manhasev
Fire Emblem Engage 2023
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
50h 0m
Days in Journal
2 days
Last played
March 1, 2023
First played
February 7, 2023
Platforms Played
It's rare that a game meets my expectations as squarely as Engage did. Despite my initially low opinion of how this one looked upon its reveal (I remember calling it Fire Emblem Heroes 2 a lot), my perspective on it rounded out as I began to see more gameplay and when the release came around. Going in, I expected a charming love letter to the series with the typically good gameplay of the series and, based on the very first trailer, a purely by the books story. Maybe some wonky character designs and some silly writing here and there. Suffice to say I hit the nail on the head here.
What I will say I didn't expect is how tight the gameplay is here. The map design is quite good, with some really great chapters in the back end. Some of the characters are real gems, too (some of them not so much, whether it be in design or personality). Most of all, the Engage mechanic is a blast and is one of my new favorite gameplay "gimmicks" that the series has to offer. A solid OST on top of all of that makes playing this game a really fun time from chapter to chapter.
My complaints are twofold. Obviously, the story is not really anything special or that good at all. I did expect this, but in all fairness to my score, I can't really not dock the game for having a predictable and trope ridden story just because I saw it coming. Secondly, this game is a deep RPG with many, many different mechanics and resources to manage... almost TOO many. The hubworld had so many different activities, but I only ever used maybe 4 or 5 of them, and those were the ones that would boost support ranks or directly impact gameplay or stats. The Engage mechanic, as said before, is great, but the SP system (taken from FE Heroes) can be a bit of a slog, and the sheer amount of Emblems combined with the size of the cast can make managing your bond rank overwhelming at times. It wasn't a big deal, but I did find myself a bit paralyzed by the sheer amount of things I had to consider in that sense alone.
Honestly, I don't have a ton to say otherwise about this one. Engage is a great Fire Emblem game that longtime fans will (probably) like. It's a blast to see some of your old favorites team up with new additions and take down bad guys with iconic weapons. The shortcomings in the story and some of the character writing/designs/overall art direction at times hurt it, but above all else, this is a very sound game.
What I will say I didn't expect is how tight the gameplay is here. The map design is quite good, with some really great chapters in the back end. Some of the characters are real gems, too (some of them not so much, whether it be in design or personality). Most of all, the Engage mechanic is a blast and is one of my new favorite gameplay "gimmicks" that the series has to offer. A solid OST on top of all of that makes playing this game a really fun time from chapter to chapter.
My complaints are twofold. Obviously, the story is not really anything special or that good at all. I did expect this, but in all fairness to my score, I can't really not dock the game for having a predictable and trope ridden story just because I saw it coming. Secondly, this game is a deep RPG with many, many different mechanics and resources to manage... almost TOO many. The hubworld had so many different activities, but I only ever used maybe 4 or 5 of them, and those were the ones that would boost support ranks or directly impact gameplay or stats. The Engage mechanic, as said before, is great, but the SP system (taken from FE Heroes) can be a bit of a slog, and the sheer amount of Emblems combined with the size of the cast can make managing your bond rank overwhelming at times. It wasn't a big deal, but I did find myself a bit paralyzed by the sheer amount of things I had to consider in that sense alone.
Honestly, I don't have a ton to say otherwise about this one. Engage is a great Fire Emblem game that longtime fans will (probably) like. It's a blast to see some of your old favorites team up with new additions and take down bad guys with iconic weapons. The shortcomings in the story and some of the character writing/designs/overall art direction at times hurt it, but above all else, this is a very sound game.