In This Episode: Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a turn-based strategy RPG, but it’s also totally a game like Persona where it’s just as much about relationships on a one to one level as it is about the battles First time I’ve played FE not on a handheld system  Radiant Dawn? There hasn’t been one since the Fire Emblem on the Nintendo Wii Premise Kingdom of Fargus? Lester Alliance? Something Empire? Edelgard Dimitri Claude Three countries on this continent There’s a monastery in neutral ground in the middle of the continent that happens to be the seat of the church and also the training ground for officers from all the different countries The 3 houses in the school correspond to the 3 countries on the continent This year is special because future leaders from each country are all studying at the monastery at the same time You end up there kind of by accident but they make you a professor and you have to pick a house to instruct Houses Blue Lions - Kingdom Golden Deer - Alliance of Nobles Black Eagles - Empire No, they don’t believe in democracy here No weapon triangle (sword, lance, axe) This is probably the biggest initial change to adjust to Quality of Life improvements in battles It’s so much easier to make sure your characters don’t end up somewhere that they’ll get killed because you misjudged distance by one square on the grid It’s limited to only a few times per battle But, you can rewind time to any point in the battle Most of the time I’ve used it I only rewind one turn but you could rewind multiple turns if you realized you made a critical mistake 3 or 5 or 10 turns ago Saves you from replaying entire battles It’s much more clear about which enemies will attack which ones of your characters before you commit to a movement Battle forecasts are a little more clear but there’s still room for variance with hit % and crit % Divine pulse lets you rewind time Characters are much more customizable than in past games  Beginner classes you need to be level 5 and then maybe have a “D” rank in a weapon type related to that class Intermediate classes you generally need level 10 and then maybe a “C” rank in something related to that class Etc “Focus area” pick two abilities for each character for when you’re auto progressing through the week. Individual instruction Manually pick from abilities but you can get bonuses if you (as the instructor) are skilled in that skill or if the student has natural talent for that skill. Group Projects Flying, heavy armour, etc Can focus on a few things that are hard to level up otherwise Also makes their support levels go up for anyone in the group Classes, skills battalions, training focus  Class system is all about taking exams based on the skills a character has + their level Characters are super customizable because you are their professor and get to have them focus in whatever area you want Game structure / school Monthly - main mission Weekly Explore Seminar Battle Rest Lesson planning One day each week you get to pick what to do completely Daily Random events So much Persona DNA and I love it School / class / calendar structure So much to do in “Explore” mode Have tea Have a meal Cook Choir Practice Tournaments Wander around the monastery Talk to everyone Find lost items and return them Answer mystery letters Give gifts One on one time with characters Do one on one training with instructors Essentially, you’re building up your relationship ranks and having meaningful interactions with people from all three houses plus the instructors and church leaders Things I’ve barely scratched the surface of but will report back on Unique back half of the game for each house / political entity If you have the stats?  Or the support level? Or both? Battalions Blacksmith Relics Time Jump Recruiting non-house characters Advanced classes I don’t think I have any one on one relationships above a C rank yet, so there’s a t