If I’m being completely honest, I was ever so slightly disappointed when Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes was revealed in the most recent Nintendo Direct. Don’t get me wrong – I was all for another Musou/Dynasty Warriors styled hack-and-slash Fire Emblem spin-off – but what I really want is the next game in the series, Fire Emblem 18. It’s one of those weird little scenarios where hype for one thing dents enthusiasm for another, completely different thing. That’s where Three Hopes found itself.
In addition to that, I was also a lot less enamored with 2017’s Fire Emblem Warriors than I was with the Zelda equivalent. But, returning to the world of Fire Emblem after 2020’s Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has done the series a world of good – and Three Hopes might be the best Nintendo and Musou mash-up to date. Why? Well, the formula just fits.
Think back a moment. The first Zelda and Fire Emblem Musou games were both nostalgia tours; a neat, fan-service filled trip through the past of a storied franchise. Age of Calamity set a new template, however, revisiting the world of the most recent Zelda game and offering up an alternative timeline retelling some of the same story beats in a very different way. It’s the same energy as Final Fantasy 7 Remake – the idea that it’s far more interesting to subvert expectations and explore different themes with the same core narrative than to reproduce what came before in a different genre.
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