Fire Emblem Three Houses is a pretty amazing game and to see a new version of it’s story in a Warriors game is awesome. Fire Emblem Three Hopes stars a new protagonist whose originally named Shez but players can name them as they please. Shez is a little more confident in himself than Byleth might seem, but he’s running headlong into unknown territory like Byleth did.
The Fire Emblem Three Hopes Demo offers up the beginning of the journey up to chapter 4. Shez can join up with either of the three leaders or all three and enjoy the opening hours of the story before things get wild. Being a retelling of the first game’s story it’s perfect for fans who might need a refresher though the story is different in a few ways.
Shez is a mercenary, and after protecting Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude from a surprising for, Three Houses Byleth, he’s asked to join the officers’ academy. The story for the first four chapters is a quick retelling of Three Houses albeit with a few changes.
For instance in the Black Eagles path, a character with limited screen time, Monica is playable, it’s interesting to see. Though usually Warriors games are full of characters who aren’t playable so it’s not too surprising the developers would use everyone they could. Having extra characters adds to the world and learning about them makes things more interesting.
Shez chooses a house and then those members are playable, though not every character is playable in every level. Sometimes certain characters sit out for story reasons and that’s okay, it gives everyone a chance to have a turn in battle. Warriors games might be easy to play with a single character but all characters deserve a turn to fight.
The warriors gameplay is great, far more fluid than Fire Emblem Warriors. Slicing through hordes of enemies is thrilling, and the students have a few special attacks too. While they can simply slice them or cast magic they each have special attacks to unleash. It’s quick and to the point but while playing it’s a treat to watch them make quick work of their foes.
The adjutant system is also a delight, Shez can team up with three different characters mid-battle. They can drop them and change whenever they want if they are close by. Letting the pair fight together is good because they can unleash a tandem attack which does a lot of damage. Building up rapport between the units is essential because there are support scenes to watch, so pairing up should take priority.
The demo offers up countless chances to interact with characters like in the main game. Shez runs around the monastery or the camp and talks to every character. They often talk about what is going on with them personally or in regard to the story. It adds charm to the game and connects it back to the source which modern Warrior games tend to do.
Three Houses had full voice acting and I’m a little sad this game doesn’t. But it’s a different beast and has enough voice acting that it feels fine. It’s well done and adds to the characters, plus characters who didn’t say much before have more dialogue and that’s a bonus.
The Three Hopes Demo is a fantastic one. It offers up anywhere from 4 to 8 hours of fun for each path, and let’s players transfer their time onto the main game. Warriors demos are some of the best out there, and I’m happy to see this one is just as good as its predecessors. Three Hopes is out on June 24th, and if this demo is a sign of things to come I’m ready for Shez’s adventures.