Fire Emblem Engage is very clear about what it wants to be--a celebration of past Fire Emblem games. In a way, it strongly reminds me of Awakening, as it very much is an homage to it. Awakening was famously supposed to be the "last" Fire Emblem game with the series seeing diminishing sales even after going global with the The Blazing Sword (or just Fire Emblem in the West) and the previous game (New Mystery of the Emblem) not even being localized outside of Japan. As the planned last game of the serie, Awakening was about looking back, drawing heavily from the Archanea Saga, effectively being their homage and a sequel. Awakening also had several DLCs with heroes from previous games joining, albeit with less production value.
Engage's concept is very similar, even down to the gameplay loops and story beats (first few chapters are just straight up Awakening). But it also evokes other titles of the series. What Engage does really well is that it celebrates previous titles without feeling like a gimmick. The "Emblems" or the heroes of previous games, are not just mere cameos, some of them have active involvement in the story without feeling too out of place. Gameplay-wise, they are powerful enough to be respectful to their original games, but not game-breaking to the point they diminish the characters of Engage. In that sense, this balance is what impresses me the most. It is a game that positively makes the players want to look at older titles without feeling like its too much of pastiche of rehashed older titles. Three House was a great game but it did not make me want to play older titles again, but Engage does. That is the kind of difference and objective between this and its immediate predecessor.
Now, gameplay-wise, this is thankfully far above than Awakening, which was perhaps excessivly accessible at times, which came at the cost of its map designs and combat mechanics. Engage's maps are mostly interesting, with later maps throwing you new gimmicks that you have to adjust to (its worst map is actually the one they ripped straight from Awakening which was already the worst map in that game). The revamped combat, which features mechanics such as break (weapon triangle with much greater emphasis), smash (giving you an option to move enemies with careful positioning), much improved chain attacks and of course, the Emblem rings, there are so many nuances to master, yet it never feels too out of reach. Once again, it's the balance.
One place this game falls however is the character building. Specifically, the SP, which is the currency used to unlock equippable skills, come too little for each character, so even if it has actually a decent freedom for class system, skills are far too difficult to master. And with no actual New Game+, this is just worse for those who want to make overpowered characcters--the game itself (and the series that it's paying homage to) is not about that, but it is one less option. A similar issue was later patched in Three Houses, so who knows.
And there are the parts that are decidedly anti-Three Houses. Sominel, replacing the Monastary of the previous game, is a smaller place with not many meaningful activities to do. Most are skippable, and there is no real joy in seeing the place open up, or hanging out with your companions. On the other hand, those who did not like the arbitrary increase in playtime in Three Houses with its Monastary will be thankful that Somniel can be safely ignored for the most part.
Your characters also very much evoke Awakening for better or worse. While many of Three Houses characters had their back stories connected somehow, which made not only the support conversation but their actual story participation more interesting (usually in a tragic way), Engage's characters are mostly shallow anime 101 characters, with very few exceptions. This fits the game's overall mood, but it is also a letdown for people who got into the series with Three Houses or were waiting for the rumoured Genealogy remake.
Engage's concept is very similar, even down to the gameplay loops and story beats (first few chapters are just straight up Awakening). But it also evokes other titles of the series. What Engage does really well is that it celebrates previous titles without feeling like a gimmick. The "Emblems" or the heroes of previous games, are not just mere cameos, some of them have active involvement in the story without feeling too out of place. Gameplay-wise, they are powerful enough to be respectful to their original games, but not game-breaking to the point they diminish the characters of Engage. In that sense, this balance is what impresses me the most. It is a game that positively makes the players want to look at older titles without feeling like its too much of pastiche of rehashed older titles. Three House was a great game but it did not make me want to play older titles again, but Engage does. That is the kind of difference and objective between this and its immediate predecessor.
Now, gameplay-wise, this is thankfully far above than Awakening, which was perhaps excessivly accessible at times, which came at the cost of its map designs and combat mechanics. Engage's maps are mostly interesting, with later maps throwing you new gimmicks that you have to adjust to (its worst map is actually the one they ripped straight from Awakening which was already the worst map in that game). The revamped combat, which features mechanics such as break (weapon triangle with much greater emphasis), smash (giving you an option to move enemies with careful positioning), much improved chain attacks and of course, the Emblem rings, there are so many nuances to master, yet it never feels too out of reach. Once again, it's the balance.
One place this game falls however is the character building. Specifically, the SP, which is the currency used to unlock equippable skills, come too little for each character, so even if it has actually a decent freedom for class system, skills are far too difficult to master. And with no actual New Game+, this is just worse for those who want to make overpowered characcters--the game itself (and the series that it's paying homage to) is not about that, but it is one less option. A similar issue was later patched in Three Houses, so who knows.
And there are the parts that are decidedly anti-Three Houses. Sominel, replacing the Monastary of the previous game, is a smaller place with not many meaningful activities to do. Most are skippable, and there is no real joy in seeing the place open up, or hanging out with your companions. On the other hand, those who did not like the arbitrary increase in playtime in Three Houses with its Monastary will be thankful that Somniel can be safely ignored for the most part.
Your characters also very much evoke Awakening for better or worse. While many of Three Houses characters had their back stories connected somehow, which made not only the support conversation but their actual story participation more interesting (usually in a tragic way), Engage's characters are mostly shallow anime 101 characters, with very few exceptions. This fits the game's overall mood, but it is also a letdown for people who got into the series with Three Houses or were waiting for the rumoured Genealogy remake.