Fire Emblem Is A Dating Sim Now (But Three Houses Does It Better)

TheGamer

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Fire Emblem s Dating Sim Elements Are Here To Stay

Fire Emblem did very well in sales and fan reaction but emphasizing romance, which means it's a core part of the game now. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has been out for some time now, giving fans a chance to really start digesting the characters and relationships. Naturally, this has led to one thing: people adamantly telling us who gets busy with who. But where did this behavior start? Fire Emblem is supposed to be a strategic war game. So why are people so passionate about their soldiers hooking up?

Love In The Time Of 3DS

Fire Emblem Awakening established a strong emphasis on dating mechanics which allowed players to pair up their favorite warriors. Fire Emblem Fates continued the trend, with glimmers still present in the newest entry, . While there's no "dating" in the game, per say, the main character Byleth can romance one person, and there are romantic undertones to some of the higher support ranks between the students. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY Awakening's dating mechanics mattered a lot more, as obtaining an "S" rank between two warriors would eventually birth a child. This child would come from a doomed future Terminator-style to save their parents from dying in the war, and would have the combined combat strength of both parents. In addition, the child of the main character played an integral role in the story. Fates continued the formula, but many criticized the dating mechanics and child rearing. It felt shoehorned in, as parents would put children in a pocket dimension until they grew old enough to fight. Regardless, the same mechanics were present, and it was possible to match most male and females in your party to collect as many children as possible. These children, like in Awakening, could also romance each other, but none could have children of their own. The original Fire Emblem games had supports, but romance only happened for some characters after the credits rolled.

The Problem With Fates

The games were actually on a downward spiral until Awakening, which was slated to be the last game in the series. Awakening's success led to Fire Emblem: Fates, and developer Intelligent Systems seemed to make Fates copy everything that fans loved about Awakening. This included all the character romances that people got so worked up over on the internet. Via; YouTube Fire Emblem Fates Fates, despite selling well, received harsh criticism for its poor writing, expensive DLC (which locked two thirds of the story behind it) and dating mechanics that didn't mesh as well as Awakening's. In Awakening, whatever character Robin ended up proposing to in the first half would be the parent of his child in the second half. Other characters following suit with their own children simply made sense. A few lines of dialogue in Fates does the same thing the entire game of Awakening set up. Instead of setting children up to be a key part of the experience, it felt tacked on and rushed.

Three Houses Is The Future Of Fire Emblem Romance

Fire Emblem: Three Houses learned from this. The only character that is set up to eventually have a love interest is Byleth, the player character, and players obtain a ring fairly early on to someday give to "someone special." Your classmates may have romantic undertones in their A-level supports with each other, but it's never cemented as a "relationship" in the same way. In addition, you have plenty of time to choose who Byleth will be with – after obtaining an A support rank, the S rank will immediately be available – but only after key story events, near the end of the game. That means that while battling next to your prospective marriage candidates, more A ranks will be available, and only one of those S ranks will cement your playthrough's canon relationship. It ultimately feels more important as a result. The game only lets you view one S rank, and you're given the choice of which one before an important, key event at the end of the game. After the following battle, Byleth will propose to that character automatically. Again, be sure to train up to A rank for this to be possible. You'll see the S rank appear, but won't be able to access it beforehand. Characters aside from Byleth don't have an S-rank, and choose their romance options on their own– if you're lucky, you'll get some flavor text at the end of the game showing which characters ended up together, but only if you got their supports to rank A, and only if you're lucky. Many characters may wind up alone, even if they have multiple A-rank supports. Overall, it feels much more natural, and therefore makes for a better love story. The sales of Fates, Awakening, and Three Houses, as well as the way people are already loudly declaring their ships, means that Fire Emblem's dating mechanics are just part of the game now. Protest all you want, there are just too many voices saying otherwise. At least we can be thankful that Three Houses points to a better way, one that's less intrusive and more organic.