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Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
Seeing what every character was up to every month was great, but all the other sidequests and mechanics were basically filler so that there was something to do besides go around talking to everybody and ways to hook into the lecture system. Path of Radiance style base skits, or (I can't believe I'm saying this) a more Fates-like base, would be a more streamlined approach to capturing that benefit.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Yes, Felix my most recent video game boyfriend is here!

Also I'm glad to see nothing in the special edition is that intriguing to me. I enjoy the little acrylic figurines though.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
Haven't tried it yet, but the demo for Three Hopes sounds pretty meaty.
I started it! @Lumber Baron saw the demo was available while I was at work and started downloading it which gets major points.

I am very intrigued that we open with the ancient battle scene and see Rhea, Seteth and Flayn (I admit I had to look up their names, oops) in action. Had a long workday so didn't get too far yet but all looks good so far.
 

Pajaro Pete

(He/Himbo)
z4tLi9T.png


Fire Emblem Engage features the Weapon Triangle and the, uh, Fist Arrow. As an added twist, using the correct weapon type can inflict Break on the enemy, which will render them unable to counterattack, which imo sounds pretty broken, not that the company who came up with the Pair Up system would introduce an absolutely game breaking mechanic in into the franchise. I guess we'll see how it works out when the Fire Emblem Engage game launches exclusively on the Nintendo Switch next year.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
I don't mind that honestly? I'm glad they're bringing it back as I didn't enjoy the Three Houses way of just relying on the Buster skills. If you can get past the magic, arrows and thrown dagger ranged weapons then punching a guy would be more effective as those weapons aren't useful in close-quarter combat.

I see it as the same as moving next to the archers and smacking them in the old games. Full judgement reserved based on how it's actually implemented but it makes sense. Obligatory Awkward Zombie.
 

spines

cyber true color
(she/her, or something)
automatic counterattacks are kind of a FE specific thing i feel like, i can't think of other tactics type games i've had where they're not at least heavily conditional. which means that having such a powerful way to nullify them might make the game feel a bit less like an FE game? i feel like if anything universal counterattacks are pretty player favored in terms of ordinary game clears considering how often you can make like 1-2 god units that can trash most of an army alone, but i haven't ever done super high difficulty stuff in the recent games, which is where i can imagine that starting to turn the other direction
 

Regulus

Sir Knightbot
The original Tactics Ogre and Front Mission both have automatic counter attacks, just off the top of my head. Though a pretty key difference is you can't really plant a character in range of a bunch of losers and expect them to just kill a whole wave of enemy grunts in either of those games like you can in a lot of FE games.

I can see ways where this new mechanic could influence tactics for both the player and the AI/map design. You could potentially take advantage of it as a player to prevent scenarios like this, for example.
 

spines

cyber true color
(she/her, or something)
ahh! those are games i'm not familiar with personally, so that's interesting to hear, i've definitely thought about checking out each of those two many times over the years but i don't often play trpgs since they have such a tendency to feel like more work than fun in the long run. and maybe...that'll happen in the case of this upcoming game too, since the funny musou shit is kind of a draw to me sometimes to FE since it can cut back on the amount of effort i have to spend moving guys, but as i'm realizing that it wasn't clear, i'm very much open to seeing what this might do for the game
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
Please teach me how to be gay in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

I'm probably going to be getting myself the game for Christmas, and I am not interested in being polite or heterosexual in it. I recall hearing around the time of release some complaints that some (all?) of the male/male romances were disappointing, in that they portrayed the characters more as bros than lovers. That's not gonna fly with me. But I don't remember any of the details, and I don't want to look them up for fear of getting spoiled. I did find one guide that suggested that "Linhardt" was the only actual option, but apparently "Yuri" and at least one other guy whose name I forget are possible as well. (I don't know who any of these people are.)

So how do I get my gay on? To the best of your ability, please delineate what same-sex options exist and what House/DLC/other choices I will have to make to achieve them, while omitting as many plot spoilers as possible. Obviously I know I need to be nice to them and hang out with them in battle a lot, but if there are non-obvious requirements ("give them the blue pendant before Chapter 3," etc.) I'd like to know those as well. Also if any of the potential suitors are annoying/awful people that would be helpful to know, as I seem to recall hearing that the only gay options in Fates were knife-licking psychopaths. I would prefer to play a male Byleth, but if all of his options suck then I guess I'll be a sword lesbian instead.

Thanks, friends!
 

q 3

here to eat fish and erase the universe
(they/them)
I believe the only gay options for male Byleth are Linhardt, Yuri, and Jeritza - of whom only the first was in the base game, Yuri is part of the paid DLC pass while Jeritza was later added for free. You'll want to join the Black Eagles house (led by Ms. "did nothing wrong" Edelgard) as that's the only way to get Jeritza and will give you Linhardt by default (though he can be recruited into either of the other houses). I haven't actually seen their endings, but while Jeritza is a scythe-licking psychopath Linhardt and Yuri are both pretty great characters - though both do lean pretty femme, Yuri especially.

Nothing too complicated to get with them, though for Yuri you'll need to (1) buy the DLC, (2) advance the DLC campaign past a certain point at which time the game will let you know he's recruitable, and then (3) recruit him which is just a matter of going and talking to him during the first half of the main campaign. IMO it may be better to complete the game normally before doing the DLC on a new game plus but YMMV if you want to replay the game. He can be recruited on any route at least, so NG+ would let you see a different side of the main story.

Also joining the BEagles will let you pair up Ferdinand and Hubert who have a pretty good heavily romantic-coded (but not quite to the point of explicit) paired ending, Caspar has a couple of ambiguous but probably-more-than-platonic M/M endings (including one with Linhardt), and Edelgard and Dorothea can be sword/dance/axe lesbians with each other or a couple other options apiece. Incidentally BEagles is pretty much the only good option for lesbian Byleth, too. Why are the other two houses so straight
 

Pajaro Pete

(He/Himbo)
Please teach me how to be gay in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

I'm probably going to be getting myself the game for Christmas, and I am not interested in being polite or heterosexual in it. I recall hearing around the time of release some complaints that some (all?) of the male/male romances were disappointing, in that they portrayed the characters more as bros than lovers. That's not gonna fly with me. But I don't remember any of the details, and I don't want to look them up for fear of getting spoiled. I did find one guide that suggested that "Linhardt" was the only actual option, but apparently "Yuri" and at least one other guy whose name I forget are possible as well. (I don't know who any of these people are.)

So how do I get my gay on? To the best of your ability, please delineate what same-sex options exist and what House/DLC/other choices I will have to make to achieve them, while omitting as many plot spoilers as possible. Obviously I know I need to be nice to them and hang out with them in battle a lot, but if there are non-obvious requirements ("give them the blue pendant before Chapter 3," etc.) I'd like to know those as well. Also if any of the potential suitors are annoying/awful people that would be helpful to know, as I seem to recall hearing that the only gay options in Fates were knife-licking psychopaths. I would prefer to play a male Byleth, but if all of his options suck then I guess I'll be a sword lesbian instead.

Thanks, friends!

Join the Black Eagles. During combat, take actions while standing within like three tiles of Lindhart (or Edelgard or Dorothea if Lady Byleth) and vice versa. View all of their support conversations. This is super easy, you'll understand when you play the game. Late in the game you point blank get a choice of which character you want to promote to S Rank Support. "S Rank" is basically Fire Emblem for Romantic Relationship, but there are a few characters Byleth can S Rank with that isn't romantic in nature (Alois, for example, is a male character that Boy Byleth can S Rank with that is explicitly not romantic in nature).

There's... another male character they added post launch that joins in the Black Eagle route, who can obtain a romantic S Rank with Male Byleth.

Yuri is a DLC character, which I did not play but as I understand it you have to complete the DLC to get those characters in the main game.

As for Picking Up The Blue Pendent Before Chapter 3, the closest thing to that is something you'll likely stumble across on your own because you're already gonna go around and chat with everyone in the Monastery every month to see what they think about current events, but: At a certain point in the Black Eagle route, when you speak to Edelgard she'll invite you on a field trip of sorts, and you'll get a message about how this will impact the story. You should go with Edelgard.
 

WildcatJF

Let's Pock (Art @szk_tencho)
(he / his / him)
Just to add to these excellent breakdowns, Lady Byleth can also romance Mercedes from Blue Lions, but that route can be extremely dark. She is recruitable in the other houses, though. I suspect this will never happen, but I personally argue that all FE characters that can be romanticized should be bi. I know that's a umbrella solution that's unrealistic, but It's the best answer I can come up with.
 

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
There are a few cases where the game seems to be leading up to a committed relationship between two characters only to swerve in their paired ending and say that they, like, became in-laws, or quit the war business to become clowns, or something. Still other times they have characters that you don't want to have a romantic relationship ending up marrying. This happens to relationships of both orientations, but do be careful not to get your hopes up too much about any particular shipping dynamic.

If you can stomach a large musou, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes includes support conversations between characters that didn't interact in Three Houses, as well as different scenarios for characters who did. I estimate it to be a fair bit gayer overall than its predecessor. It assumes familiarity with Three Houses, so you shouldn't jump right to it, and the main character Shez is less of a blank slate to project the player's feelings onto than Byleth, so if the idea is to "be gay" yourself, then it is a less promising prospect. But if you find yourself wishing to see a few more instances of Three Houses characters flirting unstraightly with each other, you can find some in its quasi-sequel. (Yuri and Sylvain is a noteworthy one that I saw recently.)

For myself, I found Byleth such a non-character that I couldn't find any relationship they were in to be convincing, except the ones with the house leaders, since they had the full weight of the main plot backing up the development. On the other hand, there's only like two characters who really resist being read as at least bisexual, even if the game plays it coy.
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
Thanks Bongo. I was planning on getting Three Hopes at some point assuming I enjoy Three Houses, and that gives me.... hope.
 

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
Oh, and one other thing: if you get the DLC, it grants you access to an NPC (the Fortune Teller) that allows you to control what paired endings you get.

They wrote little paragraph-long epilogues for every pair of characters who can reach support rank A with each other. However, which ones are actually displayed is normally based on the number of total support points earned between them, so you can end up being surprised. However, locking a pair of characters in at the Fortune Teller takes precedence over the normal algorithm.

Or you could spoil yourself by looking up transcripts in advance. There's also recordings and transcripts of the support conversations (this latter site is also the best available reference for game data, if you want such a thing). Probably not a good idea to read these out of context, but it's a large game that you'll have to replay to see everything about, so you might want to save yourself the trouble after reaching the credits once.

Also watch out for characters who are designed to give a bad first impression. It's so they can have character growth.
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
BYLETH: Well, that's everyone talked to this month, and all activities done. Just about time to move on I suppose. ...Oh, what's this over here?
SPARKLING BLUE SPOT: : )
BYLETH: ...oh no
SPARKLING BLUE SPOT: : )
BYLETH: don't you fucking dare
SPARKLING BLUE SPOT: Looks like someone dropped their nipple clamps! These probably belong to someone you already talked to 35 minutes ago. Good luck figuring out who!
BYLETH: FFFFFFAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCKKKK

Anyway this game's great. Going into it I was a little worried I'd find the monastery stuff tiresome but I'm having fun engaging with all of it. I know everyone told me to go with the Black Eagles, but I'm dumb and Claude is hot so I went with Golden Deer. (I bought the DLC and am planning to romance Yuri to get my gay on. I've been told that the ideal time to complete it is after Chapter 4 so that's what I'll do.)

I've got a small draft list of students from other houses I want to recruit, mostly based on their personalities rather than how useful they'll be. Sweet, sleepy Linhardt is at the top of the list, as the idea of swinging a sword at him causes me physical pain.
 

Regulus

Sir Knightbot
In your defense, I'm fairly sure 90% of the people who picked Black Eagles did it for essentially the same reason as you.
 

Vaeran

(GRUNTING)
(he/him)
Some of the C level support conversations are pretty funny.

LEONIE: Ugh, I can't stand how you don't appreciate Captain Jeralt! Without him you wouldn't be half the person you are today! I'm going to outshine you no matter what it takes! Just you watch! [storms off]
Byleth and Leonie's support rank went up!

Like I realize their relationship will no doubt evolve when you level them up further, but some of these early "support" conversations are outright antagonistic. Lorenz and Claude also come to mind.

Speaking of Leonie, is there an explanation for how she's apparently Jeralt's protege but somehow has never met or heard of Byleth before now? I got the impression that Byleth spent most of their life traveling with Jeralt, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to it than that.
 
I know everyone told me to go with the Black Eagles, but I'm dumb and Claude is hot so I went with Golden Deer.

Claude is absolutely the right choice, he rocks and so does his team.

Speaking of Leonie, is there an explanation for how she's apparently Jeralt's protege but somehow has never met or heard of Byleth before now? I got the impression that Byleth spent most of their life traveling with Jeralt, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to it than that.

Your instincts are right, because this is kind of the plot of the game. The protagonist and their relationship to Jeralt are a mystery that will be fleshed out.

The short answer for this one question is pretty straightforward and not spoilery though: Leonie was only with him a short time.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
The short answer for this one question is pretty straightforward and not spoilery though: Leonie was only with him a short time.
Yeah, I laughed in Three Hopes when Jeralt essentially says to Leonie he mainly called her apprentice to make her stop pestering him since she was so young.
 

spines

cyber true color
(she/her, or something)
Your instincts are right, because this is kind of the plot of the game. The protagonist and their relationship to Jeralt are a mystery that will be fleshed out.
at the start of the game i didn't know he was supposed to be byleth's dad so i had her say so

i feel like there was something else i played where something similar happened, so that's how i learned that if someone asks you in a videogame if another character is your dad it's actually a rhetorical question (from the game to the player)
 
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