Fire Emblem: Three Houses Reviews
Intelligent Systems tactical role-playing game looks and plays swell on Switch, but it also lowers the stakes of this stressful series
It is strange to talk about pacing and bloat and a slow-moving plot when the turn-based battles are built on a foundation of ‘taking your time to make the right move’. But in adding so much and painting on such a large canvas, it’s hard not to eventually feel a little lost or stuck in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a great title that is weighed down by a technical section that is too poor for the system it is on. If it were more updated in this regard, we would undoubtedly talk about a contender for the game of the year.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
An engaging story and superb battle system keeps you coming back hour after hour, but Three Houses suffers from a lack of variety in the RPG sections.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is an excellent management title that catches you by the variety and depth of the gameplay. Although its main value is to allow the player to control so many factors in a simple and intuitive way, he perfects the formula with a very varied and complex narrative. In addition, it is one of the greatest exponents of turn-based combat games, since its battles have a learning curve suitable for engaging us for long hours. On the other hand, aesthetically has little to be ashamed of, since the really important sections are solved in a brilliant way like the CGI or the character design. Undoubtedly, a video game that requires dedication, but in return gives great doses of joy that result in many hours of deep management and exciting fighting.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is the newest entry in the critically acclaimed Tactic-RPG-Series. It invents a few o fit core mechanics new and introduces a whole new part. The former round based tactic adventure now comes with a complete schoolsim.
Review in German | Read full review
Despite a lack of difficulty, Fire Emblem: Three Houses delivers one of the best games in a franchise with some already.
The biggest Fire Emblem yet, the newest console entry delivers on tactical warfare as much as it does on story telling. With three different routes to go down, a large school to explore and so many characters to talk to Three Houses sets the new standard in the genre of strategic RPGs – and a high one it is.
Review in German | Read full review
I could honestly spend a while explaining all the mechanics in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and probably not touch on everything. What is important is to understand what you're getting into. It's not a simple game or one that is overly combat driven like Disgaea. You can easily go hours without seeing a battlefield and then agonize about arguably tedious mechanics. This isn't to say it's a bad game, I'd say anything but, it's just important to understand it isn't meant for everyone and that is alright.
Demanding lap strategy, loveable characters and great story. But you have to like the social simulation.
Review in German | Read full review
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of the greatest chapter of the series. With a deep and elaborate gameplay, this new episode represents another extraordinary game avaliable only on Nintendo Switch.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you’ve had a Fire Emblem-shaped hole in your heart till now, Fire Emblem: Three Houses will leave you breathless, sleepless, and eager for more. I know I’ll be lost in this new world for months to come.
The most ambitious and cared-for episode of the franchise to date
Review in Italian | Read full review
Fire Emblem Three Houses succeeds in breaking with the past, remaining faithful to its roots.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is even more approachable than its predecessors. The game includes a lot of diverse activities, and because of that it never feels repetitive. All the game asks of you is a little bit of patience.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Fire Emblem: Three Houses manages to instil plenty of lovely features that make the experience worthwhile. It’s one of the most robust strategy JRPGs I’ve played in a long time, with mechanics and limited resources that encourage you to strategize to the fullest. It has a sweeping orchestral soundtrack that dynamically shifts as you go in and out of combat, leading to some engrossing battles. Plus, the narrative and characters are some of the strongest showings the series has seen to date.
At first, I honestly thought Fire Emblem: Three Houses was going to get a perfect score. There’s a lot of great stuff here, both old and new. Unfortunately, a few minor issues coupled with an ultimately disappointing story kept it from those lofty heights. That said, I’m still very impressed with the game. I spent about 48 hours to beat my Blue Lions campaign, and you can multiply that by 3 to fully beat the game. Then there’s New Game+ which lets you get through the game faster and bring over hard to get items with you. If that wasn’t enough, there’s cool features such as finding spirits that provide weapons and extra experience when you play the game while connected to the internet. And that’s not even talking about the DLC and amiibo functionality. When you factor all those in, you get a lot of game for $59.99. I’m happy I was able to play this latest Fire Emblem, even if it stops short of being perfect. Even then, this easily might be the best Fire Emblem game in a decade. If you’re a returning fan or just like strategy RPGs, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
During the whole time I was accompanied by a great and exciting story, beautiful visuals and pleasant music. The activities often took turns, and I always felt I was getting enough rewards for them. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a terrific piece in the series and will entertain you for tens of hours.
Review in Czech | Read full review
The simulation elements and new concepts in combat add a welcome twist to Nintendo’s typical formula that makes for a compelling cycle of tutoring and tactics.