dreamcastgrl
3 reviews liked by dreamcastgrl
God damn this game sucks.
Honestly, you'd be better off playing the first couple of hours, and then watching the rest of the cutscenes on youtube or something if you have any interest in the story at all, because the actual game itself is just not good. It feels like the antithesis to everything fun about Breath of the Wild; exploration and creativity.
They managed to take the most interesting and engaging monsters of BotW and completely change their tone, exclusively for the worse. Strategically maneuvering around a giant ogre, sniping it in the eye, and then wailing on it in BotW feels exciting and rewarding. Landing the timing for rune attack or a weakness-bar break in Age of Calamity feels like an absolute chore.
I know it's a Musou game so it's obviously not fair to compare the two, but I never expected to be actively annoyed at the prospect of fighting a fucking centuar.
On top of that, I don't think there was a single time in my playthrough where there was any reason for me to take control of an enemy base that wasn't deliberately required for me to finish a level. I just couldn't find any degree of depth of any kind here. The most fun I had playing this, just like with every other Musou game, was when I got to execute big, flashy combos on swarms of enemies to wipe them out instantly. It just doesn't feel worth it to me though when the only reason to go out of my way to do that is to build meter in order to kill unfun bosses a little bit faster.
Probably fun if you know you like Musou games, but if you're on the fence just play something else.
Honestly, you'd be better off playing the first couple of hours, and then watching the rest of the cutscenes on youtube or something if you have any interest in the story at all, because the actual game itself is just not good. It feels like the antithesis to everything fun about Breath of the Wild; exploration and creativity.
They managed to take the most interesting and engaging monsters of BotW and completely change their tone, exclusively for the worse. Strategically maneuvering around a giant ogre, sniping it in the eye, and then wailing on it in BotW feels exciting and rewarding. Landing the timing for rune attack or a weakness-bar break in Age of Calamity feels like an absolute chore.
I know it's a Musou game so it's obviously not fair to compare the two, but I never expected to be actively annoyed at the prospect of fighting a fucking centuar.
On top of that, I don't think there was a single time in my playthrough where there was any reason for me to take control of an enemy base that wasn't deliberately required for me to finish a level. I just couldn't find any degree of depth of any kind here. The most fun I had playing this, just like with every other Musou game, was when I got to execute big, flashy combos on swarms of enemies to wipe them out instantly. It just doesn't feel worth it to me though when the only reason to go out of my way to do that is to build meter in order to kill unfun bosses a little bit faster.
Probably fun if you know you like Musou games, but if you're on the fence just play something else.
I have so many thoughts and emotions on this game and its existence that I think I will go insane if I don't share it with someone.
So first, I want to start with the original Fire Emblem Warriors. I was INCREDIBLY excited for it when they first announced it. I had been a Fire Emblem fan for a decent while by that point and I was a fan of the Musou style games. However, one fear I had was how poorly they would actually botch the representation of the games, especially because, at the time, they only cared about Fates and Awakening. Unfortunately, this is exactly what they did. The arguments about Fire Emblem Warriors were relentless. Its series representation was god awful. There was a clear bias. This would've been justified if they were all unique but this game was RIDDLED with clones. Personally, I felt an easy fix would've been to just make the movesets class based (I will get into this in a bit). Popular characters like Ike and Roy were absent because they were "saving them for later entries." Aside from the fact that this was scummy, it is clearly a lie now. Good inclusions like Linde were done for horrible reasons. In her case, it was because the director liked her feet. I am not kidding (I hope this man never gets near this series again). Overall, the way the game and its PR was handled was just... atrocious. I played it later down the line and got it used on sale. I enjoyed parts of it but, it was mostly lifeless and the fanservice parts were weak which was the whole point. The story was also bad which, normally would be justifiable in a game like this but, the fanservice part was so weak it was basically pointless.
Fast forward to the Nintendo direct where this game was announced, I was PISSED. Yes, I very much enjoyed Three Houses, I love the game in fact. This game was just NOT needed though. Plus, combined with my history with the original Fire Emblem Warriors, I was completely bitter. I don't think I have ever been this mad and conflicted at a Nintendo reveal. However, as time went on, I began to lighten up to the game. The more information that came out, the more I was interested and less mad. The bitter feeling still remained but, this game genuinely looked like it was trying to accomplish something with its mechanics and story.
Fast forward again to the demo, I was blown away with how much I actually liked playing the game and was excited for the full release. The positive thoughts I began gathering were proven correct and this wasn't just a basic musou game.
Now that the game is out, I can give my mostly full thoughts.
Story and roster: What do these two things have to do with each other? Well, bare with me. The original Fire Emblem Warriors had a bad story because it brought everyone together for the sake of fanservice. By itself, that is fine but, it failed in the fanservice department so it is way less justified. Because there is a much greater focus (as opposed to series diversity) with the roster here (and personally, I care way more about Three Houses characters than almost all the characters in the original FE Warriors), the story becomes so much better by default. However, it isn't just that that makes it enjoyable. The original Three Houses game, as good as it is, was way too ambitious for its own good at times. This is even more evident with the interviews they did. There were so many interesting story elements and beats they wanted to include but just... couldn't. Three Hopes functions as a way where they can actually implement a lot of interesting things they originally wanted to do. For instance, a lot more with Claude as a character and giving faces and personalities to a lot of important background characters like Holst and Leopold von Bergliez (as a side note: this is one of the things I wanted them to do before the game came out and they did it with so many characters they delivered way more than I thought possible). Plus, by design, Three Houses doesn't have a singular canon route or story so, having a bunch more routes with alternate events taking place makes a lot of sense and is way more justified unlike the insulting mess that was Age of Calamity's story. However, as much as I enjoy the story, 90% of it requires HEAVY context from the original. Edelgard basically makes no sense as a character if you haven't played the original. People saying the story in this is better are straight up just wrong. This story wouldn't work without Three Houses. So, given that, this is clearly for Three Houses fans. With all this, despite the limited roster, Three Hopes more than justifies it with its story that sets out to genuinely try to accomplish something as opposed to the first FE Warriors which just sucked.
Gameplay: It is just a musou game. However, my biggest complaint with the first FE Warriors was the aforementioned clones and lack of roster diversity. However, this game implements a class system (like I said before) PERFECTLY. It is in the same vein as Three Houses and makes it so anyone can have any moveset based on typical Fire Emblem classes. THIS should've been in the original one. Plus, the camp facilities, war maps, and chapter strategies follow a unique form of progression that not only captures the essence of Three Houses but is a significant improvement over the original Fire Emblem Warriors and maybe even the games of this specific genre. Even all this aside, the basic gameplay is just way more fun than the original FE Warriors.
All in all, despite the limitations and my initial anger, I like this game a lot and would highly recommend it to any fans of Three Houses. With said limitations, it still manages to function as a good Fire Emblem fanservice game way more too. It is better than the first FE Warriors in every way. I think they struck gold in terms of making a good musou spinoff with good unique mechanics and a personality of its own. At the time of writing this, I have only gotten towards the end of Scarlet Blaze but, this game is long as hell and I really wanted to get this off my chest and write a review about it. I am still bitter about the first Fire Emblem Warriors ever so slightly but, this satiates it a lot.
EDIT: Finished Scarlet Blaze, same view. If it wasn't for my own personal attachment to the first Hyrule Warriors, I would very easily say this game is the best of its type.
So first, I want to start with the original Fire Emblem Warriors. I was INCREDIBLY excited for it when they first announced it. I had been a Fire Emblem fan for a decent while by that point and I was a fan of the Musou style games. However, one fear I had was how poorly they would actually botch the representation of the games, especially because, at the time, they only cared about Fates and Awakening. Unfortunately, this is exactly what they did. The arguments about Fire Emblem Warriors were relentless. Its series representation was god awful. There was a clear bias. This would've been justified if they were all unique but this game was RIDDLED with clones. Personally, I felt an easy fix would've been to just make the movesets class based (I will get into this in a bit). Popular characters like Ike and Roy were absent because they were "saving them for later entries." Aside from the fact that this was scummy, it is clearly a lie now. Good inclusions like Linde were done for horrible reasons. In her case, it was because the director liked her feet. I am not kidding (I hope this man never gets near this series again). Overall, the way the game and its PR was handled was just... atrocious. I played it later down the line and got it used on sale. I enjoyed parts of it but, it was mostly lifeless and the fanservice parts were weak which was the whole point. The story was also bad which, normally would be justifiable in a game like this but, the fanservice part was so weak it was basically pointless.
Fast forward to the Nintendo direct where this game was announced, I was PISSED. Yes, I very much enjoyed Three Houses, I love the game in fact. This game was just NOT needed though. Plus, combined with my history with the original Fire Emblem Warriors, I was completely bitter. I don't think I have ever been this mad and conflicted at a Nintendo reveal. However, as time went on, I began to lighten up to the game. The more information that came out, the more I was interested and less mad. The bitter feeling still remained but, this game genuinely looked like it was trying to accomplish something with its mechanics and story.
Fast forward again to the demo, I was blown away with how much I actually liked playing the game and was excited for the full release. The positive thoughts I began gathering were proven correct and this wasn't just a basic musou game.
Now that the game is out, I can give my mostly full thoughts.
Story and roster: What do these two things have to do with each other? Well, bare with me. The original Fire Emblem Warriors had a bad story because it brought everyone together for the sake of fanservice. By itself, that is fine but, it failed in the fanservice department so it is way less justified. Because there is a much greater focus (as opposed to series diversity) with the roster here (and personally, I care way more about Three Houses characters than almost all the characters in the original FE Warriors), the story becomes so much better by default. However, it isn't just that that makes it enjoyable. The original Three Houses game, as good as it is, was way too ambitious for its own good at times. This is even more evident with the interviews they did. There were so many interesting story elements and beats they wanted to include but just... couldn't. Three Hopes functions as a way where they can actually implement a lot of interesting things they originally wanted to do. For instance, a lot more with Claude as a character and giving faces and personalities to a lot of important background characters like Holst and Leopold von Bergliez (as a side note: this is one of the things I wanted them to do before the game came out and they did it with so many characters they delivered way more than I thought possible). Plus, by design, Three Houses doesn't have a singular canon route or story so, having a bunch more routes with alternate events taking place makes a lot of sense and is way more justified unlike the insulting mess that was Age of Calamity's story. However, as much as I enjoy the story, 90% of it requires HEAVY context from the original. Edelgard basically makes no sense as a character if you haven't played the original. People saying the story in this is better are straight up just wrong. This story wouldn't work without Three Houses. So, given that, this is clearly for Three Houses fans. With all this, despite the limited roster, Three Hopes more than justifies it with its story that sets out to genuinely try to accomplish something as opposed to the first FE Warriors which just sucked.
Gameplay: It is just a musou game. However, my biggest complaint with the first FE Warriors was the aforementioned clones and lack of roster diversity. However, this game implements a class system (like I said before) PERFECTLY. It is in the same vein as Three Houses and makes it so anyone can have any moveset based on typical Fire Emblem classes. THIS should've been in the original one. Plus, the camp facilities, war maps, and chapter strategies follow a unique form of progression that not only captures the essence of Three Houses but is a significant improvement over the original Fire Emblem Warriors and maybe even the games of this specific genre. Even all this aside, the basic gameplay is just way more fun than the original FE Warriors.
All in all, despite the limitations and my initial anger, I like this game a lot and would highly recommend it to any fans of Three Houses. With said limitations, it still manages to function as a good Fire Emblem fanservice game way more too. It is better than the first FE Warriors in every way. I think they struck gold in terms of making a good musou spinoff with good unique mechanics and a personality of its own. At the time of writing this, I have only gotten towards the end of Scarlet Blaze but, this game is long as hell and I really wanted to get this off my chest and write a review about it. I am still bitter about the first Fire Emblem Warriors ever so slightly but, this satiates it a lot.
EDIT: Finished Scarlet Blaze, same view. If it wasn't for my own personal attachment to the first Hyrule Warriors, I would very easily say this game is the best of its type.
Although Three Hopes is yet another title on the Nintendo Switch in the musou genre, the Fire Emblem twist ensures that the game can easily stand on its own two feet. Where we were initially a little worried that this was just a sop to make the wait for a new traditional Fire Emblem a little more bearable, we were thankfully wrong about that. This is more than just a sop. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a cool Fire Emblem game.
Read the full review here (Dutch):
https://www.budgetgaming.nl/game-review/fire+emblem+warriors:+three+hopes_switch.html
Read the full review here (Dutch):
https://www.budgetgaming.nl/game-review/fire+emblem+warriors:+three+hopes_switch.html