasty Warriors team as opposed to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy games, which makes a fuckton more sense, lol. I think the combination of Fire Emblem Warriors being like Dynasty Warriors which in turn is based on the three kingdoms era got my wires crossed.
I just started playing. Visually it kind of reminds me of Trails of Cold Steel but it runs and looks much worse. I started walking through the monastery and holy crap does this game run bad and there's nothing on screen that would justify it running so poorly. I think playing it on a big TV just further emphasizes its flaws. I hope the gameplay delivers.
The maps are boring and the difficulty at release was too easy. It looks average at best. The pacing in the second half is awful because most of the monastery activities are useless. A couple overpowered battalions trivialize the game.
It's a fine game but miles away from anything resembling fantastic. In fact it's worse than conquest as far as gameplay goes.
It's a fine game but miles away from anything resembling fantastic. In fact it's worse than conquest as far as gameplay goes.
Uh, the game's amazing, but the presentation's not the amazing part. Probably the biggest issue I have with Three Houses is that the game feels like a budget title - although admittedly, IS and Koei Tecmo used said budget really well.
Honestly, Three Houses with Xenoblade 2's budget could have the best game of all time.
Honestly, Three Houses with Xenoblade 2's budget could have the best game of all time.
This might be a sarcastic thread but honestly, it really is a huge achievement. The 3DS entries were taking the series in the wrong direction, imo, it felt like an identity crisis where it suddenly became about waifus and shonen tropes and less about war and politics. The gameplay was hit and miss, Awakening was too easy and grindy, Fates outside of Conquest was too easy/gimmicky, and SoV made a huge mistake in not updating its simple maps. 3H may be on the easy side but the customization and skills/arts/gambits is the most fun the series has been in a long time. The monastery is far from perfect but having an explorable base is a great evolution for the series. And the writing and characters are a thousand times better than any of the 3DS entries, and I say that as someone who liked SoV's cast and story and some of Fates' cast a lot.
Make the next game building on the direction 3H takes the series but give the developers some more of that sweet Heroes cash so they can go all out in production values and you have potentially the best FE ever.
Make the next game building on the direction 3H takes the series but give the developers some more of that sweet Heroes cash so they can go all out in production values and you have potentially the best FE ever.
It never really comes together for me, which is a shame because there are individual elements I like by themselves. Glad to have some thought put into worldbuilding for example.
Was my first FE. I love it and I'm willing to buy more after this but... I was never in awe of it. It was fun but nothing life changing imo.
Character models looked strange at times. One very annoying thing is the MC's cloak. It looks absolutely terrible because it doesn't move. I didn't even realize why I disliked it so much until the MC was put in Smash where it was actually shown moving in 3D.
Voice acting was okay. For some characters the writing ruined it for me.
Battles were great but after a while non-story missions get stale. The side battles needed more map and music variety. A bit after the middle of my second playthrough I just stopped doing them unless they were character missions.
I disagree about its performance being amazing and I played in handheld mode throughout. The game doesn't look anywhere near good enough to lag the way it does. At times there was very noticeable slowdown when moving the camera.
The OST was fantastic.
I don't think production value was anything spectacular. There are parts of the story (and apparently leftover junk files) that make it very clear that the game was rushed and planned content was cut.
After what I've heard about most of it I'm probably skipping the DLC. It seems that Nintendo is continuing the trend of releasing a pass comprised of a few content releases that should probably be free updates and a meaty one following those later. I'm not paying for it unless it goes on sale somewhere.
Can't disagree about the generation jump bit if you are talking about Pokemon. I didn't play the other game's but FE TH is definitely a home console experience. When comparing it to the old games I can't say the same about Sword and Shield. I'm completely done with that franchise and I'm glad I held off.
Character models looked strange at times. One very annoying thing is the MC's cloak. It looks absolutely terrible because it doesn't move. I didn't even realize why I disliked it so much until the MC was put in Smash where it was actually shown moving in 3D.
Voice acting was okay. For some characters the writing ruined it for me.
Battles were great but after a while non-story missions get stale. The side battles needed more map and music variety. A bit after the middle of my second playthrough I just stopped doing them unless they were character missions.
I disagree about its performance being amazing and I played in handheld mode throughout. The game doesn't look anywhere near good enough to lag the way it does. At times there was very noticeable slowdown when moving the camera.
The OST was fantastic.
I don't think production value was anything spectacular. There are parts of the story (and apparently leftover junk files) that make it very clear that the game was rushed and planned content was cut.
After what I've heard about most of it I'm probably skipping the DLC. It seems that Nintendo is continuing the trend of releasing a pass comprised of a few content releases that should probably be free updates and a meaty one following those later. I'm not paying for it unless it goes on sale somewhere.
Can't disagree about the generation jump bit if you are talking about Pokemon. I didn't play the other game's but FE TH is definitely a home console experience. When comparing it to the old games I can't say the same about Sword and Shield. I'm completely done with that franchise and I'm glad I held off.
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Full voice acting is great and really impressed me. Visually though the production value was anything but high, the environments leave a lot to be desired, the cutscenes are rough, and some of the S Tier support art looks like it was done by folks who had only seen the character portraits once.
The game is huge, almost too big for my liking.
I only played one of the 4 possible stories and played it for like 75 hours lol. I finished the past few games in less then 40 hours and probably 10 more maybe for extra stuff/harder modes. SoV I think took a little more because I did like all the DLC for it, LOVED it!
I only played one of the 4 possible stories and played it for like 75 hours lol. I finished the past few games in less then 40 hours and probably 10 more maybe for extra stuff/harder modes. SoV I think took a little more because I did like all the DLC for it, LOVED it!
Koei Tecmo's writers do get alot of credit for this, and tbh I think its well deserved.
the game does not look good when compared to most games this generation, and I would argue its the only downside of Three Houses. Reads like a jab to me. Or poorly worded praise
First time I read that but it doesn't surprise me, but thanks for bringing it up. The one thing I will say about hte game is I really do think the writing could be even stronger, but they were clearly hampered by the game engine.
I'm really interested in what the writers original vision of this game was, because I do think the writing was easily the strongest point.
Agreed. I'd love to see a version of the game that wasn't hampered by the KT engine or Kusakihara's overambitious route count. Dial it down to 3 routes—maybe even 2; make a handful more maps; polish the plotting so it's not as haphazard; give the lords and antagonists more time to breathe.
As a non-FE player in the past, I bought this and was pleasantly surprised in the 10 or so hours I played.
This thread has me wanting to go back! I'm away from home so have Switch handheld and I've only played docked this far. Is performance good handheld? I also see a lot of DLC. Is there any I should buy tight now or is it stuff you do after beating the main campaign?
This thread has me wanting to go back! I'm away from home so have Switch handheld and I've only played docked this far. Is performance good handheld? I also see a lot of DLC. Is there any I should buy tight now or is it stuff you do after beating the main campaign?
Handheld performance is fine, but it's a bit of a battery drainer. The meat of the DLC season pass is releasing in just a couple days, so it's hard to comment yet on whether it's worth the cost.
If this is in relation to the OP I think it's fair to point out how much more overall value they feel they get out of this compared to another game that made the jump from 3DS to Switch.
IMO there's really no defending Pokemon animations but that's beside the point.
Me too, or at least the option of having it entirely menu based.
On my lite it plays fine, I wouldn't buy the dlc just yet if you're not sure since the campaign is coming out in a few days which is really what would make the pass worth it
Reading this thread is making me feel like I shouldn't bother going back to this game since people seem to think it just becomes a mess. Really enjoyed Awakening but dropped three houses about 8 hours in because it made my anxiety spike with all the choices it gave me.
...? Most of the criticism is aimed at the game's visuals and performance.
The character writing is the best of the entire series by a decent margin, and the narrative—once you piece together the bigger picture from multiple routes—is good, even if some of the plotting is a bit messy.
The voice acting is great. The music is great (if distributed a little unevenly).
It was as many people's GOTY as it was for a reason—third place on Era's GOTY voting, and voted the people's choice at TGA by a huge margin against stiff competition. It's a flawed and overambitious game, to be sure, but very good and worth experiencing nonetheless.
As for anxiety from choices: which ones? Gameplay ones, I assume? Don't worry so much about the micromanagement. The game isn't difficult enough outside of Maddening mode to stress about those things. Just do what you want, and build characters the way you want, and you'll be fine.
The Koei strategy team has never been known for good graphics. However, their many strategy games have been otherwise quite good for decades now. Not only RoTK and Nobunaga Ambition, but also old school games like Genghis Khan and Liberty or Death.
They were a good choice for Fire Emblem.
They were a good choice for Fire Emblem.
It's weird in that I think this story better fit gameplay like Gemfire then pure fire emblem.
Depends on the setting, I felt the hub was great at portraying a hogwarts like feeling to the game but not every fire emblem will be mostly set at a school
People are always praising the soundtrack but i got the impression playing through the game that there was max ten tracks. I found it very repetitive. I miss the PoR / RD approach where maps had a unique theme that was different from the battle theme.