Three Houses was not what I had envisioned when I imagined Fire Emblem on Switch. Now this, this absolutely is and it does an incredible job. Instead of Three Houses, this one took notes from Fire Emblem Fates instead. Thankfully unlike that game and Three Houses this one only has one story, and since it's a Fire Emblem Anniversary game it's a simpler back to roots story. It's really really refreshing to be excited for a Fire Emblem game from announcement to release, feel like this is the one and it is. It's one of if not my favorite Fire Emblem game now.
The changes to the formula all work in the game's favor. Trading priests for Monks allows your healers to have additional utility they didn't before, be it either blocking or fists. While they aren't incredible options, they're still options I for sure got use out of in the early game. A whole new mechanic is the Break system which also came into play more often early on but was a very welcome addition to further emphasize the weapon triangle which otherwise tended to get ignored as things went on. And it still does but when it comes into play you feel it a lot more as it saves or screws you. There's a counter to this too with Knights not being breakable and these new mechanics are all little things that improve the game. You can even have all your friends pound a unit at once...or have them do it to you if you try to juggernaut, so that won't work here anymore. The best one is the bosses, where they have more than one healthbar so you can't just beat them with a single powerful attack, often times you have to coordinate your team to take them down. Bosses also often move which is unusual for Fire Emblem so you have to be on your guard. And then when you beat a map you get to walk around the map and it's like "This is where I just fought and it feels really cool especially if it's an Emblem Paralogue, like you're walking through history.
These incredible mechanics aren't the only thing, there's also the new characters and music that are great. The story is mostly serviceable with only a few parts I'd say are bad but nothing ever reaches Fates levels of bad writing at least. Oh what else to say I could go on all night about this one.
I suppose the flaws: The Somiel is a step up from the Monastery for sure but there's a lot of stuff here that either felt pointless like the fitness minigames or felt unneeded like fishing (even if that is also better than 3H). These only earn Bond Fragments for the in-game gacha which also felt pointless. The only downside in gameplay is the game throws reinforcements to push you to the boss but sometimes it feels absolutely relentless about it to where it gets a bit excessive. But you have 9 rewinds a chapter so all's fair in love and war I suppose.
I was surprised I let some units die this time and that I put thought into "are they worth the rewind/restart" and even realizing that sometimes the answer was no. Honestly, as I learn more about the metagame I'm honestly thinking about playing through Engage again sometime on Maddening and trying new units and classes. This game is that fun. If there's any Fire Emblem you wanna come back to or even try for the first time, it's this one.
Celine is the best by the way.
The changes to the formula all work in the game's favor. Trading priests for Monks allows your healers to have additional utility they didn't before, be it either blocking or fists. While they aren't incredible options, they're still options I for sure got use out of in the early game. A whole new mechanic is the Break system which also came into play more often early on but was a very welcome addition to further emphasize the weapon triangle which otherwise tended to get ignored as things went on. And it still does but when it comes into play you feel it a lot more as it saves or screws you. There's a counter to this too with Knights not being breakable and these new mechanics are all little things that improve the game. You can even have all your friends pound a unit at once...or have them do it to you if you try to juggernaut, so that won't work here anymore. The best one is the bosses, where they have more than one healthbar so you can't just beat them with a single powerful attack, often times you have to coordinate your team to take them down. Bosses also often move which is unusual for Fire Emblem so you have to be on your guard. And then when you beat a map you get to walk around the map and it's like "This is where I just fought and it feels really cool especially if it's an Emblem Paralogue, like you're walking through history.
These incredible mechanics aren't the only thing, there's also the new characters and music that are great. The story is mostly serviceable with only a few parts I'd say are bad but nothing ever reaches Fates levels of bad writing at least. Oh what else to say I could go on all night about this one.
I suppose the flaws: The Somiel is a step up from the Monastery for sure but there's a lot of stuff here that either felt pointless like the fitness minigames or felt unneeded like fishing (even if that is also better than 3H). These only earn Bond Fragments for the in-game gacha which also felt pointless. The only downside in gameplay is the game throws reinforcements to push you to the boss but sometimes it feels absolutely relentless about it to where it gets a bit excessive. But you have 9 rewinds a chapter so all's fair in love and war I suppose.
I was surprised I let some units die this time and that I put thought into "are they worth the rewind/restart" and even realizing that sometimes the answer was no. Honestly, as I learn more about the metagame I'm honestly thinking about playing through Engage again sometime on Maddening and trying new units and classes. This game is that fun. If there's any Fire Emblem you wanna come back to or even try for the first time, it's this one.
Celine is the best by the way.