A few days ago, Nintendo of Europe posted a trailer showcasing their limited edition on their social media channels.
Check out the #FireEmblem: Three Houses Limited Edition, launching alongside the game on July 26th! pic.twitter.com/2RrSoiZ8EX
— Nintendo Europe @ E3 2019 (@NintendoEurope) June 6, 2019
I was hoping the trailer would be uploaded to their YouTube channel or press sites or somewhere where it might be better quality. That way, we could have a better look at the pages, to see if there’s anything cool hidden
That hasn’t happened yet, but the trailer was uploaded to the Nintendo Switch news channel, where it’s slightly better quality. Not amazing, but beggars can’t be choosers… Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to record a seamless video, but I took a bunch of pictures.
Since it seems like this is the best we’re getting for now, I tried my best to dig around. Just don’t expect anything too mind-blowing; I’m not a magician, haha. Please be aware there might be some minor spoilers.
The first thing I wanted to point out isn’t from the art book, but rather the steel book. If you watched the video, you ought to have seen the mysterious crest at the back of the steel book. This seems to reinforce the discovery made by Lord_Grima where the unknown crest is actually hidden on the Goddess’s mural.
If you hadn’t noticed, I’m pretty sure the back of the steel book is the Goddess’s mural from the front side, but cracked. That means the crest is actually hidden inside/behind the mural! It’s easier to tell when the steel book is a little sideways. You can see the edge of the mural–and even one of the outer crests, barely.
On to the art book. After female Byleth’s concept art, there’s a height reference chart featuring presumably male Byleth, Dimitri, Edelgard, Claude and Rhea. All of them look about the same height, except for Edelgard who’s noticeably shorter.
Going back to the February trailer, you can actually see Byleth and the three house leaders walking almost side-by-side near the beginning. Indeed, Edelgard does seem to be shorter than the others. Although because of the hill blocking the view, it’s hard to tell if they’re all standing exactly in line with each other.
Here’s where things start to get juicy, as we’re shown three pages littered with cutscene stills from the game. Needless to say, the quality of the images could be better, but it’s still possible to identify some scenes we’ve seen before–and scenes we’ve yet to see.
Image 1 is clearly Jeralt, your father. The background and lighting suggests it’s night time or he’s in a dark room. If it’s the former, this might be around the time the bandits attack the house leaders and your powers awaken.
Images 2, 3 and 5 I can’t make heads or tails of. Same with image 4, except I think I see a beast-like or even snake-like eye. Maybe a monster or a dragon?
Image 6 is fairly easy. It’s the evil-looking guy from the end of the February trailer. The next image, 7, I have no idea.
Image 8 seems to be female Byleth thrusting the golden sword. In the top-left corner, you can faintly see the winged part of the sword.
Image 9 looks like Claude looking upwards. Finally 10 looks like a small group of people, but I couldn’t say who.
This page is the one that’s got people talking. Since the book is flipping backwards, these scenes might be from later in the game. Or they just could be completely random.
The first image is a shadowy figure behind a red sky. It seems to take place at the same time as image 3. OK, I can use a bit of magic here…
Ta-da! Brightened up via Photoshop. Hang on, the shadowy figure is actually male Byleth. You can tell from the shape of his collar, armour and also the markings on his chest.
Image 2 seems to show a character we haven’t seen before. Or have we?
Some people have noticed a striking resemblance to Edelgard. Personally I’m not that sure, but it does look kind of like her. That said, because of the lighting and the poor quality of the image, it’s hard to tell either way. Still, maybe it could be a relative of Edelgard’s (like an ancestor) or maybe her later on in the game?
The weapon in front of her piques my interest as well. It seems to be a sword with jagged edges. Perhaps… golden? Wait, it’s not the golden sword again is it? The jagged-shape of the edges and their spacing doesn’t look right to me, but I can’t refute the possibility. More importantly, the way the sword is pointing, it looks like someone else is wielding it…
Image 3 is very interesting as well. It shows a male who has a very abnormal left eye (from our perspective). Is that a damaged eye or an eye with an implant? Like a crest? What’s he doing with male Byleth as well, assuming it’s the same scene as image 1?
Image 4 features Jeralt with something very ominous behind him, although I can’t quite tell what it is. It looks like a bunch of magical flames, but it also looks vaguely like a person. From the way this scene is framed, I don’t think it’s Jeralt getting snuffed out. Rather, it almost seems like he’s in control here…
Image 5 is very clear, but at the same time, I couldn’t guess what it’s showing. The red thing at the back looks like a flag, maybe Adrestian? The scaly thing in front doesn’t look like a weapon, but maybe the tail of a dragon or monster? In that case, it could be the Adrestian forces under attack.
Image 6 I’ll pass. 7 looks like Sothis from the scene where she’s sitting on her throne.
Image 8 shows Rhea smiling kindly with the sunset behind her. I guess this is showing her nice, motherly side. Is there a chance she won’t become a baddie?
Image 9 I’m pretty confident is the Reaper Knight, riding a horse. The background looks like a lush forest during the day, which seems at odd with when you’d expect to see him (at night). Alternatively, it could be some otherworldly shenanigans, like a miasma or portal.
Image 10 I think is from the historical battle shown in the debut trailer. I couldn’t find an exact match, but the helmets look identical to those worn by Seiros’s forces.
The third page of stills seems to focus on the monastery. Because of the way they flick through the art book, the images get clearer as the page turns, but the left-most stills start to get blocked out by the next page. Meaning it’s easier to see the ones towards the right.
In the last frame the left-most stills are visible, I could only identify two scenes. The first one looks like Annette and Ashe in the courtyard. Image 2 I think is Raphael, from his build, but it’s just a guess.
Similarly, here’s the last frame the next column is visible. Image 1 vaguely looks like Felix. I’m guessing from the scene he’s practicing with Dimitri and Dedue in the courtyard. Image 2 looks like male Byleth staring up, upon entering the monastery. Image 3 is the monastery itself.
Right, here’s everything else. Image 1 is female Byleth. Image 2 is Caspar and Petra. Huh, is Caspar boxing? Quite the energetic fellow… Image 3 is Rhea in her chamber. Image 4 looks like the fop… ahem, Lorenz. Image 5 is Leonie, I’m pretty sure. Image 6 is Manuela, probably from this scene.
Image 7 looks to be Ignace. Image 8 is his house leader, Claude. Image 9 looks like the courtyard from this scene. Image 10 has got to be Dimitri. Image 11 is the book that Byleth is reading. Image 12… I think is the house leaders together? Actually, I’m not too confident about that one. Image 13 is unmistakably Ferdinand. Image 14 is a bored Hilda. Finally, Image 15 should be Lysithea and Marianne.
Another thing. On one of the left-hand pages, there seems to be an unseen shot of who we believe to be Seiros. It’s found near the guy swinging the whip sword, who we believe is Nemesis. Presumably, this picture of Seiros is from the same historical scene. But this one seems to show her being aggressive.
We don’t know exactly what happened during the battle, but we do know that Seiros won and we even see her clutching the same golden sword wielded by Nemesis. So it’s a safe bet that she–or one of her allies–kicked his butt. Having seen this new picture of Seiros, I have a feeling it was Seiros herself…
Lastly, there’s a scenic image that kind of reminds me of Breath of the Wild. There appears to be an unidentifiable figure by the edge of a mountain cliff. Honestly, I couldn’t guess who or what it is. It could even be two figures. Does it kind of look like somebody kneeling over to stab somebody lying on the floor? Nah, that’d be too dark…
Anyway, I hope that was somewhat useful and/or entertaining. If a better quality version of the trailer is posted, do let me know! It could make all the difference.
