When Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes was first announced earlier this year, some fans were concerned and skeptical. The previous musou Fire Emblem title, the original Fire Emblem Warriors, received middling reviews and was criticized for lack of character and weapon diversity. However, as more information regarding Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes has been released each week leading up to the game's release, fans have noticed many more unique character play styles than its predecessor had.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, a spinoff of the 2019 main series title Fire Emblem: Three Houses, once again asks players to choose between three groups: the Black Eagles, the Blue Lions, and the Golden Deer. The characters from each house were shown off in a series of weekly trailers, with the Golden Deer house trailer released most recently. Fans were quick to note that the Golden Deer, a house already praised for the rich personalities of its characters, showed off even more unique special moves and combat styles than the previous two trailers.
Who are the Golden Deer in Fire Emblem: Three Houses?
The Golden Deer house consists of students hailing from the Leicester Alliance; it is led by the Alliance's future Duke, Claude von Riegan. While the other two houses represent groups with long, traditional histories and feature primarily noble characters, the Leicester Alliance is the newest and most modern of Fodlan's three regions. It features several commoner characters and a number of bright, quirky personalities. Following the release of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the Golden Deer were praised for their positive attitudes and the generally optimistic nature of their route compared to the more serious Blue Lions and Black Eagles.
All eight members of the Golden Deer house will be returning as playable characters in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. They represent a variety of traditional Fire Emblem classes; house leader Claude rides a wyvern while his retainer, Hilda, is a powerful axe fighter. Other characters shown off in the recent trailer include Ignatz the Archer, Lorenz the Dark Knight, Leonie the Cavalier, and Raphael, so far the game's only representative of the Brawler class. Even Marianne and Lysithea, who both are featured in the Mage class, have unique play styles with focus on different elements such as ice, lightning, and wind.
The Golden Deer's Powers Focus on Personality
After the first Fire Emblem Warriors produced a roster primarily composed of similar sword wielders, fans were relieved to see so many classes represented by the three factions of Three Hopes. In particular, the trailers for Three Hopes highlighted the distinctions between two characters representing the same class, often in the form of unique special attacks related to the character's personality or upbringing. These abilities seem to be Three Hopes' answer to Three Houses' Personal Skills, which were also unique to each character and helped differentiate units in battle.
The appearance of personality-inspired attacks was particularly strong with the Golden Deer. Ignatz, who wishes to be a painter, is able to splatter paint around the battlefield which can damage and immobilize his enemies. Lorenz, who comes from one of the oldest noble houses of the Leicester Alliance and loves to show off his nobility, can summon a massive swarm of rose petals to surround his opponents. Muscular Raphael is seen throwing a large boulder at the enemy, while the potent Fire Emblem mage Lysithea shows off her status as a magical prodigy by using multiple elements at once. Marianne, who is able to understand animals due to possessing the Crest of the Beast, has perhaps the most unique attack of all, summoning her favorite horse Dorte to charge onto the field and break the enemy's ranks.
Unique Attacks Could Be What Three Hopes Needs
This focus on making each character feel truly unique in battle could be what Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes needs to avoid the mediocre response Fire Emblem Warriors received. The original Warriors was made up almost entirely of infantry sword-wielders, with only a small handful of axe users, zero playable armor units, and only a single representative for popular Fire Emblem classes such as the dragon-transforming Manakete and the sinister Dark Mage. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes has confirmed that each of the Lord characters will have an exclusive class, while new playable character Shez will have a brand-new personalized class called the Fluegel.
While the other two houses did not show off as many eye-catching new attacks as the Golden Deer, the personality of several characters was still quite evident. From the Black Eagles, the introverted Bernadetta revealed the ability to create 'safe zones' around herself in battle, while opera singer Dorothea was shown shooting orbs of musical notes at the enemy. The Blue Lions' Felix can increase his own speed in battle, while Annette is able to wield both magic and her house's ancestral axe in battle. This may soothe fan concerns that the game's three branching story paths would be too similar in nature.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes will release on June 24, 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.
