Developer Omega Force works its magic once again with the aid of Intelligent Systems
to deliver another excellent collaboration in the long-running musou genre.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
is perhaps the most faithful attempt yet when it comes to capturing the look
and feel of its source material, moreso even than other recent stand-out entries
like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
It’s so potent at times
that it’s easy to forget that this isn’t a direct follow up to Three Houses,
only brought back down to reality by the real-time combat sequences,
though those do a fair job of maintaining the illusion.
Players seeking more from the world of Three Houses, from the lovable characters
to its core structure of having to select one of three paths,
will find themselves right at home in Three Hopes.
Though it’s only a what-if scenario rather than a proper sequel,
the majority of the events unfold beyond the scope of the original game’s setting at Garreg Mach Monastery.
The story also plays with expectations by introducing a new protagonist,
while simultaneously turning the hero of Three Houses, Byleth,
into your rival and a major antagonist.
It’s like biting into comfort food
or coming home to a warm shower after a long day
as you reunite with the wonderful characters from the Black Eagles,
Golden Deer, and Blue Lions once again.
Everything you could ever want out of a sequel is here and done just as well as before,
with some new additions added to the mix to keep things fresh.
The pure joy of giving gifts, cooking meals, going on expeditions,
and conversing with each and every character feels just as good
as you re-establish old bonds and forge new ones.
Much like Age of Calamity allowed us to finally spend quality time with the champions of Breath of the Wild,
Three Hopes brings together the full breadth of characters from all routes
as well as the Ashen Wolves from the DLC of Three Houses.
It’s the best type of fan service, allowing you to indulge in scenarios
not possible in the original game.
Further complementing the support system is the new base camp
that takes the place of Garreg Mach as your center of operations.
All the familiar trappings return, like the marketplace, the blacksmith, and a training ground
that takes the place of the classroom for leveling up each character’s job.
Yet Three Hopes also leans into the management aspect of your base
by eventually allowing you to accumulate resources to expand each facility as you progress.
You can’t have it all at once, so choosing where to spend your resources
will unlock certain benefits before others, allowing some flexibility.
Some of the new facilities really play into the strategy component, such as the tactics instructor,
who can gradually unlock new abilities for each character,
including healing items and increasing overall stats.
Then there’s the battalion guild, which allows you to hire a group of soldiers
that will grant you an advantage over certain weapon types,
which plays into the series’ established weapon triangle system.
All of these returning and new additions serve to enhance the strategic nature of Three Hopes
as it tries to live up to the lofty expectations of Fire Emblem fans
without feeling overwhelming thanks to a slower rollout
of each new component.
While the narrative, character development, and base management systems all shine brightly,
the question of how missions play out remains paramount.
This is, afterall, a musou game,
and Fire Emblem is known for its turn-based strategy elements.
Three Hopes makes an admirable effort
at capturing the essence of the strategy-filled battles.
Perhaps it’s just the fact that a franchise like Fire Emblem
is better suited to the genre, which is about large scale warfare,
but the action comes across a bit more naturally than in other musou crossovers.
This is largely achieved by the solid integration of aspects of Fire Emblem like
durability serving as a currency used for special attacks
rather than breaking your weapon when depleted.
Blending this with some of the core tenants of musou games, like
issuing commands to individual units, achieves a high degree of real-time strategy.
Not to mention that returning components like the warrior gauge and your awakening
make for flashy, powerful attacks that can quickly turn the tide
and feel incredibly satisfying.
It also helps that the maps and missions are designed in such a way
that they require you to routinely stop and evaluate the situation
and rethink your strategy to address constantly evolving objectives.
Last-second enemy ambushes
or the introduction of multiple new objectives with a hard time limit
can really up the tension.
It’s a solid design that helps sell the strategy angle,
but it never approaches the level of depth offered in a traditional Fire Emblem.
As for the moment-to-moment combat, the caveat to consider here
is that it still boils down to a traditional musou experience, for better or worse.
You can largely get away with button mashing on the easier difficulties,
but given the more rooted nature of Three Hopes,
it feels easier to process and respond appropriately to different enemy types.
It’s clear when a foe is blocking your attack,
or that your weapon is at a disadvantage,
and countering with a suitable action like a guard break
or simply changing to another character with the right weapon comes more naturally.
There are other drawbacks to the combat system, though.
AI controlled units tend to be significantly less competent than you,
and in the early goings,
you find yourself constantly toggling between characters in order to get the job done.
It can feel overwhelming at times, but it eventually gets better
as you can improve the potency of your AI party members
via the tactics instructor.
However, it doesn’t help that by the time this is possible,
the main character feels greatly overpowered compared to other party members,
leading you to heavily lean on them to blaze through most situations.
After the early chapters, you’ll rarely need to swap characters in combat,
unless it’s required by a mission’s rules.
Despite a commendable attempt, the combat system is ultimately the game’s weakest link.
Three Hopes does address several shortcomings that plagued Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
For starters, the horrible load times are no more.
It only takes a few seconds of waiting for a loading screen to pass, which is a marked improvement.
Additionally, technical performance during combat is noticeably better,
especially in the two-player split screen mode
which is virtually unplayable in Age of Calamity.
This holds true even in handheld mode, though the performance does take a slight hit
in comparison to when the Switch is docked.
There are meaningful reasons to come back for seconds,
right down to the fact that you have three separate campaigns
to see how the fates of other characters play out.
However, you may not be so eager to return right away
as the game’s length does wear out its welcome.
A single campaign takes 45 to 50 hours to complete,
and a few of the side missions could have easily been cut to improve the pacing.
Overall though, Omega Force has really outdone themselves
with Three Hopes in terms of capturing the essence of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
It nails so much of what makes Three Houses one of the best entries in the series,
while simultaneously introducing improvements to go beyond the original’s scope.
It would almost be the perfect follow-up if not for the limitations of combat,
which falls a bit short of the mark, despite a sincere endeavor to capture a sense
of those grand turn-based battles.
In spite of these drawbacks, Three Hopes marks another high point for the musou genre,
and stands as one of the team’s better collaborative projects in recent memory.
Final score: 8 out of 10.
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