Missed Opportunities in Fire Emblem Three Houses

Nintendo’s Fire Emblem series has been one of their longest game series going on, and is renowned as a strategy RPG. This series released its latest edition, Fire Emblem Three Houses, in mid-July of 2019 and was immediately popular for its immense re-playability, graphic updates, character cast, and overall storyline. The story line and re-playability aspect come from the fact that it gives you three main different routes to explore. As the name suggests, the player picks from one of three “Houses” at a monastery to teach at and follow their story line. Each route has a different set of characters and different perspective on the war plaguing their continent of Fodlan depending on your pick.

Despite the storyline’s praise for allowing the player multiple options, there were quite a few things that seem to have been cut from the game. This isn’t to criticize the game for what we have, but to ponder on what was missed, and might’ve been included if the game had been given more time prior to its release.

The most noticeable gap in the storyline would be on the Verdant Wind route, in which the player sides with the “Golden Deer '' House and follows the House leader Claude von Riegan’s perspective. The main conflict of the war in Fodlan is between the other two House Leaders--Dimitri and Edelgard--so Claude is considered the “neutral” or middle route. Claude considers himself to be an outsider, as he isn’t a native to Fodlan, and faces racial discrimination throughout his life for coming from a neighboring country in which Fodlan is also in conflict with. His unique “outsider” perspective presents the opportunity to create a new out-look on the war going on inside the game and expand the world-building, if only done right. His route isn’t given nearly as much attention and backstory as the other two Houses were.

The cast for the Golden Deer as a whole isn’t given as much lore and backstory as the members of the other houses. Their characters are lackluster when compared to the amount of background information the player is given about the others, with often two-dimensional or unoriginal motivations that makes the player question why they’re even involved in the war to begin with. Claude’s role as the “outsider” isn’t played into enough as it could’ve, and few additional details are given about his home country. The struggles of his past are mentioned but not nearly gone into as much as the other House Leader’s backstories were or nearly as plot relevant. In fact, it is only hinted later in a separate DLC pack that Claude was a fake name chosen to make his immigration into Fodlan easier, and confirmed later online. This was a big reveal that was supposed to be included in the Verdant Wind Route but was cut, like much of Claude’s backstory. The Verdant Wind route is still enjoyable as an outside look on the war in Fodlan with loveable characters, but it is clear not as much depth was given both character and story-wise as could’ve been. More time in finishing and tying Claude’s story into the overarching plot of the game would’ve made an entirely different, nuanced, experience and look into the game’s lore.

Another opportunity in the game that fell through due to time constraints was the addition of a split route in the character Dimitri’s path. He is the leader of the “Blue Lion” House, who becomes unhinged and obsessed with seeking vengeance on Edelgard later into the game. Choosing his route, Azure Moon, would be siding with Dimitri and helping him find peace in his anger, but leaked audio clips and conversations in the game revealed a path in which the player would betray Dimitri instead. There are members of the Blue Lions with a known dislike of Dimitri, and these leaked files divulged arguments between characters that implied an unfinished route in which these members would betray Dimitri, possibly siding with Edelgard. Considering Verdant Wind had corners cut character and story-wise, it isn’t a surprise this off-shoot path was never finished for the final cut of the game. Although, such a thing would've made an interesting turn of events, and allowed the player more input and nuances with the events going on inside the route they chose.