Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a fantastic musou game that fans of Three Houses will want to check out. There’s a ton of content present, and while the technical performance is inconsistent, the variety of mechanics and strong core gameplay make this a must-play for genre fans and newcomers.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
Developer: Koei Tecmo and Nintendo
Price: $60
Platform: Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
MonsterVine was provided with a Switch code for review
Fire Emblem rules, and musou games rule, so that’s got to be a good combo, right? As a big Fire Emblem guy who loves a good Warriors game, I was quite ready for Three Hopes. It has proven to not only be an excellent musou game, but a refreshingly unique Fire Emblem spinoff as well. Throw in an alternate timeline story based on Three Houses, and you have an awesome experience for fans of either aspect of the game.
The base gameplay of Three Hopes is your standard musou fare. Pick a few characters, plow through hordes of enemies on a map, and capture territories while defeating boss characters. There are a ton of different characters to play as, with each route having its own students to use. Everyone plays remarkably differently in ways that suit their characters from Three Houses, making the process of decimating armies of foes more fun than ever. You can get different weapons, battalions, and equipment to make your characters more powerful, which is good for those who prefer customizability in their units.
The way that Three Hopes incorporates Fire Emblem mechanics into the Warriors framework is impressive, with everything from permadeath (exclusively in Classic mode) to social links are implemented into the experience, and they mix with the horde-slashing gameplay quite well. Outside of battle, you can do chores, eat meals, or give gifts to other people to boost your social links.
Then you can train, buy items, and improve your base to get better and better benefits. Promoting through different classes works in the same way, so you can make obscenely powerful (and cool-looking) units as you would in the mainline games. You can even recruit other houses’ characters mid-battle, which alters dialogue later in the game. This dedication to the core tenets of Fire Emblem is admirable, and acts as a boon for Three Hopes.
“With so many different story threads, character links, and playstyles to experience, you’re not likely to run out of content anytime soon.“
I mentioned in my preview of Three Hopes that making Byleth, the avatar character of Three Houses, into the antagonist was an excellent idea. Seeing this different perspective adds a lot to the story of Three Hopes, as it helps immediately establish Byleth as a real threat given your knowledge of his/her powers.
Plus, there are three different routes, each with its own primary characters and stories, which add a ridiculous amount of playtime to Three Hopes. With so many different story threads, character links, and playstyles to experience, you’re not likely to run out of content anytime soon.
The main problem with Three Hopes is that it sometimes struggles on the Switch. It could be the large swathes of enemies for the most part, but sometimes even regular cutscenes lead to stutters. It can be a bit distracting, though it’s not game-breaking.
The art style is excellent, and the new character designs are just different enough to remain recognizable and still look new and cool. The music is excellent, as one should expect from anything related to Fire Emblem. There are remade tracks from Three Houses as well as the main Fire Emblem theme, making for a varied but exciting soundtrack. The voice acting is equally solid, with the cast from Three Houses coming back and giving these alternate versions of their characters familiar but distinct voices.
The Final Word
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is without a doubt one of the strongest musou titles to date. It has a huge bounty of content, a unique story, and classic Warriors gameplay. It suffers a bit on the Switch, which is disappointing, but it’s still an excellent entry into both the Warriors series and Fire Emblem.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
