I'll admit first and foremost, I saw the leaks before release, I saw the trailers for this game, and I thought it looked like absolute dogshit! I was terrified to see where Fire Emblem was headed with this, and lord knows I wasn't anywhere close to interested in those avatar designs. I thought it looked like complete and utter ridiculousness, but... time went on, and it grew on me. As wheatie does, the game released and I saw a few clips of it floating around on different platforms. It looked ridiculous. Almost... intentionally so?

The story is terrible, yeah, of course, I think that's been made abundantly clear by everybody, but I can't help but smile at it still. Everything about Fire Emblem Engage is silly, from its writing, to its character designs, to just its whole damn premise, it's absurd! And yet, they seem to know that! So instead of desperately trying to claw its way into a dark and brooding story, it almost felt like they were more leaning into the absurdity of what they had. This isn't a game you're supposed to take seriously, and I fuckin' love it.

Looking past that, though, as a Fire Emblem in gameplay, it does a stellar job. I don't feel the need to go over what everyone else already has countless times before, general consensus seems to be shockingly positive regarding the map design and the gameplay, but I also really enjoyed some of the paralogues, getting to revisit maps from the older games and even getting to walk around them somewhat freely after the fight's over. That's something I'd also like to talk about, because good god this game is so fucking pretty! Maybe I'm just surprised after having played Three Houses for so long and staring at its boring and repetitive maps so many times, but even besides that, the hub worlds like the Somniel or the post-battle, fully modeled maps, I was absolutely astounded by just how beautiful Engage was to look at. Could very well be the prettiest game on the Switch, helped by its already vibrant and colorful/flashy design everywhere else.

Now combine those beautiful atmospheres with a just as beautiful soundtrack, pure bliss. I spent so much time in the Somniel just spacing out and wandering the area, listening to whichever song fit the time, and at this point I think it's going to stay with me for the next while. The serenity that comes with these tracks is something I find scarcely matched in other media. Shit, I'm listening to them even now, writing this review, thanks to this cool little compilation I found of all of 'em. That's not to say the other tracks aren't amazing as well. Being as obsessed with this series as I have been for the last eight years or so, it was more than exhilarating listening to the throwbacks they whipped up for all of the Emblem Trial paralogues, or the slow and gratifying buildup of Last Engage at the end, to be followed shortly after by a lovely vocal track for the credits roll, among god knows how many others.

Engage was a stunning, whimsical, and just overall fun experience, in every sense of the word. I regret being so doubtful of this game at first, and I especially regret taking 14 entire months to finish it (oops). It's, as I said, absurd and ridiculous the whole way through, and I've learned to appreciate that sort of thing so much more over the years. I can't call it my favorite Fire Emblem, Sacred Stones has that nostalgia (and GBA) bias over me, but this was still a marvelous love letter to one of my favorite franchises ever, even despite some of its more prominent shortcomings.

"camp" as the kids say

Honestly, this Fire Emblem is very beautiful and its music is spectacular, but apart from that, the game is bad. There's no other way to put it. The story is very weak; it couldn't be more cliché, and the interactions between characters are too few and quite bland. Not to mention that the characters treat you like a deity, which often makes the dialogues seem strange. It's the worst FE game in a long time. I won't say more because I know this game is merely a commemorative one for FE, which is probably why it has this classic storyline reminiscent of the early FE games and a linear plot.

A quite delightful strategy RPG offering some of the best gameplay in the post-Awakening portion of the series. The emblem ring system let me feel like I could tinker away at my units to satisfaction, and almost all of the maps are very interesting to play. Hell, I’m into the character designs!

Unfortunately, this is sandbagged with some of the worst cutscenes I’ve seen in a video game. The body animations (such as the very theatrical hands-on-hips pose every female character does) feel out of sync with the English dialogue, and the love of constant camera movement for every cut highlights that every background is a static image. It’s ugly, and it caused me to put the game down at least twice, for months. This is a shame, because not only is the game really fun, some of the later story sequences kinda hit me in a way I didn’t expect.

Also, a lot of the characters are unmemorable, but Alfred, Lapis, and Rosado are personal faves.

The gameplay is really tight; there's a lot of customization involved with your various units and the Emblem Rings that fundamentally alter or reinforce their playstyle. The levels are really good too, and if you want to grind endlessly, the game gives you the tools to have a lot of fun doing so. That said, the narrative is hilariously messy and the aesthetic is all over the place. They really went all-out on the character designs and visuals, and not necessarily in a way that I enjoyed. Still, this is a great tactics game and should satisfy anyone who likes Fire Emblem's turn-based action.