Fire Emblem Engage

 Switch
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 702 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 395 out of 702
  2. Mixed: 112 out of 702
  3. Negative: 195 out of 702
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  1. Jammy223
    Mar 22, 2023
    7
    It's not awful, not at all. But I think the game overall falls flat of what the previous game (Three Houses) was trying to do. It felt like while this game had polished combat as well as animations in said combat, it lacked in the characters feeling, it felt as if these characters as you're recruiting them and are supposedly your friends you don't feel like you can get close and while youIt's not awful, not at all. But I think the game overall falls flat of what the previous game (Three Houses) was trying to do. It felt like while this game had polished combat as well as animations in said combat, it lacked in the characters feeling, it felt as if these characters as you're recruiting them and are supposedly your friends you don't feel like you can get close and while you can give all of them your "pact" ring, this does not equal in marriage like Three Houses.

    It's unfortunate because it could've been a good game, but it stuck mostly to giving it a feeling of bringing people into the series which was already done by Three Houses and way better.    … Expand
  2. TeachCooker
    Mar 20, 2023
    5
    I'll get the low hanging fruit out of the way first. The characters and story are really boring. Not much to say other than the plot is uninspired and the characters are just walking tropes.
    The gameplay itself is where I have mixed feelings. For every positive there is a negative holding it back.
    For starters, bringing back the weapon triangle was a good move. The lack of it in the last    I'll get the low hanging fruit out of the way first. The characters and story are really boring. Not much to say other than the plot is uninspired and the characters are just walking tropes.
    The gameplay itself is where I have mixed feelings. For every positive there is a negative holding it back.
    For starters, bringing back the weapon triangle was a good move. The lack of it in the last few entries removed a basic level of depth many players expect.The emblem/ring system is an amazing addition that explodes the level of customization for your units to near absurd levels. Engage is maybe the best FE game when it comes to the ability to make sure your favorite units can clear the game.
    Yet at the same time there isn't very much strategy to be found in this turn-based strategy game. Mainly due to the fact that every enemy on the map attacks with zero regard for planning or tactics, in favor of just swarming your army asap. Some maps suffer greatly from this while others lose any challenge they might have presented otherwise.
    I won't hold the following criticism against the game too much, but with each new FE I hope they choose to make an effort to reduce RNG's influence on the gameplay. FE is always labeled a strategy game, yet ultimately what wins or loses battles are dice rolls. It is a problem that taking an optimal approach to any map can be rendered meaningless by RNG, just as making bad choices can be rewarded by lucky dice rolls. I will give the game credit for adding inheritable abilities that can help minimize RNG for the unit in question, but it is a small band-aid when a system wide solution is needed.

    Ultimately, a game that has many excellent concepts and mechanics gets bogged down by too many flaws to deliver a very middle of the road experience.    … Expand
  3. Snoopy64
    Jan 31, 2023
    7
    The gameplay alone deserves a 10, but the other things like day 1 dlc, gacha mechanics in a full priced game, and weak story hurt engage substantially.
  4. Ahoythere
    Mar 5, 2023
    6
    After beating the game, I'm putting a solid 6 due to a personal like of the art style and combat. However, the story was incredibly stupid, and return trips to the Sominel were always tedious, it truly could have just been a menu on the world map and I would have been so much more satisfied. Another reason that I am lowering it, is due to the inability to change the difficulty to higherAfter beating the game, I'm putting a solid 6 due to a personal like of the art style and combat. However, the story was incredibly stupid, and return trips to the Sominel were always tedious, it truly could have just been a menu on the world map and I would have been so much more satisfied. Another reason that I am lowering it, is due to the inability to change the difficulty to higher settings. I feel bad for anyone who started on normal, got invested, then was stuck at it. It was simply too easy of a difficulty, so much so that it should have been called easy mode.… Expand
  5. Mene0
    Mar 5, 2023
    7
    Fire Emblem Engage has the best gameplay the series has had so far. This is complemented by the excelent map design, also some of the best this series has ever had.
    However, this game has a few shortcomings, mostly it's story and characters. The story is generic at best and really, really bad at its worst points(ch 20-22), the characters that the story focuses the most are kind of    Fire Emblem Engage has the best gameplay the series has had so far. This is complemented by the excelent map design, also some of the best this series has ever had.
    However, this game has a few shortcomings, mostly it's story and characters. The story is generic at best and really, really bad at its worst points(ch 20-22), the characters that the story focuses the most are kind of uninteresting, with the rest of the roster being a lot cooler. Also, some of the character designs are really, really weird, not fitting at all in a medieval fantasy setting. I much prefer the simpler design of some characters over the really exagerated ones.
    The soundtrack is also good, but it's great how it dinamically shifts between a more action focused version of the song it's playing when you go into combat.
    The UI of the game is also somewhat bad and clunky, you will spend a lot of time in menus when you are not in battle.
    In the end this is a very worthwhile game if you are a fan of the franchise, but bad story and characters really do hurt the overall enjoyment of and RPG, for obvious reasons.    … Expand
  6. weskergamer
    Mar 2, 2023
    7
    As a Big Fire Emblem fan, Engage left me with a weird taste in my mouth. I loved it buy i also hated a lot of stuff and decision made by Intelligent System. Apparently, this game is meant to celebrate the Fire Emblem franchise, and it succeeds gameplay wise, but in other things it was very disappointed. The gameplay and everything related to gameplay in this game is the only reason why I'mAs a Big Fire Emblem fan, Engage left me with a weird taste in my mouth. I loved it buy i also hated a lot of stuff and decision made by Intelligent System. Apparently, this game is meant to celebrate the Fire Emblem franchise, and it succeeds gameplay wise, but in other things it was very disappointed. The gameplay and everything related to gameplay in this game is the only reason why I'm giving it a 7. It's so damn good. It's the best the series has ever been. But as a AAA game meant to celebrate a 25 yo franchise with a great story and beloved characters, it doesn't have a great story nor beloved characters. Even the characterization, graphics and moments of the heroes from past games it's so bad, giving importance basically only to Marth and characters like Ike, Sigurd and Roy looking so horrible with this game art style. I only hope that if they make a Genealogy or Tellius series remake they use more realistic art style. The story and characters of this game are so boring and cliche, reusing plots from previous game like Awakening and Fates. Outside of the story and characters the music is great, and it's good that we got a place where you can listen to it. The maps are really fun, i really enjoy the last 5 maps and the paralogues, even though i don't understand why my units can die in paralogues when it's basically a training section against the emblems. Even though I complain about the story, fire emblem has always been known for simple stories, but at least the characters were memorable, not the case in this game. I think I will only remember Diamant, Alcryst and Lapis tbh. The Villans were really, really bad in this game. The last thing I really hated about this game, was that, by the time of this review, there is no New Game+. This may be a small issue but still it hurted me a lot to finish the game and wasn't able to restart the game with support and skills already done like in 3H, something that I actually like because it made replayability more fun. Anyway, this game made a lot of bad decision, it doesn't make any sense that a game that follow one of the greatest games of the switch and of this generation of consoles, fells so underwhelmed and a step back in the franchise. They could' work in the bases of 3H and just improve the gameplay and maybe the graphics and we could have had the greatest game in the franchise, since without a doubt Engage has the best and more fun gameplay in the series, not even close. At the end of the day, in a couple of years we'll play a new FE with the same gameplay at this one but improving in the story, characters and art style, and it will be like this game never existed.… Expand
  7. mgao22
    Feb 26, 2023
    6
    The content of Engage is about paying respect to the whole series, which is wierd in first place, because they already did that in fire emblem warriors. Paying respect twice in one generation? What's so respectable about this franchise?

    Fine, I am okay with it. However, while the characters are taken from decades back, the painting style is completely modern, it looks like a cheap    The content of Engage is about paying respect to the whole series, which is wierd in first place, because they already did that in fire emblem warriors. Paying respect twice in one generation? What's so respectable about this franchise?

    Fine, I am okay with it. However, while the characters are taken from decades back, the painting style is completely modern, it looks like a cheap mobile game! I'd played the Genealogy on SNES, in which Sigurd was illstrated with exquisite, handsome 80s darwing style, and now what Engage turn him into? A completely un-identifiable pedestrian. Same thing with Lindis from the Blazing Blade, and many other classic characters. Seriously, get your mind straight. Don't let Nostalgia become a cheap excuse for saving money.

    I'm too loyal to Fire Emblem to give it something lower than 6, but I gotta be honest, the more loyal you are, the more disappointed you will be with this new instalment.    … Expand
  8. ggol1998
    Feb 26, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a die-hard fan ever since shadow dragon. This entry to the series feels like a huge step back.

    Lets start with the positive first.

    Gameplay
    The gameplay is still top-tier and in my opinion the combat is probably one of the best in the entry. I like how fast the character's animation move compare to 3 house the combat was very slow and stiff. It brings back the old classic fire emblem from the 3DS entries. Both the characters and environments are very colourful and well design. I like how they removed the weapon durability because in 3 house that was annoying. The ring pair mechanic is also not bad in this game. They do add some parts of the duo features from awakening/fates but in a more balance way.

    Now to the Negative. As a Huge fan, I have to be honest because I love this franchise and wish the next entry can succeed.

    Story and characters
    Now if you take a step back and look at fates. The game setting copies it. For example at the start, the Queen dies. The MC is a dragon, and each kingdom has a sibling in it. The story is quite bad for the first half of engage, but as you progress on it does get better. However, this is probably the least engaging fire emblem story I have witnessed. They also didn't bother voicing the leveling part where the characters has unique dialogue like only one stat up. This may be a little detail, but little details counts. The most disappointing part is. You can't transform into a dragon. In every Fire emblem game. If you have a dragon character (Manakete). You can transform into a dragon with unique abilities. In engage you have none of that, but a sword. I can see many potentials in the story however the characters and story is clearly rushed, which ruins the game's pacing.

    World Map
    If you look at the World map. Both engage and echoes have map travelling which I really like. Back in Awakening when you travel around the world. Theres area where you can purchase special weapons. In Echoes they improved the formula with dungeon traveling and you are also allow to travel to villages and gain characters and weapons. In Engage there is none of that. In past fire emblem series. As you progress through the story you unlock side maps/quest and characters at the same time. You get that feeling of exploration and the game reward you with a character. Its true you still unlock characters in engage, but all the characters are unlocked in the main story and the side story is replaced with bond expansion. It feels linear and unrewarding.

    Classes
    This time the classes system are just weird. In Engage they segregated the weapon category of the same class into multiple class that are the same. In all the Fire Emblem series. The advance class can wield more than 1 weapon. For example the great knight in battle can wield both sword, lance and axes at the same time, but this time in engage a great knight can only wield 1 weapon in battle, however if you want to switch the weapon you need to switch the class each time before a battle which is called great knight axe, great knight lance or great knight sword. This is egregious. How can they mess this up so badly?

    Skill
    This happens in 3 houses as well. They need to animate all the skills that is ability based. Back in awakening, there is animation for Ignis, Astra, Luna and sol, this makes the game feel engaging, but none of that in the current switch generations.

    Conclusion
    Most of the characters and story is rushed. They tried to implement fates story to engage however it is not as good as fates. The world map is cool and beautiful, but the story is misplaced and the class system needs a revamp. The only part they did right is the gameplay. It is still excellent, but they need to start animating some skills into it.

    With all that said. This game still packs a lot of content and play hours. We are lucky to still get a game like this. I rather play this than play an abomination like Star wars Battlefront 2 (EA) at launch.    … Expand
  9. Lifestranding
    Feb 23, 2023
    5
    Basically an SRPG game, but you only get the ‘S’
    ………………………………………………………………..
  10. disposable
    Feb 21, 2023
    5
    Kind of a mess! Really just a game for anyone who still goes "Squee" and gets wet when they see Marth. I guess there's something to being such a FE fan that you get the reference when Sigurd gives you silly move and teleports across the battlefield, but it gets old.

    I've seen a lot of people describe this as solid gameplay, bad story. I think the gameplay is pretty spotty though. Map    Kind of a mess! Really just a game for anyone who still goes "Squee" and gets wet when they see Marth. I guess there's something to being such a FE fan that you get the reference when Sigurd gives you silly move and teleports across the battlefield, but it gets old.

    I've seen a lot of people describe this as solid gameplay, bad story. I think the gameplay is pretty spotty though. Map difficulty is a bit like conquest, not terrible but oddly balanced. The expectation that you will use the rings maximally is baked in, a lot of houses you have to sprint to, etc. Weapon durability is out again, which they do every so often before realizing it breaks the economy and walking it back in the next game. They have this new donation system where you can get some minor map benefits, but it's not really a solution.

    The biggest issue with the gameplay is the break system I'd argue. Getting hit by an opposing weapon locks counters for a turn. This, together with the decreased move, really just slows the game down. Armor knights become quite critical, with the most effective strategy being the "ball of units" one.

    The story is quite bad. It's trying to be a callback to FE1 where Marth had to kill an evil dragon, but it somehow has less plot. Massive step back from Three Houses, one of the best FE stories, and I think a misunderstanding of what the fanbase wants out of these.    … Expand
  11. Kyrephare
    Feb 20, 2023
    5
    Writer: Long time Fire Emblem fan.
    Positives: the upgraded engine looks good, though a bit faded when I was expecting the color to pop a little more. Maps are a little more interesting than 3 Houses. Maybe a touch to many loading screens for my liking.
    Negatives: Gameplay is extremely breakable, in fact the game breaks itself early on by giving your main unit an extraordinarily    Writer: Long time Fire Emblem fan.
    Positives: the upgraded engine looks good, though a bit faded when I was expecting the color to pop a little more. Maps are a little more interesting than 3 Houses. Maybe a touch to many loading screens for my liking.
    Negatives: Gameplay is extremely breakable, in fact the game breaks itself early on by giving your main unit an extraordinarily amount of evasion very early in the game. The new combat wrinkles dont really work that well, except maybe smash weapons. Hard mode isnt even hard (though your view may differ as I am fairly adept at this style of game).
    Story wise, its easily the worst written story Ive come across in any game in a while and the characters are completely one dimensional and flat. They have 0 personality with maybe one or two exceptions. If you enjoyed the social/bond aspects of other games, your going to be disappointed in this one (or at least I was).

    Im not even sure who this game is for? It has a lot of nostalgia factors by introducing old heroes as essentially ghosts who fight along side you, but the game itself seems like its trying to approach a different audience than the series has built up over every entry released in the West by devesting itself from the bond/social system. Ive never cared so little about the characters, which is really bad because it kills any tension if say one character you really like gets in trouble. In old games this would add a nice bit of tension. Here I just kinda say "oh whatever".

    I cant recommend anyone really playing this game since I cant even tell who this is geared for. I guess if you can ignore everything except the gameplay you may enjoy it. But even for fans, Id recommend just starting up an older game for more enjoyment. Its not completely bad, but there are other games you can spend your money on.    … Expand
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  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. 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
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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.
  21. 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
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. 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
  25. dimilix
    Feb 7, 2023
    5
    Incredibly bland story and protagonist. Good game mechanics. They balance each other out (I guess?)
  26. 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.
  27. 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
  28. 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
  29. Klusterx
    Feb 4, 2023
    5
    Great gameplay and the ring mechanic is great but goddammit the story is awful
  30. 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
  31. 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
  32. Harper321
    Feb 3, 2023
    5
    fire emblem engage is definitely one of the fire emblem games of all time..
  33. 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
  34. 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
  35. 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
  36. Tubey
    Jan 29, 2023
    5
    It's not as engaging as Three Houses. It's more streamlined, which is actually a good thing in my view as Three Houses had a fair bit of bloat, especially with the repetition inherent in the game design for that one, but it doesn't have the same character. Indeed the characters range from mediocre to awful, and the plot is uniformly poor. I also hate the character design in this one - theIt's not as engaging as Three Houses. It's more streamlined, which is actually a good thing in my view as Three Houses had a fair bit of bloat, especially with the repetition inherent in the game design for that one, but it doesn't have the same character. Indeed the characters range from mediocre to awful, and the plot is uniformly poor. I also hate the character design in this one - the blue and red motif inparticular annoys me at a fundamental level.

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

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

    Full Disclosure: I haven't completed this game, I'm around 15 hours in, but I've basically lost interest at this point and felt comfortable scoring it.    … Expand
  37. Ewas228
    Jan 28, 2023
    5
    I'm not big fan of Fire Emblem, but Three Houses was one of the best tactics in which I have ever played.
    Fire Emblem Engage much worse, than Three Houses. First of all absolutely stupid plot, characters action like imbeciles, in one moment I thought that story was written school girl as homework fanfic.
    Gameplay interesting, graphics also on high level, but all other aspects awful    I'm not big fan of Fire Emblem, but Three Houses was one of the best tactics in which I have ever played.
    Fire Emblem Engage much worse, than Three Houses. First of all absolutely stupid plot, characters action like imbeciles, in one moment I thought that story was written school girl as homework fanfic.
    Gameplay interesting, graphics also on high level, but all other aspects awful realised.
    For me Fire Emblem Engage is 50/50, but Three Houses better and Tactics Ogre: Reborn much better.    … Expand
  38. Manks
    Jan 28, 2023
    5
    The combat is good but the story is awful. Idk how they can have such a massive and good story in 3 houses then go to this. Feels like a b team made it whole the main team is working on the next ambitious one.
  39. Chadx26
    Jan 24, 2023
    7
    The gameplay is truly great!

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

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

    It is FUN to play. If you already like FE you’ll find something to like here if you can get past the writing .
  40. onen
    Jan 28, 2023
    6
    Gameplay is fun. The story and characters are soulless. Feels like a mobile game but it’s a full priced Nintendo game.. yikes
  41. CelticRune212
    Jan 28, 2023
    6
    Fire Emblem Engage has amazing combat and could possibly be one of the best in the series IF the story was better. This game also taught me that yes, there can be too many mechanics in video games. I've gotten to chapter 16, and I just find it so hard to pick up the game due to the story being so bland, and all the mechanics just clogging up the screen. If you are looking to get into FireFire Emblem Engage has amazing combat and could possibly be one of the best in the series IF the story was better. This game also taught me that yes, there can be too many mechanics in video games. I've gotten to chapter 16, and I just find it so hard to pick up the game due to the story being so bland, and all the mechanics just clogging up the screen. If you are looking to get into Fire Emblem, I wouldn't recommend this game. I'd recommend Three Houses instead.… Expand
  42. Zski
    Jan 27, 2023
    7
    I have mixed feelings about this game. Part of me was very satisfied with the return to classic Fire Emblem form. It got rid of the awful school setting, the overwhelming amount of character relationships, and painful social management system. It’s back to the tried and true classic gameplay tied in with a story that’s relatively straight forward. This game introduces a few new ideas, butI have mixed feelings about this game. Part of me was very satisfied with the return to classic Fire Emblem form. It got rid of the awful school setting, the overwhelming amount of character relationships, and painful social management system. It’s back to the tried and true classic gameplay tied in with a story that’s relatively straight forward. This game introduces a few new ideas, but none of them are really game changers. The exploration post game adds some unique flavor to this game, but truthfully these types of changes don’t make any difference to me. Regardless, it was miles better than the last game.

    Unfortunately the Fire Emblem formula is really starting to feel a bit dated. This gameplay was very fun throughout the 3DS years, but it has not really grown much since then. Each Fire Emblem release is beginning to feel like the same game with a new gimmick and new story. It no longer has the allure that it used to have. I enjoyed this game for about 10 hours, but then I hit a wall where I realized that the series needs something because it’s no longer pulling me in like it did before. Great game, but you have seen it all before.    … Expand
  43. ZXSth
    Jan 27, 2023
    7
    A graphically excellent, mechanically sound and relatively enjoyable game with an insultingly simplistic story. Characters mostly have the depth of a kiddie pool, and most look like rejected Genshin Impact designs.

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

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

    Overall: A narratively disappointing game with lots to enjoy on a mechanical level.    … Expand
  44. Yunalesca
    Jan 27, 2023
    5
    Graphics are so much better, cel shaded sort of Style is nice, but good lord the design, story and characterization have run straight off a cliff. I'm confused as to why the characters are walking one dimensional tropes, and why they look the way they do. I'm aware Awakening and Fates get some flack for the same issues, but honestly I'd still take their writing any day over this. As it isGraphics are so much better, cel shaded sort of Style is nice, but good lord the design, story and characterization have run straight off a cliff. I'm confused as to why the characters are walking one dimensional tropes, and why they look the way they do. I'm aware Awakening and Fates get some flack for the same issues, but honestly I'd still take their writing any day over this. As it is now- my desire to play more is entirely none-existent despite the gameplay being just as fine as it always is.… Expand
  45. Rotwah
    Jan 26, 2023
    5
    Gameplay and technical aspects 9/10 + story and characters 1/10 = 5/10 overall
  46. SomethingSom
    Jan 26, 2023
    5
    Gameplay is fun. The story and characters are soulless. Feels like a mobile game but it’s a full priced Nintendo game.. yikes
  47. Gomorrha
    Jan 25, 2023
    6
    Just how do you guys manage to post your reviews here? Yet again, I had a lengthy review written for a game, yet again this site won‘t let me post it for no reason.

    Then again, pretty much everything you need to know has already been written many times here. Just read the reviews that give a score between 4 and 7. Everything above or below is fanboying or hating.
  48. Lonewolftee
    Jan 25, 2023
    5
    If you played 3 houses then this is a major improvement in terms of graphics and perfomance. The animations are even improved, the combat and the mechanics are great. Music is also a let down, I haven't heard a single song that caught my attention. However the story and characters are god awful. I have never played a Fire Emblem where I didnt like a single character until now. TheIf you played 3 houses then this is a major improvement in terms of graphics and perfomance. The animations are even improved, the combat and the mechanics are great. Music is also a let down, I haven't heard a single song that caught my attention. However the story and characters are god awful. I have never played a Fire Emblem where I didnt like a single character until now. The main character Alear is the most boring and bland protaganist I have ever played with, I honestly would have preferred him/her to be silent. The dialog is terrible, the story is so uninteresting that I started skipping halfway through. The English voices arent bad but their dialog is what ruins everyone, they all seem dense, naive, weak, overly kind. The MC is the Divine dragon or whatever and everyone respects him to simp levels and he doesn't deserve it. TLDR, story and charcters are so bad that it actually ruins the game, im afraid what they would do to a remake at this point.… Expand
  49. Vidril
    Jan 25, 2023
    6
    A Fire Emblem game that sacrifices everything the series has in service of combat and mass-market appeal. If this is your first Fire Emblem, you might greatly enjoy it's expressive combat, beautiful colour direction, and high production values. Maybe even getting interested in the prior games via the Emblems. If you're a returning Fire Emblem fan though, you can very well be disappointedA Fire Emblem game that sacrifices everything the series has in service of combat and mass-market appeal. If this is your first Fire Emblem, you might greatly enjoy it's expressive combat, beautiful colour direction, and high production values. Maybe even getting interested in the prior games via the Emblems. If you're a returning Fire Emblem fan though, you can very well be disappointed by the absolutely hollow story, ill-fitting character designs, sorry excuses for Supports/Bonds, and constantly reminded of the better games that came before it via the Emblems.
    Fire Emblem Engage tries to capture a broader, outside audience, completely forgetting what made both the veterans and the 3Houses crowd like it in the first place.    … Expand
  50. Faetori
    Jan 25, 2023
    5
    The gameplay itself and the technical portion of the game is pretty good. The return of the weapon triangle works really well and the general feel and flow of the combat is a genuine step up from previous entries.
    Graphics have been improved quite a bit as well; the general quality of the models and maps is very high, however, the design direction sometimes feel a bit too clean and    The gameplay itself and the technical portion of the game is pretty good. The return of the weapon triangle works really well and the general feel and flow of the combat is a genuine step up from previous entries.
    Graphics have been improved quite a bit as well; the general quality of the models and maps is very high, however, the design direction sometimes feel a bit too clean and sanitized, making the world feel too plastic and artificial at times.
    The real problem and why this game utterly fails is the story. The plot feels like it was generated by AI with the most predictable twists and most soulless characters. Even though the gameplay was fun, the poor quality of the story keeps stopping me from actually wanting to play it. And that really sucks.

    Fire Emblem has always been about the perfect ratio of a good story and good combat, in Engage it feels like half of it is missing.    … Expand
  51. Belonski
    Jan 25, 2023
    6
    One of the best Fire Emblems in technical aspects like gameplay, animations and sound coupled with probably the worst in story and characters. What a waste.

    Pity for the technical team aswell to have their good work ruined by such a big failure of the writing team.
  52. jmd6174
    Jan 24, 2023
    5
    The Good: -Visually, the game is crisp and colorful, and the battle animations are smooth and dynamic.
    -Gameplay is as solid as it’s ever been; happy to see the return of the weapon triangle. From a purely tactical perspective, the engage mechanic adds a nice layer of strategy to the battles.
    The Bad: -The characters are *incredibly* bland, generic, and flat out forgettable. Support    The Good: -Visually, the game is crisp and colorful, and the battle animations are smooth and dynamic.
    -Gameplay is as solid as it’s ever been; happy to see the return of the weapon triangle. From a purely tactical perspective, the engage mechanic adds a nice layer of strategy to the battles.

    The Bad:
    -The characters are *incredibly* bland, generic, and flat out forgettable. Support conversations are either so short or so shallow that even those don’t help flesh the characters out.
    -The voice acting, while not necessarily bad, is noticeably lower quality compared to Three Houses and Echoes.
    -The cutesy, ultra-anime style is just not my thing. Hard to take the characters and the world seriously when all the females look like 12 year-old vtubers. You can especially notice it with the emblem characters. Their faces look so child-like compared to their original designs.
    -The plot is basic to the nth degree. Honestly don’t think they could have come up with a more dull, hackneyed, and uninspired story if they tried.
    -The music is okay, but not up to the Fire Emblem standard.    … Expand
  53. LongTimeFEFan1
    Jan 24, 2023
    5
    Fire Emblem Engage is an embarrassment to the franchise.
    It's not a 0/10 but it's definitely no higher than a 7 purely based on what it represents for the series. In the pre-Awakening games FE settings and stories took themselves seriously and were played straight. Starting with Awakening this changed to childish tongue-in-cheek self-parodying. Fates and Awakening were games for young    Fire Emblem Engage is an embarrassment to the franchise.
    It's not a 0/10 but it's definitely no higher than a 7 purely based on what it represents for the series. In the pre-Awakening games FE settings and stories took themselves seriously and were played straight. Starting with Awakening this changed to childish tongue-in-cheek self-parodying. Fates and Awakening were games for young children, with embarrassing, cringeworthy writing and dialogue and half assed generic plots. This likely stems from the fact that they no longer have the writing talent they once had. You're not going to squeeze a Genealogy of Radiant Dawn out of the current writers.
    However, Three Houses, the previous entry, attempted to recapture the magic of the older games by telling a serious, complex story that took itself seriously tonally and didn't cowardly retreat into self-satire to deflect from its deficiencies. Three Houses was not a perfect game, but it was a step in the right direction to restore some amount of dignity to the franchise.

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

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

    It's honestly quite sickening to see these shallow and obnoxious characters dragging around the ghosts of old FE characters, attempting to beat nostalgia into the audience. All they do is serve as a reminder of how good Fire Emblem once was, and how good it could still be, if anybody currently working at Intelligent Systems cared as much about the history of the franchise as the random people they hired from Koei Tecmo for Three Houses. Sad.    … Expand
  54. LastHope17
    Jan 24, 2023
    5
    The directer had no idea what he was doing. It was his first FE game and he wanted to make it for people who don't play FE while also making it an homage to the history of FE. Does that sound smart to you?

    Look it up he's incompetent.
  55. NagisaNeko
    Jan 24, 2023
    7
    I admit that this work is better than the previous work, both in terms of gameplay and map design, but the character creation, character modeling and plot design of this work make me very disappointed. I mean, if you just enjoy srpg game, you will probably like ENGAGE very much, but if you also value the shaping of plot and character relationship, then you may be a little disappointed.
  56. Merro
    Jan 23, 2023
    6
    Worst then 3 houses. Better graphics but that's it.
    Buy it online with heavy discount.
  57. Kenmei
    Jan 23, 2023
    5
    Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of my favorite games on the Switch and probably my favorite FE game. I even really enjoyed the Dynasty Warriors spin off game that came from it while not really being a big DW fan. So, coming into this, I had some pretty high expectations. And, while the gameplay has taken some pretty good steps forward, the story and characters absolutely kill any interestFire Emblem: Three Houses is one of my favorite games on the Switch and probably my favorite FE game. I even really enjoyed the Dynasty Warriors spin off game that came from it while not really being a big DW fan. So, coming into this, I had some pretty high expectations. And, while the gameplay has taken some pretty good steps forward, the story and characters absolutely kill any interest I have in continue playing it.
    Starting with the gameplay, the biggest addition are the Emblem Rings. Major upgrades for characters that have the "soul" of most of the previous FE games protagonists in them, even from games that have never seen a western release. They offer a ton of options for characters to upgrade their abilities and become a huge powerhouse on battlefield, even if it's not till right before the end of the game do you have the full compliment of rings at your disposal. There's also a new break mechanic that lets you, or your opponent, smash the current weapon they're holding so they can't retaliate for a little bit. And healers can now be used as offensive units as they're now all martial artists, allowing them to smash the bow, tome, and dagger weapons instead of just standing back and healing all the time. There's definitely enough here to definitively say that the gameplay has taken a step forward and, because all characters now move much more fluidly on the battlefield, things are much smoother then they ever have been before and that's very nice.
    However it's the story and characters where the game is truly let down. The story is an extremely generic "kill the evil dragon" fantasy type story, which is a huge downgrade from the political and religious intrigue from the previous game. Each character is either good just because or evil just because and it became extremely boring when I had to sit through an almost endless amount chapters that never went anywhere except to introduce yet another trope-filled character that had zero personality other then what it's trope said it had to be. There are way too many characters here, so many that it will be virtually impossible to level more then your standard 8-10 characters on a playthrough. But the biggest let down in the main character, Alaer. Even though they are a literal God in this universe, and are treated as such by each character who interacts with them, even the bad guys, they are about as boring and pathetic as possible. Giving them a voice might have backfired cause they were just so annoying the entire game. I played as the male character so it might be different with the female character, but I absolutely despise them.
    I was let down by this game. While I really like the gameplay, and that's the only reason I'm giving this game the score I am, the story and characters attached to it are just so bad it's beyond saving. There's no reason to replay this game after completing the main story and, even with an expansion pass, I can't see myself ever coming back to this game. This is such a setback for the Fire Emblem franchise. While I don't see it being the last one, this one left such a bad taste in my mouth that I don't know if I'll be coming back to it.    … Expand
  58. ZYMROD
    Jan 23, 2023
    7
    El juego en si es una gran evolución en lo que respecta a la saga, pero peca de ciertas falencias. Después de llegar al capitulo 12 mi experiencia la puedo resumir:

    LO BUENO - La música del juego es increíble. - La guarida que se va ampliando de forma orgánica tras cada capitulo o extra. - El diseño grafico que le saca la potencia a la consola. - El sistema de Engage o anillos que    El juego en si es una gran evolución en lo que respecta a la saga, pero peca de ciertas falencias. Después de llegar al capitulo 12 mi experiencia la puedo resumir:

    LO BUENO
    - La música del juego es increíble.
    - La guarida que se va ampliando de forma orgánica tras cada capitulo o extra.
    - El diseño grafico que le saca la potencia a la consola.
    - El sistema de Engage o anillos que aporta versatilidad.
    - La traducción en español no presenta modismos.
    - Las animaciones de batalla y los diversos escenarios de combate.
    - El sistema de combate que mejora el movimiento y se siente mas dinámico.
    - No presenta tantos problemas técnicos.
    - Si tienes los amiibos es la oportunidad de darles un uso y su recompensa vale la pena.
    - Logra un equilibrio justo entre novela visual "simplificada" y juego estrategia.
    - Misiones extras y con buena dificultad.
    - El tablón de donaciones y sus recompensas.
    - La torre de los retos que es un modo seudo online bien decente.

    LO MALO
    - Su historia es bastante Meh! y si lo comparamos con sus entregas clásicas queda debiendo.
    - Se simplifico de sobremanera el sistema de relaciones.
    - El sistema de romances poco trabajado. Si lo comparamos con Awakening o incluso Fates que aportaban al desarrollo de la trama.
    - El protagonista a veces entra en su modo emo y cuesta tomarle algo de seriedad a lo historia.
    - Somniel esta desaprovechada, con personajes NPC estáticos y con 4 poses básicas: Mirada muerta, nadando, sentado y ejercicio. El único que se mueve es Somnie que aporta algo de vida a la base.
    - Personajes poco carismáticos, si lo comparamos con Three Houses que es su entrega mas cercana.
    - El diseño del protagonista que parece sacado de algún juego fandom de juego móvil.
    - Que el primer DLC de pago este disponible día 1. No costaba, dar la opción de importar partida guardada de Three House para desbloquear a Claude y otros.
    - Algunas escenas de relaciones que dan cringe. Del estilo poder de la amistad o pasado trágico no tan trágico XD.
    - Es bastante fácil crear un personaje roto que rompa el juego. ( Trata de variar el uso de anillos a máximo relacion 5 sino el juego es un paseo hasta en difícil.)
    - La granja esta desaprovechada y no justifica su existencia.
    - Si vienes de la saga clásica, los modelados de los personajes te decepcionaran un poco. Parecen sacados del Genshin o de una biblioteca de Vtuber.
    - Uno que otro mini juego que no aporta mucho y le quita la inmersión.

    En conclusión, el juego cumple pese a dar la sensación de parecer una entrega menor de la franquicia. Muy a pesar de lo soso de su historia, personajes planos y momentos de vergüenza ajena. El juego se compensa bien por su apartado jugable, animaciones y un rendimiento notable en la consola.

    En fin, debes darle una oportunidad si te gustan los Rpg Tácticos y si quieres que valga la pena juégalo en difícil.    … Expand
  59. ascendent
    Jan 23, 2023
    5
    Graphically this game is superior than Three Houses. That's really obvious but there is still a lack of Fire Emblems essence. This game lacks of many spells seen in other games. I think Radiant Dawn is really spectacular visually speaking. Compared to 3H, Engage look much better. But 3H was superior in other areas. Each character had unique critical hits. Or at least they vary from oneGraphically this game is superior than Three Houses. That's really obvious but there is still a lack of Fire Emblems essence. This game lacks of many spells seen in other games. I think Radiant Dawn is really spectacular visually speaking. Compared to 3H, Engage look much better. But 3H was superior in other areas. Each character had unique critical hits. Or at least they vary from one character to another in the same class. On Engage there is also a lack of weapons. For example, there are many fewer tomes than 3H. They look much better on Engage but they have almost dismantled the game from mages! Another step backwards has been the critical hits animations. In older FE characters used to spin their weapon, specially bow users. They don't do it anymore which is a turn down considering the potential of bow classes in this game.
    Finally I would say this feature of fusing with an old emblem doesn't look cool at all. It doesn't feel like a Fire Emblem game. They should be self-sufficient. Why Intelligent System didn't focus more on developing new characters and animations instead of recurring to past ones? I still hope many of this issues will be addressed in the upcoming DLCs    … Expand
  60. zzzzy00
    Jan 22, 2023
    5
    Poor modeling and script. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the character design, but the 3D modeling.
    In terms of game system, it loses the degree of freedom and plot depth in the previous game, but it does not completely delete these contents. Instead, there is a semi-finished character plot and main story.At the same time, item collection is also annoying, you have to go to    Poor modeling and script. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the character design, but the 3D modeling.
    In terms of game system, it loses the degree of freedom and plot depth in the previous game, but it does not completely delete these contents. Instead, there is a semi-finished character plot and main story.At the same time, item collection is also annoying, you have to go to every corner of the map, after every battle!
    What is commendable is the combat system, adding the weapon restraint system, canceling the durability of weapons and so on. This is at least a good sign: players said the previous game's training system was too boring, so they simplified it; weapon durability was bad, so they removed it. I think the production team is at least listening to the players, which is why I gave it a 5.
    I think this one just serves players who are familiar with Fire Emblem from the previous titles, it shows the main characters from previous generations, maps and music from previous generations, and maybe they will reset the previous titles afterwards. But I don't think it's a passable Fire Emblem.    … Expand
  61. theBiggreen
    Jan 22, 2023
    6
    Seems to be a big step back for the series. The people praising it for being more like the older games seem to forget that it was a failing series before the more modern changes. A fun spin-off or side game but if this is future of series I would be very worried.
  62. Ozmozz
    Jan 22, 2023
    5
    I try really hard to like it, with is all colorful but empty cast, and it's bland story without any taste. Yes the gameplay is really good, but the lack of love that was given to the story, the lack of emotion and depth is very overwelming for me. Heck, even Fates manage to give us three better stories than this title. A huge step back, for better gameplay... To bad.
  63. Dernn
    Jan 22, 2023
    5
    Massive step backwards from Three House's. Very mediocre predictable plot with extremely cringe dialogue and boring supports.
  64. Delsinx4
    Jan 21, 2023
    6
    A step forward for the series in the technical aspect, but in the story and the sense of it they are 2 steps back, the cinematics many times do not make sense in relation to the gameplay, they feel very random at times and sometimes with zero coherence, in general, it cost me much more to play it than the last games like three houses or echoes.
  65. Scrimblo79
    Jan 21, 2023
    6
    When viewed in the context of the entire franchise, Engage is a disappointment that represents a regression rather than a progression in quality.

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

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

    It would be interesting to see the break and emblem mechanics in a game that knew what its identity was.
    There is no artistic vision or cohesive idea underlying Engage: it is a bundle of elements of poor quality slapped together on top of a gameplay system that whilst may be impressive to players whose only prior experience was Three Houses, fails to come even remotely close to being the best of what the franchise has to offer, or to make it worthwhile suffering through the other aspects of the game.
    Engage, by all metrics, is at best an average Fire Emblem entry, and at worst a cynical, soulless product with an identity crisis.    … Expand
  66. Yvask
    Jan 21, 2023
    7
    My first proper FE game was Three Houses and I loved that game, but the relationship mechanics seemed to take a lot of my time. Engage addresses this issue while maintaining the mechanic and focusing on the story to provide depth. The interactions unlocked through increasing your relationship with allies seem kinda like filler, at least up until rank B with some characters being moreMy first proper FE game was Three Houses and I loved that game, but the relationship mechanics seemed to take a lot of my time. Engage addresses this issue while maintaining the mechanic and focusing on the story to provide depth. The interactions unlocked through increasing your relationship with allies seem kinda like filler, at least up until rank B with some characters being more interesting, imo Yunaka mainly. The combat takes the center stage and rightfully so since this is a tactical game, now with optimal RPG elements for my taste at the least. Normal difficulty can be pretty tame, with some battles amping up the difficulty, and Hard just annihilated me, but I preferred playing on Hard for the strategic aspects. Definitely suggest this game if you're a tactical RPG fan and especially if you loved Three Houses but thought you were spending too much time in the HUB.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best Switch Game of 2023
1
#1 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 124 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 97 out of 124
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 124
  3. Negative: 0 out of 124
  1. Starbit
    Mar 25, 2023
    70
    This new chapter features the best combat ever seen in the Fire Emblem series, as well as a new mechanic that sets up a link between characters of different games and their abilities, which is extraordinary. At the same time, Engage features the least interesting plot in the series, as well as many unnecessary dialogues that feel like a chore to go through. With an exquisite visual background, Engage's positive aspects should be more than enough to appeal to those who want to focus on the combat and interactions and who are willing to put the plot in the backseat of the experience.
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  2. KeenGamer
    Mar 10, 2023
    93
    Fire Emblem Engage is a entertaining fun entry in the long running FE series. It will keep you hooked with its silly atmosphere and addicting gameplay. If you have ever wanted to play the video game version of an Saturday morning anime cartoon then pick it up right away! It is one of the most "Engaging" Strategy RPGs out there with a beautiful style. A great celebration of the series and a love letter to fans of any FE era.
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  3. NPR
    Mar 6, 2023
    78
    Engage never surprised me the way the preceding Three Houses did. With few exceptions, its characters never revealed the depths I had come to expect from the series. But I still looked forward to every support conversation and every jaw-dropping cinematic, right up until the end. It may be dressed up in anime fluff, but the core mechanics are solid enough to keep you coming back.
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