FE:3H is a game that is truly special to me, showcasing everything that an RPG title can be. It's genuinely so impressive how attached I got to every single member of the incredibly large cast of characters, and the story they follow is simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring. That being said, there is one fundamental hiccup that makes it difficult to recommend the game wholeheartedly.
While you can definitely enjoy the game by playing a single route, what truly elevates Three Houses is experiencing the events through the different perspectives, something that requires you to replay the ENTIRE game MULTIPLE TIMES.
On one hand, the story and characters only become better on each subsequent playthrough as you gain a deeper understanding of both them and their roles in the greater conflict.
On the other, though, so much of the content is almost identical for each path that it can be a bit of a slog to go through the entire first half of the game three times.
Three Houses' structure is both the reason the story left such an impact on me and why I struggle to recommend anybody else take the time to go through it all. Asking someone to play a 30 hour RPG is already pretty significant, but asking them to play that same game two additional times, with a large amount of the content being identical for each? That's a bit much, at least for me.
In the end, I recommend FE:3H conditionally; If you're willing to invest the time to play through multiple perspectives and can stomach some of the repetition, the game is more than worth your time. I personally look back with nothing but fond memories despite the frustrations I had throughout.
While you can definitely enjoy the game by playing a single route, what truly elevates Three Houses is experiencing the events through the different perspectives, something that requires you to replay the ENTIRE game MULTIPLE TIMES.
On one hand, the story and characters only become better on each subsequent playthrough as you gain a deeper understanding of both them and their roles in the greater conflict.
On the other, though, so much of the content is almost identical for each path that it can be a bit of a slog to go through the entire first half of the game three times.
Three Houses' structure is both the reason the story left such an impact on me and why I struggle to recommend anybody else take the time to go through it all. Asking someone to play a 30 hour RPG is already pretty significant, but asking them to play that same game two additional times, with a large amount of the content being identical for each? That's a bit much, at least for me.
In the end, I recommend FE:3H conditionally; If you're willing to invest the time to play through multiple perspectives and can stomach some of the repetition, the game is more than worth your time. I personally look back with nothing but fond memories despite the frustrations I had throughout.