Given the series' release history, many were expecting the next mainline entry in theFire Emblemseries to be announced during the recent Nintendo Direct. Instead, Koei Tecmo surprised fans by announcing that instead of the next mainline entry, the nextFire Emblemgame will be a follow-up to both 2017’sFire Emblem Warriorsand 2019’sFire Emblem: Three Houses, under the titleFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes.
Given Nintendo’s relationship with Koei Tecmo and the development partnership it shared withFire Emblemstudio Intelligent Systems during the development ofFire Emblem: Three Houses, a project like this makes sense. It especially makes sense given the success of 2020’sHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, whichreunited theLegend of Zeldaseries withDynasty Warriors' gameplayto deliver an alternate universe prequel toThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, for all of its success,Age of Calamity’s execution did leave a lot to be desired. Given the potential ofFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, it can learn a lot fromAge of Calamity.
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Technical Improvements Over Age of Calamity
The first and possibly most important element ofHyrule Warriors: Age of CalamitythatFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopesneeds to improve on is the game’s technical performance.Dynasty Warriorsgames live or die by how satisfying the combat feels, how exhilarating the sensation of mowing down thousands of enemies in droves can be. However, to many,Age of Calamityfailed at this core element due to the game’s technical performance on the Nintendo Switch hardware. Both from a visual and performance standpoint,Age of Calamitywas often held back in its scope due to its technical limitations, and this is a key element thatThree Hopesneeds to remedy.
There could be several reasonswhyHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamitysuffered technical issues on the Nintendo Switch: Be it the technical limitations of the hardware, incompatibility from the game’s engine, or new difficulties presented in attempting to recreate the art style ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildin a completely different game engine. Regardless,Three Hopesneeds to identify which of these issues it can tackle and either face them head on, or limit its scope accordingly to adjust for a more satisfying gameplay experience.
The originalFire Emblem Warriorsblended the art style of theFire Emblemseries with the pre-establishedDynasty Warriorsgameplay design, and as a result ended up making for a satisfying gameplay experience. Often the game ran at a solid 30 frames per second, and even included the option for a “performance mode,” something often unheard of with a Nintendo Switch title. If Koei Tecmo and Omega Force implemented such a feature intoFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, it could stop the game from falling into the samefundamental trappings ofAge of Calamity.
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A Meaningful Take On Fire Emblem: Three Houses
WhenHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamitywas released, Nintendo positioned the game as a deep dive intothe events leading up toThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, acting as a prequel revealing the events of the war that takes place 100 years before the events of the main game. This caused fans to grow incredibly excited for the game, theorizing over what elements could be shown. Fans likenedAge of Calamity’s narrative to prequels such asHalo ReachandRogue One: A Star Wars Story, which set up the events for later entries in the series by way of a tragic and emotional ending. This isn’t exactly whatAge of Calamityended up being, however.
Instead,Age of Calamitywas positioned as an alternate take on the events ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.Age of Calamitypresented a version of the game’s story in which the events of the Great Calamity are stopped, and the war depicted in the original game never happens. Many fans were left frustrated with how the game was marketed, feeling that Nintendo had lied about the game being a canon prequel toThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Thankfully, Nintendo has already confirmed thatFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopeswill depict an original route unseen inFire Emblem: Three Houses, telling an original story within the game’s universe. This gives Omega Force and Koei Tecmo free rein to do whatever they please with the universe, cast, and narrative ofFire Emblem: Three Houses, including introducing a new mysterious character as seen in the game’s reveal trailer.
The game’s trailer already shows many changes being made to the events depicted inFire Emblem: Three Houses,including showcasing protagonist Byleth during events set within the game’s time-skip, a point in the original game’s story in which the protagonist is in a five-year slumber. It also showcases some sort of alliance between the three house leaders Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude, something never showcased in any of the original game’s storyline. This is an exciting new prospect forFire Emblemfans, as it is being presented as a new take on the story from the get-go, as opposed toAge of Calamity.
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A Broader Range of Playable Characters
One of the strengths ofHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamityis that it featured a very broad range of playable characters, from both original characters and those introduced inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This allowed Omega Force to diversify each characters' play style somewhat substantially, making for one of the best rosters in aDynasty Warriors-style game. This is somewhere thatFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopesshould have no issue following suit, especially givenThree House’s wonderful cast of characters.
So far, the only characters showcased to be playable are the three house rulers Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude, as well as the player character Byleth (which has only been showcased in their female incarnation so far.) Given how large the cast of the original game is, it’s fair to expect this to be yet another packed roster for aWarriorsgame. This would be for the best, given that everyThree Housesfan likely has a different set of favorite characters. Even if the roster does feature a lot of similar characters, many fans will be happy just to take control of their favorite units fromThree Houses, andmake use ofThree Hopes' support conversations, which are making a comeback.
Given thatmostWarriorsgames also receive healthy post-launch support cycles, it’s fair to assume thatFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopeswill receive its fair share of DLC characters in the months after its release too. These DLCs are rarely bound to story continuity and are often considered for free play use, so they could include other professors such as Manuela, Jeralt, and Rhea. The original characters introduced inThree Hopescould also be introduced as free DLC, as was the case with the originalHyrule WarriorsandHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopesrelease on July 15, 2025, for Nintendo Switch.
