Topic: Fire Emblem Engage for Nintendo Switch

I know some people really bounced off of Midnight Suns because they basically took a bunch of established Marvel characters and then just awkwardly jammed them into their pretty bad fanfiction with basically zero regard for whether any of it makes sense for the character featured, but I dunno, I just kinda vibed with it.

It is just your character and a bunch of superheroes in a big house, and all the superheroes want in life is to punch baddies and be your best friend. What a wholesome concept. I also think it was smart to take the romance element out for that game too, so there ends up being no seedy undertones, it is just pure Saturday morning cartoon. I think if I was 15 playing this, the lonely, regularly bullied, goth kid I was, this would have been probably my favourite game of all time.

The other benefit is unlike something like say Persona or Three Houses which it clearly borrows heavily from, there aren't like deadlines for anything really, so you can just go at your own pace. I really hated whenever I would see that 'you missed your chance' notification on a Bond in Three Houses or whatever.

And like I say, I feel especially warm to Midnight Suns in the context of playing Engage, as sure Sun's acting may be stiff and some of the exchanges are really weird in the context of the characters featured (or the general tone of the story, to be hones), but my God, at least it has some life. The cast in Engage are soulless. Some of them have really excellent visual designs, but they are a one sentence concept waiting to be fleshed out. And somehow despite everyone being one note, they couldn't even find unique notes, there are like eight characters here who are all hyper fixated either on training or literally just obsessed with muscles. There is one girl who literally talks about tea in every sentence of dialogue regardless of context, and another with food, that feels like it has to be a jibe at the audience who criticised the social activities in Three Houses, because this clearly can't be their serious attempt at writing a cast of characters. Probably the worst archetype in the game is the uwu I am so bad at life uwu please don't look at me I will always let you down I am so poopy~~~ archetype it uses over and over again, because it is completely disconnected from the actual battlefield. They are telling me about how weak they are after I just watched them slaughter 40 people on the battle field while one hand flicking away arrows in mid air and back flipping over throwing knives. Like come on man, how is Midnight Suns the one with the bad wrap.

Lmao welp first time I have had a comment flagged as trolling. The what score would you give a game articles brings out interesting (and angry) people.

FedEx should be here with my copy soon enough.

@Ryu_Niiyama what was the comment out of curiosity? Couldn't have been that egregious since it sounds like you haven't played it yet. For me, I'm currently giving it about a 9. With a disclaimer that I'm only about 6-7 hrs in. So alot left to go. I do like 3H more, but there's still alot of game left.

It is, but still a weird one to me. Engage has made the combat centre focus, in response to this they've added either new or returning classes and weapon types, really stepped up the production values on visuals and animations and filled moment to moment stuff with QOL improvements. But I'm still not convinced it's actually any better than Three Houses. If you are going to make 90 percent of my time combat, why did you so aggressively streamline all the RPG elements and take out so much depth and customisation? The Emblems add depth and customisation sure, but I don't think it's nearly on the level of Three Houses promotion and goal systems.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
I see. Well if you're a fan I'd say absolutely go for it. The only thing that isn't fully up to scratch with Birthright and Revelation was cheesy story. Which... if you liked Conquest you'll like the other two. Birthright didn't have maps as good as Conquest but the gameplay is so good it's still super fun. Revelations actually has some really cool maps. I hear a lot of ppl say they didn't like the "gimmicks" but to me those were the best part. For $20 ea you can't go wrong!

Also while the story/characters of Engage do take a back seat compared to Three Houses, by no means are they bad. On the contrary, the story is actually quite good (only compared to TH does it seem not as complex- compared to Awakening though it's better, and most hold Awakening in high regard, myself included). But the characters are incredible. Easily my favorite cast of any FE game to date, which is a testament to how quality slice of life dialog can engage the player (no pun intended), albeit in a different way.

You don't actually need tons of lore to have an enjoyable character. This game simply takes a more "slice of life" approach like Awakening did. And I loved Awakening's characters also. You might hear alot of ppl claiming otherwise, but I think that's only because they want and expect Three Houses 2.0, so the Awakening approach seems "inferior" to them. And... fair enough. But not to me. Imo, they're far more likable than anyone in Three Houses, the best of which was what, Hanneman with his one note crest obsession or Manuella with her constant flirting and drinking? Or at worst Cyril with his broken record Rhea dialog... I mean I liked them- dont get me wrong, and I do utterly adore Three Houses, but there isn't exactly that big a gap between characters from TH and Engage, notwithstanding more depth doesnt automatically make a character more relatable or endearing. At least the characters in Engage are genuinely charming (Framme and Clanne) and actually funny (Yunaka)... just my two cents.

So ya, I think your assessment is correct inasmuch that their focus was on gameplay first and foremost, I guess... I just don't think it was at the extreme cost of bad story and characters. I think it was at the cost of a not quite as good story and having characters with less depth, but that lack of depth is rectified by charm, humor and slice of life endearment, which meshes better with the faster gameplay loop. And, I actually think they nailed it in that respect. The quality voice acting does help though. Especially for Alear. It's such a nice change to have a fully voiced protag for once.

Has anyone done the DLC divine paralogue?

I just did it and....wow. Stuff of legends. That might be the best map of any FE game I've played. Not just in terms of map gimmicks but layout, enemy placement, brutal and relentless reinforcements and mages on high ground you can't reach with massive range that can freeze you in place or seal your magic...

I had resigned myself to losing that battle on more than one occasion. 61 turns to beat it! More than any map I've ever played.

This game isn't good for photo addicts like myself.

Got the 6 original Genealogy of the Holy War figures, and just got the Edelgard PopUp Parade figure (5 more on the way).

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
Which one are you gonna play first?

I recently picked up Fates Revelations since that's the only route I never did, and I got up to... chapter 10? Before Engage releases? Ya. It's fantastic. I realized Fates is so much better in hindsight than at time of release. And that 3D effect works excellent.

Some crucial strategies for Engage I've picked up during my playtime:

• Chain Guard is a must. Qi Adept sub-class (your healers) can chain guard an adjacent unit if the healer has full health. I cannot express how many times this mechanic was needed to bait strong enemies and survive otherwise deadly attacks. Ignore at your own peril
• Backup sub-class is a great way to land chain attacks. If the back-up unit is in range of an enemy you attack with a different unit, they will chip in for extra damage. Not crucial like chain guard but it can make or break plays at times
• Armored Unit sub-class is unbreakable, and highly resistant to everything except magic and armor breaking weapons. If you plant an armored unit on some bushes or better yet a fort for that sweet +30 Avoid (and healing each turn for the fort) you can watch entire armies run to their own death against them. Just make sure there's no mages or armor busting weapons.
• Archers are crucial for taking out fliers. Moreso than in any FE game of the last decade. Always keep at least one archer on your team
• Vulneraries play a much more important role in Engage. They now heal for 15 HP rather than 10 HP as has been tradition, and certain units have skills where any ally within 2 spaces gets 50% extra healing from items. Always keep vulneraries on each unit.
• There is a skill you can inherit from Emblem Macaiah that grants 50% self healing any time a healer uses a staff to heal someone else. This not only keeps the healer topped up, but also ensures they're available for Chain Guard, since you must have full HP to execute
• Use the smithy to upgrade your axes first. Axes have the lowest hit rate in the game. Hand Axe hit = 65, and some axes are even 60. The best use of upgrading early game is to raise those hit rates
• Forging upgrades requires ingots, and the best way to get ingots is from doggos on the farmyard. Don't bother with anything else- chickens, cats, sheep... just dogs. You'll want as many ingots as you can get.
• Use the arena to deepen bond level with emblems that aren't equipped to that character so that they can inherit skills from them. You must reach bond Level 5 to inherit skills. For example, Sigurd has Canter, which allows a unit to move 2 tiles after attacking. I'm trying to learn that skill from Sigurd on all my units. If you bought the DLC, best bang for buck is the Edelgard skill that grants 20% extra EXP. It only costs 150 SP to inherit, while Canter from Sigurd is 1000 SP, for example.
• The best use of your bond fragments is to increase bond level in the arena to Level 5 with various unit-emblem combinations to unlock inheriting their skills. You can spend them on gacha rings, and I would put at least some percentage of your bond fragments toward that, but not the majority. Maybe 25% melding bond rings, 75% raising bond level with Emblems.
• If you download FE Heroes app you can claim 3 free weapons and 3 free S-rank bond rings as a promotional gift. I've found these weapons to be rather good. Not game breaking, but certainly worth using

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
Normal Casual I take it? The 3DS games didn't have rewind (well, Shadows of Valentia did) so I can appreciate Casual Mode for Awakening and Fates.

Conquest is definitely the hardest of the 3 Fates routes. But Awakening is a fine specimen. It's cracked (by that I mean there are ways to abuse the game mechanics to become OP) but a lot of people actually enjoy that about it. And, if you're not specifically going out of your way to do so, it'll feel pretty well balanced. Though I do wish it had rewinds. Sometimes the enemy pairs up and gets a lucky crit.

Ugh. Welp won’t get FE: Engage until tomorrow so I likely won’t play until Sunday. Ah well I will avoid the posts till then.

I'm happy I chose classic mode for the first time. Chapter five made me lose a unit, which I would've normally ignored since I was already close to victory, but now I rewound time and learned from my mistake. It makes the heavy armory class much more vital to bait enemies, a class I kind of ignored in 3H because I didn't see the use for it.

The game kinda feels like it was built to be played on classic and for you to lose units along the way. Almost every chapter seems to give you three new Units, and from around Chapter 10ish onwards I think, almost all of them are Advance classes, so you are kinda dropping your three weakest Units with each new Chapter anyway (as there isn't a meaningful way to drag them up once they fall behind as far as I can tell). Feels like had I let them just die, it would give me way less menu clutter to work through now I am approaching the 30 hour mark with a huge list of Units I never use.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
Um... the hardest difficulty?

Awakening had four difficulty levels. Normal, Hard, Lunatic, and Lunatic+ which needed to be unlocked.

You're saying you're gonna play on Lunatic? On Classic? Lol Awakening Lunatic is revered as pretty insane.

@Suicune
Nice. That's why rewinds are so great- they encourage ppl to try Classic mode, which is far more rewarding when you fix your mistakes rather than power through them.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika I heavily encourage you to not go Lunatic/Classic on your first playthrough. Hard/Classic is a fine challenge.

Thinking about it, the worst part of Lunatic Awakening was the beginning, so it'll filter you pretty quickly if you're not up for the challenge.

@Pizzamorg Sounds like Engage might be ideal for an Ironman run in the future.

So I'm about 9 chapters in now and I'm saddened to say...I'm not really feeling this one.

That's not to say I don't enjoy the game, but it's not blowing me away either. The combat is pretty solid and I do find myself looking forward to the story missions. The Engage mechanic is pretty cool, and I do like taking advantage of the "break" system.

But personally I don't find the combat mechanics to make up for the rest of the game. Pretty much everything else — from the story-telling, characters, additional activities, music...even UI elements — feels like a massive step down from Three Houses. I understand that the focus of this game is moreso on the combat itself than on the story and social aspects...But having all of these half-baked components in the game anyway just makes it all feel like a bit of a rush job rather than a conscious design decision. I'd rather, if they were to streamline the game, they'd go all-out and just put all non-combat stuff and battle prep in menus or something.

I'm glad others, particularly FE and TRPG aficionados, are able to enjoy this one. But it's honestly not 100% working for me and leaves me wanting more.

I'm glad it isn't just me @Buizel. I am enjoying Engage overall, but yeah, it feels like it needed like another year or two in development to me. Not because it is broken, it is actually shockingly polished in places, but just because it feels so content incomplete. Pretty much everything not directly related to the combat feels like it was just bolted on at the wind down of the dev cycle. The Somniel has absolutely no reason to be in the game at all and feels like a consolation prize for people who joined the franchise because of Three Houses. The story is only there to facilitate why you are in X location with X baddies and need to fight them in that moment and offers nothing else. Maybe it doesn't need to, but between that and the paper thin characters, everything just feels so flat. Everything else just feels like it has been so aggressively streamlined it is left feeling gutted. Kinda reminds me a lot of Arceus this time last year in that regard, wherein that game really refined the moment to moment gameplay to a really polished degree and it felt great to play, but there was almost no meat around that bone at all.

@Pizzamorg Yeah this pretty much aligns with my feelings. It does at times feel like a "stop-gap" title for experimenting with things while they plan for something more ambitious. That said, I don't have much history with the series (having only played Awakening and Three Houses), so I can't say much on this, and a lot of FE fans seem to be eating it up so maybe I'm missing something. I'm also probably a lot more into the RPG and social elements than your traditional FE fan so I'm willing to accept that this title just isn't for me.

It's been solid so far. Just finished chapter 7, did some skirmishes, and paralogues. Characters and story are growing on me a little more. I love picking up new characters. And of course, the gameplay has been stellar.

@Buizel
This game is like Awakening. If you're a fan of Awakening this game is incredible. If you're looking for a Three Houses type game you'll definitely be disappointed, because it's simply not trying to be that.

As someone who started with Awakening and adores it, I've been waiting 10 years for a game like this that has the same kind of light hearted story and slice of life characters, extremely strong gameplay (and the maps and objectives in this game are chef's kiss, that's one thing Awakening was bad with).

I still adore Three Houses also, but there's a special place in my heart for the Awakening formula. I like all flavors of FE and appreciate the variety more than just getting the same thing every time. This is the Fire Emblem on Switch I've been waiting for.

@NintendoByNature
Alear grew on me the most, surprisingly.

Avatar characters are typically one of the few I don't get attached to, because they're kind of a blank slate insert. But Alear has personality. I'm so glad I chose female Alear because I've watched Let's Plays with the male Alear and... it's just not as good. Being fully voiced helps a lot. Not only does the hair no longer seem strange to me, but Alear as a character is actually quite relatable. I especially like how at the beginning Vander's all, "what do we do, Divine One? You whose bravery knows no equal" and Alear's like, "we run" lol. Nice to have a character that doesn't act like Superman right out of the gate.

What do you think of Yunaka? She's one of my favorite characters alongside Framme.

@JaxonH same for alear, I was unsure at first, but he( I chose male) really gives every situation some deep thought, and analyzes the outcome as opposed to jumping right in. Yunaka is great, I like the little guy Jean, and Vander is your typical BA which I love.

To your point, the more I think about it, it is like awakening, which isn't a bad thing. Still very enjoyable. I'm more of a 3H guy though. I'd place that top 3ish on my switch, so it's hard to top. I guess it is nice to have little to do, and jump straight back into battles right away if you wanted to.