Engage's best written character - Hortensia

[@mauricesteel4995]

4:29 if you are seeing this exact conversation, at this angle with no Lyn in sight, that means that Hortensia is about to get Astra Stormed, which means she will see her father after this round is over.

[@Speedwinghere]

+10 health skill from corrin helps hort a lot

[@owen-tv9dt]

"I'm a princess, and that means I must keep smiling. Forever."- hortensia-rosado support. Hortensia displays a startling level of emotional maturity. Veyle laughs when Hyacinth dies and this has scarred Hortensia, but in Hortensia's support with Veyle she doesn't blame her, but she still acknowledges that she'd rather not be around Veyle because she can't look past those memories. She chooses not to hate her but tries to find some option that brings her peace instead of lashing out. In a more light hearted example she tells Clanne to make her a fan club, but upon being told that she didnt "earn it" she accepts it, thanks him for being honest and then leaves him be. Theres a level of self awareness and sadness to her where she really just wants to try her best in her own abrasive colorful way to lift and support people, but she herself is unsure if she's enough. She gets comfort from Fogado who feels to same way about his own role, and Ivy and Lindon do assure hortensia on her worth and her contributions to those around her. She's a surprisingly fleshed out character, and this is kind of a recurring theme with several other characters in engage too. So at this point if a person says a game's story and writing is trash I don't fucking trust them- this stuff is great. They feel human.

[@incontinentia3119]

The overall narrative can be excruciating while still having glimmers of quality within. One can acknowledge that the story was unsatisfying, disjointed, and that the writers were clearly not set up for success. One can also acknowledge that characters that did have more foundation to stand on that writers could extrapolate from were written better. Those two opinions can co-exist. The fact that artists flat out said that characters were designed before they were told what nations they're from shows the afterthought that the worldbuilding took to the rest of the game. I trust people who dislike this game's story and writing, because they're absolutely right to feel like something was off. A bad day at the office for Intelligent Systems doesn't mean that someone's trashing the whole company.

[@TheChildofAuraReborn]

I agree with your analysis on Hortensia... but I disagree if someone is saying the game's writing is bad they can't be trusted. The individual character building can be good because all you need to worry about is Support conversations that don't really have any specific connection to the main story itself. In that way, the character writings can be good, but the main story can lack. There's a LOT of recycled concepts from other games that made Engage feel like it lacked originality: a "Fell Dragon" (Grima) using "Corrupted" (Risen). A Divine Dragon (Corrin) with their sibling (Lilith) to help them through their fight. King Hyacinth (Garon) with children, Ivy and Hortensia (Camila and Elise), from different mistresses. The "future" scene at the beginning of the gameplay that matches Awakening but for some reason doesn't actually have any plot relevance so it's really just a big waste of time.

[@VanguardCommanderAC]

Engage got the Leonie treatment from 3 houses on the surface it seems like it she was obsessed with Jeralt but if you look at her supports and background it explains why she see people like Jeralt as a idol. The earliest example for Engage is Alcryst, in mangs comment section I remember someone saying they bench him when they see him get on knees scene, yet again if you look at his supports and background he just as capable as brother in his own way but because he keeps getting compare to his brother by the nobles his self-esteem takes a drop, and seeing how he almost cause a diplomatic incident it make some sense he acted in search a way. Fire Emblem is know for having a lot "show, don't tell" moments that sadly get overlooked til it's too late.

[@Speedwinghere]

Alcryst is a strange one for me because I feel like they were close to having a very compelling character but they missed out on the final step of giving him that big moment of overcoming his fears and doubts and growing. Even his A supports the progress he makes is pretty minor, such as looking people in the eyes or going to social events. Part of me wishes engage had been bold enough to kill off diamant and have alcryst have to step up to the plate, then I think he would have been a lot more satisfying on the whole. The knees scene is extremely overhated though, its a common Japanese trope in a Japanese game. Thank you very much!

[@grayfox4819]

@@Speedwinghere I actually loved the majority of Alcryst's supports, it's true he lacks of one "big final moments" but I still was pretty content with what was given (also that support with Pandreo was very wholesome).

[@TheChildofAuraReborn]

It actually makes me sad that people don't like Hortensia, because honestly out of all the royals and their siblings, she easily has the most depth and personality. I was instantly drawn to her because her intro into the game wasn't the stale widespread "OMG YOU'RE THE DIVINE DRAGON?! I LOVE YOU AND WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!!!1!" reaction, and her being antagonistic made her interesting. She's practically one of the ONLY characters where you actually had to work in order to be her friend, and even in your supports with her she treats you more like a friend rather than an object of worship. Not to mention she probably has the biggest arc in the game, and it comes beautifully full circle if you have her fight Hyacinth's corpse in Chapter 17. There were not a whole lot of characters I liked in Engage, but Hortensia was one of them and tied for my absolute favorite. Plus I actually like her character design and while I don't like her English VA (I played the game in Japanese since there was a chunk of VAs I didn't like), her Japanese voice was adorable and also went full-out with the voice acting. Her scream after Hyacinth was eaten was just raw despair.

[@anonanon69]

-i was instantly drawn to her yeah buddy I think you shouldn't admit that

[@TheChildofAuraReborn]

@@anonanon69 ... You do know people can say that without a sexual connotation, right?

[@grayfox4819]

Another thing about Hortensia I love, is her friendship with Rosado and Goldmary. Many of you might not know about it, but those two are not OFFICIALLY her retainers, they're just her best friends from when she was at academy, but they will fight by her side to protect her like if they were retainers. You can also tell how close they are to her if you see their support conversations.

[@maverick5169]

Guys find yourself a woman that loves you just like this man loves Engage

[@bropup]

The biggest plot hole in her story is that the way she dresses and talks makes ivy's mom want to kill her less instead of wanting to kill her even more

[@Speedwinghere]

Lmao

[@NightOfTheRavens]

Agreed.

[@hgnbfc2]

Hortensia's role in chapter 10 is why consider that chapter to be the emotional climax of the game's narrative. Most of the villains you fight in Engage are just doing their duty as a general in the opposing army just trying to get in your way, but Hortensia actually has personal investment in the conflict of Chapter 10 believing that you killed her sister and you're here to also potential kill her father and ruin the life she worked so hard for. I want to believe Hortensia being the first line of defense in chapter 10, before even the corrupted husk of Morion, was an intentional choice to show just how intent she is to throw everything away to protect her last remaining loved one. Getting jumpscared by her being a moving boss and crit OHKOing my Alear with the quote "I just want my life back" made a hell of a first impression too.

[@tyrandgg345]

0:13 I'm not angry ..I just love her!

[@johnzin6447]

For Hortensia vs her dad, I go out my way when I know they're related. Similarly with 3H. Though i definitely miss some, which I watch KZbin videos for lol

[@mvjbass9561]

The Elusian princesses are the best characters in the game by some distance imo. The vast majority of Engage's cast are put to the side after their introduction. This applies to some lords too, like Timerra and Fogado. Ivy & Hortensia get more time to develop as you face them as enemies a few times. In addition, they have more and better story moments in the Solm arc than the actual Solm lords. They're both good characters, but I understand if people find them grating for one reason or another.

[@phoenix5054]

Hortensia is a princess, so no suprise she is a fashionista. Now let’s talk about small framed women Panette and Marni. Why the fuck are they General and Berserker?

[@rollbustah]

Not something very relevant to her character but still worth mentioning is that Hortensia's Japanese VA goes so hard with her performance. Actual stellar A+ voice acting. Her name is Hina Kino if anyone's curious.

[@ghostrouxinol6169]

I thought i was going to dislike Hortensia. The Big personality and it's all about her. I couldn't see her more than Non psycopath Peri. But when she joined the army, i really love her. The broken Princess that comes from broken Kingdom. She is the girl that would do anything to repair her Family and her Kingdom and repair her old and new friends. I am glad that writing didn't go to Lysithea route and ignore Hortensia's action or trying to pass any negative ones as positive.

[@KamelGuru]

This one surprised me in my first playthrough, just like how some of the most ridiculous-seeming characters had the most interesting backstories. Like Pandero and his sister. Or Yunaka's meme behavior being a mask. Wish this level of writing was applied consistently...

[@icarue993]

I was interested in Yunaka since her crits pull the mask enough to make me interested

[@ericamborsky3230]

For Yunaka it was kind of immediately obvious there was more to her than what met the eye, because of her "killer's eyes" line.

[@icarue993]

@@ericamborsky3230 sadly that only like 1-2 supports lean on this tho

[@CGFillertext]

The best characters in Engage are the silly girls that have dark layers to their life (Hortensia, Yunaka)

[@yousquiddingme]

The easiest way to "fix" the problems people have with Hortensia is to play with the Japanese audio (true for most "annoying" characters). Her Japanese voice actor really nailed the petulance and brattiness, but also knocked it out of the park in the dramatic scenes like chapter 10. It goes a long way toward appreciating how good her backstory and characterization is.

[@BobbyCorwen42]

That is in my opinion the worst advice you can give anyone. It's the fastest way to take away any personality from a character, since the japanese VAs only ever deal in archetypes. They're not bad, per se, but they only ever reproduce what is liked. She'll sound exactly like 150 other characters, and that'll be it.

[@emperortoho]

the sonicpilled solution if you hate the character’s voice, switch to japanese and they’ll probably be better

[@Ardava-r5f]

I find japanese voice acting irritating , thankfully. Hortensia english voice is perfectly fine.

[@emperortoho]

@@Ardava-r5f i find it depends on the work using sonic as an example, since the voice actors have been voicing the characters for decades, they’re all accustomed to their roles very well and fit the characters perfectly oneoffs like engage may do worse since the vas haven’t worked on the characters as much, and engage has more anime-y and exaggerated writing compared to most sonic the hedgehog stuff(a statement i never thought i’d say in my life)

[@Ardava-r5f]

@@emperortoho no, i just don't like japanese voice acting in general. They all sound like being voiced by a handful of voice actors. They don't have distinctive characteristics unlike English voice actors. With no knowledge of japanese language, all sound gibberish.

[@Ardava-r5f]

Engage characters are more charming than internets made it out to be.

[@InfinitySevens]

They're neat when you don't got a bitch in your ear saying they aren't

[@NightOfTheRavens]

First impressions are quite important.

[@Ardava-r5f]

@@NightOfTheRavens yeah, they all have good first impressions except for hortensia.

[@grayfox4819]

Well, it's not just first impression the problem, it's mostly the fact that several of these characters really shine only in their support conversations. You'll never know how actually interesting many of them are without looking at the supports.

[@Sothis-lu1we]

Hortensia forgot her dad is a fire emblem dad❤

[@JordiumZ]

Say what you want about the over all story of engage but if you dive into the characters interaction and supports the game is great I like Hortensia and Veyle support conversation

[@NightOfTheRavens]

That's something that almost every FE game has in some capacity. Even Fire emblem fates has quite a few interesting characters.

[@JordiumZ]

@NightOfTheRavens True Niles and Camilla has good support you learn why she's so protective over Camilla

[@redchicken5533]

Great video, glad to finally be recognising some of the peak fiction in Engage. Those who know about the Hort snort recognise that she is also one of the greatest combat characters in engage - though that might be a hard sell.

[@yesile]

I'm biased and liked the video within the first four seconds, but after watching, yes, like earned, without bias. I was someone who wrote her off before I played the game, because "ew, cutesy annoying young character, no thank you," but she became my favorite once I got to know her. I think what sold me was that scene where she learns Ivy is "dead." Her being kind of smug, then the camera zooming in on her while her expression drops at the news was so memorable. Thank you, cinematography, for making that realization pop more than the usual talking heads. I think I'd still like her a lot without that, but that scene made me latch onto her as an interesting character a lot quicker. I remember watching your old streams, and whenever you praised Hortensia, I was silently cheering (maybe once commenting; I don't remember). But for you to make a _video?_ Oh man. This is an early Christmas present. I definitely did go out of my way to see that conversation with her dad, but then again, I'm a Hortensia fan, and also a fan of trying to find as much extra dialogue as possible. _(Also, cutting away RIGHT as he crit her is beautiful. Chef's kiss.)_

[@MidwestArtMan]

I'm not alone! I didn't know all of those details, but I remember thinking her behavior in Solm Palace fits well for a 14 year-old. The part where she says that everything is wrong and she just wants her life back made me really sad.

[@karmenion]

I din't see Lyn's in my playthrough, but when her dad appeared it felt natural to fight him as her so I saw it.

[@BobbyCorwen42]

I think perhaps the best in-map conversation set is Alfred's, more specifically in the DLC. Pretty good conversations hidden in there in my opinion. There is beauty in having just a normal, slightly overly nice guy in the story, and for what it's worth I liked his plot twist (revealed in Celine's A support) that must have come to many as a complete surprise upon reading his epilogue. A pretty fun writing trick in my opinion, which Engage uses a surprising amount.

[@Yous0147]

This is actually quite good. This should've been parts of the main story, among some of the other better character traits. Engage probably had several writers who would've been tasked with developing backstory for certain characters and interactions, so it's interesting how that tapestry shows in the ups and downs of engage's writing overall. I don't like how she dresses, but I do actually like Hortensia's character, quite inspiring.

[@The_Ghost_King]

Perhaps Engage wouldn't be so looked down upon if it didn't have so many characters that look like clowns. Clowns are a very common fear, and are, probably, a very rare kink. They weren't doing themselves any favours. You can see it with that DLC scene. Hortensia without that stupid heart on her face looks way better. Her outfit is still way over the top, but without the face paint she doesn't look like she's some kind of clown, and the outfit can be ignored because she's a teenage girl who lived under the threat of death trying to play up being too innocent and dumb to be worth the effort of killing.

[@mcdonkey500]

bro stop thinking everything looks like a clown that's weird

[@funninoriginal6054]

I woudn't say she looks like a clown honestly, more like a bad Vtuber.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

​@@mcdonkey500 No, they're right

[@DonaldDuck97.]

Hortensia... didn't notice this fact about her. I mean, i like her because she is the best healer and the most charming character in the army along with Pandreo and her retainer Rosado, but now that i know this fact of her...i think i like her more. :D Unfortunatly people have a Corrupted mind and don't understand a damn thing about this game and cast and i cannot control them (luckyli), but i love this game, i love a lot of characters in this game because they are so funny and top tier characters like Diamant, Rosado, Ivy, Timerra and Pandreo are so good. I wish there were more Fire Emblems with an army like this. All great characters, both with low and high potential! :) If people say this game is cringe, they should look for themselves first!

[@deoxsus6972]

I agree that Hortensia is the best written character in Engage. But saying she's one of the best in the series is a step too far. She doesn't hold a candle to characters from a series like Tellius. It doesn't help that she essentially gets written out of the main story shortly after joining. So we're left with supports and battle conversations if we want to see any more of her growth as a person. Also Alfred had a way sadder ending than her. Bro died young, to his illness, despite dedicating his adult life to trying to overcome it.

[@nerothewateruser8030]

Engage can't get away with most of its cast not getting spotlight and being consigned to Supports for most of the insight on them, but Awakening, Fates, Blazing, Binding, 3H, the Tellius duology, all of them can despite having the same problem On the same note, it can't get away with feeling like anime or fanfic but Three Houses and Blazing Blade, respectively, can. How curious

[@Speedwinghere]

Yeah I've never understood the double standard about this

[@hpq661]

in short: the best written character in this game has depth equivalent to that of Radd and Caesar in FE1

[@Abundy]

Excuse me sir, that's not Celine the Empress.

[@oof5992]

EMPRESS

[@ChillstoneBlakeBlast]

Always knew about the Hortesia Discussion. She's one reason why engage ticks me off more: The game had ton of potential, just ruined because it had to be lighthearted for Nintendo and IS

[@MrAuthor3DS]

I-I'm sorry, Chapter 10 was LIGHT-HEARTED?

[@redlinkAS]

I don't know, I skip every cutscenes.

[@audreyschicksalholmwiltz3872]

A positive video about Engage's character in this big, late 2024?! Please make videos like this about Alcryst, Citrinne, Lapis or Alfred, they are cute in my opinion. Thank you 😇

[@Mangs1337]

Okay I will admit, there's more to Hortensia than I thought, but can we at least admit that the fact that this 14 year old girl walked into the Royal Palace of Solm and simply "captured the Queen" was utterly ridiculous?

[@hentaihaven4688]

She can capture me uoooh 😭😭😭

[@Speedwinghere]

She flew in through the massive hole in the ceiling obviously

[@Imperfectcell13]

She's just built different Also it's explained in the game that she pretended that she got separated from Ivy and the Divine Dragon's group which got her close enough to the queen to take her hostage.

[@princestarfy4098]

She could have used “THE WARP STAFF!” :p

[@greenstat1c]

Mangs is a creep and an attempted rapist and if there were any Justice he would be behind bars.

[@kingbeerz7978]

Engage has 5 really good characters: Mauvier, Veyle, Hortensia, Alear and Lumera. There’s the bones of a genuinely great story with these guys but sadly the whole game is weighed down by “HEY IT’S MARTH! DON’T YOU LOVE MARTH!?” It’s not until like chapter 19 that it gets going. Really sad.

[@realgharnef1858]

Shit like this is why I don't like engage, Imagine your best character being the prepubescent candy cane

[@ResurgentRaven]

I mean, it's kinda subjective. Imagine your best character being the character who should've been the main lord to begin with (Cough Diamant Cough)

[@DSeditor22]

Really enjoyed this video :) wasn’t impressed with Hortensia at first of course due to her design & first impressions, but I was convinced later on. But just curious what do you think of Zelkov’s character? Apologies if it’s too random since it seems like people highlight Hortensia, Diamant, Ivy, Louie, but Zelkov is actually 1 or maybe only Engage character I’ve enjoyed most :) Perhaps people turn him down due to his way of speaking but I can brush that aside and actually find it entertaining

[@Speedwinghere]

I'm a huge fan of zelkov ivy's support where he gets her headache medicine, genuinely one of the funniest jokes in the game imo

[@DSeditor22]

@@SpeedwinghereI also enjoyed his and Ivy’s B support HAHA and don’t forget his and Clanne’s *PICKLES* situation 😂 But I actually found his & Jean’s supports the best in the whole game since 1. it’s heartwarming seeing Zelkov being gentle with Jean (although it was funny how he was trolling Clanne’s fear of his face 😂), 2. It reflects a sweet & deep message to inform your parents and others that you love & cherish them before it’s too late like it was for Zelkov, and 3. Out of Alear’s S support, I think the A support was a stunning moment of Zelkov talking regularly since his words were already serious or ‘meaningful’ enough (like his claim in the S support) Oh yeah and then there was that one moment he just said ‘**balderdash** 😠!’ to Lady Anna HA 😂 I just can’t dislike this guy

[@redeyefire942]

4:16

[@leaffinite2001]

Listen, ill readily agree that *on paper* engage has some decent character writing, but the way the characters' dialogue is written and delivered is cartoonish and grating. And the horrid plot makes me not really care about the characters as much to begin with. Not to mention the majority of characterization is hidden behind supports and im not bothered to wade through a dozen of mediocre supports to find the handful that are worthwhile, or that dialogue is stuck behind specific character encounters on specific maps most players likely havent seen. At this point fire emblem might as well put all the writing in the manual like an nes game, it would be more accessible. Basically i dont disagree with this video per se, but as you say yourself, its all in conversations no ones going to see. And for like 4 characters. And shes so annoying. Why Edit: or behind dlc! Cant believe i forgot about that oh so beloved staple of modern gaming, putting content behind secondary paywalls. Admittedly fire embkems not that bad about it

[@Speedwinghere]

I mean arguably if you didn't read the supports you'd know nothing at all about the side characters in the older games

[@leaffinite2001]

@Speedwinghere oh no i wouldnt defend many of them either. But i feel like fire emblems shift from dozens of basically no name replacement units towards characterization and less disposability in post-awakening games isnt as successful as people act like, in large part because even where the writing has evolved, that writing is tied to outdated or just bad game design. Supports were first and firemost a gameplay mechanic, and an interesting one, but i think putting more and more of the games writing behind them is a mistake.

[@leaffinite2001]

@Speedwinghere i mean some of this i think is kinda cool, like the comversations in combat. But they shouldnt be the primary characterizing moments for characters, or even really secondary. Theyre basically easter egg levels of obscure, most players wont see them.

[@funninoriginal6054]

​@@leaffinite2001 To be fair, you can't really highlight every character in the game in the main story, not in a series like FE where you get like 30 to 40 recruitable characters per game, plus other important NPCs like the main villain, especially when taking into account perma death. Do they like, just write multiple versions of the same scene based on if 3 characters died or not? It's possible to do so, but i'm not sure it's practical. The only other way i can see characters getting screentime and development is if you gave each of them a paralogue, sorta but not really like 3 houses. But i doubt IS would go that far.

[@leaffinite2001]

@funninoriginal6054 my first suggestion, bcuz i believe it would be easy to plan and write, is base comversations from tellius. Beyond that, engage was a direct step down from 3h by removing the per map monastery conversations and only giving 1-5 characters per map a quick sentence. My main issue is putting characterization behind the exact same clunky mechanics they were using on the gba. Theyve done better before (albeit slightly) but they didnt with engage. Also supports are in a menu behind a menu... that just seems silly

[@ivanbluecool]

Low ceiling for engage writing there. Though I'd say that for a lot of Fe side cast. Hortesia was great but it was so campy

[@askthestaff]

Finally, someone who gets it. The second time I played Engage, I started to understand quite a few characters more, and Hortensia was definitely one of them.

[@emet18]

The worst part about this video isn't it's existence, its the fact you're probably right Jokes aside, I really like her support with Veyle because of how human it is. Even if Veyle was mind controlled or what have you, Hortensia doesn't have to forgive her and its a very good support.

[@ResurgentRaven]

Admittedly her supports have grown on me. Her English VA is still hardcore vomit to listen to though. And I'm not listening to the game in Japanese audio when Diamant, Boucheron, Goldmary, Alfred, and Lapis all can sound amazing with their own voices.

[@CasualFehPlayer-rf6sl]

Ah yes my favourite characters Hydrangea and her sister Hedra 😂😂😅 Sorry sorry plant jokes terrible I know💀 On my first play through I didn’t like Hortensia because her character to me was very loud and irritating plus she had no magic stat which made no sense on a magic unit. But on my second play thanks to supports it changed my opinion about her completely both as a character and as a unit I was stupidly sleeping on how good staves were.😅

[@crimson1million]

Her support with veyle is probably the best in the game

[@Zyaire286]

Hortensia got the best written so much that she made it in heroes 😂😂😂 Hortensia at least have an interesting background that is somewhat fitting for an medieval theme

[@mihaimercenarul7467]

And the best part is, hortensia is still a mediocre character . All she does 95% of the time is say "omg look how cuteeee i aaaam". The rest of 5% or less is her explaining why, cuz she misses her mother. Yes i get that there are reasons why she acts like that but having a reason doesn't excuse the poor execution of her character acting like a robot 95% of the time. Hortensia is not a well written character execution wise. She is basically bernadetta, almost as bad. Where all the C and B supports are unbearable , then they have an emotional cheesy A support where they act different in 2 lines. Hortensia being a naive child in a cruel world is understandable , but it's not enough to make her a good written character . Execution matter more than concept. And execution wise, hortensia is just as bad as the rest.

[@princestarfy4098]

As terribly written most of Engage’s characters are. I actually completely agree. She’s very well written.

[@mihaimercenarul7467]

Well not really . She is still a 3/10 writing wise.

[@nathannuthak1349]

Is this a joke?

[@othergrimm6592]

Blech. Personally, I find the Elusian princesses to be the worst characters in the entire game. I can't stand either of them...

[@phoenix5054]

Hortensia is a princess, so no suprise she is a fashionista. Now let’s talk about small framed women Panette and Marni. Why the fuck are they General and Berserker?