It’s hard to ignore the level of popularity Three Houses has. While Awakening saved the franchise, Three Houses blew up, and even 5 years after its release, it’s still by far the most popular Fire Emblem (at least from what I’ve seen). Now I might be wrong here because I don’t play it, but even now Three Houses characters still win the popularity contests in the Fire Emblem Gacha game even though it’s no longer the most recent title. I played Three Houses for the first time all the way back in 2020, spent like 120 Hours trying to clear each of the 4 routes because I enjoyed the game that much. However, I haven’t replayed it until now, over 4 years later, because of how daunting spending that much time it would take to properly beat Three Houses. I’m not the type of person to call it a day at just a single route, to me, beating a game like Three Houses requires completing each route. And playing through Three Houses again, the more I found the story to be a mixed bag, though that’s because some routes were better written than others. The first routes I started with were rough, extremely flawed, and it being my first re-impression to the game, I had started out on a sour note. But as I got to later routes, I remembered why I enjoyed it as much as I did. I can’t necessarily ignore the faulty routes as I’m looking at the overall game here, not just specific routes, but the routes that I did love are spectacular.

Now before I actually get to the story, which is where most of my complaints will be, I do want to touch on the general gameplay. And for the most part, it’s really good! I mean listen though, I love tactics games, so the general tactics gameplay of Three Houses is just as good as the tactics gameplays in other Fire Emblems for the most part. What makes Three Houses unique though is the ability to explore the Monastery, and being able to teach your units.

The Monastery stuff is fun for the most part. You have a certain number of actions you can take per day, and use those to boost unit morale, train Byleth, or other odd activities here or there. There’s also quests you can do that unlock new features as you play through the game. Now I will say, I was using a New Game Plus save file, based on my save file back when I played the game 4 years ago. Because of that, I was already 3 layers deep with my save file when starting this replay. That means I was easily able to max out Byleth’s stats at practically the beginning of the game, and the general growth of the monastery and what you could do with it was already done before I even started. Immediately I found myself lacking things to do because of that, and eventually exploring the Monastery lost its worthwhileness that I usually thought it had.

On the other hand, teaching students is really fun… at first. See, there’s something really satisfying about helping your students grow and fit into certain classes that they can eventually become. However, for each chance you get to teach them, it’s the same cycle each time. Theres little to no deviation in it, which makes doing it for 4 entire routes really monotonous. Thankfully New Game Plus does allow you to speed up the process some, but even then, by the second or third route, this system really loses the interest that it once had.

And this is where I get into one of Three Houses’ major aspects that I dislike. That is how much you just have to repeat in order to play every route. As the name of the game implies, you can choose between three different houses, and these are the basic routes of the game. You choose this at the near start of the game, but the story only diverges at the end of Chapter 12. If you play as optimally as possible, and avoid repeating as much as you can, you still have to play through the same 12 chapters 3 different times. I hate to do this, but I got to give points to Fire Emblem Fates here, at least in Fates, not only does the story immediately diverge when you make your choice, but you can also skip right to the point where you make the choice. And as I said prior, having to repeat this all at least 3 separate times makes a lot of the stuff that is fun for a single campaign really tedious in later ones. By the time I completed the first campaign, I already wanted to do as little Monastery Exploration as I could.

Now we can finally get into Three Houses’ individual storylines. I’ll go in that I played them: Silver Snow, Crimson Flower, Verdant Wind, and Azure Moon. Funny enough too, this is also how I would rank the individual routes, Silver Snow being my least favorite, and Azure Moon being my favorite.

-Silver Snow-

I started with Silver Snow because I remember that it was the one I liked the least back when I played it in 2020. And unsurprisingly enough, it’s still my least favorite even now. Silver Snow just lacks a general identity that the other routes have. I think that’s because they try to put Byleth in the role that Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude have, but that innately doesn’t work. Byleth doesn’t have much of a character at all, aside from the point that they’re an avatar character, they’re also written to rarely emote, or show any sign of personality. It’s mentioned multiple times throughout the game that Byleth doesn’t seem to have that much of a personality, or emotions. Seteth is also a very prominent character in Silver Snow, and while I like him as a character, he’s still not as engaging as the 3 Lords. This is all combined with the fact that Silver Snow is a near carbon copy of another route, albeit with a different final boss (I’ll elaborate on that more when we get to the route in question), and missing one of the best chapters not only in that route, but in the entire game. But the more I looked and played Silver Snow, the more I realized how much potential this route had. I truly think this could’ve easily been one of the most interesting routes of the game.

First off, Silver Snow is a route that you can only take by choosing the Black Eagle house at the start of the game, and then siding with the Church. This is the route where you get to learn about Edelgard, her past, and essentially, her motivations. Yet immediately once Silver Snow begins, the game entirely forgets about Edelgard’s backstory, her motivations, and just turns her into a monstrous dictator. Now, oddly enough in the non-Black Eagles routes, Azure Moon and Verdant Wind, this isn’t an issue. In fact, Edelgard is treated with much greater nuance in those two routes than how she is treated here. Edelgard just immediately shifts into a comedically evil villain, and the game never acknowledges her terrible upbringing, which you would know when playing Silver Snow. What I mean to say by all of this is that I find Silver Snow to have poorly handled Edelgard as a character, devolving her immensely.

Now, this route also lacks Rhea. Rhea is gone until the end of Chapter 19, meaning there’s only two chapters of Silver Snow specifically where Rhea even exists. However, if you’re able to get at minimum A-Rank support with Rhea before the timeskip, you essentially get her character arc. While it is just a 10-minute conversation, that conversation feels like a complete speedrun of the character she could’ve had. This is what makes me so disappointed with Silver Snow. Rhea’s character arc would’ve been so interesting to see play out through the length of a regular campaign. To see her realize that, while Edelgard is still villainous, The Church of Seiros is an institution that causes suffering. It would also just add a character that could fit the role that Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude do, as I think Rhea could easily fit said role.

-Crimson Flower-

The unfortunate thing about Crimson Flower is how short it is. While Silver Snow has 21 chapters, and both Azure Moon and Verdant Wind have 22, Crimson Flower has only 18. That means the events of the story just go by at a faster rate, and the route doesn’t feel as developed as a consequence. And it sucks because I think Edelgard is a really interesting character to examine, and having a route where you actively side with her opens up a lot of opportunities for something interesting. However, that “something interesting” never really arrives and the game suddenly ends with little time to think.

Much like Silver Snow, I wish it was more engaging. It feels too basic of a route compared to the other routes, with little exploration of Edelgard and what she had been doing for the past 5 years. There were multiple mentions of how, during Crimson Flower, Edelgard has to work with evil people in order to have the outcome she desires, this idea of “for the greater good”. However, we really lack seeing any actual consequences of that, and only having a footnote at the game’s epilogue saying that Edelgard and Byleth dealt with the evildoers. This is all combined with how Edelgard is posed as this misjudged paragon of justice, like “people don’t realize she’s fighting for them actually!” kind of thing. It’s to the point that certain plot points that happen in other routes, much like everything that happens with Dimitri or Rhea just don’t happen. And I find it odd that they don’t because Byleth has so little control over the situation that I feel like Byleth siding with Edelgard wouldn’t prevent Dimitri from snapping. In a way, Crimson Flower feels like pro-Edelgard propaganda, making her appear like a just hero, even though she does horrendous things in the other routes. But like how Edelgard is glorified in Crimson Flower, Rhea is demonized, seen as this violent, vengeful false god. While it does make sense in a way for her to be hateful, Rhea is furious at Byleth for seemingly betraying her after all, by the final chapter of Crimson Flower, Rhea becomes comedically evil, for no good reason.

I definitely think for both of these routes there’s something to say about perspective, and how the lack of perspective or how you view people shapes the intensity of their actions. However pre-timeskip gives you a lot of time to learn about Rhea and Edelgard so for all of that backstory and motivation to suddenly disappear feels, disappointing to say the least. That’s why Verdant Wind and Azure Moon are much stronger routes overall, and it’s interesting how they’re able to handle a nuanced Edelgard much better than the routes that start out by choosing Edelgard’s house.

-Verdant Wind-

Now I’ll admit. By the end of Crimson Flower, I was tempted to take a break. I was getting rather exhausted, and bored by the game, the first two routes were simply that disappointing. And then, I played Verdant Wind. While the previous two routes didn’t really do much for me, Verdant Wind is finally where the game, and its story, clicked, and it helped revive the drive I had to see this game through to its end.

Now, Verdant Wind is the route that I mentioned earlier, where it and Silver Snow are near identical. The two major differences between Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, from a surface level, is that Verdant Wind has one more chapter, and the final boss is different. But simply put, Verdant Wind just feels like a more fleshed out version of Silver Snow, giving a lot more information to the world of Fodlan, and the world outside of it. One of the big reasons Verdant Wind works is that, while the characters in both routes make the exact same choices, it makes more sense in Verdant Wind because of Claude. Claude had been characterized from the beginning to use tactics and schemes, and what occurs in both routes line up more with what Claude would think of. Many of the choices that Claude makes in Verdant Wind are told to be choices Byleth comes up in Silver Snow. However, we’re just told that Byleth came up with the plan, we don’t see the plan occur naturally. Now I do think there’s irony in me saying all of this, as supposedly, Silver Snow was the route that was written first. Verdant Wind feels like a stronger execution of the idea that Silver Snow was trying to go for.

And one of the greatest strengths to Verdant Wind as well is the addition of Claude. Claude is such an interesting character to be the Lord that we follow throughout the route. He has similar aspirations to Edelgard, and at points hopes that he and Edelgard can walk the same path. But ultimately while they share similar aspirations, Claude’s approach is different, and that difference shows where Edelgard went wrong. I think this is such a genius choice, and allows for a greater nuance to Edelgard that the prior routes should’ve had. Claude also being an outsider, and someone who’s curious about Fodlan’s history, allows for a lot of exploration into Fodlan’s full history. For someone like me, who really adores the worldbuilding of Three Houses, this route is an absolute sight to behold.

And I can’t just finish the section of Verdant Wind without acknowledging the final boss of this route. Of the Fire Emblems I have played, the final boss of Verdant Wind is easily one of my favorites of the entire series. Part of that is definitely due to the presentation I’ll admit. God Shattering Star is just a killer final boss track, and that song alone puts so many points to this boss. But having the boss be completely invulnerable as you fight those protecting him, clearing the land of poison in order to just get up to him. It was all a spectacular moment, and I don’t care if the boss comes out of nowhere, it still feels like a perfect final boss to cap off Verdant Wind.

-Azure Moon-

Here we are, the final route of the game, the Blue Lions route, Azure Moon. And I think without a shadow of a doubt, this is by far the best written route of the entire game. Much like how I remembered Silver Snow being my least favorite when I played Three Houses way back when, I remembered Azure Moon being my absolute favorite. And just like Silver Snow remaining my least favorite, Azure still remains the clear winner of the four routes, and my personal favorite.

Hands down what makes Azure Moon as strong of a route as it is, is everything to do with Dimitri. It’s unfortunate too because Dimitri lacks any stage presence in other routes, while he’s mentioned or even appears for a chapter or two in the other routes, he lacks any general spotlight in them. And the reason why that is unfortunate is just because of how well written Dimitri is, and how powerful his character is throughout Azure Moon. He’s someone who’s haunted by the horrors of war, and being the only survivor, and once a new war starts, he snaps, becoming a monster himself. But as you play through Azure Moon, you see Dimitri working to fix himself, and become that rightful king that people believed him to be. Azure Moon entirely destroys Dimitri as a character, shows just how often he’s wrong, and the path he’s going isn’t the correct one. And it all leads to even him being allowed a chance of redemption, even with his hands stained crimson.

And much like Verdant Wind, Azure Moon is able to characterize Edelgard perfectly. It’s still rather funny that the routes where you don’t pick Edelgard’s house are the ones that give her the most nuance. Learning all about the history between Edelgard and Dimitri adds to both of their characters immensely, and makes the fact that they have no choice but to fight tragic. Azure Moon is also the only route of the game that acknowledges the cycle of violence that Edelgard is perpetuating, which I wish other routes explored as well. Yet again I hate bringing it up so often, but Silver Snow would’ve been a much better route if it further delved into Edelgard and the cycle of violence. Dimitri also just makes for a perfect counter to Edelgard, not only because of their past history, but because Dimitri once thought like, and shared the methods that Edelgard is currently using. The entire relationship between Edelgard and Dimitri, and their clashing ideals, makes for one of the most impactful final chapters in a Fire Emblem. While I adore Verdant Wind’s final chapter for its structure and music, Azure Moon’s final chapter I adore for the emotional climax it brings.

-Conclusion-

Now, if I had to personally rate these routes individually, they’d go as follows; Silver Snow on its own would probably be a 6/10. However, it’s hard not to examine Silver Snow in the context of the other routes, showing what Silver Snow dearly lacks. Even aside from the context of the other routes, the poor handling of its major villain I think really brings it down for me. In that regard to me Silver Snow is a 4/10 personally. Crimson Flower is likely a 5/10, it has the same issues as Silver Snow with mishandling characters, and its length is a sour point as well. However I think Crimson Flower is at least able to be somewhat more interesting even if it fumbles a bit. Verdant Wind I would put somewhere between 7-8/10. It’s a solid route overall, Claude’s a great character, and I loved getting to learn all about the world of Fodlan, however it lacks any strong character arcs that would put it any higher. This then leads to Azure Moon, which I would personally give a 9/10. It’s absolutely the strongest of the four routes, and I’m glad I saved it for last so I could end on a high note.

And truth be told, it feels weird finally being done with the game. I played through all of Fire Emblem Three Houses in about a week, and likely spent over 90 hours just to get through everything. And it’s tough, because while individual routes of Three Houses are incredible, the game is brought down by routes that aren’t. It makes giving the overall game a rating tough, because of how highs the highs can be, but so too how low the lows can be. That’s why the previous paragraph goes over my rankings of the individual routes, because I would rate each route differently than I would do the overall game. The game has some routes that are spectacular and some of the best I’ve seen in Fire Emblem, while other routes are not, and have a lot of missed potential that could’ve made them equally good. And this is all combined with a level of repetition to get through everything in the game, having to play through the exact same 12 chapters with little difference just to get to the point where the story actually diverges. Despite its flaws and imperfections, I still believe that Three Houses is a rather solid game. I understand why people love it, and how there’s still so much discourse tied to the characters of this game. Even if its not my particularly favorite Fire Emblem title, I do think it deserves the popularity it got. While it is very flawed, there’s a level of ambition that I just have to respect.

I wish more games offered up free DLC to their games, though I can see why it's not a normal thing.

This game is still an absolute blast to play if maybe a bit on the easy side. Not that I mind though: It's nice to have a reprieve after everything thrown at me.

Maybe I should try Sea of Stars next.

Today dad (his photos also) and I went to out-of-usage cistern that now serves as a place for bats to hibernate during winter. Very cool place and we saw these two as well.