Fire Emblem: Three Houses Review

Grab your pencils, backpacks, and great axes because we’re going back to school in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Released in July 2019 for Nintendo Switch, the newest entry in the long-running series elects to study what worked from previous efforts and declare a new direction for the franchise.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses offers a new story with branching paths, a reworked combat system, and a unit management system where you play as a school professor. Does it flunk or pass with flying colors?

Story

The story of Three Houses, as the name implies, follows three different paths through the game depending on which house you ally yourself with. The story begins after running into the heads of the three houses and saving them from bandits. They invite the player, named Byleth by default, to Garreg Mach Monastery.

The monastery acts as both the headquarters for the Church of Seiros and an academy for young officers. Surprisingly, the school employs Byleth as a new professor despite lacking any resumé to speak of. From there the player chooses which house to teach and command in battle.

First up is Intro to Demonology, followed by Advanced Pegasus Riding, then PE. Any questions?

Three Houses

The Black Eagles, the Blue Lions, and the Golden Deer comprise the three houses of Fódlan, each led by charismatic young nobles soon to inherit the thrones of their kingdoms.

I sided with the chivalrous Prince Dimitri, a knight in training with piercing blue eyes and a dark past. Knockoff Griffith leads the Blue Lions, an eclectic group of seven kids from his home of Faerghus.

Each of the students of the three houses show different personalities and backstories. Choosing one house over the other can completely change how you play and what characters you interact with, giving the game a ton of replay value.