Panasonic went the extra mile by being the only manufacturer we saw listing read *and* write optimal throughputs directly on their SD card label (most others only list optimal read speeds, as optimal write speeds will typically be a lower value due to the way flash architecture works).

Wolfenstein: Youngblood is an aggressively okay co-op shooter that doesn’t come close to recapturing the joy of its predecessor’s action or its surprisingly interesting characters and story. It doesn’t completely fumble the fun of its weapons and abilities or counteract the pleasing sensation of squishing Nazis between your toes, but it does make it harder to enjoy at seemingly every turn with an out-of-place leveling system, busted stealth gameplay, some aggravating boss fights and inadequate checkpoint saves. Frankly, I expected more from the Blazkowicz twins.

The opening scenes of the sisters training to survive in combat, matched with the vomiting and joy that comes from their first time actually killing a Nazi, provide a hint at an interesting story that the game quickly backs away from. Youngblood is a meat-and-potatoes first-person shooter where all the systems work well, the enemies provide a brutal challenge, and a friend can come along with you through the whole thing. It seems like it was designed as a relatively inexpensive crowd-pleaser of an FPS, and I will admit that I was very entertained.

I appreciate that aspect and even the well-thought-out level design, but I'm just so torn on everything else. It's fine to make an RPG shooter, but there isn't a lot of care taken in incorporating those elements into Wolfenstein. It's great to let the narrative take a backseat, but you also should remind players what they're fighting for. Youngblood never feels like a fully realized idea, which ultimately hurts what could have been a great game.

Youngblood excels as an entertaining shooter with the right kind of RPG elements and choices. However, when compared to the stellar and shocking storytelling of previous Wolfensteins, this entry comes up short. It has a few interesting breadcrumbs about what happened in the aftermath of Wolfenstein II, including the fates of a couple characters, but this outing is mainly focused on the exploits of its dynamic duo. As far as protagonists go, Jess and Soph are likeable goofballs – a detour from their sad-sack papa – but they don’t have any real character development. As someone who adores the saga MachineGames has constructed, I didn’t mind the lack of an engaging story that much because Youngblood is such a generously entertaining romp.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood has the series' signature first-person shooting thrills that'll have you gladly busting shots and blasting lasers in the face of Nazi trash--and the opportunity to do so alongside a friend. It incorporates some new ideas which are serviceable for the most part, but hits more of the right notes in RPG elements and level design. It also knows the resistance doesn't end when one person cuts the head off a monstrous regime; the fight continues, sometimes into the next generation. And the way this brief spin-off broadens the saga with the Blazkowicz twins makes you wish there was more to see from this new cast of lovable knuckleheads. Jess and Soph--and Abby too--learned from the best, and embrace their newfound duty of ridding their world of tyranny while being cool as hell doing it. Youngblood is short, but oh-so sweet.

This isn't the game to bring together fans of the old-spec Fire Emblem and those drawn in by the appeal of the new. There's a clear divide right through the centre of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and its masterstroke is in bridging the two, the bonds you build away from the battlefield giving each blow taken on it that much more impact. It's a deeply emotional tactical game, one in which you end up invested in each unit. In that way, it's true to what's always made Fire Emblem so special - it's just that Three Houses expresses itself on a different scale, and a different style. Fire Emblem: Three Houses really is a game of two halves, but they come together to make one incredible whole.

I cannot stress enough how much Fire Emblem: Three Houses exemplifies the "RPG" part of the acronym "SRPG." While strategy is indubitably a large part of Fire Emblem's DNA, the vast majority of my enjoyment was found having lunch with classmates and getting to know them better, or doing errands while running around the lovely academy grounds. This is a world you can absolutely lose yourself to for months on end, but if you find menus tedious, you might be reticent to the modern relationship-heavy Fire Emblem formula that's cemented in Three Houses.

There was a lot riding on it, but we can confidently say that Fire Emblem: Three Houses has managed to live up to the hype and will stand as a highlight in the series for years to come. The expanded gameplay styles, retooled combat, lovable characters, and in-depth character customization hook you fast and are almost guaranteed to keep you engaged for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours as you come to understand this enormous game in its entirety. Fans both new and old won’t want to miss out on what Fire Emblem: Three Houses has to offer; this sets a new standard for what a strategy RPG can be and most certainly proves itself to be the next must-have release for the Nintendo Switch.

Three Houses has plenty of mysteries to uncover, and despite some predictable twists, you get big payoffs from the relationships you build. The story has shades of gray that pervade branching story paths, and the consequences of your choices are rarely clear-cut. I kept multiple save files and experimented with two of the houses, and while I only played Edelgard’s arc to completion, I saw a lot of variation between the houses and narrative branches. I was surprised at how quickly I wanted to load up a new game after completing the 55-hour main campaign, and was impressed at how different each experience feels.  
 
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is ambitious, and takes more chances than previous entries in the series. The way it lets your role as professor play into both the narrative and gameplay is nothing short of fantastic. This is the most I’ve ever cared about my Fire Emblem characters, and that’s incredibly high praise.

When all was said and done, all I could think about was starting another playthrough. I was curious about the mysteries left unsolved, of course, but I also hoped to undo my mistakes. There were characters I didn't talk to enough, students I didn't recruit, and far more effective ways to train my units. A second playthrough treads familiar ground in the beginning, but after learning and growing so much in the first, it feels fresh, too. That speaks to Three Houses' mechanical complexity and depth as well as the connections it fosters with its characters--and whether you're managing inventories or battlefields, it's the kind of game that's hard to put down, even when it's over.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is great in a lot of respects. The game flies by with its various mechanics, making for a highly entertaining adventure. That being said, I can't shake off the feeling that the final acts in the various routes could've been better. When I spent 60 hours on singular route, only to be greeted with a bummer of an ending, it stung a lot. Combining the crapshoot of your ending with a few technical problems drags the whole game down. The actual character arcs, complete with fully voiced interactions, do a great job of accounting for the limitations, thankfully. Three Houses is certainly worth seeing through, but it is way more about the journey than the end.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses succeeds in its ambitious telling of a land at war helmed by captivating leaders, in which no side has all the answers. Its tense battles are made all the more harrowing thanks to new strategy elements, and the colorful cast of troops you send into the fray are incredibly charming. With a new take on training and bonding with your units, and the many activities and options available to sample, it’s absolutely begging to be played multiple times.

Comme tout monument massif, Fire Emblem : Three Houses se construit lentement, mais sûrement. Les liens candides et pourtant profonds tissés au sein du monastère, théâtre d'une vraie vie étudiante remplie d'apprentissages et d'occupations, viennent ainsi servir le dessein dramatique du canevas, d'une exceptionnelle noirceur. Et cet univers dense dispose d'une envergure sans précédent, qui se traduit aussi par l'échelle des combats menés à l'unisson sur de larges champs de bataille, résolument foisonnants. D'ailleurs l'accent porté sur les relations humaines et l'aspect naturel, voire organique des pérégrinations qui résultent des multiples évolutions du gameplay semblent presque repousser la dimension tactique à l'arrière plan. Cet épisode s'appuie néanmoins sur son imposant héritage de principes fondamentaux, savamment affinés dans l'optique de rendre l'expérience plus cohérente dans son ensemble. Jamais la saga n'avait déployé une telle ampleur, tout en laissant le choix d'en découvrir les richesses à sa guise, quel que soit son niveau d'implication professorale. Un travail au long cours dans tous les sens du terme, accompli par les trois mains de maître que forment Intelligent Systems, Koei Tecmo et Nintendo. En un mot, grandiose.

La saga Fire Emblem voit les choses en grand pour son retour sur console de salon. Bien qu’il représente mal ce dont la Switch est techniquement capable, et que ce ne soit pas l’épisode le plus exigeant de la série, ce nouvel épisode est plein de bonnes idées et apporte son lot de nouveautés. Son scénario fouillé devrait vous occuper un long moment. Que ce soit sur le champ de bataille ou autour d’un thé, vous pourrez compter sur les nombreuses unités du jeu. A vous de les rallier à votre cause et de les façonner comme bon vous semble.

You’d think all these elements would never work together. One minute I’m giving flowers to a friend and chatting about their love of horses, and the next I’m buried in stat pages and inventory screens so complex they could be blueprints. It’s as if someone who pens romance novels and someone who writes stereo instructions decided to co-author a 9,000-page war epic.
 
And yet, goddamn it, it works. I was so captivated when I finished my first 52-hour campaign with Claude, Ignatz, and the crew of the Golden Deer that I immediately went ahead and started a new one, desperate to see what the differences would be, what new friends I’d make, and which old friends I’d have to stab in the heart. I’m just that sort of weirdo.