I cannot claim to be a long time fan of the Fire emblem series. I was one of those people who jumped onto the FE: Awakening bandwagon back in 2012. Despite the fact I was introduced to the series so late, I can confidently say that I am a huge fan of the franchise. I have purchased every game since, bought the FE DLC in Super Smash Bros, I’ve even cosplayed multiple characters from the series! So when I heard that the most recent installment would be the first for the Nintendo Switch, I became very excited. I waited two years since it’s announcement for it’s release, and I am glad to say that my enthusiasm was not wasted on it.

Fire Emblem is a Japanese RPG in a fantasy setting, using turn based battle mechanics. FE: Three Houses is the first in the whole series to have free roaming on the map, as well as fun character mechanics such as tea time or cooking together. There are three different story lines that branch off depending on which house you choose. The Golden Deer takes you along with Claude, the future leader of an alliance of nobles. The Blue Lions are lead by Dimitri, the future king of the Holy Kingdom of Farghus. Then there is the Black Eagles, lead by the Imperial princess Edelgard. Each path is entirely unique once the branching point is hit and there was never a point in any of them where I encountered something that I could confidently predict would happen.If you are unconvinced by my glowingly positive review, Metacritc has plenty of unbiased reviews to read from. This wonderful game is also helping to change peoples expectations of what a Fire Emblem game is.

Many people stereotype FE as being a basic and boring fantasy story. Main character is weak, main character gets strong, main character finds out a dark secret about themselves, then defeats the great evil over the land. Which honestly, isn’t entirely inaccurate for some installments in the series. This stigmatizing of the series has made a lot of people afraid of admitting they enjoy the series for fear of being labeled as a lower level of gamer(which is a ridiculous notion). Fire Emblem: Three Houses has gained nothing but love from the community as well as those outside. This game has served as an introductory to the franchise for many people and is approaching the title of Best Selling Fire Emblem Game with over two million copies sold. Overall, the franchise is finally not being dragged by others in the Nintendo community and being considered a “valid” series to be a fan of.