I was not optimistic about this game. I was among the many people that initially panned the game for the character designs, and even still don't love them really. But I have done a complete 180 on this game, and I am kind of in love with it now.
- Gameplay: This is the strongest aspect of this game in my mind. I think that this is a nice balance between classic and modern FE, as there is a wide variety of skills and class building without diluting the balance of the game, as there didn't seem to be a steam-roll unit in my hard/classic playthrough, although I didn't really try looking very hard as I was just enjoying myself. Armor Knights got a HUGE buff in this entry which honestly I was down with, and the gap between mounted unit and foot unit efficiency is reduced drastically. Warp skipping is less effective, and ultimately the game uses the emblem mechanic to a really solid degree. Some emblems are just kinda eh, such as Lyn, but others can be ridiculous on the right units, such as Corrin on a covert unit giving Yunaka like 190 avoid or some wild number.
- Visuals: This is hands down the best looking and performing Fire Emblem game. This game is mostly 60 with a few dips here and there, but nothing very significant. The colors look great, and for the most part, the game is gorgeous. Yes, I am still in the camp that a lot of the character designs are pretty bad, but I think there are some really solid ones as well, such as Diamante, Yunaka, Alfred, Kagetsu, etc. I think the anime-ification of this game is way overblown, especially given that the series has been anime basically since its' conception.
- Music: This has to be top 5 switch game soundtracks imo, this game has a fucking insane ost. I think that some of the Engage map themes flop to some extent, but the Firene map theme, the Solm map theme, and Tear Streaked are fucking awesome. All of the reworked classic music goes absolutely insane, I found myself blasting that shit way too loud through my headphones whenever I was doing the trial maps. And last of all, the main theme. Yes, it's very 4kids, but if you just take it at face value and accept that it was made to be campy, it's kinda great. I like it a lot, and have had it stuck in my head for a long time now.
- Characters/Story: Okay, now the praises are going to stop. This is where the game kinda falls short in a lot of regards. Long story short, this game does not have a good story. It has a lot of strange and unpredictable twists, sure, but for just as many, there are very obvious twists that don't really do anything for me, as well as drawn out cutscenes that don't really develop anything in a meaningful way. I was not floored by the story, but I also think that it is far from the worst we've gotten from FE. In my opinion, this game's story is still better than Fates and Sacred Stones, but I feel like I will be alone in that regard. The characters are nothing special, either. I found some of them to be charming, but ultimately, this game falls into the unfortunate trap that most modern FE games do of making a character feel like they have one defining characteristic that shapes most of their supports, and that makes me a little sad. But that being said, they are solid enough in that regard and felt on par with Fates in terms of character writing.
Final comments: Yes, I understand this game is very fanservice-y and might not be what everyone wanted, but I also can appreciate the fact that this is a celebration of Fire Emblem, and it makes me sad that a lot of fans are crucifying it for not being the next step from Three Houses, as I see a lot of people claiming this "is Fire Emblem for people who don't get Fire Emblem" both on this site and on Twitter, which is kind of cringe. Yes, it has its cheesy shounen anime moments, and the story is a little shit, but honestly I had more fun playing Engage than I could have ever expected, and I hope that people give it the credit it deserves. I plan on starting a Maddening playthrough of the game relatively soon, as I heard from others it is actually quite fair unlike Lunatic+ Awakening/Maddening 3H.
- Gameplay: This is the strongest aspect of this game in my mind. I think that this is a nice balance between classic and modern FE, as there is a wide variety of skills and class building without diluting the balance of the game, as there didn't seem to be a steam-roll unit in my hard/classic playthrough, although I didn't really try looking very hard as I was just enjoying myself. Armor Knights got a HUGE buff in this entry which honestly I was down with, and the gap between mounted unit and foot unit efficiency is reduced drastically. Warp skipping is less effective, and ultimately the game uses the emblem mechanic to a really solid degree. Some emblems are just kinda eh, such as Lyn, but others can be ridiculous on the right units, such as Corrin on a covert unit giving Yunaka like 190 avoid or some wild number.
- Visuals: This is hands down the best looking and performing Fire Emblem game. This game is mostly 60 with a few dips here and there, but nothing very significant. The colors look great, and for the most part, the game is gorgeous. Yes, I am still in the camp that a lot of the character designs are pretty bad, but I think there are some really solid ones as well, such as Diamante, Yunaka, Alfred, Kagetsu, etc. I think the anime-ification of this game is way overblown, especially given that the series has been anime basically since its' conception.
- Music: This has to be top 5 switch game soundtracks imo, this game has a fucking insane ost. I think that some of the Engage map themes flop to some extent, but the Firene map theme, the Solm map theme, and Tear Streaked are fucking awesome. All of the reworked classic music goes absolutely insane, I found myself blasting that shit way too loud through my headphones whenever I was doing the trial maps. And last of all, the main theme. Yes, it's very 4kids, but if you just take it at face value and accept that it was made to be campy, it's kinda great. I like it a lot, and have had it stuck in my head for a long time now.
- Characters/Story: Okay, now the praises are going to stop. This is where the game kinda falls short in a lot of regards. Long story short, this game does not have a good story. It has a lot of strange and unpredictable twists, sure, but for just as many, there are very obvious twists that don't really do anything for me, as well as drawn out cutscenes that don't really develop anything in a meaningful way. I was not floored by the story, but I also think that it is far from the worst we've gotten from FE. In my opinion, this game's story is still better than Fates and Sacred Stones, but I feel like I will be alone in that regard. The characters are nothing special, either. I found some of them to be charming, but ultimately, this game falls into the unfortunate trap that most modern FE games do of making a character feel like they have one defining characteristic that shapes most of their supports, and that makes me a little sad. But that being said, they are solid enough in that regard and felt on par with Fates in terms of character writing.
Final comments: Yes, I understand this game is very fanservice-y and might not be what everyone wanted, but I also can appreciate the fact that this is a celebration of Fire Emblem, and it makes me sad that a lot of fans are crucifying it for not being the next step from Three Houses, as I see a lot of people claiming this "is Fire Emblem for people who don't get Fire Emblem" both on this site and on Twitter, which is kind of cringe. Yes, it has its cheesy shounen anime moments, and the story is a little shit, but honestly I had more fun playing Engage than I could have ever expected, and I hope that people give it the credit it deserves. I plan on starting a Maddening playthrough of the game relatively soon, as I heard from others it is actually quite fair unlike Lunatic+ Awakening/Maddening 3H.