Fire Emblem Three Houses Reveal Gameplay Mechanics, Including Calendar System and Academics

Allisa James May 18, 2019 2:08 PM EST

Fire Emblem: Three Houses reveals tons of info on its world history, battle system, job classes, academics, calendar system, and more.

Japan’s Famitsu magazine continues to be a treasure trove of information for the upcoming Fire Emblem: Three Houses for Nintendo Switch. Last time, the publication revealed tons of new screenshots unveiling character classes, gameplay mechanics, and more. And now we have even more information fully detailing how those systems work and intertwine with each other.

World History:

The Seiros religion, which roots in the continent of Fodlan, was founded by the saint Seiros and who defeated the “Liberator King” Nemesis in the Heroic War. Also said to have assisted in constructing the Adrestian Empire.

As time passed on, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus declared its independence from Adrestia, and the Leicester Alliance also separated from them. This created long wars where they fought for hegemony. Currently, they maintain a balanced state, but it is said that the Seiros religion made a huge contribution to this.

Many of the nobles are descendants of the Ten Great Fodlans from the Heroic War, and wield their inherited Emblems. These emblems are inherited by blood relationships, but it doesn’t always mean a descendant can carry the Emblem and unleash its ability.

Emblems are mainly split into Greater Emblems, that can emit strong powers, and Lesser Emblems, that only host small power. It is commonly said that the more heroic blood one has, the easier it is for them to carry a Greater Emblem. But there are also cases where a born child can suddenly wield a Greater Emblem.

Gameplay-wise, Emblems can be wielded by certain characters and are an important feature that will determine family inheritance. For example, the Adrestian Empire decides its succession through the carrier of the Seiros Emblem. These Emblems may also appear as talents such as excelled physical and magical abilities.

Skills are split into three categories:

Personal Skills

Unique skills that have been set to a unit from the beginning. These skills have unique effects and cannot be replaced. Class Skills

Unique skills that have been set to each class. These are only applicable to the said class and will be removed if the unit changes class. Ability Skills

Skills that can be learned through Professor Levels. Unlike Class Skills, these skills can be set on any classes after they have been acquired. Up to 5 skills can be equipped at once, and it is recommended to equip skills that best fit the unit’s role and class.

Main characters’ skills and Emblems:

Protagonist

Personal Skill: Master’s Guidance – EXP obtained by yourself and adjacent allies multiplied by 1.2x

Emblem: ???’s Emblem – An unknown emblem shrouded in mystery Edelgard von Hresvelgr

Personal Skill: Emperor’s Lineage – EXP obtained multiplied by 1.2x

Emblem: Seiros’ Lesser Emblem – A lesser emblem said to be inhibited by Saint Seiros Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddad

Personal Skill: King’s Lineage – EXP obtained multiplied by 1.2x

Emblem: Blaiddad’s Lesser Emblem – A lesser emblem handed down by Blaiddad of the Ten Great Fodlans Claude von Riegan

Personal Skill: Leader’s Lineage – EXP obtained multiplied by 1.2x

Emblem: Regan’s Lesser Emblem – A lesser emblem handed down by Regan of the Ten Great Fodlans

Along with Beginner classes there are intermediate classes, accessed at Level 10:

Mercenary – Excels in Power and Speed. It’s easier for them to improve Sword and Axe abilities. Cavalier – A well-balanced class that can perform hit-and-away strategies. Brigand – Has high HP and power stat. In addition to Axe, they also excel in using Gauntlets. Gladiator – Only males can take this skill. They can take down enemies with quick Gauntlet attacks. Mage – Able to use magic that can easily hit even enemies with high defense. Dark Mage – Only males can take this skill. This is also the only class in the current group that requires an additional Dark Magic Exam Pass.

Gameplay Systems:

Batallion – soldiers that accompany a character and can be recruited from the Knights Guild. The player can select a Batallion from a variety of types and each Batallion type offers stat changes to a unit (be advised that there are not only buffs but also some nerfs) and a Stratagem to be used by the unit. The Batallion also has its own levels and EXP points to be gained. But as a unit takes damage in battle, some of the soldiers in the Batallion will also get attacked and fall down. The Batallion’s overall HP is noted by the Warpower point; if this reaches zero, the unit loses all of their soldiers along with any stat changes and Stratagems. To prevent this, the player should regularly replenish soldiers at the Knights Guild. Stratagems – A new feature that can be used by units that have a Batallion under them. The effects will vary from attacking enemies to supporting allies. Although you are only allowed to use these Stratagems for a limited time in battles, they do not consume any items so you can use them as you like.

Academics:

Outside of battle, you as the protagonist will be able to interact with your students in the Military Academy. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has a Calendar system that uses around 30 days for each of the 12 months in a year, just like in the real world. Various events are also scheduled, from festivals to birthdays.

One month constitutes as one chapter, and the final day in the month is reserved for a major task battle that progresses the story. Below you can see the list of activities that can be taken before the final day. As you perform more activities, you can eventually increase your Coaching Level which increases the number of times you can perform each action in a week.

Weekdays – Personal Tutoring, Auto-Tutoring, Group Tasks, Set Goals

Weekend/Sunday (Free activity day) – Strolling, Training, Sortie, Resting, Qualification Exam

You can personally tutor students to improve their Professor Levels, which eventually will also allow them to equip stronger weapons. The Education Conduct bar at the top denotes how many students you can teach in a session, and the Motivation bar at the top right indicates how many times a student can receive lessons in the same session. Motivation can be increased by choosing the correct option that may show up after a lesson is over (Praising under good results, Scolding or Comforting under a bad result), or by giving the correct answer when a student approaches you with a question.

Each character has ability subjects they excel at, which are marked with blue upwards arrows. But it is also possible to turn normal (no marks) or even poor subjects (red downwards arrows) into excelling with the Talent Blooming feature. By continuing to give personal tutelages on such subjects, stars will start getting added on them. When three stars have been added, Talent Blooming will occur, which makes the student excel on subjects they previously didn’t. They can also even learn new skills and techniques this way.

You can assign two students to perform a Group Task together. This ranges from Weeding which improves Armored ability to Sky Patrol which improves Flying ability. Successful tasks will garner money and material, and also add Support points between the students. Improving Support Levels between characters will not only raise the chances of getting better results in Group Tasks but also has advantages in battles and even deepens their relationships.

You can check out the brand new characters also revealed today, through Nintendo’s official Twitter account. Plenty of other details have been previously revealed about Fire Emblem: Three Houses including a general character breakdown, an expansion on the class skills and abilities, and various character introduction videos (from the same Japanese Fire Emblem account).

Initially set for a Spring 2019 release, the title was pushed back to July 26th of this year. You can preorder the standard game here and the limited edition set here.

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