Topic: Fire Emblem Engage for Nintendo Switch

@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.

Just to make it clear, I love Three Houses, but absolutely hated the social side of that game, so I'm not bummed Engage isn't more Three Houses. I'm bummed because Engage feels like such a threadbare, watered down, product and doesn't meaningfully evolve Three Houses best parts.

If Engage was exactly the same and it just had the Three Houses social calendar stuff bolted onto it, I'd actively dislike the game rather than enjoy it like I am doing. Because I am enjoying it, but I am also wishing it did more.

However, I will concede that had Engage been exactly as it is, but offered Three House's level of customisation and RPGness (for the lack of a better term), I think this would be a massively better game and probably would make it easier for me to look by the weak characters, story, half baked elements etc

@NintendoByNature
Oh I love Three Houses. Far be it from me to disparage that game. It's incredible. It's simply not the only flavor of Fire Emblem I enjoy. While the more serious tone and historical drama is super interesting, it's nice to have a lighter tone entry that doesn't waste an hour running errands between each battle, that focuses more on charm and humor than lore and backstory, with traditional classes and way more focus on strategy. Both approaches are equally entertaining in my view, but I do think gameplay trumps all, and Engage gameplay mops the floor with not only Three Houses, but also Awakening, Shadows of Valentia, Fates Birthright, and even though Fates Conquest and Revelation are top notch, I'd say it tops those as well.

This is the first FE game in a long time where the maps have lots of corridors and choke points, terrain plays a much larger focus, and the objectives are extremely varied. It's been such a pleasant surprise not seeing "Route the Enemy" for every map.

But ya, Engage was clearly modeled to mimic Awakening, getting back to their roots of when the series blew up. Awakening is the game most modern fans fell in love with, so going back to what made people fall in love in the first place was a good move imo. The devs are always trying new things, so it's not like every game in the series henceforth is going to follow this model. They seem to bounce around, from Awakening/Fates to Echoes/Three Houses, and now back to the Awakening/Fates style with Engage. Everyone gets what they want. And then there's people like me who love both, so I'm eating fat like a king right now 😀

BTW I've been leveling up Jean also. His growth rates are superb. Also, Louis is MVP. That guy is a truck. I love how Vander scolds Framme in their support convos lol. "The fact you can't handle even the most basic of tasks is why I worry for your future" 🤣

@Buizel @Pizzamorg

Engage and Three Houses had almost entirely different development staff. Intelligent Systems had to approve of the general direction Three Houses went, but otherwise, that game seems to be Koei-Tecmo's baby. Whereas Engage was written primarily by people who worked on Awakening/Fates.

It'll be interesting to see if this is all indicative of a more permanent divide for the series. Considering how well games like Three Houses and Age of Calamity have sold, though, it seems likely that KT's close relationship with Nintendo will continue.

@Ralizah
I hope so. As much as I love Engage and the Awakening style approach, I do very much also love Three Houses. I'm sure they will. KT is always partnering with Nintendo for stuff. Next game is likely a Genealogy of the Holy War remake though. After that, probably another Three Houses type entry, and then another Engage type entry.

@JaxonH That'd be a pretty solid rotation every gen:

Three Houses-style game / Awakening-style game / Remake

Theoretically, it should keep almost everyone happy.

@JaxonH This is fair. I loved Awakening during the 3DS's heyday - but tbh it's been maybe 8 years since I played it proper, so I couldn't begin to legitimately compare it to Engage, but I at least remember enjoying the characters and music more.

@Ralizah This is interesting, and especially explains why things like UI elements feel like a step back for me as they were likely developed independently for each game.. But it also makes it all-the-more baffling to me as to why Engage includes the rather pointless post-battle areas and the Somniel.

Honestly, I'd be very open to Three Houses spinning off into a sub-series or something. I think there's room for purer TRPG Fire Emblem vs. the more JRPG/Persona-like structure of Three Houses. I also really like how Three Hopes took things to the extreme by effectively making it an ARPG of sorts.

All I want is Three Houses without all the persona chaff, made in Engage's engine.

Yes!!!

I feel so seen, haha.

Right?! If the Somniel's inclusion is weird, wtaf is the point of those stupid post battle walk around sections. Why is it here. You can't do Bond or Support convos here, you don't get any unique interactions beyond like one line of 'this is where we fought that one time' and it will never change. Just totally maddening.

And I remember they made a massive deal about this feature in the marketing - lol "feature" - and it just serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever.

@Buizel The Somniel makes more sense if you just think of it as the Engage equivalent of My Castle.

I doubt we'll get any more Fire Emblem Warriors spinoffs any time soon, to be honest. It'll be interesting to see if they move on to a different Nintendo IP instead. I desperately want a Xenoblade Warriors game, personally.

@Buizel
The post battle is optional and a good use of the detailed 3D maps. It's fun to run around and see the map you just fought on. But if you don't want to you can skip it (adopt any animals you want, but after that the Bond Fragments are collected automatically). The Somniel, in truth, doesn't seem all that different than Three Houses. You could eat meals in TH, you can eat meals in Engage. There was an arena in TH, there's an arena in Engage. There were shops in TH, there's shops in Engage. You could fish in TH, you can fish in Engage. There was an amiibo gazebo in TH, there's an amiibo gazebo in Engage. There are some differences (Sauna vs strength training, etc) but overall they're remarkably similar.

The big difference, really, is no teaching, and the Somniel is designed in a way to be optional whereas you were at a notable disadvantage if you didn't spend your professor points on activities in the monastery. It's a nice hybrid mix between My Castle of Fates and the monastery. Far more activities similar to Three Houses, but quick and optional like Fates. Imo it strikes the perfect balance.

I think the music in this game is just as good as Awakening. I own all the soundtracks, and while I haven't heard every song in Engage, it's about on par with every other entry. That's one constant you can always count on- every FE has a banger soundtrack. Though I must admit, I do think Fates has the best soundtrack of them all. Three Houses was also top tier.

As for characters, I adored Lissa and Vaike from Awakening, but I adore Yunaka and Framme just as much in Engage. I like Vander (Engage jagen) about the same as Frederick (Awakening jagen), Chloe (Engage Pegasus knight) about the same as Sumia (Awakening Pegasus knight), etc. I like Alear more than Robin, but not as much as Chrom. Chrom is my guy 😀 Generally speaking the characters are just as lovable as Awakening, but I feel more attached to them because they have far more dialog in Engage, and far more cutscenes. And the graphics being better (with models actually having feet) helps. But that'll be subjective.

@Ralizah I'd guess Warriors would return back to Zelda. Age of Calamity is the best selling Warriors game and I wouldn't be surprised if TotK keeps the exploration focused, very little story approach of BotW.

Gonna try to keep all my units leveled up with the rest of the team, which will work perfectly given the fact I'm doing all the paralogues and already several skirmishes.

With a core team they'd likely get overleveled, but by spreading it out to everyone it should be possible to play every side mission without over leveling.

Doing the map to recruit Anna and picked my 8 least leveled units, which are all Level 8 (rest of my team is Level 12), and I'm not feeling confident I can beat this map with these units. I don't have Louis or Vander, for example. This one is gonna be a real test of skill...

edit
Finally, the SwitchUp review is live.

92% - Engaging!

Yep. Bawled like a baby (I’m sitting at my desk trying not to sob while I work). Should have known given the Queen Serenity vibes. I don’t have an opinion of the game yet beyond “squee Mitsuishi Kotono-sama!!!” And there are some small things that are annoying me but I will keep playing now that the VA hook is done.

@JaxonH completely agree. And for the record, I take no issue in either play style, be it 3H or Engage. I'm totally fine with them bouncing back and forth between the direction of game. Every fire emblem I've played thus far has held my interest, and some. It's quickly grown to be my 3rd or 4th favorite nintendo franchise.

Ah yes! How could I forget about Louis. Dude is a BEAST! He's never fell in a battle for me yet. Vander once, I believe. Vander has great dialogue for sure.

Chapter 8 is hard. The real game has now begun.

I feel so inadequate and unprepared for this chapter. They have at least 5 lances, armored and other, at least 5 axe wielders, at least 5 sword users, half a dozen fliers, handful of archers, and I'm pretty sure the boss has a ring.

Gosh dang it. Game only let's me choose 9 units for this. With Alear, my healers, mages, archer and armored unit, I simply don't have room for an axe user! No room for Vander or Bucheron. I'll have to use mages and anti-armor weapons to push through these lance users. If I can just get through the first half dozen lance users I think there's a chance, as I can exploit weaknesses on the rest. But they're on healing avoid tiles too. Gonna have to draw them out.

I'm so intimidated right now I love it! This is that hit of adrenaline I used to get from Fire Emblem. This is that rush I'm always chasing. Wooooosaaaaaah. Soak it up. Mmm, so good.

@Ryu_Niiyama
I knew it was coming. Wanted to tell you but, I restrained myself 😀

What difficulty are you playing on?

@Ralizah well that explains alot. I'm sure I can look this up, but It has me wondering what other SRPGs KT has made worth checking out? Surely this can't be thier first with a damn near perfect game in 3H.

@NintendoByNature
Every fire emblem I've played thus far has held my interest

Definitely agree with this. Even Shadow Dragon with zero support convos is better than the vast majority of other games I've played. It's why chess has stood the test of time for over a thousand years. Tactical grid based strategy is, well... timeless.

What difficulty did you say you were playing on? Are you a Casual fan or more of a Classic fan now that we have rewinds?

@JaxonH I just do normal/casual. I've thought about the rewinds and moving up in difficulty/doing classic mode, but I don't think im there yet lol. I struggle as it is 🤣.

I just try to take my whole squad to the finish line without losing my entire unit, which Is a challenge in itself. My goal is to not use the rewind feature. It kind of evens it out when you think about it. Playing on normal/casual + no rewinds vs. Hard/classic + rewinds. Both hard in thier own right.