New Fire Emblem: Three Houses Trailers; Preload Now Available

[NSESN]

#TeamFemHector4lyfe

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She is nothing like hector personality wise

I can't wait to see what the other LGBT options are in this game. Edelgard is pretty much confirmed, and I think one guy so far too.

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Edelgard isnt pretty much confirmed, she was only rumored but we have nothing revealed so far that can confirm or not.

if we are talking rumors

Spoiler

only Lynhardt is said to be a LGBT option for MByleth that is very disappointing

 

[stephbm6]

Pre-Ordered it. I've only played Awakening and got my ass handed too me. Still hyped for it!

 

[Merton]

I wish there was more of a write up from Nintendo, so I can kind of plan which house I want to pick. I'm thinking Golden Deer, because from what I've seen, class is made up of commoners and not royalty, so I'd expect a slightly more "real" storyline and a possible Donnel situation, but who knows.

 

[AlexFlame116]

Kinda wish there was a secret fourth faction you could choose that changes everything story wise.

Sorta like Fates: Revelations.

 

[Completely Anonymous]

Damn, Claude seems a LOT more ruthless in the Japanese trailer ... Hell, all of the leaders do to a point. No idea at all who I'm going to pick now

 

[Disclaimer]

Heh, "High School Romance (of the Three Kingdoms)" would be a good title for the OT. Probably not as good as Hogwarts Mirage Sessions.

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Garreg Mach School of Waifucraft and Husbandry

 

[NSESN]

I would prefer no waifu/husband or similar terms in the name, the games and the fanbase already have enough stigma as it is
Hogwarts puns is something I would like.

 

[Ninjadom]

Hmmm. I'm on the fence with this game.

I've played and loved the traditional 2D Fire Emblem's from GBA and I love Fire Emblem Heroes on my phone. But I've never played a full scale "epic" version yet.

Is it worth it...? This whole school setting isn't really speaking to me right now but the game should be massive.

 

[Soilbreaker]

Only three weeks left...

" I wish you good fortune in the three houses wars to come"

 

[Disclaimer]

Hmmm. I'm on the fence with this game.

I've played and loved the traditional 2D Fire Emblem's from GBA and I love Fire Emblem Heroes on my phone. But I've never played a full scale "epic" version yet.

Is it worth it...? This whole school setting isn't really speaking to me right now but the game should be massive.

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It looks to be an extremely good entry! The school setting only accounts for the first portion of the game, after that there's a time jump and it's usual Fire Emblem warfare.

It's also borrowing some battle mechanics from FEH, such as repositioning and AoE effects.

 

[Dee Dee]

Hmmm. I'm on the fence with this game.

I've played and loved the traditional 2D Fire Emblem's from GBA and I love Fire Emblem Heroes on my phone. But I've never played a full scale "epic" version yet.

Is it worth it...? This whole school setting isn't really speaking to me right now but the game should be massive.

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Whether it's "worth it" is a very loaded question, depending on what you enjoy most about Fire Emblem Heroes and the GBA ones. There's elements that will differ for sure, so that depends on how you feel about these certain elements.
The school setting is more of a way to skin your training hub, but I'm not gonna lie, there's likely some anime-as-fvck dumb dialogue going with that, so I can understand if that holds you off from playing it.
Do you read the story in Fire Emblem Heroes? I guess if you didn't gauge your eyes out from that already, you'll be fine.

While all they show off is the school setting, the meat of the game is still the battle gameplay. The reason we don't see as much of that is likely that it doesn't demo as interestingly as the hub stuff in the school which lets you show off the characters and all the elements.
Here's some gameplay (I used a timestamp to jump to the battle) which you might want to check to see what you'll actually be doing 80 % of the game:

 

[Deleted member 2340]

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For a game like this where battles are slower than turn base battles and they are introducing day to day teaching mechanics along with bonding events I'm impressed it didn't take that person longer to beat the game.

 

[Renteka-Bond]

Super on the fence about this one. The Last one I really loved was Sacred Stones and Awakening and Fates really turned me off. I wanted to like Echoes, but two of the biggest factors that turned me off of that game is prevalent here: lack of Weapon triangle and busywork.

Between the lack of a Weapon Triangle and the school/stat sim management at the beginning, it seems like this is just more and more going in a direction I don't like (I also don't like the Avatar stuff, as I always preferred shipping the characters amongst themselves and don't like that I, as a player, are put into the mix). This game has me torn because I really want to be into it, but I feel like this one is probably the last straw on whether I can stay interested in the series going forward.

For what it's worth, I'm glad they brought durability back and I think the squad actions are interesting, but they don't feel very Fire Emblem to me (notably because of my own inherent biases, I'm aware).

Also, is it confirmed that you can turn off Squads joining in battle animations? I like the 1 v 1 nature of the fights.

 

[SaidTheTickTockMan]

- IntSys is still baffled by Awakening's success, considering the company did not change its design philosophy for overseas audiences to enjoy the game.

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Was it well known that this was intsys's reaction to Awakening's international success? This is honestly very funny to me... like as far as IntSys knows, Awakening largely succeeded overseas due to witchcraft.
(I'm guessing the actual reason Awakening succeeded when others didn't is good timing).

 

[NSESN]

Was it well known that this was intsys's reaction to Awakening's international success? This is honestly very funny to me... like as far as IntSys knows, Awakening largely succeeded overseas due to witchcraft.
(I'm guessing the actual reason Awakening succeeded when others didn't is good timing).

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They couldn't just ask NoA for info? They really have no communication with NoA? Or they just don't care?

 

[Ogodei]

I've enjoyed fire emblem since awakening but this game seems like it's complicated as hell. Still have it preordered but I have a feeling I'm in for some schooling myself

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I imagine it's simpler than it seems. FE games have often experimented with systems that were completely superfluous to the core gameplay, like biorhythm in the Tellius games or most of the castle customizations in Fates. The schedule system for the school-days period of the game seems like it will give you more of a chance to explore things like fishing and gardening, but that those will ultimately be about minmaxing around the edges of the important things, which will be about weapon and class proficiency and building bonds between characters.

 

[ILikeFeet]

They couldn't just ask NoA for info? They really have no communication with NoA? Or they just don't care?

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I think they mean they don't know what specific decision led to the game's success when they just made a FE game like they always had

 

[BZL8]

They couldn't just ask NoA for info? They really have no communication with NoA? Or they just don't care?

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The excerpt in question:

"To tell you the truth, it was a very big surprise," Three Houses director at Intelligent Systems Toshiyuki Kusakihara says of Awakening's success. "To tell you more, I can say… I honestly still don't understand why it was such a success, as we didn't realize – we didn't make any change to our philosophy to make Awakening be liked outside Japan.

"I still don't understand why it's so popular," he adds with a laugh. "It's strange."

Strange, yes, but also fortunate. Awakening's success secured Fire Emblem a place as one of Nintendo's most prestigious series', which in turn has led to its big-budget return to consoles. Kusakihara says that Awakening's legacy runs deep – right through to the team now being more aware of their Western audience and their tastes when developing a new title.

"When making games, it's really difficult to be loved by everyone. But it's easier to start thinking 'what should I do not to be disliked by everyone' – this way of thinking is easier," Kusakihara muses when asked about the team's approach to design. Through this, he says, the hope is that taking the series' newfound Western audience into account won't change what has historically made Fire Emblem great.

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I think where IntSys gets confused about Awakening's success was that they didn't change their normal design philosophy on the series for Awakening.

 

[Dee Dee]

I think they mean they don't know what specific decision led to the game's success when they just made a FE game like they always had

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That was literally the first game in the series where permadeath was optional, so "like they always had" doesn't even begin to describe it.
Also, good marketing push, fresh new character design (coming from Shadow Dragon), costumizable (POTENTIALLY FEMALE) avatar, solid voice actors and cutscenes - the game had so much more going for it, and they don't know what they did different? Nah.

 

[Neoleo2143]

That was literally the first game in the series where permadeath was optional, so "like they always had" doesn't even begin to describe it.
Also, good marketing push, fresh new character design (coming from Shadow Dragon), costumizable (POTENTIALLY FEMALE) avatar, solid voice actors and cutscenes - the game had so much more going for it, and they don't know what they did different? Nah.

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Second game for most of those things.

 

[Lelouch0612]

That was literally the first game in the series where permadeath was optional, so "like they always had" doesn't even begin to describe it.
Also, good marketing push, fresh new character design (coming from Shadow Dragon), costumizable (POTENTIALLY FEMALE) avatar, solid voice actors and cutscenes - the game had so much more going for it, and they don't know what they did different? Nah.

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And a demo.

The Awakening demo was hugely successful iirc.

 

[Disclaimer]

Between the lack of a Weapon Triangle and the school/stat sim management at the beginning

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The weapon triangle is still in the game. It's just tied to passive skill level abilities units learn and equip by increasing their skill proficiencies. Example:

Swordbreaker - Grants Hit and Avoid +20 when equipped with Lance and foe is equipped with Sword - Lance B

As for the school / management aspect of the game: you're able to automate it if you wish, and go almost battle-to-battle as in older games.

I doubt you can turn off battalions' animations; however, you'll certainly be able to turn off animations entirely, as per usual. And given that units use the same models on the map as they do in battles, I could see that making units do a quicker version of the same animation, just on the map and maybe without visible battalions.

 

[BZL8]

That was literally the first game in the series where permadeath was optional, so "like they always had" doesn't even begin to describe it.
Also, good marketing push, fresh new character design (coming from Shadow Dragon), costumizable (POTENTIALLY FEMALE) avatar, solid voice actors and cutscenes - the game had so much more going for it, and they don't know what they did different? Nah.

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New Mystery of the Emblem says hello regarding Permadeath and Avatars.
EDIT: Ninja'd.

 

[Dee Dee]

New Mystery of the Emblem says hello regarding Permadeath and Avatars.
EDIT: Ninja'd.

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If they released that in the west, then maybe that would have been a surprise success as well, lol.

 

[BZL8]

If they released that in the west, then maybe that would have been a surprise success as well, lol.

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Perhaps they would if Shadow Dragon DS didn't bomb.

 

[NSESN]

The excerpt in question:

I think where IntSys gets confused about Awakening's success was that they didn't change their normal design philosophy on the series for Awakening.

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But NoA changed how they approached the series. That is why I am calling out IS communication with them

 

[Blackquill]

Kinda worried about the longevity of this game, I don't want it to be filled with too much bloat

Super on the fence about this one. The Last one I really loved was Sacred Stones and Awakening and Fates really turned me off. I wanted to like Echoes, but two of the biggest factors that turned me off of that game is prevalent here: lack of Weapon triangle and busywork.

Between the lack of a Weapon Triangle and the school/stat sim management at the beginning, it seems like this is just more and more going in a direction I don't like (I also don't like the Avatar stuff, as I always preferred shipping the characters amongst themselves and don't like that I, as a player, are put into the mix). This game has me torn because I really want to be into it, but I feel like this one is probably the last straw on whether I can stay interested in the series going forward.

For what it's worth, I'm glad they brought durability back and I think the squad actions are interesting, but they don't feel very Fire Emblem to me (notably because of my own inherent biases, I'm aware).

Also, is it confirmed that you can turn off Squads joining in battle animations? I like the 1 v 1 nature of the fights.

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Weapon triangle is not as important as you may think

 

[Deleted member 32106]

But NoA changed how they approached the series. That is why I am calling out IS communication with them

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IS is 3rd party, maybe they can't.

 

[Mediking]

Best Switch game incoming

 

[ILikeFeet]

But NoA changed how they approached the series. That is why I am calling out IS communication with them

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That's not something IS really needs to be coordinated on. It's not just NA, but even in Japan the series saw a surge in popularity

 

[BZL8]

But NoA changed how they approached the series. That is why I am calling out IS communication with them

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The series saw a jump in Japan as well. Don't think communication with NoA is as big a factor in Awakening's success.
EDIT: Ninja'd, again!

 

[B-Dubs]

Someone freeze me in stasis for the next three weeks

 

[DPT120]

Looks good. Can't wait!

 

[NSESN]

That's not something IS really needs to be coordinated on. It's not just NA, but even in Japan the series saw a surge in popularity

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The surge wasnt that big, the series sold more than past titles but not more than the SNES titles, such that FE3 is still the biggest seller there
anyway I was mostly talking about this quote

we didn't make any change to our philosophy to make Awakening be liked outside Japan.

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[知らぬ]

sry

 

[DecoReturns]

Someone freeze me in stasis for the next three weeks

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Use your Sheikah Slate, Link!

 

[NSESN]

The series saw a jump in Japan as well. Don't think communication with NoA is as big a factor in Awakening's success.
EDIT: Ninja'd, again!

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I am not saying communication with NoA is a factor, I am saying that if they communicated with NoA they would have a clue of why the series exploded in the west

IS is 3rd party, maybe they can't.

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FE still has Nintendo doing some part of the development, and Nintendo internal studios absolutely have plenty of power to communicate with NoA

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

This game just looks really garbo to me. I'll probably still get it but yeesh, the character designs especially are just barfing.

 

[Xavi]

 

[Renteka-Bond]

The weapon triangle is still in the game. It's just tied to passive skill level abilities units learn and equip by increasing their skill proficiencies. Example:

Swordbreaker - Grants Hit and Avoid +20 when equipped with Lance and foe is equipped with Sword - Lance B

As for the school / management aspect of the game: you're able to automate it if you wish, and go almost battle-to-battle as in older games.

I doubt you can turn off battalions' animations; however, you'll certainly be able to turn off animations entirely, as per usual. And given that units use the same models on the map as they do in battles, I could see that making units do a quicker version of the same animation, just on the map and maybe without visible battalions.

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I do recall hearing about that in the Treehouse footage, I believe, and while it's not ideal for me, it's a middle ground, so fair enough.

I heard about the speed up system on the Class section as well, but with so much of the character development tied to it, I dunno. I guess my biggest qualm is about how big the contrast in development is from the school segment to the 'real' game after the time skip. The GBA fire Emblem games weren't prefect or even great by any means, but since most side characters got equal treatment through having the same setup of C-A/S supports, who and how you chose to learn about them felt more equivalent, but was only tied into the singular game mechanic. The worst of it was stalling out on Throne levels to finish supports at the end of levels.

I'd understand if they didn't have the option, but I kind of hope they do. The 3d animations are finally getting really good, so I'd love to have it more insular to just the important units, as I don't care for the generic mooks, tbh.

Weapon triangle is not as important as you may think

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It's important to me. The lack of a weapon/magic triangle system turned Echoes from the strategy game I liked to an RPG that I didn't and ruined the game for me.

 

[BZL8]

I am not saying communication with NoA is a factor, I am saying that if they communicated with NoA they would have a clue of why the series exploded in the west

FE still has Nintendo doing some part of the development, and Nintendo internal studios absolutely have plenty of power to communicate with NoA

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They most likely have communicated or have inquired about the success and Western consumer reactions regarding the series, otherwise Kusakihara wouldn't have talked about the series perspective in the West in the article. But that doesn't mean they still can't continue to be baffled by how successful Awakening was. Considering how the usual tactical-turn-based RPG genre and pre-Awakening Fire Emblem was niche, I think their surprise is pretty-well justified.

 

[DecoReturns]

I am not saying communication with NoA is a factor, I am saying that if they communicated with NoA they would have a clue of why the series exploded in the west

FE still has Nintendo doing some part of the development, and Nintendo internal studios absolutely have plenty of power to communicate with NoA

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I think you're taking that quote at face value.

I read it as they know why it successful but they're still surprised it blew up as much as it did.

 

[theprodigy]

It's important to me. The lack of a weapon/magic triangle system turned Echoes from the strategy game I liked to an RPG that I didn't and ruined the game for me.

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....SoV's gameplay doesn't suck because of lack of a weapon triangle, in most games you really just ignore it when playing tbh

 

[Neoleo2143]

It's important to me. The lack of a weapon/magic triangle system turned Echoes from the strategy game I liked to an RPG that I didn't and ruined the game for me.

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It's still there but as part of the skill system than as a universal mechanic. The squad mechanics are the new core system that they want to push in battles.

 

[ILikeFeet]

The surge wasnt that big, the series sold more than past titles but not more than the SNES titles, such that FE3 is still the biggest seller there
anyway I was mostly talking about this quote

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SNES was such a long time ago. And Japan wasn't going to save the series being put on ice

 

[DecoReturns]

I do recall hearing about that in the Treehouse footage, I believe, and while it's not ideal for me, it's a middle ground, so fair enough.

I heard about the speed up system on the Class section as well, but with so much of the character development tied to it, I dunno. I guess my biggest qualm is about how big the contrast in development is from the school segment to the 'real' game after the time skip. The GBA fire Emblem games weren't prefect or even great by any means, but since most side characters got equal treatment through having the same setup of C-A/S supports, who and how you chose to learn about them felt more equivalent, but was only tied into the singular game mechanic. The worst of it was stalling out on Throne levels to finish supports at the end of levels.

I'd understand if they didn't have the option, but I kind of hope they do. The 3d animations are finally getting really good, so I'd love to have it more insular to just the important units, as I don't care for the generic mooks, tbh.



It's important to me. The lack of a weapon/magic triangle system turned Echoes from the strategy game I liked to an RPG that I didn't and ruined the game for me.

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There's more strategy in Echoes without the Weapon Triangle then with it in Sacred Stones.

Besides. I believe echoes weapons function differently as it's integrated into its skill system. The Weapon Triangle in previous games rarely added much to the strategy in the GBA titles.

 

[xendless]

I didn't buy Fates because of the game split, very glad all the houses are included in one game

 

[BZL8]

I didn't buy Fates because of the game split, very glad all the houses are included in one game

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Funny how the developers consider Three Houses to be three games in one.

 

[NSESN]

I think class balance is more important than weapon balance for strategy
It seems they are nerfing Paladins and Fliers in this game but I am not sure if it will be enough, Fortress(Generals) still looks to be bad

 

[Enduin]

Costume design is really a miss for me the more I look closely at the various classes. They're visually uninteresting and just drab for the most part and look like a hodgepodge of inconsistent designs. Magic users especially are boring as fuck. While Awakening/Fates was a bit problematic and pandery with it's sheer, tight outfits for Dark Mages, they were striking and unique nonetheless and even normal mages had some cool flair to them with the hats and capes and stuff in Awakening, while Fates especially really benefited a ton thanks to Hoshido and the infusion of Japanese inspired armors and outfits.

Visually this game continues to be quite underwhelming for me while everything else looks pretty good to great. Really hope they do something a lot more unique and striking for the next game. Introduce some more cultures and regions to the series. The generic medieval Europe thing is getting boring and is a really limited world view. Europe alone had way more going on and other cultures like Moorish Spain, North Africa, Middle East and so on were right there as well and are ripe for inclusion.