Long assigned to a very specific segment of players, the Musô have for several years succeeded in converting a new wave of users. It must be said that following skimming the formula in several derivatives, the “Warriors” sauce was spilled on popular licenses, with Hyrule Warriors, One Piece: Pirates Warriors or even Persona 5 Strikers. A concept that might also have been added to the Fire Emblem series in 2017, with Fire Emblem Warriors, but the cover was given a second time, with Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes.
Image credit: Koei Tecmo / Nintendo
While Fire Emblem Warriors was a mixture of several games, Three Hopes takes the universe and the characters of Three Houses. However, there is no question here of a sequel, but rather of an original story. It will be possible from the start to take the role of Shez, choosing whether it will be embodied by a hero or a heroine. Our mercenary will quickly meet Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude, who are respectively the representatives of the three houses of the continent of Fódlan.
After meeting the little band and having participated in a skirmish where we meet our nemesis in the guise of Byleth, the ash demon, it will be possible to join one of the three factions. A prologue in which we will also meet Arval, a being who allows us to have a powerful and very practical power during battles.
And who says three factions, also says three scenarios that it will be possible to survey in order to know the vision of each house. Each of them being divided into several chapters and sub-chapters, which gives Three Hopes a substantial lifespan. And unlike most other Omega Force productions, the story is relatively well constructed, even if it is an unpublished adventure. The game universe is very faithful to the one established with Three Houses and fans of the series will be able to enjoy their favorite characters, but in another context.
Like any good self-respecting Musô, Three Hopes is no exception to the primary rule that makes us participate in battles, in which we must defeat entire armies facing us. Simple and powerful attacks that must be chained together to create devastating combos in the opposing ranks. In addition to a special attack that can be launched following filling the appropriate energy gauge. The majority of the enemies are small underlings who can be sent to hell quite easily, but there are also more powerful generals whose guard must be broken when the symbol in question appears next to their life bar . Warriors regulars will therefore not be disoriented by the basics, with the endless battle maps to skim in all directions, in order to fulfill objectives that lead to victory.
Fire Emblem obliges, the game also borrows a bit of strategy from the license. As in other Warriors, it will be possible to give orders to characters and send them to specific points on the map. Except that their impact is a little more decisive here and one of our decisions can quickly make us lose or win a battle. The best is still to take care of it ourselves by changing characters, but it can sometimes save us a little time to send an ally to take care of a secondary objective in the meantime. It will also be possible to choose among strategies before the fights, so that our troops carry out certain maneuvers. Nothing too fancy once once more, but it still gives a slightly more tactical aspect to the game, which overall is still a walk in the park. Three Hopes has a fairly low difficulty and it is still necessary to activate the classic mode of Fire Emblem with the permanent death of our troops, to dare to speak of a semblance of challenge.
Between missions, the camp plays an essential role in the management of our troops and especially our characters. In addition to being able to manage equipment and potions, it will also be possible to perfect our units. While improving the buildings so that they are even more efficient and unlocking new classes. The core of camp activities, however, is to use it to strengthen the relationships between our characters. The idea being that two companions close to each other are more effective when they are in pairs during battles. Do not be afraid to read a lot of dialogue, but it is the price to pay to strengthen friendships, as well as possibly romances.
In any case, it’s a good way for the player to get a little more attached to all his characters, while investing a little more in the game. And content, there is. In addition to the battles of the main campaign, it will also be possible to complete secondary missions in order to glean more powerful equipment and materials. Optimization is therefore the key word of this Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, with the possibility of managing in the smallest detail every aspect of our character and his allies. Whether in terms of equipment, missions or relationships, there are dozens of hours of play.
All these mechanics from the Fire Emblem series, however, do not make us forget that we are in a Musô, with all the usual problems that are quickly added to it. The game interface during battles is often flooded with information and windows in all directions. Fortunately, it is possible to deactivate some of them in the options, but this only contributes to the impression of having confused and messy battles. And I strongly advise you to play on your television screen, because in nomadic mode on the small screen of the Nintendo Switch, the game really struggles with permanent aliasing on the textures.
Despite a certain repetitiveness that is inherent to the Musô genre, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a surprising mix between two series. Omega Force has succeeded in renewing its formula, without however denigrating its charm. It is true that everyone does not adhere to this form of action game, but by incorporating troop management mechanics, we are really in front of something very complete. The feeling of chaining missions that all end up looking the same is blurred by the passages to the camp and the side missions, especially with the development of the relationships of our protagonists.
