Games of the Year 2019: Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a wonderful clash of genres

Over the festive break we'll be running through our top 20 picks of the year's best games, leading up to the reveal of Eurogamer's game of the year on New Year's Eve. You can find all the pieces published to date here - and thanks for joining us throughout the year!

For a game about a bitter war that shapes the future of a whole country, the latest Fire Emblem retains a surprising amount of light-heartedness. In fact, if someone were to ask me what kind of game it is, I likely wouldn't talk about the turn-based strategy combat until the very end, as much as I love similar titles such as Wargroove or The Banner Saga.

Instead it's the high school simulation, the idea of spending time with your students each month not simply to hone them into the perfect weapons, but to truly get to know them, which fascinates me. Three Houses has a favourite character for everyone. If you've ever played a visual novel, or, let's be honest, engaged with any type of anime-adjacent content, you likely know the tropes. There's the good-looking guy who flirts with everything that moves. The feisty popular girl who ropes everyone into doing things for her, or the nervous girl too scared to leave her room.

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