waltzoid | Three Hopes, this time for real (Part 1 of ?) (Reply)

I, like a lot of gamers who preordered Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, got my copy of the game on Thursday but didn't start playing it until Friday morning because I was worried about Nintendo dropping the banhammer on anyone who broke the street date (the truth is that Nintendo's products are fine; it's their overzealous lawyers that lots of people have a justified beef with). Ever since then, I've been pretty much playing the game non-stop because I've had so much fun with it (word of advice: don't do this; those warnings to take a 15-minute for every hour of gameplay aren't just there for show), and I have a crapton of things to say about the first part of Scarlet Blaze (Edelgard's path; I'll do Dimitri's and Claude's in future posts).

I specifically decided to take a brief hiatus from Twitter and other FE spaces to avoid spoilers and other players' reactions (except for an email chain with

sarajayechan ) so that my first experience with the full game would go untainted. However, now that the 24-hour grace period is over (and I think I've racked up that much play time in just two days), I'm about to drop a bunch of Scarlet Blaze Part I spoilers.

Yes, Edelgard is still going to war, but she's explicitly doing so without "those who slither in the dark" providing her with tools of destruction. No Crest Stones, no Demonic Beasts, and no Aymr (that creepy-looking claw-axe that looks like a Hero's Relic but isn't one of the original Relics). So far, she appears to be in a much better place mentally than she was as one of the main baddies in Three Houses, and more willing to try to recruit others to her cause instead of killing them outright. The only two characters I've actually killed so far are Acheron (who went out like a punk using his subordinates as human shields at the Great Bridge of Myrddin) and Ingrid (who died covering Dimitri's escape from Arianrhod Whether or not this will show in Azure Gleam and Golden Wildfire will have to wait, I guess.
Now I know what role the Ashen Wolves play in this game, and it looks like they've been scattered to the four winds since Abyss is off limits due to all the action taking place away from Garreg Mach Monastery:
- Constance and Hapi remained in Abyss when the Church ordered them to fight to defend the monastery.
- Balthus got hired as a mercenary by Count Gloucester to help defend the Great Bridge of Myrddin.
- I don't know what happened to Yuri. I figured he'd be involved in the battle for Arianrhod due to his ties with Count Rowe, but he wasn't there. After I saved Count Rowe at Arinarhod, he refers to Yuri by his nickname, the "Savage Mockingbird", so I feel I may encounter him "soon-ish".
Byleth's reputation as a fearsome monster on the battlefield is every bit as justified in this game as it was in Three Houses, especially since they don't have the Church keeping them in check. So far, they've shown up under the employ of Ingrid and Claude on two different missions, and blitzed through my allied forces like it was nothing, costing me an S rank for the first time. It is possible to defeat Byleth in Chapter 5, but not without quite a bit of level grinding via the Record Keeper at camp. That one's an optional battle, but in Chapter 7 you have to defeat Byleth after you've chased Claude away, and it's only possible because Count Bergliez, who is equally feared for his prowess in battle and determination under fire, directly confronts Byleth (apparently, the good count has never heard of the "Do not pursue Lu Bu" meme any Dynasty Warriors fan should be familiar with after all these years) and softens them up enough for you to actually "win". They still kick your ass in the following cutscene, but it still counts as a "win" from a gameplay perspective.
- Oh, and if you select the strategy where the count and his soldiers break the Alliance siege by themselves, he freakin' PUNCHES A HOLE IN A MOUNTAIN to create his own escape route! Claude is sitting in his base dumbfounded, Hubert can't believe that his plan worked, and I sat in my chair laughing my head off for ten straight minutes saying "OMFG did that just happen?!" This may be the most stupidly awesome thing I've seen in a role-playing game since it was possible for Sabin to suplex the Phantom Train with Meteor Strike in Final Fantasy VI.
As expected, "those who slither in the dark" haven't made much noise since Solon and Thales were exposed in Chapters 2 and 3, but Edelgard and Hubert still occasionally name-drop the group in private conversations. They do show up as enemies in Monica and Bernadetta's paralogue (which also confirms that Baron Ochs is still alive and adjusting to his role as baron, according to a conversation between Monica and Duke Gerth; it also sounds like the duke is friends with Bernie's mother). I'm looking forward to a potential rematch between Monica and Kronya, especially now that I've given "Monnie" (Dorothea's nickname for her) the Meteor spell and can potentially clear out fields of Agarthan troops all by herself, when just two years ago we found her chained up in a dungeon ready to be sacrificed by Kronya. (Myson, the paralogue's boss, is also suspicious of Shez. Surprise, surprise.)
I've adjusted to Three Hopes' core gameplay loop more quickly than I thought I would. Doing the "side missions" leading up to the main quest isn't too bad since the maps they're on are usually smaller than the main missions. Even so, I've practiced giving out orders from the battle map as quickly as possible to the point that I use it more often than the "quick character swap" function, just in case there's an enemy far from my position and I need to swap to a character right away.
Most of the camp functions are pretty intuitive, too. The one I use the most often is the training grounds, since it lets me power up my characters and teach them lots of useful abilities, spells, and special attacks. While I didn't do much with cross-class stuff in Three Houses without the aid of New Game+, I've trained some of my Three Hopes mages in both light and dark magic to expand their spell kits. And even though Edelgard isn't a magic user by nature, her Warlock tree contains the "Essence of Fire" ability, which gives her fire-elemental attacks extra potency. (Ironically, the title of "Flame Emperor" is more literal in this case than it was in the original game because of it).
The only camp function I don't have a good handle on are the expeditions (Three Hopes' version of Tea Time). I only got "Perfect Conversations" once each with Hubert and Caspar. Maybe I should write the answers and responses down like I've been doing for the character recruitment and mission levels to save myself some time on my next playthrough.
Just after Chapter 7 when Shez finally manages to deal some damage against Byleth, they begin contemplating whether or not it's worth it to keep fighting. Even Byleth themselves alludes to it with the quote, "How many times have we fought now? Either way, this time will be the last." While the obvious meaning is there (an expectation of that encounter being a duel to the death), it can also be interpreted to mean that Byleth is just as tired of fighting Shez, as well. (I'm now on Chapter 10, and there was a cutscene between Byleth and Jeralt implying that SOMETHING TRAGIC could potentially happen).
It's funny how when I started writing Ghost two-and-a-half years before this game came out, I'd written Monica as being mildly attracted to Edelgard and Dorothea (but ultimately falling for Constance), and two of her only support chains in this game show...that she's crazy in love with Edelgard and has a bit of a fangirl crush on Dorothea (sadly, no dialogue with Constance since the two don't know each other), and her only support chain with a male character is with Hubert, whom she considers a rival for Edelgard's attention and affection, but otherwise respects his dedication.
Randolph and Fleche are allied NPCs in Edelgard's campaign, and so far Randolph hasn't done anything reckless yet (which gets him killed in Three Houses when fought as an enemy). I'm crossing my fingers that they both survive to the end of this campaign. Fleche being classed as a Thief in this game makes sense considering her fate in Azure Moon.