‘Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Makes Death Mean Something

Warning: Minor Three Houses spoilers! Turn away if you want to go into this three month old game blind.

It can’t be said enough. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of the best games of 2019, if not the year’s finest. It serves as a true evolution of the franchise, adding a slew of social mechanics such as a calendar system, more ways to interact with the supporting cast and more side activities than you’ll care to take part in. This is on top of the game improving on the battle mechanics set forth by the fantastic Shadows of Valentia while presenting three different story paths that offer drastically different outcomes. But while the decision to make the main character a professor at a military academy seemed like a risky one on paper, this is where the soul of the game shines through. Because the opponents you fight aren’t just your run of the mill bad guys; they’re your students.

Despite the game forcing you to choose a house fairly early, which determines the student body you’ll teach as well as the story paths available to you, taking advantage of the social mechanics allow you to get to know and even recruit most of the kids from the other houses. Even if you don’t end up luring them to your class, getting to know them opens up a series of scenes where you can have heart-to-hearts, giving you the chance to learn about their motivations. On occasion, students from other houses may even assist you on missions, appearing with advanced classes that show their growth as soldiers. Even though Byleth, your self-insert main character, doesn’t have a direct hand in teaching them, it’s still rewarding to see them grow alongside your own students, who you’ve likely developed a strong attachment to at this point. This is only furthered by anonymously acting as a counselor to help them through their insecurities, having lunch with them at the dining hall, hosting or attending seminars with them or standing side by side during school festivals. While school life is dangerous as you take on thieves and bandits every month, these days feel like bliss as you learn from your kids as much as you teach.

Sadly, in typical Fire Emblem fashion, a catastrophic event at about the halfway point of the story shatters the foundation of the school, plummeting the region into a war that pits the titular three houses against each other for the right to rule over their shared land of Fodlan. While the academy sections still exist, the tone is drastically different. What used to be classroom lessons have become war room meetings, devising strategies meant to develop the skills needed to crush their enemies. What used to be mock battles have become fights to the death, as each of your wide eyed kids have now grown into battle hardened fighters who you’ve trained to prepare for days like this. Then the time comes to hit the battlefield, and as your opponents arrive…

They’re your former students from the other houses. They’re the professors you once stood on the same faculty with. In one path in particular, they’re the students from the house you once took under your wing. They’re no longer nameless, faceless bad guys that you won’t think twice about killing for the greater good. And when it comes time to clash on the battlefield, it’s absolutely gutting.

During my Golden Deer playthrough, I did my absolute best to avoid former students, wanting to avoid killing the people my Byleth shared so many memories with. War doesn’t afford that luxury, because while it is possible to complete main objectives without killing students in some cases, more often than not, the students would attack us before we could avoid them. Slaying these kids one by one as their leaders mourn their deaths alongside the player gives these fights the gravity that is usually lacking in even the most pivotal Fire Emblem moments. It brings no pleasure to win these fights, with the victory music upon leveling up almost feels like it’s mocking you as if killing those close to you is worthy of praise. Even the students at your side will lament on the horrors of having to oppose those they once called friends, often leading to some heartbreaking moments. For example, Dorthea, a Black Eagles student that I had recruited to the Golden Deer, shared this bit of dialogue after her former classmate, Ferdinand, was killed in the previous battle.

In fact, Dorthea might be the best example of the effect the war has on the player. This happy-go-lucky girl who’s biggest concerns are being able to sing and finding a suitor turns into a defeated, melancholy young woman who is being crushed under the weight of her sadness. This is the drawback of only being able to recruit some students, since you’ll inevitably be faced with pitting classmates against each other. This naturally leads to many more scenes like Dorthea’s, showing your students coping with death in their own way. With so many different combinations, it creates scenarios that feel unique to your individual story, making it common to see players sharing agonizing experiences that others never saw. Moments like these that brought a sense of dread to the story that I couldn’t look away from, which is why the game has stuck with me long after finishing it

There are ways to avoid this fate to an extent. Recruiting students to your house before the war breaks out keeps them with you, removing opportunities to kill them in the future. However, due to the nature of the recruitment system, it’s impossible to save everyone you want during a single run. If you have a strong enough relationship with students you never recruited, you might be able to speak to them on the battlefield and have Byleth convince them to defect without unnecessary bloodshed, but the characters that this is possible with are few and far between. Even then, there are some that are too closely tied to the conflict to convince, making their deaths necessary to advance towards victory. Others never appear during the war to begin with, implying that they had died long before having the chance to reunite. It sucks.

Oddly enough though, this is what drove me to keep playing after my initial Golden Deer run was complete. I led Calude and his band of misfits to the Fodlan throne, but I didn’t want them to be the only ones who got a happy ending. Despite sinking close to 70 hours into the game for a single run, I gladly set out on my next 70 to see what directions Byleth’s leadership would take Dimitri and the Blue Lions, the house that was unceremoniously dispatched my first time around. Only this time, I can carry over my relationships from before, allowing me to save my Golden Deer kids long before they’re ever in danger. It’s this attachment that makes Fire Emblem: Three Houses so powerful. Enemies are former friends and you have the power to ensure that they can find a happy ending when any other game in the series would make you see them as battlefield fodder. Even Fates, a game with a similar premise where your enemies are characters close to you, didn’t allow much interaction with the opposition once you choose the side of the war you’ll stand on. Not only does Three Houses allow this, it sets it up for the first 35 hours of the game, making the last 35 hours so much richer as a result.

What aspects of Fire Emblem: Three Houses stood out to you? Were there any characters that you refused to kill, or that sunk your heart when it was time to fight them? Or do you just want to discuss the game as a whole? Let us know in the comments!