Is Fire Emblem Engage Good One Year Later?

[@jasonnchuleft894]

To be honest as someone who played Path of Radiance the story of Engage already lost me by the 3rd chapter. The main character losing a close relative would be a powerful motivation to get the plot moving .. except when said MC has amnesia and their relative is never characterized. So everything that happened afterwards felt incredibly forced and jarring. Not to mention the tonal whiplash I got from the free-roam Somniel bit that followed which kinda dispelled any sense of urgency. Of course the baseless fixation / faith in Alear most of the characters display without even knowing her doesn't help either. If the castle janitor told Alfred they were the divine dragon he'd probably have been just as ready to lead them back to their homeland. Sure you can put a gullible character like that in the plot but when everyone acts just as unbelievable there's something seriously wrong with your character writing. Compare that to Ike's journey. We get to know his family dynamic pretty well before his father is ultimately killed. Afterwards Ike has doubts in himself and the burden of leadership weighs him down even to the point where allies lose faith and leave him. As far as gameplay is concerned Ike is pretty fagile in the beginning and takes a lot of work to get good enough to become a reliable pillar in battle. As a player I constantly had doubts in Ike myself but gradually became more comfortable putting him in danger as he became stronger. So his journey is not just told in the plot but we actually get to experience it firsthand. All of that turns Ike and his merry band into characters you are glad to see again and do well in the sequel. Alear in comparism feels like a cardboard cutout as do most of the people who join her.

[@icards7986]

It was a slog for me. I spent the months between it and TotK trudging through one playthrough of Engage. I did feel a little overwhelmed by some of the systems and I outright hated needing a ring, Emblem or Bond, equipped to earn any SP to learn new Skills. I thought that was insanely dumb.

[@SuperThisWay]

Oh interesting! I didn’t mind the new systems as it was pretty straightforward but I get it being overwhelmed. I think that’s why I hated doing the hub world filled stuff bc Engage made it seem like it mattered but most of the stuff really didn’t. There was a lot going on and a lot of it didn’t really improve your stats that much for it to be worth it. If it just focused on the rings and bonds then I think it would work better. I will say that I really didn’t pay that much attention to SP until like chapter 20 so then I was like wait you can buy new skills and had saved up a bunch so even those skills didn’t matter too much in the core gameplay (maybe some stuff was more difficult than it should’ve been for me)

[@Yoshixandir]

@@SuperThisWayone thing I hated was the squirmish battles. They are supposed to help your unit but they butchered it. Normally I was expecting to be like fates and awakening where the enemies are gonna be in diffrent levels that way the weaker ones would be a good way to train units have fell behind. In engage however they level up with you. So if alear is too high a level your unit you want to train become essentially dead weight

[@CasualFehPlayer-rf6sl]

I’ve just started my second play through after just recently leaving it alone for a year and I forgot how great it feels to play and look at especially when compared to three houses…. But man the story is so boring half the characters like fates are boring (in my opinion) and the hub world combined with the stupid long load times can get super tedious. And don’t even get me started on the Fell Xenologue that was literally torture for me.

[@SuperThisWay]

I think a minor issue is there were too many characters to care about. It makes sense to have a big roster for a branching storyline like three houses but when it’s only one path the roster could have been cut in half for sure

[@Yoshixandir]

@@SuperThisWayI think what also butcher it the retainers and royals. Unless the character is a royal the retainers are just tossed aside and rarely have a chance to show off their personality for example kagetsu has probably my least favorite introduction he join in a chapter(despite him being a great unit) when you get him you already have 3 sword users most likely, the chapter he joins only requires alear to exit the map and the next few chapters is desert. Not to mention within the short dialogue he has to make an impression all he does is compliment a ring and helps out ivy and that’s it. Fates I think did retainers better because usually they allow the retainers to be by themselves separated from the royals (laslow peri Odin and Niles join a lot earlier compare to their retainer so you get a chance to get to know them. And the ones who join you with the royals (Selena beruka Arthur and Effie) all get a chance to show off their personalities within their few screentime and are in a chapter where they can shine (beruka and Selena being good defense unit in a chapter where you need to defend and Elise Arthur and Effie join way early on as your starters)

[@Lyccount]

That part about how characters don't act like they're in the current setting, and thus involved in its stakes, is so accurate from what I saw, and something I think they lost in the support style from prior games. Even in Awakening and Fates, characters had supports where they knew there were imminent issues and problems in their world, and were aware of those inherent dangers. It really helps ground them, even the more fantastical of the casts. Supports like Yarne, a cowardly (with good reason) shapeshifter, and his father hinge entirely around Yarne not trusting him due to the setting causing a broken promise. Fates' Saizo and Sakura have their support in "real time" during a rescue, instead of back at base for at least one section of it. I think Corrin has similar supports as well. The world informs their supports and influences them, not disappearing until the next chapter starts. Maybe Engage has some better examples from later supports and I didn't give it enough of a chance, but I just couldn't get far enough in to find out.

[@Yoshixandir]

It felt tedious. Despite the fun gameplay and good animations I found myself bored playing this game. The characters and story didn’t motivate me to continue playing. Another thing that kinda of put me off is how so many characters have a horrible first impression: from the cringey 4kids opening, and having the wonder twins be your introductory characters it made me lose the immersion of a war. So many of these characters do not feel like the war is going on and it shows in support. Supports felt boring only a few of them felt interesting the rest feel like they had nothing interesting worthwhile. What’s also annoying is the support to certain characters focus too much on their gimmick(Celine has a really good backstory…in her a support unless you get that far you would think she’s addicted to tea. Or Alfred who had an illness that is never mentioned at all in the main story but his supports makes him look like he cares too much about muscles.) One thing I hate about engage is no new game plus and essentially the supports being not worth it since they don’t end with anything unique unless they get alear and even then it’s a generic happy ending. That definitely killed some interests since who you try to get to know doesn’t really matter. Engage is a flawed game but honestly it feels like it’s just there… even though it’s an anniversary title it felt like it doesn’t know what it wants to be. They bring in the heroes from the past games for fanservice but even then they feel like a wasted opportunity since they don’t do much in the story and many of them rarely mention anything from their past games unless they do the prologues and even then it’s just a brief mention. It’s a game that’s very hard to recommend because while the gameplay is fun the bland story and characters can make people lose interests (especially with this artstyle since many of the characters do not feel like fire emblem)

[@binxthebinx6575]

Ah, we meet again! Fancy seeing you here :) Though I agree with most of the videos points, I do disagree on two things. The first is gameplay. Even though the ring mechanic is addictive and fun, it's not perfect. Many of the emblems fall off later or are pretty much useless (Roy and Leaf) or you get the goods ones back so late in the game that investing in them is not worth it. Also, gameplay aspects such as gaining sp/gold, the horrible arena system, terrible menus and god awful grinding is never touched upon here. He really only talks about the ring mechanic and nothing else when there are many, many other flaws with the gameplay that bring Engage down. Why can't I level up Yunaka (who is level ten) when one of my units dies and I now want to invest in her. Oh wait, I know why! It's because all skirmishes scale to Alear's level. So if Alear is a level 10 advanced class and you want to level up your level 10 base class Yunaka, your fucked, but that's just the gist, and yes. No new game plus is what REALLY killed this game. No one is getting hold out+++ without hours among hours of grinding. You do not want to grind in this game. After a single skirmish, you will be so done with that bullshit it's not worth it, especially with how little rewards you get from it. The other thing I disagree with is his take that Engage will satisfy both new and old FE fans...when that is clearly not the case. Take one look on metacritic and you will find that Engage is the most divisive game in the series. In trying to appease new players (which they so clearly do with the "your first fire emblem" tag line on the eshop) they essentially pleased no one in the end. Their focus was targeting new players and ONLY new players and because of that, so many staples of the FE series that people loved were lost. The best way to describe it is that Engage babified Fire Emblem. Hard mode in this game is not hard, it's normal mode and even Maddening in this game was easier than the majority of the series. It also doesn't help that the game developer for Engage has no idea what the fuck he's doing. Talking about that interview would be an essay in itself but essentially, story was not the priority and when it was, he had everything backwards! This was a man that believed heroic and brave characters cannot be relatable and instead made a cowardly one. In fact, Alear was SO cowardly at first that Nintendo had to stop the director from doing it, and to top of this shitty sundae, the polls are out! So while Alear admittedly is the first most popular character in the game (the cowardly one) the second and third most popular characters in the game are Diamant and Ivy who are both heroic and brave characters that have complex and relatable backstories. This is just something I feel he should have looked into a tad more. Like I said, Engage is a very divisive game and I felt like he only touched a fraction of it here.

[@Yoshixandir]

⁠@@binxthebinx6575 nice to see you lol. Fun fact and a bit of sad ironically In fire emblem heroes poll. Yunaka and ivy almost got 1 and 2nd but lost to bernedetta and female robin. In the male category they did even worse funny enough alear was NOT the highest rank male it was acutely diamant 5th (which proves he should’ve been the main characther and his brother was next in line in 7th) alear ranked 9 in male and 5in females. The funny thing is diamant ivy and yunaka is almost unanimously considered the best characters in engage. And who one this time were a 2 3H characthers an awakening characther and the mobile game hero. Engage didn’t make the list which is a big oof yunaka and ivy were close though but in men only diamant and his brother seem to have the best chance and funny enough they are from the same region Back on topic I agree with you. Engage is water downed to much for an anniversary game. Being simple isn’t bad since past fire emblem games had that the problem with engage it’s way too simple and BLAND story wise. It’s hard for people to continue playing the game unless something encourages them to continue. Heck I think the only reason I continued playing was because Diamant ivy and fogado were interesting but even then they are not the main characters and they don’t join til halfway. By that point I’m already done with this game and want to finish it. Engage was such a chore to play and it’s awkward to recommend because for newcomers the cast and story won’t keep them interesting especially since they drag too long and for veterans while the strategy and gameplay is entertaining they probably will get annoyed with the story and characters the thing fire emblem is known for

[@binxthebinx6575]

@Yoshixandir I saw. You can add that to the tally of reasons why FEH causes nothing but misery to me. I haven't touched that dumb ass game since it released and I only was paying attention to the polls now because Diamant had a chance to get a new outfit and I thought he deserved it (along with Ivy) I was so confident that Diamant would win because I felt there wasn't much competition...and then this ALFRONSE BITCH, a God damn gotcha game character took first and Felix a character I feel is hard to like took second. The fire emblem community failed me on this day. I even wanted Ivy to win. I won't speak much on Bernedetta but I believe Ivy is leagues above female Robin since, you know, we already have a new outfit for male Robin. The avatar character taking up two slots is so fucking dumb. At least I can get some solace knowing that Diamant is more popular than male and female Alear (The FEH wiki said both Alears were the first and second most popular character. Now I'm questioning how true that is due to this poll existing...)

[@binxthebinx6575]

@Yoshixandir I saw. You can add that to the tally of reasons why FEH causes nothing but misery to me. I haven't played that dumb ass game since it's release and I feel that FEH existing has been a real stain on the legacy of Fire Emblem. I only was paying attention to the poll this time around because I felt that Diamant deserved to win (along with Ivy.) I was so confident that Diamant would win since I felt there wasn't a lot of competition...but then this ALFRONSE BITCH, a god damn gotcha game character took 1st and Felix a character that is hard to like took 2nd. The fire emblem community failed me on this day. I felt even Ivy deserved to win over any other of the female characters. I won't speak too much on Bernadette because I do know she's popular, but Ivy should have been able to beat female robin so god damn easy. It is also bullshit that the avatar character gets two slots (male/female) instead of one. Robbing a character that probably deserved it more since male robin already got the alt and are, in every way, the same character. At least I can have some solace knowing that Diamant is the most popular male character (and maybe the most popular character in general) in Engage, especially over Alear (On the FEH wiki, I do now have to question how legitimate those midterm polls are since it says Male and Female Alear are the 1st and 2nd most popular characters in Engage...)

[@binxthebinx6575]

@@pandabanaan9208 That's totally fair, but I do want to clarify a couple of things that I don't think I explained very well. The reason why I love Diamant compared to Alear is that Diamant is a selfless and brave character that has fears and flaws during his arc. He is a character that fears the death of his own father because he believes he will never be good enough to be king. On top of that, when Diamant has to kill his own father, the "was I a good son" line is just too fucking good for this game. Since Diamant was being overprotective of his own father, he never acknowledged his fathers love for him until it was too late. There is a fantastic character here with layers of depth and development, even more so in his supports as Diamant, for some reason, is the only Engage character that doesn't rely on a stereotype for every support. Diamant is the definition of creating a heroic character that learns and grows overtime while also having legitimate fears, he's even afraid of magic! The reason why I am so critical of this view point from the game director is that he believes making your "main protagonist" needlessly cowardly for the sake of it will be "more relatable" and draw in more players. Most people don't want to follow a cowardly lead, they want to follow a main protagonist that is confident in what he does, has a heart for people and also goes through character development and flaws. And what makes this worse is that Alear is perfect the moment you start the game. She already knows how to fight and lead an army when the game gives us no explanation on how they know this. Alear, from her backstory just immediately knows how to weird a sword and fight just so the boxes for the avatar could be checked off. Say what you will about Corrin, but they at least had to train for years before they were allowed to lead an army. Alear is the definition of a Mary Sue with an unlikable personality. Everything they say and do is always, ALWAYS the right decision, and when they do make mistakes, they are such horribly bad ones that can and might POSSIBLY kill off your whole entire army (chapter 11.) Pretty much, Diamant's and Alear's C support is literally everything wrong with the avatar character in this game. Alear is SO COWARDLY that she cannot competently take down a single corrupted by themselves when Diamant can so confidently. This is why there is an active discussion right now that Diamant probably should have been the main character of Engage. He has everything set up for him to be one when Alear is just...not that. This is why I hate his philosophy when it comes to relatable characters. By creating Alear he IMMEDIATELY contradicted himself by creating Diamant that is exactly what the fans want. As Yoshi said, Alear didn't even make it to the top five in the male characters poll. Diamant and Alcryst are both more popular than them because they are characters that have flaws and actively go through genuine character development that most people can get attached to. Alear's "character development" is so incredibly cringy, cliche and tone death that it makes them extremely unlikable when Diamant and Alcryst are at least offering something different when it comes to their dynamic with their own father. Diamant, for me anyway, saves Engage from being truly terrible. He looks like a fire emblem character, he is designed like a fire emblem character, he is the only character other then Ivy and Alcryst that go through character development and the Brodia arc is just overall so competently written that it doesn't feel like the rest of the game was made by the same writing team. I won't speak too much on the difficulty because admittedly, I liked that I could actually play maddening competently when Conquest's hard mode gave me so much trouble, but yeah. The whole robin thing upsets me, especially knowing that if this rule did not apply, Ivy would have gotten the alt and that really pisses me off.

[@binxthebinx6575]

The moment in Chapter 25 when Alear sheds a tear (facing away from the screen) and Veyle had to be the one to tell the audience Alear was crying because IS is too fucking lazy to animate a single drop of water from a characters face. This scene represents the laziness that is present in Engage on all fronts (minus the gameplay of course.)

[@binxthebinx6575]

​@@pandabanaan9208 That's funny. I made two comments today and for some reason when I hit reply, neither of them went though, weird. Anyway, what you said is completely fair. It's hard to summarize my thoughts on this in a couple of sentences but for reference. I went back and played Awakening as of recently and I looked at those cutscenes and compare them to Engages and asked myself "What the hell happened?" There was so much emotion, energy and weight behind Awakenings cutscenes. The fight sequences are the best in the series, the twists and emotional moments are amazing! For some reason ever since then, the impact the cutscenes have had has gotten worse and worse over time. With Engage, there's a couple of different factors that make it bad. Yes, the writing is definitely something that is universally hated, but the number one thing I felt weighted all of Engages cutscenes down is it's use of motion capture. As someone who has lived and experienced Mars Meets Moms, I can tell you first hand I am not a fan of the practice, especially when your anime game that should PROBABLY be in 2D is instead animated and captured by real people. Chapter 10 has the worse examples of Engages motion capture as characters, specifically Alcryst, move in a way that does not match the tone or weight to the scene. Since Engage uses ONLY motion capture, it makes creating fight scenes extremely low effort or nearly impossible and if there is a fight scene at all, they cut corners. The fight scene between Chrom and Lucina was very clearly planned out and choreographed before hand. Engages fight scenes could not be as extravagant or as epic as the fight scenes in Awakening because, uh yeah, real people can't fight in expressive ways the way anime characters can. As such, the majority of the characters stand around and do nothing. As much as I love Diamant, his introduction is literally him standing on a flight of stairs when he could be doing something more active like, idk, walking down the stairs, shake Alear's hand, do a kick ass pose with his sword, something, anything! But they can't because it would be too hard and IS rushed this game out the door expecting fans to flock to it right out of the gate. Crap, this is getting long. I just want to mention one last things about this. I seriously feel bad for the voice actors who have to try their best to match words with this games horrible, HORRIBLE motion capture. Again, chapter 10 is a good example of this. When Diamant yells bastard, it is very clear that the VA had to prolong the word just so it matched Diamant's mouth movements as close as possible and even then it's not flawless. Since the mouth movements of the characters were also motion captured, this is the main reason why none, and I mean NONE of the VA's dubs ever match with the characters mouth movements. Some of them come off as good enough, most...do not. What I'm trying to say is the VA's shouldn't be blamed when the material that they have to work with both cutscene wise and writing wise is complete and utter garbage. There's more but that's all I really have to say to this for now. Hopefully my comment goes through.

[@binxthebinx6575]

@@pandabanaan9208 And then they spend money to hire Yuri for Marth only to bench his ass for over half of the game. What a complete waste...

[@binxthebinx6575]

@pandabanaan9208 I think what throws me off about it is that Yuri is one of the most well known VAs right now, so I can imagine IS had to spend a bit more money to cast him. Due to that, it felt like they spent too much money on a popular VA that is barely in the game at all. If Marth was in every chapter, I feel like spending money on a VA like Yuri would be more justified. The dude plays Spider-Man. I felt it would have made more sense financially to get someone a little less popular than Yuri that could also voice Marth extremely well, but just like you. That's just my take on it.

[@timedasher]

I believe the problem about this game es that it really tried too hard to bring the Fire Emblem Heroes players migrate to a Nintendo console, just like Let's Go Pikachu/ eevee games did to Pokemon Go players, Eas proof engage had a collab with Heroes , the difference with the Pokemon let's go games is that in FE Engae case it didn't work, as for the complains I saw was that the story is too convoluted , they didn't seem to like the new artstyle on the character designs, the gameplay seemed to be a mixbag for them compared to heroes some said Engage is too complicated and others liked but seemed to get bored fast

[@timedasher]

The idea to attract FE Heroes players to Engage was not a bad idea since Heroes has being lucrative for them, but the problem is that it wasn't done well

[@nebitnavallas894]

I mostly agree with your take. I finished it and the gameplay and support conversations were my favorite. But the story lacked a definite punch. My favorite game in the series is path of radiance and that game covered some deep topics and developed it well. This game really seemed like it wanted to play it safe with the story. And it felt like that, safe and not too exciting. But the gameplay was just too... engaging

[@SuperThisWay]

Ugh it was so engaging lol. But yeah I felt the story was just meh and dragged the overall game down. But when it let me play, oh it was fun af

[@Hamzakuhh]

i didnt care for the story that much but what hooked me were the fun characters and the engage rings. the first time i used sigurds engage had my jaw dropped

[@daten9075]

Every Engage review in a nutshell: Yeah the gameplay is absolutely fantastic but I didn't like the story so its mediocre.

[@SuperThisWay]

Nah the game is good and I recommend people should play it but just skip the cutscenes lol

[@richardlee3679]

I mean... That can be a fair take. People value different things and while Engages gameplay IS great, the story and characters (at least IMO) aren't just mediocre, but extraordinarily bad. Its a cringy mess with low stakes, unhinged characters and stilted dialogue absolutely riddled with plot convenience and bad guys who are defeated just... walking off screen while no one attempts to stop them. FE has never been pure gameplay, the series has always had named characters who have relationships with one another who go on a journey and endure hardships and trials. That story is part of why a lot of people love the series and don't just stick to more 'pure strategy' games like XCOM. I genuinely loved Engages gameplay (never ending reinforcements aside) but I found it a complete slog to finish because the plot and the characters were so one note that by the end I just really didn't care about any of it.

[@robertnomok9750]

3H was a right direction, More involved story with some non linearity in it. Hub where you can interact with your units and other characters. Because in classic FE outside of few support scenes your units just does not exist. @@richardlee3679

[@Yoshixandir]

@@richardlee3679I also hated how support were meaningless. Ironically enough without the shipping there’s no point in trying to get to know the characters because they all have the same ending unless they are paired up with alear and even then many are generic. What also frustrating is many of the supports are so boring or bad first impressions that it feels like an ice breaker or they spend too much time showing off a one trait. The biggest offender to me was Celine she has a really good backstory….in her A support-_- before you get to know the backstory you have to endure her tea addiction which by the time I get to her tragic backstory I’m already over her. Or Alfred who is obsessed with muscles but you never knew he has an illness since it’s never brought up in the main story despite him being a main character

[@sinisterdesign]

"Absolutely fantastic" is overselling it. The gameplay is good. There are better options out there, though.

[@zakwood3094]

three ho/uses monastary was less of a slOg (still slog-ish) than the somniel

[@artje90]

Fates gets hate fr characters and bad story but engage get's a pass cause the faservice. that is why i don't take the FE community not serious. three houses was hella boring with the battles with no strategy recuired. i will admit the story fates was bad but when you tend to replay a game several times the story element isn't really mportant gameplay is and there fates beats every game with radiant dawn a close second

[@Lee-fw5bd]

I loved Engage and i actually liked the story and most of the characters but i can see how dedicated RPG fans wouldnt enjoy it. Im a fan of melodramatic ernest stuff that takes heavily from tropey anime but it definitely isnt for everyone. I do agree about Sombron and Zephia tho. I can see a world where Zephia's redemption comes off better but a very long death monologue wasnt the play. Sombron not so much. Just let evil masterminds be evil. The gameplay was great. The enemy strength made me actually have to consider risks. It was super fun getting to customize my characters while not having to fully engage (ugh) with every single system. All in all, fun battles and i had things to look forward to in between fights and the chance to intersct with cool characters. Thats what i come to a modern FE game for as far as gameplay is concerned. The only real issue i had was that it was so backloaded. I got burnt out near the end. It took me months to get around to the last chapter. If they somehow kept the same story but spread out the information, id have basically no complaints, personally. Edit: ill also point out that it took time for me to really latch on to the main cast. Especially Alear. Cant really explain why but i didnt really bond with them until maybe midgame.

[@EXchoco]

I hope they steer away from this all-offense, unrealistic and puzzle-like, pure numbers take on strategy. It prevents the player from making exciting, realistic strategies, which is to me totally antithetical to the very core idea of what a “strategy roleplaying” game is. I guess it works for a game with such a flat world and characters and nonsensical story, and I understand why people like it and wouldn’t call it poorly made, but once I heard the directors say they thought tactical games weren’t “intuitively fun” and thought they needed to make it the way it is to “expand their audience”, the reason this game fell totally flat in every aspect both story and gameplay for me began to make sense. I desperately hope this is a one-off flop and they learn from Engage’s poor reception.

[@SuperThisWay]

This is a fair take. I think it’s all about balance. While yeah Engage really goes for the all offense to the point that it does make certain units OP paired with some rings I do think it provides a lot more experimentation to players. And it helps with “I wish this one character had this one specific trait” too. And they did buff bosses so of course strategy was still involved. I do wonder how intelligent systems will move on from this especially since Three Houses sold more than Engage. I don’t think the reception to Engage was bad (except on the writing front) and generally players enjoyed the gameplay. But I get your point about how they made the not as grounded as previous entries. I guess that’s also why I couldn’t necessarily take some of the stuff in Engage seriously especially since the big evil was on the brink of total destruction of everything and the characters are just like chilling cleaning the emblem rings lol

[@EXchoco]

@@SuperThisWay Yes yeah I definitely think strategy is still involved. Or at least, it’s not as though you don’t have to think to win or anything like that. Just that it’s not trying to put you in the position of anything tactical; you’re just playing a video game (which granted some people liked a lot for what it provided on an individual level outside of expectations of its genre), not getting in the head of a strategist as you’re doing it. That’s just something I think a lot of people want out of this genre, and Fire Emblem has uniquely represented that while combining it with the anime style for a while until now. I think this is still ultimately tied to the uninspired story/characters and world part of the game; it’s hard to conceptualize gameplay that represents, compliments and tells of the world and characters and story as a result, and that’s exactly why those things are so important to a genre like this to me

[@oof5992]

What are you on about? Engage is one of the most strategical games in the series, only behind Conquest.

[@EXchoco]

@@oof5992 Requiring thought on complex gameplay mechanics isn't the same as being tactical, strategy roleplaying.

[@EXchoco]

@@pandabanaan9208 Three Houses. With gambit strategies, the abandonment of the sort of arbitrary weapon triangle in favor of highlighting the more logical magic/armored and archer/pegasus weaknesses, a simple but effective accuracy boost dictating particular unit placement based on characters’ affinity for each other (both in the lore with the idea of “special bonds” and their supports) to literally support other forces from afar and pin down the enemy depending on the range of the weapon they’re holding, the idea of weapon weight being used to calculate a characters’ speed which is helped or hurt by their strength stat (that formula is so fun to me, it’s such a fun way to simulate that), the ability to do things like trade all weapon types on the spot in a pinch, reposition units and reorganize battalions, the characters’ extremely characteristic and often funny yet useful individual abilities and proficiencies… I always find myself thinking of my units as the people I’ve come to know, and a collection of forces I’ve trained from the ground up on a battlefield and terrain I must take advantage of or be wary of (my cavalry, my ground units, my range, my medics…) rather than individual collections of numbers in a level designed to be overcome by me, the player. The strategies I come up with always put me in the universe and in Byleth’s position, and make the victory in the story and subsequent celebration in the story earned haha. It’s strange, but I can almost see every battle playing out in a narrative way based on how the characters’ skills and abilities and affinities bounce off of each other. Ive only ever played it, Awakening and SoV, but I have a pretty good understanding of some others as well I think. SoV has an interesting take on realistic strategy too, which I would like to see expanded and improved upon (same as 3H, I’d like to see it worked on to become even more immersive and maybe more welcoming to fans who really dig into the meta as opposed to looking for this sort of experiential gameplay), and even Awakening I would say does it better than Engage in a more simplistic way, which I would probably say of others do too from the looks of them. Again, that isn’t to say Engage’s gameplay is poorly made, although I do think it gets a little bit overblown just how great it is, just that it’s not scratching the itch I expect and want from the concept of “strategy roleplaying”

[@patchoulino]

the most engaging title in the franchise

[@morcatna4767]

It’s a Cringefest HOWEVER….. I appreciate the details and effort they put into the animations, it had that “punch”. The gameplay was pretty fun too.

[@SuperThisWay]

Yes! The presentation was on point! Really great looking art style and sick animations

[@vonastra5506]

I fully agree with every point, also Echoes added the rewind button, not Three Cancers.

[@ultimate9056]

It's unfortunate about how few people even among veteren fans have played Echoes

[@SuperThisWay]

This was my bad. Echoes was one I skipped but mostly it got released after the Switch. I got to rectify that. Would you recommend it?

[@gioeleberto7103]

​@@SuperThisWayGameplay can be a bit tedious, but the game is very different from other titles in the series so I'd recommend that you try it. Also the art, music and dubbing are all excellent in my opinion

[@robertnomok9750]

Thats what you get for releasing your games on obscure consoles.

[@patchoulino]

three cancers lol, based

[@juicemanvon9859]

I don't even care about the writing in this game. It's clear that you're not supposed to take it *as* seriously as 3H. What I love about Engage is strictly gameplay, and I dislike that people throw the whole hame away because they don't like the story.

[@kylenirs3181]

I love this game and I don't care about the haters and people who want this game to die. I had so much fun playing game although there are so many things I wish this game have but I hope they will comeback in the next game.

[@linkbluu321]

I guess I'm the only one who no longer sees the story after playing it once? I mean, after completing a game's story most of the time I skip the cutscenes and I just go directly to the gameplay which is why I guess I don't feel affected as much by the story factor as most people who seem to be unable to do not rewatch the same stuff you've already seen... I mean if this was a TV o a Movie it would make sense but this is, and say it with me, A GAME. That's why I never bothered playing Genealogy Of The Holy War and I rather watched its story in a youtube video of 8 hours. And why I only completed two routes of Three Houses since its gameplay becomes boring by comparison (I'm looking at you monastery). I mean, a story is an important factor of a game but people seem to have forgotten that games are meant to be games and not movies (which is why I hated Metal Gear)

[@GrampsSteel]

I really liked Engage's story. What matters is execution and the gameplay integrity. Emblems truly felt like the powerful tools the story hyped them up to be. While Three Houses crests, which are the sole stupid reason Edelgard started the war were like, +5 damage or some shit? Come on, that storyline is pathetic, even compared to Engage.