Fire Emblem Engage - Nintendo Switch - Big Tech Upgrades vs Three Houses

One of the most impressive strategy franchises for Nintendo Switch is back - and developer Intelligent Systems continues to deliver highly impressive gameplay, this time backed by big improvements to the series' core technology. John Linneman reports.
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[@spencerhon4430]

The music transitions you pointed out at 11:07 sounded absolutely stunning. Gave me chills when the camera zoomed back out to an overhead view of the field. Love everything I've seen so far from Engage!

[@barefoot_ty]

RIGHT!! shit gave me goosebumps

[@Caba-Rojo]

Three Houses does the same thing. Love it!

[@MrRaphaelLippi]

They've been doing this since Awakening tho

[@jgodden8022]

I (unironically) love the way people are still impressed by adaptive music in games.

[@solarkhan484]

Not new but appreciated that its still here

[@Drstrange3000]

FE Engage seems to highlight why I am a huge advocate for good art direction. It really makes a difference. Especially when you make a game designed around hardware limitations instead of brute forcing it.

[@lstsoul4376]

@@wadewilson6628 Maybe, but there’s nothing wrong with that

[@Red_PlaysYT]

@@wadewilson6628 art direction

[@parasolo89]

@@wadewilson6628 Or pehaps he just like the overall graphics, it is a improvement from Three Houses.

[@TyRendition]

@@wadewilson6628 ??? This game will age better because of it's art direction.

[@joemarais7683]

@@wadewilson6628there were anime girls in the last game, so if that was all that mattered, their comment wouldn’t exist. Maybe you’re projecting?

[@Mene0]

I don't think anyone was expecting a technical marvel, but performance and nice visuals are always a much needed target to achieve. Happy to see these are improved from 3H. Another excellent review my friends

[@mattlandry]

Great optimization for the target hardware. Love to see it on switch.

[@adams3560]

This is how it’s done

[@MFillmore]

Man this is what pokemon should have been.

[@ItsYuhBoyyyy]

Sad pokemon fan noises

[@mzxa9988]

@@MFillmore Difference is IS is passionate about their games unlike GF who just care about meeting the quota

[@ChaoSTrophicS]

@Millard Fillmore unfortunately pokemon will still sell like hot cakes even if it was running @10 fps with 380p Resolution

[@Correactor]

Between the visual upgrades and the return to a traditional narrative, I can see this game getting stellar reviews.

[@agromchung]

Note that while Intelligent Systems did most of the creative work on Three Houses, it was actually co-developed by Koei Tecmo, who handled most of the technical aspects of the game, as well as writing the Blue Lions scenario. I would speculate that Intelligent Systems was actually working on Paper Mario and then went to work on this game straight after. So really, this game is the true follow-up to Awakening/Fates, both mechanically and visually. The Engage mechanic is an obvious evolution of the pair-up mechanic. One more thing - the person who leaked Engage last year claimed that the game has been finished since 2020 and was supposed to release that year to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Fire Emblem. It might explain why the game is so polished. It definitely explains how preview builds have managed to go out so early!

[@legendarren]

Isn't this being co-developed with Gust (the Atelier devs at Koei Tecmo) tho?

[@agromchung]

@@legendarren Not sure! I did see that rumour too, but I don't think that's been formally announced. Ninty didn't even announce that 3H was co-developed with KT until the game actually released!

[@ausgod538]

@@agromchung we'll need to look at credits because prior to release we wont know who is responsible ,it seems

[@megamanx1291]

this needs to be pinned

[@Yunglex313]

Koei definitely wrote a lot more than just the scenario for the Blue Lions, as the story itself just screams inspired by Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I would say that much of the story just felt like a proper war drama, which for a lot of fans echoed back to what older FE games were. Characters that felt more fully realized and attuned to the war setting rather than the more "built around one character trait" types we were introduced to in Awakening and Fates. This was probably why it resonated so much with fans of the older FE games.

[@siddhantbanerjee3328]

I always always always appreciate John highlighting the game soundtrack. It gave me goosebumps this time

[@crimsontyt]

Good news tech wise. Three houses struggled to run in Garreg Mach, even with it's textures and details at ultra low or something, big framedrops during character/party scenes, which was quite an achievement.

[@ckoerner]

Im glad to see that the text appears to be larger and more legible this go around.

[@westonmeyer3110]

That loading screen is amazing. Instead of just Byleth running to the other end you have the whole party of lords running together like they are actually going on an adventure.

[@agromchung]

Are you gonna be able to tilt the controller and move them around though? 🙃

[@westonmeyer3110]

@@agromchung Most likely

[@hal1971]

I'm playing TH mainly on my Oled screen and maybe i'm not too picky, but I love it overall, really like characters design, combat sequence, etc. So I think I will love Engage!

[@Thefabregas22]

Engage is looking really good. I could never really get into Three Houses and as a fan of the 3DS games this seems much more my style.

[@chrisward000]

Same here, hoping for a bit more “back to basics” experience. Three Houses had a bit too much extra stuff going on and it almost felt like the strategy maps were secondary to the exploration and Persona style relationship building. Awakening is still my favourite of the series so far, with Echoes a very close second.

[@sirlimen333]

"As a fan of the 3ds games" Yeah. I guess you could say that this game was meant for you.

[@filejacker00]

@@scull0234 Agreed. I can't shake the thought that what made Three Houses the top selling FE game was the fetch quest/visual novel etc stuff tacked onto the main tactical rpg. Engage might please older fans of the series but it could disappoint a lot of the fans of TH, and i hope that i'm wrong bc TH might have been my favourite game of all time...

[@chrisward000]

@@scull0234 The thing is if you want Persona style gameplay, the Persona games exist and are even on Switch now. Turn-based tactics are what the main series Fire Emblem games are known for and should be the focus.

[@ZackSNetwork]

You could never get into FE Three Houses because of its graphics lol. It had better graphics than the 3ds FE games. You care a lot about graphics yet you game on a 3ds. Stop the BS.

[@thund3rstruck]

Absolutely can't wait for this one. On a whim I bought a game I never heard of called Fire Emblem: Awakening back in 2012 because I needed something to play on my 3DS and that game was, and perhaps still is, one of the very best Nintendo games. I've been addicted to FE ever since.

[@ZackSNetwork]

I was in the same situation. There were no games to really play on the 3ds at launch. That’s when I went on KZbin and saw a KZbinr named Etika playing FE Awakening. He ended up getting me into the FE franchise.

[@GenerationZ313]

My introduction to the franchise was the demo for Fire Emblem: Awakening which was one of the first demos I ever played on the system and it alone sold me on the franchise. I never did buy Fire Emblem: Awakening, instead I ended up emulating the GBA titles on my modded Wii which I also used to played Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. I want to get back into the franchise at some point especially since Fire Emblem Fates has been sitting on my shelf for the better part of the last 4 years.

[@joaolira7072]

@@ZackSNetwork rip etika

[@Babolat3216]

@@GenerationZ313 Fire Emblem Awakening was the singular game that saved the franchise from the brink, and was a love letter to all the prior games. If you haven't played it, please do.

[@Yunglex313]

@@Babolat3216 just keep in mind that not all the character writing is as good as some of the other games, simply because it just has so many.

[@Unporkchop]

So excited for Engage, glad to see its the massive performance + visual upgrade it appeared to be based on trailer.

[@piousp]

This game looks good both graphically and gameplay wise. And thanks DF for another great Switch review!

[@simonrockstream]

My dude, the game runs like f*cking trash. Its a stuttering, unfluid mess.

[@RemixerUltimate]

@@simonrockstream whatever you say homeboy

[@piensluc7444]

@@simonrockstream - another stupid playstation fanboy with the 1 boring exclusive a year...

[@anibalmax1981]

​@@simonrockstream that's not what they showed on this preview

[@nadirjofas3140]

@@anibalmax1981 but they did

[@myidiotbox3]

Excited to pick this one up. Thanks, for the preview!

[@sirmustardofhousemayonnais9907]

Embarrassing

[@RasenRendanX]

I'm very excited to play Engage. It looks beautiful plus the legacy characters adds more hype. I hope we have some iconic tracks like 3Hs did. I lost my mind the first time I heard Fodlan winds.

[@Rocksteady72a]

I'm already reading complaints from journalists that its a "tonal wipelash," seemingly happily ignorant to the fact that Engage is closer in tone to its other entries than Three Houses.

[@filejacker00]

I could understand why they might say that, It's entirely possible that what made TH so popular in comparison to the older FE titles was the persona style social aspect... cutting them out might have been a good thing for fans of the older style of FE but it miiight go down like a lead balloon for all the newer fans...All pure conjecture obviously.

[@joshuadaniel8508]

Nice to see the game will come out in this level of quality. Love FE:TH, gonna play FE: Engage on day one.

[@RagnaXBL]

love it when you include the little soundtrack snippets

[@StrikerSenpai]

Definitely was on the fence about this ever since I saw the first trailer, the DF analysis has bumped it up for me big time. Game looks dope, and I had already preordered the collectors edition so I was picking it up regardless lol, love Fire emblem.

[@jaspelino1963]

You were on the fence, but you preordered the collector’s edition? 🧐

[@sirlimen333]

K, weeb.

[@StrikerSenpai]

@@jaspelino1963 Still love fire emblem too much to not pre order and give it a try lol.

[@BespokeSlipp]

@@jaspelino1963 I’m assuming as it can be cancelled since you usually aren’t charged until it ships - in case the reviews are poor.

[@StrikerSenpai]

@@sirlimen333 🕺

[@FaeroN]

The dynamic soundtrack was definitely already present in Three Houses!

[@sword_of_dusk]

Since Fates, actually. Possibly Awakening too, but it's been so long since I've played it and I don't recall for certain.

[@skeith804]

@@sword_of_dusk Yeah it existed in Awakening as well. All games prior would just cut to a battle specific theme.

[@sword_of_dusk]

@@skeith804 I appreciate the confirmation on that. I've deeply enjoyed the way combat themes work since Awakening, though I do miss the old specific battle tracks from everything pre-Awakening.

[@jgodden8022]

* Adaptive soundtrack. A soundtrack that reacts to game-play changes and events is called an adaptive (or reactive) soundtrack. 'Dynamic' means a completely different thing when discussing music to what gamers seem to think it means.

[@AndresLionheart]

The first thing I noticed as soon as the announcement trailer came out was how much more clean and colorful it looked. Now I'm even more excited for this game to come out. Looking at the pre-rendered cutscenes though I wish that one day we can get a Fire Emblem that looks like that in engine. Maybe in like 2 more generations based on how little each Nintendo console improves power-wise.

[@eatachodeutube]

Battle animations remind me of the GBA games in the best way

[@WutipongWongsakuldej]

That music change is technically called “dynamic music” (in this case it’s vertically I think) This becomes more and more common.

[@VexAcer]

Color me a bit surprised tbh. The visual style for Engage is far more cohesive than Three Houses and is just a lot more polished overall. Not a big fan of the designs but I still appreciate the colors, lighting, and how the environments actually match the characters now instead of the weird visual clash 3H had. Honestly just great to see the devs legitimately learn from the last game and improve on the next which isn't always the case, especially on Switch.

[@matuzaato]

Now I'm exited! Superb presentation as always John

[@Missing2ndgear]

how many time are they going to resurrect fell dragon? like do they even consider if he wants to be resurrected? they are like those medics in battlefield that goes through everything to revived you end up getting themselves and you killed

[@LurkingLarper]

Three houses was a banger so I really hope they manage to match that quality bar or maybe even surpass it with this one!

[@somalion298]

Can't wait for this. Loved FE:TH. Very excited to find out if the soundtrack is as awesome as TH.

[@Nuvendil]

I mean, it might not be cutting edge, but I think that the exploration segments do look quite nice. I wouldn't mind an entire traditional RPG using those visuals. Golden Sun could be a good candidate. Pokemon too, obviously.

[@justis1365]

but playing "have byleth jump over the loading bar with the gyroscope" was half of the fun in Three Houses! Kidding aside, I am super happy to see a great art update and better performance.

[@thebigskip-e]

What an amazing looking game. It's amazing what you can do with lower end hardware if you properly OPTIMIZE

[@tezzie_]

**cough cough** game freak **cough cough**

[@lucariotrainer16]

@@tezzie_ I mean one game is also a closed Strategy RPG where the big visuals only show up in a small hub or snippets with the battle animations and the other is a seamless open world RPG, along with Bayonetta 3 running badly and being bigger and Witcher 3 also looking like crap even if it runs decently. I don't get why people are so hesitant to admit the Switch is a major issue for certain types of games alongside developer optimization.

[@thebigskip-e]

@@lucariotrainer16 see DF's other video about it

[@saintsalieri]

@@lucariotrainer16 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 looks pretty good with a big open world, with battles taking place seamlessly within it while enemies roam in the background and have the ability to join battle dynamically. There's also Breath of the Wild. Pokemon just looks bad, it started with the art direction and got worse with bad technical limitations. Arceus looks a lot better on the same hardware as well.

[@useless1]

Its better in comparison than i expected at first

[@lucasgalioni4375]

The main theme for a fire emblem game is always the thing that gets me hyped

[@joestallin1842]

I grew up playing FE: Sacred Stones, I liked three houses more than I thought I would and I'm very excited for this one

[@jaredponder4149]

I also grew up (was about 18) when Sacred Stones released. The only reason I stopped the series for a few years getting back into it with Path of Radiance & Radiant Dawn, was because my GB Advance was stolen from the factory I worked at. FE's gameplay loop and very particular story beats the way it is presented hooked me to this day so I always give it a chance. Awakening was alright, but I didn't stick with it too long. FETH was very good, but my life was too busy/backlog was too deep so bounced off of that too regrettably.

[@FortWorthRaised]

Can’t wait for this game. It drops right before my birthday. I just know it’s about time for Nintendo to drop new hardware now.

[@dee6561]

I actually like the muted color palette and militaristic feel in Three Houses compared to the super colorful anime-esque designs of Engage.

[@Bajso84]

I agree. This does look nice and more polished visually, but also a lot more juvenile than the 3H artstyle.

[@DrKrFfXx000000000000]

That Kisara shield, tho.

[@chairforce0ne]

It's cool to see franchises like Splatoon, Xenoblade and Fire Emblem evolve to really make the most out of the Switch. Pokemon on the other hand...

[@Hazemann]

Can't wait for Nintendo Financial Report for 9 months in early February. I can say that Switch sell another 10 million units in holiday quarter October - December 2022. So 114 + 10 = 124 million as per end 2022

[@tdotran]

Day one. Can’t wait for the game!

[@RasenRendanX]

I been waiting to see what you guys think of Engage as it looks much brighter than 3Hs

[@nlikeflynn8837]

Yes on the OLED it’s amazing

[@crunchyblend8809]

Three houses might not have the higher quality graphics but I still prefer the artstyle of three houses more to engage.

[@Robotta]

For me is the opposite. I'll argue 3H had a different art style compared to the other FE games but I still couldn't bring myself to like it... specially the Anna redesign. It doesn't look like her at all. However, my favorite art style was and still is Echoes's. Hidari has such an unique way of drawing and coloring that really fits FE's aesthetic to a T. Shame they never brought him back, possibly because he is known to be a pretty busy artist and freelancer.

[@webbedshadow2601]

Fire Emblem is one of my favorite RPG series (I'm a sucker for games with anime art styles..) fully animated attacks, voice acted dialogue, a good story, everything I could ask for. 😁

[@nuclearbeeberman]

I wonder that they didn't mention how good the animations are of the battle portraits (not the fighting animations, they are always great). I mean this is the most polished tactic RPG ever, its a huge step above everything else we saw in that genre.

[@westonmeyer3110]

Fire Emblem Three Houses was the best selling SRPG ever, so it makes sense that Fire Emblem would have the biggest budget of any SRPG series. Fire Emblem is basically to SRPGs what Pokemon is to turn based RPGs.

[@jaredponder4149]

@@westonmeyer3110 It is easy to say such a thing now, but it wasn't all that long ago where Intelligent Systems were going to call it quits on the series if not for the overwhelming success of Fire Emblem Awakening. The next games maybe helped with diehards, but TH just cemented the success they were enjoying, and made FE a true household name in the West..

[@westonmeyer3110]

@@jaredponder4149 Awakening was 10 years ago now, that is an eternity in the gaming world.

[@SpanishSebas]

Correct me if I'm wrong... But TH was developed by Koei Tecmo. Thus the uneven technical presentation. They are notorious for their Switch framerates and low resolutions... Regardless, keep in mind that TH pushes the Switch in battle scenes by displaying large numbers of characters. Engage limits that to atacker and defender, which obviously helps to keep the framerate steady. Also also, I feel like the Monastery was a much more populated location than anything they have shown in Engage. All in all, I think TH suffers from a much more ambitious scale both in the Monastery and in battles plus a somewhat incompetent developer. Even so, it looks reasonably good all things considered.

[@JuiKuen]

Koei Tecmo are behind the Fire Emblem _Warriors_ games, with the latter subtitled 'Three Hopes'. Intelligent Systems are the team behind the mainline games.

[@ZephyrK_]

3H's was indeed co-developed by Koei Tecmo as IntSys needed more manpower and guidance since it was their first console game in over a decade and first HD title ever. Similarly, Engage is also co-developed, specifically by Koei Tecmo's Gust who were responsible for the graphics, technical/visual upgrades for this title.

[@Slaveknight_gael]

@@JuiKuen No, Koei Tecmo was developing the visuals, technical and story for 3Houses mainline. IS were developing battle system and character design.

[@alifbaihaqi4015]

makes me want to pre-order straight away

[@chrisward000]

One technical issue that almost ruined Three Houses for me was the ridiculously tiny text. They even had massive text boxes with a microscopic font. It was bad enough on the regular Switch and I can’t even imagine how bad it was on the Switch Lite. I know there is a magnifier function, but it’s frustrating to use. Looks like some improvement in this one with a chunkier font used throughout.

[@CaptainTitforce]

You might want to check your eyesight. (Not that more font sizes wouldn't be appreciated)

[@haydenlong6819]

omg this. I feel like not enough people talked about this issue. had to do the gamer lean just to check skill and item descriptions lmao.

[@DoritosBurger]

Looks really good for a switch game. I’m impressed.

[@sanjithechef]

I’m so happy for fire emblem creators and fans. It’s been such a great franchise for decades with high quality games

[@backzudd]

Looking forward to it on the 20th been replaying final fantasy tactics and can't wait for more tactical goodness

[@leftymu]

Honestly, while it was made clear this is a big step up from Three Houses technically, I feel like the actual quality of the presentation was undersold somewhat. I think this actually looks great in graphical quality, they did a really good job and clearly worked hard to get the best out of it

[@WilsonTRB]

Can't wait to play it! Thanks for the preview!

[@Sakurina]

The lack of visual clarity and readability at a glance with Three Houses completely turned me off from giving it a shot, so I’m glad to see Engage getting most of the way there :)

[@junrosamura645]

This looks really good! Might be the first real FE game I play from start to finish.

[@ivorytower5847]

Not wild about the character models, but everything else looks like a solid improvement.

[@saintsalieri]

Tentacular hair on the main character kinda creeping me out tbh.

[@jrpg4484]

After playing so much of Pokemon Violet, seeing that windmill moving normally threw me off for a bit, haha.

[@joshread3740]

This actually looks a good deal better. Surprised.

[@CrimsonFrenchie]

Fire Emblem Engage is visually more appealing than Three Houses yeah. Better art style and art direction than the previous mainline game Tbh the lack of anti aliasing in Three Houses is the reason why I got the mClassic 💀 I'm also glad that the performance is a bit better, I don't personally have an issue with the pre rendered cutscenes because they look amazing. And it's nice to know that they're still using adaptive music for Engage. Personally, I still think Fire Emblem Echoes has an overall better art style and art direction

[@thoughtotherwise]

Idk I much prefer the art style and art direction of Three Houses, when it comes to the character work.

[@CrimsonFrenchie]

@@thoughtotherwise While I do like what Chinatsu Kurahana and Mao Yamanaka did for Three Houses. I still think Hidari and Akio Shimada (Echoes), Toshiyuki Kusakihara and Yūsuke Kozaki (Awakening and Fates) had overall better styles.

[@fantasytky28]

What a jok. Better art style? From iconic fire emblem to generic cringe anime artstyle that looks like any generic fammade drawing anime

[@thoughtotherwise]

@@fantasytky28 I misinterpreted what you said, so disregard my previous comment.

[@CrimsonFrenchie]

@@fantasytky28 You have a right to your *subjective* opinion, just as I have a right to my *subjective* opinion as well. Fire Emblem has always been "anime" ever since FE 1 on the NES so I really don't get the "generic anime" argument because what you consider generic is also subjective.

[@willwunsche6940]

While I am getting a bit tired and bored of the anime artstyle, this game visually/graphically might be one of the best ones on Switch up there with Luigi's Mansion 3 at the top. I am more excited for this than I was Three Houses

[@ckhowitt]

Excited for Engage going a bit more back to the series roots. Haven't been super into an FE game since the two Radiant games

[@jconny65]

really like how colorful engage is

[@sokarash]

Three Houses was not programmed by Intelligent Systems, must of the actual development work was done by Koie Tecmo, I don't know the name of the team, but the one that does the strategy entries of Dynasty Warriors and Nobunagas Ambitions. IS did mostly the world and story, which at least in my opinion, was the best part of Three Houses. The rest medicore at best, from the visuals to the daily tasks (which got really boring really fast) and lack of tactical depth in combat and just variety in general. It got so tideous, especially if you play with a different house in the academy phase again.

[@DigitalFoundry]

Yeah, I knew this (see the Three Hopes video) but it completely slipped my mind!

[@chrisward000]

I didn’t know that, but it probably explains why TH just never felt like an FE game to me.

[@gizmoxx999]

arghhhhh this looks like the fire emblem I wanted when I got 3 houses - looks so good!

[@maramba32]

love the art and character design tbh. even the animated scenes are way damn better than 3houses

[@ajfornes6728]

Was on the fence about this one, but this video has sold me. I personally love the anime art style, and the bold colors look beautiful! Very excited about this!

[@Frankonator21]

I’m so excited for this game. I know it’s not good a good habit to pre order games, but I’m a huge fan of fire emblem and I really wanted to get the special edition with the art book and other goodies for collection purposes. I first pre-ordered the special edition in September when it sold out shortly after. I surely wasn’t nearly as excited for this game as I am now I’m hoping the game is great and seeing this preview Im glad to see the game looks promising. I hope the story will be just as good as the standard that’s been set for a fire emblem game and these last 2 weeks can’t come soon enough

[@FelixS.]

I pre-order at least 3 games per month. Don’t see what is „not good“ about it. Won’t ever stop this.

[@DRAG0NSPIRIT10]

I don't see anything wrong with pre-ordering, especially when you can get lucky and find retailers offering pre-orders that are cheaper than retail price. I got Fire Emblem Three Hopes for £40 on a good pre-order deal and the usual price is £50.

[@legendofhayden]

nothing wrong with pre-ordering collector’s editions, especially for Nintendo games. it is hard to get Switch special editions without ordering early

[@rbsalmon7895]

I think pre-ordering physical editions with bonus stuff is fine. Pre-ordering it digitally is just shooting yourself in the foot if the game turned out to be bad. At least you can sell physical special editions if you're not a collector.

[@lstsoul4376]

@@FelixS. Because many games came broken during launch. Others, aren’t very good.

[@harrisonwhaley7872]

More proof that Switch games can still be beautiful

[@DoritosBurger]

Nobody ever complained about the visual detail of the games, the frame rate is what people are usually complaining about. I personally don’t have an issue with it but clearly many people do.

[@harrisonwhaley7872]

@@DoritosBurger yes nobody did. Not a soul. Thank you

[@kwedl]

I didn't even know that this game is already coming out. It feels like Nintendo never talked about it at all.

[@danielkrasovsky45]

Nintendo put out like 5 english trailers since October, where have you been?

[@anonymoushuman8443]

They have been promoting this nonstop

[@simonorourke4465]

It was also the very first game featured in the most recent direct, release date included.

[@dezheathen]

I love video cutscenes I can't believe you don't like that 😂

[@ledon789]

Indeed! Fire Emblem Engage is my first console game (I played the mobile version) and I’m very surprised how I got in love with this game! This game is incredible and the story is one of the most interesting story ideas that I’ve ever saw!

[@user-nt8dy4xw9r]

It does look much better graphically than Three Houses. Even though I have zero knowledge on FE games before Three Houses, I’m interested!

[@VampireNoblesse]

nice to see Engage run & look better.. , just hope the balancing on hard mode is well done (FEs have become too easy on normal, but too RNG-ish on hard)

[@hyperm8]

FE games have always been RNG-ish on harder difficulties

[@BUTITSSOJONESY]

tf you mean, FE3H is a joke on hard

[@Zackasaur1917]

Pre-ordered the physical collector's edition! Fire Emblem is my favorite Nintendo series, followed by Xenoblade.

[@MrGermanpiano]

Really pleased with the improved tech. Biggest worry for me is that they seem to heavily rely on the nostalgia for characters. I only played Three Houses and therefore don't have any connection to Marth and others.

[@neovssmith19]

The worry for you is actually excitement for millions of loyal fans.

[@bramv7174]

It may also be an opportunity for you to get to know other series lords and protagonists. And theres always the Byleth emblem Ring too

[@Gwilherm]

As a Ike stan, I'm really happy but I'm also kind of tired with the "we bring back all the heroes from the past" thing (like in Awakening, Fates and Heroes)

[@MrGermanpiano]

@@neovssmith19 I can totally understand that. Happy for those people that see beloved characters outside of Smash Bros. again.

[@crafti2.027]

Yeah I just don't want to play Heroes on the switch either...

[@Discoh]

Great review - Engage certainly seems like a significant step up from Three Houses! Still haven't played a Fire Emblem game yet, but this looks like a really solid entry to start with. Interestingly, I heard Engage was developed in Unity, compared to Koei-Tecmo's in-house engine used for the other FE games on Switch. Maybe that has something to do with the increased performance?

[@yokogoph]

The UI style reminds me of Fire Emblem Heroes ngl.

[@libardomm.trasimaco]

it looks pretty good. I'll give it a try!

[@markwebster4996]

While Engage is no doubt better with performance and visual composition in terms of edges, FXAA, overall resolution etc. I still think I prefer the look/tone of 3 Houses. The darker grittier, maybe “Medieval” look of that game fits FE more imo. The ultra bright colors in Engage contrasted with the armored soldiers feels kinda off. Not bad but just not as much a match imo

[@westonmeyer3110]

This is just an anniversary game. They will go back to something more similar to Three Houses in the next one.

[@markwebster4996]

@@westonmeyer3110 Probably although they already had 30th anniversary SE with the original game years back

[@Wasoney]

It looks more appealing than 3 houses because it has colors other than brown

[@Ceredante]

Great vid John! I am so incredibly excited for this game!

[@Chironnupu]

after Three Houses, I expected this to look mediocre at best given how that game looked, but this is genuinely such an improvement that it makes me super excited for where FE goes from here

[@misslethal2355]

Completely irrespective of your lovely preview here, the Three Houses battle music always hypes me the fuck up lol

[@Yoshi-sp]

Thanks John! Great review, I liked that you gave the credit to Mika Pikazo, great illustrator and character designer. If you are a vtuber enjoyer you know who she is

[@Grief_Jerky]

That toothpaste colour scheme on the protagonist is truly horrendous lol.

[@Amps_]

Anyone who expects "cutting edge visuals" on any Nintendo platform is either totally misinformed, or ignoring the years of people saying if you want next gen graphics, play playstation or Xbox. If you want a Nintendo game, play Nintendo. Nintendo has always made my favorite games and I've always known what to expect. Fun gameplay and innovative mechanics is the Nintendo thing. 1080p "realistic" graphics have never been a concern.

[@DDT-lr3zz]

Nintendo realized that the market wasn't going to support three mostly identical (performance-wise) consoles. That's precisely the reason why they went the direction they did with the Wii, and have continued to do their own thing. It's a way to stand out, and thus remain relevant in the market. Otherwise, they likely would've become the next Sega. Handheld market notwithstanding.

[@RonnyLive19881]

As much as I want this I don’t see myself playing this unless you can change the main character’s hair style, I know I can’t play a 100+ hour game as a Pepsi mascot.

[@crunchyblend8809]

Three houses is my favorite fire emblem. I expect great things from engage.

[@vedocorban]

3:44 Oh yeah, I feel it resonating with me!

[@TominatorT-]

The next Switch needs to have 8-16GB of RAM

[@dariosandoval3608]

The problem is how slow the RAM is, not how much RAM has If RAM was faster, its a big help

[@hyperm8]

One small detail that I'm happy about is outfit consistency. In Three Houses, and in all previous FE games for that matter, the characters' outfits wouldn't match their portraits if they were in a different class than their starting one. This might've not bothered people but it annoyed the hell out of me. Three Houses tried to make it so you could use a character's base outfit regardless of their class but for all mounted or flying classes, the best ones in the game, they all came with a generic outfit that didn't match their portrait. This game essentially removes portraits and keeps their current outfit regardless of cutscene or battle so really glad about that.

[@mightilyoats2729]

This video is actually a good example of why graphics don't matter. Three Houses is now one of my favourite games of all-time after having played it, even with the subpar graphical standard of the game. It looking more pretty might be nice, but fundamentally, I wouldn't like it more, and it wouldn't become a better game.

[@diahprasetianingtyas6822]

This is why I believe in the FE series than Pkmn (which I have quitted entirely). The Devs care and take their time in polishing the game. I think FE Three Houses was their experimentation phase of sorts before we got Engage. Can't wait for FE Engage's release!

[@statesminds]

So excited for this game!! Wish P3P came out earlier in month so i could beat it before FE Engage released bc wanted to replay it but it’ll have to wait

[@heyjeySigma]

Persona 3 portable isnt worth your time man... just emulate or play the Persona 3 FES version either on PS2 or it's also on PSN. Much better than the botchered P3P that Atlus has the balls to release..

[@wodensthrone5215]

What is that running animation, lmao, God damn.

[@alcalc7428]

Not a bad game but Three Houses is still my favorite. Story-wise, Three houses is far ahead and the fact that your choices also leads to a different ending. Three houses is much darker and more on the adult side as there are deaths, betrayal, and revenge. If they made it like the Three Houses in terms of story, it would’ve been perfect for me.

[@xxargonautxx9790]

So excited to play this game. Got the collectors edition to support the devs.

[@saitoXamaterasu]

I remembear read some leaks where they talking about how Gust team (Atelier series) was helping with the optimization and visual of the game, they did a great job with Ryza 2 optimization and Sophie 2 on switch pretty 2 games , so Gust is a team from Tecmo koei so this probably what happend and why the improvment

[@Maconviking]

Compared to Pokémon this game is 20 years in the future