Topic: Fire Emblem Engage for Nintendo Switch

Just got the game in the mail today. In handheld mode on the SWOLED, this might be the prettiest game I've ever seen. Not in terms of raw pixel count, obviously, but just in terms of the use of color and how clean the animations and whatnot are. Saying the game is vibrant is an understatement, lol.

I usually play conventionally on my first playthroughs, but I'm looking forward to making my units unusual classes in subsequent playthroughs. I'm playing on hard, and while I might try maddening, I imagine it'll take a lot of effort.
My idea for a fun playthrough is turning Framme, Cramme, Jean and Anna into a group I'd call "The 4 Heroes" (a mix of Generals, Heroes and Halberdiers), and play exclusively with them. My Alear could be a wimpy healer who tags along.

@Pizzamorg Since you mention Vander, maybe there'd be room for a second healer.

I'm debating about whether Alfred is really as good enough to deserve a permanent spot in my team to be honest. Before I changed out his Emblem (from Sigurd), his main strength was his mobility. My Alfred has the 2nd highest defence in my army, currently, so he's good for drawing enemies, but without canter, he'll be a bit more vulnerable until I can afford the 2000 or so SP needed to inherit the skill, and I had less than half of that when I reached bond level 10 with him & Sigurd.

Not sure if this is a repost of if i didn’t hit reply but how do we grind in this game? Just the corrupted showing on the map? Also I wanna yell at whomever decided grid lines should be turned off. I was about to write this game off as I am playing on the tv and since (to my knowledge) you can’t do a mid range zoom like you can in 3Houses I pretty much couldn’t see (well). Still getting a feel for the game. No opinion yet.

Ok, downloaded Awakening, Fates, Path of Radiance and Three Houses OST instead of ripping them.

I'm officially changing my mind. Three Houses has the best soundtrack. I guess I didn't realize just how many bangers it has. Sooooo so many. Fates still has a ton mind you, but Three Houses definitely has it beat.

What shocked me even more is how unimpressive Path of Radiance OST is. I mean, it's good, and compared to other games certainly above average. But compared to Fates or Three Houses? It's not on that level, that's for sure. It's got 3 solid bangers, whereas Three Houses has several dozen and Fates close to two dozen. Even Awakening has one dozen.

@edhe
I meant to tag you for this question above:

What about Build Stat? I know about Speed+5 but this game has some calculation with Weapon Weight and Build, and that somehow factors into Speed. Is it Actual Speed = Sp - (Wt - Bld)?

@Ralizah
It is gorgeous. I try to get a map in each day at work (if I can, didn't have time today), and it's a pleasure playing this game handheld. Same for the OLED TV, but as always, handheld just impresses more.

@JaxonH Three Houses has an AMAZING soundtrack. It really pulls its weight in terms of selling you on the epic feel of the game overall.

I'm just past the first chapter and I'm already spamming my screenshot button to an almost absurd degree. This is easily gonna be one of those 1000+ screenshot games.

And I know I dunked on the character designs, but, in conjunction with the use of color, they look really nice. I think they pair well with the tone of this entry.

@JaxonH yeah the Three Houses soundtrack is AMAZING. I thought Awakening was my favorite (Purpose ~Id is where it’s at) but Three Houses supplanted that years ago. The premium arranged soundtracks (there are two of them) are good too.

@JaxonH
You can check the weight of a weapon in the inventory by navigating to its info window, and toggling its information. It's very convoluted. A weapon's weight is compared to the character's build (BLD), and if the weapon weight is greater, the difference is subtracted from the speed stat in battle.

I've just hopped into a skirmish and am experimenting right now. My Etie has 9 base speed. She has 5 BLD. Her four current weapons are a Iron Bow +1, a Mini Bow, a Steel Bow and a Longbow weighing 5, 4, 7, and 10 respectively. If I attack with the Iron bow, her SPD stat isn't reduced, but with the Steel Bow and the Longbow, the SPD stat is reduced to 7 SPD (the steel bow is 2 units heavier than Etie's BLD) and 4 SPD (the Longbow is 5 units heavier than Etie's BLD) respectively.

@Ralizah
They do. It's a sentiment I've heard from a number of people, and one I myself experienced.

At first the main character design kinda looked weird. But after playing a bit, it looks not only normal, but dare I say, really good? The art style overall is very colorful and bold- I really dig it. And in the context of the game as a whole Alear fits in rather well, to my surprise.

I've always adored Three Houses soundtrack, but for some reason in my mind's eye, Fates soundtrack was still better. But after sampling every track on both OSTs, while Fates is most definitely impressive, there are just more bangers in Three Houses. I never realized it until I favorite all the ones I like and realized there were more than from Fates, Awakening and Path of Radiance combined.

@Ryu_Niiyama
I also love Don't Speak Her Name. That was the one that first turned me on to how goof Awakening OST was. I still remember Chapter 10, in the rain, after that moment, with Don't Speak Her name playing... epic.

@edhe
That's a perfect explanation, thank you. Pretty much how I expected it to work, so it does make sense at least.

I’ve made fairly decent progress in the game and I don’t know if it’s just luck or what but Yunaka seems pretty op in my playthrough. She dodged and blocks most attacks and when she does get hit it’s only a around 5 health she’s ever lost and takes most units out in her counters. Now that I’ve made her into a wolf knight she could potentially tear up most small groups of enemies by herself!

@GameOtaku
I've heard of Wolf Knight. How do you promote to that class? Are there extra proficiencies needed besides Daggers?

@JaxonH I still think Alear looks silly (especially the male version), but it's less offensive when the entire game is drowning you in a waterfall of colors.

Don't Speak Her Name is a top ten Fire Emblem track overall. Even higher when experienced in context for the first time. It's a powerful piece of music that beautifully accompanies a devastating plot beat. But it works extremely well on its own as well.

I went back and checked out Fates' soundtracks, since I don't remember most of the music, and... I can see why. It works well enough when you're playing, but very little stands out on its own. Whereas, shifting over to Three Houses, it's just banger after banger. I actually think TH has an S-tier soundtrack, which is the only game in the series I'd say that about. For me, it sits among giants like NieR Automata, Xenoblade 2 & 3, Mario Galaxy, Persona 5, SMT IV, etc.

@Ralizah
There's a lot of songs I like in Fates. Check out:

• A Dark Fall (Fire)
• Alight (Storm)
• Conquest (Fates)
• Dark Song
• Dusk Falls
• End of All (any version)
• Far Dawn
• Guest of Shade
• Hanging Balance
• Implore the Dawn
• Justice RIP
• Light On a Window
• Light Song
• Lost In Thoughts All Alone
• Misery In Hand
• New Power
• Pray to the Dark
• Quiet Burn
• Resolve (Dark and Light versions)
• Sound of Hammers
• The Path Is Yours To Climb
• Thorn In You (Roar) my personal fave
• Watery Music Box

There's some good stuff there.

BTW, you just started. Give it some time. Thats what happened to me after playing a while and acclimating (then again, I'm playing female- I still think male Alear looks goofy- not because of the hair, but that silly mini half-cape he wears).

I also forgot to say but as much as I do adore all those soundtracks (and I really do), after listening to the entire OST I think Three Houses is in a league of its own, even compared to Xenoblade, Nier, Persona, etc. But that may just be my preference for more epic, catchy orchestral music. I do think Persona 4 Golden has one of the best soundtracks ever, but even that isn't as good as Three Houses, imo.

I just looked up the composers for FE games. While all games are under Yuja Tsujiyoko's supervision, each individual game had various combinations of composers.

Three Houses had these three:

Takeru Kanazaki
Hiroki Morishita
Rei Kondoh

Engage OST involved the first two, but not Rei Kondoh. Interestingly, the only other FE game composed by these same three was Fates. And now it all makes sense.

The first two are typically the common denominator though. Nearly every game has both of them, though there was at least one that involved only one.

edit
Ok, those first two are the ones who wrote all the bangers.

See their songs they wrote for each game here. Yup. These two are the masterminds.

https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Takeru_Kanazaki

Takeru Kanazaki is a video game composer at Intelligent Systems. He has worked mainly on games of the WarioWare and Fire Emblem franchises.

Fellow composer Hiroki Morishita and him are commonly referred to as the "Cavalier Duo", with Kanazaki being the green cavalier

https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Hiroki_Morishita

Hiroki Morishita is an Intelligent Systems composer. He has been one of the main composers of the Fire Emblem series since New Mystery of the Emblem.

Fellow composer Takeru Kanazaki and him are commonly referred to as the "Cavalier Duo", with Morishita being the red cavalier.

@JaxonH Alright, there are definitely more tracks that work than I'm giving Fates credit for. My list would be still be considerably shorter, though.

The vocal tracks all work pretty brilliantly, and, unless I'm mistaken, they're more prominent in Fates than in other Fire Emblem games by a pretty wide margin. I'd love to see them try something like that again.

It's pretty incredible to think that Three Houses wasn't even up for any awards for its soundtrack the year it released, isn't it? Then again, Xenoblade 2 was also snubbed back in 2017.

@JaxonH @Ralizah

End of All especially the full rotation that accommodates all three games does not get enough notice I think in fates. Rei Kondoh first hooked me in okami (still one of my favorite soundtracks and I love to play backing taiko for it on slow weekends) and I have followed him ever since. His work in w101 and bayonetta (I think all three games, I don’t have the heart to play 3 right now) is fantastic. It’s humbling to know that some of these big composers are in my age group (Nishiki Yasunori just makes me ask what have I done with my life since we are the same age. ).

I like how this is just the Fire Emblem Music Appreciation Thread now.

@Ryu_Niiyama I really like the Revelation variant of End of All, although, in terms of final map themes, Twilight of the Gods clinches it for me. Shadows of Valentia has a strong soundtrack overall, but that final map theme is incredibly compelling. Especially having your entire army on the map, and not having access to Mila's Turnwheel during the battle. Even more impressive that it's still fairly faithful to the original track in Gaiden.

@Ralizah
It's one of the many reasons I can't help but facepalm at the Jeff Fauxly Game Awards. It's most definitely not about recognizing the best- only the best among a small curated list of politically correct, marketable games popular among the mainstream AAA fanbase, most notably PS fans. And if Awards don't recognize the best, it diminishes the awards presented, as everyone knows they brazenly ignore games that are most deserving, for whatever reason. It's insulting to me that a game like FE Three Houses could have one of the best video game soundtracks of all time and even get mentioned for it. Not that I need to see it recognized, but the composers and developers deserve it. They're the ones being cheated. And it pains me as I feel so grateful toward them for creating a product I derive such enjoyment from.

@Ryu_Niiyama
I think my favorite Path of Radiance track is Ike's Resolution, favorite Awakening track is Don't Speak Her Name, favorite Fates track is Thorn In You (Roar), and favorite Three Houses track... ooh that's a tough one. Probably a 5-way tie between Beneath the Banner, Blue Skies and a Battle, Chasing Daybreak, Three Houses Main Theme and Roar of Dominion.

I saw Rei Kondoh did Bayonetta 3. It had a pretty good soundtrack.

@JaxonH
I’m a little hazy since I don’t have the game with me at the moment but I remember she needed proficiency in daggers and I chose from the different wolf riders you could get that had a sword requirement and used a second seal to get the class. My plan was since she was so good at taking out units by herself to give her sigurds ring since his override ability only works with swords or spears and use that to thin out ranks quickly and then gave her finish off stragglers when they went to attack.

Wolf Knight Yunaka with Lyn is a weapon of mass destruction.

@Pizzamorg That sounds insanely disgusting. I'm in.

Also, I use Framme as my healer as well, but when she's paired with Michiah, it's insane.

On a very different note, how worth it is Fates Revelations? I'm trying to finalize my list of 3DS/Wii U eShop titles before they close.