Fire Emblem: Engage – Tactical RPG

May 17, 2023
Fire Emblem: Engage – Tactical RPG

Fire Emblem: Engage uses proven solutions and famous heroes, but tells a completely new story and offers a lot of new things. How does such a connection work?

Fire Emblem: Engage is the latest addition to the iconic Nintendo series. Wanting to repeat the success of 2019 when Fire Emblem: Three Houses premiered, Nintendo decided to follow suit and release another game in the series. The mechanics used here are probably familiar to fans of this franchise, because the combat system has not changed much for 32 years. However, in each part you can learn a completely new story.

Something new, something old

The biggest change in Fire Emblem: Engage – and at the same time the main point of advancement – is the mechanics of the rings that can be put on our characters.

Fire Emblem: Engage – Tactical RPG

These rings hide the protagonists of the previous series, fighting alongside us to save the world, of course. The story begins with the awakening of a hero (or heroine) who has been sleeping for the last thousand years. It turns out that he is a Divine Dragon and among the people he is treated as a kind of deity. The problem is, he doesn’t remember anything. A moment after awakening, mysterious creatures appear, portending danger.

The character goes on a journey across the continent to collect 12 rings that can stop the lurking evil. During her adventure, she meets both enemies and allies who help him save the world.

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The new heroes that we meet during the game are quite diverse – each of them comes from a different kingdom, so they are characterized by a different culture and appearance. This diversity, which we experience most during interaction, is also manifested in dialogues. Although – unlike the previous parts of the series – the language used by the characters no longer has an elevated and medieval sound. Instead, more modern vocabulary was used, sometimes spiced with slang.

Old but good

Fire Emblem: Engage’s biggest selling point is the turn-based combat system that hasn’t changed over the years. Heroes move around different maps, attacking opponents or warning locals about an impending threat. The new ring mechanic works great in collisions.

Fire Emblem: Engage – Tactical RPG

The ability to change weapons used introduces a completely different dynamic than before and can often completely change the course of an encounter. In the breaks from the confrontation, we develop both the relationship between the characters and their connections with the rings, thanks to which we gain new skills or support.

The connections between characters in Fire Emblem: Engage are another “old” element of the series, although in Engage this decision was much more limited compared to what we remember from earlier parts. Between skirmishes, we have the choice of whether you want to continue exploring the main story or return to Somniel, which is in some ways the equivalent of the school from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

There you can interact with the Fire Emblem: Engage characters you meet, dress them up or equip them with the best gear. There are several good hours of play in Somniel itself, and as the story progresses there are new places to explore. An additional option is to change the difficulty level of the game to either easier or harder at any time during the game. Thanks to this, you can make the step easier and get to know the plot without any problems.

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New additions include Tower of Trials, a feature that allows you to gain resources and experience for your characters, as well as allowing you to fight online with other players. The different maps and difficulty levels waiting there is another time consuming thing. The fact that you only get materials from the Tower of Trials to upgrade “special” weapons obtained through rings encourages the use of this mechanic.

The further into the forest…

The story in the first hours develops quite quickly, which gives the impression that all events are presented rather superficially. However, over time, the intentions of the creators are visible, and the plot gently touches on previously tied threads. At the end of the game Fire Emblem: Engage, I was so drawn in that I could not tear myself away from the console and waited for each story scene with bated breath, although at first I felt very tired.

Fire Emblem: Engage – Tactical RPG

Side missions available on the world map are also left out. They are worth mentioning because in Fire Emblem: Three Houses we had a limited ability to level up a character in this chapter. Here, between the story battles, there is a whole series of skirmishes, as a result of which you can get resources, equipment, or even completely new allies.

In this part of the Fire Emblem: Engage series, side stories of heroes in the form of additional cards could not be missing. These are encounters that allow you to get to know the characters outside of the main story a little better, as well as raise the level of connection with the rings.

However, the level of difficulty of these fights is much higher than those of the main storyline, and it is worth keeping this in mind when preparing for them. The amount of content you get in this part turns out to be huge, and the game time increases by tens of hours if you want to know everything.

Fire Emblem: Engage – Tactical RPG

Fire Emblem: Engage is so vast that even after dozens of hours in its world, it is impossible to open everything and use the available features to the maximum. So all that’s left is to soak up the story at your own pace and test out the great combat system, while taking breaks from it and adopting furries from different corners of the continent.

Pros:

  • Gameplay for long hours;
  • Multiple options for developing bonds with heroes;
  • Excellent turn-based combat system with many maps;
  • The ability to play online with other players.

Cons:

  • A huge number of characters that are easy to get lost with;
  • Lack of explanation of the origin of the main game mechanics (rings);
  • Less stylized language than previous entries in the series.
  • Fire Emblem: Engage is available for Nintendo Switch.