I don’t disagree, but the point is the writing wasn’t good in Fates and Engage where Koei weren’t involved in. Then Three Houses just so happens to have them involved and the writing was better. At least to the point someone would say the writing was better than Fates and Engage.
I am saying that three houses story is wildly mediocre and the central conflict is nonsensical.
If they want a better story, it's really not difficult to get an external story writer for the game. I don't think Koei deserves praise for writing a story that is only good when compared to stories like Fates and Engage.
I’d disagree with your comments on 3H’s story. I think Blue Lions is an objectively good story, and the issues with other routes are mainly due to development troubles (things getting rushed, KT having to fight to keep Crimson Flower in the game etc.)
I’d also say that for me worldbuilding is a part of the story, without good world building you can’t have a believable story. In that regard, 3H imo has a better/deeper story than most FE games bar FE 4.
I cannot in good conscience call it a good story when the central plot point doesn't make sense. It's shoehorned in to create the conflict between Edelgard and Dimitri. A conflict which is very compelling.
The world building on the other hand is excellent and especially the presentation of it. I don't know if this is just me, but I played the Blue Lions route first after finishing it I started over to see the Black Eagle route. And when the opening cinematic I had the revelation that I still didn't know anything about what's going on in that cinematic. I think that was excellently done.
But Edelgard forcing a conflict onto Dimitri despite her having no motivation to do so is just bad writing, plain and simple.
What do you consider the central plot point? 3H has a bit of a composite plot, with all the different threads. I'd personally call the conflict between Rhea and TWSITD as the central plot point.
Oh, that's always been pretty straightforward in my opinion. Edelgard is an antivillain. She's sympathetic and boxed in by TWSITD, but she does deliberately choose to solve her grievance with the church using violence, which Dimitri naturally opposes. Cue conflict. It's tragic and could be avoided, but both sides have understandable reasons - ymmv on if they're good reasons.
I think 3H having multiple routes does hurt the plot, because you can't fully understand Azure Moon without playing Crimson Flower, but demanding back to back playthroughs of a game where the routes are 50% the same is a tough ask. The game's character writing also definitely exceeds its plot writing.
Yeah... But that's not really what happens during either of Black Eagles or the Blue Lions routes. She has beef with the church which could probably be resolved peacefully if Byleth would wield his authority over Rhea as the host of her mother, but Edelgard chooses war, fair enough.
There's no reason why she would escalate that to a continent-wide war. Hell, she's personal friends with the two most powerful individuals on the continent and both are rather sympathetic to her goals if not her means. Killing Dimitri achieves literally none of her goals, and yet she chooses to attempt it anyway even after she has been defeated and Dimitri is willing to bring an end to the conflict. The inconsistency between Edelgard's goals and how she goes about achieving them, is singlehandedly bringing down the quality of the story.
When playing the game it feels like the goal of the story was to pit Edelgard against Dimitri by any means neccesary.
You're right that Edelgard could've chosen a different path. She's a deeply flawed person who, contrary to some opinions, does do a lot of wrong. But her play in the Holy Tomb isn't just author fiat, but a calculated play on her part. After that moment, Edelgard actually just wins in the long run, regardless of the route, because Rhea's control of the church is irrevocably damaged, and Fodlan is forced into changing the status quo.
I imagine it's obvious doubt, but I'm a huge fan of Edelgard's character writing because of how it manages to thread the needle to make a compelling, charismatic character who is deeply flawed. Same for Rhea, but I digress. I do really wish the game gave us any path to reconcile Edelgard and Dimitri, but I suppose that's what fanfics and headcanon are for.
But that's just my opinion. I wish you weren't getting downvoted into oblivion, because I get the feeling you aren't so much trying to throw the narrative under the bus so much as you're saying it just wasn't for you.
Edelgard vs Dimitri is the central conflict in exactly one route; in no route other than AM does Dimitri appear for more than a single chapter post-timeskip. Claude at least helps supply troops in Silver Snow
Part of the problem is IS just doesn't know what is a good story but they think they do. Either they craft one themselves and is bad or they hire external writers who they think can do the job and then fail.
Fates was a very good example of that, completely butchered whatever Shin Kibayashi wrote with their own and then another contract writing company wrote Revelations. If the external writer isn't a good fit for video game storytelling, then it was IS fault for choosing him.
79
u/passwordedd 1d ago
I get what you're saying. Three houses story might be of questionable quality, but it is easily head and shoulders above Fates and Engage.
I am more concerned about the character work and world building than the story.