I recommend: Fire Emblem Engage (Review)

[@SkillUp]

Thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring the video. If you want to set up your own website (and get a discount while doing it), hit this link for more info: www.squarespace.com/skillup

[@aadipie]

I actually do want to set up a website so thanks man.

[@Hugsloth]

I have to say it is a bit odd that so much of this video sounds like heavy criticism despite the title; I'm about 17 minutes in and so far it just sounds like "game has good graphics but everything sucks and is kind of shallow".

[@Tyrranid]

How many units dit you lose in the playthrough?

[@maxmasse1029]

Skill up I know it's a few years late but you should totally do a 3 houses review

[@SolPhantasmagoria]

_One of these days, he's going to start a video "This video is brought to you by sexual partner and confidant, Squarespace."_

[@DerpyDerpums]

Am I the only one constantly checking the title of the video as Ralph is talking about how underwhelmed he was with it?

[@eppielicious]

Yes! I'm like... How is this a recommend?

[@YuriG03042]

@@eppielicious a recommend, but not a strong one. he said the overall experience was positive and the experience was mostly smooth on the switch. he just happened to like the dating sim more and this doesn't have much there

[@swmtothemoon6660]

Fire emblem has always been a mixed bag. It succeeds in many things but also falls short in just as many respects.

[@eppielicious]

@@YuriG03042 yeah but he even said the combat was uninspired and bland. It was like he talked badly about the whole game and then at the end went "but I had fun". I wanna know whats good about it if its a recommend

[@amerikaOnFire]

Yeah. Like, he points out what is good about it and it would be good for a lot of people. But it was not for him or for a lot of people who want more story or interactions or lore/development with the world. So he can recommend it for only a very certain subset of people. Which normally would yield a, "I do not recommend" from most reviewers haha.

[@kirker87]

Finally someone starts talking about Bort. Definitely the most underrated Lord in the franchise and frankly I’m ashamed at the fan base for not giving him the credit he deserves.

[@iBLookinATu]

I really thought he was talking about Bord from Shadow Dragon/Mystery, I didn't bat an eye til he said he made the last name up.

[@ArchieBlacke]

Bort in next smash bros or riot

[@tehbeernerd]

My favorite lord’s name is also named Bort

[@daedalus372]

@@tehbeernerd nearby lord named Bort: … I’m sorry, were you talking to me?

[@S0LIDSNEK]

Y’all are clearly forgetting lords Barclay, Barry, and Bert

[@pebl7735]

I still can't get over the main character's colgate colour palette

[@arsenelupin9697]

Well, that means it's memorable and thus, has achieved its goal. Plus, I think it looks cute ^^

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@arsenelupin9697 It's very jarring and Immersion breaking when it looks like a Japanese Pepsi mascot

[@RpgCrow]

They look like they'd be a yugioh protagonist lol

[@SteelsammyFilms]

Toothpaste chić

[@jakstheoneandonly]

9 out 10 dentists recommend this game

[@Alynis_]

Fire emblem without a good social system just isn't the same for me. How are you supposed to care about your team and keeping them alive if you barely interact with them?

[@Stuntmachine14]

True, I want to care about my squad and keep them alive. The social sim adds that flair. I recall in the older FE games I just sacrifice people I don't care about.

[@platnumbreaker]

This is doubled on top of seeing the other Lords were you'd probably be saying "I'd rather play almost any of the other Lords games" than this celebration game. Warriors actually did this well Engage unfortunately doesn't.

[@silverhost9782]

The way he describes this game in relation to 3 Houses reminds me of my problems with Fates compared to Awakening. The writing was so questionable in the second set of games it made slogging through difficult, and the characters were mostly less interesting than Awakening/3H too. On the other hand, the gameplay was/is improved. One day they'll get it all right in the same game

[@TirOrah]

Agreed! Fates had some really fun stuff gameplay-wise, it felt fresh and things like balancing the Pair Up mechanic made it feel more tactical to me. But the story and characters dragged it down immensely, and that was a real shame.

[@zetto156]

I felt the same way about Awakening and the other 3DS entries. I adore Three Houses, and while the combat loop is very fun and satisfying, it was the well written characters and their relationships that really pushed me through multiple playthroughs of the game. I don't really agree with the complaining about the monastery, fast travel pretty much makes it a non issue. So this game being ONLY the combat with really thin forgettable characters... I'll probably still buy it, but I'm a little apprehensive.

[@AllegedAllergen]

It's likely due to the fact that there are two separate teams that work on FE games. Almost none of the people that worked on Three Houses worked on this one. Three Houses/Three Hopes was mostly done by Koei Tecmo with IS. Engage is mostly IS, and they are probably well underway with the next Echoes game

[@kyotow7388]

They have gotten it right in previous games. Thracia, PoR, RD, even SoV maybe. Also, I don’t think the gameplay in 3H was bad particularly, it’s the maps and the fact that you need to do the monastery activities all the time

[@lacsativ1]

I'm playing Fates right now and I can't really see much difference in the quality of the characters compared to Awakening. Both have more or less the same type of anime tropes, though most JRPGs do and I don't really mind it, I'm just enjoying them for what they are.

[@tehbeernerd]

I’m not a Fire Emblem player but a common complaint I’ve heard from some of the fans is that the recent games focus too much on the dating sim aspects and not enough on the tactical combat aspect. I suspect this will be a hit among that crowd.

[@arasonyth3243]

I don't think so because we wanted the dating fanservice to be replaced with a good story, and apparently they replaced it with... fanservice again, but without dating.

[@Katie-hb8iq]

Yes, I've been playing Fire Emblem since the Gameboy Advance, and I absolutely do not like the social sim crap, the waifu gawking and petting activities, the mini-games, the insane focus on romance, and generally all the non-combat busy work. These games are highly replayable, and so having to spend so much of your time on this non-combat stuff to optimize your playthrough on harder difficulties is a huge problem and just becomes a tedious grind. I am not looking forward to the Somniel. I know a lot of people say it's scaled down, but I don't think it will be on harder difficulties otherwise why add it to the game? It's there for a reason and that annoys me a lot. I wish Intelligent Systems would just stop with these mini-games and crap.

[@azeria1]

But three houses didn't have dating at all it was an optional end cutscene that complaint doesn't fit three houses that complaint was about dates which just show horned in child units for no reason

[@arsenelupin9697]

@@arasonyth3243 The OP didn't even mention "fanservice" ^^

[@Ersanven]

As one of those people the comments about flat map design kinda worries me. The monastery caused me to bounce off 3 Houses before getting anywhere but this feels like an overcorrection. The last FE I played before 3 Houses was Fates and that had a terrible story with terrible writing but interesting maps with some interesting tactical scenarios that pushed me toward the end. This feels like Awakenings which was a quintessential 7/10 onboarding point for new players and not much else. I was preparing to grab this at launch but I think I might hold off on this for awhile. I have so many more far interesting games to dig into. For SRPGs I've got Tactics Ogre Reborn ready to go on my PS4. That remaster's rebalancing and reworking made that game new again. I don't feel comfortable dropping 60 bones on this right now. I think I might actually hold out for a sale and watch someone stream it.

[@muzamilnabinadroo]

Good to see you back my man. Hope you fully recharged.

[@YourLordandSenpai]

I was really hoping there would be more character interactions (especially with emblems). Some of my favorites moments in Fire Emblem games are the narratives and banter. I really enjoyed Three Houses because it leaned into the Persona-like stuff and really got me really invested in the world and characters. I could understand if that's not everyone's cup of tea. The Midnight Suns comparison was really good. I was thinking about that the whole time. That game is such a gem. If only the writing was a bit better.

[@mori2037]

fuck yeah :] three houses calendar system was okaaaaay but there comes a point in time where everything surrounding the monastery just feels like a bloated chore that you have to do, or else you'll have a bunch of units with really bad weapon ranks. not having to participate in busywork to make my units usable is only a good thing in my opinion

[@inerd77]

Stripped back story for a bigger emphasis on tactical gameplay. Sounds like classic FE, I'm in!

[@cbmatty9262]

I guess I’m the only one that actually really loved the social aspects of 3 houses and Awakening.

[@Stuntmachine14]

Nah. I love that stuff too. Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses social stuff made the journey memorable. Gameplay is number one, but I love the flair of social sims.

[@joed5150]

Nah many people did which is why Three Houses is the best selling one in the franchise. Honestly don't know what the devs were thinking.

[@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034]

@@joed5150 it's the best selling because it was on the switch, not because it was the best

[@joed5150]

@@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034 It's the highest selling because of the huge critical praise it got. Engage is releasing on a much larger install base and I guarantee the sales don't come close to Three Houses

[@platnumbreaker]

I much rather play 3H sim aspects than Persona 3-5 lol. The waifu bait is always going to weird to me so 3H pretty much focusing on everyone else but the MC made it genuinely engaging. I was more excited to see how other characters interact outside of the campaign. Everyone felt like actually people with their own opinions and beliefs. Persona as much as I enjoy the series the dick riding the characters do for the MC is insane especially in 5. All social links need to have some drama of sort and can't be resolved without the MC. 3H characters deal with stuff with and without Byleth example being Ingrid & Felix.

[@davehoffman515]

I felt the same way towards the end of my time with Three Houses. The maps stopped being much of a challenge and if felt like a slog to run around the map to talk to everyone after each mission to make sure every story kept moving forward when the main story wasn't pulling me along to encourage me to keep going.

[@TROBassGuitar]

I ended up not finishing it because I got too bogged down in the social aspect eventually and it was too much to keep up with

[@Katie-hb8iq]

Three Houses really suffered in the time skip because I just wanted the story to keep moving rather than going back to the monastery and doing activities for an entire month. On harder difficulties, you can't really skip this either without handcuffing yourself to a large degree. And don't get me started on multiple playthroughs. The Monastery far outstayed it's welcome. I really liked how grand it was - it did a lot for world building and immersion, but it's nothing I want 20 hours of my 40+ hour playthrough to be based around. That is so excessive.

[@agromchung]

@@Katie-hb8iq Idk, I really liked running around the monastery and minmaxing every single thing I could on Maddening NG and proceeding to blitz the next chapter because I cooked enough bullheads haha

[@Pablo_Martin_aa]

Its like my castle from fates but your force to go there 5 times in a row before being able to do a story mission

[@firekeeper1870]

@@Katie-hb8iq You can skip (most of) it. That's what NG+ is for.

[@myrrical2203]

I think it’s understandable that the social aspects aren’t on the exact same level as 3Houses, but definitely disappointing that it appears the character writing and story is not good. I think FE is at it’s best when it synergizes and balances its gameplay, story, and characters; not single-minded focus on any one element

[@2265Hello]

It’s basically like older Fe games

[@kleitos6162]

Exactly, the best FE games never have to focus on just one thing. There are definitely criticisms to be had for the people who don't like just how much the social aspect took up in Three Houses (even though I personally loved it), but that game, at least in certain routes, had a great story, characters, gameplay, music *everything*, not just gameplay like Engage. I feel like as this is Skill Up's first real intro into the series, he doesn't quite see what all is missing to the formula when you dumb it down to *just* the gameplay and animations being good while missing everything else that makes Fire Emblem what it is.

[@slol7109]

@@kleitos6162 I don't really agree. If we take the 3 criteria that are story, character and gameplay, I would say that no Fire Emblem manages to have a good story, good characters AND a good gameplay. At this level, Three Houses also has a lot of problems, the monastery and the customizable side of your characters, it's cool during the first 2 roads but after the replayability starts to fall. The minigames of the monastery are fun during the first 10 hours, but after you force yourself because they are essential to play efficiently (same for the lessons). In other words, the replayability of Three Houses is non-existent, which makes me say that its gameplay is not necessarily a good point (as well as the design of these maps (it remains a tactical). As for the story, as much as I loved the writing of Three Houses, it also has its flaws: -Part 1 is the same for all roads (which impacts even more the replayability and is quite boring) -All scenarios are not equal (black eagles is rushed, church routes is too similar to verdant wind). Result: Azure Moon and Verdant wind are the only routes that seem to be finished (even if they also have their inconsistencies like the death of Rodrigue in Azure Moon. -The character of Byleth, who slows down the narration because of his role as a mute avatar without personality but whom everyone seems to admire. So even Three Houses has big flaws like its gameplay, and some flaws in the story (which remains solid). We could make an analysis of this kind for all the fe (ex: FE4: incredible story/gameplay that has not aged well; Fe Fates Conquest: horrible story:good gameplay...) In the case of Engage, I don't expect much from the story and writing (which reminds me of awakening), but I know the gameplay will surely be fun. And for the characters, I tend to think that they can be interesting if you decide to dive into their support: for example Fates has a bad writing and its characters can seem to be gimmick characters but with their supports, you can discover that they are much more interesting (it was the case of characters like Nyx or Forrest for example). Personally, I am rather positive for engage. The license has become too broad to say that it only boils down to what Three Houses (or any other FE) has done. Fire Emblem has many faces and even if we all have our preferences, Engage seems to represent good and bad aspects of the series like all its predecessors (even if I remain not a fan of the artistic direction of Engage)

[@kleitos6162]

@@slol7109 I agree with most of this for sure. That's why I really only believe AM and to a certain extent VW have all three of the positives that I mentioned, and I would argue that both the story and characters are the best in the franchise in AM, but 3H overall has very solid gameplay. I don't agree with replayability being an issue in 3H however. In NG+ all of the monastery content to upgrade professor level is skippable, you'll know you only need to talk to your own house members (even that isn't a requirement if you're focused on gameplay, like an iron man or other challenge run), and things like battalion management won't take up as much time considering you bring them over from your first playthrough. I feel like aside from White Clouds needing to be replayed (which is definitely an issue for a lot of people, I didn't mind it personally), it's the most approachable FE game to replay by far. I would generally argue though that a good chunk, if not most of the FE games hit at least 2/3 when it comes to characters, story, and gameplay. I will concede that it is rare for ones like AM to hit all three, but I've also seen the majority argue Echoes does as well, even if I don't agree with that personally, and I'm sure a small handful of others (like FE4). FE7, while non remembered for it's story, had some fan favorite characters and solid gameplay. Same for FE8. The main problem I see with Engage is that, if reviews are to be believed, it doesn't really hit *anything* correctly aside from gameplay, animations, and music. Hell, even Fates and Awakening had good character design and art direction.

[@slol7109]

@@kleitos6162 So we haven't seen the same reviews. Because, I personally saw a lot of people say that through their supports, some characters like Yunaka turned out to be very interesting and that overall the cast was endearing (something that we could just say for the cast of FE7). Even if I'm personally not a fan of the art direction, I don't think it's bad at all, it's colorful and the artwork of Pikazo is magnificent (I even think that I prefer it to the art direction of Kozaki), but some chara design just looks dumb (like Panette or Alear). Even though I haven't seen anyone praising the story, I still think that all FEs have some charm in their writing (even the bad ones). Regarding Three houses replayability, my opinion does not change. The fact that the first 11 chapters are always the same is a very bad point for a game that has several scenarios (even during part 2, you replay on similar maps (with differences, but that's still a problem because these map are genreally large and too simple). And although the tactical remains fun, it is among the weakest in the series. The new game plus is an interesting feature but you still have to develop the students that you did not have in your first game. And even if you can go faster in new game plus, you can't avoid the monastery (increase motivation, forge links with other students). And for the story, as said before, I appreciate it a lot but you still have to take into account the 4 scenarios together and not say to yourself "Yes, this route has problems but since the other one is good it is means that everything is good" And having myself seen some leaked support conversations (I won't go into detail), I can say that most of the conversations seem ok or even very good and that I've don't seen a lot of meme-support(even if C support in general seems pretty simplistic) . So while I've don't seen a lot of support , I'm not worried about the characters. In any case, I'm not going to worry too much, after all, no fire emblem has really been a disappointment for me. Reviews are helpful but I prefer to make up my mind while playing the game (after all, at the time, most reviews of Fates said the story was amazing)

[@Emil-Roma]

Blyehrth is my main in Smash Ultimate, finally someone acknowledged him. Bort is a great secondary too, if you're interested.

[@MtnxJay]

Finishing FE3H right now and I can already tell I’m going to miss the deeper dialogues and personalities of my characters. Great review.

[@subarunatsuki2102]

Sadly I don't think we'll get another fire emblem like three houses...

[@tadhgmcgrath1409]

@@subarunatsuki2102 the “fans” are being total goofs about this game too.

[@yellaturd]

I'm at the point where I'm wondering if I should even bother getting Engage or if I should give three houses a second playthrough.

[@richardlee3679]

@@subarunatsuki2102 For whatever its worth, there are rumours that Engage was practically developed alongside 3 Houses as part of the series 30th anniversary, hence all the nostalgia baiting with the old characters from across the series. However, Covid pushed back its release and the extra time was used to give it a bit more polish. I could be very wrong, but I suspect that it'll be the NEXT FE game that shows us whether IS is more interested in taking on board the positive reception of 3H.

[@AzureRoxe]

@@tadhgmcgrath1409 If by "total goofs", you mean "idiotically worshiping the game despite it removing so much", then yes.

[@ovan1148]

Personally I really like the social aspects of three houses. Sad to see them do away with it again. I never felt as invested in a FE as I did with three houses due to the game having me slowly get to know and spend time with the cast. I figured as soon as I saw "emblems" that we going to skimp out on story for fan service. Unfortunately as I only got into FE with Awakening, this is pretty much lost on me. I'll probably still play it, but it's gonna have to take a back seat to the PS5 version of MH Rise and the Persona 3/4 rereleases. Hopefully it hits the right notes for the classic FE crowd.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

He showed Corrin in the video. Corrin is a horrid protagonist and should have been swept under the rug

[@Shorkshire]

Go play a dating sim and keep that shit out of Fire Emblem

[@seanjenkins5505]

I understand you just got into fire emblem with awakening, but you do understand that other fire emblem games have great story and combat. This didn't used to be a trade off. I'm not saying you think this, but if you think no fire emblem game had a good story before awakening you are delusional

[@sakutaro3musik486]

@@seanjenkins5505 FE4 had great story and radiant dawn but really there it ends

[@seanjenkins5505]

@@sakutaro3musik486 yea so other fire emblem games. I didn't say fire emblem 1-12 all have great stories. 6 and 7 are also both fine.

[@add8chicken]

Still gonna get Engage but I definitely wish it would become a bit closer to 3 Houses when it comes to character relations and story. Sounds like a middle ground between the 2 games would be pretty perfect for me imo

[@garion333]

This is the SMT to Three House's Persona.

[@Saz103]

Smt 5 was comparitively worse than persona 5 so this is a good analogy.

[@HackerAtesh]

> Says the game never forces him to play creatively or adapt his strategy > From the damage numbers, is clearly playing on the lowest difficulty Bro...

[@JeffPannell]

Three Houses was the Fire Emblem that got me hooked in. I was hoping Engage might be a bit more of that but I can appreciate that it focuses more on the combat. I'll still play this simply because of the combat but I'll fully admit that I will miss the other good stuff that TH brought to the table. Sooooo when are we getting more of that style of Fire Emblem?

[@JacaboBlanco]

As a die hard FE fan i can't wait. This sounds perfect to me. Loved three houses, but it was a bit much

[@ActionJaxonH]

Also, if you're not feeling the crunch of strategy, you're playing on the wrong difficulty. Hard Mode difficulty on Classic Mode (aka permadeath) is incredibly tense, especially when one wrong move can cost your character.

[@zacksiva7457]

m doing maddening difficulty with casual ......dont know how to maneuver without sacrificing team members(bait) in maddening difficulty

[@jonathanlgill]

This was something I was wondering in his review. The criticisms about the map design being uninspired are fine, but I wonder if that's a consequence of difficulty level. Even the best-designed Fire Emblem titles won't be particularly challenging if you're playing on Normal Casual mode.

[@rawrdino7046]

There's people that don't play on permadeath?

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

@@rawrdino7046 why would you. It just means reloading maps everytime someone dies

[@fizzplease6742]

I really love the social sim part but I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed at a point in FE3H so I think I'll enjoy this, even if I think a middle ground would be nice.

[@vivadiscordia]

Man, this seems like a bummer. I've been a fire emblem fan since the GBA days and I thought the monastery stuff from three houses was just the revitalisation the series needed

[@Pommypocket]

If Skill Up had finished even one route of 3H, I think he might've been less bummed by the lack of that content in engage. It shine of the "social sim" aspect wears off after your first play through, and I believe that's the reason that lots of "fans" of the series got a little burnt out by it, since they likely spent 100's of hours finishing multiple routes. The social sim stuff does NOT make long/repeated play-throughs much easier, unlike solid gameplay. I hope people who were wanting more social stuff still give this one a try, because the gameplay looks to be far more interesting and rewarding this time around, despite a relatively lackluster script.

[@andersonrayregalia8378]

Same can be said for any aspect of any game. Map design and enemy encounters can get boring after your first playthrough.

[@subarunatsuki2102]

I was not burnt out at all by the romance. Would've liked more tbh... I did everyone's end scene and played each route and dlc then replayed Black Eagles route several times after.

[@1stCallipostle]

That bummer or no, I'm pretty sure this guy is just... Not capable of enjoying what FE is. The point seems to have been missed at close to any turn, and no doubt the game was played on normal here. Which hardly validates the claims of not feeling pushed. I'm all for welcoming new people to the community, but stuff like this makes me a little nervous about trusting in the newbies

[@andersonrayregalia8378]

@@1stCallipostle haha oh man, fire emblem elitist are so cringe it hurts. M8 stop pretending like you're gatekeeping on accident, we all know your kind looves gatekeeping. Feeling superior for no real reason. Its p-athetic mate

[@Pommypocket]

​@@1stCallipostle Im gonna push back a little bit. Skillup isn't a typical video game reviewer, the guy is generally competent at games. I would buy it if he said his review was based off of a hard play through. It does seem to be a series that just doesnt fit his sensibilities tho.

[@jasperd.5734]

Woohooo! skillup is back! Welcome back, Ralph!

[@tjisr]

Happy New Year! Grateful to see you back!

[@MADba111]

This review really makes me want to play the game. And that game is Valkyria Chronicles 1-4. Even years later I still remember the feeling of really caring for the characters, both while playing on-field and conversing with them off it.

[@jonasking9587]

Lol, same here. Weird.

[@cusman]

Glad to hear this is not overburdened with Three Houses school/social stuff between the tactical gameplay that I want from Fire Emblem games.

[@christophermolitor4554]

I would be very interested in your opinions on Three Houses. Actually more so Awakening. Feels like Fire Emblems heart really is it’s character stories and I just can’t imagine why they seem to be pulling away from that aspect. But that could be because I truly started with Awakening and that story grabbed hold of me in a way I didn’t know it could by changing the positive notions of trust, perseverance, and positivity that define so many of the other FE heroes and uses them as shackles to this lords seemingly inevitable demise. To have to be saved from your own ideals is an interesting concept, music is incredible too. Feels like every game gets some aspect spot on and it almost seems like whatever game you happen to start on is what you think Fire Emblem is and you either adapt to the next one, move on from the series cause it’s not the same, or bide your time until they inevitably make what you like best about Fire Emblem the focus again. For better or worse it’s a series that never stays the same and I suppose thats commendable in its own right.

[@MisterMonsterMan]

This is one of the small few franchises that I drop everything for. No matter what else I am playing, Ill be dropping it and putting serious time into FE:Engage starting on launch day.

[@Delby5]

Can’t wait either midnight Thursday can’t come soon enough

[@willwunsche6940]

Got FE Sacred Stones free from Nintendo on 3DS as apart of their ambassador program and I have been a FE fan since then I am really looking forward to this game. I may be a little bored of the overly anime astetic but graphically this game looks beautiful and the character designs look better than previous games

[@Revolution019]

I’ve seen a few reviews for this game and I hugely appreciate this one from this perspective. I cherish Three Houses with its combination of deep combat and strategy in tandem with meaningful (and multiple) storylines and interesting characters. The visual presentation of Engage does look nice, but I’m not as into the heavier Anime style personally. I’ve enjoyed most fire emblem games I’ve tried, and I’m feeling pretty torn about what to do about this one, at least at launch. Thanks for the review!

[@svenskhund3603]

God i hope this franchise goes on forever. Theyve gotten so good at their own formula that it only makes me angry that it took almost 2 decades for the series to even be considered for localization.

[@Delby5]

It’s a shame honestly. And there’s also no other developers that copy them either so when I’m burnt out on the FE games I’ve played 100 times and want something new but in their style there’s nothing else out there. It’s frustrating

[@whit3devil]

@@Delby5 tactics ogre let us cling together, fell seal, disgaea - there are some trpgs aside from FE, just examples.

[@ItsSomeDeadGuy]

@@Delby5 Check out Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga. Great game. There's also Lost Eidolons but I haven't played that yet.

[@Soundaholic92]

@@Delby5 There's Dark Deity that pays tribute to the GBA FEs art style and animation wonderfully but everything else is just kinda thin. It'll scratch your itch for a while though, and at a cheap price

[@Soundaholic92]

9:30 is an excellent point. I got chills as soon as I saw that background because it's the first level in my (and many's) first Fire Emblem game, but it probably doesn't do anything for people who are unfamiliar

[@SuperStarTidus18]

Ironic that FE: Engage does away with the engagement portion of FE.

[@mbekmbek7214]

It sounds like closer to older FE, bigger focus on battle and more minimalistic story/sim aspect. I'm totally fine with it, but I can see it might feels lacking for those who started from 3DS titles onward.

[@MisterF0oT]

FYI: Bord is an actual Character that exists in Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon

[@christop2735]

A bit bummed by this review. I really enjoyed Three Houses for the same reasons as Shill up points out in the review. Still gonna give it a chance I think.

[@itsallenwow]

Even if you’re not the biggest fan of the series I love your opinion. As a lot of the 8 minute reviews out now don’t go this in depth. On top of being one of my favorite reviewers 💯 I’m stoked to get away from the calendar and monastery and the focus on battles is exactly what I want

[@Enzar17]

I have to tell you, you saw literally everything Gareg Mach Monastery had to offer with your 30 hours in Three Houses. Every month becomes 100% identical if you care about a reasonably optimal use of your time. First week, you do battles. Second week, you run around Gareg Mach for whatever the event is (fishing, house meals, etc.) Third week, you do battles. Fourth week, it's the main mission. The chores around Gareg Mach become extremely boring and repetitive. Just that: chores. The problem with Gareg Mach is that it MASSIVELY overstays its welcome, and the story is heavily crippled by the mechanical need to return to it after every main chapter, even when the story is actively damaged as a result of this dependency. It's only cool for the first... half, or so, of the game. Which is what you saw, and I'm glad you had fun with it. But it was a controversial addition for a reason, and I'm glad to see it reduced.

[@hunterross3751]

I completely agree. It was a neat idea that could be improved upon in the future, but it got stale pretty quickly for me. The story and characters kept me engaged in three houses, but the repetition of the monastery and the mediocre map design and combat definitely hindered my enjoyment a bit. I still really love three houses, but it isn't a perfect game imo. Overall I'm glad to see engage focus more on the combat, but a little sad to hear that the story/characters/support conversations are a bit of a step backwards from three houses.

[@johnwrath3612]

Yep. I really do not understand why people loved that aspect, it was a fucking chore.

[@jonhmata]

Like he said on the review he only played 3 houses for around 50 hours or so, so probably 1 - 2 routes, I've had the same opinion as him after doing one route of the game, but..... 7 playthroughs and 250 hours later you can clearly see the cracks of the monastery, its way too repetitive and not that compelling.

[@김준하-q2g]

Agree i couldnt play three house third time because it is painful replay half of the same mission. And do all this hub activity to drag the game progress

[@konstantinos-iliasstrempas4594]

reviewrs play the game one time in a series known for its replayability if you play 3h one time of course you find the monastery fun but 6-7 playthroughs and it not that fun to do

[@mikek191]

A huge problem with FE3H was that 60% (probably more) of the gameplay wasn’t Fire Emblem gameplay. Excited to hear that this may be fixed for Engage.

[@ShinyUmbreon106]

Well it’s more of this game went back to the old style of fire emblem

[@6WoodForest]

@@ShinyUmbreon106 and Amen to that.

[@Space-lxy]

The polishing minigame made me remember that in the DS versions of Pokemon D/P you could do that with the medals

[@PokeMaster22222]

One major flaw with Three Houses was that the first half, the period before war breaks out, was largely identical regardless of which House you chose to lead - this meant that for quite some time, repeat playthroughs were quite tedious. Oh, sure, there were a couple of unique scenes (such as finding Dimitri wandering the monastery at night, if you're leading his House), but it was 95% identical, only diverging halfway through. I, for one, HATED this as I had no motivation to do NG+ and go down a different path, as it meant I'd be bored stiff for a significant chunk of time. Ugh. Another issue I had with Three Houses was the whole calendar and Activity Points systems, since it artificially limited what I could do in my playthroughs - I like grinding, to some extent, which I could do whenever I wanted and for however long I wanted in Awakening and two-thirds of Fates, so these systems irritated me. Hopefully these systems are gone, in Engage.

[@MeldinX2]

Yeah i think the social aspects was nice, but they did wear out their welcome after a while. And espacially when replaying the game. I think they could have still had them but done it better.

[@therealjaystone2344]

Because it wasn’t meant to be like persona 5

[@PokeMaster22222]

@@therealjaystone2344 I realise that, and I did find the comparisons to Persona to be quite inaccurate - 3H only lets you act on Sundays, for one, whereas Persona usually has the entire week explorable; Persona doesn't have activity points artificially limiting actions either, with each activity organically spending actual time, in a series known for it, whereas 3H just bolts it on (you can have lunch multiple times, for instance, or have multiple tea parties, without time visibly passing since FE as a series doesn't have a day/night system). Oh, and needing to increase your Flying, Heavy Armour and/or Cavalry skills in order to access those classes, and characters only being able to unlock a new class once a week, is quite frustrating too - in older games all you needed was a Second or Master Seal (or for Fates, a Partner Seal once married) to change class whenever you wished. That was leagues more flexible than 3H's system. Not to mention how your skill levels also influenced which students you could recruit in 3H, in the Academy half - when there were very few opportunities to level up Flying (especially for male Byleth due to gender-locked classes again, when Fates largely removed that), Heavy Armour and Cavalry since very few staff members had these as tutorable options. That was annoying.

[@KaiSaeren]

You can more or less skip everything bar the missions themselves on ng+ playthroughs tho, you can literally just skip at the calendar to the end of the month, you dont have to engage with anything you dont want to really.

[@scotchbox]

Sounds like it needs to be somewhere between the two: I loved the GBA Fire Emblems, which were very battle-centric, and found Three Houses to be utterly exhausting: The school map was ENORMOUS to the point that it seemed disrespectful to the player, making them spend 15 minutes just walking to get around the place every single day. A Three Houses set in a location literally 1/5th the size would have been great.

[@maxg2335]

This is the kind of FE I need. I loved Three Houses but I'm ready to go back to a basic, tactics driven FE game like the good old days.

[@Senyuno]

It sounds like Engage is worth it for you then. But I think we'll all miss the storytelling that gave those battles meaning and weight and memorability.

[@1stCallipostle]

@@Senyuno I couldn't tell you half the plot of Shadow Dragon anymore, and it hasn't been long since I played it last. We're kinda used to that aspect going up and down around here

[@b.a.carroll2111]

"We’ll all." Thanks for speaking for everyone, Emperor. Three Houses probably went too far, this one is an over correction. When I.S. hits the perfect balance between the two the majority of players will be happy.

[@beezusHrist]

@@Senyuno lol... the story will always be there

[@MeldinX2]

@@Senyuno I mean people are acting like Engage has no story. It might not the best story out there but it's still there to follow. Three houses story was nice but i think that game also had alot of issues, espacially in the latter half. Some routes felt unfinished lore wise.

[@dcresistance]

Skill Up, if you love the character designs, you should definitely check out the art of the designer Mika Pikazo! Her art has so much color and contrast, it's really amazing.

[@asdergold1]

Good god no.

[@OnionTheBat]

Their art looks great! I just really can't get behind these character designs, I did enjoy the more grounded Three Houses designs. And simply giving someone black skin doesn't make that character diverse at all, I hope asian character designers will learn that one day.

[@arsenelupin9697]

@@OnionTheBat Yeah, they should make them ugly to boot - just like us smort westerners......

[@platnumbreaker]

Her art is great .... But her art isn't fitting for Fire Emblem.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

@@OnionTheBat who gives a shit about diversity in an anime game Just want crazy looking characters

[@buggyjohnson666]

skillup be pushing out so many content while i'm still trying to get that Seraph seal

[@YuriG03042]

you have over a month left, keep pushing

[@northwestclasspnw7974]

shoot, thanks for the reminder

[@jonathanlgill]

Longtime Fire Emblem fan here. Great review, I really appreciated the section discussing the emergent storytelling of Fire Emblem gameplay. That's a really good way of putting it.

[@Leahs_Dad]

Thanks for this review. It seems like the divide for this game will come down to who likes older FE games and who came in on 3H. Engage seems like a love letter to the older games and while that sounds like a downgrade for people who played 3H you have to understand for a lot of fans of FE, 3H WAS the downgrade.

[@sylents8005]

You mean the critically aclaimed 3H was a downgrade to them? Different standards then.

[@SaintMarianne]

@@sylents8005 I mean, at the end of the day Three Houses struck a lot of uncommon points for Fire Emblem. It’s understandable that people might not want the same things from the games even if I personally loved Three Houses.

[@Contractor48]

I wish the story was better. 3houses had a amazing story.

[@sylents8005]

@@SaintMarianne wasnt it the same thing before 3h?

[@vyris2663]

@@sylents8005 3H was a downgrade to fans who didn't want a Persona game.

[@utmastuh]

I typically don't get into skillup's recommended games but I've been wanting to get into Fire Emblem for a long time and this seems like the best one for new players to jump into

[@imadubsfan1]

If you like turn based, then I think you'll love FE games. This one in particular seems to focus on the gameplay aspect than the sim so it's more straightforward, less convoluted, and in line with traditional FE games.

[@Katie-hb8iq]

The problem with the monastery that a reviewer only playing the game for 30 hours wouldn't understand is that it gets old, takes a lot of time, is repetitive and just amounts to busy work. On multiple playthroughs, the monastery is a big problem - it just wastes so much time. Coming from the older games where you had simple base management systems from a menu in between chapters, the monastery took a section of the game that usually took about 5 minutes and bloated it out to an entire month of activities and monastery trips before the next story chapter. It sucked, and every playthrough it just sucked more and more and more.

[@oktimeforplanl]

I loved the social sim stuff in Three Houses, gutted to see its been stripped back but I think I'll still pick this up.

[@TranqBase]

I'd like to know what happened with this entry. The series has historically struggled with sales until Awakening but Three Houses felt like it really broke through into the main stream due to the social sim aspects and as a long time fan of the series, I really enjoyed that aspect. Was really expecting them to double down but I can't imagine this entry reaching the popularity of Three Houses without the social aspect.

[@superalatreon1]

You know you're doing something right when a fan (me) keeps checking your channel every day to see if you've uploaded something new. Admittedly, i was hoping you'd review One Piece Odyssey, not the new Fire Emblem, but i'm gonna watch the video anyway because of how much i enjoy your analysis and narrative. Keep it up, man.

[@SH1NK1R01]

I can definitely see and agree with the criticism that the story is safer and less nuanced even if it doesn’t particularly bother me. What I find less understandable is the criticism that the toned down “monastery” is somehow a bad thing. Or that the stronger emphasis of combat is somehow less engaging no pun intended. The reality is that despite how popular 3h was, in the years since its release the monastery and most of the tedious activities housed within have not aged with grace. And very few people look back on it with fondness. They enjoyed the character moments but the hub itself was largely a waste of time and almost always got in the way of what you wanted to do. Now we finally get a hub that only has a few mandatory activities that are almost all quick and can get straight to gameplay and I’m supposed to be mad or disappointed? I think you should definitely finish 3h. It becomes much more apparent near the end. That the school aspect of the game becomes a barrier to both the story and the gameplay and also kills replayability outside of the truly committed since you will need to slog through it all again. Which also led the “3” in the name mostly decorative as you weren’t likely to finish more than 2 routes before burning out.

[@SH1NK1R01]

@Simon Cowell this made me laugh. I appreciate you.

[@ThePsiGuard]

Seems like they could have stripped back the tedium of the monastery without completely gutting that side of the game, but I get this is a game more targeted towards classic FE fans. My question is why they have random busywork in a hubworld at all. It seems like they kept a few of the bad aspects of the monastery (running around picking up garbage, playing boring minigames like fishing/sauna) and kept none of the good stuff. I probably would have bought this game if the writing was at least somewhat comparable to 3H, but it doesn't sound like that's the case. Also doesn't help that the MC looks ridiculous imo.

[@riggso]

I have to admit as a FE fan since the 3DS titles, three houses was not my cup of tea in terms of its gameplay. I loved the monastery as much as the next guy, but the higher difficulty you played in 3H, the more disadvantaged you’d be if you tried to skip it. Which in turn gets super tedious when there are 4 story routes all averaging 40 hrs. Honestly really well put together review and appreciate the honesty in it.

[@VulturePilot]

Been an FE fan since the GBA titles, I loved three houses and I hope this one is just as good if not better.

[@alexgamerpr12]

Spoiler alert: It's not lol

[@arasonyth3243]

How have you stayed a fan of the series? I never got past the switch to 3D, I just play fanmade roms on emulators and they're waaaaaaay better imo

[@takarahayashi4124]

you should watch the whole video before commenting lol, it's apparently worst in terms of writing, it went back to being shallow and one note.

[@Lightstation_]

I hope it's good unlike three houses. I really wanted to enjoy three houses but I just couldn't. I know the story is good but I can't get past its flaws

[@mori2037]

@@takarahayashi4124 some people don't play these games for the story! one of my favorite games is fates conquest, which while having an incredibly poor story, has some of the best map design moment to moment gameplay in the series. while I'd prefer for both the story and gameplay to be good, the good thing about the story not being good is that you've got a button that can skip it all so you can get right into the good stuff.

[@Road_to_Dawn]

I’ve got a pretty limited history with Fire Emblem. I played some of Blazing Sword and Sacred Stones growing up, but not too much. I played a little bit of Awakening and Fates. I played most of Path of Radiance. I just started Three Houses, but I didn’t play it before because of all the extraneous elements and I’m still really put off by all that. I just really want to focus on the fighting, and I don’t really care much about the story for a Fire Emblem game. I just want to move visually appealing figures around on the field and watch them fight. Engage sounds much better for me. Edit: I bought it and I’m now in chapter 7, already having an absolute blast. Easily the most fun I’ve had with a Fire Emblem game in a long time, or possibly ever. So far, this is honestly exactly what I was looking for in an FE game. Doesn’t take itself too seriously, and just lets me have fun making fun units fight. All of the extra stuff so far is super optional, and really not too indulgent either. I can just take it as I want, and go when I want. I honestly love this game.

[@RubyTraces]

Thank you for the review, it helped me finally make up my mind to just skip Engage; even though I played all FE main titles since Path of Radiance. I like how fluid the combat animations look, and I wouldn't have minded a more toned down "social sim" section (though what even is that push-up thing?), but I really don't like the character designs (even beyond toothpaste-chan), the engage mechanic with the old characters feels gimmicky, and there's barely anything there that interests me narratively. Maybe Lord Bort would've saved it, but sadly he was not given time to shine either. ;)

[@gibbbersganfa]

He's back! Happy New Year Skillup!

[@miagi1337]

ShillUp is back!!! Happy New Year mate

[@ChillGamer365]

I have never personally played any of the Fire Emblem games, so i have finally decided to jump in and give them a go. Hopefully i will discover a new series (for me) to explore and get excited about.

[@wastingtime2380]

A thing i love is how different is every entry

[@zacksiva7457]

yup exactly

[@GoldenLeafsMovies]

Chasing Daybreak, my favorite track in 3H, you have good taste.

[@wrathava]

I started playing three houses last month and I can't stop playing it, it's one my top5 games now. can't wait to play this day 1.

[@ItamarO93]

3H needs about 4 playthroughs to feel like you got the whole story. Good luck.

[@wrathava]

@@ItamarO93 yeah I have only done one playthrough, and midway on second path. I will give it a pause and play engage when it's out.

[@sakutaro3musik486]

@@wrathava good plan ^^

[@FreakEkyth]

OMG the MESSIAH IS BACK!!!!! Glad to have you again, can't wait for this week's in video games!

[@Adam.C]

Truly a shame, I really liked the Three Houses monastery part, and the lack of an interesting narrative here will undoubtedly disappoint me. I appreciate the review.

[@JayEm1325]

6:57 that FE3H MUSIC MAN SO FKN GOOD

[@alternatelevi2099]

Sounds like I should just go back and finally run Three houses for the final route I haven't done yet.

[@tamunotonyeabio-george3401]

Glad to have you back man Hope you took a well deserved rest 👊🏿

[@slax4884]

He took a break?

[@tamunotonyeabio-george3401]

@@slax4884 yeah a Christmas break

[@robinnouara3681]

Probably spent the whole time on destiny :p

[@tamunotonyeabio-george3401]

@@robinnouara3681 😂😂 that would be so on brand for him

[@Ceece20]

Honestly, I’m so glad they focused more on the fighting. My favorite FE is still Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Those FE games are just the best combat and really made me play them multiple times because I really enjoyed beating the game in ever increasingly difficulty.

[@anenemystand5582]

You can have one or the other. Deep intricate combat and interesting maps. Or Deep an interesting characters and story. That's the deal IS made with the tactics devil (Kaga)

[@Stuntmachine14]

Thank you for keeping it real, Skill Up! I love FE combat, but I'm also a fan of the social sim elements. So I'm split, I'll probably still buy it.

[@levishawback1218]

I'm actually super pumped for this game for a very specific reason. Repayability and challenge runs. A large part of the community behind these games loves them for those reasons, and while Three Houses did a lot of GREAT stuff it was a real weakness in my opinion. No matter what you did you had a pretty balanced party with every character essentially about to fulfill any role with enough training. Having the massive 40 unit casts of the previous games really let you do unique and interesting things with which characters you trained and used readily. Additionally, while the monastery aspect was a lot of fun and great the first time it became a SLOG on replays, so hearing that's been minimized also has me pumped for this game. Additionally, as for what direction the series is heading in, there's a good chance there's nothing to worry about there as there's nearly 0 overlap between the three houses team and the engage team. It's likely the three houses guys are working on another project that will refine and intterate on the ideas there while this team continues to focus more on the core traditional experience. Just wanted to put forward a few thoughts from someone who's been a big fan of this series since the GBA.

[@AzureRoxe]

Taking into account this game is linear, with no branching paths and a meh story, exactly HOW is it more replayable than 3 Houses, which had 4 different paths?

[@levishawback1218]

@AzureRoxe Because of the gameplay and variety of characters. Three houses might have had more cutscenes to view and story to read, but with its bland as heck map design and the ability to train any character to do anything every playthrough played essentially the same in my experience.

[@levishawback1218]

Also worth noting that this is currently conjecture on my part. Looking at the various classes and personal skills, the map design and the larger cast on forums I'm anticipating this being more down my alley, but it is very possible that I'll be eating my words in about 51 hours lol

[@revonfyll]

Yeah, I don't take anyone's opinion seriously for comparing this game negatively to Three Houses. I liked 3H, I also get why other people like it, but if you're gonna bring every fix that Engage brings to 3H's gameplay slog as a negative, then your opinion is discarded. Toning down the monastery crap is only a positive in my book.

[@tarrmusreviews]

Great review as always, maybe they'll go the route of making 2 different Fire Emblem games to cater to both crowds, as what you mentioned here seems more aligned to FE Fates and Awakening. But they could be making a divide going forward where they cater to different crowds, similar to how smt and persona are both jrpgs but quite different, maybe FE might do the same with their three houses model.

[@darkdealproductions]

HAPPY NEW YEAR RALPH! missed ya bud, what a treat to wake up to

[@GumikoVT]

My biggest issue with three houses was the life sim stuff, so this just makes me even more hyped for engage.

[@JonNuclear]

As someone who hated the social sim stuff in Three Houses and has always been a fan of this type of combat especially in certain fire emblem games this sounds like an absolute win.

[@halkon4412]

This sounds more like Birthright than Conquest to me. RIP

[@zacksiva7457]

same feeling

[@emerald-kun94]

Welcome back Ralph, hope the break was nice and look forward to your next This Week in Video Games.

[@MyLivingLegacy]

I hate how much I have to admit I missed you lol the critical analysis, deep dives, witty humour and weekly videos! Hope ya had a fantastic break mate, welcome back!

[@swmtothemoon6660]

Same 🤣 he can have some pretty off opinions but I religiously watch him every week

[@MyLivingLegacy]

@@swmtothemoon6660 obviously opinions are subjective but, I think for what it’s worth he has generally the most levelled and fair opinions of a critic you can get. Now for this week in videos! Gimme! Lol

[@SirQuantization]

Glad you're back Skill Up! Hope you enjoyed ya break

[@lts_Jake]

As someone who plays FE for the combat the first 3 minutes is all I needed to hear. Thanks man

[@mobyusone]

Literally thought the same thing. After 3 minutes I was like what else is he going to say?

[@gavo7911]

@@mobyusone That the story and characters suck and are not nearly as good as previous titles? Maybe if you'd watch the video you'd see that.

[@sirbradfordofhousejones]

“Tell me you are a Three Houses Stan” as a video. I’d know. I am one! Still excited for this, though, as Three Houses was an anomaly in the series

[@ZAK31591]

I'm torn on this one for sure. I was always more into the older FE games that were more based on combat and the lords' story than the dating sim stuff. This sounds like an absolute win in that regard, but the older ones also had pretty good characters and this seems pretty lacking there...

[@coreyhaynes7951]

Hope you have a great 2023 SkillUp!

[@morriganrenfield8240]

You only put 30 hours into 3 houses? You didn’t even finish a route! The heck!

[@Kasaaz]

It is definitely a series that would benefit from more frequent, specialized releases. Because they've now got a larger audience and each part of it wants different things.

[@SimplyMavAgain]

As someone who so often resonates incredibly much with most of your reviews and what you value in interactive experiences, it's very interesting to me how positively I'm responding the many of your grievances with Engage. Where I was cautiously interested in Engage before I'm now kind of excited to pick it up and see how it feels.

[@MewCocoa]

@@ih1763 I will never be tired of that, it's what I love the most lol Different strokes for different folks But I do also enjoy the battles in Fire Emblem

[@SimplyMavAgain]

@@MewCocoa I did enjoy it to an extent but eventually found Gareg Mach to be a bit grading. Especially running around the whole place. It's the reason I never did a second playthrough despite the latter half having four different routes.

[@meeqsb3521]

Oh shit our boys back, hope the vacation was well. (Also Hawkeye is a murderous Berserker from FE7 lmao) Also for any other newer FE fans, it is super common for the games to change up and experiment a lot from title to title. Each game definitely has its own feel to it

[@jfdsojdspo7233]

Great review. Honestly, every "con" in this video is a pro to me. I play the game for the gameplay not the story, which was why I loved Conquest. I absolutely love what I've been hearing about this game.

[@2265Hello]

As much as I love social sims and 3 houses they can be very tedious

[@cokeMONSTERps3]

Yeah, it actually might be for me, but might not given I still needed some characters I liked to enjoy Awakening over Conquest. I couldn't stand the monastary in 3H.

[@2265Hello]

@@cokeMONSTERps3 it’s annoyingly so and tbh I don’t see a lot of the praise for 3 house writing it’s entertaining but I’ve seen a lot better

[@zacksiva7457]

same

[@fullmetalarshole]

I can’t wait to polish Marth’s Ring tomorrow.

[@FingerPuppetSarcasm]

FE3H was the only one i've played. Really dissapointed that they took all of that charm away. It'll be another 5-7 years before they even make another game :/

[@thatonepenguinperson618]

Please, I would pay for you to finish the amazing story of Fire Emblem Three Houses

[@weertangel7231]

I was considering picking this one up since i heard and seen so much good things about Three Houses and thought this one would have something similar just with exstra system, shame. Maybe if i can ever pick it up on a sale, but knowing Nintendo i'll have to wait long.

[@sakutaro3musik486]

better pick up 3 houses if you prefer good story and character development

[@weertangel7231]

@@sakutaro3musik486 I will, when i have time for it, its one massive game.

[@spacemadmonkey2450]

Welcome back! Earlier than expected, which is nice :D

[@w33aboojones]

I was excited for this, but seems like I'm the crowd that liked the frienship-sim part of the game and the more meaningful story. I'll wait for a used copy or a sale.

[@Paraguai123]

Read/Watch other reviews. There are people praising the story and the bonding aspect.

[@Shorkshire]

just go play a dating sim game if thats what you want. that shit doesnt belong in Fire Emblem

[@w33aboojones]

@@Shorkshire lol sales and the series actually being relevant to the mainstream after Y E A R S kinda make me disagree but you can keep that take and stay mad 🤣

[@w33aboojones]

@@Paraguai123 bet will do.

[@Shorkshire]

@@w33aboojones y'all are creepy constantly wanting dating Sims in video games

[@alejandrogranadosgonzalez3182]

I love that you named your character "Shill up" lol. Thanks for the excellent video, enjoyable and informative as usual.

[@OnionTheBat]

I was hoping that Three Houses would be a first step towards an evolution of the franchise. This however looks like a step backwards and the character designs are looking very weak. I hope the next game will be worth picking up for me again

[@JoJo-ze3en]

That and the combat are only redeeming traits of this game

[@Rhachette]

I agree with the character design being so damn dumb in engage. All the characters are basically a template of a goodlooking m/f characters for any anime. We need to have maybe a big character with a giant belly, muscular 7ft babyface character or a frail looking character!!!! Just give us a unique character design please ,-,

[@jfdsojdspo7233]

To each their own, I respect your opinion but this is definitely the step forward for the series that I would want. Cutting down on the fluff and improving on the gameplay + avoid reusing maps makes it look like such a clean experience for me.

[@platnumbreaker]

I'm waiting for a price drop tbh. The idea of summoning other Lords is a little too much fan service. Plots like this should be relgated to the Warrior spin-offs. IS should've went back to the style of Radiant Dawn or keep the introductions in 3H and just remove routes or just have 1 or 2.

[@sakutaro3musik486]

it´s fates all over again.. i hope it is a bit better atleast