I leave Three Hopes feeling a bit more disappointed than I was with the original FE Warriors. The game looks noticeably better than Three Houses did on the same system, and there are certainly some areas where the developers put care into the game, but Scarlet Blaze is a story without a resolution, and the reclassing system (pretty much lifted straight out of Three Houses) coupled with a lack of class variety makes for fairly same-y movesets across characters throughout the game (besides the few blessed with unique personal classes).

Structurally, I think this game would've benefited from FEW's format - an exceedingly short main scenario with "postgame" challenges to max out each character and their unique weapon making up the bulk of the runtime for those really into the Musou gameplay. As it is though, Three Hopes pads its story's length with numerous skirmishes that offer no real challenge or interest beyond "you should use lances/swords/bows on this map" and "you should use tomes/axes/gauntlets on this one" stringing you along to each chapter's main battle. It basically becomes busywork as each chapter offers more and more skirmishes before it allows you to continue with the story.

My enjoyment of this game would perhaps be have been higher if I'd been able to play it with another person, but as it is, my only real points of praise are that I continue to enjoy the Three Houses cast, and it was neat to be able to use Jeralt for once.

Reviewed on Apr 07, 2024


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