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. CrypticScrutiny
    Feb 17, 2023
    3
    Once titles like this become mainstream in the west, they're ruined. What you will see from the FE franchise, from here on out, is something akin to how titles like Pokémon have been handled. Churning them out one year after the next, with no real concern or attention to detail. The stories will be the same incipit, dull and vapid monotony. The characters lifeless and unrelatable. TheOnce titles like this become mainstream in the west, they're ruined. What you will see from the FE franchise, from here on out, is something akin to how titles like Pokémon have been handled. Churning them out one year after the next, with no real concern or attention to detail. The stories will be the same incipit, dull and vapid monotony. The characters lifeless and unrelatable. The combat? It's Fire Emblem mechanics. What you'd expect. The story and motivations are uninspired and fail miserably to capture interest or investment. For me, games like Fire Emblem have a unique tale behind the combat. Due to FE being a widely popular bankable property in the modern era, they now expect that you will pay them for brand notoriety alone. Barebones and without merit enough to justify it's existence in any fans library. Sad to see this series go the way of all properties that catch on in the west.… Expand
  2. Aespro
    Feb 17, 2023
    10
    Fire Emblem Engage is a modern throwback to the simpler times of the Fire Emblem series with some simple twists that don't change too much of the original gameplay the series is known for. The OST is excellent and the concept of the rings is fabulous. Seeing Sacred Stones to Path of Radiance throwbacks are nostalgic to my old soul.

    What I did not like about Three Houses has been pretty    Fire Emblem Engage is a modern throwback to the simpler times of the Fire Emblem series with some simple twists that don't change too much of the original gameplay the series is known for. The OST is excellent and the concept of the rings is fabulous. Seeing Sacred Stones to Path of Radiance throwbacks are nostalgic to my old soul.

    What I did not like about Three Houses has been pretty much removed in this game. Which in return, is a straight forward Fire Emblem experience.

    I hope this game inspires more to come.    … Expand
  3. MartinArganaraz
    Feb 16, 2023
    10
    I've played 3 houses and this Fire Emblem is way better. It has improved on everything as a game. The only stuff that is a little down is the story..... That's actually quite OK specially bear the end. The cut scenes are great. The models, the menues. They stream lined many options and info. Battle fields are much better. Animations are so over the top kind of anime style. And that's ok,I've played 3 houses and this Fire Emblem is way better. It has improved on everything as a game. The only stuff that is a little down is the story..... That's actually quite OK specially bear the end. The cut scenes are great. The models, the menues. They stream lined many options and info. Battle fields are much better. Animations are so over the top kind of anime style. And that's ok, it's what makes FE Engage different.
    Instead of doing different stories we get to know about twelve different emblems from the vast story of Fire Emblem. It's amazing.
    Seriously people who complain.... Don't judge this game on what you wanted to be a game but for what it offers. FE isn't a sim simulation nor a relationship simulator. But still we have a lot of content. And you can replay and use different characters and have fun, there are so many that you can't play with them all.
    Possibilities and combinations are endless.
    Totally recommended.    … Expand
  4. re9757
    Feb 16, 2023
    8
    Excellent map and game playing design.
    Battle animation has been improved a lot.
    Weak story and character design.
  5. marcololo
    Feb 16, 2023
    9
    I think Engage is a great game. I started the series with Three Houses but, in the interim, went back to play some older entries - namely the 3DS titles, POR, and FE7. I think that left me with a different set of expectations than those who came to this game after only playing Three Houses.

    Social sim aspects definitely take a backseat to the gameplay here - and its the best Fire Emblem    I think Engage is a great game. I started the series with Three Houses but, in the interim, went back to play some older entries - namely the 3DS titles, POR, and FE7. I think that left me with a different set of expectations than those who came to this game after only playing Three Houses.

    Social sim aspects definitely take a backseat to the gameplay here - and its the best Fire Emblem gameplay I've experienced. The return of the weapons triangle and the addition of the "break" feature means that weapon selection and choice in character deployment is more important than ever. Compared to 3H, where I could just use the same characters pretty much every battle, I definitely find myself tweaking my roster and experimenting more here.

    Playing on hard/classic, Emblems are powerful but definitely don't break the game. Their abilities are very strong but, since they are limited to once per engage and the meter can take a bit to recharge without standing on a specific area, they don't feel overpowered and instead add a unique tactical element to the game. Finding the right time to engage can make or break a battle, and I found myself waiting for the right moment instead of using them at random since I didn't want to be caught off-guard by a tough foe.

    The story is generic, but that's fine for me. Lots of the Fire Emblem games revolve around there being a big bad and you needing to gather strength to face them, and this does that well enough. The campy tone is a nice change of pace compared to 3H, even if the story is comparatively lacking in depth and emotional punch. I still enjoyed the continent-trotting narrative here quite a bit.

    I don't quite understand the criticism I've seen of some with respect to the characters. I get that the design is a bit divisive (though I personally enjoy them well enough and love the use of vibrant colors) but the writing is still pretty solid. Fire Emblem has always taken the approach of characters with one defining trait that have some more depth as you get into their supports - it helps a lot when the player has to differentiate 30 or so. I think the characters work well in that regard, and I found a lot whose supports I enjoyed just as many in 3H.

    Presentation on the whole is great - the art style adopted here definitely works better within the hardware limitations of the Switch. Environments are much cleaner, there are less jagged lines, and animation quality has taken a big step up. Walking around the battlefields after one is over is also very novel, even if they are a bit lacking in things to do, and really showcases how nice the game looks.

    This takes me to my main criticism of the game - the Somniel. While I appreciate it trying to be a more streamlined Garreg Mach, it only partially succeeds. After every battle, for the most optimal playthrough, you still have to walk/fast travel around the place to pick up a bunch of items, choose a meal, pick support partners for activities, do some fishing, and gain some experience in the arena. That's fine at first, but quickly gets dull. I wish there was a button to automate at least some of this by the mid-game, like automatically picking up all items or running support activities on previously selected characters. Sommie is adorable, though, so that helps.

    All in all, I love this game. It's sucked me in just as much as Three Houses, but for different reasons. I care less about the story, but I am ore excited to jump into battles than ever - even if they are just skirmishes on repeated maps. I hope that future entries can step up the story a bit and streamline the hub world, or adopt more of series like Persona to make that aspect of the game more consistently engaging, but this game's focus on gameplay pays off in a big way. If you are a fan of tactical RPGs, this is definitely a can't miss in my book.    … Expand
  6. L498
    Feb 16, 2023
    2
    As someone who's played and beaten every Fire Emblem game since Path of Radiance on the Gamecube, I can say with almost equal pride and shame, this is the first one I couldn't finish. There's no one in this story worth rooting for, nothing worth getting invested in, and the story itself feels like a crappy seasonal anime that no one would actually pay attention to if it didn't have "FireAs someone who's played and beaten every Fire Emblem game since Path of Radiance on the Gamecube, I can say with almost equal pride and shame, this is the first one I couldn't finish. There's no one in this story worth rooting for, nothing worth getting invested in, and the story itself feels like a crappy seasonal anime that no one would actually pay attention to if it didn't have "Fire Emblem" in the name... it's just painfully boring to try and play through.

    I wouldn't recommend it on sale, or at all for that matter.    … Expand
  7. Brainrot
    Feb 15, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I love Fire Emblem, I've been playing these games since the original US GBA releases, so it pains me to say this but this one just didn't hit right.

    I think my biggest gripe comes down to lazy design. This game feels like a step back in the areas I value Fire Emblem most, areas where the series is known to excel above other strategy rpgs; gameplay, character interaction and replayability.

    In terms of gameplay, the map gimmicks the game depends on to artificially increase difficulty are just boring and tedious. Miasma, a ground hazard that buffs enemies and weakens allies, is often thrown haphazardly over the map at random with no thought and feels too shallow and arbitrary to give any sense of achievement. It's an annoyance.

    I find darkness almost equally unfun as a mechanic, though it was used well in a certain chapter with a character who teleports, so I'll give it a pass.

    As for character interactions, the lack of S rank supports between allies was a huge disappointment, followed by the equally huge disappointment of the removal of support based end cards. The endings for characters are the same no matter what you do (short of letting them die in classic, in which case you just get "name died at place").

    The lack of support based endings is one part of the replayability problem. Another is the extremely linear storyline. Maybe I was spoiled by Fates and Three Houses, but this return to one single storyline free of any player direction really didn't do it for me. It just feels like we've been given a lot less game this time around by comparison.

    I guess that (and the addition of currently broken online game modes) may be why they didn't include new game plus either, but that just serves to cripple the replay value even further.

    All in all, it's not a horrible entry to the series. It still offers some charming characters (I'm personally very fond of Alcryst, Ivy and Griss), decent gameplay, interesting new mechanics/strategic choices in the form of the emblem rings and skill inheritance reminiscent of FE: Heroes, and some fairly elaborate and sometimes aesthetically pleasing maps. It's just a shame it's a step back in the ways that really matter to me most.    … Expand
  8. Spacemerune28
    Feb 14, 2023
    10
    Easily the best Fire Emblem to date. Incredible graphics, best combat yet. I'm glad they went more on combat this time around!
  9. Swiftyb
    Feb 14, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gutes Gameplay in den Kämpfen, aber die Story ist schlecht erzählt, Logikfehler, unlogische Motivationen, regelmäßig werden tragische Dialoge als Motivationserklärungen benutzt, so viel Geheule über Mütter … schwach sobald man aus den Kämpfen kommt… Expand
  10. IhSeVe
    Feb 13, 2023
    10
    The gameplay is fun and clean, the story may be kinda stupid but overall Fire Emblem Engage is a very solid game.
  11. hinst
    Feb 13, 2023
    6
    Here is my honest spoiler-free review for this game. I give it 6 out of 10.

    Fine: + Graphics + Animations + Battles + Support conversations + Characters + Battle preparations, equipment I put all 4 aspects above under the title of Fine; I mean that they're just good enough to be OK but nothing outstanding. Characters and support conversations range from decent to literally    Here is my honest spoiler-free review for this game. I give it 6 out of 10.

    Fine:
    + Graphics
    + Animations
    + Battles
    + Support conversations
    + Characters
    + Battle preparations, equipment

    I put all 4 aspects above under the title of Fine; I mean that they're just good enough to be OK but nothing outstanding. Characters and support conversations range from decent to literally clown and cringe. If you do not like the weird design of some characters you always have the choice of picking the other characters. There appears to be enough different characters for everyone

    Poor:
    - Paid DLCs
    - Nostalgia characters
    - Infinite grind
    - Locked on non-open gaming platform Switch
    - Poor plot

    I wish Nintendo just released Fire Emblem on PC so we could play in 4k 120 FPS. Some animations are too quick for 30 FPS so they wall apart.

    The predecessor game Fire Emblem 3 Houses casts a big shadow onto Fire Emblem Engage and this is the curse of this game. Fire Emblem 3 Houses is superior in many ways and people (myself included) judge Engage because of it.

    Overall I think this is an OKAY game, it gets well deserved 6/10 from me.    … Expand
  12. sunshinehairpin
    Feb 12, 2023
    2
    This game is definitely the next "black sheep" in the Fire Emblem series alongside Fates and Warriors. The story is hilariously bad (especially towards the end) and most of the characters are completely forgettable. I know people will argue that Fire Emblem "was always anime", but believe me and other older Fire Emblem fans (my first game was Path of Radiance on the Gamecube, currentThis game is definitely the next "black sheep" in the Fire Emblem series alongside Fates and Warriors. The story is hilariously bad (especially towards the end) and most of the characters are completely forgettable. I know people will argue that Fire Emblem "was always anime", but believe me and other older Fire Emblem fans (my first game was Path of Radiance on the Gamecube, current favorite is Echoes: Shadows of Valentia) when we say that this game ACTUALLY IS TOO ANIME. You can easily tell just from the art style and Vtuber aesthetics (if the story and voicelines weren't already big indicators). Completely far-flung from the more medieval fantasy-like world the series is more known for.

    The gameplay is very unbalanced. Hit rates are completely broken as more and more people are noticing that they're consistently missing attacks that have 80-90%+ accuracy and getting hit by enemy attacks that have 30% accuracy. I don't know if it's a coding error or what, but the RNG is completely messed up in a lot of cases. The ring system is interesting in concept, but the more I played with it the more I came to realize that the game pretty much wants you to spam Engage attacks throughout the fights which sort of kills the immersion of trying to formulate intense strategies while in the midst of battle. They at least brought back the weapon triangle tho, which was something I thoroughly enjoyed.

    Character growth rates are abysmal, and even worse most of the early units are easily replaceable with better units as you progress through the game. It's a HUGE step backwards from the level progression system of Three Houses and even the systems of older Fire Emblem games. You can somewhat mitigate these problems with giving your characters more skills via building bonds with rings, but it requires A LOT of grinding to give your characters the necessary skill points and bond points to get everything.

    Most of the maps are uninteresting. The only ones that have interesting mechanics going on for them are in the last few chapters of the game.

    The Somniel is a neat concept since it feels like an upgraded version of My Castle from Fire Emblem Fates, but even then towards the end I found myself feeling like it was there so that I could "do my dailies" after every fight like I'm playing some kind of mobile game (this game has a gacha mechanic as well).

    There's a big spike in difficulty at around Chapter 11, and it's way more noticeable when playing on the harder difficulty settings. I did two playthroughs on both Normal and Hard respectively. Hard mode felt A LOT more stressful than Normal, and it's not even the most difficult setting. The people playing on Maddening are an entirely different breed. Godspeed.

    Oh, and slight spoiler: You have the option to marry anyone in the roster, including two little kids and your little sister. The US version has been heavily localized to give the Pact Ring cutscenes different context, but overall you know what the original script was implying. Gross...

    There's some fun to be had in this game, but the good moments are so few and far between that I have to give it a negative review. I genuinely love the Fire Emblem series, and it seemed like the series was only going to improve after Echoes and Three Houses, but obviously not every game can be a masterpiece. Here's hoping they address these issues in the next installment. I'm not worried about DLC. I'm done with this game.

    Edit: I gave it a few points for good music and visuals. Like I said before some of the gameplay is fun, but it loses its novelty towards the end of the game on higher difficulties.    … Expand
  13. Amama
    Feb 12, 2023
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pathetic excuse for a game. Please don't buy this laggy hunk of trash.. play a real game… Expand
  14. OliverGaming
    Feb 12, 2023
    3
    As a veteran of the series. I can tell you from first-hand experience that everything about this game fails in comparison to its predecessors. New players will be blissfully unaware of how bad the story, gameplay, music, and animation is through no fault of their own. What's worse is Engage constantly takes shots at veteran players who like characters such as Ike, Marth, or Roy over theAs a veteran of the series. I can tell you from first-hand experience that everything about this game fails in comparison to its predecessors. New players will be blissfully unaware of how bad the story, gameplay, music, and animation is through no fault of their own. What's worse is Engage constantly takes shots at veteran players who like characters such as Ike, Marth, or Roy over the cowardly, badly
    voiced acted, and completely forgettable Alear. When a character like Diamant actually goes through an arc, fits the world he lives in, and is hands down the best character in the game. It makes me question why he wasn't the protagonist instead. Worst of all, the series is so predictable that when I guess something would happen later down the line, it did. That's probably because Engage rips plot points from other fire emblem games and the supports and conversations characters have with each other are embarrassing and cringy at its worst. It's that bad.

    I'll just end it by saying this.
    The era of the avatar is over, and what we need desperately right now is another Ike.

    Edit: So I thought about it and realized my score was a little bit too harsh. So, I wanted to change it. It's still not a good game by a long shot, but I will admit some, but not all of the gameplay is fun. There are music tracks in this game that are composed really well, and characters like Diamont and Ivy were really the only things keeping me playing. Other then that, I still wouldn't recommend this to my worst enemy. Play Awakening first, or if you have a good way to do it. Fire Emblem Path of Radiance.    … Expand
  15. Lair0
    Feb 12, 2023
    6
    The gameplay in this entry is a improvement in te series but the story, characters and characters design are a jugar downgrade all the more coming from a Game like three houses
  16. KittyLove
    Feb 12, 2023
    3
    Diamant should have been the protagonist.

    I can pick apart everything wrong with this game. The gameplay, the music, the animation, everything, but the biggest grievance I have with Engage comes from the avatar once again. This is the third game since Fire Emblem Fates where I had to sit down and ask myself "why wasn't this character the protagonist?" Before, it was Xander with    Diamant should have been the protagonist.

    I can pick apart everything wrong with this game. The gameplay, the music, the animation, everything, but the biggest grievance I have with Engage comes from the avatar once again. This is the third game since Fire Emblem Fates where I had to sit down and ask myself "why wasn't this character the protagonist?" Before, it was Xander with Conquest. After that, it was Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude with Three Houses, and now it's Diamant with Engage. He is one of the very few characters that actually goes through an arc and character development. If you compare all the stuff he goes through to Alear's story. They have no where near the same level of writing and voice acting, not even close, and after feeling this way for the third time. The avatar character is starting to get under my skin and I believe they really need to go.

    There are a good amount of characters in the Fire Emblem series since Fates that I feel deserve a second shot. Diamant is definitely one of them. He is the protagonist that I desperately wanted for so many years, and yes. A character like him deserves his own game, or a least a series of maps where the avatar is not involved.    … Expand
  17. karican
    Feb 12, 2023
    5
    (On chapter 21 out of 27) I'm a long term Fire Emblem fan and was disappointed by this game. The only thing that keeps me playing it is that the gameplay is good. And what you would expect from Fire emblem. Maps had pretty good variety but it wasn't a great challenge (played on normal, classic). The emblem mechanic was enjoyable and interesting. Gameplay isn't amazing but it's good.(On chapter 21 out of 27) I'm a long term Fire Emblem fan and was disappointed by this game. The only thing that keeps me playing it is that the gameplay is good. And what you would expect from Fire emblem. Maps had pretty good variety but it wasn't a great challenge (played on normal, classic). The emblem mechanic was enjoyable and interesting. Gameplay isn't amazing but it's good. Music is good graphics are fair.

    The story very predictable and dull. The things that the characters say they feel seems so fake and contrived because the game doesn't work to show the player why they feel anything. The characters aren't great. They all are unbelievably smitten with the main character, its weird. The voice acting is not good, particularly for a lot of the emblems. I'll likely finish the game since the gameplay is fun and it isn't a huge time investment but it's not a game I would recommend unless you just love tactical gameplay and would play it for the ganeplay only.    … Expand
  18. Marcooooooooooo
    Feb 12, 2023
    10
    amé, devoraron, almorzaron, desayunaron, publicaron, crearon, ejecutaron, diseñaron, comieron
  19. Maestr
    Feb 12, 2023
    5
    Unfortunately, this game was not so much interesting as I wanted. Most main battles are boring and did not push me to try different tactics. Base is awful, story is stupid. I do not want to hear listen again and again about Divine Dragon. Craft is useless as much as level up mechanics. Only during additional battles I'm stressed.
    If only I could do refund. And I'm definitely sure that    Unfortunately, this game was not so much interesting as I wanted. Most main battles are boring and did not push me to try different tactics. Base is awful, story is stupid. I do not want to hear listen again and again about Divine Dragon. Craft is useless as much as level up mechanics. Only during additional battles I'm stressed.
    If only I could do refund. And I'm definitely sure that only big fans could try this game.    … Expand
  20. Bonni44
    Feb 11, 2023
    4
    Three houses is one of my favorite games on the switch, so my expectations for engage were really high. I saw people say you can't compare engage to three houses if you haven't played other fire emblem games......yes I can. It's like telling me I can't say I prefer apples over oranges because I never tasted bananas..... that's just stupid. So let's start with the pros: - Beautiful graphicsThree houses is one of my favorite games on the switch, so my expectations for engage were really high. I saw people say you can't compare engage to three houses if you haven't played other fire emblem games......yes I can. It's like telling me I can't say I prefer apples over oranges because I never tasted bananas..... that's just stupid. So let's start with the pros: - Beautiful graphics (I'm not talking about the artstyle here). It looks better than most switch games.
    - Fun combat (not that different of 3H like people say but it's a plus for me, I love 3H).
    - Good music (not on 3H level) but a few tracts were really good. Now the cons: - Horrible characters. 90% of the cast looks underaged, male characters are just effeminate losers, except like one or two. Main character is really bland and worshiped by everybody and it's not earned. Characters are way too colorful to fit in a medieval setting.
    - Dialogue is super cringe, support conversations have no depth and don't develop the characters. They just talk about tea and things they are scared of etc. It's literally the conversations I was making my barbies have when I was 5. The supports were so boring I just started skipping them after a few. S support was also super dissapointing.
    - Story is not great. It's cliche and linear and with no choices at all.
    - Less classes with no visual preview of your character.
    - Skirmishes give no gold.
    - Somniel mini games are boring and useless.
    - Latest heros, Dimitri, Claude and Edelgard are locked behind an expensive dlc. Emblem's outfits are locked behind amiibos. I would have to spend hundreds of dollars to unlock everything in this game. Three houses was a more mature game, with incredible dialogue and voice acting. With grief, loss, romance, and difficult choices to make. Fire emblem is a game about war, and engage felt more like a morning cartoon. I know some people didn't want to do the other routes in 3H because they didn't want to do the monastery stuff again, but you can literally skip it with new gameplus. I personally loved the social aspect in 3H, it was a nice change of pace in between battles. It made me really care about my students and I was really motivated to build them right and use them on the battlefield. I could also pick which characters I wanted to recruit. In engage, they just give you a ton of characters for free, and I just didn't care about any of them. I just felt like I was fighting with a bunch of clowns... Overall this is a stepback compared to 3H and I was dissapointed enough to write this review.    … Expand
  21. awilson1978
    Feb 11, 2023
    9
    While the social link elements have definitely been toned down from Three Houses, the visuals are a definite step up, and the gameplay itself is some of the best the series has ever seen.
  22. Steyraus
    Feb 11, 2023
    10
    The cry baby fanboys review bombing this game because it not a bloated visual novel like Three Houses, better not complain when we don't get another emblem game for eight to ten years. That what happens when you trash a perfectly great game just cause it tries something different and might not be exactly what you want. Engage was clearly tring to bring new people into the series and whatThe cry baby fanboys review bombing this game because it not a bloated visual novel like Three Houses, better not complain when we don't get another emblem game for eight to ten years. That what happens when you trash a perfectly great game just cause it tries something different and might not be exactly what you want. Engage was clearly tring to bring new people into the series and what do the origional fans do, cry offcourse.

    As someone who has never had an interest in the Fire Emblem Games I was drawn to Engage by its buetiful colourful Anime aesthetic and amazing sexy and cool character design. I has played Three Houses for a bit and found it utterly boring. Three hour has hours of reading and exposition it almost a visual novel. I was skeptical when getting Engage but luckily I was not disappointed, Engage lives up to the series high standard and I quickly fell in love with it tactics and world.
    Why a tiny handfull of Emblem fans are negative towards Engage is a mystery to me, but with complacent whiney fans that review bomb a great game like Engage its no wonder the Fire Emblem series never hits the heights of being main stream. These complacent fans clearly enjoy the dull visual novel approach to these games over good pacing and a focus on tactics and getting to the action. But for be Engage is the direction I wish the series to go.    … Expand
  23. 5PercentCrit
    Feb 10, 2023
    6
    Anyone else really hyped for this after 100's of hours dumped into Three Houses?! Shoot I know I was and as a big fan of the series I must say I had a lot of fun with this game. The new gameplay mechanics and difficulty on maddening (usually what I play) were a welcome addition. This game is hard on Maddening, like vastly harder than Three Houses where you could break the game with aAnyone else really hyped for this after 100's of hours dumped into Three Houses?! Shoot I know I was and as a big fan of the series I must say I had a lot of fun with this game. The new gameplay mechanics and difficulty on maddening (usually what I play) were a welcome addition. This game is hard on Maddening, like vastly harder than Three Houses where you could break the game with a bit of understanding and effort. So Difficulty and skill ceiling, definitely there. But Story, and game progression from Act to Act (if you can say there are) is very poor here. Story is a shallow 3/10 at best and I often didn't feel like I was moving forward due to some new leveling and skill mechanics (only two tiers of classes and SP). The Engage mechanic was fun to experiment with on a first run and swapping Emblems felt neat for a while, however I feel this game has very little replay value and that was something I was really looking forward to. If you are a long time FE fan then I would recommend and am sure you will enjoy your time. But with a bland paper thin story, lack of compelling game progression, and removal of loved mechanics(NG+, rotating the freaking camera on a map) this game doesn't quite reach the highs of Three Houses or older titles and will certainly disappoint some.… Expand
  24. PlayorNaygames
    Feb 10, 2023
    5
    If I had to review FE: 3 Houses I'd give it a 10/10. I absolutely loved it and played it for over 500 hours. FE Engage was not mostly developed by TecmoKoei like 3 Houses was and is back in the hands of the creators, Intelligent Systems. What this means is that many of the things that really turned me off on FE Fates are back in perhaps an even bigger way. I'm going to break down this gameIf I had to review FE: 3 Houses I'd give it a 10/10. I absolutely loved it and played it for over 500 hours. FE Engage was not mostly developed by TecmoKoei like 3 Houses was and is back in the hands of the creators, Intelligent Systems. What this means is that many of the things that really turned me off on FE Fates are back in perhaps an even bigger way. I'm going to break down this game by several categories for review. Let's start with the elephant in the room that many reviews are missing: the DLC.

    DLC: You might be thinking "why is DLC a topic for review"? Let me explain. While the game can be beaten without DLC, just like FE: Fates, it deeply impacts the experience. The entire game is designed around incentivizing you to by the DLC packs ($30 total). You're probably confused at this point, because most games have figured out how to do DLC without greatly affecting gameplay balance. Let me go over the systems affected, so you can understand:

    Gold and metals are very scarce. You can farm them in side missions, but at a very slow rate. There are some cheese methods that slightly enhance your rate, but if you really want more gold and metals, you're going to spend many hours farming. These side maps are set 2-4 levels above your highest character and have over 50 enemies, so they aren't trivial either. Do you see how that might incentive someone to buy DLC when DLC packs give you weapons, permanent stat boost items, gold, and SP scrolls (a currency used to purchase skills)? Speaking of SP, I should mention how agonizingly slow it accumulates from killing enemies and how many skills are priced so expensive that I could not afford them by the time I beat the game. You will earn about 4-5k SP normally per character over the game, but I've seen skills cost as much as 8400 SP. There is no new game plus either and none coming later either. So seriously, you can see how their desire to have you purchase DLC permeates the whole game's design.

    Then there is a spot in the game's story where they take away a large chunk of your power. Also, unlike 3 Houses, reinforcement spawns are infinite and provide low exp, but are just as powerful. If you have all the DLC packs the give you 7 powerful bracelets that are just as powerful, if not moreso, than this obstacle is a lot more trivial. Hardcore players will be fine, but this heavy handed approach hurts the game balance as a whole because they wants casual players to feel like they need an edge and buy the DLC.

    I know it's bad form to spend half a review talking about the DLC and its impact on game design, but it's not talked about by major outlets and Intelligent Systems needs to be be called out for doing it wrong again. Fates had the same problems, but to a lesser degree. 3 Houses figured out how to do a fair DLC, but it probably didn't sell as well, so we're back to this model from Fates. With that out of the way, lets break the game down into its core bits:

    Story:

    Well, if you've seen anything, you've read that the story is bad and it is. Worst in the series bad. Some of the hammiest, cringiest dialog I've read from a 1st party, AAA game. It feels like they wrote the whole game for the mobile game audience (that spends way more than us normal FE players, btw). There's many times in the story things happen for no other reason than the writers will it to happen. It constantly breaks whatever immersion you have and the world does not feel believable or real. There is very little world building and what is there is lock into support conversations with your allies. Most of these support conversations revolve around 2 characters with 1 personality trait/hobby talking about that in the most boring way possible. The only thing that saves it from being a complete waste of times is the voice acting. They spared no expense and hired many top tier voice actors that you'll recognize if you watch any anime. They do a great job. It's a shame that Bernadetta voice actor from 3 Houses players the main female character, because she is given nothing to work with. The main character is the worst thing about the game. Everyone loves you and even those that don't usually end up loving you. There's no tension in the plot at all. It's closest to maybe the Pokemon kids show from the 90s. Be aware the player has no agency whatsoever over the story as well. Routes are gone, as well as dialog choices. It's the biggest letdown of the game, considering what 3 Houses gave us.

    Gameplay:

    I'm running out of characters, so I'm going to have to keep this more brief than I would like. Many people have praised the gameplay. It's mostly what you would expect from a FE game that gets rid of all the enhancements of 3 Houses. It's closest to FE Awakening, but we now have 12 rings and 7 DLC bracelets. All of which are varying degrees of extremely powerful. Which leads me to say that this is the easiest FE to date. I think they had real trouble balancing the game.    … Expand
  25. Bkillinm
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    This game is excellent, don’t let the poor user rating turn you away. People are just but hurt about the lack of social sim which is not a big deal. The battle system is superb and it looks amazing on the switch. Besides maybe the story and some of the characters being boring there’s not much else to complain about.
  26. Mandra
    Feb 10, 2023
    5
    The MC is bland and their hair color is weird, combat is good (hard to **** that up), music is mid at best, social interactions have been reduced to bare minimum, the main hub is boring.
    Not a fan of the main feature of using rings and merging with emblems, also dealing with who equips which ring at all times is not fun at all.

    5/10, made me wanna replay Three Houses even more.
  27. Quilly89
    Feb 10, 2023
    9
    This is an interesting game. A lot of the people complaining about the game are newcomers to the series. (Yes. Even those of you whom started at awakening). This game is much more reminiscent of old school fire emblem than the newer titles. No Marriage, No Children, Basic Storyline. Does that mean the characters are bad? No. Is the story bad? No. Its more followable than a lotThis is an interesting game. A lot of the people complaining about the game are newcomers to the series. (Yes. Even those of you whom started at awakening). This game is much more reminiscent of old school fire emblem than the newer titles. No Marriage, No Children, Basic Storyline. Does that mean the characters are bad? No. Is the story bad? No. Its more followable than a lot of the previous titles. Sure. It isn't bad though. If you grew up with a Gameboy advance, give this one a try. You will likely enjoy it.… Expand
  28. Raulgarcia2
    Feb 9, 2023
    10
    Testing Testing. Making sure that this works. The combat is very nice. The weapon triangle is back which is good.
  29. voc
    Feb 9, 2023
    3
    I created an account just to leave a review on this game. Honestly it is a chore to play. Even though I love turn based combat games, it gets stale midway in as you basically only have one class upgrade for characters (dumb as it limits possibilities and discourages you from exploring builds and going in a designed path imo). Then, you have a generic and bland cast. What was once an areaI created an account just to leave a review on this game. Honestly it is a chore to play. Even though I love turn based combat games, it gets stale midway in as you basically only have one class upgrade for characters (dumb as it limits possibilities and discourages you from exploring builds and going in a designed path imo). Then, you have a generic and bland cast. What was once an area of excitement has now become unbearable. Most charachters have 0 development. I am in chapter 22. 4 more to go. But this game is a mess compared to 3 houses. I think Nintendo rushed this one out.… Expand
  30. Starfree
    Feb 2, 2023
    6
    This is my least favorite FE game. There isn’t anything bad about it, just a pretty standard story with obvious twists. The ending for lack of a better word is **** And a lot of small gameplay and mechanic changes that I don’t personally like. And after the massive deal that was 4 stories in 3 Houses I kinda feel cheated by getting just one story. In a positive note with only wave 1 dlcThis is my least favorite FE game. There isn’t anything bad about it, just a pretty standard story with obvious twists. The ending for lack of a better word is **** And a lot of small gameplay and mechanic changes that I don’t personally like. And after the massive deal that was 4 stories in 3 Houses I kinda feel cheated by getting just one story. In a positive note with only wave 1 dlc the dlc has already proven itself to be the best FE DLC to date. Already leagues better than 3 houses’ dlc imo. If you buy the game I recommend picking up the dlc as well. But if you are picking between this and 3 houses, 3 houses is the better game.… Expand
  31. SomeName
    Feb 9, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm about 10 hours into the game and am writing this now because I don't think my opinion will change: Fire Emblem Engage is mechanically strong, but creatively a new low. A more detailed breakdown below.

    +Gameplay - the battles are decent. The weapon triangle is fun and the break mechanic is an interesting addition, even though I think it serves the AI more than the player, but this is fine. An effort was also made to make the battle maps varied, although to be fair I have not seen all of them yet. The win objectives are a bit plain though and are usually either rout or defeat boss. There are also quite a few mini-games, which are passable, but nothing compared to ones like in the Yakuza series.

    +Graphics - an overall improvement on FE 3 Houses. The lighting and colour palette are much better and the animations are more fluid. I feel the menus are a tad convoluted though, it feels a bit like I'm operating a spreadsheet over a game at times.

    +/- Soundtrack - honestly I didn't really notice it one way or the other, so I guess it is ok. Definitely not as impactful or memorable as FE 3 Houses though.

    -Story - it's the generic fantasy template of collect the X things to defeat the conveniently colour-coded evil Y. That's not an issue on its own because many games manage to implement this template well, but Engage is definitely not one of them. This game is incredibly lazily written and it really shows in how little of an effort it makes in developing characters.
    A benchmark for this is the "parental figure" that is in basically every FE game who is usually scripted to die so the protagonist can mature. In FE Path of Radiance, said parental figure acts as a mentor, advisor and integral support to the protagonist and their group. Roughly a 3rd into the game, they are killed under mysterious circumstances and their death both shatters the group and furthers the plot in a significant way. A similar, albeit weaker form exists in FE 3 Houses.
    Now here's FE Engage's variant: our protagonist has amnesia so they don't remember their parent. Roughly 1 hour into the game the parent shows up in the plot in a somewhat awkward reunion scene. The next in-game day, the parent is killed and our protagonist has a tearful death scene over what is basically a complete stranger to them. It's so bad and pointless that I would argue the story would have been better without the parental character existing at all. There are many more examples of poorly written, ham-fisted character interactions like this one in Engage but I'm not going to list them because that would be doing more work than the writers did.

    -Art Design - With the release of 3 Houses I had thought that Fire Emblem had finally escaped the underage waifu pit that it had been stuck in for the past decade. Sadly, it appears to have dug itself back in and arguably even deeper than before. Characters look like overly sexualised v-tuber avatars whose average age is somewhere in middle school. This appearance is incredibly jarring in a game about war and conquest, where the average soldier is twice their size and wearing armour instead of a cosplay costume. The implications are also somewhat haunting: is our protagonist leading an army of child soldiers who are so psychotic that they have no qualms about casually murdering hundreds of designated "baddies"? This dissonance and the sexualisation of what clearly are minors are just a poor direction to go.

    -Launch-day DLC. I understand wanting to advertise the season pass, but they could have also made these cosmetics later and put more polish into the base game.    … Expand
  32. 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
  33. 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.
  34. Epiktasis1
    Feb 8, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I think the problem with Engage is that so much of the character dialogue early doors focuses on the topic of staring or being stared at, it's very strange. On top of that there is the waking up interaction which leans into it, fanboy characters that can't help but stare, being stared at while you sleep. It's such an awkward mess. The game is a good time but it's story and characters leave a lot to be desired. I found myself skipping dialogue after a while. It does pick up right toward the end by by then you've played over 95% of the game already.… Expand
  35. aWiNkInGsKe3v3r
    Feb 8, 2023
    10
    Genuinely innovative on the gameplay; and it fixed my biggest gripe with the series, the lack of active abilities. I love resource management and this game does it amazingly, some things on maddening and with the class system I don’t like but overall phenomenal game
  36. 0nearmedbandit
    Feb 8, 2023
    8
    It's a step forward in terms of the combat, presentation, look, etc.
    But the story, dialogue and relationship systems are a step back from Three Houses.
    Ultimately I like this gameplay loop quite a bit! Yet I find myself not caring as much about most of the characters in previous games. As A 'classic FE fan' I really have a lot to love, and it might even be my favorite combat system...    It's a step forward in terms of the combat, presentation, look, etc.
    But the story, dialogue and relationship systems are a step back from Three Houses.
    Ultimately I like this gameplay loop quite a bit!
    Yet I find myself not caring as much about most of the characters in previous games. As A 'classic FE fan' I really have a lot to love, and it might even be my favorite combat system... but I have enough complaints to keep it from rising to my favorite FE game overall.    … Expand
  37. 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.
  38. AmigoUA
    Feb 8, 2023
    4
    Game feels half finished - a lot of things in the game are pointless.
    And I don't even take into account mediocre story and writing.
  39. Nujanai
    Feb 7, 2023
    8
    Playthrough: 55hrs
    Score: 8/10
    The game itself is an absolute gem of a tactical JRPG. The gameplay is tight and most of the battles are well tuned. With that said, the story is shallow and falls short when the opportunities to be great are given. For my playthrough, I played the game on classic mode. This is the game setting that sets character deaths to permanent. The perma-death    Playthrough: 55hrs
    Score: 8/10

    The game itself is an absolute gem of a tactical JRPG. The gameplay is tight and most of the battles are well tuned. With that said, the story is shallow and falls short when the opportunities to be great are given.

    For my playthrough, I played the game on classic mode. This is the game setting that sets character deaths to permanent. The perma-death element surprised me by how much it added to not only the difficulty, but the richness of gameplay. Each move needed to be carefully considered. You can’t go all willy-nilly into battle or else characters will die and they will be gone for good. It made the battles so much more satisfying to play and beat.

    The developers did a good job allocating the Emblems throughout the game. Without going into too much detail to prevent spoilers. Due to the amount of Emblems in the game, they could have easily all blended into each other. Instead you are methodically introduced to each Emblem and given time to use and understand the mechanics of each Emblem.

    The menu system in the game is lacking. Incredibly un-intuitive. After 50+ hours in the game, I was still finding myself mis-selecting areas of the menu to check on basic tasks such as character equipment and inventor selection.

    After every battle you can return to the homebase called the “Somniel” and handle a list of duties. These duties range from checking in on your farm, fishing, cooking and battling. None of it is overly taxing on the player, but it is time consuming. Adding anywhere from additional 10-20 minutes of gameplay after each battle.

    The story is your very generic JRPG story setup with played out tropes. Thankfully, it largely took a backseat to the gameplay. What I came to think of the story, was that it more or less is the vessel to move the progress of the gameplay along rather than a core center point of the game that keeps you hooked. I do have to say the level of camp the writers managed to pack into the dialogue was so off the rails it was charming at times.

    Although the story is shallow. The life-sim elements of the game is where I found the most meaningful character development. In the Somniel you can grow your Emblem bonds and character support. The support dialogue with your characters were generally entertaining and provided more insight into the character’s backgrounds and motivation than any cutscene did throughout the game. Unfortunately, this was not the same with the Emblem bond dialogues. Dialogues with the Emblems were dry and generic. A missed opportunity in my book.

    After completing the story and all the paralogue missions I can say I enjoyed the core mechanics of the gameplay for my entire 55 hour playthrough, but was let down with the generic story.    … Expand
  40. tsubakikasugano
    Feb 7, 2023
    4
    This is a spoiler free rant-review about FE engage. If you don't wanna read through the wall of text heres a quick point form of whats good and you can just skip to the end for a tl;dr

    The good: -Gameplay on maddening gets very challenging in mid-late chapters needing you to pull out all the stops to get through some maps making for some very fun gameplay -Some of the music is pretty    This is a spoiler free rant-review about FE engage. If you don't wanna read through the wall of text heres a quick point form of whats good and you can just skip to the end for a tl;dr

    The good:
    -Gameplay on maddening gets very challenging in mid-late chapters needing you to pull out all the stops to get through some maps making for some very fun gameplay
    -Some of the music is pretty solid.
    -There SOME good story-gameplay integration it would work much better if it was written well.
    -The paralogue chapters revisiting maps of the old games are really cool and the highlight of the game.

    The bad:
    The main character is incredibly unlikable. Nothing about him is consistent other than hes an effeminate retard and a huge loser. The most stupefying moment is his "relationship" with one of the antagonists. I was writing about how stupid it was but it was like 3 paragraphs to keep within the character limit and to keep the review spoiler free just trust me when i say its REAAALLLY STUPID.

    Every other character is paper thing and one dimensional written completely around their designated trope. The support conversations (from the ones ive read and skimmed through because after a certain point i was fed up with this **** did nothing for character growth either and essentially just boiled down to:

    "Hello Character i like *my trope*" "Ohoho character 2 *your trope* is quite funny here is *my trope*"

    or

    "Uh oh! Looks like *my character trope* and *your character trope* dont mix well, what kind of wacky antics will ensue!"

    I was on a fire emblem thread on /v/ last week and saw someone refer to a character as "Captain Estrogen" and you know what. I literally could not tell who in the **** they were referring to in a game with an actual trans character because 90% of the male cast consists of some of the most effeminate losers in all of fiction.

    The graphics are "good" in the sense that they have more polygons than the average switch game. But the artstyle is just atrocious it tries to go for this look with very vibrant colors but translates horribly in 3d coming off looking incredibly generic and uninspired like a ****ty Chinese 3d mobile game. On top of this, the character models are completely uninspired and look like they all were created in a character generator by clicking "Randomize" a few times.

    Don't get me wrong, fire emblem has always had inspirations from anime behind its character designs, but in previous games it was very believable that the majority of characters could exist in a medieval fantasy world. None of the characters in engage, bar a VERY SELECT FEW, feel like they can fit into that type of world (the world the game is trying to portray). The thing is even if the graphics were incredible and made the switch look like a ps5, it wouldn't solve the root of the problem which is its awful artstyle. The design of the majority of character is just flat out garbage and dare I say, ugly. I sincerely hope Mika Pikazo sticks to drawing vtubers and never touches FE again.

    Seeing how big the part of the characters is, ill keep the part about the story short. Its bad. Not in terms of plot holes and such it is a *somewhat* coherent story, but its some of the most lazy, half-assed, uninspired writing ive ever seen. It reads like a story someone in grade 6-7 would write for creative writing.

    There are tons of awful scenes that try to be "high impact" such as deaths that try to pull at heartstrings but either end up making you laugh or want to skip through it as much as possible because none of it feels earned at all. You either never get enough time to grow attached to a character, or they try to make you feel sorry for the character the moment they die rather than building towards it.

    The writing in general for both story and dialogue is cringe at its best and puts you to sleep at worst.

    tl;dr:
    I guess you might call it a “mixed bag."

    But let me tell you what kind of mixed bag. It’s a trash bag that’s had a bad day. Like, say, your mom cleans out the cat litter; fresh and stale doody pebbles go right in the bottom of the bag. And then your sister throws out her used tampons, and where do they go? In the same bag. And then your brother comes home, piss-ass drunk just upchucks, pukes right into the bag/ Now I’m not trying to be disgusting, but that is a realistic situation, and what it all comes down to, THAT'S A NASTY BAG. But I’d rather take that **** out to the garbage than deal with this piece of **** **** this game, get out of my face!

    All kidding aside, its kind of like Conquest, but worse. Its worth a playthrough but its definitely not one ill ever touch again.

    Score being as close to objective i can be: 6.5/10

    Personal score: 3/10    … Expand
  41. dimilix
    Feb 7, 2023
    5
    Incredibly bland story and protagonist. Good game mechanics. They balance each other out (I guess?)
  42. Traumereix
    Feb 7, 2023
    0
    Such a waste of money. This game is not even fun. The characters are completely one-dimensional and stupid. Their design are bland and terrible. The story is terrible. And the ring system breaks the game entirely, every character has thousand of skills and can become thousand of stuff. I hated this in F3H. I wish they would bring back a more basic system like its old entries.
  43. remage
    Feb 7, 2023
    10
    currently at 50hrs chapter 19 playing on hard classic.
    probably the most fun fire emblem game i ever play.
    starting from the colorful art. good gameplay fast loading and smooth animation! good story telling and voice acting. the new break mechanic is amazing at the same the very punishing :(
    this is probably the best fire emblem with single path story.
  44. Saizoreita
    Feb 6, 2023
    2
    the game is very good in the combat parts but the rest is horrible. in the social parts the game is horrible compared to fire emblem three houses, the character development is not good and neither is the intention between them making them boring you don't care about any of them ,and those animals you take to your base will do why not to interact with them to touch them at least for whatthe game is very good in the combat parts but the rest is horrible. in the social parts the game is horrible compared to fire emblem three houses, the character development is not good and neither is the intention between them making them boring you don't care about any of them ,and those animals you take to your base will do why not to interact with them to touch them at least for what those animals are there. And where is the romance in Fire Emblem Engage because Fire Emblem Three Houses had and was part of the charm of that game as the character development and its history. I recommend anyone who has never played a game in the fire emblems franchise to buy three houses and better than fire emblem engage… Expand
  45. Alex12345o
    Feb 6, 2023
    9
    Definitivamente se nota la mejora continua que ha tenido la saga fire emblem, aunque no es un género para todo el mundo, sin embargo si te gusta este tipo de videjuegos vas a quedar encantado
  46. henryg
    Feb 5, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Incredible gameplay, writing is very creative, and an all new, fresh and fun story, but respectful with the franchise. Actually, it's a real tribute to Fire Emblem, a gift to the fans. Beautiful game, good new mechanics and hours of enjoyment.… Expand
  47. h2o_hero
    Feb 6, 2023
    9
    Fire Emblem Engage was a really fun experience for me. I honestly think the gameplay is some of the best we have seen from Fire Emblem. I would say the writing has some rough patches and I think the game being fully voiced actually makes those spots much worse. The voice actors did their job and it's more the tropey anime style direction that causes the issues many others are mentioning.Fire Emblem Engage was a really fun experience for me. I honestly think the gameplay is some of the best we have seen from Fire Emblem. I would say the writing has some rough patches and I think the game being fully voiced actually makes those spots much worse. The voice actors did their job and it's more the tropey anime style direction that causes the issues many others are mentioning.

    Despite the flaws in the story, I think the character cast is just as good as the last few entries of Fire Emblem games. I think the gameplay itself is outstanding and that's why I am rating this game highly. The Emblem Ring mechanic adds additional strategic depth and options that were extremely interesting and fun for me. I ended up with a core team at the end that I loved and felt comfortable with. But each map presented challenges and kept me on my toes.

    Overall, if you are looking for challenging turn based combat that Fire Emblem is known for then I think this game is worth playing. Come in with low expectations for the story and I think you will find a great game. The high level of customization makes this game feel good and makes you feel like a tactical genius when you put together great/powerful combinations.    … Expand
  48. ffp
    Feb 6, 2023
    0
    i wish fire emblem games would drop the date sim mechanics cuz if not, better convert this whole franchise into a visual novel.

    the technical aspects of the game are amazing, props to the devs for making this game's performance an issue.
  49. 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.
  50. Nox_b
    Feb 6, 2023
    10
    Intelligent Systems worked hard to make this game and it really shows. Here in this new installment of the fire emblem series we have everything that fans expect and more—well designed maps, always with new features and challenges, compelling characters, and a ton of support conversations and mini games you can do to bond with your units outside battle. If you're a fan or with you're a newIntelligent Systems worked hard to make this game and it really shows. Here in this new installment of the fire emblem series we have everything that fans expect and more—well designed maps, always with new features and challenges, compelling characters, and a ton of support conversations and mini games you can do to bond with your units outside battle. If you're a fan or with you're a new welcomer, I'm sure you will love the fun strategic, nail-biting stages, the quirky, unique characters, and overall one of the best recent fire emblem games.… Expand
  51. immortalphoenix
    Feb 6, 2023
    9
    I'm 60 hours in and loving this game. I do agree that the overall story and the individual characters' backstories and support conversations are lacking when compared to Three Houses. However I like the designs for the most part. The gameplay is the best I've experienced since Conquest. The emblem/engage mechanic offers additional unit customization beyond class and weapon choice. OverallI'm 60 hours in and loving this game. I do agree that the overall story and the individual characters' backstories and support conversations are lacking when compared to Three Houses. However I like the designs for the most part. The gameplay is the best I've experienced since Conquest. The emblem/engage mechanic offers additional unit customization beyond class and weapon choice. Overall presentation is outstanding, with much better visuals than three houses, especially when it comes to combat animations. I hope they deliver a steady stream of new content in the expansion pass so I can continue to enjoy this game.… Expand
  52. 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.
  53. Tend0
    Feb 6, 2023
    7
    I was really looking forward to this game. Even if the wedding features weren't expanded, I played it. I was really disappointed by the fact that Griss couldn't get the necessary A support with ring. disappointed
  54. 777Faron
    Feb 6, 2023
    10
    The game is 9 but I give it 10 to counter all those zeros from review bombing.
  55. WomanSlayer69
    Feb 4, 2023
    4
    Fire Emblem Engage more or less takes a step back from Fire Emblem Three Houses. The visible improvement is only from the graphics, while for the gameplay it only adds the weapon triangle system which was already in the old game and the emblem ring system which is exclusive to this title. even though the emblem ring is innovative and unique, the basic gameplay only relies on that, if it isFire Emblem Engage more or less takes a step back from Fire Emblem Three Houses. The visible improvement is only from the graphics, while for the gameplay it only adds the weapon triangle system which was already in the old game and the emblem ring system which is exclusive to this title. even though the emblem ring is innovative and unique, the basic gameplay only relies on that, if it is removed, then you can say there is no other innovative thing in the gameplay. And regarding the story and characters in this game, the story is boring and the character designs are too over the top and their dialogue is abysmal. There are even some mobile games whose stories and characters are better than this exclusive switch game, this is really embarrassing. overall I do not recommend buying this game at full price, because it is not worth your hard earned money… Expand
  56. Kaseijin64
    Feb 5, 2023
    4
    Fire Emblem Engage is a return to a more classic style of Fire Emblem. The map design and tactical gameplay are quite good, and among some of the best work done in this series, albeit with some baffling balance decisions concerning the in game economy and too heavy a focus on grinding for post game content. The main campaign offers very solid gameplay and each map is consistently fun toFire Emblem Engage is a return to a more classic style of Fire Emblem. The map design and tactical gameplay are quite good, and among some of the best work done in this series, albeit with some baffling balance decisions concerning the in game economy and too heavy a focus on grinding for post game content. The main campaign offers very solid gameplay and each map is consistently fun to play. However, the game is hobbled by what is by far one of the worst plots in gaming history, the writing is poor the story massively cliched in a way that doesn't offer any enjoyment or pay off and by the late game the plot is such a train wreck it completely ruins the experience. 8/10 gameplay. 0/10 utter trash story that starts weak and just gets worse as the game goes on.… Expand
  57. ransom77
    Feb 5, 2023
    0
    This game is so **** bad. I have no idea how anyone could write the story and dialogue for this game and think its good.
  58. Dauvas
    Feb 5, 2023
    10
    Finally a true fire emblem game with focus on strategy and the war. No more school simulators which makes me love it even more!
  59. kamisamadesu19
    Feb 5, 2023
    10
    Major Performance and gameplay improvements

    More of this in future FE games if possible, with Tellius handling the lore/world building. FE3H staff could handle the characters.
  60. shoghidx
    Feb 5, 2023
    10
    Despite a simplistic approach to story (not necessarily bad by any means), the gameplay is peak fire emblem turn based strategy, and while not every character has the charm of 3 Houses or Awakening's cast, there are plenty of gems and is a wonderful experience start to finish for longtime fire emblem veterans
  61. 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
  62. hav0kfgc
    Feb 4, 2023
    9
    If you like classic Fire Emblem, you will love this game. Players who only played Three Houses will likely be turned off by the drastic differences in the social interactions and downgrade to the story as it goes back to its more classic roots. Fantastic visuals coupled with some of the best gameplay in the series thanks to new mechanics and fantastic map design make it worth playing forIf you like classic Fire Emblem, you will love this game. Players who only played Three Houses will likely be turned off by the drastic differences in the social interactions and downgrade to the story as it goes back to its more classic roots. Fantastic visuals coupled with some of the best gameplay in the series thanks to new mechanics and fantastic map design make it worth playing for anyone who enjoys a good strategy game.… Expand
  63. manakete_lover
    Feb 4, 2023
    10
    Story isn't too interesting but it did have a few twists I didn't expect. The emblems make sure that non of the cast are bad with all the things you can do with inheritance. My only gripe is that there were no true manakete girls in this game.
  64. NinjaCockStudio
    Feb 4, 2023
    0
    Mickey ass maps bruh I played this game for 3 hours and the nasty sus shi got me wanting to blow my brains out.
  65. Kaoshunter6
    Feb 4, 2023
    8
    Fire emblem engage is not a perfect game, but it is a great fire emblem game. While the game doesn't have the most nuanced story it has a decent one. Like I can confidently say that the first few chapters are some of the worst chapters I have seen in a fire emblem game. The story has some questionable dialogue especially when it comes to hortensia in chapter 15. However, the lastFire emblem engage is not a perfect game, but it is a great fire emblem game. While the game doesn't have the most nuanced story it has a decent one. Like I can confidently say that the first few chapters are some of the worst chapters I have seen in a fire emblem game. The story has some questionable dialogue especially when it comes to hortensia in chapter 15. However, the last chapters genuinely come together to create this beautiful conclusion that long-time fans can appreciate, at least I did. I think even new fans can appreciate the game's story to some degree. Alear despite the very weird design they went with, is the most likable main character (maybe aside from robin) the series has had in a while. I also believe the gameplay can pick up the game when the story kinda lags behind. Even compared to three houses engage can hold up. There are bad characters in three houses and bad characters in engage. There are very bad story elements in three houses (especially the church route) and very bad elements in engage's story. What I am trying to get at is that comparisons between engage and three houses aren't quite fair. Just give the game a chance and you'll get something out of it.

    I am not sure what people were expecting from the game, the trailers and announcements have focused on emblem rings being items you need to collect to stop the big bad guy. Sure it is generic but the things that happen during the journey can be interesting. While three houses was a success with divergent storytelling, fates were not. It has been a mixed-bag concept for the fire emblem. While engage can be boring at times three houses can be too. You need to repeat the first 9/10 chapters at least 4 times in three houses to get to the good stuff. This can be boring. Three houses, unfortunately, has set this expectation that fire emblem must have a bigger focus on supports, and divergent story routes, it really doesn't. I don't mind if a bad review is given because someone didn't like the story. Don't get me wrong I have been through three houses at least 5 times, i really enjoyed the new teaching mechanics and bonding with your students, but I also understood that three houses was another iteration of what a fire emblem can be. But to say the game is a 0/10 because it isn't building on what three houses was or isn't replicating it, I disagree with that. The last thing we need is for Fire emblem to become another persona game, let it stay fire emblem. A series that continues to try new things even if they don't work every now and then.

    I am also not trying to invalidate the bad reviews I can see where they are coming from to some degree but some things are just superficial criticisms. Like the main character is held back by the weird hair. But does not make them bad main characters. Fire emblem has always mirrored anime character design. For example, look at awakening and how similar it is to anime released at its time. Localization is awful most of the time, but did you really want to romance anna (a child)? if anything I question the initial decision from intelligent systems (IS) to have anna as a romantic option in the beginning. Though changing up supports to be less romantic is quite annoying. Sure the story is extremely predictable but the execution in most significant parts of the story is quite good. Sure character supports have taken a back seat but that doesn't mean they are complete garbage. For the beginning cast sure the supports are pretty awful but as the more interesting characters begin to enter your army the supports improve.

    Overall this is very subjective. but in my opinion fire emblem engage for long-time fans, is a 8/10. But for new fans, it is most likely a 7/10 or at worst a 6/10 because the story has some questionable moments and the game relies on nostalgia quite a bit. Nostalgia, that new fans will not have which is understandable.    … Expand
  66. JuliusTops
    Feb 4, 2023
    9
    This is pretty much what I've been wanting from a modern Fire Emblem game! And I've been playing the series for a long time since the GBA era, seeing the various kinds of worlds the series has to offer.

    I'd love to see more games with gameplay like Engage. The graphics are a huge step up from Three Houses, because that game was ugly as sin. The setting and story feels just like a GBA Fire    This is pretty much what I've been wanting from a modern Fire Emblem game! And I've been playing the series for a long time since the GBA era, seeing the various kinds of worlds the series has to offer.

    I'd love to see more games with gameplay like Engage. The graphics are a huge step up from Three Houses, because that game was ugly as sin. The setting and story feels just like a GBA Fire Emblem, simple and straight to the point! And the characters can be pretty charming and silly at times. Lots of fun designs with various inspirations.

    Being able to explore the battlefield after clearing a map is such a fun addition. I'd love to see that in more FE games.

    I think it's a great game to help introduce new players to some of the legendary main characters from across the series as well.
    It's like an All Stars-type celebration of the series.

    The biggest change I adore is that you can get right into battles way more easily than the last game. It always felt like such a hassle how much busywork Three Houses had you do.

    Fair warning though, the game can be tough if you're not careful!    … Expand
  67. Juniper_Jungby
    Feb 4, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I would like to start by saying I have played every single FE from 1-17 and this game is easily top 5 in the series.

    the gameplay is amazing, maps are varied with great level design the game was clearly made by the team who worked on conquest considering just how tight the gameplay is.
    the story isn't even that bad its mediocre and downright good at times and the main reason people are saying its bad is due to it not being a very serious story, it has good build up, twists and set ups.

    it is the best FE by far animation wise as well easily outdoing the rest of the series.
    The game also runs insanely well, I only had 2 frame drops in my entire first playthrough one of which I was trying to cause.

    this game is a labor of love by the devs, made by people who truly love the series and is easily going to be my goty

    I would give it a 9 but considering how many unfair 0 star reviews there are I will give it a 10 to help balance it out    … Expand
  68. Mrkitchenmagpie
    Feb 4, 2023
    8
    Great game with fantastic characters (and a lot to choose from). I don’t care what others say about it, I think it’s very fun and well done. The gameplay is excellent even if the story lacks (which most of these games do).
  69. linkgmf
    Feb 4, 2023
    9
    The story is bare bones and the character design takes from vtubers but the gameplay is pristinely polished and a load of fun.
  70. kenziishy
    Feb 4, 2023
    10
    I love this game! Awakening was my favorite in the series and I love going back in time to see the characters I loved so much come back to life. I was not too fond of the gameplay of 3 houses, it was way too tedious outside strategy, and I prefer to focus on the tactics rather than dating the other characters. The story was slow in the beginning for engage but it picked up really wellI love this game! Awakening was my favorite in the series and I love going back in time to see the characters I loved so much come back to life. I was not too fond of the gameplay of 3 houses, it was way too tedious outside strategy, and I prefer to focus on the tactics rather than dating the other characters. The story was slow in the beginning for engage but it picked up really well after about chapter 12 and I'm really enjoying it now! i think everyone who has given this game a 4 or below score never got to chapter 12 and that's kind of sad.… Expand
  71. ekgale92
    Feb 4, 2023
    8
    Overall, I enjoyed the game. Finished the game after putting 90 hours (On Classic, Hard). Battles were consistently fun, and I really enjoyed the depth of the combat system. Maps were varied with dynamics that made each one unique and present interesting challenges. There were a few social sim aspects in three houses that I would have liked to see but overall, I feel like paring down thoseOverall, I enjoyed the game. Finished the game after putting 90 hours (On Classic, Hard). Battles were consistently fun, and I really enjoyed the depth of the combat system. Maps were varied with dynamics that made each one unique and present interesting challenges. There were a few social sim aspects in three houses that I would have liked to see but overall, I feel like paring down those a little was the right call (less necessary social grinding as compared to three houses). What prevents me from giving it a higher score is that the story seemed cheesy to the extreme (and I generally dont mind cheesy). Didn't have high expectations but even compared to other fire emblem games (which weren't exactly bastions of narrative depth) it was really paint by the numbers. Seems like with a linear narrative they could have put something a little better together. I still recommend and if you are a cut scene skipper this is your perfect Fire Emblem Game. I just would have just liked to be more invested.… Expand
  72. kenduck
    Feb 4, 2023
    10
    This emblem ring mechanics is like a subclass system that you can build different customized classes.

    With weapon triangles,, chain attack, extra attack , and tons of different weapons and class/emblem skills, so much to considered, really provide so much fun. You can cast teleport to make the best use of goddess dance. The break system is not only useful in user phase but can also    This emblem ring mechanics is like a subclass system that you can build different customized classes.

    With weapon triangles,, chain attack, extra attack , and tons of different weapons and class/emblem skills, so much to considered, really provide so much fun.
    You can cast teleport to make the best use of goddess dance.
    The break system is not only useful in user phase but can also be used to lure different target in enemy's phase.
    Gameplay-wise, for me, it's amazing, and even in the last few battle it still surprise me.

    Map design is great. Battle animation is so cool I still watch it sometimes in the late game.

    Of course, some obvious flaws are there but mostly tolerable.
    Overall story is decent.
    I do hope they could modify some dialogues of protagonist, and add something for the boring early part.

    It's a pity the battle system and graphic team did a really great job while others don't.    … Expand
  73. neptune93a
    Jan 24, 2023
    10
    The best entry to FE since Awakening, Three Houses was great but its good to finally focus on what Fire Emblem is: A tactical RPG. The combat is fantastic. Great work Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
  74. Leifur
    Feb 4, 2023
    4
    A major step backwards in many ways. Characters are flat and display a single personality trait that they hammer into the ground. The writing is cringe - a certain death scene meant to be emotional feels more like a comedy as you have known this person for about 10 seconds and have no emotional attachment. The gameplay is strong, but this is a below average attempt from IS. Play ThreeA major step backwards in many ways. Characters are flat and display a single personality trait that they hammer into the ground. The writing is cringe - a certain death scene meant to be emotional feels more like a comedy as you have known this person for about 10 seconds and have no emotional attachment. The gameplay is strong, but this is a below average attempt from IS. Play Three Houses or an older Fire Emblem if you are looking for something more enjoyable.… Expand
  75. Tyvank123
    Feb 4, 2023
    10
    My experience playing Fire emblem engage has been nothing but positive I think the gameplay is great and I enjoyed the addition of the emblems to help enhance the strategic approach it adds to the game. I also enjoy the gameplay mechanics quite a bit it's easy to understand and enjoyable. The game may be lacking a bit in the creative storyline but I honestly enjoyed every minute of it andMy experience playing Fire emblem engage has been nothing but positive I think the gameplay is great and I enjoyed the addition of the emblems to help enhance the strategic approach it adds to the game. I also enjoy the gameplay mechanics quite a bit it's easy to understand and enjoyable. The game may be lacking a bit in the creative storyline but I honestly enjoyed every minute of it and am still playing it even if the story isn't as good as other games I have played I still do not think it was completely terrible and the game is deserving of the rating I gave up and highly recommend to anyone who enjoys strategy games.… Expand
  76. Friendlyelites
    Feb 4, 2023
    9
    Fire Emblem Engage is a return to form for the FE series. Not only through well crafted callbacks to previous entries through returning iconic maps but also through the map and character design. The gameplay in Engage is the best in the series without question or debate, and while the story itself might be simple and otherwise predictable it left me attached to the cast and characters andFire Emblem Engage is a return to form for the FE series. Not only through well crafted callbacks to previous entries through returning iconic maps but also through the map and character design. The gameplay in Engage is the best in the series without question or debate, and while the story itself might be simple and otherwise predictable it left me attached to the cast and characters and deeply invested in how the story would end.

    If you're expecting a deeply political struggle this game is not for you. This game makes no pretense of being more than it is from the get-go with a Shonen style anime opening and easily identifiable character archetypes. But if you go in with the right expectations then Fire Emblem Engage will be one of the best titles in the series history.    … Expand
  77. radiantmirror
    Feb 4, 2023
    0
    Even though the strategic battle is exceptionally interesting compared to past works, the clichéd and shallow storyline ruins everything.
    As a rpg, the story needs to be the motivation for playing, and if it doesn't have that ability, at least make it bland. The thought of manipulating children like childish and clueless virtual youtubers is getting on my nerves.
  78. Klusterx
    Feb 4, 2023
    5
    Great gameplay and the ring mechanic is great but goddammit the story is awful
  79. alcueid_814
    Feb 4, 2023
    0
    the vetical drawing of the game is too navie, and the plot is too bad!it’s a disaster
  80. daniellaplays
    Feb 4, 2023
    0
    Great gameplay but everything else is horrible. Characters are paper thin, with very little to offer by way of meaningful conversations. Alear is so stupid, and believes everything at face value - even from the villains. I was so frustrated by how little effort was given to the writing. Story was predictable at best, and disappointing at worst. I found myself skipping through theGreat gameplay but everything else is horrible. Characters are paper thin, with very little to offer by way of meaningful conversations. Alear is so stupid, and believes everything at face value - even from the villains. I was so frustrated by how little effort was given to the writing. Story was predictable at best, and disappointing at worst. I found myself skipping through the cutscenes, because I could care less about what was happening.… Expand
  81. Kasuga19
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Admittedly a fan service game at its core, but surprisingly provides one of the best FE gameplay.
  82. Alexynistre
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Didn't wanted too do that but since there is review bombing on this game, i'll give it a ten because i'm really enjoying this game, the character, the story, the Map, the combat system, all of that feel fresh and good
  83. Twnkek
    Feb 3, 2023
    3
    While some areas were definitely improved from other games (mainly the visuals: animations, shaders, ...), most aspects have me worrying about the future of the license.
    Music is good but I won't go as far as saying it is great. I find the UI pretty difficult to read and even the controls feel weird sometimes.
    Character designs are arguably bad, annoying, and frequently would take me out    While some areas were definitely improved from other games (mainly the visuals: animations, shaders, ...), most aspects have me worrying about the future of the license.
    Music is good but I won't go as far as saying it is great. I find the UI pretty difficult to read and even the controls feel weird sometimes.
    Character designs are arguably bad, annoying, and frequently would take me out of the story. I couldn't take a single character seriously either because their design was straight up stupid or their backstory was uninteresting/often non-existent. Some characters have literally no backstory and are completely one dimensional, only existing because of a specific trait that they will bring out in 80% of their conversation. I found myself skipping the support conversations for the first time in the series, it's hardly forgivable after the supports we had in Three Hopes recently.
    The story events feel artificial, forced, and just impossible to take seriously. In general I feel like the tone of the game is too serious for what it has to offer, if there were effective jokes that could make me smile from time to time I would have certainly enjoyed it more. The involvement of the emblems in the story also felt extremely minimal and artificial, but I guess it was to be expected.    … Expand
  84. Majimagoro19
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Game looks great, and is fun to play still, but mildly disappointed due to the lack of things to do in the base like in three houses, as I found those very fun just like in persona games, I do understand that its not the main point of these games, so that's a pass. Though it actually made me buy some of the older games, and on my way to finish those as well.
  85. TheSaltedEgg
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Thank god its actually good, and a game that you can play multiple times without being stuck in dialogues, etc.
  86. madtracking
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    I feel like a lot of people decided they hated this game before they got it. It's really great actually. The writing is good, the voice acting is great, ALL of the songs are bangers (except for the opening which I just wish was not in English), good crit animations are back, guys!, they obviously put a lot of love into this. No, it's not as crushingly hard as Thracia or Conquest, butI feel like a lot of people decided they hated this game before they got it. It's really great actually. The writing is good, the voice acting is great, ALL of the songs are bangers (except for the opening which I just wish was not in English), good crit animations are back, guys!, they obviously put a lot of love into this. No, it's not as crushingly hard as Thracia or Conquest, but that's a good thing. You'll be able to finish it. There's no missable side story you never knew was there. This isn't Fates, and that's also great. If you want your FE to be like Persona, go play Persona. I feel like there's a lot of toxicity in this fandom, but if you liked Sacred Stones, Echoes, 6&7, and just generally good gameplay with decent writing that's a lot of fun, you'll like this. It's more a fantasy story than a political intrigue, and it's well written. Please try it before you decide to just hate it. Or go play Fates again.… Expand
  87. Porte_st
    Feb 3, 2023
    9
    It's not Three houses 2, and that isn't necessarily a flaw but something some people may have an issue with. Personally I believe this is by far the best gameplay the series has had, or it is among the best, so I think that it was a good game based on that. The side content do be lacking, and the world is as deep as a puddle, but I came for a challenging and replayable game and I got whatIt's not Three houses 2, and that isn't necessarily a flaw but something some people may have an issue with. Personally I believe this is by far the best gameplay the series has had, or it is among the best, so I think that it was a good game based on that. The side content do be lacking, and the world is as deep as a puddle, but I came for a challenging and replayable game and I got what I came for.… Expand
  88. coldburgers
    Feb 3, 2023
    5
    Story is pretty bad even by fire emblem standards. I try to listen to it for a bit but almost always end up pressing start to skip it all. Dialogue is quite ... cringe for lack of a better word, helps to put the language to Japanese.

    Characters are all pretty bland, and have pretty bad same face. MC worship gets annoying too. Gameplay is pretty good - about what you expect from a    Story is pretty bad even by fire emblem standards. I try to listen to it for a bit but almost always end up pressing start to skip it all. Dialogue is quite ... cringe for lack of a better word, helps to put the language to Japanese.

    Characters are all pretty bland, and have pretty bad same face. MC worship gets annoying too.

    Gameplay is pretty good - about what you expect from a fire emblem game, same with the music.

    Also, maybe more of a minor gripe but I did not like the UI in this game compared to other Fire Emblem games.

    I enjoyed it well enough but found it hard to be motivated to play more than a few maps at a time, definitely one of my least favorite Fire Emblem games that I've played    … Expand
  89. Meatball-bandit
    Feb 3, 2023
    3
    The gameplay and mechanics are fantastic; Maddening seems really balanced; but besides that, I do not like anything else in the game. Characters are undeveloped, writing and story is horrible. Worst of all, there’s no ‘new game+’. once I beat maddening, what’s the point of replaying? I don’t get to keep any SP, or skills.
  90. rewq212
    Feb 3, 2023
    9
    Great game don’t listen to the negative reviews that are mostly from people who only played Three Houses. The story is solid, it’s the best looking FE to date, amazing voice overs, and gameplay mechanics are great. If you are a fan of FE as a whole and not just a Three Houses fan you’ll enjoy this game. Each FE is it’s own experience as a whole so I highly recommend giving it a shot toGreat game don’t listen to the negative reviews that are mostly from people who only played Three Houses. The story is solid, it’s the best looking FE to date, amazing voice overs, and gameplay mechanics are great. If you are a fan of FE as a whole and not just a Three Houses fan you’ll enjoy this game. Each FE is it’s own experience as a whole so I highly recommend giving it a shot to make your own judgement call. Excited to see what the next FE has in store!… Expand
  91. knguy136
    Feb 3, 2023
    9
    The majority of negative reviews that I've seen, players are too upset at the rather generic story. The story and I wholeheartedly agree, is definitely not even close to being the best Fire Emblem has to offer. However, these individuals are far too polarized and fail to understand how to write a proper review. They list a few positive elements to add legitimacy to their review, yet blastThe majority of negative reviews that I've seen, players are too upset at the rather generic story. The story and I wholeheartedly agree, is definitely not even close to being the best Fire Emblem has to offer. However, these individuals are far too polarized and fail to understand how to write a proper review. They list a few positive elements to add legitimacy to their review, yet blast the game with everything they can think of that they dislike about the game. They fail to look at the game holistically, including artt design, character design, environmental design, music, plot, combat, etc. This isn't to say that I'm a master of writing reviews either, but I will at the very least write this trying to encompass the game as a whole rather than use this as a platform to vent and rant about what I don't like.

    Plot
    If you're playing this game for the story, be warned that it is by no means a great one. The plot points are generic and predictable a lot of the time. It is to the point where I genuinely believe even my infant cousins could predict what's going to happen next. However, the characters have their moments and I genuinely believe that they tried with the story; if you play the game and don't like it, say something. I think it definitely could have been better but I was satisfied with it.
    7/10

    Music
    Do not use the game's opening theme as a gauge for how good the music is; that opening song is hot garbage. Bar none, the worst thing I have ever heard in my life in Fire Emblem game. However, the rest of the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic. They fit the environment extremely well and had me stop combat just to stop and listen. Here is a link to the soundtrack on youtube, go to the comments and click some of the timestamps (avoid the final boss theme for spoilers as that track is just magnificent). My personal favorite is the Desert Battle theme (Bright Sandstorm). The soundtrack, like all the other recent FE games, is just phenomenal and the remixed themes belong to the older characters (Emblems) are good too and should bring a decent amount of nostalgia if you're a series veteran (I'm not, my first game was Awakening and even still I loved getting to hear Awakening's soundtrack again)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_JlgsTu35M&t=11546s
    10/10

    Character Design
    The main character looking like toothpaste pulled me at first. However, as I played it, I got used to them and even started slightly liking it. It was like looking at a master artist's attempt at drawing like a preschooler, a charming attempt at drawing something absurd. I understand why others would dislike a lot of the characters however, living in the medieval ages and running across someone with pink hair and star tattoos on their face would make you think some Vtubers are invading the dark ages. I was discontent with this at first but some of the characters, like Yunaka, grew on me. I don't LOVE how they look but learned to like them. However, some of the art conflicts with the times, as some characters have turbine wings when they Engage, which doesn't make sense as the most advanced thing in this time period is a goddamn windmill, so why? Very odd choices here and there that raise eyebrows, but overwhelmed by the number of fantastic choices when it comes to character design.
    8/10

    Art Design
    This game is one of the best-looking games available for the switch. The game looks so beautiful and so amazing that I cannot believe this dinosaur of a system is actually able to run it. The environments are detailed to the point where if you get hit through a fence in battle when you return to explore the map, the fence will still be broken. The game's art is fantastic with vivid environments, and fantastic architecture, and with the Switch's successor coming out within the next 1-2 years, this may very well be one of the best-looking games next to the upcoming Legend of Zelda game. The game looks and runs well!
    10/10
    Character development
    If you want Three Houses' level of development, do not play this game for it. You have to have dozens of support conversations just to learn the tiniest tidbit about characters and their emotions to the point where I was frustrated at how unnecessary this was. Awakening, Three Houses, and Fates revealed a decent amount about characters and what drives them through the cutscenes, events, and choices they make throughout the story. In this case, not many of the characters actually even APPEAR in the cutscenes. Only the Lords and your main character typically are involved in cutscenes and major story points, leaving your last hope of finding more about your favorite character to you spamming support, shoving gifts in their faces, and mixing and matching every single character's support combination till you finally learn some meaningful things. The characters though really won me over with their interactions at times and made it begrudgingly worth it
    8/10    … Expand
  92. francescoforza
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    O jogo tem tudo de melhor que a franquia já trouxe, é um verdadeiro acerto e celebração por mais de 30 anos de Fire Emblem. Eu indico e estou apaixonado por esse jogo. Dá pra ver que cada detalhe foi muito bem pensado e feito com o carinho que o jogo merece.

    Espero que cada vez mais e mais jogadores possam conhecer essa obra de arte!
  93. Patron1972
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Love the game, the mechanics are great and some of the best map designs since Conquest. Seeing such a low metacritic with the critics is one thing but I am shocked it's so low with the user scores. Story is Meh but everything else is great. Improved art, great animations, wonderful class design, the Emblem/persona stuff works, maps are great and the Somniel can be ignored if you don't wantLove the game, the mechanics are great and some of the best map designs since Conquest. Seeing such a low metacritic with the critics is one thing but I am shocked it's so low with the user scores. Story is Meh but everything else is great. Improved art, great animations, wonderful class design, the Emblem/persona stuff works, maps are great and the Somniel can be ignored if you don't want to do it like the Cathedral.… Expand
  94. AnonymousUser83
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Essentially Fire Emblem Awakening: 2. If you loved the entry that revived the franchise then you'll love this one.

    The introduction of emblems, as well as a less-advertised mechanic known as "Inherited Skills", and the ability to earn proficiency in any weapon simply through the use of 'Emblem Bonds' make this the most creative and flexible Fire Emblem game in the franchise. While    Essentially Fire Emblem Awakening: 2. If you loved the entry that revived the franchise then you'll love this one.

    The introduction of emblems, as well as a less-advertised mechanic known as "Inherited Skills", and the ability to earn proficiency in any weapon simply through the use of 'Emblem Bonds' make this the most creative and flexible Fire Emblem game in the franchise. While instructing does not make a return, units can pretty easily access any class and will likely be pushing nearly a dozen skills between their personal, emblem, class, and inherited skills by the mid-game, all up to your choosing.

    Where its story is comparatively more simple than its predecessor, especially in the first 5 chapters where it feels particularly weak, it makes up for it in its extremely versatile and addicting battle system, and Emblems and their bond skills feel 100 times more fleshed out and impactful than something like Three Houses's comparatively weak and 1-note 'adjutant', 'battalion', and 'combat arts' systems.

    Phenomenal game with loveable characters, I could probably sink a thousand hours into this game and not get bored. While it has some weak story beats near the beginning, I would absolutely would recommend, especially for new-comers to the series.    … Expand
  95. Jamesbdog
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Fire Emblem Engage is a great game as it plays to fire emblems greatest strength the strong tactical gameplay and it increases the complexity of this gameplay with the added break and smash mechanics which are a great inclusion to the game. While the games story and characters may be a disappointment to some due to three houses setting a high bar. Engage does not need a great story to be aFire Emblem Engage is a great game as it plays to fire emblems greatest strength the strong tactical gameplay and it increases the complexity of this gameplay with the added break and smash mechanics which are a great inclusion to the game. While the games story and characters may be a disappointment to some due to three houses setting a high bar. Engage does not need a great story to be a good fire emblem game as fire emblem games such as fates have had bad stories but great gameplay like engage.… Expand
  96. njy200
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    One of the better tactical games for the switch that you can get, slick Ui, really good performance with barely any frame drops and really good sound design elevate this game to that nintendo polish level we are all so used to.
  97. Mist3rKincer
    Feb 3, 2023
    9
    FE: Engage has the best gameplay I've seen in the series thus far. The story is predictable as everybody has said 1000x over but that isn't a huge distractor for me. The support conversation are some of the most fun to watch (depending on who is paired up). Everybody from Brodia on is significantly more interesting than the characters before. Ignore donations if you don't plan on doingFE: Engage has the best gameplay I've seen in the series thus far. The story is predictable as everybody has said 1000x over but that isn't a huge distractor for me. The support conversation are some of the most fun to watch (depending on who is paired up). Everybody from Brodia on is significantly more interesting than the characters before. Ignore donations if you don't plan on doing skirmishes. The amount of customizability is amazing and while SP is hard to come by, this feels like an intentional choice for balancing reasons. If you can get past a mediocre story, this game will be a treat.… Expand
  98. ColtenMunyon
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    This is the first Fire Emblem game to really keep me playing since Awakening. The combat is spot on, the maps are well thought out, and the difficulty is the right level of not too easy and not punishing on normal and hard.

    The story is good enough, nothing groundbreaking, but Fire Emblem hasn't had great story writing since Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn.
  99. Sultanofcereal
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Infinitely better than three houses. Gameplay is tight, and maddening is probably the best iteration of that difficulty level in the whole series. Fun characters, interesting maps, plot is mid.
  100. teler
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    For a maddening player the game manages to make player phase nearly as important as it was in three houses without sacrificing a good amount of the challenge as three houses did. The gameplay and animations are so enjoyable I can simply look past a horrendous start to the story, a few really bad character designs, and nostalgia that doesn't work for someone who started with 3H.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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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