Fire Emblem Three Hopes Receives Significantly Low Sales & Reviews in Japan

Recently, the Japanese outlet Game Memo published a post concerning the fan reception of the recently released Fire Emblem Three Hopes, the latest installment in Koei Tecmo’s Warriors series, which was released a month ago on June 24, 2022. Being a spin-off of Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Three Houses, as well as a new Warriors game, you’d think this was the perfect game for fans who’ve enjoyed Three Houses and the Warriors games in general, right?

Well, it just so happens that Three Hopes has received some rather harsh reviews from such fans in Japan. For example, if you go onto the game’s Amazon Japan page, the first few reviews that you’ll find on the “Top reviews from Japan” are negative 1-stars. Without spoiling the game itself, most of the discontent stems from one key fact: the story. Most, if not all comments have some sort of disappointment regarding the character developments that happen, with one even going as far as wishing that the scenario writer never touches a Fire Emblem game ever again.

That is not to say the game has only garnered low scores, however. In fact, going to the game’s official Metacritic page still reveals a rather favorable score, and even our staff writer Jacob gave the game a 9 out of 10 on their review. Further, if you consider only Amazon Japan, the 1-star reviews only make up 10% of the total, but the fact those negative ones are shown first is sort of worrying for potential buyers who might look at the reviews before hitting that Add to Cart button. Further, 10% of 1-star reviews is undeniably major.

Rumors are spreading that because of those negative reviews, sales of the game have been rather sluggish, with Famitsu reporting in its weekly sales report that as of July 17, only 127,817 copies of Three Hopes were sold in Japan, with only 97,538 copies sold during its launch week. The same Famitsu report also states that Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles’ Switch port, a re-release, has sold 140,547 copies so far for reference. It might not sound much, but considering it’s a re-release, it’s really odd, even if Demon Slayer released a good two weeks before Three Hopes.

And, just to add further information to weigh against, Touken Ranbu Warriors, a game that was released in Japan back in February, and is also a Warriors-style game developed by Koei Tecmo, did far better on its Japanese launch week, selling 113,159 copies. According to Game Memo, copies of Three Hopes can be found with relative ease, with up to a 30% discount from its original ¥7,920 yen retail price on sites like Amazon. It truly is a rarity for a recent title of this caliber by Nintendo to end up receiving such mixed reception.