Fire Emblem Warriors – Three Hopes

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a 2022 hack and slash action role-playing game developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and Nintendo internationally for the Nintendo Switch. Part of the Fire Emblem series created by Intelligent Systems, it is both a spin-off of Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019) and a successor to Fire Emblem Warriors (2017), similarly acting as a crossover between the mechanics of Fire Emblem and the Warriors franchise owned by Koei Tecmo (which Omega Force is a division of).

The game was announced in a Nintendo Direct on February 9, 2022, and was released worldwide on June 24, 2022. The game takes place on the continent of Fódlan in an alternative timeline to that of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Similarly to Three Houses, the game has three unique storylines: Scarlet Blaze, Azure Gleam, and Golden Wildfire, each following one of the three house leaders. It diverges from the storyline of its predecessor game in that Byleth, the playable character of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, serves as an antagonist. Three Hopes introduces two new characters to fight alongside the cast of Three Houses: Shez, a mercenary Byleth previously encountered, and Arval, a mysterious white-robed being who opposes Sothis.

The mercenary Shez is defeated in battle by the Ashen Demon Byleth, vessel of the progenitor god Sothis, and their father Jeralt; Shez only survives due to the intervention of a mysterious being named Arval and swears revenge. Six months later, Shez rescues three nobles from a bandit attack: Edelgard von Hresvelg, princess of the Adrestian Empire, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and Claude von Riegan, heir to the leading house of the Leicester Alliance. As a reward, Archbishop Rhea of the Church of Seiros allows Shez to enroll in the Officer’s Academy, an elite military academy for Fódlan’s brightest students.

Shez and their classmates rescue Monica von Ochs, a former student who was abducted by “Those Who Slither in the Dark”, a fanatical cult that seeks to conquer Fódlan. Afterward, the three lords are forced to depart the Academy when crises strike their respective homelands. Edelgard launches a coup to overthrow Thales, the leader of Those Who Slither in the Dark who has taken effective control of the Empire; Dimitri suppresses a coup launched by his uncle and regent Rufus; and Claude defends Leicester’s eastern border from an invasion by Shahid, an avaricious prince of the eastern kingdom of Almyra and Claude’s half-brother.

Shez accompanies their chosen lord and remains in their service for the next two years. All three lords are made the leaders of their respective countries. Two years later, Edelgard declares war on the Church of Seiros, believing it to be corrupt. Much like its predecessor, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game with gameplay similar to the Dynasty Warriors series. Players will control characters from Fire Emblem: Three Houses including Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, and a new character, Shez, who like most avatars in the Fire Emblem series, can be either male or female.