Customer Ratings & Reviews

I'd never played a Fire Emblem game prior to Three Houses, but now I can safely say I'm looking forward to the upcoming DLC and whatever game comes next. Three Houses is a turn-based strategy RPG focusing on your silent protagonist, Byleth (or whatever you name them), and the students of the titular three houses of Garreg Mach monastery. You choose one of the houses in the beginning of the game after interacting with the house leaders and their classmates, and then follow a storyline revolving around whichever house you chose. I've completed two different routes through the game, and there was a surprising level of variance between the two. They do share several similar missions, but it certainly does a lot more than just creating a template and inserting the different characters' names depending on the route for all of them. However, certain story elements aren't as well resolved in one route as they might be in another. On the topic of the characters, you get to know not just the students of your house, but also the members of the other houses, and the members of the monasteries staff. You can even recruit students from other houses if you have high enough Support level with them, and have a high enough level in certain skills. So you could theoretically choose the Blue Lions at the start and get every single other student in your house, with the exception of the other house leaders. As for the gameplay, it's pretty fun. You move individual units around a grid-based map in order to take down your enemies, and they'll do the same. Your units can each acquire classes that'll increase the speed at which they develop certain skills, grant them various buffs, and some even allow them to use magic. You also have access to an ability called Divine Breath, which allows you to rewind a couple of terms back, in case a unit dies or you feel like you made a bad move. Overall, the game is fun and accessible, but perhaps a bit too easy. I haven't played the higher difficulties, but from what I've heard from series veterans, the higher difficulties are still easier than one would expect, primarily due to the introduction of the Divine Breath mechanic, and the fact that enemies will telegraph when they'll move to attack a unit when you're deciding where to move them. In spite of this, I'd still recommend the game to anyone who has a Switch. I found myself captivated with numerous characters I thought I wouldn't be able to care about less, to the point that I'd spend several hours grinding just to increase as many Support levels with them as I could. And the lower difficulty level made it easy for me as a series newbie to get into it. Thank you for reading.

I've always been a little intimidated by how complex Fire Emblem games seem to be, but Three Houses is very approachable. Playing on Normal (with permadeath turned off) let me learn the ropes quickly, and now I kinda wish I had chosen Hard difficulty because I've been able to make some powerful (perhaps overpowered) units. Great music, great characters, and since there are 3 different story paths you can take, in theory you're getting 3 great games in one. The visuals aren't great, especially in handheld mode, but since this is a strategy game, mediocre graphics don't drag down the experience.

If you like games like Persona 5 this borrows the same day-to-day exploration as that although in a more lite sort of way. You check in on all your students and can give them gifts, train with them, etc. The gameplay is excellent too. I suggest playing on the more challenging difficulties though because normal it very easy and you may not get the most out of it if so. If you are just here for the story it's good and there are 4 different paths to take. Highly recommend!

It’s a very fun game to play I love the story and the game play

Absolutely fantastic game! I'm about 10hrs in and completely sucked in. Great characters, great voice acting, great gameplay, and an intruiging story combines to make a very enjoyable experience that has its hooks in me. I would recommend this game to hard core fans, and new fans alike. It does a great job teaching you every mechanic, so don't worry about being overwhelmed if this is your first Fire Emblem game, just dive on in!

A very interesting but easy FE game. I like the social sim elements to the game.

The voice acting, the story, the visuals, the gameplay. Fire Emblem Three Houses nails them all. Even if you don't like the "get to know your characters school setting" type of thing you can easily sim through those parts of the game to get to the amazing tactical RPG gameplay. Then as always Fire Emblem gives you the Classic (perma death) and Casual (easy mode or if you're just here for the story) modes.

Another great game for fire emblem franchise but for the first time time on the switch instead of the 3ds. The gameplay is still the way anyone who played previous entries will still love it. On top of gameplay being great every piece of dialogue is voice acted instead of just text. I will how ever say the text is hard to read if playing on handheld mode but other than that everything is still pretty good.

Can't recommend this game enough, the story is really good and you can play it multiple times without mentioning the dlc that provides more hours of content and new characters. It has such a good music and one of my favorite games of all time.

The announcement in January of 2017 that a Fire Emblem game was in development for Switch was one of the main reasons I bought a Nintendo Switch. After seeing the E3 trailer in 2018 and as more details about the game came out I was nervous that this game wasn't going to be for me. Fortunately I was wrong. The gameplay loop in this game is completely addicting and there are 4 different branching paths that tell very different stories. I spent 80 hours playing through one of the Black Eagles paths on my first playthrough so there is a lot of value here. I played the game in classic mode on hard difficulty. Hard difficulty is pretty easy compared to past games but it does get significantly more challenging as the game progresses and I was pleased with the challenge it eventually presented. All of the characters are fully voiced and the story for the path that I played was well told with only a couple of pacing issues. Additionally all the characters have fully fleshed out backstories that are mostly enjoyable to learn about. I haven't jumped into the other paths yet but I will definitely be going back to this game when I have more time to see the other stories. Overall this is a great game for those that enjoy strategic gameplay mixed with intriguing storytelling.

I've been a Fire Emblem fan since 4th grade, when I first played 7 on the GBA (I still play it on commutes). It's been my favorite video game since, and I'm 26 now. As a forever-fan of the series, I can say without a doubt that Three Houses is the best yet. Everything I disliked about Fates and even Awakening has been fixed, such as the black and white writing, one-note characters, and shallow supports. And all the things I loved about Echoes, exploration, art, and story, have been improved on. I'm really glad about this, since Echoes did poorly in sales and reviews (despite being better than Fates ahem). The ideas Echoes introduced weren't tossed in the bin, but rather refined in Three Houses. I greatly appreciate how Intelligent Systems listened to fans and paid close attention to what works and what doesn't. But they also didn't crumble to negativity and put a lot of love and passion to make the game they wanted to make! So in conclusion, House Golden Deer is the best.

One of the best games for Nintendo switch. Long 40+ hour play time, interesting battles with different strategies, great story, challenging. Graphics are good for FE. Voice actors did a great job. I’ve played multiple FE games and this is probably the best one yet

I've been playing Fire Emblem since it first came stateside on the GBA. I love the format of the older ones, so I wasn't sure at first how I would feel about the Professor side of the gameplay versus battling. Turns out it's a lot of fun! And helps break things up a bit in between battling. Deciding how to educate and upgrade your characters while balancing their inherent skills and interests is quite fun and there are lots of ways to customize their abilities. At first I wasn't sure I liked any of them, but they way to learn more about them and their backstory is actually surprisingly good. The game made me care more about them than I thought I would. That stuff is a nice compliment to the battling, which is as enjoyable as ever and there are plenty to take on. Really happy with this entry in the series, it's getting me hooked on Fire Emblem all over again!

I didn't expect Nintendo to go this hard into story and voice acting but they've hit it out of the park. I'm really invested in the characters and everything that is going on. There are some annoying nitpicks such as lack of tasks to do in the monastery or lack of difficulty but that doesn't take away from the game.

I’ll start by saying this is my first fire emblem game so I can’t compare to the rest of the series. That being said, its very easy to get hooked on. Between leveling up your units and unlocking cutscenes to reveal more about each character’s personality, you feel more attached to each character making the grinding feel more rewarding. Each house has a different story line, and one house has 2 different story lines, it really entices you to explore each house. However, this game can become really long; I completed 2 houses and am just going to watch videos on the rest since it took me about 190 hours already, but I’m still curious to know how the third house story line unfolds. Luckily it’s on the switch so it’s easy to play in short spurts

It is an Excellent Strategy with a Combat System a Story that is very well and Wonderfully Beautiful Music Soundtrack

FE:3H is one of the best Switch games, with likable characters and 4 routes to characterize them. While many characters are sidelined due to the permadeath system, the support system allows player choice on who to learn more about. The plot contains many compelling ideas such as religion and racial conflict, although it suffers from poor pacing as the endings can sometimes feel rushed. There is also a good soundtrack with highlights like Edge of Dawn and God Shattering Star. The graphics are not as good quality as other switch titles, but does not hurt gameplay. Combat is similar to other FE titles, but battalions and large beasts add variety. Near the end of the game, combat may feel repetitive, especially on repeat playthroughs. Worth it for FE fans or switch owners wanting a longer title to play.

Going into this game, I was nervous about whether I’d actually play it. I’ve tried playing Fire Emblem games before, and while I liked what little I’d played, my typical pattern was to start the game, play for a couple hours, and never touch the game ever again. For a brand new $60 console game, I was worried I wouldn’t get my money’s worth. Then I played through a whole route of the game, 80 hours, in a week and a half. Needless to say, I’ve gotten my money’s worth. This is a big game with a lot to do: if you want to complete all of the story routes, expect to be playing for a minimum of 200 hours. I found the story and characters to be surprisingly gripping, and from what I understand the gameplay is mostly a solid improvement on the Fire Emblem formula, although I wish that inventory space wasn’t so limited and that the menus weren’t kind of confusing/a hassle at times. Also, Black Eagles is best house, and you cannot change my mind.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a masterful blend of strategic turn-based combat and detailed worldbuilding. While there are some evident flaws, they don't detract from the enjoyability of the overall experience. Exploring the monastery and interacting with the wide range of characters in this game is a real pleasure. The game is incredibly well-written, and while some characters are more relatable than others, they all have their own backstories, motivations and quirks that can be explored through their dialogue and support conversations. The writers did an amazing job creating a living, breathing world, which is impacted greatly depending on your actions throughout your playthrough. The combat, meanwhile, is... still turn-based Fire Emblem. Between the new assist mechanics, unique battle animations and quotes, and many quality of life changes, every battle section is enjoyable. However, for series veterans, even Hard mode can seem somewhat easy due to the overpowered nature of battalions and gambits, overtuned mounted and flying classes, and the predictable AI which now broadcasts its next move for attacking units. While the player has access to many unbalanced techniques, the enemies never seem to use mechanics such as combat arts, let alone grand-scale strategic planning. Additionally, any mistakes you make are nullified by the fact that you can rewind to any point in the level and rethink your strategy up to around 10 times per battle by the end of the game. Hopefully, the eventual addition of Lunatic mode will solve several of these problems. I only have a few complaints with this game, most of them concerning the franchise's move over to the Switch. For one, while the graphics look great in handheld mode, there are some noticeable flaws when playing on a larger screen. Many textures and shadings seem to clip through each other, and moving the camera around in the overworld shows how jagged some of the background rendering is. Additionally, some of the flavor text is incredibly small and harder to read from far away. I wouldn't say that these problems "ruin the game", just that these oversights can break the immersion of the experience at times. Although I didn't cover every aspect of this 150+ hour game, it is a very strong entry in the Fire Emblem series. Once you get past the drab background graphics and bad enemy AI, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a combination of strategic combat sequences and beautifully written character moments.

Great story and turn based strategy gameplay. Good replay value as you can choose to ally yourself with 3 different houses in the game. Each playthrough has a different take on the overall story depending on the house you choose and the choices you make.