LemonJones

Each House changes the story of the game dramatically, each having their own unique path that really takes shape in the game's second half, and each with a unique house ending. There is also a secret fourth ending, if you choose a specific house (won´t spoiler which) early on. As far as I recall there are no different decisions for each house that change the outcome, but I haven´t played the DLC´s yet so I can´t say what changes they bring to the overall story. As for your question about the role of combat, the main focus of the game still lies on combat, but different from other FE games this game has features which act as a nice diversion from battling and all have their purpose. The main point in combat that changed is the combat system itself, since a well known feature from the FE series doesn´t exist anymore. For me it wasn´t a bad decision as it is still the grid-based combat I know and love and the system has expanded in all sorts of solid directions and as you are new to the series I think it won´t bother you. Regarding your question about the duration of single battles, I can´t confirm that it takes an hour, but regardless how long it takes, it depends on your strategic decisions.

All in all I can highly recommend the purchase of this game regardless of wether you are a veteran or new to the FE series as it makes so much fun to play and it has a high replay value. If you are a fan of strategy based RPGs with great characters, depth and a captivating story, you won´t regret it 

Thank you for your time and effort, much appreciated! I'll get it, sounds like a lot of fun for what it is. Got me all excited about playing it, I love that feeling.