What The Critics Are Saying About Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
The musou genre has experienced a bit of a resurgence in recent years. With beloved developer Omega Force branching out into crossovers featuring popular Nintendo franchises and beyond, players who normally wouldn't find themselves battling foes Guan Yu-style are now taking up the sword as Link or even Monkey D. Luffy from "One Piece."
With the musou door open, it wasn't long before "Fire Emblem" saw its colorful cast of characters and rich setting getting the same treatment. Unfortunately, while "Fire Emblem Warriors" made a decent enough transition into the new genre, critics felt it didn't make good enough use of the narrative weight behind the series. Can the kind-of sequel to "Fire Emblem: Three Houses" deliver a title that not only scratches the itch of traditional musou players, but also sates the lore-hungry "Fire Emblem" fans?
Well, so far critics seem fairly pleased with "Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes." Though the title isn't without a few issues, critics have been largely pleased by the way the new action-heavy title carries the "Fire Emblem" name.
No shortage of things to do
A reccurring remark from critics spending time with "Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes" is that there's no shortage of content to keep players busy. Of course, the battles offer fast-paced and hectic action, but things don't slow down from there. In fact, going in with the expectation that combat would already be the highlight activity, many reviewers were still blown away by the variety of content offered in "Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes."
Players will find a camp in almost every chapter, and that's where they'll be able to customize and shop for new equipment, pick up supplies, micromanage class or army specifics, bond with allies, upgrade their base, and more. As Destructoid's Chris Carter puts it, "There's so much to tackle with this game, it's almost impossible to convey how much there is to do without getting too long-winded."
Any player who recalls the near-endless activities in "Fire Emblem: Three Houses" should feel right at home in the adjacent musou title.
Combat is fun, but not innovative
Critics haven't had anything particularly bad to say about the combat in "Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes," just that it'll likely deliver on fans' expectations. Understandably, as a musou game, "Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes" is going to play a certain kind of way: Sending wave after wave of enemies for a thrashng. That said, it doesn't seem like there's been too much progress or alteration to the core formula since its predecessor — or even within the core genre itself.
Todd Harper of Polygon says, "I haven't spoken much about the actual combat, largely because there's very little to say about it. Everything from 'Fire Emblem Warriors' returns ... The only addition that felt particularly fresh is the ability to equip combat arts (weapon skills and spells) and passive abilities learned from various classes."
While this lack of innovation likely won't bother newcomers to the genre, musou fans who have sunk time into other Omega Force titles may feel the experience becoming stale.
Storytelling has gotten much better
One of the main complaints with the original "Fire Emblem Warriors" was that the title failed to fully play to the franchise's strengths with deep characters and engrossing narrative. Thankfully, it seems "Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes" has learned from that shortcoming, offering a narrative experience right within the expectations of "Fire Emblem" fans — and especially hitting home for those who fell in love with the cast in "Fire Emblem: Three Houses."
Alex Santa Maria of IGN says, "The storytelling feels just like the 'Fire Emblem' of old, thanks to numerous fully-voiced cutscenes and other conversational opportunities." The review continued to say, "Even outside the main missions, 'Three Hopes' does a lot to keep things moving story-wise."
Taking an approach similar to "Fire Emblem: Three Houses," players will be able to find a wealth of narrative and character development awaiting them outside the main story being told. By means of optional dialogues in camp, reaching new relationship milestones and other non-combat events, players will find the title offers much more beyond its big battles and pretty animation.