Topic: Fire Emblem Engage for Nintendo Switch

New footage of Fire Emblem Engage, with protagonist Alear

I'd think that if they'd ever made a new Fire Emblem game for the DS, that might have been the breakthrough one instead, because the platform was immensely popular and well suited for turn based tactics gameplay.

It just got two remakes though, one of which didn't even get an English translation. So, it was left for Awakening after a nervous five year gap between it and the previous entry on the Wii.

Seems the 12 heros from the mural have been identified.

Obviously, FE3, FE11 and FE12 were all essentially remakes/reimaginings/expanded versions of the original Fire Emblem. So they're also represented by Marth. And FE15 was a remake of FE2, so that one is represented by Celica.

I admit, my impressions for this when I (finally) watched the Nintendo Direct on my own time amounted to "What?" Subsequent trailer viewings have made me more optimistic though. I don't mind how bold the new protagonist looks, and I definitely want more info before passing judgment. Still....Before the Direct basically confirmed this was a main series title, I thought at first that they were setting up a new mobile game or another FE Musou more in the vein of the first Fire Emblem Warriors. I'm not sure yet how I feel about randomly introducing other FE protagonists from other universes, though to be fair this isn't the first time this has happened in the series.

Time will tell how I feel about this one. Besides, I'm one of the crazy souls who still hasn't played Three Houses despite owning the title for almost a year now.

i had to give up on Fire Emblem for awhile when they released that one game for the 3DS which was Fire Emblem Fates.

They split Fate in 3 separate games. Two went to retail while the other one you had to buy from the eshop.

What they did was unnecessary and a waste. Why they had to do that, who knows.

Im slowly trying to get back into the Fire Emblem series by trying to get ahold of Three Houses and only that game and thats it . I think I had enough of the overhyped nonsense of Fire Emblem

My first FE game was Fates Conquest on 3DS, and I love it, but I never really felt like getting another. I bought Three Houses when I got my switch last year, and I once again fell in love. I’m sure the new one will draw me in the same way. I’m really interested in how they’re tying all the games together.

@DarthNocturnal Quite a time gap! Hopefully you recalled some of what was going on. I don't plan to play through all routes consecutively, but I do intend to finish each playthrough before moving on to something else...unless I get very bored. That has yet to happen to me with a Fire Emblem entry, though Shadow Dragon came close.

Fire Emblem Three Houes its main story where your main enemy bad guys are some corrupt Church and i guess the Church people dabble in evil magic theyre not supposed to like in Final Fantasy Tactics.

thats great and neat but at the same the makers of Three Houses want you to spend hours et to be a teacher to recruit and train students to be soldiers whether its ground knights or soldiers on horses etc.

Are we supposed to play a Fire Emblem game here or are we actually ending up playing a Fire Emblem game that ends up more like redoing the same crap in Persona 3 and Persona 4? the whole calendar year time limit etc?

Every Fire Emblem is a banger.

Awakening is still, to this day, one of my favorite games of all time.

Fates is probably the worst in the series. I LOVED the multiple routes, story premise and the gameplay is easily, easily the pinnacle of the series, especially in Conquest. Unfortunately the drab characters and ridiculous story brought down what should have been the best game in the series.

Shadows of Valentia was excellent. A little old school, with uninteresting maps as a result and more basic combat, but it had an incredible story and top shelf characters. Overall, solid 8/10

Three Houses... the best Fire Emblem since Awakening, and a good argument can be made for best in the entire series.

Engage looks like a return to Awakening's style, and I'm loving it. I always preferred that art style, but Engage takes it to another level entirely. Never has FE been so colorful and full of life. The Emblem rings are an interesting mechanic, especially considering the trailer showed the villain putting on a ring. If they can summon past series villains, this game is going to go off the rails, and I'm here for it!

@XandertheWise
The sim elements were one of the most widely praised aspects of Fire Emblem Three Houses. And I agree with the consensus- they were excellent.

But they also give you the option of skipping all of that and having it automatically assign training for you. The game literally lets you enjoy it however you want.

The pre-GBA Fire Emblem games I tried out were all pretty boring, tbh. So was the one on NDS.

Fates is def. the worst of the modern Emblems. Birthright felt like a worse version of Awakening, and Conquest had the dumbest writing I've ever seen in a video game. I was so disappointed I actually sold off my Special Edition. Thank god that era of the series is over.

@DarthNocturnal I just did some digging, and physical copy prices aren't awful. They're very close to the original list.

And I agree with you completely. So much is being lost with this eShop closure. I've never played any of the FE DLC, but it's also so easy to forget how much is being lost. I hope they do something to really preserve a lot of these in the future. An ultimate edition of Fates would be insane.

Im still a little iffy on Three Houses. I just want to play a normal game. not a frikking copycat of the whole social stat raising nonsense like from Persona 3 and Persona 4

@DarthNocturnal $40 US seems to be what I've seen.

I hope they do GBA on NSO, and it would be incredible to see those two, plus Binding Blade.

@DarthNocturnal That's not a bad price at all for a sealed copy. I think you are right as well. There's going to be a MASSIVE spike in the 3DS FE games (and 3DS games in general) once the eShop closes. I wouldn't be surprised if Awakening becomes just as, if not more, expensive than Path of Radiance.

I played the entirety of Fire Emblem Blazing Sword [GBA] after it released on the Wii U eShop. That was the first game released in the west, and I really enjoyed it.

In addition to beating Fire Emblem Blazing Sword, I've also beaten Fire Emblem Awakening, Fire Emblem Fates Birthright, Fire Emblem Fates Conquest, Fire Emblem Shadows of Valentia, and Fire Emblem Three Houses. I've played every entry to some extent, but those are the only ones I ever finished.

I actually have every FE game up through Shadows of Valentia (FE1 - FE15), with the exception of FE9 - FE10 as they released on GC/Wii, on my modded 3DS, with English fan translations for the first 6 games, as well as the 12th game which was never localized. Which is really cool, having 13 different FE games on one system.

Here's a recap of the series for anyone less familiar who is interested in understanding where we are and how we got here.

SERIES RECAP

• The first is Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light for NES, which is a nice curiosity but doesn't hold up too well imo. Feels like playing the original Zelda on NES. Some people can stomach that, but I can't. At least, not the fan translated NES rom. The localized Switch release is much better.
• The 2nd is Gaiden for NES, which was remade as Shadows of Valentia on 3DS.
• The 3rd is Mystery of the Emblem for SNES, which is both a remake of the original NES game in Book 1, and a continuation of Marth's story in Book 2 with new content.
• The 4th is Genealogy of the Holy War for SNES. A fan favorite, the leak that told us about Engage claimed Genealogy is getting a Switch remake and will drop after Engage does. So look forward to 2024!
• The 5th is Thracia 776 for SNES, a follow up to Genealogy of the Holy War. It's neither a prequel nor a sequel, but actually takes place during certain events of Genealogy. This is also the last game by series creator Kaga before he left Intelligent Systems.
• The 6th is Binding Blade for GBA, and the last JP-exclusive FE game barring FE12. Binding Blade is a classic.
• The 7th is Blazing Sword on the GBA, and the western debut of the series, titled simply "Fire Emblem" in the west. It's excellent, and is actually a prequel to the 6th game, Binding Blade. Eliwood, one of the 3 main lords, is actually the father of Roy, the lord from the 6th game.
• The 8th is Sacred Stones, the 3rd and last GBA entry. It's also well received, but a bit different from the prior two GBA releases.
• The 9th is Path of Radiance on GameCube. A fan favorite. Hard as nails. Implements a bonus XP system that's crucial for leveling up to keep the game from being too hard. Remember, these games featured permadeath.
• The 10th is Radiant Dawn on Wii, the sequel to Path of Radiance. The first half features a new cast with Mikai, while second half of the game integrates the cast from Path of Radiance, including Ike. This has to be the most overlooked and undervalued entry of the entire series, which is odd given how many owned a Wii.
• The 11th is Shadow Dragon on DS, a remake of the original NES game which integrates elements of Book 1 of the 3rd game, Mystery of the Emblem, which was itself a remake of the first game with an added Book 2.
• The 12th is New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow on DS. It's the remake of Book 2 of Mystery of the Emblem on SNES, which itself was a remake of the original game on NES for Book 1 with an added Book 2. This was the game that first introduced casual mode. It was also the only Fire Emblem after the first 6 to not be localized in the west.
• The 13th is the infamous Fire Emblem Awakening on 3DS. This is the game that revitalized the series. Reportedly, Intelligent Systems was given an ultimatum by Nintendo due to series sales trending down for years, and the last entry barely pushing 250,000 copies sold. IS went into development expecting it to be their last Fire Emblem, and as a result, integrated all the different ideas they'd ever wanted to do but hadn't. However, for a multitude of reasons previously discussed, the game exploded in popularity, selling over 2 MILLION copies, over 8x the sales of their last entry. For many Nintendo fans, it was like a brand new IP had released. Even better, it was a long established IP with rich history dating all the way back to the NES, but gamers were only just now realizing how good it was. This changed everything. The future of the series was now secured, and Nintendo was anxious to know when the next entry would be releasing.
• The 14th is Fates on 3DS. This was a polarizing entry. The game was released as two separate games, each with their own unique route. Two nations warring against each other, the player had to choose a side in Ch. 6, which determined whether you played Birthright or Conquest. The game was written by an anime author and was not well received among gamers for its story or characters, though it did review well. The gameplay is still widely regarded as the best in the series, with some of the best and most unique and creative map design ever seen. A 3rd route was sold as DLC, and the 3 routes were combined onto a single 3DS cartridge sold in the Special Edition.
• The 15th is Shadows of Valentia on 3DS, branded under the "Fire Emblem Echoes" moniker, a remake of the 2nd Fire Emblem game, "Fire Emblem Gaiden" for NES. The game released late in the 3DS lifespan and to much smaller fanfare, partly due to decreased interest in 3DS as a platform and partly due to being a remake of an older game with simpler maps and combat. It was an excellent entry though.
• The 16th is Three Houses for Nintendo Switch. The game was a notable departure from the 3DS entries. It offered 3 different paths similar to Fates; however, unlike Fates it was all included into a single version. A 4th path was also sold as DLC. The game was widely praised by both critics and fans alike.
• The 17th is Engage for Nintendo Switch. Which is where we are today.
• The 1st spinoff is Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE on Wii U (was subsequently ported to Switch as "Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore"). The game was advertised as a crossover of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei. However, upon it's release it was learned the game was mostly structured as an SMT spinoff JRPG, with light Fire Emblem references. The game was very odd in style, and neither Fire Emblem fans nor SMT fans were particularly pleased with the result. It reviewed decently well, but has never been held in very high regard in retrospect. It has its fans and is a fun game, but not the masterpiece fans were hoping for.
• The 2nd spinoff is Fire Emblem Warriors on both New 3DS and Nintendo Switch. The game followed the blueprint laid forth by the original Hyrule Warriors. It was well received, though the game did see criticism from fans for predominantly focusing on characters from Awakening and Fates, with only a few characters from prior games, rather than including characters from all previous entries.
• The 3rd spinoff is Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes for Nintendo Switch. It was received extremely well. Rather than repeat the all-stars mish-mash of the previous Warriors entry, it instead took the newer approach pioneered by games such as Persona 5 Strikers and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Three Hopes focused exclusively on the characters and world of Fire Emblem Three Houses, offering an alternate "what if" storyline which sees the sequence and outcomes of events diverge from the main game. Three Hopes is well regarded as the pinnacle of Warriors combat, integrating Fire Emblem based gameplay themes such as giving orders and directing units on the battlefield. It also implements a bevy of sim elements from the main game such as building and upgrading various shops, training camps, canteen, chores, etc at your base in between battles, further differentiating it from the prior Warriors entry.

Fire Emblem Awakening was my first entry; I was drawn in by the demo and have loved the series ever since. I've played all Western releases up to this point barring Three Houses, the Revelation DLC for FE: Fates (Why there weren't branching paths like in FE:TH is beyond me), and the Tellius duology....Though I skipped out on the original Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light release since I've played Shadow Dragon. Price is the barrier for the Tellius games. I want to play them, but not THAT badly. I'm among those who prefers Casual Mode; I game to relax, don't mind some challenge, but playing older entries/Classic Mode REALLY stresses me out.

Listing each in the order I've played them:

• Awakening: My introduction into the series. Decent plot and some fun maps and mechanics. The twist with the kids makes sense here.
• Shadow Dragon (DS): Tracked it down secondhand after my stellar experience with Awakening. I liked the art style and getting to experience classic Fire Emblem. However, at it's core it's still very much an old game with a ho-hum plot and characters compared to modern entries. Still neat to see Marth in action though.
• FE Fates: Conquest - Great characters, fun maps, unnecessary castle system, kid mechanics that made no sense in this game, terrible plot holier than Swiss cheese. Best verse of "Lost In Thoughts All Alone" though.
• FE7/The Blazing Blade (Wii U VC) - A fun entry, all told. I like Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector as protagonists. Some fun other characters and maps too. Interesting plot, but nothing too memorable.
• Sacred Stones (Wii U VC) - Another fun entry. Eirika and Ephraim are both fun characters, though I've only experienced Eirika's route; I've heard Ephraim's is very different. I was surprised at how many parallels there were between this entry and Awakening.
• FE Fates: Birthright - Probably wouldn't have played this route if I didn't find it cheap on clearance back in 2019 or so. The plot is a step up from Conquest's, but that's at the cost of less interesting characters, mostly meh maps, and a more predictable story. Basically a weaker Awakening.
• FE Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - My favorite 3DS entry by a narrow margin. Memorable characters, interesting plot, an amazing dynamic between Alm and Celica, dungeon crawling with mini-battles, and different mechanics compared to previous entries that I thought I'd dislike...and ended up loving. My only complaint is the maps are fairly boring, but that's understandable when you realize it's a remake of the second FE entry.

@DarthNocturnal Not far in at all then, eh?

To clarify, I'd love to play all available routes, but realistically I'll probably only get through one or two. It would be a different story if I didn't have anything else to play. Despite my best efforts, whittling down my game backlog is hard sometimes....

I started to play Casual in the games that offered it as an option, because I hate missing supports for quality characters. But I've actually split it about 50/50 overall.

In Awakening, my first, I did Normal Casual.

In Fates Birthright, Normal Casual.

In Fates Conquest, Normal Classic.

In Shadows of Valentia, Normal Casual.

In Three Houses, Normal Classic.

In FE7 [GBA], there was no Casual, but many choose to restart after deaths. I decided to roll with whatever losses I took. I lost one of my 3 Pegasus knights near the end, I think? Which sucked, but it made me appreciate getting through that map.

I then went back for a 2nd playthrough of Awakening on Classic Hard, but couldn't beat the 4th map without losing a unit.

@DarthNocturnal
Ah, the mobile site does that sometimes. No idea why. Fixed.

@DarthNocturnal
Oh I didn't know FE12 first introduced Avatars. I had assumed it featured Marth as the main character like Shadow Dragon.

Seems New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow really trailblazed many of the more modern features and aspects Fire Emblem is known for today.

Normal/Casual is usually my default when it's an option, but I went up to Hard/Casual for Birthright and still didn't have many issues; I figured I'd try it since I played Conquest first. The later chapters of Shadow Dragon scared me off from the classic gameplay lol. I managed to keep all my units until chapter 20 - with a LOT of resetting - then finally threw in the towel for a deathless run thanks to all the Ballistitians. Technically I was forced to play the two GBA entries in classic mode, but restore points helped there. XD

Fire Emblem Engage Divine Edition preorders are being taken in-store at Gamestop.

I just secured my two copies today.

This one could prove hard to get. If you want it, throw your pants and shoes on and cruise on down to your local Gamestop ASAP, and you won't have to worry about it.