Three Houses vs. Three Hopes: On Buildup
This blog entry has major spoilers for Fire Emblem: Three Houses and minor spoilers for Three Hopes
I recently played the demo version of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, a Fire Emblem spinoff that is a retelling of Three Houses with some noticeable differences. Perhaps the most noticeable is that while the first act of Three Houses, which is before the war, comprises anywhere from just over half to two thirds of the game, depending on the route, the pre-war part of Three Hopes is much shorter- only the prologue and the first three chapters out of 16 or so.
Three Houses
The third chapter has the player put down a small rebellion by a Lonato, lord of the Kingdom and the adoptive father of Ashe, a student in the Blue Lions house. After the battle, the player's house leader shares some personal details, helping to establish the key themes of their character arc. Edelgard laments the deaths, but muses that sometimes sacrifice must be necessary, giving an indication of how far she is willing to go for her ideals. Dimitri is outraged by what happened, showing how much he despises violence, even if his goal can only be achieved through killing. Claude hints at his true heritage. At this point, it is revealed that the rebellion, which was doomed to begin with, was a diversion, suggesting that things are more complicated than Byleth realizes. The chapter also introduces the Heroes' Relics, weapons that only those with Crests may wield and an important part of the setting.
The fourth chapter has Byleth and their students protect the Holy Mausoleum from invaders, since the Western Church, which manipulated Lonato into rebelling, was actually trying to infiltrate the Mausoleum. Among the invaders is an extremely powerful foe called the Death Knight, who will make short use of you without the proper strategy (e.g. Lysithea casting Dark Spikes). During the battle, Byleth manages to wield the Sword of the Creator, a Hero's Relic, prompting Rhea to entrust them with the sword. The house leaders take an interest in this development, for various reasons.
The fifth chapter involves Byleth tracking down Miklain, the older brother of Blue Lions student Sylvain, to find the Lance of Ruin. Miklan transforms into a monster called a Demonic Beast as a result of using the lance, becoming a type of enemy that has never been seen before in a Fire Emblem game, but will be fought again many times. Like with the mission in Chapter 3, this helps develop your house leader a bit more. One unfortunate aspect of the story is how the secondary Blue Lions characters have a greater connection to the Part1 plot than those of the other characters, but in all fairness, the political instability of the Kingdom means that it isn't a coincidence that some of the minor antagonists are causing trouble there.
In Chapter 6, Flayn, the younger sister of Rhea's assistant Seteth, is kidnapped, and the entire monastery searches for her. The BGM for the monastery switches to a suspenseful track, and everyone is appropriately tense. It seems a bit strange that you can go about activities as usual during this time, something that I think would have been solved by having the search take place in a mandatory exploration segment without activity points, but that's beside the point. The player then has to rescue Flayn, either by defeating the Death Knight(which is more feasible this time) or all other units. At the end of the battle, the Flame Emperor, the mastermind behind the bandit attack and the invasion of the Holy Mausoleum, briefly appears before Byleth, revealing that they are the Death Knight's master.
The seventh chapter is a break from the ongoing troubles. The monastery BGM returns to normal and a fishing tournament is held for Flayn. The mission for that month, the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, had been introduced in Chapter 1, and while units won't be lost forever if their HP reaches 0, proves to be one of the more exciting and challenging missions in the first half. It's a larger-scale mock battle between the houses that, unlike the Chapter 1 battle, actually has two separate AI factions, as well as its unique BGM, "Blue Skies and a Battle."
Things quickly turn grim again in the eighth chapter, when a mysterious faction led by a man named Solon attacks a village, and you come face to face with the Flame Emperor, learning that they did not condone this atrocity and would like your support. Like with Chapter 3, this is another significant moment in your house leader's arc. Edelgard is troubled by what happened but intrigued by your conversation with the Flame Emperor. Dimitri loses control of himself for a moment and reveals his darker and more vengeance-obsessed depths. Claude, meanwhile, searches for the truth and the answers to questions about Fodlan.
Chapter 9 has a brief moment of levity with the White Heron Cup dance competition, in which you can unlock the Dancer class, as well as the ball, in which you can spend a romantic moment with someone in the Goddess Tower. All that comes to an end when, during a mission in the abandoned chapel, Jeralt is suddenly killed by a woman named Kronya, who survives Byleth's attempt to turn back time due to the intervention of her leader, Thales. The rest of Garreg Mach mourns the tragedy, the BGM for the monastery turns somber and Byleth's mannerisms change.
The next two chapters bring Part 1 toward its climax. Chapter 10 gives Byleth the opportunity for revenge against Solon and Kronya, but is forced to fuse with Sothis to escape Solon's trap. In Chapter 11, the relative peace is shattered when the Flame Emperor personally invades the Holy Tomb while Byleth is taking part in a ritual. The battle with the Flame Emperor has
On the Black Eagles route, Edelgard reveals to her shocked classmates that she is the Flame Emperor. After the battle, Byleth must choose a side- Edelgard and the Empire or Rhea and the Church of Seiros.
On the Blue Lions route, Dimtri realizes that the Flame Emperor is his stepsister and childhood friend Edelgard in the aftermath of the battle, something he had suspected since a Blue Lions route-exclusive scene after Chapter 9. He then snaps and kills some of Edelgard's men in a vengeful rage.
The Golden Deer route has the least impactful Flame Emperor reveal, with Edelgard's identity revealed with relatively little fanfare after the battle.
All this culminates in Chapter 12, in which the once-peaceful Garreg Mach is plunged into war. You then prepare for war, whether at Garreg Mach or an Imperial army camp, and then fight a climactic battle of Garreg Mach.
This concludes the pre-timeskip portion, and once Byleth returns after the timeskip, nothing is the same again. The battle preparation music is more grim, as are the battle themes- "Chasing Daybreak"(first half of post-timeskip) is intense, while "The Long Road"(second half) is melancholy. Instead of the students making cutesy remarks, cocky wisecracks or other amusing quips after winning battles, your units lament the killing or grimly stride onward to victory (although on the bright side, the previously timid Bernadetta and Marianne are more confident). Should any units be lost in battle after the timeskip, they will actually die. It's even possible for pairs of friends who hung out together at the monastery and met prior to coming to the school to be forced to kill each other.
Three Hopes
Now for Three Hopes
The prologue introduces Shez, member of Berling's mercenary corps, a rival to Jeralt. The prologue battle has Shez and their comrades fight Jeralt's mercenaries, a battle they are winning until Byleth takes the field. Byleth slaughters all the named characters except Shez, who only survives due to the intervention of an entity called Arval, and even then merely forces Byleth to a draw.
Shez then seeks to get stronger, and ends up running into the three house leaders in the first chapter of the game. This ends up being a slightly more advanced tutorial, teaching advanced tactics such as choosing the right unit for the situation. Like in the prologue of the game, Kostas is the boss, but this time, he's killed at the end of the mission.
At this point, Alois arrives, and "encourages" Shez to come along with him to Garreg Mach, with the ulterior motive of allowing the church to keep tabs on Shez. Shez can meet and learn more about the other students, although Bernadetta is absent due to staying behind.
Shez can then pick a house, where they will attend as a student. Their first assignment is to track down some bandits, and they and their professor, Jeritza, end up defeating Kronya and saving the real Monica. Considering that Monica joins the Black Eagles, and this ties into Edelgard's plans to cut ties with Thales, this makes more sense for Edelgard's route.
Whatever happens, Monica identifies Tomas as Solon in disguise, and Tomas is forced to escape, with Shez remarking on how Tomas' power is reminiscent of Shez's own. The next mission depends on the route, but all of the events are implied to happen
In the Black Eagles route, Edelgard, with a handful of others, goes to Enbarr to deal with Lord Arundel(Thales in disguise) and his crony Prime Minister Ludwig von Aegir. With that complete, Edelgard lays the groundwork for her plan and two years later, begins her war against the church with little fanfare. Unfortunately, this ends up cheapening Edelgard's main conflict from her route- namely, that she can't defeat the Church, the Kingdom and the Alliance without the help of those who slither in the dark- and thus feels like a copout.
In the Blue Lions route, Dimitri, realizing the Kingdom is falling to unrest, goes to Fhirdiad to unseat his uncle and Cornelia(one of Thales' allies). The latter escapes, but Dimitri personally beheads the former for treason and takes the throne. While Dimitri's uncle actually appears in person, unlike in Three Houses, he's still underutilized, even for an initial villain. Dimitri himself, while still ruthless compared to his Three Houses counterpart, never falls quite as far, so he doesn't come off as well-developed.
In the Golden Deer route, Claude fights off an invasion of Almyrans led by Prince Shahid, who later becomes a secondary antagonist in his route. The confrontation with Shahid is less final and climactic than Dimitri's confrontation with his uncle, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, since it builds up to a later battle with him.
Whatever happens, Rhea decides to close the academy for the moment. After a two-year timeskip, Edelgard's war on the Church begins. Much of what applies to the post-timeskip part of Three Houses- a darker atmosphere, characters falling in battle, former friends fighting to the death, etc.- applies here, but there's less impact given that there's less buildup.
Comparison
First, I'll concede that there are some things that Three Hopes did better than Three Houses by drastically shortening the pre-timeskip route. For starters, the three routes are more unique, unlike how in Three Houses, Verdant Wind and Silver Snow are almost carbon copies, and the first half of each is similar to the first half of Azure Moon. It also means that you won't have to replay as much of the game if you want to do another route- just the prologue and first three chapters, or the second and third chapters if you reload a save.
That being said, the negatives outweigh the positives from a narrative perspective. The main problem is that Three Hopes relies on the player being familiar with Three Houses, from the story to everything it established with its worldbuilding.
It also makes less sense to have the bulk of the story take place during the war phase. In Three Houses, the war was the culmination of everything that had built up in the first act, whereas in Three Hopes, it's the main stage of the story. As such, there's far less context as to why Edelgard would declare war on the church, Dimitri's desire for vengeance or Claude's secrets.
Basically, Three Hopes serves somewhat well as a spinoff to Three Houses, one that shows how Shez's presence can change the course of the story, but falls flat on its face as a standalone story.
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