History YMMV / FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes

** Shez gets instated as a student at Garreg Mach, but that's really only to justify allowing you to choose which house you're going to follow during the war as Shez being a wandering mercenary means they are unable to be assigned based on their country. You do two missions as a student, and then the time skip happens. You don't even get to see the grounds of the monastery. There was lots of potentially interesting story and mission opportunities during the school year, like the Mock Battle (which is mentioned to have taken place, but is never seen outside of the [[spoiler: Gatekeeper's paralogue]]) or the Battle of the Eagle and Lion as well as the Flame Emperor arc; all of that gets skipped due to the ForWantOfANail effects in play and the vastly different political climate that ''Three Hopes'' had from Shez surviving a battle that they aren't meant to survive.

* ClicheStorm: Part I of Azure Gleam has been postively recieved for its focus on Faerghus' politics and Dimitri and his friends' discoveries about the Tragedy of Duscur. Part II on the other hand has been much more negatively recieved because of where the story goes. Because of [[spoiler:Thales and the Agarthans taking over Adrestria, the story becomes a traditional "[[TheGoodKingdom Good Kingdom]] against an [[TheEmpire Evil Empire]]" that lacks some of the flair Azure Moon had to help it stand out. It doesn't help that stuff like Edelgard being brainwashed and several other Empire characters continuing to fight or their doomed homeland is needed for the story to function as it does.]]

** Some fans believe that Byleth's true motives in this game are that of a WellIntentionedExtremist [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans who seeks to create the best possible timeline for everyone involved due to having tried every possible path.]] One specific line by Arval[[labelnote:Explanation]]"The cycle of this world... I will not allow it to perish with you."[[/labelnote]] ''might'' support this, but Divine Pulse has been stated to have its limits, with Sothis noting when the power is first introduced that she cannot turn back time very far, and thus it never being used for anything except undoing recent events.

** [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesDimitri Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd]] is the Crown Prince of Faerghus. After fighting off his uncle's rebellion and executing him to take the throne, Dimitri becomes a [[TheGoodKing wise and fair]] king to his people, defeating all rebels and rivals, no matter the collateral damage. After choosing to harbor Rhea and the Church of Seiros to secure his kingship and repay old debts, Dimitri begins fighting off the [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesAdrestianEmpire Adrestian Empire]] with unique tactics such as trapping dangerous foes rather than fighting them, pointing out flaws in his allies' plans and forming makeshift alliances, even willing to ally with [[Characters/FireEmblemThreeHousesEdelgard Edelgard herself]] to fight their foes behind the scenes. Opportunistic with a tendency for escaping by the skin of his teeth and hiding a surprisingly dark side, Dimitri will do anything to keep his kingdom and defend his beloved subjects. Should the need arise, Dimitri even proves willing to sacrifice Rhea and the Church of Seiros to their enemies to simultaneously rid his kingdom from their influence and withdraw his people from the war.

* AntiClimaxBoss: The fight at the end of Azure Gleam has caught flack with fans for [[spoiler: being a repetitive slog fighting Edelgard and Thales and being easy compared to other final bosses partly due to no monster break mechanic like the other routes. Not only is there no Hegemon Edelgard, but Thales himself is just a frail old man who isn't imposing enough to be a believable threat to Dimitri. The player has to switch back and forth between fighting Thales and Edelgard at least 7 times with no changes to their strategy, made especially worse as Edelgard is weak to Shez's swords, a unit you are likely to have leveled up and upgraded as much as possible up to this point, and the end result is what's considered the most disappointing and unsatisfying of the three route's final bosses in terms of difficulty as well as gameplay.]]

* MisaimedFandom: Continuing from ''Houses'', the Agarthans were unironically considered by some as the good guys against the Nabateans [[note]]despite the Agarthans attacking first out, burning the continent to the ground in the process, and even after Sothis retaliated [[NeverMyFault they blamed her for their actions]].[[/note]] due to Sothis being much more aggressive against her enemies when taking control of Byleth, and that the Agarthans get an [[VillainEpisode Epidemendes-focus paralogue]] taking place during the War of Heroes.

** The above gets amplified for Azure Gleam players, when [[spoiler:Count Varley ends up on the wrong end of the player's blade during the final battle[[labelnote:*]]Chapter 15 or 17, depending on Byleth recruitment status[[/labelnote]]. Bonus points in that Bernie herself can be recruited before this point, meaning not only can her fans kill the {{Abusive Parent|s}}, but the abused child can do it herself.]] Scarlet Blaze provides an alternative in that [[spoiler:Count Varley (being nominally on your side) is the objective to protect when attacked by church soldiers, but all the same there is nothing stopping you from simply letting him bite it since the worst that happens is some additional reinforcements for extra K.O.s and that there is no game over should you fail to keep him alive—not to mention Hubert and Bernadetta's positively ''golden'' responses to it; thus, this particular mission is starting to be known as the sole one in the whole game in which players are more than happy to fail.]]

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Dimitri makes several valid points to Claude in the bonus chapters of the Golden Wildfire route, despite being presented as an antagonist there. [[spoiler: In particular, he notes that Claude's plan suffers from a major case of AndThenWhat, as Rhea's death could cause major social unrest in the Kingdom and among church believers, and that the people he seeks to remove have feelings and value that Claude is dismissing]]. Not only does Claude have no rebuttal to this besides "I accept the consequences of my decisions" and "if you weren't a king we could've been friends", but the route ends before these concerns could potentially come into play.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Dimitri makes several valid points to Claude in the bonus chapters of the Golden Wildfire route, despite being presented as an antagonist there. [[spoiler: In particular, he notes that Claude's plan suffers from a major case of AndThenWhat, as Rhea's death could cause major social unrest in the Kingdom and among church believers, and that the people he seeks to remove have feelings and value that Claude is dismissing]]. Not only does Claude have no rebuttal to this besides "I accept the consequences of my decisions" and "if you weren't a king we could've been friends", but the route ends before these concerns could potentially come into play. Not helping matters is that, unlike on Azure Gleam, where Dimitri agrees to shelter Rhea knowing it will provoke war with the Empire, Golden Wildfire makes it clear that Dimitri isn't especially fond of Rhea or the Church, leaving defending his country and its civilians from invasion as his sole motivation for fighting against Claude. This makes him come across as a DesignatedVillain to some.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Dimitri makes several valid points to Claude in the bonus chapters of the Golden Wildfire route, despite being presented as an antagonist there. [[spoiler: In particular, he notes that Claude's plan suffers from a major case of AndThenWhat, as Rhea's death could cause major social unrest in the Kingdom and among church believers, and that the people he seeks to remove have feelings and value that Claude is dismissing]]. Not only does Claude have no rebuttal to this besides "I accept the consequences of my decisions" and "if you weren't a king we could've been friends", but the route ends before these concerns could potentially come into play. Not helping matters is that, unlike the original ''Three Houses'', this game makes it clear that Dimitri isn't especially fond of Rhea or the Church, leaving defending his country and its civilians as his sole motivation for fighting the war. This makes him come across as a DesignatedVillain for some.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Dimitri makes several valid points to Claude in the bonus chapters of the Golden Wildfire route, despite being presented as an antagonist there. [[spoiler: In particular, he notes that Claude's plan suffers from a major case of AndThenWhat, as Rhea's death could cause major social unrest in the Kingdom and among church believers, and that the people he seeks to remove have feelings and value that Claude is dismissing]]. Not only does Claude have no rebuttal to this besides "I accept the consequences of my decisions" and "if you weren't a king we could've been friends", but the route ends before these concerns could potentially come into play.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Dimitri makes several valid points to Claude in the bonus chapters of the Golden Wildfire route, despite being presented as an antagonist there. [[spoiler: In particular, he notes that Claude's plan suffers from a major case of AndThenWhat, as Rhea's death could cause major social unrest in the Kingdom and among church believers]]. Not only does Claude have no rebuttal to this besides "I accept the consequences of my decisions" and "if you weren't a kind we could've been friends", but the route ends before these concerns could potentially come into play.

** Claude, as well as his actions in this game, has ended up becoming extremely controversial among the fandom. Many dislike this version of Claude due to how different he is to his ''Three Houses'' self, and [[spoiler:Claude's assertions about Rhea often times having very little evidence to support them as well as evidence that goes against what he says.]] Not helping matters is that critics of his route [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks have noted its similarities]] to [[spoiler:the [[BrokenBase already divisive]] Crimson Flower route in ''Three Houses''.]] However, there are others who like this change as it makes him as morally gray as Edelgard, Rhea, and Dimitri back in ''Three Houses'' since he is forced to make some tough choices and brings him more in line with what ''Three Houses'' pre-release footage said about him. Some fans point out his actions makes sense in this timeline as [[spoiler:Claude is already not a huge fan of the church even back in ''Three Houses'', and him not spending time in the Garreg Mach Monastery makes him not as motivated to figure out the truth this time.]]

* FoeYayShipping: With the reveal that Shez is the protagonist of the game with the previous protagonist Byleth being the antagonist, fans began pairing the two up. Interestingly, the more popular version of the pair is Male Byleth with Female Shez, neither of which are the gender options that the marketing focuses on. Female Shez is characterized by fans as a {{Tsundere}} that is frequently DistractedByTheSexy, while Male Byleth is [[https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/ujywl7/shezlass_and_bylad/ either the emotionless or]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/u433ha/some_people_wanted_more_of_my_dumb_headcanon_so/ unwitting object of her affection]]. When it comes to their counterparts, fans like to characterize Male Shez as [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge being driven by blind hatred towards Female Byleth]], who in turn sees their battles as them flirting with each other.

*** On Scarlet Blaze, you first have to [[spoiler: trigger the Strategy Resonant Lightning after completing the first major objective. If you capture the second set of objectives too quickly due to being overleveled, on NG+, or otherwise very speedy, [[DoWellButNotPerfect the window to activate the Strategy disappears]]. The second major issue arises near the end, when Byleth is isolated by the destruction of a bridge (which only occurs if you convinced Baron Mateus to surrender earlier in the battle) and you have defeat Alois and then take out Rodrigue before Byleth catches up. Not only do you have a very limited amount of time to do this, but the last sidequest of the map (eliminating a stronghold near Rodrigue), as well as its chest, will only trigger at this point, requiring you to choose between potentially failing to defeat Rodrigue in time or losing out on the sidequest and the chest. Furthermore, unless you have a unit with Locktouch, the enemy that carries the key will not spawn until after the timer begins, meaning that you'll have to take ''them'' out too.]]

* MisaimedFandom: Continuing from ''Houses'', the Agarthans were unironically considered by some as the good guys against the Nabateans (who the Agarthans genocided, mind you) due to Sothis being much more aggressive against her enemies when taking control of Byleth and that the Agarthans getting an [[VillainEpisode Epidemendes-focus paralogue]] taking place during the War of Heroes fighting Serios while prattling their in-universe propaganda against her.

** There are some who don't necessarily find [[spoiler:Rhea to be a DesignatedVillain, but instead think that while she did do a lot of things wrong, she gets way too unfairly treated by the game for the type of character she is, especially on Golden Wildfire. Aside from her backstory that explains a lot of why she committed her actions not having as much presence as it did in ''Houses'', this game tells the player more about how much damage the current system and Rhea's rule has brought to Fódlan and how she is keeping progress back[[note]]Even if the game never shows this to be true, it isn't either shown to be false, making it easy to believe that it's true[[/note]]. And at no point does any defense towards her come up or any major chances for her to act heroic so that the consequences of her actions can be countered, not even on Azure Gleam where she is an ally. So for those who are familiar with her backstory and actions, they are likely to feel even more bad for her.]]

** The scene where [[spoiler:Epimenides possesses Shez]] if you did recruit Byleth and Jeralt is rather creepy, partly due to [[JumpScare how sudden]] it is. It starts out pretty normally, with Byleth and Shez complimenting each other on their performances in the last battle (Golden Wildfire) or helping each other search for the retreating Empire forces (Azure Gleam). Arval even makes a comment suggesting they're okay with Shez burying the hatchet since things are turning out well. Then [[spoiler:Shez suddenly starts shouting in Epimenides/Arval's voice about how they need to kill Byleth/Sothis. Shez [[FightingFromTheInside regains control]] ''just'' long enough to tell Byleth to run before Epimenides takes over again. The next mission is all about saving Byleth, and once Shez wakes up in Zahras, they're extremely confused on what just happened and don't seem to remember much of it.]]

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' was criticized for the abrupt ending of its Crimson Flower route, since Edelgard never properly got to [[spoiler:hunt down major antagonists Those Who Slither in the Dark]] during gameplay, and it merely assured the player it happened later on, leaving a loose end hanging within her story, potentially undermining Edelgard's onscreen efficiency and, as a result, making Adrestia's victory less satisfying. In this game, [[spoiler:Edelgard switches gears the second she gets an opportunity, handily double-crossing Those Who Slither in the Dark and playing a game of XanatosSpeedChess to earn more allies for her invasion and pull off her plan brilliantly]]. This restores more of Edelgard's credibility as a character and a planner, and lets Black Eagles players deliver satisfying payback to [[spoiler:the Agarthans]]. And by the end of the Scarlet Blaze route, [[spoiler:all of the main members of Those Who Slither in the Dark (with the possible exception of Solon, who only dies if the player recruits Byleth and Jeralt) all end up dead, and thus, players finally are able to see Edelgard and the Black Eagles taking down Those Who Slither In the Dark on-screen.]]

*** In a very similar vein is a late game paralogue that [[spoiler:has Jeralt, Shamir, Catherine, and Shez raiding and attempting to gut the remainder of Those Who Slither In The Dark, who are attempting to flee. The problem is that there are four of you, and many of them, and if ''one'' gets to an escape point (yes, more than one), you lose, which makes the Paralogue an even more frantic version of the above chase sequence with Lorenz, Raphael, and Ignatz. The battle becomes a frantic chase with a lot of switching between the active characters and even more panic, and you can expect to lose at least once before getting the timing down.]]

** Beliefs that the Scarlet Blaze storyline would be a carbon copy of the original Crimson Flower were quickly abated by the demo when [[spoiler:Solon and the Agarthans are revealed early on in all routes, with Edelgard turning on them early.]] The demo also won over some of Edelgard's detractors in the original game, as here, [[spoiler: she's allowed to fight Those Who Slither In the Dark directly from the start of the story, instead of keeping up their EnemyMine for 5 years and only dealing with them offscreen]].

** The Armored Knight and Fortress Knight (and to a lesser extent, Edelgard's Armored Lord/Emperor) are once again quite slow and clunky to use, with slow attacks and a mechanic that completely relies on precise guarding in a game where dodging is generally considered the superior option for avoiding damage. Like the aforementioned Mercenary, it's a [[MagikarpPower mandatory class to master]] in order to reach the much more powerful and reliable Great Knight and Emperor in the case of Edelgard. [[note]]As for Armored Lord and Emperor, while still slow movement-wise, her attacks chain together much easier and the damage that you can obtain as Emperor is absolutely explosive[[/note]]

** The above gets amplified for Azure Gleam players, when [[spoiler:Count Varley ends up on the wrong end of the player's blade during the final battle[[labelnote:*]]Chapter 15 or 17, depending on Byleth recruitment status[[/labelnote]]. Bonus points in that Bernie herself can be recruited before this point, meaning not only can her fans kill the AbusiveParent, but the abused child can do it herself.]] Scarlet Blaze provides an alternative in that [[spoiler:Count Varley (being nominally on your side) is the objective to protect when attacked by church soldiers, but all the same there is nothing stopping you from simply letting him bite it since the worst that happens is some additional reinforcements for extra K.O.s and that there is no game over should you fail to keep him alive—not to mention Hubert and Bernadetta's positively ''golden'' responses to it; thus, this particular mission is starting to be known as the sole one in the whole game in which players are more than happy to fail.]]

** A vast amount of Shez's supports draw attention to Shez's adoptive mother and how mysterious her past was, with various characters trying to find out more about her or directly implying things about her. Shez and Hapi's support, for example, sets up the idea that maybe Shez's adoptive mother had connections to Those Who Slither In The Dark, while their support with Ashe implies she may have been a former noble in exile. Despite many support conversations asking questions and teasing things, nothing ever comes of it (their support with Ashe, which is very directly focused on the identity of Shez's mother, ends on a cliffhanger which is never resolved), especially with a lot of Shez's past being purposely vague and kept hidden and not really being properly explored. While her being dead prevents her from appearing, the fact the game draws so much attention to her, and yet does nothing, makes it feel like an AbortedArc.

* AssPull: At the end of Part 1 in Azure Gleam, [[spoiler:after Edelgard is defeated by Dimitri and Shez at Arianrhoad, Thales shows up to mind control her via the power of her Crest stone to transform her into the Hegemon Husk, and then proceeds to take over the Empire with Edelgard acting as a literal PuppetQueen. This plot device is widely despised by many fans, as not only does it take away Edelgard's agency and reduces her to a mere puppet for a much less interesting villain to take her place as the BigBad, it raises the question of why doesn't Thales do this to Edelgard in any other route between the two games.]]

** There are some who don't necessarily find [[spoiler:Rhea to be a DesignatedVillain, but instead think that while she did do a lot of things wrong, she gets way too unfairly treated by the game for the type of character she is, especially on Golden Wildfire. Aside from her backstory that explains a lot of why she commited her actions not having as big a present as it did in ''Houses'', this game tells the player a lot more how much damage the current system and Rhea's rule has brought to Fódlan and how she is keeping progress back[[note]]Even if the game never shows this to be true, it isn't either shown to be false, making it easy to believe that it's true[[/note]]. And at no point does any defense towards her come up or any major chances for her to act heroic so that the consequences of her actions can be countered, not even on Azure Gleam where she is an ally. So for those who are familiar with her backstory and actions, they are likely to feel even more bad for her.]]
** [[spoiler:Edelgard's treatment in the second part of Azure Gleam is something so harsh that even some of her detractors from ''Houses'' thinks it is too much. She gets brainwashed by Thales and is regressed into the mind of her as a child with no control over herself, her empire is driven into oblivion by Duke Aegir, her two closest allies are [[UncertainDoom presumably]] KilledOffscreen, her other allies are unable to help her or are even aware of her condition. Then, when Thales has been killed, she remains in her child-like state and the only people who are around her leave her behind with no indication they will help her outside of some easily missed dialog from Dimitri earlier in the fight. In general, the route ends with less immediate change brought to Fódlan (from what we see), rendering her war and all her sacrifices into being AllForNothing when the result is the slower changes that may have happened anyway under Dimitri's leadership. Despite all the terrible things she has done, many people think that having her be this punished is something that goes against her character, and generally that it is just very a cruel fate.]]

** [[spoiler:Edelgard's treatment in the second part of Azure Gleam is something so harsh that even some of her detractors from ''Houses'' thinks it is too much. She gets brainwashed by Thales and is regressed into the mind of her as a child with no control over herself, her empire is driven into oblivion by Duke Aegir, her two closest allies are [[UncertainDoom presumably]] KilledOffscreen, her other allies are unable to help her or are even aware of her condition, when Thales has been killed, she remains in her entranced state and the only people who are around her leaves her behind and doesn't help her in any way, and in general, the route ends with the least amount of change brought to Fódlan (from what we see), rendering her war and all her sacrifices into being AllForNothing. Despite all the terrible things she has done, many people think that having her be this punished is something that goes against her character, and generally that it is just very a cruel fate.]]

** [[spoiler:Edelgard's treatment in the second part of Azure Gleam is something so harsh that even some of her detractors from ''Houses'' thinks it is too much. She gets brainwashed by Thales and is regressed to the mind of her as a child with no control over herself, her empire is driven into oblivion by Duke Aegir, her two closest allies are [[UncertainDoom presumably]] KilledOffscreen, her other allies are unable to help her or are even aware of her condition, when Thales has been killed, she remains in her entranced state and the only people who are in the area leaves her and doesn't help her in any way, and in general, the route ends with the least amount of change brought to Fódlan (from what we see), rendering her war and all her sacrifices into being AllForNothing. Despite all the terrible things she has done, many people think that having her be this punished is something that goes against her character, and generally that it is just very a cruel fate.]]

* KarmicOverkill: There are some who don't necessarily find [[spoiler:Rhea to be a DesignatedVillain, but instead think that while she did do a lot of things wrong, she gets way too unfairly treated by the game for the type of character she is, especially on Golden Wildfire. Aside from her backstory that explains a lot of why she commited her actions not having as big a present as it did in ''Houses'', this game tells the player a lot more how much damage the current system and Rhea's rule has brought to Fódlan and how she is keeping progress back[[note]]Even if the game never shows this to be true, it isn't either shown to be false, making it easy to believe that it's true[[/note]]. And at no point does any defense towards her come up or any major chances for her to act heroic so that the consequences of her actions can be countered, not even on Azure Gleam where she is an ally. So for those who are familiar with her backstory and actions, they are likely to feel even more bad for her.]]