One of the defining aspects ofPersonais its dichotomy between its traditional dungeon crawling and turn-based combat, alongside its immersive social simulation elements. Players get to know their party members, among other friends/acquaintances, over the course of the game. There’s narrative choice, side quests, unique interactions, and more, all tied to the limited amount of time due toPersona’s calendar-based gameplay progression. In a way,Fire Emblem: Three Houseswas at least partially influence by this dynamic inPersona 5, even ifThree Housessocial simulator in Garreg Mach Monastery was an evolution of similar systems in previousFire Emblemgames.
Byleth getting to know their students over time added someHarry Potterflair into its traditional system of unit support, giving players added depth and context for the many unit interactions in-game. Assuming the rumors are true, and a newFire Emblemgame is on the horizon afterThree Hopes, some version of the social aspects inThree Houseswill undoubtedly be iterated on in the next entry. Bringing back some of the social aspects of the support system fromThree Houseswill undoubtedly make supports more compelling in the nextFire Emblemas well. That being said, doubling-down on the social simulator likePersona 5would make the nextFire Emblemspecial.
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How Fire Emblem: Three Houses Innovated Supports
Supports inFire Emblem: Three Houseswere an ambitious expansion of the deviations made in theFire Emblem Fatesgames, allowing players to increase bonds between units through unique scenes and moments. Instead of unique mid-combat conversations or brief scenes,Three Housescontextualized supports into an entire metagame, based around the protagonist Byleth’s growth as a professor at Garreg Mach Monastery.After theHarry Potter-esque choosing of the player’s preferred house, Byleth begins training units among the variety of students at the Monastery, each with their own individual beliefs and feelings, alongside their unique combat prowess.
Considering the game is set within a military academy, Intelligent Systems saw an opportunity to expand the interactions between the game’s many characters from beyond the story or battlefield. Being able to engage with various characters' side quests, view unique scenes between various students/teachers, collaborate on activities around the Monastery, as well as arrange meetings and tea time with others,Supports inThree Housestook on a much larger form than previous games. Though it was never quite on the same level of depth of relationships seen inPersona 5, it was clear that at least some inspiration was drawn from Atlus' social simulator design.
Three Houses' Monastery, Compared to Persona 5
A newerFire Emblemwould benefit from doubling down onPersona 5’s in-depth social simulator, assuming it continues with the Monastery-esque Support design.Three Houses' Monastery segments did have a tendency to get a little monotonous over time, even putting aside the automation of class progression as gameplay goes on. The characters themselves and their motivations, as well as theirinteractions between Byleth and other house members, are intriguing on their own. However, the actual activities and moments themselves often lack any sense of dynamic storytelling, often leading to predictability in character development and moments.
To an extent,Persona 5’s social simulator segments suffer from some similar issues. That being said, givenPersona 5’s far smaller cast of characters, each member of the Phantom Thieves not only gets more individual screen time, but is given much more in-depth narrative development as a result. Both from a main narrative perspective, as well as the individual social links/confidant routes in the social simulator segments,main characters inPersona 5are given plenty opportunityto shine. A greater variety in personality and activities when hanging out with confidants allowsPersona 5to better mask its relatively formulaic design of character development in comparison toFire Emblem: Three Houses.
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Improving Supports in Future Fire Emblem Games
The nextFire Emblemgame could certainly benefit from borrowing inspiration fromPersona 5in that way.Fire Emblem:Three Houses' Monastery designwas deeply experimental for the series, and propelledFire Emblem’s inherent Support systems forward in a way that bodes well for the franchise’s future. At the same time, some of the kinks in the design’s first outing were shown; many of the characters between houses in the Monastery shared similar motivations, narrative progression, among other aspects of their design that reflected a formulaic design between them all.
One of the best ways to combat that in the nextFire Emblemwould be to downsize the cast, even if it’s only a small fraction taken away fromFire Emblem: Three Houses' huge playable roster. This inherently gives supporting characters enough breathing room to showcase their personality more, and in turn, enhance the diversity of the soldiers and units in aFire Emblemgame. Supports between units and the protagonist would have the potential to be much more unique, allowing for significantly different personalities to interact with one another, leading to some of the best moments of connection seen inFire Emblem: Three Houses' best Support moments.
Beyond that, expanding some of the activities and quests associated with these Supports would be another key area toexpand afterFire Emblem: Three Houses. Byleth spends a lot of time exploring the Monastery in between battles, but a lot of the side quests within the castle walls don’t amount to much more than fetch quests. Players begin to settle into a rhythm within the Monastery over time, which in and of itself is fine, but leads to the latter half of the game feeling like the Monastery is just biding time between battles. Having a greater variety of things to do besides spamming gifts, tea time, conversations, or sharing meals would go a long way.
The Monastery was an interesting way to contextualize the level of freedom players had inexploring and building Supports with their units inThree Houses, so it’ll be interesting to see how the nextFire Emblemhandles Supports. Building off ofThree Houses' experiments, the next entry should have plenty of room to grow in developing its presumably ensemble cast.
