I was going to wait until I finished this game to post a review, but I got a little eager and wanted to write it early. I’m starting this review by saying I haven’t played a lot of Fire Emblem. I own a few games, but I’ve only completed Three Houses and started one of the Warriors games and Tokyo Mirage Sessions. But it is a series I’ve been interested in for a long time, and I knew I had to play Engage.
Fire Emblem Engage is a game for the Switch. It’s a tactical JRPG that includes a relationship system and many options to play online. But it’s still a game you can easily play and enjoy single-player. There are 27 chapters, but most of these are pretty short.
The story for this one is that you are a Divine Dragon, a person who can turn into a dragon and draw magic from powerful rings. At the beginning of the game, you had slept for 1000 years, but when you awaken, you find that the Corrupted are back and the Fell Dragon has awoken. You travel across the world collecting rings and allies whilst trying to stop the Fell Dragon from coming into power.
As I write this, I’m almost halfway through the game as I’ve slowed down my play to read a little more, but I’m still having a good time.
I know a few people have picked up this game and been disappointed that it’s not like Three Houses. But Three Houses was different to most Fire Emblem games, so don’t go into this game expecting it to be the same. But it still has a fascinating political storyline and some great characters, allowing you to collect allies as you go along.
If you’re a fan of political fantasy and want to try out a Fire Emblem game, I think this could be one to go with.
For fans of the series, I love that this game is bringing in a lot of the older characters. The ring – and bracelet if you get the DLC – system means that you’re drawing on the spirits of previous Fire Emblem protagonists and other essential characters. You start with Marth as your leading spirit, someone who’ll be familiar with even if it’s just from Super Smash Bros. You get hints of their stories with the Divine Paralogue battles, so you can do a deep dive if interested.
You can interact with both the spirits and your allies on the somniel, which is your home base. It’s a floating island that you can jump to between every chapter if you wish. You can pick up items from around, including the animals you can adopt, fish and train. This is where you can have meals with your companions, give gifts and do all the fun stuff. You also have a mascot who you can name that follows you around. You can dress them up, feed them with the food you find and pet them. The mascot, Sommie, is completely adorable; keeping them happy is worth it.
The one thing I’m kind of meh about with this game is to do with the combat. All the RPGs I’ve played in the past with combat like this have always automatically gone through your team as you choose what to do with them. In this game, you have to select who you want to act and when every single time. This means I sometimes forget who hasn’t gone, and I have to try and hunt them down before moving on. It does have its positive aspects. It means I can move a character next to the character I want them to bond with before the other character attacks. But it’s not my favourite.
If you’re looking for a game with twists you won’t see coming, this game isn’t really the one for you. The final battle does add something a little new, but the vast majority of the story is pretty predictable. That said, there were some deaths that upset me that I didn’t expect to feel sad about at all.
The characters in this game were pretty well-written. They weren’t all perfectly 3D, and I wish the after the game, you got to see what happened with some different relationships like in Three Houses. But I did enjoy the characters. There’s a lot of plot to do with family in this game, and I did thoroughly enjoy that. You get to see different types of families and most of them will put a smile on your face.
Overall this game is a lot of fun. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. I do think the chapters could stand to be a little meatier. As it is, they’re a short scene, a battle, and then you either get another short scene or move straight on. One of the plottier chapters was longer, with two battles. But things do feel very fast, and the only things that take time are the battles.
Still, if you’re looking for a political fantasy game where all the romance options are bi, where the characters have some great designs and where you have to use tactics? This will definitely be one for you as it is for me.
4/5 Stars
Lace and Dagger Books 