WithFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopesreleasing this month, the various studios behind its production - Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force - have been spotlighting what fans can expect. Since it was announced during theFebruary 2022 Nintendo Direct, trailers have confirmed that players will choose a house to support for at least three unique storylines; the same groups that characterized 2019’sFire Emblem: Three Houses.
Every student from the Blue Lions, Black Eagles, and Golden Deerwill make an appearance inThree Hopes. A series of videos have demonstrated the way Omega Force’s typicalDynasty Warriors/Musouformula will make these 24 characters (and more, like brand-new protagonist Shez) stand out despite a shared pool of weapon types and mobility classes. However, the developer should also incorporateFire Emblem’s traditional Paralogue missions to build upon the wayFire Emblem: Three Housescreated diverse character interactions.
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Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes' Narrative Structure
It has been confirmed thatFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopeswill branch at the start, perhaps leading to more immediate differences than inThree Houseswhere half the game followed a unified path (regardless of which house was chosen). According to the official My Nintendo Store page forThree Hopes, the main storylines are similar to their original counterparts but go in “compelling” directions. The Azure Gleam path will see Dimitri rise to power and fend off the Adrestian Empire; the Scarlet Blaze path will see Edelgard “flush out dark forces” to improve society; and the Golden Wildfire path will see Claude bolster the Leicester Alliance to hold back the neighboring nation of Alymra.
While the conclusion to these stories is yet-unknown, there are key differences fromThree Houses. In the original strategy RPG, Dimitri is unable to ascend to the throne because he disappears following a near-execution. Likewise, it’s revealed that Edelgard is secretly the Flame Emperor working with the “dark forces” of Those Who Slither in the Dark, and Claude is more interested inunifying the people of Fodlan and Almyrathan he is defending the border. The hack-and-slash style of aWarriorstitle may also mean characters are siloed off to their individual houses, whereasThree Houseslet Byleth recruit other students.
However, locking students to their original houses would miss out on an opportunity that the original game barely scratched the surface with. A web of Support conversations let units inThree Housestalk with one another between missions if they battled together, ultimately leading to the opportunity for marriages and other flavor text at the end of the game. Yet another staple of the series thatThree Housestook advantage of wasParalogue missions: optional single-map conflicts with their own contained stories.
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The Paralogues inThree Housesleaned into the idea of being a narrative beat for one or more characters. In some cases these missions served to improve the party with items, such as Marianne’s “Forgotten Hero” Paralogue rewarding her theBlutgang Heroes' Relic. Some of the more interesting missions blended character beats - sometimes between units from different houses. For example, the “Rumored Nuptials” Paralogue tells the story of Blue Lions' Ingrid being nearly kidnapped by a suitor with whom Black Eagles' Dorothea had prior experience.
“Rumored Nuptials” is an example of a Paralogue where either or both units could receive a reward if Byleth is their teacher (for Ingrid this reward is the Heroes' Relic Luin), but the bonding experience between characters is perhaps more interesting to fans. Koei Tecmo’sFire Emblem Warriorsfrom 2017 did not feature traditional Paralogues, instead offering players a series of “History Mode” trials to complete that often used map designs inspired by older games likeShadow Dragon,The Blazing Blade, andShadows of Valentia.
GivenThree Hopeswill not use the same combined universe conceit asFire Emblem Warriors, the upcoming title should replace History Mode with Paralogues reminiscent of those inThree Houses. WhetherShez is able to mix the units from other housesinto their current story path or not,Three Hopeswill benefit from giving individual units and their allies more time in the spotlight outside its driving main story.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopesreleases on Jul 28, 2025 for the Nintendo Switch.
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