Fire Emblem: Three Houses is yet another smash hit for the Nintendo Switch. While it is super easy to pigeonhole this game into a turn-based strategy game, but it is so much more than that. You have to work relationships, deal with people and you will grow attached to many of the game’s characters.
How to Download Fire Emblem: Three Houses
You can download the game from the Nintendo Store. And if you like JPRGs check out also our review of Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom.
The Game Review
The story of the game is epic in every sense of the word. I really cannot do justice all the twists and turns that the story has. However, the basics of it are that you are a bit of a mercenary who one day ends up coming across three teens, each of whom is the head of a house at the Garreg Mach Monastery. You eventually end up as a professor here and everything is not as it seems.
The start of the story is kind of weird, but I found myself absolutely hooked on what was happening. The people that you are training to fight are your students after all so when they fall in battle it has a rather hard-hitting effect. You are easily looking at 70 hours for your first playthrough. That though is not enough to see all of the side stories through to their end!
At first Fire Emblem: Three Houses can be a very daunting and overwhelming game. It asks of you not just to take part in turn-based battles, but training your troops, organizing them, dealing with relationships and much more! No part of the game is underdeveloped and you have to have your attention on many different things at once.
Training your students is a lot of fun and there is also a lot of strategy at play here. One of the main “thing” in terms of the turn-based gameplay is the Combat Arts. These are tied to a certain type of weapon and when used right and against the right kind of enemy they can give you a real boost. Getting this mechanic down is really essential to progressing through the game.
Another part of battles that I really enjoyed making use of was the battalions. Having a mini-army that you can send in to kick some ass is very satisfying indeed. The game does have different difficulty levels and on the lower difficulty, you do not have to micromanage to as much. On the higher ones though, making the right choices when it comes to your battalions and Combat Arts is essential.
In all honesty, it is really impossible to do a game like Fire Emblem: Three Houses justice in a quick review. Just know that if you like turn-based strategy games and games that have an exceptionally strong story, you will love this. It is very deep, it does demand a lot of your time, but this is a game that really does pretty much get every aspect of it perfect.
One thing that many reviews are not praising high enough for me is the visuals. This is a fantastic looking game. The last Fire Emblem game on the Nintendo 3DS looked great, but everything here is so much grander. Being able to look at a battle and see more detail really does help get you more invested into what is going on.
Without a doubt Fire Emblem: Three Houses is going to be on many games of the year lists. It is incredibly well made, offers a fun and challenging experience and is one of the best stories of any game in 2019. If you have a Nintendo Switch, this is a game that has to be in your collection.
