Fire Emblem Engage

 Switch
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 822 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 451 out of 822
  2. Mixed: 154 out of 822
  3. Negative: 217 out of 822
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  1. NagisaNeko
    Jan 24, 2023
    7
    I admit that this work is better than the previous work, both in terms of gameplay and map design, but the character creation, character modeling and plot design of this work make me very disappointed. I mean, if you just enjoy srpg game, you will probably like ENGAGE very much, but if you also value the shaping of plot and character relationship, then you may be a little disappointed.
  2. Belonski
    Jan 25, 2023
    6
    One of the best Fire Emblems in technical aspects like gameplay, animations and sound coupled with probably the worst in story and characters. What a waste.

    Pity for the technical team aswell to have their good work ruined by such a big failure of the writing team.
  3. Lifestranding
    Feb 23, 2023
    5
    Basically an SRPG game, but you only get the ‘S’
    ………………………………………………………………..
  4. ZXSth
    Jan 27, 2023
    7
    A graphically excellent, mechanically sound and relatively enjoyable game with an insultingly simplistic story. Characters mostly have the depth of a kiddie pool, and most look like rejected Genshin Impact designs.

    Fans of Three Houses will be utterly baffled and disappointed by Engage's astounding lack of narrative depth - its story is pure schlock, and its characters range from    A graphically excellent, mechanically sound and relatively enjoyable game with an insultingly simplistic story. Characters mostly have the depth of a kiddie pool, and most look like rejected Genshin Impact designs.

    Fans of Three Houses will be utterly baffled and disappointed by Engage's astounding lack of narrative depth - its story is pure schlock, and its characters range from marginally charming to repulsively one-note. However, the good elements may manage to carry you through the eye roll-inducing cutscenes (which can be skipped, thankfully).

    Overall: A narratively disappointing game with lots to enjoy on a mechanical level.    … Expand
  5. Solarus10
    Feb 2, 2023
    6
    Fire emblem engage seems like a step back compared to most fire emblem games from the last decade. The writing is atrocious and the characters are shallow. I have heard some people compare it to older games, but that is only true with the game play. Emotional moments in the story miss their mark because they feel unearned and occur before the player becomes invested. The stakes justFire emblem engage seems like a step back compared to most fire emblem games from the last decade. The writing is atrocious and the characters are shallow. I have heard some people compare it to older games, but that is only true with the game play. Emotional moments in the story miss their mark because they feel unearned and occur before the player becomes invested. The stakes just aren't there in this game because the writing is aweful. I used to pre-order every fire emblem game, I think I will wait for the user feedback in the future. I'm surprised by how inflated the critic score is.… Expand
  6. Yunalesca
    Jan 27, 2023
    5
    Graphics are so much better, cel shaded sort of Style is nice, but good lord the design, story and characterization have run straight off a cliff. I'm confused as to why the characters are walking one dimensional tropes, and why they look the way they do. I'm aware Awakening and Fates get some flack for the same issues, but honestly I'd still take their writing any day over this. As it isGraphics are so much better, cel shaded sort of Style is nice, but good lord the design, story and characterization have run straight off a cliff. I'm confused as to why the characters are walking one dimensional tropes, and why they look the way they do. I'm aware Awakening and Fates get some flack for the same issues, but honestly I'd still take their writing any day over this. As it is now- my desire to play more is entirely none-existent despite the gameplay being just as fine as it always is.… Expand
  7. Jakedoe
    Mar 4, 2023
    4
    Awful writing, like the worst I've seen in a long time.
    It focuses on combat instead of social which would be fine if the main thrust of the narrative made it actually worth going from encounter to encounter.
    It's so clichè and frustrating, at chapter ten end I wanted to snap my switch in half at how absolutely trash that plot development was. One big thing for me is death in the game,    Awful writing, like the worst I've seen in a long time.
    It focuses on combat instead of social which would be fine if the main thrust of the narrative made it actually worth going from encounter to encounter.

    It's so clichè and frustrating, at chapter ten end I wanted to snap my switch in half at how absolutely trash that plot development was.

    One big thing for me is death in the game, previously you could kill characters and it was impactful... now you can't kill veyle you can't kill anyone so the only people who can die permanently are your companions... great idea morons, you had a great thing that actually stuck with people and you abandoned it.

    Genuinely the combat is great, everything is else is pure distilled bottom of the barrel anime story.    … Expand
  8. Ahoythere
    Mar 5, 2023
    6
    After beating the game, I'm putting a solid 6 due to a personal like of the art style and combat. However, the story was incredibly stupid, and return trips to the Sominel were always tedious, it truly could have just been a menu on the world map and I would have been so much more satisfied. Another reason that I am lowering it, is due to the inability to change the difficulty to higherAfter beating the game, I'm putting a solid 6 due to a personal like of the art style and combat. However, the story was incredibly stupid, and return trips to the Sominel were always tedious, it truly could have just been a menu on the world map and I would have been so much more satisfied. Another reason that I am lowering it, is due to the inability to change the difficulty to higher settings. I feel bad for anyone who started on normal, got invested, then was stuck at it. It was simply too easy of a difficulty, so much so that it should have been called easy mode.… Expand
  9. CelticRune212
    Jan 28, 2023
    6
    Fire Emblem Engage has amazing combat and could possibly be one of the best in the series IF the story was better. This game also taught me that yes, there can be too many mechanics in video games. I've gotten to chapter 16, and I just find it so hard to pick up the game due to the story being so bland, and all the mechanics just clogging up the screen. If you are looking to get into FireFire Emblem Engage has amazing combat and could possibly be one of the best in the series IF the story was better. This game also taught me that yes, there can be too many mechanics in video games. I've gotten to chapter 16, and I just find it so hard to pick up the game due to the story being so bland, and all the mechanics just clogging up the screen. If you are looking to get into Fire Emblem, I wouldn't recommend this game. I'd recommend Three Houses instead.… Expand
  10. Phrancium
    Feb 3, 2023
    7
    Fire emblem engage brings interesting new mechanics and fun new ways to play the game, but falls far short in terms of storytelling and characterization which is especially disappointing after previous entries have demonstrated that they are capable of telling a strong story with interesting characters.

    Gameplay: 8/10 Starting with the best part first, the gameplay of engage is a    Fire emblem engage brings interesting new mechanics and fun new ways to play the game, but falls far short in terms of storytelling and characterization which is especially disappointing after previous entries have demonstrated that they are capable of telling a strong story with interesting characters.

    Gameplay: 8/10
    Starting with the best part first, the gameplay of engage is a refreshing return to the roots of fire emblem after being what I believe was the weakest part of the previous entry, three houses. Engage introduces a lot of interesting new mechanics like breaking, smashing, and secondary classes that change the way the game can be played and allows for the player to form interesting strategies and approach each situation in many different and creative ways. The new emblem system, despite being disappointing from a narrative standpoint, also allows give players even more avenues to approach the game and experimenting with different pairings of units and emblems was wholeheartedly enjoyable. What's keeping Engage from getting a full 10/10 in this category from me is that I'm not a huge fan of the new primary class system locking units to only one weapon type in their base class, and although emblems can make up for that fact it was very confusing trying to figure out exactly how proficiency and the weapon system works. Additionally, gameplay balance is somewhat lopsided making some classes are miles better than other and some units completely overshadowed by others that are introduced just one chapter later.

    Story: 4/10
    To put it nicely, the story is uninspired. To put it a little less nicely, the story is a mess of poor writing, undeserved character moments, clichés, and dialogue that somehow manages to drag on for too long while providing no content. The overall story plays out almost exactly as you would expect it to from minute one; you can tell as soon as you meet them which characters will die and how it will advance the plot. On top of all that, instead of starting the story as an amnesiac tactician, a boy from Ram village, or other similarly mundane roles, you start of the game playing as the divine dragon, worshipped by everyone across the continent. This makes it so that most character interactions take a similar course and our character sees very little development throughout the game. After all, how much higher can you take a character who starts of the the literal god of the land?
    Lastly, the worldbuilding was poorly done and the world itself feels very small, despite spanning an entire continent with four theoretically interesting countries. We spend very little time exploring the potentially interesting landscape, hopping from town to town or various locations of interest like in many previous titles. Instead we traverse through countries in one or two steps, going from castle to border to castle again, rushing to meet the next bland, predictable, story beat.

    Characterization: 5/10
    The characterization of this game was what I was most disappointed in, as Three Houses has shown us how good it could potentially be. Instead it feels like the characters in this game are flatter and more one dimensional than fates or even the GBA games. Most support conversations in this game are all very samey and do very little for actually fleshing out the characters, often consisting of nothing more than both characters tossing compliments back and forth.
    The characters in this game lack a lot of the spice and quirkiness that made more memorable characters from other games so endearing, like Ingrid laying into Sylvain for his horniness, Seteth's overprotection of Flayn, or even Annette's singing. There are some characters that do toe the line of being interesting, but even in those cases they seem to always take the safe route and make them just another affable agreeable clone who tries their best to help everyone.    … Expand
  11. Nene27
    Feb 4, 2023
    5
    I will start off by saying that I have only every played Fire Emblem Three Houses. I loved that game, I replayed it multiple times. I didn't really like this game and I am not going to be replaying it. Due to the story being so linear, there is no reason too.

    The gameplay is definitely a step up. I liked weapon triangle and how the characters moved. I liked the different maps for each    I will start off by saying that I have only every played Fire Emblem Three Houses. I loved that game, I replayed it multiple times. I didn't really like this game and I am not going to be replaying it. Due to the story being so linear, there is no reason too.

    The gameplay is definitely a step up. I liked weapon triangle and how the characters moved. I liked the different maps for each NEW part of the story. However, I didn't like revisiting the same maps again and again to farm resources. The story is okay, nothing new or exciting just meh. It's a linear game with no meaningful choices. Lots and lots of plot holes and things that just don't make sense.

    The outlandish character design wasn't that big of a deal for me. What did bother me the most was the absent storytelling. The support/bond conversations really don't mean anything. Moments that should be sad weren't. The characters are either boring or annoying. I really didn't care to learn anything more about them after getting the supports past a C. Not that their supports told us anything much more about them anyway. I got everyone to A and it was a waste of time.

    If you like a game that has great gameplay mechanics and a meh story is fine. Then pick this game up. If you are like me and the story is very important to you too. Don't waste your money or wait till it goes on sale.    … Expand
  12. dimilix
    Feb 7, 2023
    5
    Incredibly bland story and protagonist. Good game mechanics. They balance each other out (I guess?)
  13. Daveplaysgames
    Feb 9, 2023
    5
    This is my first fire emblem game, and sadly it will probably be my last too. I will start with the positives, the gameplay is actually top notch I had a lot of fun while I was in battle, unfortunately, all that joy quickly dissipated when I had to sit through some of the most generic, cliche riddled, drivel I have ever witnessed in a video game, delivered by what I can only describe asThis is my first fire emblem game, and sadly it will probably be my last too. I will start with the positives, the gameplay is actually top notch I had a lot of fun while I was in battle, unfortunately, all that joy quickly dissipated when I had to sit through some of the most generic, cliche riddled, drivel I have ever witnessed in a video game, delivered by what I can only describe as the most annoying set of overly enthusiastic characters I have ever encountered. Now, don’t get me wrong I am not the kind of gamer who insists on an Oscar winning script in a game, if I want deep and meaningful I will read a book or watch a movie, but I would like at least some slightly convincing characters set in a slightly convincing story, but engage fails so utterly and miserably in this respect it’s very hard to recommend. If you want to play a really great strategy RPG I would give Triangle strategy a go first. My overwhelming feelings attached to Engage is not the fun in the battles I had, but more to do with the hole left in my wallet, disappointing.… Expand
  14. Exocoex
    Mar 3, 2023
    2
    It's a Fire Emblem game, except the characters are flat and impersonable, plot is cliche and predictable and failure to build mood tends to leave you laughing at the game's feeble attempts to make you sad or upset on behalf of the characters. Returning characters are forcefully stuffed in the game with mechanics that do not provide much of anything and with minimum opportunities toIt's a Fire Emblem game, except the characters are flat and impersonable, plot is cliche and predictable and failure to build mood tends to leave you laughing at the game's feeble attempts to make you sad or upset on behalf of the characters. Returning characters are forcefully stuffed in the game with mechanics that do not provide much of anything and with minimum opportunities to interact with them. Menu system is a mess and the most frequently used menus are buried under rarely used keys and multiple submenus, requiring you to spend a noticeable amount of your gaming time simply clicking through menus.

    Combat remains as fun as ever but if you wanted anything else out of this game, don't.    … Expand
  15. Rotwah
    Jan 26, 2023
    5
    Gameplay and technical aspects 9/10 + story and characters 1/10 = 5/10 overall
  16. Manks
    Jan 28, 2023
    5
    The combat is good but the story is awful. Idk how they can have such a massive and good story in 3 houses then go to this. Feels like a b team made it whole the main team is working on the next ambitious one.
  17. Lewyn
    Feb 22, 2023
    4
    I'll start by saying, I am a big Fire Emblem fan, my first game in the series being Radiant Dawn. However this game left me being extremely disappointed.

    First the story, uses literal every trope in the series shoehorning them in every second. Making it feel more like that events that happen in the story feel forced. As for this round of characters, I couldn't find a single one I enjoyed,    I'll start by saying, I am a big Fire Emblem fan, my first game in the series being Radiant Dawn. However this game left me being extremely disappointed.

    First the story, uses literal every trope in the series shoehorning them in every second. Making it feel more like that events that happen in the story feel forced. As for this round of characters, I couldn't find a single one I enjoyed, and found myself skipping nearly every Support Conversation. It also doesn't help this batch of characters looks are often overly designed. The new batch of Characters will likely not mash well with others in Heroes either as this game is first to drop Nordic Names in favor of French names.

    Then for the gameplay... Its painfully dull. The new Break System doesn't feel rewarding and often makes it more difficult to level up certain units. The ways skills work, and the finite amount of resources at your disposal makes the new skill system frustrating. Lastly what the games does and doesn't teach up in tutorials make no sense. Like the game will tell you about to shop, pet your pets and few mini games but won't tell you how skills are learned or bond rings work.


    The only positive is seeing some of the older characters again. Kinda wish instead we got a game of Lucina traveling through time seeking help from different characters of past games instead of this weird mess.    … Expand
  18. Faetori
    Jan 25, 2023
    5
    The gameplay itself and the technical portion of the game is pretty good. The return of the weapon triangle works really well and the general feel and flow of the combat is a genuine step up from previous entries.
    Graphics have been improved quite a bit as well; the general quality of the models and maps is very high, however, the design direction sometimes feel a bit too clean and    The gameplay itself and the technical portion of the game is pretty good. The return of the weapon triangle works really well and the general feel and flow of the combat is a genuine step up from previous entries.
    Graphics have been improved quite a bit as well; the general quality of the models and maps is very high, however, the design direction sometimes feel a bit too clean and sanitized, making the world feel too plastic and artificial at times.
    The real problem and why this game utterly fails is the story. The plot feels like it was generated by AI with the most predictable twists and most soulless characters. Even though the gameplay was fun, the poor quality of the story keeps stopping me from actually wanting to play it. And that really sucks.

    Fire Emblem has always been about the perfect ratio of a good story and good combat, in Engage it feels like half of it is missing.    … Expand
  19. SomethingSom
    Jan 26, 2023
    5
    Gameplay is fun. The story and characters are soulless. Feels like a mobile game but it’s a full priced Nintendo game.. yikes
  20. Edge077
    Feb 9, 2023
    4
    Such a disappointment, the most underwhelming story of the series. Characters are not at all interesting, after a while you just stop caring. Gameplay is good but not better than other instalments. Compared to 3 Houses this is so many steps back.
  21. Lonewolftee
    Jan 25, 2023
    5
    If you played 3 houses then this is a major improvement in terms of graphics and perfomance. The animations are even improved, the combat and the mechanics are great. Music is also a let down, I haven't heard a single song that caught my attention. However the story and characters are god awful. I have never played a Fire Emblem where I didnt like a single character until now. TheIf you played 3 houses then this is a major improvement in terms of graphics and perfomance. The animations are even improved, the combat and the mechanics are great. Music is also a let down, I haven't heard a single song that caught my attention. However the story and characters are god awful. I have never played a Fire Emblem where I didnt like a single character until now. The main character Alear is the most boring and bland protaganist I have ever played with, I honestly would have preferred him/her to be silent. The dialog is terrible, the story is so uninteresting that I started skipping halfway through. The English voices arent bad but their dialog is what ruins everyone, they all seem dense, naive, weak, overly kind. The MC is the Divine dragon or whatever and everyone respects him to simp levels and he doesn't deserve it. TLDR, story and charcters are so bad that it actually ruins the game, im afraid what they would do to a remake at this point.… Expand
  22. Vidril
    Jan 25, 2023
    6
    A Fire Emblem game that sacrifices everything the series has in service of combat and mass-market appeal. If this is your first Fire Emblem, you might greatly enjoy it's expressive combat, beautiful colour direction, and high production values. Maybe even getting interested in the prior games via the Emblems. If you're a returning Fire Emblem fan though, you can very well be disappointedA Fire Emblem game that sacrifices everything the series has in service of combat and mass-market appeal. If this is your first Fire Emblem, you might greatly enjoy it's expressive combat, beautiful colour direction, and high production values. Maybe even getting interested in the prior games via the Emblems. If you're a returning Fire Emblem fan though, you can very well be disappointed by the absolutely hollow story, ill-fitting character designs, sorry excuses for Supports/Bonds, and constantly reminded of the better games that came before it via the Emblems.
    Fire Emblem Engage tries to capture a broader, outside audience, completely forgetting what made both the veterans and the 3Houses crowd like it in the first place.    … Expand
  23. avantic00
    Feb 6, 2023
    0
    Combat was great and all, but the amount of cringe it gave during gameplay kept distubing me from immersing into the game. I wasn't able to get a clean and comforting gameplay as my previous FEs. Even with good combat u can't cover the bad writing...It hurts to rate negative to my favorite series...But Imma also be harsh on this one, so they don't bring that scenario writer again.
  24. onen
    Jan 28, 2023
    6
    Gameplay is fun. The story and characters are soulless. Feels like a mobile game but it’s a full priced Nintendo game.. yikes
  25. Sanick
    Feb 23, 2023
    0
    Pros: Squares and math

    The only positive thing I can really say about this game is that it is a tactical RPG. There are squares to count, and there's math to do. I guess that's fun, but Fire Emblem Engage does very little to make it refreshing or interesting compared to other games in the genre, and it sacrifices a lot of elements from its previous entry, Three Houses. Cons: Dull    Pros: Squares and math

    The only positive thing I can really say about this game is that it is a tactical RPG. There are squares to count, and there's math to do. I guess that's fun, but Fire Emblem Engage does very little to make it refreshing or interesting compared to other games in the genre, and it sacrifices a lot of elements from its previous entry, Three Houses.

    Cons: Dull Setting, Uninteresting Characters, Recycled Plot, Awful Writing, Poor Quality of Life, Bizarre Character Designs, Lackluster Cosmetics, No New Game Plus

    The writing in this game is crap.

    The game is all about rings, so they made the continent a ring. It's divided into four quadrants, each one with the climate of a Mario level. Original. There are some meager attempts at establishing political relationships between the four countries, but it's pretty bad, and doesn't make the setting interesting. Fodlan was infinitely better.

    The characters don't get even a fraction of the effort that the Three Houses cast received. There aren't even paired endings for any characters besides the one who the avatar S ranks. Character writing seems to have been a very low priority in this game and it shows.

    The story is about the main character traveling across the continent to find all the magical items so they can defeat the big evil. It's a story you've seen a hundred times and Engage does nothing to put a twist on it or make it original at all. Some plot points are rushed through with no time for characters to process information. Other times, characters don't even get an ounce of their backstory revealed until they're on their death bed, as though players should suddenly care for this character. At its worst, I found the story outright insulting as it expected me to accept blatantly ridiculous developments with a straight face.

    The game takes several steps back in terms of Quality of Life. Offenses include:
    - Can't rotate the camera 360 degrees around the map anymore
    - Can't remap buttons
    - Can't hide the dialogue box
    - The gallery of cutscenes, music, and Support conversations, is tied to specific save files instead of being on the main menu. This means you don't have a single gallery showing all Supports you've unlocked across multiple playthroughs.

    I greatly dislike most of the character designs. The main character's design is the worst for obvious reasons. Others just have stars or hearts on their face. Is it a sticker? A tattoo? I'm not opposed to a little color in character designs, but many of them cross the line into pure silliness. I can't take them seriously at all.

    The option to keep a character's default outfit in battle is gone. If you reclass them, they WILL use that class's outfit in battle with no exceptions. Cosmetic options in the Somniel (the base outside of combat) are unimpressive as well, often offering plain outfits with little to no patterning and color schemes which don't change between different characters. Oh, and these outfits cost valuable metals that you could be using to upgrade your weapons, so you must play inefficiently to use the cosmetics. Maybe they stay unlocked on New Game Plus? Except...

    There's no New Game Plus. This is inexcusable. Again, several steps backwards on something they already had in their previous entry. With the costs of cosmetics, weapon upgrades, and acquiring new skills so high, the game seems to be built around the idea that you could use NG+ to reach things you couldn't in a single playthrough. Yet, they dropped the ball.

    Mixed: Mechanics, RPG Stuff

    Engage's main brag is new mechanics, such as using the Emblem rings containing old characters, inflicting the Break status, and new aspects of classes. As much as some people are praising these mechanics, I felt that they had a lighter impact than I expected on the gameplay. I definitely wasn't willing to sacrifice all quality in the writing for a couple of mechanical trinkets.

    I felt that the variety in classes was lacking. In terms of magic, the Sage and High Priest classes are mostly clones of each other, leaving only two different magic classes: Sage and Mage Knight. Some classes, like Swordmaster and Royal Knight, are simply obsolete compared to others.

    In terms of customizing units, I would have liked more. Units only get two skill slots to use, and the SP costs of acquiring these skills are extremely high. So much so that some characters will wait most of the game before getting a skill you want for them. There wasn't a ton of variety in these skills either, with some skills standing out as the most obvious choice for nearly every unit.

    Overall, this entry completely lost my interest in the series. I won't pay much attention to future FE games unless they show a huge focus on writing, QoL, and greater customization of units in order to win me back.    … Expand
  26. jmd6174
    Jan 24, 2023
    5
    The Good: -Visually, the game is crisp and colorful, and the battle animations are smooth and dynamic.
    -Gameplay is as solid as it’s ever been; happy to see the return of the weapon triangle. From a purely tactical perspective, the engage mechanic adds a nice layer of strategy to the battles.
    The Bad: -The characters are *incredibly* bland, generic, and flat out forgettable. Support    The Good: -Visually, the game is crisp and colorful, and the battle animations are smooth and dynamic.
    -Gameplay is as solid as it’s ever been; happy to see the return of the weapon triangle. From a purely tactical perspective, the engage mechanic adds a nice layer of strategy to the battles.

    The Bad:
    -The characters are *incredibly* bland, generic, and flat out forgettable. Support conversations are either so short or so shallow that even those don’t help flesh the characters out.
    -The voice acting, while not necessarily bad, is noticeably lower quality compared to Three Houses and Echoes.
    -The cutesy, ultra-anime style is just not my thing. Hard to take the characters and the world seriously when all the females look like 12 year-old vtubers. You can especially notice it with the emblem characters. Their faces look so child-like compared to their original designs.
    -The plot is basic to the nth degree. Honestly don’t think they could have come up with a more dull, hackneyed, and uninspired story if they tried.
    -The music is okay, but not up to the Fire Emblem standard.    … Expand
  27. Chadx26
    Jan 24, 2023
    7
    The gameplay is truly great!

    This story and the characters, on the other hand, not so much. I won’t dwell on this. It is what it is… I did not like it.

    Personal skills are basic and some just don’t fit what the character does best. Decent map designs.

    It is FUN to play. If you already like FE you’ll find something to like here if you can get past the writing .
  28. Kenmei
    Jan 23, 2023
    5
    Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of my favorite games on the Switch and probably my favorite FE game. I even really enjoyed the Dynasty Warriors spin off game that came from it while not really being a big DW fan. So, coming into this, I had some pretty high expectations. And, while the gameplay has taken some pretty good steps forward, the story and characters absolutely kill any interestFire Emblem: Three Houses is one of my favorite games on the Switch and probably my favorite FE game. I even really enjoyed the Dynasty Warriors spin off game that came from it while not really being a big DW fan. So, coming into this, I had some pretty high expectations. And, while the gameplay has taken some pretty good steps forward, the story and characters absolutely kill any interest I have in continue playing it.
    Starting with the gameplay, the biggest addition are the Emblem Rings. Major upgrades for characters that have the "soul" of most of the previous FE games protagonists in them, even from games that have never seen a western release. They offer a ton of options for characters to upgrade their abilities and become a huge powerhouse on battlefield, even if it's not till right before the end of the game do you have the full compliment of rings at your disposal. There's also a new break mechanic that lets you, or your opponent, smash the current weapon they're holding so they can't retaliate for a little bit. And healers can now be used as offensive units as they're now all martial artists, allowing them to smash the bow, tome, and dagger weapons instead of just standing back and healing all the time. There's definitely enough here to definitively say that the gameplay has taken a step forward and, because all characters now move much more fluidly on the battlefield, things are much smoother then they ever have been before and that's very nice.
    However it's the story and characters where the game is truly let down. The story is an extremely generic "kill the evil dragon" fantasy type story, which is a huge downgrade from the political and religious intrigue from the previous game. Each character is either good just because or evil just because and it became extremely boring when I had to sit through an almost endless amount chapters that never went anywhere except to introduce yet another trope-filled character that had zero personality other then what it's trope said it had to be. There are way too many characters here, so many that it will be virtually impossible to level more then your standard 8-10 characters on a playthrough. But the biggest let down in the main character, Alaer. Even though they are a literal God in this universe, and are treated as such by each character who interacts with them, even the bad guys, they are about as boring and pathetic as possible. Giving them a voice might have backfired cause they were just so annoying the entire game. I played as the male character so it might be different with the female character, but I absolutely despise them.
    I was let down by this game. While I really like the gameplay, and that's the only reason I'm giving this game the score I am, the story and characters attached to it are just so bad it's beyond saving. There's no reason to replay this game after completing the main story and, even with an expansion pass, I can't see myself ever coming back to this game. This is such a setback for the Fire Emblem franchise. While I don't see it being the last one, this one left such a bad taste in my mouth that I don't know if I'll be coming back to it.    … Expand
  29. Delsinx4
    Jan 21, 2023
    6
    A step forward for the series in the technical aspect, but in the story and the sense of it they are 2 steps back, the cinematics many times do not make sense in relation to the gameplay, they feel very random at times and sometimes with zero coherence, in general, it cost me much more to play it than the last games like three houses or echoes.
  30. LongTimeFEFan1
    Jan 24, 2023
    5
    Fire Emblem Engage is an embarrassment to the franchise.
    It's not a 0/10 but it's definitely no higher than a 7 purely based on what it represents for the series. In the pre-Awakening games FE settings and stories took themselves seriously and were played straight. Starting with Awakening this changed to childish tongue-in-cheek self-parodying. Fates and Awakening were games for young    Fire Emblem Engage is an embarrassment to the franchise.
    It's not a 0/10 but it's definitely no higher than a 7 purely based on what it represents for the series. In the pre-Awakening games FE settings and stories took themselves seriously and were played straight. Starting with Awakening this changed to childish tongue-in-cheek self-parodying. Fates and Awakening were games for young children, with embarrassing, cringeworthy writing and dialogue and half assed generic plots. This likely stems from the fact that they no longer have the writing talent they once had. You're not going to squeeze a Genealogy of Radiant Dawn out of the current writers.
    However, Three Houses, the previous entry, attempted to recapture the magic of the older games by telling a serious, complex story that took itself seriously tonally and didn't cowardly retreat into self-satire to deflect from its deficiencies. Three Houses was not a perfect game, but it was a step in the right direction to restore some amount of dignity to the franchise.

    With Engage, we now have all of that getting thrown into the trash in favour of a retreat into the shallowness and obnoxious tone of the Fateswakening era of games. The lead scenario writer, Nami Komuro, was even the main scenario writer for Fates and Awakening! Why did they bring back a writer who was universally panned? Who knows. Again, perhaps it was because they simply lack the talent that they used to have?
    I'm not surprised that Engage has received an immense amount of backlash for its tone and style. When people say "return to form", they really mean "return to Fateswakening", but the fanbase has moved on since then. People who once assumed FE was always childish and camp realised they were wrong when 3H attempted to tell a serious story. Expectations have been raised, people don't want a Saturday morning cartoon format anymore, they want real stories to get them invested in real characters.
    If this game came out in 2014, I'm sure people would have been fine with it. But it's not 2014 anymore, and people expect more from their FE games outside of their gameplay. The shallow cope perpetuated by people who had only played Fates and Awakening that "FE stories were always bad" has been thoroughly debunked and nobody is falling for it anymore. They can be good, it's just that the modern developers are lazy.

    The gameplay mechanics are alright. Not good enough to make up for how the game fails in every other area. It could have the best gameplay in the franchise and it would still feel like a slog due to how childish and boring every other aspect is. It's also ironic that this is a series defined by perma death and making you feel an attachment to the units, when the average player wants to see every character from Fates, Awakening and Engage killed off for being a constant irritating presence.

    It's honestly quite sickening to see these shallow and obnoxious characters dragging around the ghosts of old FE characters, attempting to beat nostalgia into the audience. All they do is serve as a reminder of how good Fire Emblem once was, and how good it could still be, if anybody currently working at Intelligent Systems cared as much about the history of the franchise as the random people they hired from Koei Tecmo for Three Houses. Sad.    … Expand
  31. dmztheone
    Feb 20, 2023
    9
    2nd Review (100 hours gameplay) Score: 9
    I highly recommend this game! I've been playing it almost daily for almost a month now and I am thoroughly impressed. Although the story and relationships may not be as strong as Three Houses, the battle mechanism is top-notch and the game's fluidness is unbeatable. The ring mechanism and various abilities that are unlocked throughout the game are    2nd Review (100 hours gameplay) Score: 9
    I highly recommend this game! I've been playing it almost daily for almost a month now and I am thoroughly impressed. Although the story and relationships may not be as strong as Three Houses, the battle mechanism is top-notch and the game's fluidness is unbeatable. The ring mechanism and various abilities that are unlocked throughout the game are both inventive and fun, adding an extra layer of replayability. Despite the missed opportunities in the story, the game's design is impressive and the battles are particularly outstanding. I encourage you to approach the game with an open mind and focus on the battles, as you'll be rewarded with an enjoyable experience. Personally, I am still exploring the ring mechanism and skills, which has added a lot of fun to my gameplay. I am hopeful that expansion packs will provide even more enjoyment in the future!

    1st Review (20 hours gameplay) Score: 7
    Fire Emblem: Engage is a solid strategy game that offers enjoyable battle mechanics, thanks to the addition of Emblem rings and Break mechanics. However, the game falls short in other areas, particularly in the story and character design. While I haven't completed the game yet and have only played around 20 hours, at this point, I can say that the overall experience is lacking in depth and fails to live up to the standard set by previous entries in the series. In my opinion, the game is worth playing for the battles alone, but don't expect much in terms of a compelling story or engaging characters. Overall, Fire Emblem: Engage is a decent way to pass the time, but I hope that Nintendo puts more effort into storytelling and character design in future games.    … Expand
  32. Scrimblo79
    Jan 21, 2023
    6
    When viewed in the context of the entire franchise, Engage is a disappointment that represents a regression rather than a progression in quality.

    Whilst containing an admittedly interesting new battle system, it fails to reach the heights of games like Thracia and Conquest and will seem utterly unremarkable to long-time fans. Furthermore, whatever pleasure is granted by the battle    When viewed in the context of the entire franchise, Engage is a disappointment that represents a regression rather than a progression in quality.

    Whilst containing an admittedly interesting new battle system, it fails to reach the heights of games like Thracia and Conquest and will seem utterly unremarkable to long-time fans. Furthermore, whatever pleasure is granted by the battle mechanics fails to compensate for the lacklustre nature of the game in all other areas. Alear wanders through a generic world of forgettable characters trying to obtain macguffins whilst nothing interesting or of note occurs. It is a plot and world so generic and formulaic that one wonders if they fed the previous scripts into an AI and generated it mechanically. Plot beats range from mind-numbingly bland to hilariously overdramatic and forced: Engage is a game that seems to want emotional pay-off whilst giving you no reason to care for the characters it establishes.
    Characters are regression to the shallow tropes of Fates which feel poorly thought out and like there was no underlying intention to them other than to pad out the roster. Beyond some exceptions such as Diamant, they range from non-entities to Jar Jar Binks level irritating presences that have one personality trait and will repeat it for hundreds of lines of dialogue. The music is serviceable but the most generic of the post-Awakening Fire Emblem games. Character design is awful; it is ironic that despite being so flashy and outrageous, none of these characters will stick in the player's mind once they go off-screen.

    It would be interesting to see the break and emblem mechanics in a game that knew what its identity was.
    There is no artistic vision or cohesive idea underlying Engage: it is a bundle of elements of poor quality slapped together on top of a gameplay system that whilst may be impressive to players whose only prior experience was Three Houses, fails to come even remotely close to being the best of what the franchise has to offer, or to make it worthwhile suffering through the other aspects of the game.
    Engage, by all metrics, is at best an average Fire Emblem entry, and at worst a cynical, soulless product with an identity crisis.    … Expand
  33. Dernn
    Jan 22, 2023
    5
    Massive step backwards from Three House's. Very mediocre predictable plot with extremely cringe dialogue and boring supports.
  34. failnaught
    Jan 24, 2023
    4
    Innovative and interesting gameplay with dazzling character designs, but the insipid plot and bland characterization of the cast leave a lot to be desired, especially it being the successor of the highly-raved Three Houses. It feels very infantile and regressive, highlighted by some moments reminiscent of past FE glories which are unfortunately few and far between. Cutscenes and dialoguesInnovative and interesting gameplay with dazzling character designs, but the insipid plot and bland characterization of the cast leave a lot to be desired, especially it being the successor of the highly-raved Three Houses. It feels very infantile and regressive, highlighted by some moments reminiscent of past FE glories which are unfortunately few and far between. Cutscenes and dialogues look and sound like a high school theater rehearsal and are painful to watch at times. I really dislike the repetitive nature of the personalities as well. Also, if we get a penny for every dang time "Divine" or "Divine Dragon" is mentioned or used, we'd all be the next Bezos or Musk, I swear.

    I spent hundreds of hours in Three Houses and Three Hopes, enjoying every single moment of it, and I can sense emotional attachment to even the minor characters (Gatekeeper and monastery animals, anyone?). In Engage, I just couldn't wait for things to end, and I can't be bothered developing any attachment to any of these characters. Save your money and replay Three Houses and its spin-off, it's a way better use of your time and money.    … Expand
  35. Ozmozz
    Jan 22, 2023
    5
    I try really hard to like it, with is all colorful but empty cast, and it's bland story without any taste. Yes the gameplay is really good, but the lack of love that was given to the story, the lack of emotion and depth is very overwelming for me. Heck, even Fates manage to give us three better stories than this title. A huge step back, for better gameplay... To bad.
  36. Merro
    Jan 23, 2023
    6
    Worst then 3 houses. Better graphics but that's it.
    Buy it online with heavy discount.
  37. theBiggreen
    Jan 22, 2023
    6
    Seems to be a big step back for the series. The people praising it for being more like the older games seem to forget that it was a failing series before the more modern changes. A fun spin-off or side game but if this is future of series I would be very worried.
  38. FredtheMole
    Jan 22, 2023
    9
    Story and writing are pretty awful, but in a way that I think enhances the game, considering how funny it makes it. Gameplay is solid and, while the game is definitely worse than Three Houses, it's definitely a solid turn-based strategy experience.
  39. TJohn
    Jan 22, 2023
    8
    As others have said, it’s a solid game with excellent controls and a beautiful art style. The story isn’t as good as 3H and the characters aren’t as memorable, but aside from these differences it has made some welcome changes over 3H. The tactical combat is some of the best in the series, period, and I love the art style and relaxing vibe of the Somniel. The UI is also much better and itAs others have said, it’s a solid game with excellent controls and a beautiful art style. The story isn’t as good as 3H and the characters aren’t as memorable, but aside from these differences it has made some welcome changes over 3H. The tactical combat is some of the best in the series, period, and I love the art style and relaxing vibe of the Somniel. The UI is also much better and it feels way more streamlined to navigate.

    The emblems are also a cool addition, and the AI itself is much better in Engage making it more fun to try out different emblem combinations.

    I think in many respects this game is better than 3H, so giving it anything less than an 8 seems unjustified. Still I feel like 3H did such an incredible job with the characters, voice acting, and story, that this game just feels like it’s missing something by comparison. There are a few minor changes that do annoy me in this game. There are a lot of random lines that aren’t voice acted which seems like a strange choice after 3H voice acted nearly everything. I also felt like the tutorial/get to know the game on the beginning was too long, but these are minor gripes.

    Overall Engage is an excellent game that doesn’t quite have the same heart as 3 Houses, but definitely makes up for it with a beautiful art style and tight controls. 8/10    … Expand
  40. Zorz4
    Jan 24, 2023
    4
    Compared with three houses, it has better system and level design, but worse plot and characters. Three houses has the highest sales volume in fe history. I don't know why they can't make better system and level design without retain its advantages.
  41. 0011021911
    Jan 23, 2023
    4
    After awakening, I played every games except Echo, and Engage was the worst one .The only plus point of engage for me is that there are more yuri elements, but the character creation is poor.
  42. abletoo
    Jan 22, 2023
    2
    I play JRPG to enjoy the story while testing out different strategy with given combat system.
    Here are my 2 main issues.
    Story: Unfortunately, they put their guards down too much on the story. It feels like they cropped part of previous games and pasted it there. Too much contrast to 3H for sure. While 3H story was heavy, in here it went like ashes. Also too much cringe on their comedy    I play JRPG to enjoy the story while testing out different strategy with given combat system.
    Here are my 2 main issues.
    Story: Unfortunately, they put their guards down too much on the story. It feels like they cropped part of previous games and pasted it there. Too much contrast to 3H for sure. While 3H story was heavy, in here it went like ashes. Also too much cringe on their comedy and action. They looked like a group of medieval power rangers in action. Shonen cliched into isekai.

    Characters: Honestly, I thought I was watching a circus parade. I do know Mika Pikazo is a great artist with amazing quality. However, she is specialized on illustrating things with strong characteristic traits (ex. vtubers). Almost 90% of the characters in the game were designed with vast clothing in overly saturated colors, and all stood out against each other. Definitely, not a unified design. Plus, her style diminished the maturity on all physical traits. Most looked underaged compared to the previous characters. None of them looked intimidating, even the villains.

    New combat system was fun, animation quality was amazing, but if the story and setting doesn't support that... welp it's not a good JRPG to begin with. Now time to apologize to Fates.    … Expand
  43. Goonie_80
    Jan 24, 2023
    0
    This is a nursery school version!
    The Story is a bad Joke compared to the predecessor.
  44. carvelvsmapcom
    Jan 23, 2023
    0
    Undoubtedly the worst character designs in the series bar none, it's actually jarring to see someone like Sigurd next to some of these clowns that are trying to be passed off as FE characters. The story is just a hybrid of awakening and fates but somehow it's much worse. I would not recommend this game to my worst enemy as that would be too evil on my part
  45. Harlot
    Jan 23, 2023
    4
    I'm sorry to say, this will be the first Fire Emblem game I won't finish since I started playing the franchise with FE Awakening.

    What great combat is there, isn't enough to make me stick with it. The art direction, story, writing and voice direction all make for an unbelievably anime tropey experience, in the worst way imaginable, with a story as bland as they come. I can't believe I'm    I'm sorry to say, this will be the first Fire Emblem game I won't finish since I started playing the franchise with FE Awakening.

    What great combat is there, isn't enough to make me stick with it. The art direction, story, writing and voice direction all make for an unbelievably anime tropey experience, in the worst way imaginable, with a story as bland as they come. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the game experience would be better if we just got to fight the battles without any dialogue or story in it.    … Expand
  46. Leaderelf
    Jan 24, 2023
    0
    Worst Fire Emblem game to date. Every single bit of dialogue feels like satire and the characters are extreme to a very unrealistic degree. Doesn't feel like they had the long time FE fans in mind when developing this, but rather leaning towards the younger generation and also with the latest trends in pop culture. That just seems too corporate to me and all my senses are telling to me toWorst Fire Emblem game to date. Every single bit of dialogue feels like satire and the characters are extreme to a very unrealistic degree. Doesn't feel like they had the long time FE fans in mind when developing this, but rather leaning towards the younger generation and also with the latest trends in pop culture. That just seems too corporate to me and all my senses are telling to me to hate this game.… Expand
  47. Notimer
    Jan 22, 2023
    0
    This game is probably like 7 but I am harsher on it because it seems that the franchise is going in the wrong direction. With a story and visual presentation worse than the previous game and relying on previous franchise for cameos instead of creating new characters. The simpler battle systems seem a step back from me compared to three houses options. Worldbuilding also suffers a step downThis game is probably like 7 but I am harsher on it because it seems that the franchise is going in the wrong direction. With a story and visual presentation worse than the previous game and relying on previous franchise for cameos instead of creating new characters. The simpler battle systems seem a step back from me compared to three houses options. Worldbuilding also suffers a step down even if is not FATES level.… Expand
  48. Kjr81
    Jan 22, 2023
    2
    [Editing to lower the score after I played until chapter 13] The combats are fun, but the story is TERRIBLE: It’s super basic and childish. It lost all the perspectives and multidimensionality of characters we saw in Three Houses. The plot and dialogues seem written by a 12 year old kid or simply an AI bot.
  49. Sevish
    Jan 23, 2023
    4
    This is a Disneyland theme park version of fire emblem that is more concerned with smelling its own farts than giving a good story.

    All of that aside, the combat system and engine are top notch, which somehow makes it worse, like putting a porche engine in a pinto.
  50. Battlecorg
    Jan 22, 2023
    0
    The writing is so bad it makes the game unplayable. Even the support conversations feel like they were written by a 5 year old. No character has any shred of personality and its so cringe I can't even get through it. There's no excuse for it to be this bad. They've beefed up the fighting mechanics but it's clear as day that they did it by cutting all funding from the writing department.The writing is so bad it makes the game unplayable. Even the support conversations feel like they were written by a 5 year old. No character has any shred of personality and its so cringe I can't even get through it. There's no excuse for it to be this bad. They've beefed up the fighting mechanics but it's clear as day that they did it by cutting all funding from the writing department. I'd return it if the switch allowed that. Please learn from my mistake and do not buy this game.… Expand
  51. Yvask
    Jan 21, 2023
    7
    My first proper FE game was Three Houses and I loved that game, but the relationship mechanics seemed to take a lot of my time. Engage addresses this issue while maintaining the mechanic and focusing on the story to provide depth. The interactions unlocked through increasing your relationship with allies seem kinda like filler, at least up until rank B with some characters being moreMy first proper FE game was Three Houses and I loved that game, but the relationship mechanics seemed to take a lot of my time. Engage addresses this issue while maintaining the mechanic and focusing on the story to provide depth. The interactions unlocked through increasing your relationship with allies seem kinda like filler, at least up until rank B with some characters being more interesting, imo Yunaka mainly. The combat takes the center stage and rightfully so since this is a tactical game, now with optimal RPG elements for my taste at the least. Normal difficulty can be pretty tame, with some battles amping up the difficulty, and Hard just annihilated me, but I preferred playing on Hard for the strategic aspects. Definitely suggest this game if you're a tactical RPG fan and especially if you loved Three Houses but thought you were spending too much time in the HUB.… Expand
  52. lifeordeaf
    Jan 23, 2023
    0
    Beloved characters from older games are now personas for genshin impact rejects
  53. aaa1313
    Jan 22, 2023
    1
    bad comedy. Everything but the battle was ruined.
    Seriously, what did they do during that long development period?
  54. DGamer142
    Jan 22, 2023
    0
    I tried to like this game, but I could not, it seem a step back from all the improvements on gameplay, story telling and worldbuilding found on three houses. I personally dislike the cameos from old protagonists as this make the game fells like fire emblem heroes instead of a proper new entry on the franchise. I can’t recommend this one.
  55. iwillbe
    Jan 21, 2023
    4
    I felt like the game was a step back from previous games. The characters are forgettable. I also found the plot to be predictable. The heroes of the past felt underdeveloped. Just no replay value like three houses had. I think the combat was probably the best part but truth to be told i was never a fan of the weapon triangle system. I'd avoid this game if you are expecting it to be as goodI felt like the game was a step back from previous games. The characters are forgettable. I also found the plot to be predictable. The heroes of the past felt underdeveloped. Just no replay value like three houses had. I think the combat was probably the best part but truth to be told i was never a fan of the weapon triangle system. I'd avoid this game if you are expecting it to be as good as previous titles.… Expand
  56. WorstFE
    Jan 22, 2023
    0
    This game should not exist. It insults past games and past lords. Be angry.
  57. FreshyPrince
    Jan 22, 2023
    0
    Usually it's 1 step forward, and 2 steps back with this company. With Engage, it's 10 steps back as it throws out everything 3Houses did correctly.
  58. theprotagonist
    Jan 22, 2023
    0
    Unfortunately, the supports for many of the characters, as well as many story elements were censored during localization. There are many other reviews complaining about the bland story and writing. However, please do not blame the original Japanese team. It is the English localizers' (Nintendo Treehouse's) fault in this case.
  59. Mammospring
    Jan 22, 2023
    0
    Extremely soulless game with baby tier writing. Characters and story are awful. It's a downgrade from 3H in everyway. Sick of every game pandering to Vtubers. All it does is go for meme value rather than creating things with actual substance.
  60. ScarlettFire
    Jan 21, 2023
    10
    While the story is much less gripping, the return to form of "there's the evil dragon, go kill it" feels refreshing in an odd way. The gameplay is some of the best of the series we've had so far, with the Emblems providing a nice layer of stratagy to the game.
  61. mathor
    Jan 21, 2023
    0
    bad story, but good system. The plot looks like a child playing house. The characters are also designed to look like children, which I think is bad
  62. LosPollosAmogus
    Jan 22, 2023
    0
    I love fire emblem...buts gbis game is just sad. Bad Designs, worst fe story EVER, glitches and DLC before the game came out? I miss FE3H
  63. Shayon_An
    Jan 21, 2023
    0
    Just like a rubbish. Worse than Three Houses. I don't know why Intelligent Systems create this Fire Emblem? Worse than every FE, Awakening is better and Three Houses is the best FE. Don't do this in next FE!
  64. katieelizabeth
    Jan 21, 2023
    9
    I have finished about half the game and I'm really annoyed at some of the reviews because Engage game is oozing with quality and polish. I think these reviews were unfair, placing expectations onto a game unfairly and not giving credit to many of the great things Engage does.

    The combat just feels so amazing. This is probably the best combat in Fire Emblem. The enemy phase is so snappy    I have finished about half the game and I'm really annoyed at some of the reviews because Engage game is oozing with quality and polish. I think these reviews were unfair, placing expectations onto a game unfairly and not giving credit to many of the great things Engage does.

    The combat just feels so amazing. This is probably the best combat in Fire Emblem. The enemy phase is so snappy and fluid - I really like how it's presented. It really does ooze with polish and I can tell they spent a lot of time rethinking things to make getting information easier. The UI is fantastic! I really love it so far.

    The map design and enemy placement is also extremely well done. You can tell the people designing the levels understood Fire Emblem well. They are a pleasure to play through.

    I really like the class design in Engage - each unit type is unique and has real pros/cons. A lot of units like thieves, armors and archers all seem like they got a bit of a buff in Engage - armors especially.

    One change I noticed almost immediately was something no review even bothered to mention - moving the character around gives battle forecasts by just putting your character near them. I know this is a small change, but it makes sense and it's better than the past games.

    I was not sure about the art style and samey faces, but I gotta admit it looks pretty great on a 4k television - the sharpness and color really pops. I actually like the art style for the most part, apart from the sillier outfits (Hortensia is an example of a pretty awful outfit, but that's just me I guess).

    I was worried about spending a ton of time on exploring maps after a battle looking for items and stuff, but once I realized there was a mini-map that indicated where everything is, I realized the developers really wanted to respect your time in these sections so you could do them quickly. Also, all the Bond Fragments are automatically collected if you don't talk to people, which really helps with replayability to get through these sections faster. Again, no review mentioned any of this, and it was a concern of mine going into Engage. The developers handled it correctly.

    The difficulty on Hard seems stiff but fair and feels really good. I definitely fear losing units and must position them correctly to make sure units don't die. Engage feels a bit harder than Three Houses did - more in line with Conquest or Radiant Dawn on Hard.

    And while I don't think I will ever like the avatar character in these games, I actually don't mind this one that much. At least Alear is not a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, although the avatar worship is still a bit cringy. The twins are kind of annoying and there are a couple of other annoying characters, but there are many characters that are likable too.

    Also the combat animations finally remind me of the gba games. They are probably the best in any Fire Emblem game, which says a lot because it took them awhile to create stellar animations in most of the 3D entries.

    The technicals in Engage are fantastic too. The frame rates just feel so much better than Three Houses all around, especially in the Somniel or exploring the maps after battles. The game runs really well on Switch.

    I really like how the Somniel is very optional. Much of the stuff on the ground is for food items and extra Bond Fragment, but none of it seems necessary and you'll be rolling in Bond Fragments by just playing through the game anyway. The mini-games and social activities also aren't that impactful to the long-term, so I feel it's okay to skip them. This is a huge upgrade from the Monastery, which outstayed its welcome in Three Houses when you replayed the game through all 4 routes. The monastery was very tedious, repetitive and took up a lot of time over a 40-50 hour playthrough. The worst part about the Monastery was that it was not optional and took so much time to optimize. The Somniel is nothing like that.

    I think the one thing I miss from Three Houses and the Tellius games is the deep world building that could immerse you into the game's world - it's not really there. The Story is also pretty familiar too - likely intentional. It's good enough just to get you from map to map and does the job. It's fine.

    Overall, I'm really impressed. This is a really fantastic Fire Emblem game and one that I will be coming back to multiple times after I beat it.    … Expand
  65. theresno
    Mar 18, 2023
    3
    The good:
    -The gameplay before chapter 20 is the most polished, tense, and well-planned of any FE game I’ve played. Maddening mode is a perfect blend of fair challenge and punishing difficulty. The Engage mechanic is fun and adds a new level of depth to the experience. I do wish the mechanic could have been tied to something other than old characters, though. Ancient, mystical rings with    The good:
    -The gameplay before chapter 20 is the most polished, tense, and well-planned of any FE game I’ve played. Maddening mode is a perfect blend of fair challenge and punishing difficulty. The Engage mechanic is fun and adds a new level of depth to the experience. I do wish the mechanic could have been tied to something other than old characters, though. Ancient, mystical rings with allusions to old characters behind them would have sufficed, and the story might have been stronger for it.

    -The changes made to the weapon triangle and how certain units function are well executed. Armored knights are now useful thanks to the new break mechanic, and overpowered weapons can’t steamroll through enemies regardless of weapon type.

    -The combat animations are fluid and impressive. Critical hits are fun and feel like a return to the stylish critical hits from GBAFE.

    The okay:
    -The graphics, while more consistent and polished than the 2008-2022 entries to the series, are not to my taste. In addition, there’s a large amount of clipping on the models. Lumera’s hair will poke through the back of her cape, Clanne’s braid will swing through his chest/shoulder, any dangling cloth on characters like Timerra or Zephia will clip through their bodies when they move their arms etc.

    -The voice over is good. Not quite on the same level as 3H or Echoes, but much stronger than Fates, Awakening, and the Tellius duology.

    -The music is middling compared to other entries to the series. I can only remember one song after two playthroughs and even then I don’t particularly like that song much.

    The bad:
    -Engage’s story is, as many have pointed out, the weakest part of the game. The attempts at emotion were clumsily handled and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at some of the more “dramatic” scenes.

    -The cast of characters is the least likable I’ve seen in an FE game. Even Archanea’s roster full of non characters with no personality was better than the roster of irritating characters in this game. Supports range from one note to mildly interesting, but any potential depth was left unexplored.

    -The designs are overdone. The casual clothes are a great idea in theory. In practice, most of it looks too modern.

    -The menus are cluttered and convoluted. The Somniel menu will not alert you if you have new supports ready to watch, and it hides them under a menu called “references”, which is not where I would expect to find them. They should have been their own tab, and the storehouse should have been moved under the inventory tab.

    -QOL is bad in the shops, where bulk purchases are no longer an option. If you thought Anna’s “Is that the one?” “Thanks a bunch!” was annoying last game, be prepared for a whole new level of irritation.

    -The Somniel is lacking. At launch there were very few activities to build supports between units, which can be crucial for combat in maddening mode. This has since been fixed with a patch, which I consider a negative because it should have been in the game at launch. Instead, they prioritized putting out day one paid DLC over basic functionality of the hub world. I didn’t enjoy any of the minigames, but still do them because the bond fragments they give are important if you want to learn new skills. -The multiplayer aspect isn’t fun and I gave up after trying both options. According to the version 1.2 patch notes, random match multiplayer didn’t even work at launch and had to be fixed. IS should have focused on making the base game actually function from the start instead of working on DLC.

    -The cutscene audio mixing is poor and the music drowns out the dialogue. Marth and Alfred’s introductions are prime examples of this.

    -Endless reinforcements aren’t fun or good gameplay design. Prepare to see a lot of them in the endgame chapters as well as the throwback chapters (even in ones that didn’t have it, looking at you, Celica map). This ruins what I considered nearly flawless gameplay, as it doesn’t allow you to prepare or recover from a missed attack in a meaningful way when you’re being boxed in by endless waves of enemies from all angles. At lower difficulties this may have been acceptable, but in maddening, where killing an enemy in a single round of combat is not an easy feat, it only keeps you locked in place for longer than you need to be.

    -The hit rates are FE6 levels of shaky. Your units will consistently miss 80% and up hit rates, while enemy units will consistently hit at 30% or lower.

    TL;DR: the game reaches some very high peaks and some very low valleys, making for a conflicting experience. As it stands, this is one of my least favorite FE games.    … Expand
  66. DCLarson
    Feb 6, 2023
    5
    Fire Emblem Three Houses was my first FE game. I loved it. I played every route on all three difficulties. I did the same with Three Hopes. I'm almost at the final battle of Engage and I cannot wait to be done with game. I doubt I will ever play Engage again, and I'm seriously regretting purchasing the DLC bundle. The story just does not work for me. I do not care about any if the character.
  67. Ophenix
    Mar 5, 2023
    3
    The story is trash, the character and the world have had zero thought put into them, a lot of the mechanics are an absolute bore and the economy is really bad. Like, realllllly bad. You need to grind 4-5 maps to upgrade a late game weapon levels of bad.

    But the combat is a step in the right direction so I’m not giving it a lower score. I think a lot of my complaints can be fixed (why    The story is trash, the character and the world have had zero thought put into them, a lot of the mechanics are an absolute bore and the economy is really bad. Like, realllllly bad. You need to grind 4-5 maps to upgrade a late game weapon levels of bad.

    But the combat is a step in the right direction so I’m not giving it a lower score. I think a lot of my complaints can be fixed (why can’t I see absolute levels? Why are resources so grind heavy?) and it might raise the game to a 6. However, it’s a disappointment and I’m happy I got it second hand so I don’t give my money to IS. I’d be happy to pay for another game as good as Three Houses but I’m not paying full price for the Hiya-Papaya Zappies!    … Expand
  68. TippyToes
    Apr 16, 2023
    5
    I have put two hundred hours into this game and played all the dlc maps. Through the shimmers of good gameplay, alright music, and a handful of memorable characters. I was left salty and burnt out by the end of it all. Like looking for that small, glimmer of light in the deepest, ocean abyss. I never found that hook to get me excited to play Engage. Instead, beating this game as close to aI have put two hundred hours into this game and played all the dlc maps. Through the shimmers of good gameplay, alright music, and a handful of memorable characters. I was left salty and burnt out by the end of it all. Like looking for that small, glimmer of light in the deepest, ocean abyss. I never found that hook to get me excited to play Engage. Instead, beating this game as close to a hundred percent as I could felt more like a chore than anything else. I won't drag on with how bad the story is since everyone is pretty much in agreement that it is horrible and uninspired. However, there are other things that I do think bring the game down. Especially after the fourth wave of dlc that I believe is worth talking about.

    First, the avatar pandering needs to stop. When the trailer came out for the fourth wave. I never felt so uninterested, for a series of dlc waves that cost thirty five dollars, for a character I little give no diddily squats about. If it was Diamant, or Ivy, or Yunaka, or a few of my favorite others characters that wasn't the main one. I would definitely care a lot more. Although the four crown princess and princesses and their siblings get something. It is still completely overshadowed by the amount of screen time, pampering, and worshipping that Alear gets. I don't even think that is how emotions work. The evil clones in wave four such as Diamant, Alcrist, Ivy, etc had emotions that made sense for their predicament. Alear is still looked at as a god. A character that can never do no wrong. Even from their enemies, and this kind of writing seriously needs to stop. I believe every avatar since fates had this problem. I honestly hope that maybe after this. IS will consider dropping the avatar for a while. Then again, I asked for the same after Byleth, but Three Houses sold almost three million copies. So clearly, listening to feedback was not the priority after that game came out.

    Next, the dlc. What a complete and utter load. The first three waves consist of nothing but new emblems and rare items which clearly should have been in the game day one. Even still, I hated doing most of these maps. Why do I hate them? It's because no fire emblem map should be thirty five turns or more. Are they insane!? To put that into perspective. I started Camillias map around seven at night. Pushing through and fighting wave after wave after wave of reinforcements using the Diamant and Ike emblem combo until I defeated the boss. By the time I was done. It was ten at night. I had been sitting there for three hours trying to get an emblem of a character that A. I did not like and B. Was completely useless through out my whole play through. What makes this more scummy is that there is no Hoshido rep. In an anniversary title meant to honor all the games. Conquest and Birthright being separate from each other. Besides, we all know why Camilla was chosen over Xander or Leo who actually went through an arc. Fan service, and it's not even good fan service. If IS made a game where you could actually play as past heros and expand on their lore and character development. That would be good fan service. Waving keys in front of our faces to hide your mistakes will only work for so long. Maybe, after the second or third try. IS might finally see this now...emphasis on might.

    Lastly, and most importantly. Even after the dlc. After getting playable characters who died in the main story, and after getting new powers, uninspired story ideas, or whatever IS can conjure up. I am here to say on the record, right now. My soul be damned, that Conquest and Birthright had a overall better story than Engage. The main reason as to why is because those games at least had stakes. There was tension. When a character died in that game. They stayed dead. Engage has none of that. No one is really ever considered dead in this game. There is nothing to be lost. There is nothing to worry about. So why should a player be concerned about anything in this game? I actually miss the drama Corrin had between the Norh and Hoshido siblings despite the flaws those games had. I believe that drama between characters is what worked for three houses and is what's needed for the next game. Fire Emblem Engage didn't feel like an anniversary game to me. It was more so a series of underdeveloped ideas, wasted potential, and a overdone avatar character that you can't make to look like you anymore.    … Expand
  69. randomacc
    Apr 3, 2023
    3
    It is sad to see that Intelligent Systems approved a story and plot with the literary level of a fan hack. While certainly not all fire emblems are known for its story, they try to at the very least make it concise and try to make fun characters. This is a very sad fall from the subtleties the story had in the Tellius and Jugdral games. There is nothing worse than making nostalgic fanIt is sad to see that Intelligent Systems approved a story and plot with the literary level of a fan hack. While certainly not all fire emblems are known for its story, they try to at the very least make it concise and try to make fun characters. This is a very sad fall from the subtleties the story had in the Tellius and Jugdral games. There is nothing worse than making nostalgic fan service integral to the story. The emblems don´t make sense.

    Character designs feel soulless and generic, with no particular trait to make any character represent who they are through designs. The somniel doesn´t work as a hub area to expand or develop characters, only as a way to make half baked mechanics trying to emulate Garreg Mach in fire emblem three houses, most of the time however I get to the somniel and it feels like a chore checklist to be completed.

    While gameplay wise the graphics, animations and map design have been improved over three houses, OP mechanics such as the emblem rings make it hard to feel the units as evenly distributed and balanced given that you don´t actually have a vast number of rings until the latter half of the game, I reached chapter 20 and stopped playing when I realized there was nothing compelling to keep on going other than the fact that I payed 60 bucks for this one.

    I feel like this game was contaminated by the influence of the fire emblem heroes mobile game, entirely based on fan service. If you are going to charge me 60 dollars for this one, I expect a much more deep experience from the fire emblem main series.    … Expand
  70. JugdralCHAD
    Apr 16, 2023
    0
    Awakening, Fates and Engage are a collective embarrassment to the FE franchise. Go back to making Fire Emblem games please instead of this cringey post-ironic otaku slop.
  71. FlexosuarousRex
    Apr 19, 2023
    7
    I started playing fire emblem during the gba era and I have to say, engage is a bit disappointing. It has plenty going for it, but as a whole misses the mark. The gameplay is really good, the return of the weapon triangle is very much welcome, and the rings do a lot to diversify gameplay. The visuals are much smoother and the maps in this game I feel are superior to that of three houses inI started playing fire emblem during the gba era and I have to say, engage is a bit disappointing. It has plenty going for it, but as a whole misses the mark. The gameplay is really good, the return of the weapon triangle is very much welcome, and the rings do a lot to diversify gameplay. The visuals are much smoother and the maps in this game I feel are superior to that of three houses in terms of design both artistically and technically. I also really enjoyed the mini arena where the player could could set up duels amongst the cast of the main party for exp - I honestly hope that returns in future titles.

    The social aspect has been toned down very much so from three houses, so anybody who wasn't a fan of the social aspect in that game may find themselves more at home with this title - this may be a good thing to some but also leads to my first complaint.

    The character interactions outside of battle are so bland and abbreviated that their inclusion doesn't feel justified; on top of that, characters are completely forgettable anime arche types so I found myself caring about them far less than in previous titles. When the rest of the story is forgettable at best and downright boring at worst the player will have very little reason to delve any deeper into the story and character lore than what is necessary to progress and, sadly, that is how I felt when playing.

    Other than the combat in Engage, the rest of the game is extremely mediocre. I honestly couldn't bring myself to finish it because it felt, as a whole, to be a stilted experience. It definitely has the DNA of a great game but frankly it fails in too many areas to be considered as such. I think this game would have been much better received if it dropped before three houses but, coming afterward, this game feels like a complete downgrade to the previous title.

    Also, a personal note, i think the main hero design is pretty atrocious as well. Byleth's design was far superior, giving us a classic looking king type from the series with very unique and cool clothing. The new hero just looks like a mess - i do understand that this is a subjective take but I had to mention it.

    TLDR; the game has good combat and combat mechanics but not much more. It misses more than it hits.    … Expand
  72. Maya_weiner
    Apr 17, 2023
    7
    Mechanically, the game is great! I like the triangle mechanic returning, the maps & missions themselves are fun. However, I'd finished 3h not long before I got this one. The transition from them is grating, honestly. Engage is much more light-hearted, and it shows with the characters depth (or lack thereof), art style, story, etc. This by itself is fine, if you want an experience differentMechanically, the game is great! I like the triangle mechanic returning, the maps & missions themselves are fun. However, I'd finished 3h not long before I got this one. The transition from them is grating, honestly. Engage is much more light-hearted, and it shows with the characters depth (or lack thereof), art style, story, etc. This by itself is fine, if you want an experience different from 3 Houses.
    Big events don't feel meaningful. When you learn about your character, it doesn't feel like it's earned. When important moments happen, they don't captivate me, because I hardly knew the characters to begin with. I don't think I regret buying this, but to me, it's a downgrade from Three Houses. I'd recommend someone to play that instead.    … Expand
  73. Madmacx
    May 5, 2023
    3
    Complete letdown after 3H, this feels more like a minor spin-off than a genuine new fire emblem game.

    First off the story is basically none existent, it's really just a black and white story, good guys vs inherently bad guys with next to no plottwists or anything interesting happening. The social aspect was heavily toned down, characters are paper cut walking cliches with no personality    Complete letdown after 3H, this feels more like a minor spin-off than a genuine new fire emblem game.

    First off the story is basically none existent, it's really just a black and white story, good guys vs inherently bad guys with next to no plottwists or anything interesting happening. The social aspect was heavily toned down, characters are paper cut walking cliches with no personality whatsoever. The overall maturity of 3H took a backseat and it's fates all over again, a whiny one dimensional protagonist who is just flat out boring. 3H protag was mute and had basically no personality but still was more appealing. Also the game is heavily CENSORED by treehouse, whole conversation have been changed because they found them offensive.

    In one support conversation a female character complains about gaining weight (she says that in japanese), the english text indicates she's embarrassed because she made a funny face while eating... It makes no sense at all and is plain right stupid. Thing is treehouse found a girl shouldn't be concerned with her weight so they changed that. It's just the tip of the iceberg, a lot more dialogue was altered. The only thing this game has going are the smooth graphics and fun gameplay, but that gets old fast. After all the censorship, butchered dialogue, boring story and flat characters I couldn't finish it, I stopped at chapter 15. I have over 300hrs on 3H because I loved this game to bits. engage on the other hand is an embarrassment, and the people who censored it should never be allowed to translate any kind of Japanese game again.    … Expand
  74. Andrewaps
    May 28, 2023
    5
    So, I've played just about every Fire Emblem game at this point, excluding spinoffs like Warriors/Three Hopes/Heroes, so I'd like to think that I've got some pretty hefty experience in the franchise. My favorites? FE6 (Binding Blade)/FE9 (PoR)/FE15 (Shadows of Valentia). Simple, yet masterfully crafted games that challenged the player to the limit with tightly tuned base mechanics wrappedSo, I've played just about every Fire Emblem game at this point, excluding spinoffs like Warriors/Three Hopes/Heroes, so I'd like to think that I've got some pretty hefty experience in the franchise. My favorites? FE6 (Binding Blade)/FE9 (PoR)/FE15 (Shadows of Valentia). Simple, yet masterfully crafted games that challenged the player to the limit with tightly tuned base mechanics wrapped together with small twists to the formula to keep it fresh. They contain soundtracks that invade my brain to this day without my permission. They had a solid story (with their share of hiccups, mind you) that kept me engaged throughout, with a very likeable cast of misfits and lords. They had proper worldbuilding and set the stage properly, making the continent actually feel alive. Practically every unit was serviceable, with some being clearly better than others, but with just about every unit having a purpose/niche use. Frankly, I still play several of these games today, 10+ years after their release.

    Why am I bringing up other FE games so much? To drive home how lackluster Engage is. Now while Engage was an improvement over Three Houses in gameplay and map design, it did worse in just about every other meaningful category. From resource management, to character design, to character supports, to skill balancing, to character balancing, to sound design/OST, to story design, to the scale of the villains/antagonists, everything else just falls flat.

    In other words, Engage is a disappointment. Despite having polished gameplay and beautiful animation sprinkled throughout, it is so bafflingly horrendous at just about everything else that I have lost interest in playing the game. Solid gameplay is a must for Fire Emblem, but even the worst game in the franchise has been serviceable in that regard. A diamond will be a diamond, regardless of its polish/features. Instead, it is the overall presentation that gives the diamond its allure. In other words, Engage lacks a proper soul, something to draw me into it and keep me, heh, engaged. I am also of the opinion that this game simply has too many mechanics drowning what is otherwise solid gameplay. The Somniel (however you spell it) and all of its gimmicks alone makes the game feel like such a chore at times.

    TLDR; Engage has a few strong points, but overall it is a disappointment to the FE franchise, and a huge step down from the previous installments: Three Houses and Shadows of Valentia. If looking for a FE game on the switch, I would personally recommend skipping this one, and would suggest Three Houses instead. I love Fire Emblem, it is my favorite video game franchise, but Engage was simply not for me. Hopefully the rumored remake of FE4 will wash the bad taste out of my mouth.    … Expand
  75. Evinith
    Apr 22, 2023
    5
    Weak begging, decent middle, and a terrible ending. Overall a very generic feeling product because of the need to use a god complex and overall loving character without it being earned. It comes across as fates but worse in most ways (though not every way)
  76. Stjepan3203
    Apr 30, 2023
    7
    Fire Emblem Engage did improve upon is predecessors in terms of gameplay but sadly took 2 steps back in terms of story. The games story it's very very predictable and anime cliché like. I don't think the story it's necessarily bad but compared to the previous game Three Houses, Engage definitely felt lackluster.

    If you don't mind more predictable stories and you wanted Fire Emblem to    Fire Emblem Engage did improve upon is predecessors in terms of gameplay but sadly took 2 steps back in terms of story. The games story it's very very predictable and anime cliché like. I don't think the story it's necessarily bad but compared to the previous game Three Houses, Engage definitely felt lackluster.

    If you don't mind more predictable stories and you wanted Fire Emblem to improve upon it's already amazing gameplay, then Engage will definitely do the trick.    … Expand
  77. Jammy223
    Mar 22, 2023
    7
    It's not awful, not at all. But I think the game overall falls flat of what the previous game (Three Houses) was trying to do. It felt like while this game had polished combat as well as animations in said combat, it lacked in the characters feeling, it felt as if these characters as you're recruiting them and are supposedly your friends you don't feel like you can get close and while youIt's not awful, not at all. But I think the game overall falls flat of what the previous game (Three Houses) was trying to do. It felt like while this game had polished combat as well as animations in said combat, it lacked in the characters feeling, it felt as if these characters as you're recruiting them and are supposedly your friends you don't feel like you can get close and while you can give all of them your "pact" ring, this does not equal in marriage like Three Houses.

    It's unfortunate because it could've been a good game, but it stuck mostly to giving it a feeling of bringing people into the series which was already done by Three Houses and way better.    … Expand
  78. marcoskalil
    May 1, 2023
    6
    Fire Emblem veterans may like Engage's straightforward design, leaving part of the Persona influence behind, but ultimately both story and gameplay are uninspiring. It seems Nintendo used a formulaic approach, uniting the most cliche profiles for its characters and narratives, but also battlefield variety. For this reason even newcomers may find the franchise to be underwhelming. NewFire Emblem veterans may like Engage's straightforward design, leaving part of the Persona influence behind, but ultimately both story and gameplay are uninspiring. It seems Nintendo used a formulaic approach, uniting the most cliche profiles for its characters and narratives, but also battlefield variety. For this reason even newcomers may find the franchise to be underwhelming. New players should seek other entries to start in the franchise.

    If you can ignore the cringe-inducing story and characters, you should eventually have some satisfying moments with the combo system and the flexibility of the rings and class systems.    … Expand
  79. hackerfrenzy
    May 10, 2023
    7
    really good tactical gameplay, really terrible writing and characters.
    I spent a lot of time in the game due to the fun battles, but I was rolling my eyes so hard at the dialogues and the plot that I started to just ignore it. If you expect Fire Emblem: Three Houses level of story, this is not it. If you don't care about the story and just like this type of combat then this game does a great job.
  80. weskergamer
    Mar 2, 2023
    7
    As a Big Fire Emblem fan, Engage left me with a weird taste in my mouth. I loved it buy i also hated a lot of stuff and decision made by Intelligent System. Apparently, this game is meant to celebrate the Fire Emblem franchise, and it succeeds gameplay wise, but in other things it was very disappointed. The gameplay and everything related to gameplay in this game is the only reason why I'mAs a Big Fire Emblem fan, Engage left me with a weird taste in my mouth. I loved it buy i also hated a lot of stuff and decision made by Intelligent System. Apparently, this game is meant to celebrate the Fire Emblem franchise, and it succeeds gameplay wise, but in other things it was very disappointed. The gameplay and everything related to gameplay in this game is the only reason why I'm giving it a 7. It's so damn good. It's the best the series has ever been. But as a AAA game meant to celebrate a 25 yo franchise with a great story and beloved characters, it doesn't have a great story nor beloved characters. Even the characterization, graphics and moments of the heroes from past games it's so bad, giving importance basically only to Marth and characters like Ike, Sigurd and Roy looking so horrible with this game art style. I only hope that if they make a Genealogy or Tellius series remake they use more realistic art style. The story and characters of this game are so boring and cliche, reusing plots from previous game like Awakening and Fates. Outside of the story and characters the music is great, and it's good that we got a place where you can listen to it. The maps are really fun, i really enjoy the last 5 maps and the paralogues, even though i don't understand why my units can die in paralogues when it's basically a training section against the emblems. Even though I complain about the story, fire emblem has always been known for simple stories, but at least the characters were memorable, not the case in this game. I think I will only remember Diamant, Alcryst and Lapis tbh. The Villans were really, really bad in this game. The last thing I really hated about this game, was that, by the time of this review, there is no New Game+. This may be a small issue but still it hurted me a lot to finish the game and wasn't able to restart the game with support and skills already done like in 3H, something that I actually like because it made replayability more fun. Anyway, this game made a lot of bad decision, it doesn't make any sense that a game that follow one of the greatest games of the switch and of this generation of consoles, fells so underwhelmed and a step back in the franchise. They could' work in the bases of 3H and just improve the gameplay and maybe the graphics and we could have had the greatest game in the franchise, since without a doubt Engage has the best and more fun gameplay in the series, not even close. At the end of the day, in a couple of years we'll play a new FE with the same gameplay at this one but improving in the story, characters and art style, and it will be like this game never existed.… Expand
  81. Daniela_r2
    Jun 5, 2023
    0
    Boring characters and supports. The writing is almost insulting for human intelligence. You can't experiment on builds without a lot of farming and the lack of NG+ doesn't help. The game relies on massive reinforcements in almost every map to create tension (in a way no other fire emblem game I played did) but it becomes boring very quickly and horribly worsens the experience. The originalBoring characters and supports. The writing is almost insulting for human intelligence. You can't experiment on builds without a lot of farming and the lack of NG+ doesn't help. The game relies on massive reinforcements in almost every map to create tension (in a way no other fire emblem game I played did) but it becomes boring very quickly and horribly worsens the experience. The original fire emblem characters are not always respected in their characterization (expecially Eirika) and they managed to make all their conversations boring and Lyn's paralogue map isn't even from her game. Also the lack of paired endings is something that extremely disappointed me.

    The dlc takes everything I disliked about story and gameplay and made it even worse.

    All of this saddens me because no other fire emblem game disappointed me so much in the past.    … Expand
  82. CooperMarlow
    May 29, 2023
    5
    Core gameplay mechanics have improved. Each encounter requires careful thought and awareness of your unit’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.

    Reducing ability slots to only two would be fine if abilities as a whole were much more impactful in battle, and while this can be said for some, there are many that are useless or just not worth investing your precious SP in. They missed the    Core gameplay mechanics have improved. Each encounter requires careful thought and awareness of your unit’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.

    Reducing ability slots to only two would be fine if abilities as a whole were much more impactful in battle, and while this can be said for some, there are many that are useless or just not worth investing your precious SP in. They missed the mark with this one, but it’s an interesting idea.

    The story is boring and uninteresting–4’th grade level stuff–the writing is fine, and the main player character design is just embarrassing.

    The game itself also feels lacking in content and perhaps a touch too easy, because I’m blasting through chapters and already at the halfway point. With no alternate paths or endings to look forward to, there’s pretty much no reason to replay this game beyond bumping up the difficulty and trying out different characters–but when the core of what’s there is so utterly average and uninspiring, I don’t see myself doing this.

    Engage is a massive step backwards from 3 Houses and doesn’t inspire confidence in the future of this franchise. Go back to your roots, hire some good writers, and stop trying to appeal to a casual audience that isn’t ever going to manifest for this genre of game.    … Expand
  83. justfind
    Apr 29, 2023
    5
    It's unbelievable that this game scored 80 points. It has the advantage that the battle is fun, but the other disadvantages are too big. The characters, stories, and characters are piece of trash.
  84. ALLCAPS
    May 29, 2023
    4
    Overall lacking in depth. Story and characters are very shallow. The game doesn't know if it wants to be animal crossing or fire emblem. Lots of time was spent on useless game elements such as the post battle walk around. It's hard to actually get a sense of the different countries when you move through them so fast. Character designs are so over the top it gets annoying. The battles areOverall lacking in depth. Story and characters are very shallow. The game doesn't know if it wants to be animal crossing or fire emblem. Lots of time was spent on useless game elements such as the post battle walk around. It's hard to actually get a sense of the different countries when you move through them so fast. Character designs are so over the top it gets annoying. The battles are fine, but it could have been much much better.… Expand
  85. greninjaX
    Apr 8, 2023
    8
    well, I gotta admit, that was one of the worst stories I've ever experienced in a video game, but it sure was fun to turn the brain off and play it.
  86. shadowclaw2303
    May 26, 2023
    3
    Wenn ich ein mittelmäßiges Anime Spiel spielen will, brauch ich dafür nicht 60 Euro bezahlen, das geht auch deutlich billiger. Schade für die ansich ganz tolle Reihe :(
  87. Snowbell
    Jun 26, 2023
    6
    As a Fire Emblem fan I was disappointed with the story. The writing and "cutscenes" felt very mediocre, which ruined some of the more emotional moments.
    The combat was good and the engage system is kinda fun, but I personally would rather see the pair up system return. Or just all of the systems from Fates and Awakening.
    Yes, this is written by a fan of the 3DS games and I know not    As a Fire Emblem fan I was disappointed with the story. The writing and "cutscenes" felt very mediocre, which ruined some of the more emotional moments.
    The combat was good and the engage system is kinda fun, but I personally would rather see the pair up system return. Or just all of the systems from Fates and Awakening.

    Yes, this is written by a fan of the 3DS games and I know not everyone like the marry/child system. I do however.    … Expand
  88. windchipi
    Jun 9, 2023
    0
    First time I see a JRPG without a new game plus.
    It was like a draft that had to be completed quickly to meet the release date. Not worth the price 60$.
    I hope the mechanic will be developed in the next game
  89. Sensou
    May 23, 2023
    6
    Good but Not Good.

    There's a complete hesitation to buy this game and that's why I just borrow it from my friend and I'm glad I didn't purchase it, I don't like it that well. This game is far inferior that Three Houses. To put into a context: Three Houses is my first fire emblem game and I've also finished Engage, so this is not half experience review as I've encounter every content    Good but Not Good.

    There's a complete hesitation to buy this game and that's why I just borrow it from my friend and I'm glad I didn't purchase it, I don't like it that well. This game is far inferior that Three Houses. To put into a context: Three Houses is my first fire emblem game and I've also finished Engage, so this is not half experience review as I've encounter every content this game has to offer.

    The visuals and cutscene of this game is an improvement than the last installment but it also becoming it's weaknesses as well. The cutscene is way too lengthy, believe it or not, the cutscene could take around 10-15 minutes. Completely kill the pacing of this game. I skip every cutscene after Chapter 12 (excluding the cinematic cutscene).
    Another note from the cutscene or art department, the animation is still lacking like in Three Houses and the interaction also hella weird. You can have a normal conversation after the battle with your enemy before they flee. Makes no sense and kill the tension that should be there.

    The game is way more free in terms of time because there's no Day Mechanic like in Three Houses so you can grind and bond as much as you want where in Three Houses you need to plan out how to utilize several days in a month. Sounds great right? Turns out, it's a nope.
    Because of that freedom, the game get tedious pretty fast. Engage couldn't handle it well, the skirmishes will always get generated for you to grind. It's great but for me it becomes annoying as I'm trying to clean the map from those bandits but we'll never be able to clean that out. Exploring around the Somniel also get boring pretty quickly. There's no real value or meaningful activities there. The fact that you can skip going back to Somniel and keep proceeding with the Chapter sort of make Somniel just an extra content.

    The UI of the game is also confusing. One example: I miss the inheritance skill which I think it's auto equipped but turns out you need to press ZR in the inheritance skill to equip it. Completely a bad design.

    The variety of the characters are nice and pretty good but they are truly forgettable, not like the way in Three Houses. Even in their combat abilities, they are also forgettable which makes me lock my unit to the one that I like the most from start to end which makes many characters like a filler for my roster. My Lineup will always consist of: Alfred, Celine, Louis, Ivy, Zelkov, Kagetsu, Alcryst, Panette and Merrin.

    So many things holding this game down which is a shame as this game seems like an Anniversary game for Fire Emblem series but turns out to be a bummer. Luckily the combat is amazing and strategic which is way better than Three Houses.    … Expand
  90. Demostenez
    Apr 27, 2023
    7
    Pros: Combat was fun, and I liked the Engage mechanic. Having the weapon triangle back was nice. I liked the design of the characters. Voice acting was good.

    Cons: it came out after Three Houses. The story and the characters felt less developed after the excellent work done in 3H. Some characters felt unnecessary and just there to pad the roster. I played all four 3H routes, but after    Pros: Combat was fun, and I liked the Engage mechanic. Having the weapon triangle back was nice. I liked the design of the characters. Voice acting was good.

    Cons: it came out after Three Houses. The story and the characters felt less developed after the excellent work done in 3H. Some characters felt unnecessary and just there to pad the roster. I played all four 3H routes, but after finishing the last DLC, I don't know that I'll ever pick up Engage again.    … Expand
  91. Jcdusss
    Apr 30, 2023
    7
    Great maps and combat mechanics, so it’s not a bad Fire Emblem.
    But the story is really dull and manichean (much more than Tree Houses and Fates). And I don’t like the design of the characters too, I think that a certain amount of them are really problematic.
  92. svileng
    Jul 1, 2023
    8
    My first Fire Emblem game. Overall I'm really enjoying it, it's a solid 8/10 for me. Dialogue between characters is pretty bland at times, and the overall story is average - these are the main downsides for me. Lots of people seem to hate the character design, but I personally like most of the characters and how they look. Not all are great, but the worst ones don't bother me at least. TheMy first Fire Emblem game. Overall I'm really enjoying it, it's a solid 8/10 for me. Dialogue between characters is pretty bland at times, and the overall story is average - these are the main downsides for me. Lots of people seem to hate the character design, but I personally like most of the characters and how they look. Not all are great, but the worst ones don't bother me at least. The combat system and mechanics are fantastic, battle choreography and animations are excellent, maps are interesting. It's fun enough to make me keep coming back after 75+ hours.… Expand
  93. Beefmolester
    May 23, 2023
    2
    The artstyle looks terrible, its more genshin impact than fire emblem and the character design is horrific. The story is medicore at best and the only good thing is the gameplay. I expected more from fire emblem, especially after three houses
  94. drseven
    Jun 27, 2023
    7
    Comparisons hurt, and compared to its FE 3H predecessor, it feels like an inferior product. Visually it improves and the battles continue to have the essence of the Fire Emblem. everything else, history, progress, level of customization, charisma of the characters is mediocre. The ring system doesn't work and is poorly implemented, it seems more like an excuse to bring back characters fromComparisons hurt, and compared to its FE 3H predecessor, it feels like an inferior product. Visually it improves and the battles continue to have the essence of the Fire Emblem. everything else, history, progress, level of customization, charisma of the characters is mediocre. The ring system doesn't work and is poorly implemented, it seems more like an excuse to bring back characters from the past.

    Conclusion: a fun game that preserves the bases of the fire Emblem but fails in everything around it.    … Expand
  95. Maradum
    Jul 31, 2023
    7
    FE Engage has the difficult task to come out after Three Houses, which was the first very succesful FE game in the west. Many people that liked 3H might not enjoy Engage as much – while FE veterans are more than happy about the amazing tactic gameplay it offers

    The story and writing is the weakest point here, with the main story being super tropy, nothing special and just a very basic    FE Engage has the difficult task to come out after Three Houses, which was the first very succesful FE game in the west. Many people that liked 3H might not enjoy Engage as much – while FE veterans are more than happy about the amazing tactic gameplay it offers

    The story and writing is the weakest point here, with the main story being super tropy, nothing special and just a very basic narrative. Good writing comes through in the funny and interesting support conversations that bring a lot of color to the characters.

    The art style is extremely colorful, might be a bit to comicy for some. The game itself looks amazing though.

    The shining star is definitely the gameplay, which is absolute peak turn based strategy combat. There is a vast variety of unit types so that each playthrough is unique. The Emblem Rings offer eve more tactic options as each Emblem offers special abilities.

    The Somniel as a hub fulfills its purpose, but there are many activities that just feel annoying, with little rewards, like „polishing your Emblem Rings“ or wyvern riding. Those boring side activities could be removed to put more focus on other aspects as they offer little to none to the game itself.    … Expand
  96. shw079
    Mar 20, 2023
    8
    This is my first fire emblem game and it is overall an enjoyable experience. The animation, voice acting, gameplay, and music are quite good, despite some occasional low frame rate when the map is large and crowded with enemies (still quite impressive for Switch games). I particularly like the personalities of some of the characters and their support conversations, which I find reallyThis is my first fire emblem game and it is overall an enjoyable experience. The animation, voice acting, gameplay, and music are quite good, despite some occasional low frame rate when the map is large and crowded with enemies (still quite impressive for Switch games). I particularly like the personalities of some of the characters and their support conversations, which I find really funny. One thing I don't like is the repetitive activities in Somniel, which I find annoying but I still feel compelled to do it for a few stats boost.… Expand
  97. kinsang
    May 22, 2023
    5
    อย่างแรกที่ต้องชมเลยคือเรื่องของเกมเพลย์ที่ยกระดับขึ้นมาจากภาคก่อน การดีไซน์แมพ ทำให้รู้สึกว่าเล่นสนุกขึ้น และนั่นก็คงเป็นคำชมอย่างเดียวของเกมภาคนี้ ส่วนด้านอื่นอย่างเนื้อเรื่อง บทพูด บทตัวละคร กลับดิ่งลงเหวไปคนละทาง ถึงแม้ภาคนี้จะมีตัวละครเยอะก็จริง แต่ตัวละครที่สำคัญต่อเนื้อเรื่องนั้นมีแค่ไม่กี่ตัว ส่วนด้านบทที่เขียนมาก็เหมือนเอาเด็กที่เพิ่งดูดราก้อนบอลจบเป็นครั้งแรกมาเขียนเนื้อเรื่องให้อย่างแรกที่ต้องชมเลยคือเรื่องของเกมเพลย์ที่ยกระดับขึ้นมาจากภาคก่อน การดีไซน์แมพ ทำให้รู้สึกว่าเล่นสนุกขึ้น และนั่นก็คงเป็นคำชมอย่างเดียวของเกมภาคนี้ ส่วนด้านอื่นอย่างเนื้อเรื่อง บทพูด บทตัวละคร กลับดิ่งลงเหวไปคนละทาง ถึงแม้ภาคนี้จะมีตัวละครเยอะก็จริง แต่ตัวละครที่สำคัญต่อเนื้อเรื่องนั้นมีแค่ไม่กี่ตัว ส่วนด้านบทที่เขียนมาก็เหมือนเอาเด็กที่เพิ่งดูดราก้อนบอลจบเป็นครั้งแรกมาเขียนเนื้อเรื่องให้ อีกทั้งการหักมุมต่างๆ บทในส่วนที่สำคัญยัง execution ได้ไม่ดีอีกต่างหาก ถือว่าเสียดายงบจริงๆ… Expand
  98. Ruffikins
    Aug 2, 2023
    2
    My review didn't work, so I lost everything I wrote, thus I'll try to keep this succinct. For reference, I've been playing Fire Emblems for nearly a decade, since Awakening and unironically think that this is the worst Fire Emblem I've even played. Even moreso than Fates.

    Story is strange, overly childish. Too many child soldiers, the cutesy aesthetic and how 'adorable' it tries to be    My review didn't work, so I lost everything I wrote, thus I'll try to keep this succinct. For reference, I've been playing Fire Emblems for nearly a decade, since Awakening and unironically think that this is the worst Fire Emblem I've even played. Even moreso than Fates.

    Story is strange, overly childish. Too many child soldiers, the cutesy aesthetic and how 'adorable' it tries to be clashes with previous games, which have always added a layer of depth and ominous themes, which while not being blatant enough to scare a child, could be enjoyed by mature audiencese. New and improved characters appear in every scene, causing you to become completely apathetic to their lore and stories. I've heard that the combat is amazing, but I disagree, it feels like it's downgraded. Moving throughout the terrain is clunky and each battle goes through the identical trope of, "Click engage, wipe out an enemy, repeat", being so tedious that it feels worse than its predecessors. There's also some weirdo character who is male, yet dresses up like a 'girl' and enjoys 'cute' things because he was groomed or something in youth. For a game that tries so hard to be cutesy and childish, it's just odd. Overall, stick with Awakening.    … Expand
  99. Tubey
    Jan 29, 2023
    5
    It's not as engaging as Three Houses. It's more streamlined, which is actually a good thing in my view as Three Houses had a fair bit of bloat, especially with the repetition inherent in the game design for that one, but it doesn't have the same character. Indeed the characters range from mediocre to awful, and the plot is uniformly poor. I also hate the character design in this one - theIt's not as engaging as Three Houses. It's more streamlined, which is actually a good thing in my view as Three Houses had a fair bit of bloat, especially with the repetition inherent in the game design for that one, but it doesn't have the same character. Indeed the characters range from mediocre to awful, and the plot is uniformly poor. I also hate the character design in this one - the blue and red motif inparticular annoys me at a fundamental level.

    Fire Emblem still hasn't reached the heights it achieved with Awakening. Engage isn't 'bad'; it's just not great, and when you've played past entries and know just how great the series can be, that makes it a difficult one to review with any objectivity. If you're a series newcomer, maybe you'll give this a bit more leeway than I am, but I honestly can't see anyone being blown away by this regardless of your past with the series.

    My advice would be to go and pick up Fire Emblem: Awakening if you want to see the series at its' best in the modern era.

    Full Disclosure: I haven't completed this game, I'm around 15 hours in, but I've basically lost interest at this point and felt comfortable scoring it.    … Expand
  100. Edele
    Feb 22, 2023
    0
    I prioritize the story, performance, character design first, and then gameplay. Although the combat system in Engage is excellent, the other aspects of the game fall far short of Three Houses. Playing the game was a frustrating experience. Each character felt like a soulless tool, and they lacked memorable personalities, making it challenging to recall their names and images.

    The story    I prioritize the story, performance, character design first, and then gameplay. Although the combat system in Engage is excellent, the other aspects of the game fall far short of Three Houses. Playing the game was a frustrating experience. Each character felt like a soulless tool, and they lacked memorable personalities, making it challenging to recall their names and images.

    The story was a significant disappointment, failing to meet my expectations. While some might argue that the combat system in the Fire Emblem series is all that matters, I believe that a good game requires a reasonable story, character design, scene design, and music to support it. Investing all resources into one aspect does not make it a good game.

    Overall, Engage fell short of my expectations. While the combat system is enjoyable, the lack of memorable characters and plot hindered my enjoyment of the game.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Best Switch Game of 2023
2
#2 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 129 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 102 out of 129
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 129
  3. Negative: 0 out of 129
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 24, 2024
    80
    Hogwarts Legacy is definitely a beautiful-looking game that doesn't have a groundbreaking story, but does have a beautiful world, a fun combat system, broomstick flying, and of course an incredible amount of side quests and missions. [Issue#325]
  2. Gamereactor Spain
    Oct 16, 2023
    80
    It’s a title where difficulty isn’t just about advancing mission after mission but doing so with as few casualties as possible. This makes Engage the perfect gateway to the series, as well as a handful of good memories for those already familiar with it. A game which perfectly balances periods of action with quiet, enjoyable interludes in which to chat with other characters, play minigames and try out new weapons.
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  3. Pocket-lint
    Jun 23, 2023
    90
    Fire Emblem Engage is a superb strategy game that has taken a major technical leap forward, graphically superior to its predecessor in every meaningful way.It tells a well-meaning story that still manages to pack in a few surprisng twists, and while its social features are a little extraneous this time, it's still super relaxing to fall into its world.Multiplayer expands things even further, leaving us confident that the future is very, very bright for this excellent series.
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