Verdict
Fire Emblem Engage feels like a love letter to loyal fans of the series , providing pang of nostalgia with recognisable characters , as well as an even deeper combat scheme that builds upon already substantial foundation garment . Engage is n’t the proficient entree point into the series , and is rather shallow in terms of story and character growing , but the combat is enjoyable enough alone to keep player engross until the end .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
late entries to the Fire Emblem series have on the face of it been designed with newcomers in mind , with a gentle difficulty curb and more emphasis on the narration rather than further complicating the strategy - base combat system .
Fire Emblem Engage take on a different approach . It retains the same grid - base RPG gameplay as before , but also raise the difficulty level by adding an surplus tactical constituent on top in the form of the Emblem Rings .
Engage also sees the return of several buff - favourite characters from the franchise , from Marth who made his entry in 1990 ’s original , to Byleth who star in 2019’sThree Houses . Such characters may not have a Brobdingnagian wallop on the story itself , but it ’s still great to see one of the biggest Fire Emblem ensembles in the serial ’ history .
As a result , Engage feel like an ode to prospicient - term Fire Emblem loyalist with spades of fan service . It ’s still a rewarding secret plan for serial newbies too , although previous instalments such as warrior and Three Houses propose less intimidating onboarding .
Story
Fire Emblem Engage has a simple story . Main protagonist , Alear , wakes from a thousand - year sleep and is immediately ushered into war to save the continent of Elyos .
It before long becomes exculpated that collecting all 12 Emblem Rings is essential for triumph , and so result a towboat of war between Alear and newfangled villain Sombron .
Both characters are capable to use the rings to cite the apparitional forms of classic Fire Emblem poor boy , including the likes of Marth , Byleth , Roy , Ike and enough more . Not only do these provide a welcome jolt of nostalgia , but also put up the annulus ’s wearer with immense power .
away from a yoke of surprisal character revelations along the agency , there really is n’t much more profoundness to the story . That ’s not to say there are n’t countless cutscenes to sit through , but they ’re usually made up of hefty exposition and generic dialogue – you wo n’t miss much by hitting the omission clitoris .
You ’ll encounter various fibre along the way to broaden your regular army , but the immense absolute majority of them are unfortunately trammel to a brace of cutscenes before being shunt to the background .
As a result , I could look the identification number of case I feel a connection to with one hand , which is a bully shame equate to the fantabulous theatrical role developing and diverse shape of Three Houses .
Fire Emblem Engage prefers to plunge headlong into armed combat , which may well be skillful news program to those who felt that the previous Fire Emblem installment had too much cushioning . But if you desire a JRPG with an engrossing story and compelling casting of type , Engage probably is n’t for you .
Combat
Fire Emblem Engage does n’t cast too far from the series ’ iconic combat system of rules , playing out like an elaborate game of chess with a grid - based arena and a great variety of unit and class types .
There ’s a captivating rock - report - scissors grip organisation at play here , with spear units fallible to bloc , axes vulnerable to sword , and sword ineffective against spears . There are numerous other unit types too , admit mages , dragon riders , archers , sullen armor and more .
A successful scheme requires you to remember each unit ’s strength and weaknesses , and to play off them against the correct enemy whole in rules of order to bring in an reward . I regain this out the hard mode after see my highly levelled dragon passenger felled by a single pointer .
This combat design is still so engaging and rewarding that it would likely still be an enjoyable experience if left untouched . And yet , Fire Emblem Engage has deepened the tactics even further by introducing the Emblem Rings .
These rings can be equip by any character , allowing you to summon powerful allies that should be recognisable if you ’re a longtime fan of the series . By doing so , you ’ll unlock new abilities and weapons , turning the tables on an opposition that may have otherwise boasted the upperhand .
There ’s a fantastic mixture of Emblem Ring abilities on offer , such as being able to dart an arrow at an enemy on the other side of the map , or to charge through a line of grunt while on hogback . The Emblem Rings allow a huge advantage , make early enemy confrontations a cakewalk . But once you bulge encountering high level grunts , as well as foe who also manage an Emblem Ring , using these high - powered weapons becomes a requisite rather than a luxury .
With 12 Emblem Rings to pull together , it can be very intimidating judge to remember all of the dissimilar ability on whirl – I had difficulty even 20 hours into the adventure . With Fire Emblem already asking you to think of a bang-up good deal of information for combat , this may be a step too far for starter , although I can see scheme experts relishing the opportunity to take on a fresh challenge .
as luck would have it , Fire Emblem Engage supply a vast level of accessibility via its trouble grade . Keeping to an easy or normal difficulty level will provide you with the power to reverse time an unlimited identification number of times during engagement – make a fatal misunderstanding , and you could just undo a couple of turns rather than restarting the full battle .
You ’re also able to decide whether you require to have Permadeath ( aka Permanent Death ) activated or not . enable it will see you lose a fictitious character from your roster if they ’re ever killed in fight . It ’s highly punishing and can be frustrating when seeing all the clock time spent flush up a character snuff it down the waste pipe . But I still recommend at least seek out Permadeath , as it put up consequences to your action , adding more tension to every fight , even if you ’re on the verge of victory .
Upgrades and bonding
After each fight confrontation in Fire Emblem Engage , you ’ll enter a 3D diversion of the single-valued function . Here you ’ll be able-bodied to talk to your squadmates and James Henry Leigh Hunt for item , or even adopt animals for your home pedestal .
I personally feel like these zones are needless , bestow very little delectation to my playthrough and slowing down the impulse of combat . You are able to speedily skip these areas and head directly into the next struggle , but this will see you miss out on valuable resources that are required to kick upstairs artillery .
as luck would have it , your home base – of which you have the option to enter anytime between missions – offers far more interactive chemical element . Here , you ’re capable to stock up on health - replenish point and purchase young weapon system , be it a magic sword or skull - crushing hammer .
you could also increase your bond with other graphic symbol that will provide you with stat - boosting buffs in battle . increase a support level with a character will plow you to a abbreviated cutscene , although the want of fundamental interaction in the main level make these conversations finger forced . This mechanic worked extremely well in Three Houses , but it misses its mark in Engage .
Every case has their own preassigned class , although I really apprize make the option to swap to another year whenever I fancy . This take into account me to pluck the balance of units in my squad , especially when numerous unit in the same class receive an wrong end .
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Should you buy it?
With batch of devotee service and a not bad focal point on combat , Engage intelligibly caters to players who have been fans of the series for several year .
I ’d urge act Three Houses orAwakeningfirst instead if you ’ve never played Fire Emblem before , as they have a gentler trouble bend and are easier to understand .
Final Thoughts
Fire Emblem Engage is a bang-up entry in the strategy series , with a specific stress on pleasing long - term series loyalist thanks to the classic Fire Emblem heroes , as well as a more nuanced armed combat organisation .
newcomer to the serial publication may well be intimidate by the added scrap mechanic , while the story and mold of characters lacks the same degree of depth as check in Three Houses . But thanks to the excellent variety of difficulty levels and feature of speech , this is still a terrific pick for those hunger a turn - ground RPG .
Trusted Score
How we test
We play every game we review through to the end , outside of sure exceptions where getting 100 % completion , like Skyrim , is stuffy to impossible to do . When we do n’t fully complete a secret plan before reviewing it we will always alert the reader .
FAQs
Fire Emblem Engage is a good turn - ground tactical RPG .
