Fire Emblem: Three Hopes permadeath is a known feature for those who’ve been following the franchise for a while, but it’s certainly not for everybody. Losing a character permanently over a mistake can be frustrating, especially if they happen to be one of your favorites or one you invested tons of time into. If you’ve been missing your school days with Bernadetta, Hubert, Edelgard, and everybody else, the new take on the game is taking things from turn-based to real-time Musou action. This guide how permadeath works and how to switch the feature on and off.
If you’re looking for more help, we have guides covering the best facility upgrades, how to get new weapons and how to repair weapons, how to switch permadeath on and off, and all achievement rewards.
How to Switch Permadeath on and off in Fire Emblem: Three Hopes
Whether you’re feeling adventurous or you just don’t want that stress in your playthrough, you can opt in and out the Fire Emblem: Three Hopes permadeath feature.
If you want to turn permadeath on or off at any point during your playthrough of Fire Emblem: Three Hopes, open the Game Settings menu and select Casual or Classic in the Game Mode tab. Keep in mind that you can’t change from Casual to Classic. This also means that if you went for Classic and decide to switch to Casual at some point, you can’t return to Classic afterward in case you change your mind again.
While both game modes fairly self-explanatory, here’s how they work:
- Casual: Fallen units are revived automatically after the battle ends. So, while you won’t be able to use them forever, they’re not lost for any future battles
- Classic: Fallen units are lost forever. This starts counting from Chapter 4 onward, but considering that the bulk of the game starts there, it’s key to be as best prepared as possible if you’re going down this route
Of course, the game modes and the game’s difficulty are separate settings, so you can tweak this to your liking, either making the prospect of permadeath hard or somewhat easier on your end. Once more, it’s going to depend on your preference, but considering the social aspects of the game, losing a character can lock you out of such interactions as well.
If you ask me, going for Casual the first time around is the way to go. Fire Emblem: Three Hopes is a Musou, so unless you’re accustomed to the genre, it may take a while to re-adapt yourself from turn-based battles to mashing your joy-con buttons endlessly in open fields. It may seem easier from the outside to ram through several enemies at once, but if you happen to stumble upon a tough enemy ready to slam you to the ground, that can cost you an entire character for the story, and the battles to come.
Plus, there’s also the factor that you may have invested a long time taking the said character to battles or training to make them stronger, and that’s time you won’t be able to recover. I’ve always seen Permadeath as a nice setting to have in case folks wanted to replay the game and found themselves looking for a challenge beyond just a difficulty toggle. But of course, the choice is yours.
