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. Phrancium
    Feb 3, 2023
    7
    Fire emblem engage brings interesting new mechanics and fun new ways to play the game, but falls far short in terms of storytelling and characterization which is especially disappointing after previous entries have demonstrated that they are capable of telling a strong story with interesting characters.

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

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

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

    Characterization: 5/10
    The characterization of this game was what I was most disappointed in, as Three Houses has shown us how good it could potentially be. Instead it feels like the characters in this game are flatter and more one dimensional than fates or even the GBA games. Most support conversations in this game are all very samey and do very little for actually fleshing out the characters, often consisting of nothing more than both characters tossing compliments back and forth.
    The characters in this game lack a lot of the spice and quirkiness that made more memorable characters from other games so endearing, like Ingrid laying into Sylvain for his horniness, Seteth's overprotection of Flayn, or even Annette's singing. There are some characters that do toe the line of being interesting, but even in those cases they seem to always take the safe route and make them just another affable agreeable clone who tries their best to help everyone.    … Expand
  2. iloveprotein
    Feb 3, 2023
    9
    The schoolroom social mechanics of Three Houses took away from the core Fire Emblem gameplay and in my opinion made the game a real drag at times. Engage moves away from that and also moves away from the Pair-Up mechanic that Fates relied heavily upon. This leads to a much more straight-forward and pure version of the game, which I thoroughly enjoy. The story leaves something to beThe schoolroom social mechanics of Three Houses took away from the core Fire Emblem gameplay and in my opinion made the game a real drag at times. Engage moves away from that and also moves away from the Pair-Up mechanic that Fates relied heavily upon. This leads to a much more straight-forward and pure version of the game, which I thoroughly enjoy. The story leaves something to be desired, but Fire Emblem has never been about the stories for me, so isn't too big of a deal.… Expand
  3. Harper321
    Feb 3, 2023
    5
    fire emblem engage is definitely one of the fire emblem games of all time..
  4. Robertinho123
    Feb 3, 2023
    9
    Absolutely loving this game. The story is average, but the gameplay is almost perfect.

    Almost cause there's still too much side-content, I think I'd prefer the game without Somniel, it feels like a slog to have to go there and do everything.

    Give me just the tactical battle and I'm happy!
  5. irishyardball
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    Game has great gameplay, none of the forced fluff of 3 Houses. The story is driven by the battles, not the classroom. They are both good, they each aren’t perfect, but they are great entries. FE3H social sim aspect is my main complaint about that game, as it does take me out of the flow, and made it harder for me to want to keep moving through the chapters. I took a long break fromGame has great gameplay, none of the forced fluff of 3 Houses. The story is driven by the battles, not the classroom. They are both good, they each aren’t perfect, but they are great entries. FE3H social sim aspect is my main complaint about that game, as it does take me out of the flow, and made it harder for me to want to keep moving through the chapters. I took a long break from FE3H, only to finish up the last 8-10 chapters in Dec/Jan before FEE came out. I couldn’t put down FEE, finished by the 2nd Saturday after release. I think FEE is really going to be seen as that perfect point for newcomers to jump into the series and give them snapshots into the older games to entice them to want to play them. (Though a lot of those games are cost prohibitive at this point)

    FEE was super enjoyable and the only other “step back” is that I would have liked the Somniel to be more important overall like Garrett Mach was, and I do think a couple of the moments in the plot needed some work, but overall I’d say FE3H and FEE are very much both great games, and neither is perfect, but because they do have some of differences and the majority of the people i see not liking FEE call out the Persona-like limitations being the thing they didn’t like.

    Anyone review bombing the game cause of the lack of Persona elements, doesn't really like Fire Emblem.    … Expand
  6. AllyRose
    Feb 3, 2023
    10
    While the game has it's faults, it's still an absolute blast with loveable characters and a story that while a bit simple, still gets the job done and is more in line with what the franchise usually is, plus the best gameplay and map design we've seen in a while. Don't knock the game just cause it's more anime in style or you're disappointed they didn't copy and paste 3H
  7. M4N0R4F43L
    Feb 3, 2023
    8
    Uma grata surpresa pra mim, minha primeira entrada na série e amei a jogabilidade e a maneira direta de como a história se desenvolve, porém o jogo peca em trazer uma história clichê e cheio de momentos previsíveis mas ainda sim é um excelente RPG tático
  8. Mr_Fear
    Feb 2, 2023
    1
    - Less Classes
    - Less Weapons
    - Shallow Characters
    - Shallow Plot
    - No Meaningful Downtime Activities - No Meaningful Supports
    - No Player Choice
    - Lolis Everywhere (Pedo Bait)
    - The Break Mechanic which makes playing defense / counter attacker is no longer viable.

    The only thing you could say was better is the graphics, which is not high on the list of importance in a FE game.
  9. Solarus10
    Feb 2, 2023
    6
    Fire emblem engage seems like a step back compared to most fire emblem games from the last decade. The writing is atrocious and the characters are shallow. I have heard some people compare it to older games, but that is only true with the game play. Emotional moments in the story miss their mark because they feel unearned and occur before the player becomes invested. The stakes justFire emblem engage seems like a step back compared to most fire emblem games from the last decade. The writing is atrocious and the characters are shallow. I have heard some people compare it to older games, but that is only true with the game play. Emotional moments in the story miss their mark because they feel unearned and occur before the player becomes invested. The stakes just aren't there in this game because the writing is aweful. I used to pre-order every fire emblem game, I think I will wait for the user feedback in the future. I'm surprised by how inflated the critic score is.… Expand
  10. ruanamoraes
    Feb 2, 2023
    10
    I am absolutely in love with this game. It's different, but a BETTER different. After all, if I wanted to play Fire Emblem Awakening or Three Houses, I could just come back and play those games.

    Fire Emblem Engage adds new life to the franchise, with intriguing story, exciting new mechanics, exceptional graphics at the Nintendo Switch and characters with complex personality. Everything is    I am absolutely in love with this game. It's different, but a BETTER different. After all, if I wanted to play Fire Emblem Awakening or Three Houses, I could just come back and play those games.

    Fire Emblem Engage adds new life to the franchise, with intriguing story, exciting new mechanics, exceptional graphics at the Nintendo Switch and characters with complex personality. Everything is at it's best here.

    So if you are unsure to play it because of some negative opinions here, just enjoy it and create your own opinion. The fan base sometimes can be unrational, lots of reviewers didn't even could have time to play it, maybe didn't, and just came here to be haters, not fans.

    Congrats Intelligent Sistems on this awesome job and for those intelligent enough to enjoy this masterpiece.    … Expand
  11. sonictonic
    Feb 2, 2023
    10
    I believe I am about half-way through the game, and as a fan of the FE franchise since Awakening, I am in love. From the upbeat intro that gets me amped every time I put the game on, to the awesome gameplay and new ring mechanic, I am really enjoying this game. I loved Three Houses a lot, and that said, I think the mechanics in this game are a major improvement. I love the ring and emblemI believe I am about half-way through the game, and as a fan of the FE franchise since Awakening, I am in love. From the upbeat intro that gets me amped every time I put the game on, to the awesome gameplay and new ring mechanic, I am really enjoying this game. I loved Three Houses a lot, and that said, I think the mechanics in this game are a major improvement. I love the ring and emblem bonding, and seeing the classic characters from the franchise in this way is really cool. I love the production value of this entry, and the score, and the characters.... It's just awesome and well done. Even (most of) the voice acting is great. I was shocked when I heard it has mixed reviews here from "regular people" so I wanted to come and share my positive review. As a fan of FE, I really appreciate this game and the complexities and comprehensiveness I honestly didn't expect due to Nintendo's lack of marketing this game properly. I highly recommend any FE fan and any strategy fan pick this up. 100%.… Expand
  12. Yallahs9
    Feb 2, 2023
    10
    A mí parecer un aire totalmente fresco para la saga FE y eso me gusta. Recomendado si sientes que " three houses" se te hizo pesado
  13. Lemanto
    Feb 2, 2023
    6
    one of the worst stories I've ever seen in a video game, with the most boring characters
    the game is fun, but the story is unforgivable
  14. ronaldmcdonaldm
    Feb 2, 2023
    10
    Losers review bombing this game only because it has worlds better gameplay than their favorite fire emblem, lol. People acting like FE had the pinnacle of writing for video games, when literally only the Tellius series had good writing and maybe Jugdral series. Could the story of Engage been better? Absolutely yes! But dont act like this game is the worst offender Lmao. It also happens toLosers review bombing this game only because it has worlds better gameplay than their favorite fire emblem, lol. People acting like FE had the pinnacle of writing for video games, when literally only the Tellius series had good writing and maybe Jugdral series. Could the story of Engage been better? Absolutely yes! But dont act like this game is the worst offender Lmao. It also happens to be an anniversary title, btw.… Expand
  15. I_HATE_SPLATOON
    Feb 2, 2023
    10
    2023 best strategy game , good gameplay design and best character design!!! must play !!!
  16. selika39
    Feb 2, 2023
    8
    EDIT at end after putting in 60 Hours, revised my review to 8/10 from 7/10

    TLDR: If you're looking for a solid SRPG strategy game, this is a must-buy. Best gameplay out of any FE game I've played. However if you don't care about strategy, but can't stand cheesy writing and poorly developed characters, this is a hard one to swallow. ----- After putting in a good 30+ hours, I first    EDIT at end after putting in 60 Hours, revised my review to 8/10 from 7/10

    TLDR: If you're looking for a solid SRPG strategy game, this is a must-buy. Best gameplay out of any FE game I've played.
    However if you don't care about strategy, but can't stand cheesy writing and poorly developed characters, this is a hard one to swallow.

    -----

    After putting in a good 30+ hours, I first want to congratulate whoever was handling the difficulty. It's miles better and more balanced than the previous entries, and so far I've enjoyed playing the gameplay for what it is.

    Art style can be hit or miss, but I'm still amazed at how every playable character has unique designs to them. There are also a LOT more units than before, so props to the amazing artist.

    The huge glaring issue for me is that the characters are too shallow. The story is simple, but then a lot of JRPGS are. For me, it’s more about the interactions between the interesting cast of characters that impact the story. This entry however doesn’t have that.

    Part of the issue I believe is needing more screen time for the many different characters. Interactions between emblems and different characters are too short. Except for a few characters, they don't even get screen time in the main story. There aren’t any character unique missions, and this also makes the characters lack depth. I feel like they had something here, but either had not have enough time or just weren't competent enough. It's sad because the characters all had unique interesting designs.

    As a result, classic didn't feel classic enough. When units died, I reverted time out of habit and because of completionism. Not because I had attachments to characters.

    All in all, it's a solid game, but I really miss some of the story elements they left out.

    EDIT: the story and character interaction with the main story are still pretty lackluster even towards the end, but I really have to give this game a higher score for the devs who did an amazing job on map design and ability balance for units, on both hard and maddening difficulties.
    Reclassing and skill choice is more focused compared to 3H, but I feel like that actually helped out the devs with balancing the game.    … Expand
  17. P1AVG45
    Feb 1, 2023
    0
    As far as gameplay is concerned, the gameplay mechanics of Engage are incredible and extremely fun, it is some of the best gameplay in the series. However, it is extremely unfortunate that the characters, dialogue and story have once again been deliberately sabotaged by the miserable localizers at Treehouse, rewriting characters, inserting cheesy dialogue, and completely censoring any andAs far as gameplay is concerned, the gameplay mechanics of Engage are incredible and extremely fun, it is some of the best gameplay in the series. However, it is extremely unfortunate that the characters, dialogue and story have once again been deliberately sabotaged by the miserable localizers at Treehouse, rewriting characters, inserting cheesy dialogue, and completely censoring any and all hints of romance out of the game. These translators must have a deep-seated resentment for the projects that they’re working on for them to end up with translations this poorly-made and low-effort. It is truly unacceptable.… Expand
  18. PickleNCP
    Feb 1, 2023
    2
    The character design is terrible. I'm not here to watch some kind of Vtuber war.
  19. Ruthtria
    Feb 1, 2023
    1
    While this game shines as the forefront for what gameplay should be like in the Fire Emblem franchise, ir tries to make a return to a simpler, more straightforward story akin to the entries before the critically acclaimed 3 Houses. And yet, this story does not support and motivate the player to enjoy their time in the world of Elyos and connect with its large cast, instead throwing nonstopWhile this game shines as the forefront for what gameplay should be like in the Fire Emblem franchise, ir tries to make a return to a simpler, more straightforward story akin to the entries before the critically acclaimed 3 Houses. And yet, this story does not support and motivate the player to enjoy their time in the world of Elyos and connect with its large cast, instead throwing nonstop gameplay at them with thr narrative serving only the purpose of pushing you towards the next battle. It is disappointing to see so many long time fans call it par for the course because there is always better than something so lifeless.… Expand
  20. Anothergame
    Feb 1, 2023
    0
    I will just list what I felt throughout gameplay.

    - Satisfactory combat and animation. - Level of visual action lays on power rangers or precure - The artist doesn't seem to know what Fire Emblem is, or maybe her only FE game was the mobile Heroes. - Female characters full of lolis. - i thought to make comrades, but ended up with a bunch of ppl of cult of Divine Dragon (me). - No    I will just list what I felt throughout gameplay.

    - Satisfactory combat and animation.
    - Level of visual action lays on power rangers or precure
    - The artist doesn't seem to know what Fire Emblem is, or maybe her only FE game was the mobile Heroes.
    - Female characters full of lolis.
    - i thought to make comrades, but ended up with a bunch of ppl of cult of Divine Dragon (me).
    - No reason shown why they see me as their Idol, except that I'm just a Divine Dragon. Creepy.
    - Lines and actions that only weebs would take. JP players hated it even more than us.
    - ItnSys did not learn and inherited in the cursed scenario writer along with the weird petting. But worse this time.
    - No respect shown to old fans by making us listen dirty unpleasant lines from past heroes (ring cleaning minigame).
    - Definitely not worth for $60. It should be $10 or under.    … Expand
  21. Beamer92
    Feb 1, 2023
    4
    Absolutely the worst Fire Emblem I've ever played.

    Wow. Where do I even start? Awful writing. Terrible writing for a pretty unenthusiastic voice acting experience. No offense to the voice actors, you can only do so much with terrible writing. Every single one of the characters is a nothing personality. And the Emblems may as well be a Siri AI with even less personality. Now, sure, Fire    Absolutely the worst Fire Emblem I've ever played.

    Wow. Where do I even start? Awful writing. Terrible writing for a pretty unenthusiastic voice acting experience. No offense to the voice actors, you can only do so much with terrible writing. Every single one of the characters is a nothing personality. And the Emblems may as well be a Siri AI with even less personality. Now, sure, Fire Emblem has always been campy. But they tried! Here's some campy high fantasy dialogue you can just commit to. This lacks commitment to any kind of real threads woven through a story. Just a hodgepodge of "I guess there should be some dialogue here...". Normally I look forward to Support interactions and I just can't even stand listening to these people.

    And to do that to our favorite heroes? Lyn is one of my favorite characters and she's just a nothing sandwich. I'd honestly prefer the Emblems be silent ghosts. It would ruin them less for me.

    And the characters! Oh my goodness, what a bag of garbage. With like... two exceptions... every other level "Here's three more nothing characters made up of a prince/princess and 2 retainers". And that's it. Zero depth. I don't care about any of them beyond what they can do for me. Yunaka is maybe the only one that displays any kind of personality.

    For Combat, I appreciate the weapons triangle. I don't much care for the Break system. Its a choice. Its... fine.

    Now these rings... Did we really need Mega-Evolutions for our Fire Emblem Pokemon? It can be kinda fun, but its too much. Far far too much. Its a massive jump from "Here's your legendary Axe" to "Here's..... all this stuff". I'm not trying to memorize a million different things in order to find decent combinations. For a game as simple as this at its core, adding complexity for the sake of complexity is just stupid. We're spending more time on setup for battle than actual battle. I appreciate the utility the rings can provide. Its an interesting addition, but it just does not hit very well as an overall system.

    And these Somniel activities... what a bunch of garbage. These mini game are silly and worthless. They're not even good. Wyvern riding is an absolute travesty. None of it is important or remotely worth the time to do any of it.

    Bond rings? Really? Maybe cut the amount in half. Who's got time or resources for all this?

    Also, I've never been poor in a Fire Emblem game before. I've got a castle and you're telling me we're broke? Meanwhile there's a whole philanthropic system to give all your money away just to adopt pets or fight battles to get resources for upgrades you..... now have no money to afford? Just wow. Just. Wow.

    And where's the choices? Where the defining moment that allows me to choose a different path for multiple playthroughs? So far I've got no reason to play again after this abhorrent story resolves. So far my protagonist is just along for the ride.

    And its been well documented how ridiculous the protagonists look. All justified. They're absurd.

    It feels like they took Three Houses, which I enjoyed despite being a bit of a departure from earlier entries, and completely misread the generally positive feedback. Took all the garbage, cranked it up to 11, then left all the good stuff behind. The only thing they left in Three Houses that I'm happy about is the teacher-student love affairs.

    I just don't understand how we got here. Maybe playing Triangle Strategy to fill the void Fire Emblem left set my expectations too high. I go from a difficult "Hard Mode" where I actually have to strategize to this cake-walk of a "Hard Mode" and I just can't help but be disappointed.

    I think this really disillusions me to the franchise. I'm unlikely to preorder, much less purchase, the next game in the series. At best, if it reviews well, I may get it after its been out a while.    … Expand
  22. Truetobytrue
    Feb 1, 2023
    3
    I'm an RPG fan who ran across the series since Awakening. To those ppl assuming negative ratings come from otome crybabies, Let me tell you something.

    I don't care about the S+ support and romance. That's a side feature to garnish the ending afterall. I don't know where yall have been reading those comments from, but yall aren't getting the major problem. Most say the same thing: Story,    I'm an RPG fan who ran across the series since Awakening. To those ppl assuming negative ratings come from otome crybabies, Let me tell you something.

    I don't care about the S+ support and romance. That's a side feature to garnish the ending afterall. I don't know where yall have been reading those comments from, but yall aren't getting the major problem. Most say the same thing: Story, story and story. Note that Fire Emblem is an RPG game, a game that requires enough plot and setting so that it motivates us to take action as our character. Well, Engage failed to meet the average player's satisfaction due to lack of quality with all those childish plot, unnatural lines, weeb action, etc. Those features don't even reach the modern Shonen standards. No matter how much i tried enjoying the combat, the unbearable cutscenes and support lines kept ruining the fun. I can skip them all, but that would basically mean this game failed as an RPG.

    So yea. I don't need any otome bishoujo element, especially after watching all those scenes.
    BUT
    I would rather have that than the uncomfy 'petting' feature they added back. Now that's more otome, but it came out to be nasty. That ring polishing with all that kimochi this, kimochi that... was absurd.    … Expand
  23. gun661
    Feb 1, 2023
    4
    For a review of the story, see the many other reviews. Considering gameplay: Messy balancing and tedious, undercooked gameplay parts ruin potential fun.

    Many other games, even indie games, either have good balancing or clever options to adjust difficulty, not so Fire Emblem : Engage, regrettably. "Normal" and "Hard" difficulty quickly evolve into "send arbitrary unit forward and let    For a review of the story, see the many other reviews. Considering gameplay: Messy balancing and tedious, undercooked gameplay parts ruin potential fun.

    Many other games, even indie games, either have good balancing or clever options to adjust difficulty, not so Fire Emblem : Engage, regrettably.

    "Normal" and "Hard" difficulty quickly evolve into "send arbitrary unit forward and let it 1-hit-KO any enemy" snoozefests. To raise difficulty, you have to restart the game completely.

    The highest difficulty, "Maddening", provides challenge but completely messes with the game's balance and gameplay systems:
    - Your units gain experience slower. In effect, the characters you start with trail behind pretty quickly while progressing through the story. Every single new character that regularly joins your party is stronger right out of the box. Thus, you're pushed to constantly replace older characters with new characters, eliminating choice and any attachment you had to these characters.
    - The base game offers no relevant options to let older characters catch up (disregarding inconvenient and overcomplicated cheesing strategies)
    - But wait, there's a DLC that comes with a skill that let's your characters gain 20% more experience! The drawback: I had to completely restart the game again to profit from this skill's effect.
    - So I restarted the game again with the DLC and let my units gain 20% more experience. Difficulty again: Maddening. And yes, this time my older units stayed relevant. Regrettably, by chapter 10-11, supposedly difficult missions, my party was again completely dominating, smashing enemies the story wanted me to escape from, eliminating any challenge and immersion again...
    - So yes, I could think about what limitations I could set for myself to have a balanced game, and restart the game a third time... but honestly, I find daily chores to be more fun than this.
    - In summary, this game seems more like a very fiddly sandbox you need to extend (buy DLC) and tune very carefully to not ruin any fun. Even then, the toolbox feels way too clunky.

    - Most of the combat is limited to simple unit movement with simple "rock-paper-scissor" tactics. Varied tactics like "Gambits" in "Fire Emblem: Three Houses" have been dumbed down and only play a minor role later in the game.

    Interface problems, contributing to a lot of fiddling and confusion:
    - For example, if you want to change a characters' skills you need to access its inventory first... Yet, you can't equip a ring via the inventory. For that, you must access a different interface via the main menu...
    - Yet again, not all options to interact with rings can be found in this one menu. For some options, you must visit the "Ring Chamber", adding more loading times.
    - In the "Ring Chamber", you can inherit skills from a ring. Yet sometimes, you need more training with that ring. For that, you must visit the "Arena", adding more loading times.
    - To get to the next mission you have to leave the hub and load the world map (more loading times). From the world map, you can access the next mission (more loading times).

    Undercooked yet relevant hub activities which get tedious way faster than the hub activities of "Fire Emblem: Three Houses":
    - While in the hub (the "Somniel"), you can interact with the game's mascot to get bonus materials. You can feed it (loading times) or pet it (loading times). To access either menu, you leave the previous pet or feeding menu (more loading times) while you wait for long, unskippable animations to finish...
    - There's a couple of tedious and undercooked mini games you can play in the hub to get relevant materials after each mission. These mini games (like pressing "A" to do push ups) overstay their welcome the first time you're playing them. But to get materials the games nudges you into wasting your time again and again with these mini games, since it takes a good amount of time doing each of them.
    - The interaction with characters, especially the Emblem heroes, can be likened to talking with theme park mascots.    … Expand
  24. SpaceKow
    Feb 1, 2023
    0
    The tactical gameplay is great, but I just can't stand the characters or the story.
  25. sushiroll
    Feb 1, 2023
    0
    Don't know why they decided to throw good writing and good characters out the window with this latest installment in the FE series, but they did.
  26. Smoove360
    Jan 31, 2023
    10
    I don't even like mobile games. Vtubers creep me out. Why did I buy this? Anyway this is the most fun I've had with a Fire Emblem game since Echoes or Radiant Dawn. Mid out of 10, no monastery to grind for 3 hours in between content.
  27. SSodeman07
    Jan 31, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. While it is a standard Fire Emblem game (i.e. combat and strategy, turn based, story heavy), it lacks something that the recent Fire Emblems had.

    You don't feel a connection with characters and are forced into building bonds that you can get completely done within the first couple battles. The conversations are not really... interesting? The characters are pretty static and do not provide any real reason to have them on your main team other than possessing the rings and using said rings. Maybe the main goal was to have you focus on story and battles than marrying and getting close to a character? I don't know. But I miss the option to get closer and have choices when talking to the characters.
    The home base of the game is built around you upgrading your main weapons, buying weapons you need, enhancing your abilities, and... polishing your rings. (Yeah, I couldn't believe they put that in but not choices?)

    It is at best...
    The orginal fight style, turn-based strategic Fire Emblem game... but cash grabbing at the fact it introduces some newer characters from recent games (Three houses, Awakening), but a lot of old ones too. Which if you haven't played the older ones (1990 to 2007), you won't know a single Emblem Ring Character.

    If you like the strategy part, it's great for you. If you like the character development, making bonds with the characters (even as a player), then I suggest you wait for this game to have its price lowered, even if its adding to your game collection.... just wait.    … Expand
  28. YamiKasai
    Jan 31, 2023
    10
    As people repeated million times, story is not the best. However, it's not a joke neither so you can still follow and enjoy it. I saw some people saying support interactions are bad but I didn't notice something really bad, tho I can see some characters being annoying for some people. I find it good to have a lot of different personalities and some support convos actually offer a newAs people repeated million times, story is not the best. However, it's not a joke neither so you can still follow and enjoy it. I saw some people saying support interactions are bad but I didn't notice something really bad, tho I can see some characters being annoying for some people. I find it good to have a lot of different personalities and some support convos actually offer a new insight about the character. Main aspect of the game is the gameplay and it's really good. Emblem mechanic is just amazing and it's so hype to see so many faces from the past games. All of them offers different gameplay mechanics and my maddening-classic experience in the second half of the game has been so good. From this comment section, I saw a lot of people being too harsh on the game, the quality of the game and the details are both extremely solid. I don't want to give spoilers so I won't mention some interesting gameplay interactions but if you're not enjoying the gameplay much despite liking the past titles, just keep going and you will love it as it gets better and better. If you can increase the difficulty, also consider doing it if you're still not satisfied with the gameplay despite being at chapter 20+ with several paralogues.… Expand
  29. Jpr199
    Jan 31, 2023
    10
    This game is being review bombed. The game is amazing, the graphics are the best I’ve seen on Switch. The writing is very good, characters are very fun. Fire Emblem “veterans” as they like to cringey call themselves have always tried to hide the fact that these are JAPANESE GAMES, of course there is going to be anime. People in denial are giving this game unfairly low review scores andThis game is being review bombed. The game is amazing, the graphics are the best I’ve seen on Switch. The writing is very good, characters are very fun. Fire Emblem “veterans” as they like to cringey call themselves have always tried to hide the fact that these are JAPANESE GAMES, of course there is going to be anime. People in denial are giving this game unfairly low review scores and it’s honestly distressing to see. I hope one day people on the internet can learn to enjoy things. If you like tactical rpgs, get this one without a second thought :)… Expand
  30. sasanarx
    Jan 31, 2023
    10
    Amazing game, best game for me 2023.

    I see many negative comments but I don't really agree with them, I started to play this series since tree houses. To me I think Three Houses is more focus on character interatcion witch makes it more close to a galgame but engage is more like a tradtional fire emblem game (quoted from my friend). To me it is amazing, the battle and story are well    Amazing game, best game for me 2023.

    I see many negative comments but I don't really agree with them, I started to play this series since tree houses. To me I think Three Houses is more focus on character interatcion witch makes it more close to a galgame but engage is more like a tradtional fire emblem game (quoted from my friend). To me it is amazing, the battle and story are well balanced. For me this is my best game in 2023 :D.    … Expand
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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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