Topic: Fire Emblem Engage for Nintendo Switch

Huh, I'm not sure why, but my momentum for this game just took a nosedive. I just beat chapter 17, and for some reason, nothing is really sticking with me. The story is okay, but it's not nearly enough to keep me interested. I tend to skip the post-battle stuff since it mostly seems like a waste of time and doesn't really matter to me. And man I just can't get invested in these characters. They are just so boring to me. Their support conversations don't leave nearly as much of an impact as they should, and the bond conversations are just ridiculously lackluster.

And yet... the combat is phenomenal. It flows so well and has a beautiful balance of strategy and customization to it. Nearly every unit has something unique to offer to impact your decision-making. The map layouts are all excellent and all have a different feel to them.

It's weird how split I am on this game. It could just be that I'm starting to feel the burnout of a somewhat longer game, but Three Houses had me captivated the entire way through. I know I keep comparing these two games and that they were mostly made by completely different people, but I just enjoyed how Three Houses approached the balance of story and gameplay so much more. I wanted to see what happened to these characters and the world as a whole. Whereas Engage has like, maybe one or two characters that I'm sort of interested in. I didn't think the story was going to matter to me as much as it ended up being, but I just feel a disconnect from this game as a result.

I hope to finish this game, but I might just take a slight break from it to refresh my brain so I'm ready to get back into that sweet combat eventually.

@JaxonH

Merrin is probably my best unit.

Alear is good, too, though, and has 32 speed, which helps a lot.

In my experience, Yunaka seems to get hit plenty with 20 speed, even when she's hiding in Fog or wooded areas. My experience with her hasn't been nearly as positive as it has with everyone else. And she's been useless the last few maps I've completed, since so many are filled with armored soldiers.

I'm gonna keep working with her, though. Focusing on her at the arena seems to help, and she's really the only active party member I'm dissatisfied with at this point.

Has anyone figured out any other places to grab some master seals yet? I've purchased all from the shop in the somniel, and received a couple throughout skirmishes/chapters. I've got about 4 or 5 characters that are maxed out at 20. I guess I can shift them to a base class and let that level up, bit it would be nice to put them into advanced classes. About to start chapter 15 just to give you an idea of where I'm at.

@NintendoByNature Unfortunately I think the main way is to buy them, and your supply is rather limited for another couple of chapters. I reached a similar bottleneck around the same point in the game and this helped motivate me to just continue with the story. Fortunately, I think from Chapter 18 onwards the shop stocks unlimited Master Seals (by which point you should only need 5 or so to promote the rest of your party I think).

@Ralizah Interesting --- other than Chloe (spd 34), Yunaka is my fastest unit (spd 29). That said, she's had plenty of opportunity to get experience so she's currently at level 29. I don't fully know the mechanics of it, but due to the RNG of the levelling up I have found that some "good" characters can easily fall behind due to bad luck in this series =/

@JaxonH @Ralizah I benched Yunaka pretty much as soon as I got Merrin. Felt I only needed 1 dagger user and my initial impression of Merrin was the kind of character that could easily complete a map on their own (like Seth in Sacred Stones).

Alright, I worked with Yunaka a bit more, and she was able to solo the Shadowy Moor. The map seems designed to facilitate leveling up covert units.

@Buizel gotcha, good to know.

@Ralizah
At 20 speed she's right at the cusp. But get her to 25-26 and she'll double everything, and with dragon vein tiles can avoid 90% of attacks. Definitely worth the time and effort investing in her.

@Grumblevolcano
Merrin is good, for sure, but she gets hit WAY more than Yunaka since she's not a Covert unit. I like having 2 dagger users- one as a backup unit with Lucina (Merrin), the other as a speed tank for baiting enemies (Yunaka).

@JaxonH With my playthrough, Merrin avoided almost everything and I paired her with Sigurd so she could travel even quicker round the maps.

@JaxonH Yeah, I've got her up to 26 speed and 36 dex now, equipped with a +5 Stiletto (less range, but the crit rate is nuts), and she's basically a one woman army at this point. There's also fully upgraded iron daggers in her inventory, but, honestly, I almost never use them.

I will say, too, I'm really liking her support convos. Unlike most of them, hers actually serve to flesh out her character in a meaningful way.

@Ralizah
Make sure to get Kagetsu and Framme's supports, and Hortensia and Ivy's. There's more to be sure, but those pairings are quality.

I'm tapering down on my meds, and it's leaving me fatigued. Don't have the energy to play games, and I'm guessing it'll be that way for a while.

So if I'm not joining in conversation for Ch. 17 and beyond, that's why. I won't be making any more progress until this is all behind me. Just an FYI. I didnt just get bored and quit playing or anything. On the contrary, it actually kinda sucks because mentally I'm going over strategies and how to tackle Lyn's paralog I started, but physically I just don't have it in me.

@JaxonH oh boy, I didn't catch it prior if you said something. All good? Or just a bug/virus?

@JaxonH Feel Better.

@JaxonH If only healing items worked in real life like they do in the games huh.

@JaxonH Sorry to hear, sometimes life gets in the way of doing things you enjoy, but I do hope you get some rest and feel better soon. I always welcome your enthusiasm for all things Switch on these forums.

@JaxonH Gonna miss you on the forums. You're always a welcome burst of positive energy.

Appreciate the kind words guys.

@ElRoberico
I'll still be around, I just don't know if I'll have the energy to game for a while.

Very much look forward to seeing you guys finish your playthroughs though.

@NintendoByNature
No bug. I may have mentioned this but I used to have substance abuse issues in my teens and early twenties. When I decided to get clean I got put on a med called buprenorphine which is basically like methadone but, has the unique properly of a ceiling effect so that you don't feel euphoric from it, it just keeps you stable, like a diabetic on insulin.

Normally I wouldn't divulge such information but, given the relative anonymity of the internet and the fact I feel less judged here than telling someone in person, I don't mind sharing.

I've taken it for 15 years now and life is good. But Idk, I feel so anti social all the time (irl, never want to leave the house and I used to not be like that). I know it's the meds. Every time I've tapered to lower doses I feel better, but always end up gradually increasing over time and end up right back where I started. Every few yrs I get the motivation to lower my dose, but it's a long, gradual process of light withdrawal symptoms. Nothing too intense since I gradual taper, but enough to experience constant fatigue and lack of motivation.

Anybody reclassing Alear or are you riding out the divine dragon class?

Really wish the various cats all didn’t have different drops.

Leif's paralogue is REALLY annoying.

@JaxonH Ah, that's too bad. Not the same thing, but that perpetual tiredness was how I felt when I had covid. It's not that you don't want to do stuff, you just don't have the energy.

Well, focus on getting better. It's not like the game won't be there when this is behind you.

@Ryu_Niiyama I wish the game told you exactly what drops each type of animal provides once you first collect it. Had to experiment a bit to weed out the dogs that were dropping iron ore.