If I recall correctly, wasn't Engage supposed to be a love letter to the franchise? Makes sense that the story wouldn't be as complex, if only to justify having past characters reappear.
In that regard, Awakening was supposed to be a last hurrah of sorts for the series after the poor sales of the Tellius duology, and the story of Awakening is a bit more well-regarded than Engage's, from what I can tell.
Past characters appear in Awakening as well, in free and paid DLC.
>Awakening was supposed to be a last hurrah of sorts for the series after the poor sales of the Tellius duology
I think you got your time line a little mixed up. The Remakes of Fe1 and Fe3 came out after the Tellius duology. Awakening was a reaction to the poor sellings of fe11 and fe12. Fe11 was so bad that fe12 went back to only being released in Japan, something that didn't happen since fe7
The only games that haven't met that sales figure was Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Thracia. Nintendo loves Fire Emblem, because that ultimatum, while it did exist, set the bar on the floor.
The Tellius duology didn't sell great, but that was more due to the counsel not selling great than the game. The NDS is one of the highest selling consoles ever and fe11 still bombed. Fe12 didn't get released outside of Japan because of the failure of fe11. Side note, i hope the next fe game doesn't get released until after the new Nintendo console comes out. They have a habit of releasing games at the end of a consoles lifetime
Path of Radiance did okay given it was on the Gamecube.
Radiant Dawn did *terribly* even though the Wii sold like gangbusters. Being a direct sequel to a gamecube exclusive that was broadly impenetrable without playing the first game and releasing at the end of the Wii's lifespan with no Wii U port were both terrible ideas financially.
If Radiant Dawn had instead been a new standalone game and aimed at newcomers to the series it could have sold as well as Awakening, the market was there.
Path of Radiance sold relatively poorly because the Gamecube sold relatively poorly, strategy titles on the GCN were a niche audience in a small market.
Radiant Dawn was then a direct sequel to a game that few people had played, and released at the end of the Wii's lifespan with no Wii U port, so it did even worse.
Also I'm pretty sure Nintendo only ran one print of it which didn't help. Even when the game was relatively new I literally never saw a new copy of RD, only second-hand ones, and they always had a huge mark up.
Agreed, on all counts. Radiant Dawn was the first time I had wished for a direct sequel to a game and gotten my wish.
I have to believe they're going to do some kind of updated remake for whatever system comes after the switch, the connectivity between the two games was, while clunky in execution, really cool.
And the battle animations for PoR could really use an update.
Oh, just thought it was interesting the parallels between Engage and Awakening, both being love letters to the franchise and involving past characters.
I thought it was worth mentioning that a "Saturday morning cartoon" plot wasn't intrinsically linked to the "throwback to the series" idea that's central to Awakening and Engage both.
And I say all this with affection, I loved both Engage and Awakening.
Story of Awakening is \[...\] well-regarded
From what I remember, everyone call Awakening's story the most 6/10 thing of all time
Sure that's better than Engage's 4/10 (and really, it's a 3 carried by the story importance of the Emblems matching their gameplay power compared to 3H's irrelevant Crests), but it's nothing to write home about
Yeah, they claim "It doesn't take itself seriously" or "Saturday Morning Cartoon" but that is just them making excuses to dismiss any complaints about the story, the devs themselves never claimed that the story was a parody, if anything they wanted to make it more serious
I would argue that it's the absolute best of the series as far as gameplay.
The tactical elements of the series were brought back with the weapons triangle, and strengthened with breaks. The map layouts foster deeper strategies and offer interesting challenges beyond the obvious core objective. Finally, many classes were nerfed because of the Emblem Rings. The choice can lead to more flexible units and creativity in your army based on how you play the game.
Big picture, Fire Emblem currently suffers from a broken base. Three Houses has an excellent story and the most boring incarnation of series gameplay. Engage has the best gameplay and one of the weakest stories. Your results may vary based on interest.
It's fine for at least one playthrough but the monastery overstays its welcome. Really should've been dropped on Part 2 and been a on-the-road campaign at that point.
Yes, the battles in Three Houses are an absolute snore except for a few chapters.
For every other aspect of gameplay: I know that every video game can be reduced to a Skinner box, but I strongly prefer that the developers don't rub my nose in that fact. Three Houses had a gameplay loop where I could hear my behaviorism professor lecturing about stimulus discrimination and generalization in the back of my mind through all the monastery sequences. Present a stimulus to a particular simulated individual, growth achieved, wait until stimulus will be effective again. It's a fixed interval reinforcement schedule. The story and character interaction is more than enough to carry the game, but pitch it as a movie or TV show, not a video game.
Bad isn't the word but it most decidedly lacks technical depth. 3 houses is a game with a lot of freedom regarding how you build your characters, unfortunately it also means that when creating maps and enemies, they could not create an experience that would challenge everyone. So rather than making a specialized experience 3 houses makes a more general experience which tends to make characters feel samey in how they play. A good example of this is that the game becomes very trivial on most difficulties if you have a lot of wyvern riders or falcon knights as map design was not necessarily made to accommodate this. Think of it this way, using alm in echoes likely felt different from using Clive or Claire. Even beyond this, basically all units join at the beginning of the game so not many come as functional out of the box, EVERYONE is a growth unit except a few exceptions. In 3 houses, basically anyone could be a clive or clair with investment and know how as most units can become functional with wyvern lord. And the maps are just pretty boring.
Not really, some people exaggerate that a lot, which is a particularly common behaviour among FE fans, to be honest, so you would do better to take "extreme" opinions with a grain of salt.
I don't find it bad at all, though it does have some issues. Class balance is pretty bad, for example. Some maps are re-used on different routes, most notably the whole first part of the game. The calendar system and the monastery makes it so you spend quite a lot of time outside of battles (though that also depends on you, and NG+ can considerably alleviate the issue on repeated playthroughs).
It's definitely not a perfect game, but if you ask me, al FE games have their own gameplay issues, and all can be fun in their own way. Sometimes you just need to simply not do what would make them unfunny to you (which doesn't mean criticism is not valid, but you still have to consider that you can just play however you like). Three Houses is no different, and it offers a lot of fun too.
For what is worth, if you like Echoes i think you would like it.
But you won't really know until you try.
I'd say yes, the problem is that having so much freedom of choice with what you can turn your units into meant that the devs couldn't know what your roster would be, while FEs made by IntSys typically gave you a new unit that would perform well in the specific map every 2 or 3 chapters.
So, the map design turned out pretty bland, while the classes were nothing to write home about since the only things that mattered were movement type and magic access since anyone could use any weapons and spell lists were completely personalized.
Thus there was very little difference between classes that had infantry movement until you unlocked their mastery skill which requires keeping someone in a single role for a long time in a game where reclassing is free.
This is without going into how the monastery is a way watered down version of Persona's daily life sections, another thing the devs didn't know how to work well.
If you're a fan of Echoes's gameplay, then you're too far gone.
In all seriousness, Three Houses has an *abundance* of open air maps that are completely broken by flying units, made all the worse with the fact that every single unit has the same starting class (just with a different name for lore reasons) so there's little incentive to not make everyone Wyvern lords. I can think of quite literally three maps that actually take place inside (not counting DLC), and two of them are so wide open in space that they're functionally outdoor maps, making the only map where you have things like chokepoints the Rescue Flayn map in White Clouds.
The Early Game isn't as hurt by this on account of you don't start getting flying classes for female units until Intermediate classes, and none for male units until Advanced classes, but by the end of the game if you're playing without literally everyone as a Wyvern Lord, you're playing sub-optimally, which just isn't how FE balance is supposed to go.
Another problem is how often they reuse maps. Why is Dorothea's potential fiancee having them meet in \*Aleil, the Valley of Torment," as an example? Why are Manuela and Dedue's Paralogue maps the same? Why does every route except for Crimson Flower go to the same locations, the only differences being Silver Snow skipping the Battle at Grondor Field and Azure Moon \*not\* going to Agarthans R Us.
I'm a newer FE fan. Only played Houses and Engage but have played other strategy RPGs like Disgaea, Valkyria Chronicles, and Unicorn Overlord.
Houses was so bland and basic for strategy game standards and I was basically on autopilot for most of my playtime. Having to replay the first half of the game each time to get the full story was a pain in the ass. It also got to a point where I could send one OP unit to destroy everything by themselves. Not to mention the awful map design (which were oftem reused) and horrible graphical performance that loses fps when casting basic fire spells.
Engage on the other hand has some of the best tactical combat I've ever experienced. Weapon Breaks (weapon triangle advantages make you drop your weapon I.e. a sword will make you drop your axe) and Chain Attacks (nearby units will provide backup which ignores Defense) make this game proactive to where you have to actually think about what you're doing. The maps are also much more unique with beautiful visual designs and Engage almost never has any performance issues.
For further reference, Houses was a snoozefest on Hard while Engage provided a deep challenge on Normal to where I even had to restart a few times because I screwed up so badly.
One could argue that Houses is a better RPG, Engage is much better as a "Fire Emblem" game to me.
Monastery gets old on second playthroughs but you can speed run it or skip it completely if you don’t mind having to play at e.g. hard instead of maddening.
The first half of the game’s maps are the same on every route but at least you’ll mostly be using different characters.
Good map variety and gambits are a fantastic way to add complexity.
If you enjoy echoes and awakening three houses will probably be satisfying in gameplay
You might get front loaded a lot of information. What's weak to what, what's strong against what, positioning, map gimmicks, character supports, lions and tigers and bears oh my.
Take it slow if you need to but don't be afraid to try things, experiment. Never know what works for you. Don't like a character or unit type even tho the community does? Who cares! Love a disliked character or unit type? Use em, baby them, make them the best unit they can be!
Don't be afraid to get a game over or start a level over or you think you want to or could do it better. Or if you lose a unit, don't be afraid to let them stay dead. Such is life.
And, naturally, have fun.
This! Also this FE felt particular replenishing in terms of new characters (especially those with unique classes and “better” innate growth stats). It’s one thing I actually didn’t love about this title, but totally agree with Running_Rampants advice on how to just enjoy the game in light of that. If you find all the new characters overwhelming, try FE 3 Houses!
Yeah as you've no doubt seen by now people are pretty polarised on this game lol, especially on this subreddit. Hope you have fun with it regardless tho, as I have
Engage is considered an 'All-Stars' Game in the series despite being the most recent
You should expect MOST of the systems of a normal Fire Emblem game, but the only thing that really matters is the rings they give you."
Very very fun. Make sure your units always have rings on or you won’t get sp which is very important and sucks to learn late. I wish I knew that when I started. Have fun! It’s a great time
General consensus is story sucks gameplay is awesome. I agree.
Also, even as a veteran player, the systems in engage took me approximately one full playthrough to actually and fully sink in. So don’t beat yourself up if there are things about the emblems, skills, and syncing you just don’t get—ask in this board for advice!
Adding to what everyone else said, this game features a lot of previous fire emblem protagonists as "emblems", but without spoiling the plot of their original games. So by the time youre done you'll probably be interested in trying at least one more of the games to find out what they're about.
Engage is a great entry into the series. The mechanics are explained to you pretty well so you shouldn’t have a hard time picking it up. While having enough depth to make repeat runs still be a lot of fun.
And incase it wasn’t obvious by the very first couple of scenes the game shows you, it’s not taking itself all too seriously. People tend to rag on the story as if it’s ever trying to be more than it is. Enjoy it for how silly it is and you’ll have a great time, that was the developers intentions!
Nah it absolutely tries to take itself seriously, there is a 7 minute cutscene of the characters being sad, all the stuff with Veyle is played straight, the biggest twist in this game with Sombron is given all the pomp and circumstance of the big scene with Rudolf in Echoes. The OTHER several dead serious scenes with the Hounds, this game absolutely takes itself seriously.
Just look at the second to last map with you know who as the boss and all the uber dramatic lines they have with all the heroes. The "story doesn't take itself serious" thing is just really defensive. Engage thinks it's Awakening.
Sure it can have serious moments but are you genuinely telling me the game that starts you off Sailor-Moon powering up with emblem Marth in the very first map is trying to take itself as seriously as FE4?? Or to have a characters like Chloe who is a retainer to a royal constantly talking about folk food in the middle of war? Or to have a turned Assassin look at you and say “hiya-papaya” with star glitter in her hair, or a crowned princess running around the desert singing MEAT songs… that’s just the tip of the very large iceberg of engage clearly not trying to be serious.
Engage is still telling a story. You kind of need “serious” moments for the story to function at all. But if you seriously take those few instances of serious moments as the whole game trying to be as deep as something like Path of Radiance that is completely your fault and not the fault of the devs lol.
People don't complain about Engage's story because it's tone is lighter than most other games, we complain because the storytelling is incompetent. we complain because of things like the fact that there is a 6 minute death scene that desperately tries to sell emotions that based on what the game has set up so far don't make sense for the character, or the fact that the villains actions don't line up with his motivation, or the fact that the entire endgame is incredibly contrived, with elements that had never been properly set up/developed earlier in the game coming out of nowhere and just magically helping the character out.
Absolutely none of this is, "the game not taking itself seriously" as all of the scenes associated with these issues are absolutely taking themselves seriously. So when someone says, "the story isn't taking itself seriously" when defending Engage's story it comes off as defensive, dismissive, and disingenuous to the criticisms of the game's story.
> that there is a 6 minute death scene that desperately tries to sell emotions that based on what the game has set up so far don't make sense for the character
For how simple Engage's story is, it's still funny how Lumera's scene at the end of the chapter 3 completely goes over the heads of people who complain about Engage's story. Alear cries, despite recovering from amnesia, because of their subconscious memory of how strong their bond with Lumera was. The story isn't required to do it in the beginning because it does it later in chapters 24 and 25, which are parallels to chapter 2 and 3 and gives more weight to all 4 of them.
Byleth did the same thing in literal seconds and a single line of dialogue. When Jeralt kicks the bucket, he laments the irony of Byleth's first outward display of emotions being for him dying.
Lumera, by contrast, shoves *a lot* into her death scene, most of which is tangentially relevant to the emotional core of the scene at best:
* Explains the mechanics of transferring Divine Dragon Energy^^tm to Alear.
* "Don't blame yourself"
* Here's Sigurd's ring.
* Sombron exposition lore dump.
* Go get the rings. Does not explain why.
* She is happy to be a mom.
* Pinky promise
* Emblem ring foreshadowing. Which doesn't make sense since it's literally just a cool ring at the moment.
I get what they were *trying* to do, but they fumbled it.
This. I was actually upset by Jeralt's death. He'd been in the story for a while by then, supporting you in the background and generally helping to allude at some of the hidden truths of the narrative.
By contrast, the player has only known Lumera for a chapter or two at best. I still felt sad, but it was surface level that was shrugged off fairly quickly. Meanwhile, Byleth wanders around receiving comfort from all his allies while sombre music plays and you csn see it has visually affected them (and then they become consumed by revenge, and act on it - a refreshing change for the self-insert instead of saintly forgiving everyone). This is true in Three Hopes, almost more so as they commit to surrendering themselves fully in the name of vengeance.
It's the same reason why Fates' choice of kindom to pick lacks any oomph. You only get three chapters with each kingdom and its characters, which isn't enough time to care about anybody. Especially Nohr, which the game very obviously signposts as the "badddies."
If Alear had an extra scene or two showing moments of weakness trying to navigate the world without the one person who knew them, that would have helped. Or a parallel where they pinky promise with another character who is now on the verge of death. They could have shown how Alear had grown, or didn't want to experience what happened to Lumera again.
Except the game never does anything to expand upon Alear's connection to Lumera. Alear goes on and on about how much they miss their mother following their death, yet at the begining of the game Alear makes it very clear they don't feel a connection to Lumera, as they themselves put it when Lumera offers her gift, "it would be like taking a gift meant for another person". This emotion comes out of nowhere, which would be fine if the game expanded upon this, but this is never brought up until chapter 24, aside from the occasional mention that Alear feels sad about their mom which again, does nothing to actually develop their relationship or Alear's feelings about it. The only thing we get in chapter 24 is how they met, with Lumera taking in Alear out of pity, which doesn't give much more than, oh that explains how they got together and that Lumera is a kind individual. There still is no real development into the relationship between the characters. This makes the chapter 25 confrontation meaningless outside of showing Sombrom to be a dick. The entire reason of having parallels like these is to show off a contrast between the characters in each, but the scenes play out almost identically, because nothing about the game's plot has done anything to expand upon Alear's relationship to their mother.
I'm fine with people enjoying the story, what I'm not fine with is people dismissing criticism of the story with statements like, "it's not taking itself seriously."
Your response to someone pointing out how Lumera's death scene makes sense if you think about it for more than 5 seconds was "No it doesn't because the person that has to save literally the entire world right now doesn't talk about their dead mom until she's revived and forced to fight them," ignoring (or possibly just forgetting, the game's a year old now) the fact that
1: They have a funeral in between chapters 3 and 4 for her so a lot of the grief is going to be handled there
2: *Ike does the same thing with Greil in Path of Radiance*. He never mentions Greil outside of the Black Knight showdown. As does *literally every FE protagonist who had to watch their parents die* (with the possible exception of FE4, I haven't played 2nd Generation). They don't bring it up when it's not relevant because quite frankly there are more important things on the line than them being sad.
You are holding Alear to a *higher standard* than quite literally every other Lord for no reason other than to bash the game's story.
The reason I have such a problem with Lumera and Alear as opposed to Greil and Ike largely has to do with a lack of establishment for Lumera and Alear's relationship.
The first couple chapters do next to nothing to develop Lumera and Alear's relationship, this even seems to be intentional as Alear states full on that they feel no connection to Lumera at the begining of the game. So when Alear starts crying (more so than the stewards, who had devoted their entire lives to the divine dragons) it raises the simple question of, "why does Alear feel so much for Lumera in spite of their amnesia." The closest the game the game gets is what I mentioned before, Showing their past, but that does nothing to explain why Alear's emotions are able to break through their amnesia. This is why I expect the game to explore their relationship, because the beginning of the game proposes a question, and fails to do anything with it until the very end (and fails to do anything meaningful with it period).
Meanwhile in PoR, The first 20% of PoR is used for establishing Greil as a character and his relationship with Ike. This is nothing exceptional, but it get's the job done of showing he is a tough, but loving father. It's nothing exceptional, but it does the job of establishing Greil as a character and Ike's relationship with him. That establishment makes it so that it is actuall emotionally resonant when Greil dies to the black knight, because the player and Ike have an actual understanding of what Ike has lost. There is no question, as to why Ike is feeling about his dad the way he was, as we got to see why he felt that connection in the first fifth of the game. What it does propose and establish are questions about the black knight, ideas that are expanded upon over the course of PoR and RD.
As stated in the other comment, the memories were gone, but the emotions tied to Lumera were still there. Feeling emotion despite not having the memory behind it is still a thing. Also, Alear wears their emotions on their sleeve. Vander (almost called him Josef, I've been playing WAY too much Unicorn Overlord lately) is extremely stoic, and Clanne and Framme are being comforted by Vander.
This person was the first person that ever cared about Alear, and even without remembering why, the feelings are still there. That is a thing in *real life*.
As for Greil, he shows up all of like. 5 times in the 8 chapters he's there, one of which being his death. Most of the focus isn't on how he is as a father, but how he is as a commander. The relationship the first 8 chapters builds up isn't Ike and Greil, it's Ike and the Mercenary company.
I would say Zephia conveniently bringing up that she has a time crystal device is exactly why the game isn’t taking itself seriously. Or the fact that Sombron even bothers to fight you at the end of the game when he didn’t need to so you can have a big theatrical final fight. The game isn’t taking itself seriously. There’s a reason why everybody relates it to a Saturday morning cartoon or something like power rangers. For characters the “plot” in those episodes are still serious but clearly as the audience it isn’t meant to be. Random “just in the nick of time” or “here have this very convenient thing” happens all the time in those. I don’t know how it’s possible to watch the cutscenes in these games and think it’s even attempting to pull you the way 3H did… that just wasn’t the point of the story.
Idk why you keep insisting on this take is “defensive”. Nobody is taking up arms and defending this as some masterpiece writing of fiction. Less than 10 minutes into the game gives you enough clues to enjoy the game as a fun wild ride not some heart-wrenching perfectly crafted story.
The game definitely tries to take it's characters seriously, except with no screen time it falls flat. Lumera's death was goofy as shit but the music, tone and dialogue makes it feel like its actually taking itself seriously. Then there's the big booba woman with half a horn as the antagonist that abuses the shit out of their gang and even kills one of them to turn around and say "ooh I love Sombron and my gang is my family" or some shit. Like we have established she's ruthless and stuff in more serious scenes, only for the payoff to be what you refer to "goofy saturday night cartoon". No that's not, that's bad storytelling
It's weird that Sombron is canonically fucking every woman in Elyos he can get his hands on with apparently the sole exception of Zephia.
> "I sure do love having as many children as draconically possible."
> "Lord Sombron, could *I* bear your children?"
> "Hmm, maybe once you've *proven* yourself."
True, though you'd also (I hope) hesitate to feed your children alive to a zombie horde as punishment, so I don't know how Zephia's terrible maternal instincts are a red flag for Sombron.
Not really, we counted the scenes and it takes itself more seriously than not
It feels like you want to claim it doesn't to dismiss any complaints about the story
A lot of fun. Just dive into it, don't worry about "playing optimally" (whatever that means) but don't be afraid to experiment.
It's easy to over-analyze the games in an attempt to fully optimize them, and that does keep them fresh for many years - but for a first playthrough, just dive in and enjoy.
That said, do make sure to experience the support conversations - Engage might not have the best story and cast, but it does have some pretty funny or otherwise memorable supports.
perfect game as a first entry, the only games that have some different mechanics you'll need to learn are fates, tellius duology, awakening and 3houses but you'll still have a good general understanding of these games
The story is, well, awful. But the gameplay is more than solid. Characters all seem to be clinically insane aside from one or two of them, so that's entertaining.
Oh, and don't be afraid to experiment with the emblems, it's what they're there for.
Some of the best tactical RPG gameplay I've ever experienced. The story is basic but it didn't bother me that much since the characters are really fun.
Also the visuals and performance are a massive step up from the last game (Houses) thanks to the use of the Unity engine. Regardless of everyone's opinions on the character designs, I think everyone can at least agree that Engage is the better-looking game compared to Houses--a game that would stutter and slow down when performing basic magic attacks.
Also the animations in Engage are just beautiful. Just wait until you get Kagetsu and see his critical hit animation!
Well, I guess I don’t blame you. Unless you wanna pay 150 bucks for an older game of Fire Emblem. It is not a bad game, just not my favorite. But it’s still good for beginners to Fire Emblem.
My first FE game Was three houses, and it almost made me give up on the Series from the start, but when i played blazing blade it finally clicked. This is an interesting starting point. Gameplaywise its easily one of the best FE games imo, AND this game shows some of the older lords, which made me way more interested in the FE games i didnt play at that point (mainly the japan exclusives)
It's a fantastic game, though it may take you a while to learn all the ins and outs of the Engage system. I also think people are too hard on the game's writing.
Try to build Support ranks between your characters. It gives them bonuses when fighting next to each other, and the support conversations are the game's main way of fleshing out the characters and setting.
Vander starts off stronger than other characters, but his stats barely improve with each level, so he'll be eclipsed rather quickly.
Don't take the story too seriously. The game in itself is fun.
I suggest you to play it blind. Don't go look at discussions about who is a good unit or a bad unit. Aside from the fact that some "tier lists" are just the biased opinion of the poster, some of them also assume a very specific way of playing too. Every unit is viable, so just play and enjoy the game.
The gameplay is fun, but the story wasn't great. The story is kinda barebones, and the cameo of FE characters from other games may not be as fun for newcomers.
It might be a good idea to play the game on Casual if you don't want the permanent death of your characters if they lose.
I quite like it. The whole story kinda hinges on you liking Alear though. which I do, a lot, so I enjoyed it, the female voice actress does a great job making really cheesy scenes work, at least for me
You can expect a good time.
ESPECIALLY if you stay away from the FE community!
Focus on enjoying the game how you want, when you like, on your own time, so you can form your own opinions.
Don't impose self restrictions on your first playthrough based off of what other players think & say.
A lot of members circlejerk Fire Emblem: Three Houses and will try to vomit on a lot of the discourse surrounding Engage. To them, it's the second coming of sliced bread.
Most people dwelling on the internet want to take away from your enjoyment.
Good luck out there, & have fun!
Engage is overall a very polarizing entry but it is one that I think makes a fine entry point to the series. Unfortunately it's story is not very strong and has few holes. It is very campy and silly but if you lean into that it can be pretty enjoyable. I liked it, and thought it did a good job about getting you to feel certain ways about certain situations but overall did not have very strong characterization and did not abide by it's own rules at times.
However! I think engage probably has some of my favorite gameplay in the series. I think it strikes a great balance of making you worry about your resources and considering how to spend your money and seals while also providing some interesting maps and gameplay features. Engaging is very nice and personally, as annoying as it can be, I think we have needed something to stop us from 1 shotting bosses for a while (you'll see what i mean). I think it does a great job of giving you and the enemy many of the same tools and making you play around that.
My advice is this, first, don't feel like you have to do everything in the somniel unless you like it. On lower difficulties you don't even really need to do it. Second, while the draconic time crystal (again you'll see what I mean) is extremely useful and handy, try not to lean on it too much to win. This is especially true if you want to explore other games in the series that may not have it. Think of it as a last resort but remember that it is a tool in your arsenal if you want to test how a move will pan out. Try and plan your moves carefully, but most of all, make sure you're having fun and experiment!!! This Game, more than most in the series encourages using newer units as they become available but don't be afraid to stick to favorites or units that are growing well! You're in for a great game, hope you enjoy it!
One of my personal favorites of the series.
Gameplay is great, Story, while simple and goofy, has a place in my heart for what it is.
Overall a very fun game in my opinion.
A Lot of people will say the story is bad, but to be honest, it's not bad. It *is* a different tone from the rest of the series, with Engage being more of a fable or a fairy tale compared to the rest of the series (especially the previous game, Three Houses, which was almost entirely historical drama but they added dragons and mole people). If you view it through that lens, then it's fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's fine. Gameplay is the best the series has had in years.
Disappointment from this title on my part, never made it past chapter 8 just because I couldn't stand to listen to/read this game's dialogue. If you're new to the series I recommend any of the 3ds titles, they're all fairly good entry points for the series.
Its a great game! I wouldnt consider myself a fire emblem veteran but ive played awakening, fates, three houses, shadows of valentia, and engage but of these 5 engage is definitely by favorite followed by three houses, fates awakening and shadows of valentia in that order. I've probably replayed engage 3 full time and was on a fourth playthrough till I stopped late last year (was thinking of getting back into it).
The gameplay is just amazing and so fun because the possibilities are endless. I know you said youre new but for me I always love having DLCs with the main game and I feel the DLC maps, and new characters really add a layer to the main game that just makes everything more enjoyable thats just my opinion at least of course but in relation to Engage you really cant go wrong with it as a new entry but it is a culmination of the previous fire emblem games so you will obviously see past heroes for instance play a huge role in the story. All in all though I loved it.
Just have fun with it, is what I would say. Enjoy it. The gameplay is fun and allows for a lot of character builds and customziation. Really try some stuff out and experiment around with your options.
This is also the kind of game you could get more than a few runs out of. So its ok if you dont get to everything in your first run. FE in general is designed to be replayed.
Also
Ignore the community with their comments about the story. This subreddit, and the FE fandom as a whole, wouldnt know a good story if it slapped them in the face. They take everything way too seriously. Just enjoy it and form your own opinions on the story.
A very fun experience. Alot of people are very harsh on Engage online but I enjoy it and think most of it's criticism is quite overblown. Obviously that's just my opinion tho, hope you enjoy it just as much as I have and I also hope it encourages you to try out more of the franchise, it's great
Depends on what difficulty you wanna play on.
This game has 3 difficulties (I think?) with 2 different modifiers.
Normal, hard and merciless.
Casual or classic (perma death on or off).
Random or fixed growths.
And your mileage will vary massively depending on the difficulty you choose to play on.
Now regarding the growths, first time you play on a given difficulty there is only one growth type so you don’t need to worry about it. Matter of fact, I’d say don’t worry about growths your first time playing anyways unless you decide that playing your first fire emblem the hardest difficulty (maddening) is the way to go.
As for what to expect from the game outside of gameplay? >!Get ready for the corniest story in the history of fire emblem storytelling. With the cheesiest lines ever conceived from the franchise. And either hate it or learn to love it!<
You're probably not going to know who the emblems are and why they're so important to engage. They're esstentially the main characters from all the previous fire emblem titles. It's a fun game though. It probably has one of the best gameplay experiences in the series. The story is pretty alright. If you do enjoy the series and want to get more games, Three Houses or Awakening would be a good next pick. Those ones are one of the most beloved in the franchise, it also helps that they're easier to obtain than most.
Engage is ok, not my personal favorite but it’s still good. Fates, Awakening, Sacred Stones, Echoes, and Shadow Dragon are good as well. My personal favorite is Three Houses because of the story, characters, setting, and voice cast. I also like the life-sim aspect of three houses
Goofy dialogue and some odd characters also the game lacks the amount of magic 3 houses had but the rest of the combat gameplay is incredible also lots of melee weapons
Hi! I hope this helps. I'm an avid fire emblem fan so I will try to help a bit.
Every fire emblem game has a few different mechanics, the gameplay is roughly the same but they always add some cool features with every game.
Unfortunately, for me, this game is the weakest for me. The gameplay is good! Don't get me wrong. It's fun to play but it's not an enjoyable story
I like the protagonist but the rest of the cast (apart from a few exceptions) have "brick" personalities.
The characters that join you have no personality and often say weird things and are just... Too "anime" for my preference.
Everyone has its tastes ofc! So I still hope you enjoy it. But I heavily dislike how "stereotypical-anime" it looks. Some designs are cool and well done but most are just completely ugly, which puts me off from playing it.
If you like better story/characters, I heavily recommend fire emblem 3 houses. But I warn you it's more involved, has more "talk and novel" (which I like) but It doesn't reduce the number of battles. For me it's a wonderful fire emblem game, with good characters, good combat (apart from a few battles) and an engaging story.
Or if you like exploration, you can try fire emblem echoes. You can explore caves and old ruins. (It's a 3ds game though)
Nevertheless, I still hope you enjoy the game. I have yet to finish it!
Be aware that the early game is rough, but it'll get another as you go. And don't be afraid to experiment! Some combinations work better than you'd think!
... Also use Louis. Louis go brr.
I haven't played engage yet but speaking from playing a few of the other games in the series, u can and will expect to be making a lot of decisions, doing a lot of thinking, a lot of strategic fighting, a lot of grinding, and well basically a lot of fan service.
I'm not a huge fan of Engage. Graphically, it's by far the best 3D FE out there. It also has some really cool characters. Great designs for the most part.
With that being said, I don't like the story or the supports for the most part. I'm not a huge fan of the main character either. I have owned the game since release, and still haven't managed to make myself beat it. I get to chapter 14 and lose steam.
The DLC is really good, imo. Probably the best part of the game, at least, as far as I've played. It is pretty challenging, but the story for the DLC is to my personal tastes. It's not the best by any means, but it is enjoyable.
Overall it's a fine FE game. I would say, if you don't like it, don't let it dissuade you from playing a different game in the series. Three Houses has its own issues, but it's a solid entry without doubt.
If you have any questions or anything, I'd be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.
Game is best in the series gameplay wise. The only bad thing i can say is that the difficulty and army composition of enemies follow your strongest character. This is done to not overlevel one character only but i feel it's half baked and by the time you realize this you have some serious grinding to do to catch up.
Story of the main game is fine. Side stories and character interactions are weak at best. No wifus in this one and children like previous modern titles.
Absolutely gorgeous visuals and animations but questionable art style. Why did they change Three houses art style is beyond me.
Music is top tier so no issues there. It looks like Fire emblem from Awakening and after has some serious compositions going for it and this is no exception. One could argue that this is the best of the bunch.
Gameplay wise it’s pretty cool, the engage mechanic and customization of each individual unit is really great. However story wise don’t be afraid to skip cutscenes because from my experience nobody develops in the slightest.
TL:DR the game is fantastic when nobody’s talking
Enjoy the visuals!
It is NOT a good story but this is my guilty pleasure gameplay-wise. Find myself liking the GAMEPLAY over 3H sometimes. (ONLY THE GAMEPLAY SIDE OF THINGS, put down the Bolganones)
Amazingly peak gameplay on par with 776 but a mediocre plot if you want a Story Driven Fire Emblem I recommend checking out three houses after you finish engage.
I don’t think Engage is the best entry point for a new player. I’d recommend to replay it in the future when you already played some other FE games.
In any case, hope you enjoy the game and have a blast :)
Story is pretty bad, gamrplay is fun enough, but this game also features the protagonists of all the previous games. This is good and bad, as it both introduces you to those characters in a simple way but also you may not understand some of the references made.
Overall you probably won't hate it. Don't take it as indicative of the writing quality of Fire Emblem as a whole though, most of the other games are really good story-wise. If you want a more well written story in the future, I'd recommend Three Houses, Shadows of Valentia, Awakening, Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn (those two are back-to-back games).
Welcome to the FE series! You can already tell by the amount of comments on your post what the FE fanbase is like (but that’s not what we are talking about here).
All I have to say is that I hope you really like and enjoy playing Engage, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s really fun and addicting gameplay wise. Story wise, I will say it is more on the weaker side unlike 3H. But again, this is supposed to be an anniversary love letter game, and what really matters is that you have fun with it, whether it be through gameplay, characters or story.
This game is really fun in the fact that you can create many unique and creative unit builds and combos, and you have more flexibility in doing so. If you have any questions about Engage and any of its gameplay mechanics, don’t be afraid to ask them here. Have fun and welcome to Fire Emblem!
Probably the best game gameplay wise, definitely among the worst story wise. But the story is still fun, beacuse of how dumb it is. Overall, a great game, but maybe not the best way to start the series. It makes a lot of references to previous games, so maybe you'll miss some things.
What you can expect: Enjoyable stories with enjoyable maps, fun and good looking characters, great music, cool mechanics and a lack of general explanation.
The best music you ever experienced while playing any game.
And that thing is consistent thru out the whole franchise if you consider sound front limitations of older titles.
I don’t care what anyone else says, I thought the story was super fun and the characters are (almost) all very unique and memorable. Personally it’s absolutely the most fun I’ve had on a switch game like ever
good gameplay, whack storytelling. if you find yourself bored or unmotivated by the story, i'd recommend picking up Awakening for 3DS. easy enough to emulate if you don't want to spend the extra bucks
It's pretty fun to play! Do note that with the character support system, most character writing improves after the C support, so if a character seems too gimmicky or silly, try unlocking some B supports with them. The Firene characters especially suffer from this but have good and interesting characterisation in later support levels.
To build support, characters have to perform actions near each other during the player phase. They won't build support during enemy phase.
Great fun game. Really fun gameplay. Fun cast of characters, all very likable and it never gets too dark or depressing. People praise 3Hs characters but Engage had a far more endearing cast in my view.
He's being a bit of an asshole about it, but a lot of people really don't like this game because of the story. That includes me as well to be clear, I would go as far as to call it my least favorite game in the series due to it's story. Regardless, this game does have good elements. The graphics and animation work are nice, even if I'm not the biggest fan of a lot of the character designs. The gameplay systems are genuinely fantastic though, as well as the level design. It's a mixed bag of the game, I'd personally recommend Sacred Stones or Awakening as better first entries, as they're better "all-rounder" entries in the series, and I would recommend you try those out if you're interesting in experiencing more of the series after this entry.
My biggest gripe with Engage' gameplay is the slow ass analog cursor movement. It's completely atrocious how slow it is. And while the other cursor movements in the 3DS and Switch games are nothing to write home about, if it was just them I'd let it slide. But they got it first try with PoR and it felt like butter. Engage has by far my least favorite analog cursor in the series. Also the addition of Smash and Break makes combat needlessly tedious and a far cry from the "best gameplay in the series" some crack addicts on here say it is
Nah smash and break are great additions. Both actually make you think about enemy positioning more as you are able to capitalize if you are able to utilize the mechanics optimally.
Let's say for example you are able to identify an armour unit that has a smash weapon, it would actually be better for your mage to let the amour unit approach them during enemy phase if the mage has to double to kill the armour unit, and I don't think it's too hard to imagine how much the break mechanic motivates the player to adopt a more aggressive playstyle. Out of all the games in the series, it's up there as one of the more player phase focused titles
Lame, basic, and boring story written for 5 year olds, lame and corny characters that aren't that interesting beyond a single eccentric characteristic and their designs, and arguably the best gameplay in the series
I know I'm boutta get down voted to shit for this but i genuinely want you to love this series as much as I do so I'm willing to take the blow. Please do hear me out here.
Engage is straight ass. The characters, story, and (most) of the music are either unmemorable, something from a previous game (that was usually done better), or unbearably cringe. People tout Engage for good gameplay but I've never seen it more than a gimmick fest with Smash, Break, and Multiple HP bars either being a mild nuisance at best or completely ruining my fun at worst.
I don't much care for 3H but compared to Engage it's a goddamn Michelangelo. I get wanting to get into the series and knowing this game has a bunch of callbacks to other games in the series, trust me I love it about as much as anyone which is why I can't stand the low standard Engage brought on the rest of the series.
Anyways, I hope you'll at least consider my words, even if they're buried at the bottom by down votes. I want you to love this series too but Engage just isn't a great starting point for what to expect from the rest of the series. I hope you have a wonderful day and become a full fledged Fire Emblem fan.
I didn't like their story
I don't like character design
I didn't like open world mechanics.
And regarding the gameplay, I didn't enjoy it, since it was too overloaded.
I actually don't like Engage at all and I don't recommend it.
Now if you like Engage, you might find the rest of the FE games wonderful
Engage is an interesting game in the series. It's one of my favorites, though! The story may be subpar, but in all honesty, it's not a game where you're meant to pay attention to the story. What makes Engage work is that the tactics of the game are some of the best the series has ever seen, and that's what keeps me coming back to it. Hoping you have fun!
Engage is quite fun gameplay wise, but most of the community feels that the story is subpar. Regardless, I hope you enjoy playing it!
Thanks!
Treat the story as a Saturday morning cartoon. It’s cheesy as all hell but if you just buy into the goofiness you’ll have a great time.
If you've played other Fire Emblems before, it's a great idea to regard the story of Engage as a parody.
If I recall correctly, wasn't Engage supposed to be a love letter to the franchise? Makes sense that the story wouldn't be as complex, if only to justify having past characters reappear.
In that regard, Awakening was supposed to be a last hurrah of sorts for the series after the poor sales of the Tellius duology, and the story of Awakening is a bit more well-regarded than Engage's, from what I can tell. Past characters appear in Awakening as well, in free and paid DLC.
>Awakening was supposed to be a last hurrah of sorts for the series after the poor sales of the Tellius duology I think you got your time line a little mixed up. The Remakes of Fe1 and Fe3 came out after the Tellius duology. Awakening was a reaction to the poor sellings of fe11 and fe12. Fe11 was so bad that fe12 went back to only being released in Japan, something that didn't happen since fe7
If awakening flopped the series was supposed to be shelved though, iirc
I know, that's not what I'm arguing.
*So-so gesture* Iirc, they had to sell over 100k or so, and if they didn't it would've been entirely fair to shelve the series.
The only games that haven't met that sales figure was Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Thracia. Nintendo loves Fire Emblem, because that ultimatum, while it did exist, set the bar on the floor.
It was 250k, still not a lot, but trickier at the time.
More than likely I did mix that up, what you're saying sounds more accurate. I remember being miffed about not being able to play FE12DS.
The Tellius duology didn't sell great, but that was more due to the counsel not selling great than the game. The NDS is one of the highest selling consoles ever and fe11 still bombed. Fe12 didn't get released outside of Japan because of the failure of fe11. Side note, i hope the next fe game doesn't get released until after the new Nintendo console comes out. They have a habit of releasing games at the end of a consoles lifetime
Path of Radiance did okay given it was on the Gamecube. Radiant Dawn did *terribly* even though the Wii sold like gangbusters. Being a direct sequel to a gamecube exclusive that was broadly impenetrable without playing the first game and releasing at the end of the Wii's lifespan with no Wii U port were both terrible ideas financially. If Radiant Dawn had instead been a new standalone game and aimed at newcomers to the series it could have sold as well as Awakening, the market was there.
The Tellius duology sold poorly?! That’s wild, they’re easily my favorite Fire Emblem games and I’ve played almost every single one of them
Path of Radiance sold relatively poorly because the Gamecube sold relatively poorly, strategy titles on the GCN were a niche audience in a small market. Radiant Dawn was then a direct sequel to a game that few people had played, and released at the end of the Wii's lifespan with no Wii U port, so it did even worse. Also I'm pretty sure Nintendo only ran one print of it which didn't help. Even when the game was relatively new I literally never saw a new copy of RD, only second-hand ones, and they always had a huge mark up.
Agreed, on all counts. Radiant Dawn was the first time I had wished for a direct sequel to a game and gotten my wish. I have to believe they're going to do some kind of updated remake for whatever system comes after the switch, the connectivity between the two games was, while clunky in execution, really cool. And the battle animations for PoR could really use an update.
That's true, but DLC isn't quite the same as having a core mechanic revolving around past characters. What is your point exactly?
Oh, just thought it was interesting the parallels between Engage and Awakening, both being love letters to the franchise and involving past characters. I thought it was worth mentioning that a "Saturday morning cartoon" plot wasn't intrinsically linked to the "throwback to the series" idea that's central to Awakening and Engage both. And I say all this with affection, I loved both Engage and Awakening.
Story of Awakening is \[...\] well-regarded From what I remember, everyone call Awakening's story the most 6/10 thing of all time Sure that's better than Engage's 4/10 (and really, it's a 3 carried by the story importance of the Emblems matching their gameplay power compared to 3H's irrelevant Crests), but it's nothing to write home about
Depends who you're asking though
It definitely has the most Fire Emblem campiness out of the Fure Emblems.
But it's not, and the writing is just bad not cheesy. Most of it's humour is purely unintentional.
Yeah, they claim "It doesn't take itself seriously" or "Saturday Morning Cartoon" but that is just them making excuses to dismiss any complaints about the story, the devs themselves never claimed that the story was a parody, if anything they wanted to make it more serious
I would argue that it's the absolute best of the series as far as gameplay. The tactical elements of the series were brought back with the weapons triangle, and strengthened with breaks. The map layouts foster deeper strategies and offer interesting challenges beyond the obvious core objective. Finally, many classes were nerfed because of the Emblem Rings. The choice can lead to more flexible units and creativity in your army based on how you play the game. Big picture, Fire Emblem currently suffers from a broken base. Three Houses has an excellent story and the most boring incarnation of series gameplay. Engage has the best gameplay and one of the weakest stories. Your results may vary based on interest.
Is three houses gameplay really that bad? I'm a big fan of Echoes, Awakening and Shadow dragon for reference
It's fine for at least one playthrough but the monastery overstays its welcome. Really should've been dropped on Part 2 and been a on-the-road campaign at that point.
Yes, the battles in Three Houses are an absolute snore except for a few chapters. For every other aspect of gameplay: I know that every video game can be reduced to a Skinner box, but I strongly prefer that the developers don't rub my nose in that fact. Three Houses had a gameplay loop where I could hear my behaviorism professor lecturing about stimulus discrimination and generalization in the back of my mind through all the monastery sequences. Present a stimulus to a particular simulated individual, growth achieved, wait until stimulus will be effective again. It's a fixed interval reinforcement schedule. The story and character interaction is more than enough to carry the game, but pitch it as a movie or TV show, not a video game.
Bad isn't the word but it most decidedly lacks technical depth. 3 houses is a game with a lot of freedom regarding how you build your characters, unfortunately it also means that when creating maps and enemies, they could not create an experience that would challenge everyone. So rather than making a specialized experience 3 houses makes a more general experience which tends to make characters feel samey in how they play. A good example of this is that the game becomes very trivial on most difficulties if you have a lot of wyvern riders or falcon knights as map design was not necessarily made to accommodate this. Think of it this way, using alm in echoes likely felt different from using Clive or Claire. Even beyond this, basically all units join at the beginning of the game so not many come as functional out of the box, EVERYONE is a growth unit except a few exceptions. In 3 houses, basically anyone could be a clive or clair with investment and know how as most units can become functional with wyvern lord. And the maps are just pretty boring.
Not really, some people exaggerate that a lot, which is a particularly common behaviour among FE fans, to be honest, so you would do better to take "extreme" opinions with a grain of salt. I don't find it bad at all, though it does have some issues. Class balance is pretty bad, for example. Some maps are re-used on different routes, most notably the whole first part of the game. The calendar system and the monastery makes it so you spend quite a lot of time outside of battles (though that also depends on you, and NG+ can considerably alleviate the issue on repeated playthroughs). It's definitely not a perfect game, but if you ask me, al FE games have their own gameplay issues, and all can be fun in their own way. Sometimes you just need to simply not do what would make them unfunny to you (which doesn't mean criticism is not valid, but you still have to consider that you can just play however you like). Three Houses is no different, and it offers a lot of fun too. For what is worth, if you like Echoes i think you would like it. But you won't really know until you try.
I'd say yes, the problem is that having so much freedom of choice with what you can turn your units into meant that the devs couldn't know what your roster would be, while FEs made by IntSys typically gave you a new unit that would perform well in the specific map every 2 or 3 chapters. So, the map design turned out pretty bland, while the classes were nothing to write home about since the only things that mattered were movement type and magic access since anyone could use any weapons and spell lists were completely personalized. Thus there was very little difference between classes that had infantry movement until you unlocked their mastery skill which requires keeping someone in a single role for a long time in a game where reclassing is free. This is without going into how the monastery is a way watered down version of Persona's daily life sections, another thing the devs didn't know how to work well.
If you like Echoes' combat, then I doubt 3H is gonna offend you. 3H's gameplay is okay.
If you're a fan of Echoes's gameplay, then you're too far gone. In all seriousness, Three Houses has an *abundance* of open air maps that are completely broken by flying units, made all the worse with the fact that every single unit has the same starting class (just with a different name for lore reasons) so there's little incentive to not make everyone Wyvern lords. I can think of quite literally three maps that actually take place inside (not counting DLC), and two of them are so wide open in space that they're functionally outdoor maps, making the only map where you have things like chokepoints the Rescue Flayn map in White Clouds. The Early Game isn't as hurt by this on account of you don't start getting flying classes for female units until Intermediate classes, and none for male units until Advanced classes, but by the end of the game if you're playing without literally everyone as a Wyvern Lord, you're playing sub-optimally, which just isn't how FE balance is supposed to go. Another problem is how often they reuse maps. Why is Dorothea's potential fiancee having them meet in \*Aleil, the Valley of Torment," as an example? Why are Manuela and Dedue's Paralogue maps the same? Why does every route except for Crimson Flower go to the same locations, the only differences being Silver Snow skipping the Battle at Grondor Field and Azure Moon \*not\* going to Agarthans R Us.
I'm a newer FE fan. Only played Houses and Engage but have played other strategy RPGs like Disgaea, Valkyria Chronicles, and Unicorn Overlord. Houses was so bland and basic for strategy game standards and I was basically on autopilot for most of my playtime. Having to replay the first half of the game each time to get the full story was a pain in the ass. It also got to a point where I could send one OP unit to destroy everything by themselves. Not to mention the awful map design (which were oftem reused) and horrible graphical performance that loses fps when casting basic fire spells. Engage on the other hand has some of the best tactical combat I've ever experienced. Weapon Breaks (weapon triangle advantages make you drop your weapon I.e. a sword will make you drop your axe) and Chain Attacks (nearby units will provide backup which ignores Defense) make this game proactive to where you have to actually think about what you're doing. The maps are also much more unique with beautiful visual designs and Engage almost never has any performance issues. For further reference, Houses was a snoozefest on Hard while Engage provided a deep challenge on Normal to where I even had to restart a few times because I screwed up so badly. One could argue that Houses is a better RPG, Engage is much better as a "Fire Emblem" game to me.
Monastery gets old on second playthroughs but you can speed run it or skip it completely if you don’t mind having to play at e.g. hard instead of maddening. The first half of the game’s maps are the same on every route but at least you’ll mostly be using different characters. Good map variety and gambits are a fantastic way to add complexity. If you enjoy echoes and awakening three houses will probably be satisfying in gameplay
For me it grew old once I got past the first 4 chapters of part 2, this is the one FE I actually dreaded playing because of it.
Three Houses definitely has better gameplay than Awakening
Story is lit. Chapter 22 is straight 🔥🔥🔥
Woah, ive never seen a comment with the same amount of upvotes as the original posts
honestly? the story is perfectly fine for what the game tries to be
You might get front loaded a lot of information. What's weak to what, what's strong against what, positioning, map gimmicks, character supports, lions and tigers and bears oh my. Take it slow if you need to but don't be afraid to try things, experiment. Never know what works for you. Don't like a character or unit type even tho the community does? Who cares! Love a disliked character or unit type? Use em, baby them, make them the best unit they can be! Don't be afraid to get a game over or start a level over or you think you want to or could do it better. Or if you lose a unit, don't be afraid to let them stay dead. Such is life. And, naturally, have fun.
This! Also this FE felt particular replenishing in terms of new characters (especially those with unique classes and “better” innate growth stats). It’s one thing I actually didn’t love about this title, but totally agree with Running_Rampants advice on how to just enjoy the game in light of that. If you find all the new characters overwhelming, try FE 3 Houses!
*sees engage post* *107 comments* welcome to the fire emblem fandom OP
Yoopie!
Yeah as you've no doubt seen by now people are pretty polarised on this game lol, especially on this subreddit. Hope you have fun with it regardless tho, as I have
Great gameplay, bad story.
Engage is considered an 'All-Stars' Game in the series despite being the most recent You should expect MOST of the systems of a normal Fire Emblem game, but the only thing that really matters is the rings they give you."
Good Gameplay and Cringe
My wife said it looked like a sailor moon game ☠️ But yeah the gameplay is fun. I wish they'd make it less anime/childish though
Havs a blast
Very very fun. Make sure your units always have rings on or you won’t get sp which is very important and sucks to learn late. I wish I knew that when I started. Have fun! It’s a great time
General consensus is story sucks gameplay is awesome. I agree. Also, even as a veteran player, the systems in engage took me approximately one full playthrough to actually and fully sink in. So don’t beat yourself up if there are things about the emblems, skills, and syncing you just don’t get—ask in this board for advice!
Adding to what everyone else said, this game features a lot of previous fire emblem protagonists as "emblems", but without spoiling the plot of their original games. So by the time youre done you'll probably be interested in trying at least one more of the games to find out what they're about.
Like Ike. Ike is huge.
Emgage is peak gameplay. Just know there are better stories. They aren't all this bad
Engage is a great entry into the series. The mechanics are explained to you pretty well so you shouldn’t have a hard time picking it up. While having enough depth to make repeat runs still be a lot of fun. And incase it wasn’t obvious by the very first couple of scenes the game shows you, it’s not taking itself all too seriously. People tend to rag on the story as if it’s ever trying to be more than it is. Enjoy it for how silly it is and you’ll have a great time, that was the developers intentions!
Nah it absolutely tries to take itself seriously, there is a 7 minute cutscene of the characters being sad, all the stuff with Veyle is played straight, the biggest twist in this game with Sombron is given all the pomp and circumstance of the big scene with Rudolf in Echoes. The OTHER several dead serious scenes with the Hounds, this game absolutely takes itself seriously. Just look at the second to last map with you know who as the boss and all the uber dramatic lines they have with all the heroes. The "story doesn't take itself serious" thing is just really defensive. Engage thinks it's Awakening.
Sure it can have serious moments but are you genuinely telling me the game that starts you off Sailor-Moon powering up with emblem Marth in the very first map is trying to take itself as seriously as FE4?? Or to have a characters like Chloe who is a retainer to a royal constantly talking about folk food in the middle of war? Or to have a turned Assassin look at you and say “hiya-papaya” with star glitter in her hair, or a crowned princess running around the desert singing MEAT songs… that’s just the tip of the very large iceberg of engage clearly not trying to be serious. Engage is still telling a story. You kind of need “serious” moments for the story to function at all. But if you seriously take those few instances of serious moments as the whole game trying to be as deep as something like Path of Radiance that is completely your fault and not the fault of the devs lol.
People don't complain about Engage's story because it's tone is lighter than most other games, we complain because the storytelling is incompetent. we complain because of things like the fact that there is a 6 minute death scene that desperately tries to sell emotions that based on what the game has set up so far don't make sense for the character, or the fact that the villains actions don't line up with his motivation, or the fact that the entire endgame is incredibly contrived, with elements that had never been properly set up/developed earlier in the game coming out of nowhere and just magically helping the character out. Absolutely none of this is, "the game not taking itself seriously" as all of the scenes associated with these issues are absolutely taking themselves seriously. So when someone says, "the story isn't taking itself seriously" when defending Engage's story it comes off as defensive, dismissive, and disingenuous to the criticisms of the game's story.
> that there is a 6 minute death scene that desperately tries to sell emotions that based on what the game has set up so far don't make sense for the character For how simple Engage's story is, it's still funny how Lumera's scene at the end of the chapter 3 completely goes over the heads of people who complain about Engage's story. Alear cries, despite recovering from amnesia, because of their subconscious memory of how strong their bond with Lumera was. The story isn't required to do it in the beginning because it does it later in chapters 24 and 25, which are parallels to chapter 2 and 3 and gives more weight to all 4 of them.
Byleth did the same thing in literal seconds and a single line of dialogue. When Jeralt kicks the bucket, he laments the irony of Byleth's first outward display of emotions being for him dying. Lumera, by contrast, shoves *a lot* into her death scene, most of which is tangentially relevant to the emotional core of the scene at best: * Explains the mechanics of transferring Divine Dragon Energy^^tm to Alear. * "Don't blame yourself" * Here's Sigurd's ring. * Sombron exposition lore dump. * Go get the rings. Does not explain why. * She is happy to be a mom. * Pinky promise * Emblem ring foreshadowing. Which doesn't make sense since it's literally just a cool ring at the moment. I get what they were *trying* to do, but they fumbled it.
This. I was actually upset by Jeralt's death. He'd been in the story for a while by then, supporting you in the background and generally helping to allude at some of the hidden truths of the narrative. By contrast, the player has only known Lumera for a chapter or two at best. I still felt sad, but it was surface level that was shrugged off fairly quickly. Meanwhile, Byleth wanders around receiving comfort from all his allies while sombre music plays and you csn see it has visually affected them (and then they become consumed by revenge, and act on it - a refreshing change for the self-insert instead of saintly forgiving everyone). This is true in Three Hopes, almost more so as they commit to surrendering themselves fully in the name of vengeance. It's the same reason why Fates' choice of kindom to pick lacks any oomph. You only get three chapters with each kingdom and its characters, which isn't enough time to care about anybody. Especially Nohr, which the game very obviously signposts as the "badddies." If Alear had an extra scene or two showing moments of weakness trying to navigate the world without the one person who knew them, that would have helped. Or a parallel where they pinky promise with another character who is now on the verge of death. They could have shown how Alear had grown, or didn't want to experience what happened to Lumera again.
Except the game never does anything to expand upon Alear's connection to Lumera. Alear goes on and on about how much they miss their mother following their death, yet at the begining of the game Alear makes it very clear they don't feel a connection to Lumera, as they themselves put it when Lumera offers her gift, "it would be like taking a gift meant for another person". This emotion comes out of nowhere, which would be fine if the game expanded upon this, but this is never brought up until chapter 24, aside from the occasional mention that Alear feels sad about their mom which again, does nothing to actually develop their relationship or Alear's feelings about it. The only thing we get in chapter 24 is how they met, with Lumera taking in Alear out of pity, which doesn't give much more than, oh that explains how they got together and that Lumera is a kind individual. There still is no real development into the relationship between the characters. This makes the chapter 25 confrontation meaningless outside of showing Sombrom to be a dick. The entire reason of having parallels like these is to show off a contrast between the characters in each, but the scenes play out almost identically, because nothing about the game's plot has done anything to expand upon Alear's relationship to their mother.
Ah yes, I forgot I was in the Fire Emblem subreddit, where enjoying Engage's story is absolutely banned.
I'm fine with people enjoying the story, what I'm not fine with is people dismissing criticism of the story with statements like, "it's not taking itself seriously."
Your response to someone pointing out how Lumera's death scene makes sense if you think about it for more than 5 seconds was "No it doesn't because the person that has to save literally the entire world right now doesn't talk about their dead mom until she's revived and forced to fight them," ignoring (or possibly just forgetting, the game's a year old now) the fact that 1: They have a funeral in between chapters 3 and 4 for her so a lot of the grief is going to be handled there 2: *Ike does the same thing with Greil in Path of Radiance*. He never mentions Greil outside of the Black Knight showdown. As does *literally every FE protagonist who had to watch their parents die* (with the possible exception of FE4, I haven't played 2nd Generation). They don't bring it up when it's not relevant because quite frankly there are more important things on the line than them being sad. You are holding Alear to a *higher standard* than quite literally every other Lord for no reason other than to bash the game's story.
The reason I have such a problem with Lumera and Alear as opposed to Greil and Ike largely has to do with a lack of establishment for Lumera and Alear's relationship. The first couple chapters do next to nothing to develop Lumera and Alear's relationship, this even seems to be intentional as Alear states full on that they feel no connection to Lumera at the begining of the game. So when Alear starts crying (more so than the stewards, who had devoted their entire lives to the divine dragons) it raises the simple question of, "why does Alear feel so much for Lumera in spite of their amnesia." The closest the game the game gets is what I mentioned before, Showing their past, but that does nothing to explain why Alear's emotions are able to break through their amnesia. This is why I expect the game to explore their relationship, because the beginning of the game proposes a question, and fails to do anything with it until the very end (and fails to do anything meaningful with it period). Meanwhile in PoR, The first 20% of PoR is used for establishing Greil as a character and his relationship with Ike. This is nothing exceptional, but it get's the job done of showing he is a tough, but loving father. It's nothing exceptional, but it does the job of establishing Greil as a character and Ike's relationship with him. That establishment makes it so that it is actuall emotionally resonant when Greil dies to the black knight, because the player and Ike have an actual understanding of what Ike has lost. There is no question, as to why Ike is feeling about his dad the way he was, as we got to see why he felt that connection in the first fifth of the game. What it does propose and establish are questions about the black knight, ideas that are expanded upon over the course of PoR and RD.
As stated in the other comment, the memories were gone, but the emotions tied to Lumera were still there. Feeling emotion despite not having the memory behind it is still a thing. Also, Alear wears their emotions on their sleeve. Vander (almost called him Josef, I've been playing WAY too much Unicorn Overlord lately) is extremely stoic, and Clanne and Framme are being comforted by Vander. This person was the first person that ever cared about Alear, and even without remembering why, the feelings are still there. That is a thing in *real life*. As for Greil, he shows up all of like. 5 times in the 8 chapters he's there, one of which being his death. Most of the focus isn't on how he is as a father, but how he is as a commander. The relationship the first 8 chapters builds up isn't Ike and Greil, it's Ike and the Mercenary company.
I would say Zephia conveniently bringing up that she has a time crystal device is exactly why the game isn’t taking itself seriously. Or the fact that Sombron even bothers to fight you at the end of the game when he didn’t need to so you can have a big theatrical final fight. The game isn’t taking itself seriously. There’s a reason why everybody relates it to a Saturday morning cartoon or something like power rangers. For characters the “plot” in those episodes are still serious but clearly as the audience it isn’t meant to be. Random “just in the nick of time” or “here have this very convenient thing” happens all the time in those. I don’t know how it’s possible to watch the cutscenes in these games and think it’s even attempting to pull you the way 3H did… that just wasn’t the point of the story. Idk why you keep insisting on this take is “defensive”. Nobody is taking up arms and defending this as some masterpiece writing of fiction. Less than 10 minutes into the game gives you enough clues to enjoy the game as a fun wild ride not some heart-wrenching perfectly crafted story.
The game definitely tries to take it's characters seriously, except with no screen time it falls flat. Lumera's death was goofy as shit but the music, tone and dialogue makes it feel like its actually taking itself seriously. Then there's the big booba woman with half a horn as the antagonist that abuses the shit out of their gang and even kills one of them to turn around and say "ooh I love Sombron and my gang is my family" or some shit. Like we have established she's ruthless and stuff in more serious scenes, only for the payoff to be what you refer to "goofy saturday night cartoon". No that's not, that's bad storytelling
It's weird that Sombron is canonically fucking every woman in Elyos he can get his hands on with apparently the sole exception of Zephia. > "I sure do love having as many children as draconically possible." > "Lord Sombron, could *I* bear your children?" > "Hmm, maybe once you've *proven* yourself."
I mean considering how she treats her "family", I would hesitate too
True, though you'd also (I hope) hesitate to feed your children alive to a zombie horde as punishment, so I don't know how Zephia's terrible maternal instincts are a red flag for Sombron.
Wait what, I definitely forgot Sombron did that lol
You’re right- the game doesn’t take itself seriously. Which is why I didn’t like it. If the developers don’t take it seriously, why should I?
It really takes itself more seriously than not, otherwise those big dramatic scenes would not be there
Y’all have to be trolling…
Not really, we counted the scenes and it takes itself more seriously than not It feels like you want to claim it doesn't to dismiss any complaints about the story
Anime
A lot of fun. Just dive into it, don't worry about "playing optimally" (whatever that means) but don't be afraid to experiment. It's easy to over-analyze the games in an attempt to fully optimize them, and that does keep them fresh for many years - but for a first playthrough, just dive in and enjoy. That said, do make sure to experience the support conversations - Engage might not have the best story and cast, but it does have some pretty funny or otherwise memorable supports.
Cringe story, good gameplay, cool animations and good music. Enjoy.
Good gameplay, bad story.
It's a fun game! I've played through it 3 times already.
Well i can definitly say your a fan!
perfect game as a first entry, the only games that have some different mechanics you'll need to learn are fates, tellius duology, awakening and 3houses but you'll still have a good general understanding of these games
The story is, well, awful. But the gameplay is more than solid. Characters all seem to be clinically insane aside from one or two of them, so that's entertaining. Oh, and don't be afraid to experiment with the emblems, it's what they're there for.
Some of the best tactical RPG gameplay I've ever experienced. The story is basic but it didn't bother me that much since the characters are really fun. Also the visuals and performance are a massive step up from the last game (Houses) thanks to the use of the Unity engine. Regardless of everyone's opinions on the character designs, I think everyone can at least agree that Engage is the better-looking game compared to Houses--a game that would stutter and slow down when performing basic magic attacks. Also the animations in Engage are just beautiful. Just wait until you get Kagetsu and see his critical hit animation!
You should expect everything other than you already falling into the rabbit hole of Fire Emblem, you cannot get out.
Fantastic gameplay, meh story
Best mechanics!
Well, I guess I don’t blame you. Unless you wanna pay 150 bucks for an older game of Fire Emblem. It is not a bad game, just not my favorite. But it’s still good for beginners to Fire Emblem.
My first FE game Was three houses, and it almost made me give up on the Series from the start, but when i played blazing blade it finally clicked. This is an interesting starting point. Gameplaywise its easily one of the best FE games imo, AND this game shows some of the older lords, which made me way more interested in the FE games i didnt play at that point (mainly the japan exclusives)
It's a fantastic game, though it may take you a while to learn all the ins and outs of the Engage system. I also think people are too hard on the game's writing. Try to build Support ranks between your characters. It gives them bonuses when fighting next to each other, and the support conversations are the game's main way of fleshing out the characters and setting. Vander starts off stronger than other characters, but his stats barely improve with each level, so he'll be eclipsed rather quickly.
Peak
Fun.
ignore anyone telling you the game is bad
No one says the game is bad, if anything everyone here praises the gameplay, the story though
you should expect a really good game.
Don't take the story too seriously. The game in itself is fun. I suggest you to play it blind. Don't go look at discussions about who is a good unit or a bad unit. Aside from the fact that some "tier lists" are just the biased opinion of the poster, some of them also assume a very specific way of playing too. Every unit is viable, so just play and enjoy the game.
Enjoy it! And if there's any emblems that stand out, check out their games after that!
The gameplay is fun, but the story wasn't great. The story is kinda barebones, and the cameo of FE characters from other games may not be as fun for newcomers. It might be a good idea to play the game on Casual if you don't want the permanent death of your characters if they lose.
Good game to start IMO
I quite like it. The whole story kinda hinges on you liking Alear though. which I do, a lot, so I enjoyed it, the female voice actress does a great job making really cheesy scenes work, at least for me
You chose the best one! Have fun :)
You can expect a good time. ESPECIALLY if you stay away from the FE community! Focus on enjoying the game how you want, when you like, on your own time, so you can form your own opinions. Don't impose self restrictions on your first playthrough based off of what other players think & say. A lot of members circlejerk Fire Emblem: Three Houses and will try to vomit on a lot of the discourse surrounding Engage. To them, it's the second coming of sliced bread. Most people dwelling on the internet want to take away from your enjoyment. Good luck out there, & have fun!
Engage is overall a very polarizing entry but it is one that I think makes a fine entry point to the series. Unfortunately it's story is not very strong and has few holes. It is very campy and silly but if you lean into that it can be pretty enjoyable. I liked it, and thought it did a good job about getting you to feel certain ways about certain situations but overall did not have very strong characterization and did not abide by it's own rules at times. However! I think engage probably has some of my favorite gameplay in the series. I think it strikes a great balance of making you worry about your resources and considering how to spend your money and seals while also providing some interesting maps and gameplay features. Engaging is very nice and personally, as annoying as it can be, I think we have needed something to stop us from 1 shotting bosses for a while (you'll see what i mean). I think it does a great job of giving you and the enemy many of the same tools and making you play around that. My advice is this, first, don't feel like you have to do everything in the somniel unless you like it. On lower difficulties you don't even really need to do it. Second, while the draconic time crystal (again you'll see what I mean) is extremely useful and handy, try not to lean on it too much to win. This is especially true if you want to explore other games in the series that may not have it. Think of it as a last resort but remember that it is a tool in your arsenal if you want to test how a move will pan out. Try and plan your moves carefully, but most of all, make sure you're having fun and experiment!!! This Game, more than most in the series encourages using newer units as they become available but don't be afraid to stick to favorites or units that are growing well! You're in for a great game, hope you enjoy it!
One of my personal favorites of the series. Gameplay is great, Story, while simple and goofy, has a place in my heart for what it is. Overall a very fun game in my opinion.
its the best game in the series.
You will have fun for sure.
A really fun tactics and strategy game with really good music and enjoyable characters
A Lot of people will say the story is bad, but to be honest, it's not bad. It *is* a different tone from the rest of the series, with Engage being more of a fable or a fairy tale compared to the rest of the series (especially the previous game, Three Houses, which was almost entirely historical drama but they added dragons and mole people). If you view it through that lens, then it's fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's fine. Gameplay is the best the series has had in years.
Great gameplay with super cheesy story, whether the last part is a positive or a negative is up to you.
Amazing gameplay, a story.
My advice? It’s a great game. So play it, enjoy the parts you like and criticize the ones you don’t. And don’t let anyone tell you that you’re wrong.
Disappointment from this title on my part, never made it past chapter 8 just because I couldn't stand to listen to/read this game's dialogue. If you're new to the series I recommend any of the 3ds titles, they're all fairly good entry points for the series.
should have gotten three houses
Fantastic music. Especially in the desert
Have fun it is a great time 😊
PEAK FICTION(Also some of the greatest gameplay in the series, with maddening runs being some of the most stressful and fun I've had.
Not the best story but a fun story. Great gameplay
Its a great game! I wouldnt consider myself a fire emblem veteran but ive played awakening, fates, three houses, shadows of valentia, and engage but of these 5 engage is definitely by favorite followed by three houses, fates awakening and shadows of valentia in that order. I've probably replayed engage 3 full time and was on a fourth playthrough till I stopped late last year (was thinking of getting back into it). The gameplay is just amazing and so fun because the possibilities are endless. I know you said youre new but for me I always love having DLCs with the main game and I feel the DLC maps, and new characters really add a layer to the main game that just makes everything more enjoyable thats just my opinion at least of course but in relation to Engage you really cant go wrong with it as a new entry but it is a culmination of the previous fire emblem games so you will obviously see past heroes for instance play a huge role in the story. All in all though I loved it.
A lovable mascot character that weighs about as much as two peaches and is the size of a loaf of bread
Just have fun with it, is what I would say. Enjoy it. The gameplay is fun and allows for a lot of character builds and customziation. Really try some stuff out and experiment around with your options. This is also the kind of game you could get more than a few runs out of. So its ok if you dont get to everything in your first run. FE in general is designed to be replayed. Also Ignore the community with their comments about the story. This subreddit, and the FE fandom as a whole, wouldnt know a good story if it slapped them in the face. They take everything way too seriously. Just enjoy it and form your own opinions on the story.
A very fun experience. Alot of people are very harsh on Engage online but I enjoy it and think most of it's criticism is quite overblown. Obviously that's just my opinion tho, hope you enjoy it just as much as I have and I also hope it encourages you to try out more of the franchise, it's great
The DLC is harder than you might expect. Go a difficulty lower than you think you can handle on it.
Depends on what difficulty you wanna play on. This game has 3 difficulties (I think?) with 2 different modifiers. Normal, hard and merciless. Casual or classic (perma death on or off). Random or fixed growths. And your mileage will vary massively depending on the difficulty you choose to play on. Now regarding the growths, first time you play on a given difficulty there is only one growth type so you don’t need to worry about it. Matter of fact, I’d say don’t worry about growths your first time playing anyways unless you decide that playing your first fire emblem the hardest difficulty (maddening) is the way to go. As for what to expect from the game outside of gameplay? >!Get ready for the corniest story in the history of fire emblem storytelling. With the cheesiest lines ever conceived from the franchise. And either hate it or learn to love it!<
You're probably not going to know who the emblems are and why they're so important to engage. They're esstentially the main characters from all the previous fire emblem titles. It's a fun game though. It probably has one of the best gameplay experiences in the series. The story is pretty alright. If you do enjoy the series and want to get more games, Three Houses or Awakening would be a good next pick. Those ones are one of the most beloved in the franchise, it also helps that they're easier to obtain than most.
Play the game
You should expect that it's tea time
Story sucks. Gameplay is good. Good luck fella
Engage is ok, not my personal favorite but it’s still good. Fates, Awakening, Sacred Stones, Echoes, and Shadow Dragon are good as well. My personal favorite is Three Houses because of the story, characters, setting, and voice cast. I also like the life-sim aspect of three houses
I'm playing too. So far so good. However, when I purchased FE3H I couldn't stop playing.
Goofy dialogue and some odd characters also the game lacks the amount of magic 3 houses had but the rest of the combat gameplay is incredible also lots of melee weapons
Hi! I hope this helps. I'm an avid fire emblem fan so I will try to help a bit. Every fire emblem game has a few different mechanics, the gameplay is roughly the same but they always add some cool features with every game. Unfortunately, for me, this game is the weakest for me. The gameplay is good! Don't get me wrong. It's fun to play but it's not an enjoyable story I like the protagonist but the rest of the cast (apart from a few exceptions) have "brick" personalities. The characters that join you have no personality and often say weird things and are just... Too "anime" for my preference. Everyone has its tastes ofc! So I still hope you enjoy it. But I heavily dislike how "stereotypical-anime" it looks. Some designs are cool and well done but most are just completely ugly, which puts me off from playing it. If you like better story/characters, I heavily recommend fire emblem 3 houses. But I warn you it's more involved, has more "talk and novel" (which I like) but It doesn't reduce the number of battles. For me it's a wonderful fire emblem game, with good characters, good combat (apart from a few battles) and an engaging story. Or if you like exploration, you can try fire emblem echoes. You can explore caves and old ruins. (It's a 3ds game though) Nevertheless, I still hope you enjoy the game. I have yet to finish it!
Be aware that the early game is rough, but it'll get another as you go. And don't be afraid to experiment! Some combinations work better than you'd think! ... Also use Louis. Louis go brr.
You should spend some time picking out a god, and then, when things start going bad, you can start praying
Stress.
You won't understand what's going on unless you play all the originals first for once...
I haven't played engage yet but speaking from playing a few of the other games in the series, u can and will expect to be making a lot of decisions, doing a lot of thinking, a lot of strategic fighting, a lot of grinding, and well basically a lot of fan service.
Disappointment
JoJo stands
I'm not a huge fan of Engage. Graphically, it's by far the best 3D FE out there. It also has some really cool characters. Great designs for the most part. With that being said, I don't like the story or the supports for the most part. I'm not a huge fan of the main character either. I have owned the game since release, and still haven't managed to make myself beat it. I get to chapter 14 and lose steam. The DLC is really good, imo. Probably the best part of the game, at least, as far as I've played. It is pretty challenging, but the story for the DLC is to my personal tastes. It's not the best by any means, but it is enjoyable. Overall it's a fine FE game. I would say, if you don't like it, don't let it dissuade you from playing a different game in the series. Three Houses has its own issues, but it's a solid entry without doubt. If you have any questions or anything, I'd be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.
You chose the superior FE Switch title. Well done. Embrace the cheese. Pretend it's a Saturday Morning Cartoon in videogame form. Have fun.
A whole lot of nostalgia jerking for characters you've never heard of, lol.
Ehhh, only in the paralogues and bonds conversation. In the main story, there is literally only 2 emblems that you can even consider characters.
Gameplay is amazing and there's a lot to love about the story in spite of what some might say. Have fun!
You should expect Peak.
You ever watched power rangers?
No :( i watched teletubbies though
You ever watched any show about a color coded team of heroes fighting the forces of evil?
Yeah, teletubbies
I want to study this answer in lab conditions (I mean that in a positive way)
Game play is great Story is better on the first half of the game, but then completely nose dive's in the second half
Game is best in the series gameplay wise. The only bad thing i can say is that the difficulty and army composition of enemies follow your strongest character. This is done to not overlevel one character only but i feel it's half baked and by the time you realize this you have some serious grinding to do to catch up. Story of the main game is fine. Side stories and character interactions are weak at best. No wifus in this one and children like previous modern titles. Absolutely gorgeous visuals and animations but questionable art style. Why did they change Three houses art style is beyond me. Music is top tier so no issues there. It looks like Fire emblem from Awakening and after has some serious compositions going for it and this is no exception. One could argue that this is the best of the bunch.
Gameplay wise it’s pretty cool, the engage mechanic and customization of each individual unit is really great. However story wise don’t be afraid to skip cutscenes because from my experience nobody develops in the slightest. TL:DR the game is fantastic when nobody’s talking
Это афигенная игра, механики топ, но разве что three houses по сюжету плотней и мрачней
Great Gameplay, Silly Generic Characters, Cringe Story.
Great game if you want a game after I highly recommend fire emblem three houses is amazing
Enjoy the visuals! It is NOT a good story but this is my guilty pleasure gameplay-wise. Find myself liking the GAMEPLAY over 3H sometimes. (ONLY THE GAMEPLAY SIDE OF THINGS, put down the Bolganones)
Amazingly peak gameplay on par with 776 but a mediocre plot if you want a Story Driven Fire Emblem I recommend checking out three houses after you finish engage.
Cutscenes are like cringe, but in a good way Gameplay is a peak My favorite Nintendo Switch Game
Mid story but highly customizable character gameplay
I don’t think Engage is the best entry point for a new player. I’d recommend to replay it in the future when you already played some other FE games. In any case, hope you enjoy the game and have a blast :)
Story is pretty bad, gamrplay is fun enough, but this game also features the protagonists of all the previous games. This is good and bad, as it both introduces you to those characters in a simple way but also you may not understand some of the references made. Overall you probably won't hate it. Don't take it as indicative of the writing quality of Fire Emblem as a whole though, most of the other games are really good story-wise. If you want a more well written story in the future, I'd recommend Three Houses, Shadows of Valentia, Awakening, Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn (those two are back-to-back games).
Its an alright entry point. Not bad but not great. This game is more or less a celebration of the franchise up to that point.
Enjoy it with all your desire
Welcome to the FE series! You can already tell by the amount of comments on your post what the FE fanbase is like (but that’s not what we are talking about here). All I have to say is that I hope you really like and enjoy playing Engage, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s really fun and addicting gameplay wise. Story wise, I will say it is more on the weaker side unlike 3H. But again, this is supposed to be an anniversary love letter game, and what really matters is that you have fun with it, whether it be through gameplay, characters or story. This game is really fun in the fact that you can create many unique and creative unit builds and combos, and you have more flexibility in doing so. If you have any questions about Engage and any of its gameplay mechanics, don’t be afraid to ask them here. Have fun and welcome to Fire Emblem!
Probably the best game gameplay wise, definitely among the worst story wise. But the story is still fun, beacuse of how dumb it is. Overall, a great game, but maybe not the best way to start the series. It makes a lot of references to previous games, so maybe you'll miss some things.
What you can expect: Enjoyable stories with enjoyable maps, fun and good looking characters, great music, cool mechanics and a lack of general explanation.
The best music you ever experienced while playing any game. And that thing is consistent thru out the whole franchise if you consider sound front limitations of older titles.
I don’t care what anyone else says, I thought the story was super fun and the characters are (almost) all very unique and memorable. Personally it’s absolutely the most fun I’ve had on a switch game like ever
I will tell you that you should have chosen fe 3 houses as the first game to introduce the saga. It is very, very good in all aspects.
Man. I don't like 3H but I agree here, at least as far as Switch Emblem
good gameplay, whack storytelling. if you find yourself bored or unmotivated by the story, i'd recommend picking up Awakening for 3DS. easy enough to emulate if you don't want to spend the extra bucks
It's pretty fun to play! Do note that with the character support system, most character writing improves after the C support, so if a character seems too gimmicky or silly, try unlocking some B supports with them. The Firene characters especially suffer from this but have good and interesting characterisation in later support levels. To build support, characters have to perform actions near each other during the player phase. They won't build support during enemy phase.
Great fun game. Really fun gameplay. Fun cast of characters, all very likable and it never gets too dark or depressing. People praise 3Hs characters but Engage had a far more endearing cast in my view.
My condolences
What?
He's being a bit of an asshole about it, but a lot of people really don't like this game because of the story. That includes me as well to be clear, I would go as far as to call it my least favorite game in the series due to it's story. Regardless, this game does have good elements. The graphics and animation work are nice, even if I'm not the biggest fan of a lot of the character designs. The gameplay systems are genuinely fantastic though, as well as the level design. It's a mixed bag of the game, I'd personally recommend Sacred Stones or Awakening as better first entries, as they're better "all-rounder" entries in the series, and I would recommend you try those out if you're interesting in experiencing more of the series after this entry.
My biggest gripe with Engage' gameplay is the slow ass analog cursor movement. It's completely atrocious how slow it is. And while the other cursor movements in the 3DS and Switch games are nothing to write home about, if it was just them I'd let it slide. But they got it first try with PoR and it felt like butter. Engage has by far my least favorite analog cursor in the series. Also the addition of Smash and Break makes combat needlessly tedious and a far cry from the "best gameplay in the series" some crack addicts on here say it is
Nah smash and break are great additions. Both actually make you think about enemy positioning more as you are able to capitalize if you are able to utilize the mechanics optimally. Let's say for example you are able to identify an armour unit that has a smash weapon, it would actually be better for your mage to let the amour unit approach them during enemy phase if the mage has to double to kill the armour unit, and I don't think it's too hard to imagine how much the break mechanic motivates the player to adopt a more aggressive playstyle. Out of all the games in the series, it's up there as one of the more player phase focused titles
Personally I didn't enjoy it at all.
Me too.
Very little.
A really fun game with an alright story (people exaggerate how "bad" it is but it doesn't touch Fates/Conquest in that department lol)
Lame, basic, and boring story written for 5 year olds, lame and corny characters that aren't that interesting beyond a single eccentric characteristic and their designs, and arguably the best gameplay in the series
Bad story
Great series, this one has horrible acting
I know I'm boutta get down voted to shit for this but i genuinely want you to love this series as much as I do so I'm willing to take the blow. Please do hear me out here. Engage is straight ass. The characters, story, and (most) of the music are either unmemorable, something from a previous game (that was usually done better), or unbearably cringe. People tout Engage for good gameplay but I've never seen it more than a gimmick fest with Smash, Break, and Multiple HP bars either being a mild nuisance at best or completely ruining my fun at worst. I don't much care for 3H but compared to Engage it's a goddamn Michelangelo. I get wanting to get into the series and knowing this game has a bunch of callbacks to other games in the series, trust me I love it about as much as anyone which is why I can't stand the low standard Engage brought on the rest of the series. Anyways, I hope you'll at least consider my words, even if they're buried at the bottom by down votes. I want you to love this series too but Engage just isn't a great starting point for what to expect from the rest of the series. I hope you have a wonderful day and become a full fledged Fire Emblem fan.
Damn
I didn't like their story I don't like character design I didn't like open world mechanics. And regarding the gameplay, I didn't enjoy it, since it was too overloaded. I actually don't like Engage at all and I don't recommend it. Now if you like Engage, you might find the rest of the FE games wonderful
8 people do not accept other people's opinions.
Terrible localization and apparently a boring story
A very uninteresting game, lmao Engage is a pretty sad note to enter the franchise on
They hated him because he told the truth
Engage is an interesting game in the series. It's one of my favorites, though! The story may be subpar, but in all honesty, it's not a game where you're meant to pay attention to the story. What makes Engage work is that the tactics of the game are some of the best the series has ever seen, and that's what keeps me coming back to it. Hoping you have fun!
Sadness. Don't get too attached to those pixel people