Fire Emblem has long been a consistent series over the years since its original debut on the NES. Although it would take plenty of time to fans outside of Japan to get their hands on the franchise, it continued to make a name for itself up until its large popularity boom thanks to the 3DS titles. One of the series strongest points is its characters, especially the iconic lords that generally make up the main cast. Fire Emblem Engage ended up being quite the surprise reveal, but what excited long-time fans even more was that many favorite lords were making an appearance. Not as regular playable members, but as wearable rings that characters could equip and connect with. Instead of having a wild crossover of heroes past likeFire Emblem Warriorswe get to see people respecting lords of the past in a brand new way that makes for an interesting setup, so now let’s look at how well this scenario is pulled off.
The story follows a young hero by the name of Alear who has been asleep for a thousand years after a grave injury during a great battle. After finally awaking, they’re showered by love from those who have watched over them and their mother who was hoping to one day see them awake once more. After being given wake-up training, the merry feelings don’t last long as their home is attacked by evildoers aiming to steal the precious items known as the Emblem Rings. These rings connect warriors to lords such as Marth, but as such offer great power to those who use it no matter who they are. After a terrifying fight, it’s discovered that the fiends trying to steal these rings are trying to restore a fierce foe known as the Fell Dragon. Hoping to put an end to this waking terror, Alear and her many allies set off to gather more allies along with the other Emblem Rings across the land and put a stop to the Fell Dragon before it’s too late.
The basics of Fire Emblem Engage will be familiar for those who have tried out the series before. Units ranging to around ten take up positions on the map and prepare for battle in which they take turns moving and attacking the enemy. The weapon triangle returns meaning swords beat axes, axes beat lances and lances beat swords. This is in addition to bows being powerful against flying units, magic against armor units and so on. The big change is of course the inclusion of the Emblem Rings which can be equipped to any character. Emblems can last for a total of three turns and power up units allowing them access to additional weapons and a special attack or skill that makes them invaluable in fights. Once the three turns are up they must be recharged which can occur simply by letting turns pass or standing on a special space that will max them out again. The Emblems themselves don’t level up like normal characters, but they can gain levels with allies further stronger over time through continued use.
In the story itself there are twelve main Emblem Rings all of which can give the character they’re equipped powerful skills. These skills are earned by increasing their connection with the character they’re equipped to. This can be done by using them in battle or spending Bond Fragments to level them up. Leveling them up offers skills that can be purchased and equipped to anyone that has obtained that level with them, making it well worth leveling up Emblems with multiple characters. For those who want a different kind of buff from rings they can also use their favorite Emblem to create an addition item called Bond Rings. These act as a sort of gacha system that allows Bond Fragments to be used to summon addition rings attached to characters from each Emblem’s respective title. Each Emblem has ten different characters they can summon of four different ranks; C, B, A and S. S is the highest and offers the most boosts to stats and potentially an additional skill. The downside is that duplicates of each rank can be summoned, but fortunately if enough duplicates are gained they can be fused using more Bond Fragments to make stronger rings. The biggest benefit of Bond Rings is that they can be equipped to other party members who don’t have a more powerful Emblem ally, meaning everyone can at least get an additional buff to help them out in fights.
Like previous entries of the franchise, ally supports make a return in order to give players ways to learn more about the many characters they will bring with them along the way. Supports can be earned through fighting beside an ally in combat, giving them items or a handful of other activities they can partake in. Outside of learning more about them supports also give bonuses to combat if allies fight near each other, making it well worth investing in through various means. This also counts a small amount for the Emblem characters too as they have bonding conversations with the ally they’re equipped with. Unfortunately these bond conversations are by far the most bland and offer two back and fourth lines that give no insight into the Emblems themselves besides the bare minimum. It feels unnecessary, but fortunately they’re short enough to quickly skip through. The bond conversations are required to progress an Emblem Ring’s abilities further though so it’s best to get them out of the way.
The running trend in modern Fire Emblem titles is having some sort of hub where players can relax and partake in a variety of activities. In Engage it’s known as the Somniel, a place only dragons can enter and acts as a safe haven for Alear and their allies. This is the place items can be gifted and additional items can be purchased. The biggest draw to the Somniel is the side activities which actually often begin after combat has ended. After a fight has concluded Alear can explore the map they just fought on and as a first for the series can meet and adopt stray animals. This isn’t just an adorable feature as these animals can be setup on the farmyard and offer items after every fight. Alear can also go fishing to get food items, training to gain temporary stat boost, befriend a bizarre looking cat-dog creature in order to earn Bond Fragments and even cook food to become closer with allies. More activities are unlocked throughout the story and harder difficulties along the way that offer additional benefits that make them well worth partaking in. There’s even an activity that allows Alear to sleep and have someone break into their bedroom and wake them up by just continually talking to them which is definitely not weird or creepy at all, especially when some characters mention how much they enjoy watching Alear sleep. Perhaps the one downside to the Somniel is that it has a pool that allies can be seen swimming in, but Alear themself cannot swim too.
Perhaps the largest upgrade seen in Fire Emblem Engage compared to every previous title in the franchise is the art style. This bright, colorful art style that heavily emphasizes an endearing anime look is charming and without question makes it the best-looking 3D Fire Emblem title. The soundtrack is a delight on the ears from the relaxing time the Somniel offers to the tense battle themes that keep Alear and their allies on edge. Engage is a linear experience in contrast to Three Houses, but it’s a welcome change to have a more simple focus to the story. That said, however, the story doesn’t offer any sort of interesting or deep storylines and relies heavily on a handful of characters that manage to make for interesting side information. A notable element of the playable cast is that most of them are silly or outright ridiculous. It almost feels as though most of the cast is sharing a total of three brain-cells between them. Although this makes some characters a tad annoying, especially the ones overly obsessed with Alear, it does make others rather endearing for how ridiculous they are at times and it’s hard not to smile or laugh at their little quips of ridiculousness.
Closing Comments:
As far as the two mainline Fire Emblem titles go on Switch, Engage knocks it out of the park when it comes to general flow of gameplay and combat itself. It feels somehow fresh despite being so familiar and while it might have been nice to upgrade the combat a bit more, it’s hard to complain about when it still feels so tight. The biggest downside is just that the story is lacking any sort of compelling draw. Fortunately for those who just want a light story focused on friendship and defeating the big bad at the end of the day, Fire Emblem Engage has that to offer in full. It’s a charming adventure that doesn’t overstay its welcome or drag the gameplay down with too much fluff in between fights and allows players who just want to get through everything quickly the opportunity while having a small handful of side activities that let those who want to take it slower the chance to take a breather between encounters. Fire Emblem Engage feels like one of the tightest experiences in the franchise since Awakening and is well worth giving a try for those looking for something with a perfect clash of old and new.
