Tim B

Are there any indications yet on how many hours this might take to complete? Honestly it’s getting slightly stressful trying to beat everything before the next major release comes out.

So where is everybody up to? I’m on Chapter 10 of The Golden Deer, at just over 25 hours. Someone I follow on Twitter claims to have completed two of the Houses already (and said he had finished the first after three days). Someone else said they finished The Black Eagles (I think) in 36 hours. This is the first game in a long time that’s made me think I’m *really* playing something special, so that’s nice.

ShopTo has an exclusive t-shirt with pre-orders, but it only comes in Large https://www.shopto.net/en/swas52-astral-chain-p62119/ As a brand new IP, I'm hoping this will get a demo on the eShop in order to persuade those currently on the fence.

The game scored a second week at No.1 in the UK. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-08-05-uk-charts-fire-emblem-three-houses-scores-second-week-at-no-1

I don't suppose anyone has seen TV adverts for this in the UK? I'm just wondering if that's partially behind the surprisingly high sales for this title.

Fifteen hours in and the game really is wonderful to me. I’m in The Golden Deer house and the story has just gone a bit Phoenix Wright, which is nice. The battles tied to the main story really do have a great Mario vs. Rabbids feel to them, so this game is definitely scratching the itch I’ve had since finishing that last summer. I thought a sequel would’ve been announced by now. Seems I was doing the optional/grinding battles almost by accident so my team is a little overpowered at the moment. I’m guessing that won’t always be the case.

I’ve played about eight hours now. Starting to understand a hell of a lot more, but far from everything. Exploring the Monastery is gradually teaching me what I need to know. But there is just so much. I do have a question though...how does grinding work in this game please? I’m in Normal mode and I have permadeath switched on, it seems, as I’ve already lost a few of my students. Tell ya what, it’s a good job I played both Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle and Octopath Traveler last summer otherwise I could have really struggled to get into this game. In fact, I probably would’ve skipped it altogether had I not experimented with those games first.

From @Chris_Dring on Twitter: “Fire Emblem: Three Houses is No.1 in the UK charts this week. Sold almost double the launch sales of 2013’s Fire Emblem Awakening, and more than double the combined sales of the first two Fire Emblem Fates games (2016). It was comfortably No.1, too. It managed more than double the boxed sales of Wolfenstein: Youngblood, which made No.2”. Ka-ching!

A couple of videos for those who, like me, might be feeling quite overwhelmed with such a new experience.

I've played it for over three hours despite being busy this weekend. I really struggled with the very first battle, just in terms of learning the controls and how to actually move the units etc. The mock battle was much more of a success, though it took me two tries. I was able to learn from mistakes and see what I did wrong in my first try. I'm currently exploring the Monastery and it's surprisingly large. Having a break for now but looking forward to getting to some more battles.

Yep and people who have played it have said it's amazing, so let's see.

I guess in terms of Nintendo games there are still Astral Chain, Zelda: Link's Awakening, Luigi's Mansion 3 *and* Pokémon: Sword and Shield which could potentially also be in the conversation.

In other news, it's reviewing fantastically well. IGN has given it a 9.5 I wonder if the massive scores, such as this one, make it a GOTY contender?

No Fire Emblem yet, and when I log into my ShopTo account it says the following: "Your Order has been shipped on 2019-07-25." Very annoying if it doesn't arrive today when other people have received theirs.

Obviously we know from previews etc. that it’s going to be at least *good*. However, I would like it to be amazing/excellent etc. Like most Smash players in this part of the world, I’ve never played a Fire Emblem game before. It’s pretty much a brand new genre for me and I’m ready to get stuck into a new experience.

Because I trust the opinions of experts as a whole. I really want it to be good.

Number 1 on Amazon now. This game is going to be huge. Hopefully will see some reviews in the 9.0s.

I know I always ask this...but when is the review embargo up please? Wednesday 2pm BST? I’ve pre-ordered it recently and now I’m super excited to play it, hopefully on Thursday if ShopTo can get their games out as early as usual.

Err, so where are all the reviews for this then? Not a good sign!!!!!!

I wonder if this is why the current edition of the Switch currently comes with a £30 money off voucher for the eShop - So they don't feel too hard done by when a revised edition ends up coming out shortly afterwards with superior battery life.

The first review is in, from Famitsu and it scored 9/9/10/9 or 37/40. https://nintendoeverything.com/famitsu-review-scores-7-17-19/

And then when this one does badly, they might not even bother to remaster any of the others...

Thank you @Jonnas. The last two parts of DLC appeal especially. I’ve not played much like this game before but I doubt I’ll want n00b help type stuff. At the moment, it’s only possible to buy the expansion pass for £22.49, though I’m hoping each part of DLC will be able to purchase individually they are released.

I have a question about the DLC that someone on here might be able to answer. When would be the best time to buy it? At the same time as getting the game, after completing it, or when? It costs £22.49 on its own so I wouldn't want to get this wrong. Here's the contents of the DLC as listed on the eShop. Additional Story Content - Planned Release Date: 2020 New Attire - Planned Release Date: 2019 Additional Auxiliary Battles - Planned Release Date: 2019 Additional Quests - Planned Release Date: 2019 Additional Items - Planned Release Date: 2019 Officers Academy Uniform (Byleth) - Planned Release Date: 26/07/2019 "We plan to release auxiliary battle maps by 31/10/2019. Multiple map types are planned, and they will feature increased number of enemies that drop items."