Fire Emblem: Three Houses marks Nintendo’s big release on Switch this summer. The latest entry in the long-running strategy RPG series maintains much of what has made the series so iconic, but it makes some significant changes too.
Three Houses puts you into a bustling school, and the titular three houses represent different factions. This gives the game a fresh tone as you navigate school life. On top of that, it lets go of the weapon triangle, a staple of the series that has given a rock-paper-scissors aspect to combat. Critics are largely regarding the changes as positive, as reflected in GameSpot’s review.
“When all was said and done, all I could think about was starting another playthrough,” wrote Kallie Plagge. “I was curious about the mysteries left unsolved, of course, but I also hoped to undo my mistakes. There were characters I didn’t talk to enough, students I didn’t recruit, and far more effective ways to train my units.”
Several other outlets have published their Fire Emblem reviews as well. We’ve gathered a sampling of them below. For even more reviews, check out GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic.
- Game: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Developer: Nintendo
- Release date: July 26
- Price: $60 / £50 / $100 AUD
GameSpot — 9/10
“Mastering the art of thoughtful lesson planning as a professor improves your performance on the battlefield, where success relies on calculated teamwork and deft execution. Cultivating relationships during battle in turn draws you closer to each of the characters, who you then want to invest even more time into in the classroom. Every piece feeds into the next in a rewarding, engrossing loop where you get lost in the whole experience, not just in the minutiae.” — Kallie Plagge [Full review]
GamesRadar — 5/5
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses fully realizes a new, meaningful direction for the franchise that makes it the best it has ever been.” — Aron Garst [Full review]
Game Informer — 9.5/10
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses is ambitious, and takes more chances than previous entries in the series. The way it lets your role as professor play into both the narrative and gameplay is nothing short of fantastic. This is the most I’ve ever cared about my Fire Emblem characters, and that’s incredibly high praise.” — Kimberley Wallace [Full review]
USGamer — 4.5/5
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses soars on to Switch with a fully-realized school setting, deep character customization, and multiple full-length campaigns. While it loses momentum in the second half, it still manages to come off as a striking reinvention of the well-worn Fire Emblem formula. That makes its first real console appearance in more than a decade a triumph.” — Kat Bailey [Full review]
The Guardian — 4/5
“It all adds up to a new lease of life for one of Nintendo’s younger series, bolstered by revised combat and a gorgeous new look that endows these 3D characters with the grace and style of older games’ portrait art. By turns grandiose and silly, but always engrossing, this bubbling school soap opera is a game to spend a summer with.” — Edwin Evans-Thirlwell [Full review]
Daily Star — 3/5
“Fire Emblem: Three Houses is not a bad game–it starts off strong and for some reason systematically unpicks everything by the time you’re 30 hours in. The battle system is fairly impressive but still carries some of the flaws the series has had for the past decade, and the writing of the central cast feels like a step back compared to the 3DS series’ entries.” — Dom Peppiatt [Full review]
