Topic: Fire Emblem Engage for Nintendo Switch

Something I just noticed that is extremely exciting...

The main character avatar, Alear, actually speaks with voiced dialog!

That may seem like a small thing, but after playing Three Houses with Byleth as a silent protagonist, then playing Three Hopes with both Shez and Byleth voiced... the difference was massive

I remember thinking man, I hope the next FE game actually voices the main character like they did here in FEW Three Hopes. And sure enough, in the trailer where Alear wakes from his 1,000 yr slumber, he speaks to the other characters.

That is such a relief. That one simple change alone is going to make the character so much more interesting.

@JaxonH I feel like that opens up drastically different storytelling possibilities. By defining the main character, everyone else can grow as well and actually be more than just one-dimensional. I'm hyped for this game, and I'm hoping that collector's edition preorders can hold out for the next 9 days.

If the developers simply did what the core fanbase wants, no franchise would ever grow. Fire Emblem deserves better than a couple million copies.

That's so true.

I can't count how many times I've heard, "what the fans want" as if millions of ppl are this monolithic hive mind. And a good number of the best games I've played, if not the majority, do something the "fans" never even thought of.

You can see what the fans want- repetition. They want exactly the same thing over and over again. Last Direct, what were the biggest complaints? Fans didn't get what they want. What did those fans want? Remasters of games they've already played. Metroid Prime. Zelda Windwaker. Zelda Twilight Princess. F-Zero GX.

Which, don't get me wrong, it's OK to want more of the same. I myself would enjoy all those things. But it's not what I want exclusively. If new games only ever followed the blueprint of what "fans want" nothing would ever evolve, nothing would ever change, no risks would ever be taken.

The fact is, most gamers don't know what they really want until after they get it. They only know what they've liked in the past. And it's so ironic- when new games follow the blueprint of the past (Splatoon 3) gamers complain they didn't do enough new. But when games offer something different (Fire Emblem Engage) gamers complain they deviated from the blueprint of the past, aka "what they want".

The fact is, developers have to walk a fine line balancing what the smaller segment of outspoken fans want, and "surprising and delighting" with new bold concepts fans never even dreamed of. Nintendo is a prime case study. The Wii didn't appeal to core fans, while the Wii U exclusively appealed to them. Neither was the right approach (even if the Wii sold well, it couldn't sustain that success to excluding the desires of core gaming fans). Switch found the right balance, and that's why it's so successful.

I've played the first game and all the games from Blazing Sword onwards except the Japan exclusive DS remake of Marth's other game though I didn't complete some of them. Most NES games haven't aged well so didn't play much of FE1 when it came to Switch in 2020, Shadow Dragon was a case of poor timing (found it disappointing compared to Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn so didn't get far on DS, then I messed up recruitment of a major character in the Wii U VC version) and didn't like Birthright enough to play Conquest/Revelation at the time (do own all 3 via the special edition cart). All the other Fire Emblem games I played were fantastic.

It is very sad that after March 2023 the only easily available Fire Emblem games will be the 2 Warriors games, Three Houses and Engage. On a more positive note, I am very excited for Engage from the Direct trailer.

I'd like a shot at both Tellius games, considering so many seem to love them. Especially Path of Radiance. I've read at least one of them is very difficult due to a balancing bug or something along those lines? Unfortunately, unless they're ported or remastered, I don't see myself picking them up anytime soon. Unless I sell a limb and a kidney.

@Tyranexx I have the situation where while I own Path of Radiance, I can't use it anymore because I had to replace my TV and newer TVs don't have older ports like scart.

Radiant Dawn is the one with the difficulty problem, it has 4 difficulties in Japan but 3 outside Japan such that you have:

• Easy (outside Japan) = Normal (Japan)
• Normal (outside Japan) = Hard (Japan)
• Hard (outside Japan) = Lunatic (Japan)

I play Normal difficulty for Fire Emblem games but I found Normal too hard in Radiant Dawn so when I tried Easy it was a more fun experience.

But yeah, the games being brought to Switch would be very appreciated.

Divine Edition preorders live on Target website

https://www.target.com/p/fire-emblem-engage-divine-edition-ni...

Still hoping AmazonNA relists the DE and I'm able to get a preorder in before it's completely unavailable.

@Magician
Why does it have to be Amazon?

@JaxonH

Just my being lazy. I want the DE, just not enough to shop elsewhere for it. Most likely a case of self-sabotage to curb my spending. I was a bit lavish on myself last month.

@Grumblevolcano Ah yes, that was Radiant Dawn! Thanks for clearing that up. I've heard stories about how difficult it was thanks to the difficulty levels changing. Is there a particular known reason why they changed/renamed the difficulties? It seems like an odd decision.

As for the TV issue, have you looked into if there are any adapters that can help your situation?

Sigh, seems like all the online preorders sold out so far for the US.

@Ryu_Niiyama
Got you covered. Live at Gamestop right now.

https://www.gamestop.com/video-games/nintendo-switch/products...

@JaxonH Thank you! Got my order in!

🍾 🎂 🎊

Do GameStop preorders charge now or when the order ships? Asking for a friend...

@ElRoberico
Not sure.

I always assume wherever I'm ordering from charges immediately, but many of them don't.

@JaxonH Hopefully preorders will still be open a week from now. I'm waiting on payday plus a nice bonus. I love this deluxe edition so much.

when it ships.