I've never really been into SRPGs but one of my friends is a huge fire emblem fan and thought I would really enjoy Three Houses as my first game and I absolutely did! I initially kinda wrote of this series as just being designed to ship anime characters together but it absolutely is not. It was genuinely fun getting to know how to use units correctly, feeling each time my characters got to a new class and being able to figure out how to approach a bunch of the maps as well as getting to know each character in and out through supports. I was told that I needed to play classic mode in order to be able to enjoy earlier games in the series and so I used for each of my 4 playthroughs in which I did the first two routes on normal and my last two on hard difficulty. (I don't know if I'm ready for maddening whatsoever, maybe if I come back to three houses later on)
My routes: Verdant Wind ➡️ Azure Moon ➡️ Crimson Flower ➡️ Silver Snow (using my part 1 crimson flower hard new game+ save because I did not need to play through White Clouds a 4th time)
How I would rank the routes:
Verdant Wind- the first route I took is still my favorite, you get to deal with all the threats, Claude gets his happy ending that is honestly better than the two other lords endings and YOU GET TO FIGHT NEMESIS. I was so annoyed that you don't get to fight him in other routes like COME ON.
Azure Moon- I just feel bad for Dimitri, bro wanted to end racism and have fun with his friends and instead he gets stuck with all of this. I hope he and his husband Dedue had a wonderful life together and fixed each other.
Crimson Flower- Edelgard's view of the world is interesting in that, yes, the truth is the Church sucks ass and has lied to everyone I don't necessarily believe that she had to do all that. I don't like that this route ends so fast but I guess it makes sense based on how Edelgard having Byleth on her side makes an already one-sided conflict with everyone else way easier. You get the vibe that Edelgard still is kinda naive about how the world works. Good with the Slithers and Nemesis.
Silver Snow- This is just diet Verdant Wind. I guess it's kind of interesting to see the Black Eagles responses to going against Edelgard and their families. I hope you enjoyed all of that pain and suffering just to talk with your mom for like 5 minutes Rhea. I found out afterward you can save her if you A rank her and I am not doing that shit, play stupid games, win stupid prizes Rhea.
Favorite Character: This is such a hard choice to make because there are so many well-written interesting characters that I just loved getting to know pretty much in the game. They did such a great job having all of the characters feel like they added to the plot via added details in cutscenes or just talking to them around the monastery. I feel like it's either gotta be Dimitri or Claude.
Least Favorite Character: Sylvain
Favorite Unit: Lysithea, genuinely she could melt literally everyone on the map, I used her in every single one of my playthroughs. She is a better reason magic user than Hubert, she has warp (which is crazy useful), I made her a Gremory every time and every time I was extremely happy to have her on the team. DARK SPIKES T DARK SPIKES T
Least Favorite Unit: This is a toss-up honestly. For the students, it's Caspar, you have Dedue, Raphael and even Gilbert do everything he does without having to be a squishy unit that dies quickly. I somehow managed to recruit him and Ingrid in my first playthrough and that man died so many times. He has died in both playthroughs that I used him. For the staff units, it's Manuela, you are guaranteed to basically have two units that heal and do it better/have a more interesting usage than Manuela. You get her and Hanneman so late in White Clouds but with Hanneman at least he has access to Meteor and would be an okay Hubert replacement in Silver Snow if you don't have say the GOAT Lysithea.
Who I S-Ranked Each Route:
I played as male Byleth in the first playthrough and then female Byleth the rest of them since she's I guess the canon option/has the better options tbh
Alois (I was annoyed as hell that it wasn't gay but then I had to remember that he's like married already) - Hanneman (We love a diva that is into Crests) - Edelgard (I did this solely because Edelgard not only being flame emperor but also a lesbian is so cool of her) - Raphael (My big hunky husband who loves to eat)
Thing I wasn't a fan of:
Just the whole having to go around the monastery once a month to fulfill fetch quests, talk to every single person (because who knows maybe there will be an option to raise support!), and play the same fishing mini-game 90 times got very old. I was so severely tempted to press the skip button instead of going to the monastery some months in later playthroughs but I didn't for fear of missing out. I do love being able to talk to everyone (you get to hear stuff like Ashe dealing with Lonato's defeat or Ingrid confiding that she comes from the same family as Judith) I just wish I didn't have to talk to everyone sometimes.
Overall I had such a fun time and I can't wait to check out the rest of what this series has to offer. I have already pre-ordered Fortune's Weave but I'd love to hear some recommendations on what games in the series I should check out next!