Fire Emblem Engage is a game of two halves. The combat – including the tactics and team-building – is among the best it’s ever been in the long-running and beloved franchise, taking creative decisions to craft more dynamic battles. But narratively, it is the opposite with a disappointing and unambitious story and cast, jarringly so when compared to its predecessor Three Houses.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition, the two parts pulling in opposite directions especially when considering that Engage feels like a celebration of the series’ history.
In fact, the main ‘gimmick’ here is the ability of Alear, the Divine Dragon protagonist, and their companions being able to use Emblem Rings to call upon a dozen or so lead heroes from past games.
Each summoned hero, including the likes of Marth, Micaiah, and Lucina, provides unique attacks and skills that the ring’s wearer can take advantage of, with different pairings offering different results (for example, Celica is best-paired with a magic user). Some of these skills are inheritable, lending to further customisation.
It’s one of many new gameplay layers that smartly combine to make the turn-based battles here a lot of fun.
While many of the basics remain the same and veterans of the series will find themselves immediately at home from the first battle, what’s striking about Engage is how it subtly encourages player-phase-focused strategies, pushing you to be proactive on your turns and not rely on tanking with over-powered units. Notable examples of this include:
• The powerful Emblem attacks are limited, but recharging them is fairly easy.
• With the new ‘Break’ system, attacking and having weapon-triangle advantage against a foe (swords beat axes, axes beat lances, lances beat swords) can prevent the foe from counter-attacking and temporarily disarm them. Enemies are able to take advantage of this mechanic as well, so tanking isn’t always viable.
• Chain Attacks allow for certain ally units within range to perform a bonus attack, when you initiate combat with a unit.
• While not a first for the franchise, weapons don’t have durability and don’t break, meaning there is no need to hold back and you can always use your strongest weapon. Here, you can also refine and engrave them to make them even more powerful.
The game gives the player a generous set of tools, and then – at least on Hard difficulty – isn’t afraid to provide a challenge that matches it. The enemies are no pushover, and we had to take full advantage of all of the systems at our disposal to minimise casualties (like in previous games, Engage features permadeath for your allies but this is an optional setting).
The map variety also helps to keep battles fresh from start to finish, from defending a castle against an enemy army to escaping through a forest while being ambushed and surrounded.
That said, outside of battle, it’s difficult to care about our heroes’ fight against the Big Bad. Engage decides to go for a more linear approach to storytelling and progression, including a world map to move around. The game’s hub area, the Somniel, is considerably less involved than Three Houses‘ Monastery, to the point where you only really need to be there to restock and prepare your team for the next battle.
This isn’t a bad thing by itself, and a simpler structure has its advantages. But the vast majority of the story is little more than a predictable ‘good vs. evil’ coupled with lacklustre world-building, as the heroes pass through each kingdom one by one looking to collect all of the Emblem Rings before the enemy can.
Things pick up in the late game when the stakes are raised, but the writing remains uninspired.
It’s not helped by the cast of characters being largely forgettable. While it’s easy to see why a few have emerged as fan favourites – such as the bubbly assassin-turned-thief Yunaka – and Alear has a surprising amount of personality for an avatar protagonist, it’s difficult to get attached to most of the cast.
Even ignoring the limited amount of time spent interacting with your allies, the interactions and support conversations often feel basic and one-note and don’t do much to flesh out the characters.
This leads to a conflicting overall experience, despite being a mostly positive one. Engage plays confidently and is a highly enjoyable game when you’re thrust into battle, the small innovations pushing the strategy and combat into new territory for the series. But it’s held back by bland storytelling that fails to provoke much emotion or convey a sense of drive as you canter towards the next destination on the world map.
It’s a solid Fire Emblem, but lacks the lasting impact to rank as a classic.
Platform reviewed on: Nintendo Switch
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