The Fire Emblem series debuted in Japan in 1990 on the Famicom (known in the West as the Nintendo Entertainment System). However, it wasn’t until 2004, with the Game Boy Advance release, that developer Intelligent Systems’ compelling blend of strategy and role-playing reached international audiences. Since then, the series’ popularity has grown substantially. Intelligent Systems had previously introduced themselves to Western gamers with the acclaimed, though perhaps somewhat underappreciated, Advance Wars on the GBA. That title combined accessible strategy with surprising depth in its rules and mechanics. Fire Emblem retains the turn-based strategic elements, and in the Switch-exclusive Fire Emblem: Three Houses, augments it with social interaction and relationship-building components.
As the silent protagonist (players can choose to play as a male or female character), you soon find yourself among a group of young warriors representing three distinct “houses” (kingdoms) within the fantasy world of Fódlan. Your initial task involves selecting one of these “three houses” to lead, assuming the role of instructor at the Garreg Mach Monastery. What follows is a narrative that unfolds with deliberate pacing, reminiscent of a detective story, interwoven with a character-driven drama that resonates surprisingly well.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is an expansive and content-rich experience. Players can easily invest 60 hours or more, particularly if they dedicate themselves to both the strategic battles and the social aspects. Relationship-building involves interacting with students, fostering bonds through shared meals, and assisting them in resolving personal challenges. Each student (and the roster is substantial, considering the three houses) possesses a distinct personality, aspirations, and appearance. Over time, you can recruit students to your house, similar to Hogwarts, or even engage in romantic relationships by offering appropriate gifts based on their interests. This element is reminiscent of another exceptional JRPG focused on time management and relationships: Persona 5.
Navigating the school and completing tasks can initially feel somewhat disorganized, as the map lacks dynamic movement. However, players will quickly become familiar with the school’s layout and learn to interpret the map effectively. Fire Emblem: Three Houses presents a wealth of menus and options; while most features unlock progressively, the sheer volume of content can be initially overwhelming. Some aspects may require experimentation due to less-than-explicit explanations. This leads to our first criticism of an otherwise well-designed and moderately challenging game: given the reliance on text and menus, the font size is excessively small for the Switch’s screen, especially in handheld mode. This issue is often observed in third-party ports, but it also affects this first-party AAA title from Nintendo. Even with sharp eyesight, a dedicated text mode allowing for adjustable font sizes is needed for portable play. The difficulty in deciphering text and identifying small, interactive objects around the school is unnecessarily frustrating. In an era focused on accessibility for players with disabilities, this design choice is a significant oversight.
The game features two difficulty settings, primarily influencing the intelligence of enemy AI during battles. Players can also choose between Classic and Casual modes, with the latter disabling permanent character death. However, the inclusion of “Divine Pulse”—a generous mechanic allowing players to rewind time by a limited number of moves— diminishes the emotional investment in characters if perma-death is disabled. The Divine Pulse mechanic already provides a safety net. The characters you encounter possess both strengths and weaknesses, and you gradually develop a deep understanding of their personalities. This makes battles significantly more impactful, as the potential loss of a student carries considerable weight.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses offers a balanced experience, dividing its gameplay between social interaction and exploration, and strategic combat. The strategy component has also been refined, moving beyond the traditional rock-paper-scissors system to incorporate probability-based predictions for attack outcomes. This adds excitement and variety; while luck isn’t the sole determinant, witnessing a beloved character narrowly evade a fatal blow is particularly thrilling. Intelligent Systems collaborated with Atlus (the Persona studio) and Koei (known for their musou games, such as Dynasty Warriors) to balance these elements. Investing a few hours into the game will likely lead to complete immersion in the story and strategic gameplay. While the blend of genres may not appeal to everyone, players who find one aspect less engaging can utilize the auto-play feature. While auto-play yields acceptable results, manual control offers superior outcomes. Nonetheless, the option exists to experience the game primarily as a strategy title or a relationship/teacher simulator.
From a presentation standpoint, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is adequate. The anime cutscenes are visually appealing, but the graphics can appear somewhat low-resolution on a high-resolution 4K TV, exhibiting noticeable aliasing. The visuals are softer in portable mode, but the frame rate unfortunately suffers, particularly in the monastery’s resource-intensive garden area. The audio quality is good with headphones, but the surround sound mix can occasionally sound echoey and tinny on a home cinema system. This may stem from the way the soundtrack’s information is processed by the amplifier, resulting in an inaccurate sense of spatial positioning. Overall, the presentation is acceptable, even if it isn’t the game’s strongest aspect. The series has never looked or sounded better than it does on the Switch (the series is Nintendo-exclusive, but is also available in a mobile version for iOS and Android). A questionable design choice is the silent protagonist; while other characters have fully voiced dialogue, your character only communicates through text and pantomime. This feels somewhat incongruous. The intent may be to allow players to imagine their own voice for the character, but this approach is rarely successful in modern games.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is an impressive and deeply engaging title, provided players can overcome the initial learning curve. It rewards patient players handsomely and offers a compelling narrative that warrants multiple playthroughs, ideally as the leader of each house, to fully experience the game’s breadth. This translates to nearly 200 hours of gameplay, making Fire Emblem: Three Houses one of the most cost-effective entertainment options of this generation. Nintendo’s exclusive Switch releases are relatively infrequent, but consistently high in quality. Three Houses is another essential addition to the collection for fans of the genre. We now hope for a patch to address the font size issue in portable mode!
