With Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes releasing this month, the various studios behind its production - Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, and Koei Tecmo's Omega Force - have been spotlighting what fans can expect. Since it was announced during the February 2022 Nintendo Direct, trailers have confirmed that players will choose a house to support for at least three unique storylines; the same groups that characterized 2019's Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Every student from the Blue Lions, Black Eagles, and Golden Deer will make an appearance in Three Hopes. A series of videos have demonstrated the way Omega Force's typical Dynasty Warriors/Musou formula will make these 24 characters (and more, like brand-new protagonist Shez) stand out despite a shared pool of weapon types and mobility classes. However, the developer should also incorporate Fire Emblem's traditional Paralogue missions to build upon the way Fire Emblem: Three Houses created diverse character interactions.

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Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes' Narrative Structure

Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes Shez Byleth Sothis Arval

It has been confirmed that Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes will branch at the start, perhaps leading to more immediate differences than in Three Houses where half the game followed a unified path (regardless of which house was chosen). According to the official My Nintendo Store page for Three Hopes, the main storylines are similar to their original counterparts but go in "compelling" directions. The Azure Gleam path will see Dimitri rise to power and fend off the Adrestian Empire; the Scarlet Blaze path will see Edelgard "flush out dark forces" to improve society; and the Golden Wildfire path will see Claude bolster the Leicester Alliance to hold back the neighboring nation of Alymra.

While the conclusion to these stories is yet-unknown, there are key differences from Three Houses. In the original strategy RPG, Dimitri is unable to ascend to the throne because he disappears following a near-execution. Likewise, it's revealed that Edelgard is secretly the Flame Emperor working with the "dark forces" of Those Who Slither in the Dark, and Claude is more interested in unifying the people of Fodlan and Almyra than he is defending the border. The hack-and-slash style of a Warriors title may also mean characters are siloed off to their individual houses, whereas Three Houses let Byleth recruit other students.

However, locking students to their original houses would miss out on an opportunity that the original game barely scratched the surface with. A web of Support conversations let units in Three Houses talk with one another between missions if they battled together, ultimately leading to the opportunity for marriages and other flavor text at the end of the game. Yet another staple of the series that Three Houses took advantage of was Paralogue missions: optional single-map conflicts with their own contained stories.

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The Paralogues in Three Houses leaned into the idea of being a narrative beat for one or more characters. In some cases these missions served to improve the party with items, such as Marianne's "Forgotten Hero" Paralogue rewarding her the Blutgang Heroes' Relic. Some of the more interesting missions blended character beats - sometimes between units from different houses. For example, the "Rumored Nuptials" Paralogue tells the story of Blue Lions' Ingrid being nearly kidnapped by a suitor with whom Black Eagles' Dorothea had prior experience.

"Rumored Nuptials" is an example of a Paralogue where either or both units could receive a reward if Byleth is their teacher (for Ingrid this reward is the Heroes' Relic Luin), but the bonding experience between characters is perhaps more interesting to fans. Koei Tecmo's Fire Emblem Warriors from 2017 did not feature traditional Paralogues, instead offering players a series of "History Mode" trials to complete that often used map designs inspired by older games like Shadow Dragon, The Blazing Blade, and Shadows of Valentia.

Given Three Hopes will not use the same combined universe conceit as Fire Emblem Warriors, the upcoming title should replace History Mode with Paralogues reminiscent of those in Three Houses. Whether Shez is able to mix the units from other houses into their current story path or not, Three Hopes will benefit from giving individual units and their allies more time in the spotlight outside its driving main story.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes releases on June 24, 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.

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