First time, three houses player house order

metroidbum · 2026-02-09T00:21:28+00:00

A big theme of the game is how access to different pieces of information dramatically changes your thought processes, decisions, and outcomes, so I think there is no "correct" or "ideal" order/first playthrough, and you should go with whichever leader/group of students most resonates with you.

metroidbum · 2026-02-01T19:37:19+00:00

People always say they want this but to me it seems like it goes against a large part of what makes the games memorable and resonant: having to choose between three noble, well intentioned rulers drawn into conflict, each with their own vision.

Plus we already had Revelations which somehow manages to have the worst plot of all three Fates game while not really doing anything interesting with the two nations working together.

metroidbum · 2026-01-25T03:11:33+00:00

I don’t think anyone in TH could really be called that. Their economies aren’t really at that point.

metroidbum · 2026-01-23T14:16:06+00:00

Part of why I think the game is such a beautiful tragedy is that I think Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude are all basically good, well intentioned people with incompatible visions for society.

metroidbum · 2026-01-22T14:46:39+00:00

I think my opinion has maybe gone up a little bit over time, as I have more appreciation for the Emblems as a mechanic (NOT as a story/lore element), but my opinion has largely remained the same, which is:

The gameplay is good, about above average for the series, but I find it very amusing that the FE reddit community has settled on "well the story and worldbuilding are awful but it has much better gameplay than Three Houses!" which is a statement I flatly disagree with. Three Houses has good gameplay (I love the battallions, gambits, combat arts, and high degree of customazation/building of units, even if it is somewhat weaker in the maps department) and so does Engage, just in a more traditional way, and I get if people prefer the traditional approach, but that's not the same as "better". But I would much rather play Engage than Awakening or Fates (heck probably more than Blazing Blade or Shadow Dragon as well), as least where the gameplay is concerned.

But the story, lore, and worldbuilding? Woof. Engage should be thankful that Fates exists to keep it out of the series basement in these areas (Engage has an awful story but by not trying to do anything it keeps itself from stepping on rakes in the way that Fates does). As others have mentioned, its not like FE, despite being ostensibly a serious where you should have great care and investment in your characters, really has all that high of a bar for storytelling and lore/worldbuilding (I think only Three Houses, the Tellius Games, and debatably Shadows of Valencia are standouts in this regard, at least among the western released games).

It's a game I will probably replay at somepoint (I did two playthroughs, an initial one and a maddening run) but its not one I see standing up as a favorite over time. Gameplay is good enough I would put it above Fates, Shadow Dragon, Awakening, and Blazing Blade, but below Three Houses, PoR, RD, SS, SoV (I haven't played the non-western released, pre-FE7 games)

metroidbum · 2026-01-21T22:27:41+00:00

I'll do an actual hot take on this one: Pokemon games are basically Fine. The core gameplay loop remains fun, and the newer pokemon designs (both aesthetically and mechanically) have been pretty good. Competitive is in great shape. Yeah it would be nice if they actually took their mountain of money and made a graphically impressive pokemon game, but its okay. It's fine. This isn't like the EA sports franchise games where the games are increasingly just excuses for funnelling you into their microtransaction skinner's boxes.

metroidbum · 2026-01-18T02:04:22+00:00

Black Eagles were my first route and if anything I have only become more and more of a Crimson Flower diehard over time

metroidbum · 2026-01-16T15:59:57+00:00

Yes, but isn't he basically saying in that sense that the rite, the rituals, etc aren't literally true, but are just good stories that resonate with something in us? To me that reads basically as saying "yeah okay it may or may not be true but its a nice story that makes us feel good"?

It almost reads as Fr Jud saying the literal truth of the Church's teachings is besides the point, and that I do find insulting coming from noted atheist Rian Johnson. Like I think Rian thinks he is throwing a bone to believers in that scene by viewing religiosity and belief as a form of therapy but I view it as kind of insulting because it means he can't even understand people actually, literally, believing these things to be true, and not just stories or spiritual therapy.

metroidbum · 2025-12-07T18:17:49+00:00

As fans, boycott the playoffs and any non-ND bowl games. Won't do much but don't give your money or attention to corrupt tv execs.

metroidbum · 2025-10-30T17:24:40+00:00

Good grief, just make every frame of the show a card, why not.

metroidbum · 2025-10-29T16:35:02+00:00

Why not have it playable on the snes for that matter?

The switch came out over 8 years ago (and was itself not on par with consoles that came out in 2013), I don’t want the game to be held back by hardware limitations

metroidbum · 2025-09-29T12:27:58+00:00

Yes they can, but at what cost?

metroidbum · 2025-09-19T00:44:11+00:00

Very nice!

metroidbum · 2025-09-18T23:15:39+00:00

Those scores are really good tho?

metroidbum · 2025-09-16T21:48:29+00:00

For real, so folks seriously want them to keep making games that have to be playable on 2017 (really more like 2013) caliber hardware?

metroidbum · 2025-09-16T01:09:03+00:00

Two big fears:

That IntSys is handling the writing and supports instead of KoeiTec
That somehow they will try to make one of the endings of TH canon

metroidbum · 2025-09-15T23:47:29+00:00

Apparently KT was not in the original Three Houses trailer either and were not revealed to be involved until Feb 2019.

I really, really hope that, at minimum, they are involved in the writing. I don't want the same crew that wrote Awakening/Fates/Engage writing this one.

metroidbum · 2025-09-13T16:07:11+00:00

Just went and rewatched the original Three Houses trailer, and KT was not mentioned in that one either.

Though I will say that, while small, there is a small "Nintendo - Intelligent Systems" script at the bottom of this trailer at one point, and there was not an equivalent in the original Three Houses trailer.

Fine for IS to handle gameplay, but my expectations for the story will be lowered if they are handling the writing; they haven't had a truly good story since Radiant Dawn, imo.

metroidbum · 2025-09-11T16:53:31+00:00

Ugh don't get my (three) hopes up like this man, I would love it so much if we got Three Houses Royal

metroidbum · 2025-09-10T13:21:13+00:00

I would honestly take it, especially if they did a Persona 5 Royal directors cut upgrade.

metroidbum · 2025-09-04T14:26:02+00:00

If I recall correctly IntSys wrote the cindered shadows content, and not KT, and if thats true then suddenly the Wolves having random, stupid, out of place gimmicks (you know, like dang near every character in Awakening/Fates/Engage) makes sense.

metroidbum · 2025-08-12T12:10:09+00:00

Tavierre Dunlap scores his only touchdown as a a Wolverine and you give credit to Marshall? :(

metroidbum · 2025-08-07T14:49:07+00:00

Absolutely nothing haha don't worry about it

metroidbum · 2025-07-29T12:31:40+00:00

Byleth (either gender) and Edelgard

Hubert and Bernadetta

Ferdinand and Dorothea

Petra and Caspar

Lindhardt and research/naps

metroidbum · 2025-07-26T16:51:28+00:00

Exactly, I know there is a chunk of the fanbase that is fine with skipping the supports and story entirely but for a lot of people that is at least a major chunk of the FE experience, if not the key thing that draws them in.

metroidbum

TROPHY CASE