May 2020 Newsletter--Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Erin and James, Crossroads Minute)

Hey, everyone. Erin here.

So. Quarantine, huh?

I've spent this month trying to think of something Crossroads-related to do this newsletter about, and I kept coming up empty. I could finally watch Guardians of the Galaxy, because it's got Zoe Saldana in it, but it's not the type of movie I typically enjoy, and for whatever reason* I've been reaching for media that is familiar and comfortable. I want to rewatch movies, not watch movies for the first time. I want to read books that are like other books I know I enjoy, not blindly branch out into new genres or authors or tropes.

*the reason is generalized anxiety and a sense of having no control in this absurd time we live in

Basically, I want stories that are either so ingrained in my sense of self that they're like slipping on a favorite pair of pajamas (While You Were Sleeping, Labyrinth, Newsies) or new enough to be exciting but still falling under the umbrella of comfort, like new pajamas that are the same style as your favorite pair.

(I've been wearing pajamas a lot these past two months.)

Enter Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

I discovered the Fire Emblem franchise pretty late, I think--only a couple years ago, when the mobile game Fire Emblem: Heroes was released. I don't even remember why I downloaded it--probably because Griffin McElroy said to--but I was immediately grabbed by the battle-strategy aspect of the game, which struck me as weird because I never would have though I'd like that sort of game. But having to think about which type of weapons characters are weak to or most effective against and plan my moves accordingly was fun for me.

FE: Heroes was basically only that, though, and it lost its luster pretty quickly. I wanted the battle strategy part but I wanted more, too. I wanted a story. And I found all of that in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

(Listeners of Unabashedly Obsessed might recall that I've discussed this game before, so I won't go into it more here.)

I loved FE: Awakening, and played through it multiple times. Then I got Fire Emblem: Fates, but didn't end up finishing it because it was a bit clunky, being an older game.

I knew that there was a Fire Emblem game for the Switch, so when we got a Switch for Christmas this past year, I promised myself that as soon as I finished writing the first draft of my book, I'd get FE: Three Houses. Then I entered another book into a mentorship program, which meant I had to revise it before submission, so the book I was writing was put on hold. Then I didn't get into the program, and I didn't want to work on either book for a while, because I was bummed, and then the world shut down, and I was barely functioning as I tried to navigate this new normal, so I reallywasn't writing.

And finally, I said Fuck it, I'm getting the game, who cares if the book isn't done. And so I've spent the past months or so pouring wayyyyyyy too many hours into this game. 

FE: Three Houses has four paths within the main story, and there's a side story that can be purchased separately. (And you'd better believe I purchased it.) I've played the Blue Lions route, the Golden Deer route, and the Church route. I tried to start a new save file on this last playthrough so that I wouldn't have to play the entire first part of the Black Eagles section through again, since the first third of the game is basically the same no matter which path you choose and I had already done it twice. Unfortunately, I saved in the wrong place, after the Major Decision (I didn't realize it was a Major Decision, although the internet tells me there's no way I could notrealize it), so I had to totally restart the game from scratch. Which is annoying.

My favorite part of the Fire Emblem games in the past has been making characters become romantically involved, but that's not really an element of this game, which surprised me. The player character can choose who to S-rank with but not until the very end of the game. All of the other character supports are pre-set, so while you can build support between them to a point, you can't force them to get married--there are a few pairings that are possible and are determined by who has the most support points (so even if Dorothea has reached her max support conversations with both Felix and Linhardt, you can keep playing her near one of them in battles to continue building support so that when you get to the "where are they now" at the end of the game, she'll have married that person).

All in all I haven't minded the lack of romance-building in the game though. The first time I played, I didn't the Blue Lion path, and S-ranked Dimitri. Then I did Golden Deer and S-ranked Claude (who I adore so much more than I thought I would). My next round was Black Eagles, but I chose to follow the Church route and S-rank Seteth, who has had my favorite proposal so far--it made me squee. Now I'm doing the Edelgard route with plans to S-rank Felix, and when I do the side story I guess we'll see which of the Cindered Shadows side story characters (who I haven't met yet because they are exclusive to that story, until after you've played that story, at which point you can access them in the main game) I like best.

All this to say, I've been so deep in the FE: Three Houses rabbit hole lately that I have all but forgotten about the real world, and as I have a story and a half to finish up I'll be in this rabbit hole for a while longer. Then I'll probably do another playthrough using whatever my favorite route ends up being, S-ranking whoever my ultimate favorite romantic partner is, and using the New Game+ option to just thoroughly overpower my way through the entire thing, which I think will be immensely satisfying, giving me a sense of power and control over at least one small thing in this weird, weird world.