Fire Emblem: Three Houses devs on the game’s difficulty, why there wasn’t a Revelation-like route, Cindered Shadows, more

The Ashen Wolves are Based on a Certain Shōnen Manga!?

And continuing on, could you tell us a little bit about the side story that’s being released as a part of the Expansion Pass?

Yokota: When we were planning the content for the expansion pass, we had originally settled on the main content being a side story that revolved around the students of a “fourth house.”

And what about the setting and the themes?

Kusakihara: It’d be just like the series “Sakigake!! Otokojuku.” I thought, wouldn’t it be interesting to introduce a house that struck fear into the hearts of others just by hearing the name? The player would clash with a bunch of delinquents only to have them become close allies by the end of it.

Yokota: Kusakihara-san told me about his idea, and I felt like it was an interesting concept. I was worried about how much work it would be, but I was convinced that if we could pull it off it would definitely be interesting content to play through.

So, about the new setting… The Abyss. What kind of place is it exactly?

Kusakihara: Originally, Garreg Mach was a monastery that over a long period of time had a number of extensions built onto the main building, and beneath that there exists an expansive underground. There, a large number of people who – for a variety of reasons – cannot return to the surface continue to live on – that’s the Abyss.

There are four new characters that become allies as a part of this side story, right? What kind of person is Yuri?

Kusakihara: He’s like… The Hero of the Underworld. He’s a little involved in some dangerous business – that’s the kind of essence he has.

Yokota: He wouldn’t say it outright, but he’s the leader of the Ashen Wolves, so he’s the only one whose uniform design is different.

Hapi seems like the kind of character who has a lot of secrets.

Kusakihara: The concept behind Hapi was “a girl with a problem.” Due to a peculiarity as a result of some special circumstances, she’s been imprisoned in the Abyss. She’s pretty apathetic, and is resigned to her surroundings, but generally lives at her own pace. Her full name is unknown, but the truth is that its actually related to where she was born.

Yokota: Each of the four new characters has a new design for the second half of the game’s story, so I’d like it if the players made them their allies.

What we’ve seen so far gives us the impression that the side story plays the same as a traditional Fire Emblem game.

Kusakihara: That’s correct. Though the main story still gives the player a lot of freedom, we think the players will enjoy the challenge of having to operate within the limits of the side story’s environment.

Yokota: Personally, the healing items ended up being really useful; I’m just thinking about how thankful I was for any healing items I got after not having them for a while. (laughs)

Do you have any advice for playing through the side story?

Yokota: It’s considerably difficult, but as you play through the side story, you’ll unlock things for the main game, so I’d hope that players would continue through it. Aside from that, the Ashen Wolves can only be recruited during the first half of the main story. That being said, if you want to keep getting access to their support conversations it’d be best to complete the side story early.

Kusakihara: By playing with the new characters I think you’ll gain new insight into things, so I hope you’ll play through the game again and again.

Yokota: There are a limited number of characters you can have a support with, but I hope you’re all able to really enjoy the support conversations you can have with the four new playable characters.

Incidentally, about how much content is there in this new side story?

Kusakihara: I think it’ll mostly depend on the person, but I’d say on Normal mode it should take around eight to ten hours. It’s pretty difficult though, so I wouldn’t expect it all to go smoothly; your allies are strong from the get-go, but so are your enemies. All in all, you don’t want to go into combat unprepared.

Yokota: We were thorough in setting up the side story, so I hope you’re all able to enjoy both the story and the combat.

You’ve already announced the expansion pass’ content, but do you have any plans to update the game itself any further?

Yokota: As a part of a free update, you’ll be able to invite Rhea to have tea with you – Kusakihara-san was requesting that fairly strongly. You’ll also be able to change Byleth into the “Dancer” class’ outfit; while you won’t gain the abilities of the class itself, you’ll still be able to wear the outfit. To access this, look for the option on the activity selection screen on days off.

The update also adds the ability to change all of your allies’ outfits simultaneously.

It’s scary whenever you make a mistake during teatime with Rhea…

Yokota: Don’t worry, Rhea’s sweet to the protagonist so it’s all okay! (laughs) Aside from that, it’s a small part of the expansion pass but now you can change Anna’s appearance to look more like a Trickster, similar to her appearance in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Anna fans won’t be able to pass that up. With all of this new content, the version update notes could fill out a paragraph! Looking back on it all, though, how was working on it?

Yokota: Even after the game released, we continued developing new content for it. Finally, after the year came to an end, I realized “it’s over, isn’t it?” During that time, though, it really made me happy seeing how all the players seemed to be enjoying the game. Soon the side story will finally be released too, so I’m hoping fans will enjoy that as well.

Kusakihara: The fans’ response to the game was a lot bigger than we had imagined it’d be, and every day we looked forward to seeing it. We’re sorry to have kept you all waiting, but the side story’s finally done and ready to be released. By playing it, I think you’ll be able to see a new side of the game’s story.

By the way, will you be releasing a soundtrack that contains every track featured in the game? The version included with the Limited Edition didn’t include some songs, like the ones featured during the final battle.

Yokota: I think Intelligent Systems will do their best to make that happen. (laughs)

Kusakihara: There are some new songs included in the side story too, they’d have to release those eventually, wouldn’t they!

Translation by provided by Nico Thaxton on behalf of Nintendo Everything

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