One of the interesting things about squeezing a management-game down to be playable on mobile devices, is that it forces a huge reduction in "game space"/"decision space" in a way that can often create unique and interesting situations.

In Football Chairmen situations are thrown at you on a single screen that you have to (effectively) Yes/No your way through - but in the knowledge that you can't control what these situations will be. You know your manager will try to sign players, but you're not sure how good they'll be or in what positions. Similarly bids for your players will come in, and you'll have to decide to keep or sell without full control of their replacement.

The distinct lack of control you have forces you to make decisions that you know aren't perfect, in a way that actually feels more realistic than those you would make in a more detailed simulation with greater control.

Football Chairmen is quick a simple to play, the UI is clean and readable (if the buttons are a little small) and gives all the solid, satisfying decision making of a grander scale game.

The original generation five Pokémon games are already some of my favorite games in the Pokémon series, yet Pokémon White 2 manages to knock it out of the park as one of the greatest sequels to any game I've ever played. Not only does it keep many of the original game's strongest traits, like the sprite work, characters, and soundtrack, it also expands upon the original experience. The Unova regional Pokedex is expanded to include many old fan favorites to go along with the Unova Pokémon from the first game, making this one of the best selections of Pokémon in the series. The Pokedex isn't the only thing they added, as the world has many new towns, routes, dungeons, and even gym leaders to help expand upon the original region. Add in a solid postgame that includes my favorite Battle facility, the Pokémon World Tournament, and this is easily my favorite entry in the mainline series.

I had no intention of playing this game. The graphics looked kinda ugly, the franchise has never really appealed to me, and the only thing I knew about the game, the permadeath, scared more than excited me.

But, a lot of my friends were hyping the game up and, like a chump, I fell for it. Purchasing a copy only a few days after it had released.

And boy am I glad I did.

I'm currently on my fourth playthrough, nearing the hundred hour mark, and I still can't stop thinking about this game. The three* different storylines, the huge cast of characters, the dynamic way the writing will account for recruits and other variables, all fantastic.

What really makes this game special though is what it took from the Persona franchise, the daily calendar and stats grinding segments between proper gameplay absolutely hooked me. And convinced me to try Persona (let's just say... it paid off).

The only reason I'm giving this game a 5 star rating is because of Crimson Flower, Edelgard and Rhea. They're the only reason why I enjoyed this game so much.

This game should not have four routes. The concept of four perspectives in a war is great, but it falls flat when the main narrative is only really about Edelgard against the church. Dimitri and Claude are ultimately not important to the main narrative. Personally, I don't even understand why Dimitri and Claude are lords, because they're frankly pretty insignificant compared to Rhea and Edelgard. That's why the routes are kind of a mess.

Silver Snow is just..such wasted potential it's infuriating. It should have been Rhea's route and focus more on her and the lore around the Nabateans. But we got a random lore dump in Claude's route instead. SS should also have focused more on Edelgard and Byleth, because it's the route where you're choosing to fight against your student, but we got nearly nothing out of it. Over the course of the narrative Byleth is given the option to dissent to the war, to express her desire to not fight, and at every time Byleth's worries and desires are ignored and overruled. The route could have also explored Byleth being nothing more than a vessel in general, but all we really got was Seteth taking the lead. Rhea got done dirty
and that's really a shame.

Verdant Wind is nothing more than a carbon copy of Silver Snow, so if a route got the poorest treatment then it's this one. There is a reason this route is full of unnecessary cutscenes and the final boss being nothing more than an ass pull. The music was great, though! I like Claude's design and his personality is intriguing, but the way he was implemented into this game was just not good. He kind of felt out of place? Claude feels like a character who needs his own game, where the plot focuses on his goals etc., because in 3H they fall flat.

Sadly, I have really nothing nice to say about Azure Moon, since it ignored every story aspect in favor of a half-assed "redemption arc". While playing this route I noticed that this is nothing more than a hyperfocussed Gary Stu storyline that gives the rest of the cast barely any room to breath and develope outside of directions beneficial to Dimitri. Everything is focused on him and his manpain. All characters around him are nothing more than sad looking bystanders doing absolutely nothing. Byleth has no agency whatsoever in this route. AM!Byleth is probably my least favorite character in the whole game. The choices you get there feel like they're straight out of a otome game. You see Dimitri killing and torturing his enemies, leading suicidal charges, dooming his army and taking his Kingdom down with him. He even admits killing innocent people and children and treats Byleth and his comrades like absolute shit, but all you can say as the protagonist are lines like "I miss the old you" and I hated it. Dimitri's actions literally didn't have any consequences for him. AM is just about letting Dimitri go wild while his "friends" and Byleth are babysitting him or are feeling sorry for him. If the characters were given the chance to act and talk like normal people then AM would fall apart and the "Savior King" would look bad in his own route. Dimitri just does not work to improve himself whatsoever. In one moment he is a dangerous, aggressive boar who enjoys spilling blood, then in the other he is suddenly the Savior King and everything beforehand is forgotten. I just can't call this poorly written development a redemption arc. That would require Dimitri to exercise a modicum of self-reflection and act on the results, but he doesn't.

Honestly, I think AM should be a bad end and Dimitri shouldn't get a "redemption". Because the plot twist that you're fighting for the wrong side and go down with the Boar King would be a perfect fit for AM. I mean, the route is already actively ignoring the main narrative to begin with and ends kind of on a "bad note"(status quo still exists etc), so they could have gone all the way. At the end AM felt like an edgy side story that desperately forced a "happy ending". Outside of his route Dimitri is pretty irrevelevant. He dies off-screen in 2 routes and in Crimson Flower he is also nothing more than an obstacle. Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I dislike or hate him as a character, because in concept he sounds really interesting. But the execution was very poor.

Crimson Flower is sadly shorter than the other routes and lacks some cutscenes, but the narrative is the most complete and satisfying compared to others imo. I also like that there were no filler maps where you're fighting against some lame bandits. The narrative is progressing steadily with unique maps and without any interruptions and I loved that. You could argue that some things are missing like Shambhala but considering that AM's plot was rushed even though it had 22 chapters..yeah, I feel satisfied with CF's final battle. Did I want to fight TWSITD? Sure, but at least it's the most unique route with different maps and monastery dialogues. Edelgard is an amazing character and the Black Eagles have a great dynamic. They fulfill the found family trope pretty well. The fact that they're the only house that stays together after the timeskip speaks volumes. Also Byleth gets some agency in that route and her heartbeat and original hair color back (which I like way more than the mint green). I love that CF makes you reaffirm your decision to stay with Edelgard, because narratively it's one of the most important bits in the game. It's Byleth actively choosing for herself what she wants, and not what someone else has chosen for her, for the first time in her life. It's the entire point of CF. Byleth making a decision for herself literally leads directly to her regaining her humanity and getting to live an ordinary life. It’s so good how in other routes Byleth is thrust into a position of power for her immortal lifespan - Archbishop or Queen. In CF she’s free. She didn’t just help Edelgard reclaim the future for everyone, she reclaimed the future for herself. With that being said, it's an absolute shame that Byleth can't talk. I get that silent protagonists are popular in jrpgs, but Byleth being also one in a story and character driven game like Three Houses was just a huge mistake.

I'm also glad that this route didn't remove Rhea from her agency. Rhea is amazing in CF because she is not some poor corrupted soul that needs to be tragically taken down. Also we get to see Rhea/Seiros being unhinged (like in the very first cutscene of the game) and I loved it.

Another reason why I love CF is because it shows the emotional growth of Edelgard. Seeing her open up to Byleth and the Black Eagles is quite endearing. She has complex and very relatable, sympathetic views. Edelgard's idelogies and character resonated with me even further when I saw how much despair there was in her situation, where there's an immense ammount of conviction behind every word, drive behind every action, making it feel so gratifying to see it to the end in CF moreso than any other route. Edelgard has a well developed character arc that is thoroughly built-up and impactful where the game doesn't relent showing how her traumatic experiences have so much of an impact on her or highlighting her more questionable acts and how that affects her. She is also a powerful axe-wielding badass with an immaculate design and can be an adorable dork sometimes.

As I said, this game is unfinished and way too amibitious. It was definitely in development hell and should have been delayed again. But I really think Three Houses should only have two fleshed out routes (SS and CF). Because even if they had more time, AM's story would stay the same and Claude would still feel out of place.

But oh well, I still loved Edelgard's story and her impact on other routes. She is easily the greatest fictional character of all time for me and the only reason I enjoyed this game in the first place. So you could say I only love Crimson Flower, Edelgard and Rhea (some other characters as well) and not the whole game.