Fire Emblem Engage
MSRP $59.99
“Fire Emblem Engage is another reliable hit in the tactics series, even if it isn’t as much a step forward as previous installments.”
Pros
Excellent artwork design
Endearing characters
Reliable techniques
Heroes diversify battles
Cons
At instances distracting fan service
Tedious Somniel actions
Whenever I play a techniques recreation like Fire Emblem Engage, I at all times make the identical crucial mistake. There’s at all times that second after I get too cocky and attempt to push the momentum by throwing one among my troops in mortal hazard. That occurred to me in a single late-game Paralogue, the place I started a mission by sending one wyvern-riding sage flying down the battlefield with out scouting it first. I used to be met with a deadly arrow from a turret I’d have seen had I taken a extra measured method. Sometimes, you want to know when to take a step again, even if you assume the benefit is yours.
Like a grasp strategist, Fire Emblem Engage understands that want. Rather than following up on 2018’s hit Fire Emblem: Three Houses by repeating its precise playbook, the brand new tactical RPG is a fast regroup for the long-running sequence. It appears to strengthen its core fight hook with new techniques, like including additional armor plating onto an ax-wielding knight. It might seem to be a step again at a look, however it’s extra a lateral transfer that ensures the sequence can safely struggle its subsequent battle.
Fire Emblem Engage delivers one other robust techniques expertise made only a bit higher due to sensible, mobile-adjacent hooks. Its story isn’t as engrossing as some current installments and its aspect actions can get tedious, however memorable characters and colourful artwork path make for one more simple victory in an extended line of them.
Dragon age
Like earlier installments, Fire Emblem Engage tells a grand struggle story full of political rigidity between nations and many lore. This entry takes place on the continent of Elyos, which faces impending calamity as a faction appears to reawaken the evil Fell Dragon. An opposing drive, a blue-and-red-haired human named Alear (AKA the Divine Dragon), reawakens to assist unite 4 kingdoms and convey peace to Elyos.
The narrative might be uneven, however I’ll give it credit score upfront: If any Fire Emblem recreation had been to get its personal anime adaptation, Engage could be a superb candidate. On a primary degree, it’s a gorgeously designed recreation that goes heavy on vivid colours and personality-loaded battle animations. It trades in flat Earth tones for a cool shade palette that provides Elyos extra stylized landscapes which might be at all times nice to have a look at. Coming off a 12 months the place Switch homeowners appeared fed up with the console’s {hardware} limitations, Engage acts as a counterpoint that reveals how video games can nonetheless excel on the platform when optimized for it.
I’m most enamored with its colourful forged of characters, a few of which discover the sequence at its most playful. Support conversations are particularly pleasant this time round, revealing eclectic particulars on every warrior. One of my favourite micro-stories entails a personality who can’t cease monologuing throughout coaching periods, infuriating their sparring associate. Another facilities on a girl who’s so into energy coaching that her teacups are all weighted — a working gag that pops up in a number of character interactions.
The smaller tales are inclined to work higher than the large image this time round. That’s partly as a result of Engage places fan service on the entrance and middle. To assist of their quest, Alear should observe down 12 rings that summon the celebrities of earlier Fire Emblem video games. Though the narrative goes to nice lengths to justify its Avengers-like premise, it could actually typically really feel like a distraction from its extra interesting authentic world. Returning characters like Marth wind up feeling like hole toys subsequent to the brand new forged — even their assist conversations are brief and flat by comparability. It’s arduous to shake the sensation that the returning faces are little greater than a superb advertising gimmick constructed to capitalize on the cellular hit Fire Emblem Heroes, which adopts the same method.
Engage often is the sequence’ most thoughtfully crafted story, even when its bigger-picture beats aren’t as thrilling as earlier sagas.
While the reliance on outdated faces can drag out the prolonged story, there’s numerous thematic depth to uncover. Family drama takes a entrance seat, as characters battle to reconcile who they wish to be with what’s anticipated of them resulting from their lineage. Most efficient to me, although, is Engage’s extra refined thread. It tells a narrative about characters too wanting to push their momentum in battle, just for it to backfire in a surprising trend. Alear and firm should study to decelerate and plan their subsequent strikes extra methodically in the event that they wish to defeat the Fell Dragon.
It’s a sensible central theme that pairs properly with the techniques style. The story nearly acts as a tutorial for strategize in battles, encouraging extra affected person play. In that regard, Engage often is the sequence’ most thoughtfully crafted story, even when its bigger-picture beats aren’t as thrilling as earlier sagas.
A tactical shift
Though I got here away from its narrative with combined emotions, Fire Emblem Engage is completely dependable in terms of fight. Nothing’s too radically modified right here: It’s nonetheless a turn-based techniques recreation the place battles unfold on a grid. The wonderful rock-paper-scissors battle system stays unchanged and there are sufficient quality-of-life boosts to stick with it to hurry with a style that’s quickly evolving as of late.
The additional layer of technique is simply sufficient to clean up a components that doesn’t want a lot shifting.
Its innovation comes extra within the type of what I assume could also be a one-off twist, although a robust one. In addition to the standard RPG customization, which has gamers deciding on courses and weapons for every unit, rings add new depth to the tried-and-true components. The equippable equipment are available in two flavors. Basic rings nearly act like spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Each one depicts a special character from an outdated recreation and offers its personal small stat boosts. They’re earned through gacha-style random pulls and might be melded collectively to create extra highly effective variations. Ring creation is an addictive little mini-system that provides gamers an inventory of sensible collectibles to chase all through the journey, although they change into considerably ineffective within the recreation’s last stretch.
More vital, nonetheless, are the 12 hero rings that summon the protagonists of every Fire Emblem title. When holding one, a unit can “Engage” to activate the hero like a Persona, giving them entry to some additional powers. Lyn, as an illustration, grants her holder with a hyper-long-range arrow assault, whereas Roy can set just a few squares on hearth to break enemies. It’s a small, however efficient innovation because it provides characters entry to a type of “ultimate” skill that may flip the tides of battle when used fastidiously. That additional layer of technique is simply sufficient to clean up a components that doesn’t want a lot shifting.
There are loads of alternatives to make use of these abilities too. Permadeath mode returns for individuals who desire a high-stakes story the place anybody can die, however there’s no scarcity of challenges outdoors of that. In explicit, its gauntlet-style trials which have gamers clearing a number of boards in a row require critical talent. They pushed my items to their limits, as I needed to fastidiously tackle huge armies that closely outnumbered my very own band of heroes. There are excessive rewards for weathering them, opening up an additional layer of weapon customization for gamers who actually wish to sink their tooth into every part the RPG presents.
What I discover most spectacular is how well-paced the expertise is — not one thing that’s simple with a story-heavy techniques recreation that pushes properly previous the 40-hour mark. Battles by no means really feel like they drag on too lengthy, as I’ve loads of choices to hurry turns alongside, automate my items’ behaviors, or skip enemy phases altogether. The stability between story interludes and battles feels excellent too, as I by no means felt like one was overpowering the opposite (one thing I struggled with in final 12 months’s Triangle Strategy). It’s all a testomony to developer Intelligent Systems, which as soon as once more proves why it’s an ordinary bearer for the style.
Even when Fire Emblem Engage appears like a B-game for the sequence, it’s nonetheless executed with a grasp strategist’s hand.
The social life
Though Fire Emblem Engage doesn’t push the sequence forwards in any huge method, it does construct on its predecessor, the superb Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Like that recreation, the social time between story missions is as essential because the clashes themselves. Players spend their free time on a floating island referred to as Somniel, which acts as an all-in-one hub much like Garreg Mach Monastery. There’s a formidable variety of actions to do in a day, from fishing to exercising to petting a canine. I discovered myself simply spending a full hour between missions in Somniel, giving extra life to Alear and their companions.
I’m simply hardly ever positive if the minigames are rewarding me in a significant method.
Though that every one sounds nice as a “back of the box” bullet level, it may be exhausting in apply. Many of the actions revolve round minigames or repeated interactions that don’t change a lot by means of the prolonged journey. For occasion, Alear can do an exercising minigame every day to get a short lived stat increase on their subsequent mission. That’ll require gamers to finish one among three tedious minigames although, like quickly urgent the A button 20 instances or finishing a easy rhythm recreation. By the midway mark, I used to be so bored with doing the identical issues once more that I made a decision to skip buffs like that altogether — and albeit, they didn’t make a lot of a distinction as soon as gone.
When it involves social actions, there’s a readability challenge; I’m simply hardly ever positive if the minigames are rewarding me in a significant method. It’s cute that I can pet and feed my little canine pal, however I don’t actually know what advantages I achieve from conserving its happiness degree at max. Is it price doing the simplistic wyvern-riding goal shooter greater than as soon as? Why ought to I undertake animals and place them in my farm yard? What do tarot readings truly do? Even when I discovered the solutions to those questions, I typically discovered that nothing about my expertise actually modified whether or not I did them or not.
That’s one space the place Engage and Three Houses differ. In the latter, social time was a treasured useful resource. I had to decide on what I needed to do in a day, which allowed me to make impactful selections. Would I spend the day cooking to get a useful stat increase or take a scholar out for tea to enhance my relationship with them? There aren’t any such limitations in Somniel, and whereas that sounds releasing in principle, it turns aspect actions right into a compulsive chore guidelines.
Moments like which might be the place I discover myself tempted to label Fire Emblem Engage a slight step again (and I think about it is likely to be for some), however I see it extra as a wholesome regroup. There’s an alternate path wherein this merely performs like a correct Three Houses sequel, with a brand new instructor and forged of plucky college students. It could be a surefire solution to capitalize on successful recreation’s success, however one that would shortly flip a profitable technique into one thing bland and predictable. By stepping again and persevering with to experiment with the recipe, Intelligent Systems finds compelling new concepts that widen out its tactical toolkit. With one other success like this below its belt, I’m satisfied that the style’s most constant sequence received’t discover itself on the shedding finish of the battle anytime quickly.
Fire Emblem Engage was examined on a Nintendo Switch OLED in handheld mode and on a TCL 6-Series R635 when docked.
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