Happy New Year, Fire Emblem fans! And what a start to 2023 it looks like being for all you tactical RPG aficionados, as Intelligent Systems' Fire Emblem Engage gets set to drop onto Switch in just a handful of weeks. We've already been busy blasting through the game over the Christmas holiday period and, at around about 12 hours into the main campaign, we reckon there's plenty of reason to get very excited about the imminent arrival of this one.
Fire Emblem Engage introduces a colourful new continent in the form of Elyos, alongside an expansive new cast of characters who get to mix it up with a host of Emblem legends from across the series' history. The story here sees you assume the role of Alear, the red and blue-eyed Divine Dragon who's been awakened from a 1000-year slumber in order to go toe-to-toe with Sombron, the Fell Dragon, an ancient beast who's got his mind set on world domination. In order to stand any chance of defeating this newly-resurrected enemy, Alear is gonna need to venture across the length and breadth of the game's gorgeous world in search of magical Emblem Rings which contain the power of legendary heroes. Only Alear has the ability to call forth the Emblem warriors from the rings, and they're going to need every last one of them by their side in order to prevail.
As far as gameplay goes, if you've played previous entries in this series you'll know pretty much what to expect for the most part, with lots of satisfyingly deep tactical battles based around the franchise's flexible Weapon Triangle system alongside an epic story that gives you plenty of downtime to explore, make new friends, develop relationships and gather your strength in the brand new Somniel hub area - think Garegg Mach Monastery from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but bigger! In fact, just think bigger with regards to everything here really. We're not permitted to discuss beyond chapter 8, but this is looking set to be the most all-encompassing Fire Emblem adventure to date.
Kicking off with our impressions of the story so far, we absolutely won't spoil anything for those of you who can't wait to dive in unsullied, but what we will say is that we've been most pleasantly surprised by just how quickly Fire Emblem Engage kicks into gear. Within just the first couple of hours, the narrative thrust has been established, Alear's mission to save the world is clear, there's already been plenty of heartfelt drama, and the game is busy sticking you into exciting early skirmishes designed to ensure you've learned the core skills you'll need to succeed in the really big battles that follow a little down the road.
And, boy oh boy, is there plenty to learn here. The turn-based combat is as tight as ever and the addition of the new Emblem Rings mechanic really elevates things, giving you lots of choice in how you go about pairing up your existing team members — all those wonderful folk you'll meet as you explore the continent of Elyos — with Emblem Legends who imbue them with a raft of new skills and explosive special attacks.
In terms of strategy, Fire Emblem Engage takes all the best parts from its predecessor's deep combat systems then layers on this new Emblem Ring aspect that allows you to build unique bonds across your entire team. You can mix and match Emblem powers with the combat abilities of all the regular warriors at your disposal by simply equipping an Emblem Ring, leading to a wonderful flexibility in how you choose to set up your squad for different battle scenarios. This freedom to swap out character pairings at your leisure before scraps gives you a ton of moves to cleverly consider and utilise during encounters, with class-based skills, special Emblem skills and flashy Engage abilities that you can unleash once you've filled up an Engage meter as you battle.
You've also got Engage attacks here, real screen-shakers that can be used once every time you Engage with your currently equipped Emblem. These attacks can instantly change the course of battles and pull you out of some really tricky spots, our favourite so far being Emblem Celica's "Warp Ragnarok" which allows you to teleport right across the battlefield in one movement to deliver a devastating magic blast that one-shots most foes.
You'll quickly find favourite strategic pairings between fighters and Emblems, too. Alear paired with Marth, for example, is a great way to utilise and compliment both of these character's flashy sword-fighting styles, whilst Vander, Alear's absolute unit of a protector and the real powerhouse in battles for us so far, is a mounted unit whose skillset fuses perfectly with Emblem Sigurd, his powers giving Vander a super-boosted range of movement on the battlefield, as well as the ability to perform a ferocious gallop attack straight through multiple foes in a straight line. We're still early doors with regards to the possibilities here, of course, with lots more characters, rings and powers to unlock, but already the potential is almost dizzying.
Luckily, with all of this and so much more going on around you in heated battles, the game does a top-notch job of presenting all the vital information you need onscreen in a clean and precise way. You can always see all of your current attacking options with regards to the character/Emblem pairing you're controlling, cursor over any friend or foe to get detailed info on attack radiuses, movement options and important skills available to every combatant on the field and, if you need to dig even deeper, you can pause to jump into menus stuffed full of more info. Setting up your units and equipping them in an optimal manner is wonderfully streamlined, too, with an auto-organization option available in the pre-battle phase which sorts all your currently available gear to the most suited fighters and can even switch who is wearing which Emblem Ring in order to give you the best match-ups should you wish to just skip a lot of the downtime and get raked right into scraps. For a game with as much depth as this, Intelligent Systems really has done a great job in making it all very accessible, easy to read, and fun to dig into and learn as you go.
There's tons more to the battles here, even in the early stages. Combat arenas feature destructible scenery, allowing you to create your own flanking routes to sweep around and divide the attentions of enemy forces. You can send archer-class units onto huge ballistas in order to one-shot multiple foes and thin out the encroaching threat, and there's plenty of treasure to be picked up, barriers to protect, and citizens to rescue as you go. Take on "Paralogue" side missions that pop up here and there as you traverse the game's gorgeous world map and you may encounter new characters to approach and speak to during fights, adding new combatants to your available roster, and there are replayable skirmishes to dig into in order to rank up and earn rewards.
Of course the series' signature permadeath makes a return when you play in the classic mode — there's a casual option available for those who can't take the heartache of watching beloved friends die — and there's also the returning time-rewind mechanic that softens that permadeath blow somewhat, allowing you to use a Dragon Time Crystal to jump back through all the moves taken in a battle and restart from any point. We usually prefer to take the hit and let comrades perish if we screw up in these games most of the time, it makes everything doubly dramatic, but there's no doubt that on occasion, and especially when it's a super-important member of your squad, it's certainly nice to be able to simply zip back a few moves and go again.
We should also mention here that the battles in Fire Emblem Engage look uniformly superb. There's an immaculate crispness to the colourful graphical style on display, fights are packed full of cutscenes and flashy animations for special attacks, and the whole thing runs without a hitch so far in both docked and handheld modes. There are some excellent corrupted enemy designs too, some huge big mounted beasts to take on and a never-ending conveyor belt of handsomely designed friends and foes popping out of the woodwork as the story unfolds.
And what of the downtime between battles? What about those all-important relationships and the epic story that drives the whole thing forward? Well, as we mentioned briefly a little earlier, we've been thoroughly impressed by how fast-paced this new Fire Emblem adventure has been so far, it really does get itself set up and into the action quickly. Alear and his comrades are a cracking bunch of characters so far too, and in the floating island of The Somniel, the game's great big hub area, you've got a ton of ways in which to interact and build those all-important bonds that feed cleverly back into battles, unlocking new skills and strengthening the combat connections between your ever-expanding roster of fighting friends.
Honestly, there's already so much going on in this flashy new hub area between scraps, and we're still only early in the story. You've got bonding and support conversations between characters, QTE-based strength-building minigames (prepare to break the buttons on your controller doing sit-ups) loads of pets to adopt and take care of, an arena to train in, meals to cook and share with pals, endless achievements to tick off, treasures to collect and a nice Parisian-style café to chill out in. There's an armoury, a smithy, a general store, a clothes boutique for picking up those all-important new threads, and even a records hall where you can organise fun photoshoots with all of your new buddies. Prepare to waste a staggering amount of time messing around and fiddling with all of this stuff is what we're saying.
It's also back in the Somniel that you'll get to work creating Bond Rings, lesser powered rings that can be equipped to all characters in order to raise their stats, as well as cashing in piles of collected materials in order to strengthen weapons and augment the special Engage weapons that you'll use once your Engage bar is full in battle. There is, in short, a lot to take in, even at a rather early stage in proceedings and, as the battles ramp up, as the stakes are raised ever higher and our party continues to grow, we reckon the balance Fire Emblem Engage is already striking between top-notch tactical action, engrossing storyline, and engrossing world/relationship building in its quieter moments has the makings of an adventure we're not gonna be able to put down any time soon.
With a wonderfully slick new art style that looks super crisp and colourful, great performance across the board so far, a huge roster of returning heroes to rediscover from across the entire history of Fire Emblem, and an epic story full of brand new characters we've already grown very fond of, we're feeling pretty positive about this one right now. We'll be dropping our full review in due course, so tune in then for our final verdict on a game that's looking like it's gonna kick off Switch's 2023 in fine style.
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Looking forward to getting stuck into Fire Emblem Engage when it drops on January 20th? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 78
Man, I am really excited for this game. I just secured my preorder for the divine edition yesterday! If this game is just Three Houses but more in-depth and tighter, that's all I really need.
Man this studio is absolutely killing it, I got on board for Awakening on 3DS and I've been thoroughly impressed since.
Really looking forward to this one. Been a while since the last mainline title in 2019 so this will satisfy my FE craving. I'm glad this one appears to have a single narrative rather than a split one.
Three Houses was amazing but replaying the game three times was a bit of a struggle, especially replaying the pre time skip portion of the game.
Omg i can’t wait!!!
Don't know if you're taking questions but are there any battle camera options?
@FX29 Now that you mention it, I thought it wasn't that long since FE:TH but it has actually been 3.5 years. Time really flies by
I'm... intrigued by this game. I've never played a Fire Emblem game before and this seems pretty good. I'm a sucker for "ancient hero reawakened 500 years later" stories but I'm really not sure if it is going to be particularly compelling in this game.
I also like the overall artstyle but man, I cannot get over these character designs, I just don't vibe with them at all.
I'll wait to see the title's overall reception, I want to want to play it
My first Fire Emblem was on my GBA, and I loved it and have been hooked ever since. Awakening was amazing, still haven't played 3 houses since my back log is so insane, so won't have time for this game til next year probably. Looks amazing as always.
Strong Valkyria Chronicles vibes from the pic of the girl in the tulip field.
Man I really don't wanna spoil myself with any further info... can someone just tell me if the impression from the hands on is good? I was gonna buy it anyway, just wanted to know.
...I don't know. Even after reading this, still not feeling this one. There's something about it that is putting me off. What little I've heard of the story and concept doesn't particularly interest me; here are magical rings that summons legendary hero, which might sound good if the concept hadn't already been done within Awakening with the Einherjar or even Heroes with the whole gacha mechanic. On a technical level, the game looks decent, but the general art direction and design just feel kind of generic and safe(?), I am not sure how to describe. The characters don't look interesting to me, and whenever they show past heroes, they look off to me. I might get it down the line eventually, but this doesn't interest me in the same way that Three Houses did.
I don't think I'll be done Persona 5 by the time this releases. When I finally have time for Engage, Tears of the Kingdom will be close to release! So many great games on Switch, I can't keep up.
The characters and art overall looks awful and the entire premise is supremely dumb, but it was the minigames that were the last straw, that is not my Fire Emblem.
Coming from the awful 3 Houses and its time wasting nonsense to this, the series is as good as dead for me.
I couldn't get through three houses cause the art style and the graphical design was very ugly imo. Glad they polished it up for this game. I'll probably end up picking it up.
Just last night I was saying that even though Three Houses is my favorite Switch game, I hadn’t seen anything that got me excited for Engage yet.
This article did it. I’m in.
First Fire Emblem i’m going to play. So excited! Need a great RPG after Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
I'll admit my impressions from the initial reveal trailer weren't too great - this game seemed like Fire Emblem's Etrian Odyssey Nexus moment or "for the fans" - but I've gradually warmed up to this game since. I'll grab this one eventually when it starts receiving a discount or two. I'm usually the r/patientgamers sort, plus I own Three Houses but haven't played it yet.
@Krambo42 WOOHOO!
My next game to play after Person 5 Royal then....
Still trying to get over the dumb joycon-head MC design. Lol
@Expa0 I kinda feel ya. Awakening on 3DS was the pinnacle of the series for me and its just kinda gone downhill since then.
Thank you for the great write up, it confirmed what I expected to be the case come the review later this month.
@Tyranexx put it best, it looks and feels like a EO Nexus type of game, something to please fans, but moreso fans that came in with either Awakening or Heroes, rather than those who have been with the series for longer.
It still feels like they put so much emphasis on the characters and getting to play with them rather than the narrative, or how naturally it felt in older games when characters interacted. I think IS lost sight of what made those interactions great in the likes of Path of Radiance; it was an extra look into your army, but at the end of the day, it was about the conflict, not having a fun time in the midst of said conflict.
This will be a pass, much like the last few games for me. I had hoped it would be more a return to classic form, but it's yet another show of fanservice to their new audience. And to be fair, this is the same audience that's currently lining IS and Nintendo's pockets. Not for the Fire Emblem, but for the Waifu Emblem.
Hmmm. Very much seems like the series has gone full weeb now. I wasn’t even that big on Three Houses but it had a semblance of seriousness about it. This is just an amalgamation of several irritating trends in JRPGs, exploiting nostalgia, ol’ toothpaste head and a dumbed down vibe being the most egregious.
@invictus4000 I agree about Awakening. That game is perfect. There are things that I like a lot better about the more recent games (the Monastery and talking with your squadmates regularly immediately come to mind.), but there's something about Awakening that's too good.
I was shocked at how much I loved Three Houses, very excited for this one as well.
Yup getting this day 1. Looks like a massive improvement over 3H which was already a good FE game.
No idea what the complaints of “too anime” [welcome…to Fire Emblem?] or “too weeb” [welcome…to Fire Emblem?] is going on about here as if Engage broke this barrier never crossed before lol.
@ElRoberico Awakening had a good balance of battles to non-battle stuff. Ever since Awakening I feel like there's more and more padding adding activities outside of battle that ultimately aren't very engaging, no pun intended.
I have mixed feelings about having to wander around a hub world in games like this where exploration isn't a core part of the game. Like Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Mario Golf Super Rush, Monster Hunter World... I think they'd be less tedious without the hub world, just menus outside of the actual game. Sacred Stones and Awakening I played multiple times each. Three Houses I didn't even finish.
Why does Japan almost always make their poc look like joke characters? To this day, I still don't understand.
@PJOReilly Jeez, I’ve been so unsure of this title, whether it’ll feel like a proper FE title or like a glorified gatcha-esque “side game,” and I think you’ve convinced me to preorder, so thank you for that… Looking forward to foolishly believe I can playthrough both Engage and Forspoken before Hogwarts releases.
Just watched Zions vid. Absolutely thrilled for this, I can't contain my excitement. Of course, I have a boat load of bills due at the end of the month and it might cause me to push this out til Feb 1. Then again, maybe I can avoid being a real adult for once in my life and just buy it 🙃
Very excited to kick off the new year with a new Fire Emblem game! Three Houses is far and away my favorite Switch game so this was always going to be a purchase goofy looking protagonist and all. Looking forward to it!
I'm most likely skipping this but I got to give to them, questionable character design aside, the overall art, colors and the world look really good.
I hope people looking forward to this get to enjoy the game
cant wait for this game plus it comes out on my birthday....yay.
nintendo world report said
The one part of Engage I think is most likely to disappoint people is its main story. The plot is fairly straightforward and spends little time on worldbuilding. It’s reminiscent of the old GBA games where the writing received little focus, and characters often act with little more motivation than simply following the script.
Are there still battalions/gambits?
I have not played a Fire Emblem for a few iterations but looking at the images of characters they seem out of context for the games as I remember them.
@johnedwin till i play it myself i take that article as a grain of salt.
@Krambo42
Same here. I still don't love the main character's looks, but the rest seems really clean
I gotta be honest, I'm a weirdo who's mostly in games for the plot, or the atmosphere, I can tolerate a whole lot of jank if I get something unique from the game. As such Fire Emblem has been enormously hit or miss for me. Loved Echoes, Three Houses and not much else. Sadly this game just isn't doing it for me. The plot looks to be dumb as bricks, I hope it ends up being otherwise!
@Expa0 that’s disheartening. Series might as well be dead to me too. I’m tired of this direction the games took. The fan service is awful. They’re appealing to be lowest common denominator.
A fan since GameCube title and I continue playing this great series! I dislike only in Three Houses all these sub quests and so many dialogues between characters but thankfully you can skip them. I will buy this for sure but I have to beat first Fire Emblem Warriors.
I'm a huge Fire Emblem buff, started with the Sacred Stones many years ago which is still a personal favorite of mine. God tier game. Played all of the American releases and also greatly enjoyed Fates and Shadows of Valentia to name a few. Honestly, I absolutely love most of the games in the series, but FE 3H was a huge turn off for me, cos the monastery segments were such a drag and the lack of a weapon triangle irritated me, cos that's been a staple of the series since Genealogy of the Holy War, which really adds layers of strategy and fun! Also the fans would vote entirely for 3H characters for CYL in Fire Emblem Heroes, which was such a bore. Seeing as Engage is bringing back the weapon triangle I am excited about that, so I'm hyped for this release.
@Browny During the first minute or so of the reveal trailer, I honestly thought the game was another FE Warriors or Heroes console spinoff before it was confirmed that Engage is indeed a main series entry. While I'm glad that there still appear to be plenty of original characters, connections to other characters in different FE universes are definitely fan service and seemed a bit jarring. From what I've seen since, it's something I can now roll with since they don't appear to be the "true" characters - just shades, echoes, etc. While I appreciate no plot spoilers in this piece, the game's proceedings seem to be fairly generic.
Awakening was my first FE game and what got me into the series. I've played every Western localized entry since barring 3H and either Tellius game since the latter are so expensive. Echoes is currently my favorite of the bunch. Partially due to how it breaks the mechanical mold from the others, but also due to how refreshing I found it to be after all the unnecessary My Castle padding in Fates. That middling experience makes me unsure how I'll feel about the monastery bits I've heard about in 3H, but those appear to be skippable to an extent.
Everything I have read from people who've actually played the game has been positive.
I do have my complaints with the game, and I strongly dislike how day one DLC is handled now, but the game itself seems to be pretty good.
My biggest fear is that they make a mediocre world and story, and I hope that I'm wrong about that. I like to be wrong about things quite often, because I often think bad things.
I'll find out for sure when the game arrives (Yes, I gave in already).
@johnedwin Oh... well thanks for sharing that! Seeing as that hands-on felt like nothing but unambigious praise for the game this does clarify things, I don't think I'll buy it
@RiasGremory Honestly I agree, it's all a bit too positive, which is okay, maybe the writer really does love the game. The writer actually gave Bayonetta 3 a 10/10, and that game ended up being wildly divisive in the fandom, so... Yeah, pinch of salt
I was hoping the Somniel would be a bit smaller than the monastery if I’m being honest, but otherwise this preview makes the game sound fantastic. Day 1 for me.
@mariomaster96
Time really does fly by, I still can't believe we're in 2023.
"Prepare to waste a staggering amount of time messing around and fiddling with all of this stuff is what we're saying."
This is what unfortunately turned me off about 3H, just way too much going on that I had little interest in. This is an easy pass for me
As I was reading the comments I was getting worried that no one mentioned Echoes/Shadows of Valentina, but a few commenters came to my rescue! That game seems so underrated and I'm a little upset we haven't gotten any other Echoes remake games so far. How cool would it be to have an FE4 + FE5 Echoes or FE6 + FE7 Echoes game?
Anyway, back on track, I was on the fence with Engage and I think I still am. As much as I enjoyed Three Houses, I only enjoyed it once. I wanted to go through all the campaigns but the whole Garreg Mach thing became so tedious to me. I have no issue with a bigger focus on character to character interaction vs narrative, but this went a little too far and I simply can't ever replay this game.
Hearing that this has an even bigger hub world is a tad concerning to me. However, if it is simply one campaign, I'm sure I can tolerate the side stuff. Just hoping it doesn't take too long to go from one battle to the next.
And if we're able to control our protagonist in a 3D space anyway, I wouldn't mind seeing the return of the caves and dungeons from Shadows of Valentina, but even more fleshed out. Don't think this will ever happen, but one can hope!
This game looks and sounds excellent.
@Tyranexx
See, I got into the series with Sword of Seals on GBA (actually played it in Japanese before the first localized entry came out). Most of my opinions stem from having that entry be the gateway drug; I can live with just a campaign with optional missions or branching paths. I don't need or even want all the fluff around that, like the stuff introduced in Fates, Three Houses, etc.
And from these early previews, it looks like they're adding even more padding and fluff, rather than reigning it in. At what point does the game go from strategy RPG with a dash of army management to equal parts dating sim and strategy RPG? That's the direction the series has been heading since Awakening, and like I mentioned, a perfectly understandable direction given that's what generates profits.
I'm a bitter crab about it, admittedly. But more than anything, I'm saddened that the series has evolved in this way. I'll always have the GBA titles to look back on fondly, at least.
I've got the divine edition pre ordered ready! (Which is a rare thing for me to do).
I wasn't sold on this one staright away but the more I've seen the more I think it'll be great.
@Aurumonado I know the feeling! I just hit chapter five in xenoblade Chronicles 3 after 75 hours.... I'm really doubtful I'll beat it in two weeks.
On top of that I have Kirby and Three Hopes I haven't even started yet.
I haven't been this excited for a game in a long, long time! Come on Fire Emblem, let's go for a 10/10!
Looking forward to it. Spent a lot of hours on 3 Houses so I’ll probably do the same here.
So shallow characters, flimsy world building but deep combat system. Definitely skipping this one...
@Browny I'm not necessarily against being able to create better units for mechanical purposes - some of my child units were absolute beasts - though when it comes to marriage/children (I believe this was first introduced in Sacred Stones?), those mechanics haven't made sense post-Awakening (especially how Fates handled it....). I'm not against the character building through conversations either. That's padding I do like as long as it helps with world building. Though I can certainly understand how that might not be everyone's cup of tea.
To me some padding is fine if it's optional, but I do agree that less is sometimes more. Especially since some of the more recent FE entries appear to make it harder to stay away from the extras.
It looks very disappointing and in terms of character design huge step down. No FE for me this time.
Some of these comments are hilarious, as if this game is akin to a beloved relative being sent off to an ice floe to die and it's all to blame on "new" fans being the "lowest common denominator" or something. People take games a bit too seriously.
I'll be playing my game of the year just a few weeks into it!
Looks amazing, can't wait for the 20th.
I've already pre-orderd this. Looking great!
It will take something special to top Three Houses, it was that good. But I’m actually convinced that it will. I think we’re in for a treat!
@MS7000 I had that exact feeling, except for Three Houses. Something about TH's look and feel, the art style, the in-game character models, just really felt weird and off. I just can't get behind a story if I don't like the characters in them.
Funnily enough, Engage is the complete opposite for me. Engage's characters somehow feel like old-school GBA art style, which I love. Even the way the camera zooms in for the battle animation feels like the old GBA games.
Super excited about Engage, toothpaste player character and all, even though the story might not be as unique as Three Houses. But to be fair, the university/school angle is a pretty well-worn trope anyway.
@bozz as someone whose been playing since the GBA... A lot of this "anime" influence and romances have always been a part of the series. You could even decide who Roy's mom was based on supports with Eliwood. In the GameCube and Wii games (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn) we had literal cat people and you can recruit characters based purely on interpersonal relationships. And go read some old forums "best girl" arguments and anime waifus have always been a part of the fanbase if you like it or not... Oh well shrug.
This stuff has always been part of the franchise. Yes I get the tea minigames in 3 Houses was kinda a slog, but it could be easily ignored. And the supports were still very well written with engaging characters and very solid SRPG mechanics. If people no longer like the franchise that's fine... But the series has always been very anime influenced.
@Expa0 It was never really a good series to begin with. There is something massively wrong with each installment. The only one I ever finished was the Gamecube one.
I have been a huge Fire Emblem fan from the (western) start. And I am very excited for this new entry. I just do not understand all the comments of people being afraid it's going to be too waifu or anime-y or how this game and TH isn't for them. Of course to eaxlch their own. But anime and waifu type elements have always been a part of this series. There were literal anime and furry type people in both Path of Radiance and Radiance dawn and some had very obcvious gendered or love interested choices built into them. If that's not for you, just say that. But don't pretend it's something from the last two games. By the way, most of this is very easily skippable, like the tea time in TH, and doesn't have to impact your experience with the tactical side of it at all.
@jolteon23
It's not that the earliest entries didn't have these elements or influences. It's that those elements and influences have grown to such an extent they rival the core gameplay itself.
The old curmudgeon in me could yell at the clouds and say the old games were better, but that wouldn't be fair to the newer games. Those games still have a lot of the qualities that made the GBA or GCN titles great. I just feel those qualities have either been overshadowed, or at the very least tainted by the series' new direction pioneered by Awakening, and driven to an extreme through Heroes.
Which again: is fine. They're chasing the paying market, and that market happens to be those who are into the more "anime" and "waifu" elements. I cannot fault a company for chasing the profits when the series was historically a poor performing one.
This was a great preview/article but...still just can't get into this entry. The minigames seem nice but more like filler content than anything else.
Maybe if it reviews well I'll reconsider and pick this up, but right now this is a definite pass for me.
@Browny Can we stop generalizing to such a huge extent that it's this look that pays the bills and that this look is specifically what (maybe newer) fans want now as some kind of blame game for the direction the series has moved to? I'm a somewhat newer fan and I couldn't care less about the anime style, I'm not even that huge a fan truth be told. Three Houses was simply a very good game and much of what we've seen and read about this one points to it being a good one as well in most aspects that have nothing to do with character hair design, for example.
@Ulysses I think that is equally as valid. I quite like Three Houses art style, but the edges are as jaggy as mountains. The school aspect in and of itself wasn't what drew me to Three Houses though. I feel like Three Houses did what Fates was trying to do better in every way in regards to the choosing your path and the consequences of the choices, and conflict of fighting old allies. I think that is why Engage's story is not interesting me as yet as it doesn't feel anywhere near as ambitious. Maybe if I play it, I might be pleasantly surprised, but I just can't see it at present.
Let's be honest, Awakening saved the Fire Emblem series so no surprise they're continuing in that direction...
which overall I'd say is for the best because a lot of the complaints I've seen here and elsewhere are about optional (from the looks of it even more than in Three Houses which forced you to do stuff in Garreg Mach from time to time, Somniel seems more similar to My Castle in that sense), something which I unfortunately can't say about most previous games in the series.
@Browny I'm going to be a cranky old person too. The series has always been very anime from the very first entry. And I think the anime waifu influence was at its worse in FE Fates and has been toned down for both Echoes and Three Houses. You still have those elements, but they are mostly ignorable outside of the fact that your "waifu" or "husbando" marries your character at the end of the game. Which generally has always been a part of the franchise as S-Rank supports always had a implied romantic or life partner element. Fire Emblem has always appealed to those who like anime because it is VERY anime. Each game always ended with fighting a god or a Eldredge horror which is very JRPG standard stuff. The only exception to this was Path of Radiance, but even it had heavy anime overtones and shounen inspired story telling tropes like the Leguz, the Black Knight and Ike himself.
The sales potential to FE has been kneecapped by Nintendo a) not marketing the game except to hardcore Nintendo fans. b) releasing the games on consoles that either sold poorly (i.e Gamecube) or had very limited print runs and poorly marketed on successful consoles (i.e. Wii & DS). Awakening saved the franchise and this is confirmed fact by both Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. It was not due to it being more "anime" it was because the game was very well made with excellent game mechanics curbed from some of the best entries in the series (such as Genealogy of the Holy War & Path or Radiance) and FINALLY marketing the series to a rapid fanbase.
Did Fates go off the rails with Waifus and anime influence? OOOH YES! But, that has been massively scaled back in recent years and did not stop the release of a rather back-to-basics entry with Echoes. The "new" fans are not the problem, rather it is Nintendo's marketing the game as very anime fan friendly (which it is) and those fans enjoying the games. I will admit that FE Heroes the mobile game preys on anime fans, but that is a gotcha game meant for hardcore fans who are willing to spend $100s for a jpeg of Camilla in a bunny outfit. But, I'd argue since Fates, there has been very minimal lewdly dressed characters in an FE game and the series has scaled back on the more fan service elements.
And before someone mentions Three Houses took place in a school... well not really. It is a military academy and those have existed since the eighteen hundreds officially and unofficially since ancient Greece. So, of course the series can be set in one without being solely an anime thing.
@Wexter
Strong response, I appreciate the other view.
Just so happens it was Fates that ultimately threw me off the train personally. I lay a lot of the blame on Awakening (unjustly so, I admit), and I both understand and agree that it saved the series by using a clever mix of concepts from the series whole. But my issue with the game was always the unbalanced Pair Up mechanic. Tangent for another day.
Nintendo's marketing is certainly also to blame, but I do point the finger at Heroes a lot because it's the F2P approach that has brought a lot more attention to the franchise, and Nintendo naturally will play up those same selling points to the gacha game's fanbase. Ultimately, it's a very deep blend of factors that has brought us to today.
I'll take your word for the scaling back of the elements in the likes of Three Houses; confess I skipped it entirely because the setting itself (as presented in marketing materials and discussions from the fanbase) made it seem like it was a much greater, almost encompassing aspect of the experience. That Engage is bringing back the feature dressed up in a new way and bigger than ever is not exactly enticing me to get back into the series.
But having these discussions as a pair of cranky old fans is always fun, because whether we agree or disagree, it's the discussion that makes it worthwhile.
I had to put down FE3H because the text size was too small and difficult to read handheld, and not able to be made larger in the settings. The text looks larger to me in this game - hoping that's the case and/or the text is able to be made larger in the menus.
Somehow this kind of story and gameplay become generically boring to me. Interface, colors and maps look very smartphony. FE overdose these past years. Last great game in the series was imho Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.
@Synecdoche
The monastery from what I’ve seen does seem bigger than Somniel but perhaps there is more to do in less space in this entry
Looks and sounds really good. And its coming as early as next Friday?! Guess I'll gonna order it soon!
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