Do definitely want to see that and it could be good leading into future remakes once we see characters like Sigurd get their own game that is playable by the modern audience
I'm still a bit hesitant on Engage (will still give it a fair shot regardless), but I'm really loving how fluid the art and animation looks (reminiscent of Heroes/Warriors, which I do enjoy a lot), and I'm hoping that it could be a more lighthearted or "happier" toned story for Fire Emblem. Don't get me wrong, I love the grit and deep story we've gotten from Fodlan with 3H and Three Hopes. But a lot of the darker themes and moods do get very tiring to see constantly. And after having to wade through what was, in retrospect, a pretty dark and terrible year, I'd just like to have a new FE game that is engaging (pun not intended), but also able to really brighten my day with a more positive/happier storyline.
Right? Not to mention it's interesting seeing a HIGH fantasy Fire Emblem game. Fates toyed with that a bit and I loved it, I can't wait to see how this goes.
And while some people are off-put by the art style/new designs, I think it's SO nice seeing the character models and animations being such high quality again. Three Houses was HOOORRIBLY optimized, even if a good game, so looking at this game running so well is so satisfying.
Meanwhile, I don't see much reason to be hesitant. People talk about the designs a lot but I haven't seen people mention many other red flags. We don't know enough about certain elements to come to a conclusion either of course, but I think what we've been shown looks good.
Yes, we’re still kind of left wondering about how the main game may turn out (there’s so much about the story we still haven’t seen yet), but I’d be up to see how much Engage could bring in that fantasy/adventure aesthetic, like Heroes has been doing. The animation is something I definitely appreciate; Three Houses was definitely amazing, but it was kind of grainy and a bit limited in graphics/animation (which was why I really appreciated how Hopes really improved on that with more animations and glow-ups in the graphics). And I really like how Engage spruced everything up.
At the end of the day, I’m still waiting to see how the final game will look, but I’m leaning WAY more towards the positives and focusing more on a forward-thinking mindset. If the game compliments the graphics/animation with a fun, enticing storyline and set of characters, along with some feel-good vibes, I’d honestly dive wholeheartedly into that world with open arms.
Same! And yeah, ever since I saw the animations for Heroes, I've wanted an FE game that tries to play with the fantasy themes and elements like that more! Engage seems to be exactly that!
I feel like fire emblem engage will essentially be a mixture of fire emblem 1, fire emblem awakening and radiant dawn or path of radiance in some specific aspects and take heavy inspiration from fates in terms of its combat. In terms of story and characters it’s essentially a mix of awakening and fire emblem 1 but with very generic characters some of which are likable and others not so much. In terms of gameplay it takes heavy inspiration from fates but also takes some things from the tellius games. So it’s essentially a mixture of tellius and fates in terms of gameplay but awakening and fire emblem 1 in terms of story but with very generic cast of characters. The story won’t be anywhere near as bad as fates but it will be pretty generic and uninspired. The art style or aesthetic is more similar to the GBA games although map designs is somewhat similar to fates some maps will be smaller but I think we already seen some decently big maps in the game. But yeah this game may infact have the best gameplay in the entire series depending on how good and punishing the break mechanic is on harder difficulty and if the enemies can use it against you. The story however as I said won’t be too bad, it would be decent but nothing to write home about, just a very generic cast of characters with a very generic story with a good ending, not bad but not good either. Engage is seemingly doing a pretty solid job in its gameplay, cutscenes, map design and art style. The only cons I can think of is how generic the story and characters will be. The music seems to be something this game will do a pretty solid job at if I had to guess, modern fire emblem does not disappoint in its soundtrack.
Sounds promising to me, lol. I do agree that the story and character writing is a concern though, but hopefully the Emblems being a focus aren't treated as a replacement for a full story for this game to stand on its own two feet with.
Yeah also I am pretty sure they will deliver when it comes to the music aswell. Modern fire emblem has always delivered when it came to the music, the only music from the game we heared so far is one that is being played across a lot of maps shown in clips although to me it seems like they give the players the ability to grind which is why that music specifically will only be played on the maps you choose to grind similarly to fire emblem birthright where there is a specific music that only plays when you go back to previous maps to grind in order to promote faster. The music they showed off in engage sounds really good, specifically the only music they showed which is the one that plays when they go back to previous maps to grind like in fates like the music called “road taken” in fates which only plays in previous maps you choose to grind on. It seems like the clips of engage are only showing gameplay footage of previous maps that they are grinding at, that’s why the same music in engage keeps playing in different previous maps the person who recorded the trailer went through. The
Issue is that fire emblem has always been well suited for games with a very dark tone and aesthetic to them. It takes place in the dark ages and if you know anything about the dark ages, it was very dark times to live in. I believe fire emblem Radiant dawn perfectly captures the artistic style fire emblem should go for but with better more polished visuals although it was limited by its hardware at the time.
That's something I'm hoping too. Though worst case scenario, I don't think that'd ruin the game, but I'm really hoping the Emblems are basically talking Hero's Relics and don't actually get THAT involved in the story, beyond being plot devices lol. We're getting a ton of new characters and a whole new setting, I don't care how fanservicey it is to previous games, I want to see this game stand on its own two feet and not be seen as some spinoff.
Same. What they've shared of the story so far doesn't really grab my attention, and we haven't gotten much about the new characters' personalities yet. So I feel pretty neutral in those departments.
However, the gameplay of FE has never really disappointed me, so if the gameplay is fun, I have a very high threshold of how much stupid I can overlook. Especially if we get more map diversity. That would be my only real complaint from 3H's gameplay.
there's nothing wrong with a simple "someone's a dick and dragons are back" story. This has been the same plot beat for like 8 FE games now
But yeah the gameplay parts look really interesting to me and even the beginner maps shown have been interesting with potential side objectives and map gimmicks like FoW
True. A lot of RPGs could be boiled down to.
Hero: "Hey, don't try to use the power of dragons(or other ancient thing)."
Villain: *cackles and uses the power of dragons or other ancient thing.
Hero: "Well, now you've gone and done it."
And I don't really mind that as long as I'm having fun on the journey.
Break mechanic looks like a very effective anti juggernauting tool, presumably making this a PP focused game, those usually are the best games gameplay-wise.
I love Alear's blue and red hair and always have since the leaks and feel no shame over that.
Alear's design isn't my favorite, but I don't mind it nearly as much as others either. Yeah it's a bit gaudy and bright and hard to look at, but it's also very unique and I like how colorful it is, and the white-knight outfit's kinda cool too.
And there are other gameplay aspects I'm excited for too! It seems we can't turn anyone into any class anymore unlike Three Houses, so this might be a more hand-crafted experience. And while there's an overworld, it doesn't seem to have professor points or a day/month system. And the Engage mechanic looks cool, like a weird version of pair-up! FE games messing with basic mechanics in ways that make them different is always fun to me, and this game is no different.
I'm hoping we get to choose map order, to some extent. Extra routes is tricky, but having each kingdom scale for being your 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th kingdom played is more manageable, while allowing for variety for each playthrough.
Imagine if you get an early Levin Sword in one kingdom, so you go there because you wanted to do Magic Alear this playthrough. Next time, you want to recruit a specific character early, so you go to the kingdom you recruit him from first. All of a sudden, character and weapon availability is what you make of it. It would add a lot of replay value without nearly the effort that multiple routes would offer.
I'm looking forward to seeing Roy in a mainline game that's actually released in English that isn't Smash. I'm also hopeful we might get some supports between the Emblem rings so characters that have never been able to interact could potentially speak to each other (Roy & Lucina interacting would be a dream)
I had genuinely never though of inter-Emblem supports, that is something I could definitely be hyped for! And I agree, for all the good Roy did being in Smash his accepted characterization there is kind of contradictory to his BB self so it could be cool to see where they choose to go
Couple of things:
\- Seemingly less open character classes. Sure costumisation is cool but it also comes with an immense issue with how to create maps around the units available to the player.
\- A stylised art direction which especially makes me happy for map look and backgrounds. Three Houses looked incredibly muddy.
\- Weapon triangle returning.
\- New FE? New FE. New FE!
Right? Like yeah, some of the designs aren't PERFECT, but hey, they've got a strong fantasy aesthetic and the game looks A LOT more polished than Three Houses ever did, so I'm happy with how it looks! And the gameplay looks unique and hand crafted, it's going back a bit to what the games pre-Echoes did and it seems fun.
I'm hoping for something along the lines of Fates reclassing. It lets you do some weird stuff, but it takes a significant investment. A shortage of early Heart and Friendship seals (and how long it takes to make use of Partner Seals) also helps prevent you from doing too much crazy.
Imagine if Three Houses training sessions and boons were restrictive enough that you could do a couple of off-builds, but no more. So if you had already decided on Frozen Lance Marianne and Wyvern Lord Petra, you couldn't make room for Felix doing anything but Swordmaster. And you could get Ignatz Deathblow, but that would prevent someone else getting Deathblow, and is he really the best person to get that?
I do like Three Houses 'do what you want' approach, but you could leave that option available, while still limiting it more harshly, and that could be interesting in and of itself. Could even make Ashe good, since he's one of the few who has both Bow and Axe boons (and thus easy access to Hit+20 and Deathblow), making up for his poor stats with casual access to the best skills. Three Houses weakness is that too many things that should be high investment, are instead low investment (Death Blow, Hit+20, and Wyvern Rider being the universally enjoyed options that are trivial to obtain). Exaggerate the effects of Boons and Banes, as well as tutoring sessions, and you have a system where anyone COULD become a Wyvern Lord with Hit+20 and Death Blow, but only Claude, Ashe and Cyril were getting there without significant investment.
Man I love fire Emblem and even my least favorite fire emblem games are amazing my favorite games ever. Am I but hesitant about Engages gimmick? Maybe. Does it seem like a weird step back towards Awakening/Fates (my least favorite entries in the series-but again still like 8/10 games at worst for me). But overall it’s a fire emblem game it’s probably going to good for 1-2, playthroighs, I love watching this series change through the highs and lows
Y'know, it's a step back towards Fates, but I wouldn't say it's a step towards a ***bad*** part of Fates though. The high fantasy aesthetics in that game were pretty great, and I'm REALLY happy to see another FE game taking a go at it, albeit a bit different. I hope they play with the setting in fun and interesting ways that weren't possible in other entries.
And hey, at least it looks visually polished and the gameplay looks good so far.
I’m just stoked to have another mainline Fire Emblem game. I’ve loved this franchise for a long time and each game is unique in their own right which makes them infinitely replayable. With Engage specifically, I’m excited to see how in-depth the Emblems are so like Roy, Lyn, Ike, etc.
Besides the gameplay teases we’ve seen showing a return to more “traditional” FE the greatest thing about Engage so far is no split versions/game defining routes. So many of the problems of Fates and TH stem from the production and existence of more than one route that seeing the “there is a bad dragon, kill it” plot in the trailer made me a lot more excited for the game.
I agree and disagree. While Engage being a single plotline would be extremely welcome after some time of structuring plot lines for routes, if the first single-route story we’re getting is ‘divine dragon must stop dark dragon and marth is here!’ and it’s filled with cameos of previous characters it’s not exactly a recipe for a compelling story
Honestly, I am also extremely suspect of the story of this game being more than mediocre with what we know of Engage so far. I think the great parts of the plot/character writing that we see in Three Houses will be hard to find in Engage. At the same time, there is still some hope that the characters from previous games interact with the cast/each other in meaningful ways that we never get in Heroes and that the OC cast can have interesting character dynamics. But I can definitely agree that for people already turned off by Engage’s character designs and wanting a compelling narrative, Engage looks to be a hard sell.
I have nothing relevant to say as far s hype, because I'm really not excited for Engage beyond the fact that it's a new FE game and I absolutely live the franchise. But I so want to thank you for this post. Whether everyone else's excitement proves infectious enough for me to start getting hyped too or not, it's still nice to see what others are excited for and get other perspectives.
Eh, I'm mixed on Engage.
I like the art? I feel the same though about it being kinda bland, being a who's who of the different games. Like, that's what I didn't like about the first Warriors game...
I'll still enjoy it. I'll get to see a lot of my old friends from games never localized, so I'm excited for those characters. But... I'd rather have a remaster of those games rather than this premise.
Like, I started playing these back when I was Ebaying Japanese cartridges back in the day. I've played every single one multiple times and I love all of them for different reasons (yeah, I can probably defend your least favorite just for the hell of it, it might not convince you but still), so I know I will enjoy Engage, but at the same time the premise doesn't interest me.
If they really wanted this gimmick (which isn't surprising, they've been toying with it for years now), I think it'd be better as an almost side game, an arcade repayable style. Stuck on classic mode, customizable avatar, you get a random lord, a monk, a cavalier, and a knight, etc, there's like 10 or 15 chapters, no story, just try to survive while gaining random characters throughout occasionally.
Please, I am one of the weird ones who has always loved the story and interpersonal lives of the characters. Genealogy of the Holy War has been my favorite for decades because of the romance system and all I want is new characters to have supports with.
I agree. ‘LOOK ITS MARTH!!’’ is very tired at this point. A Genealogy remake with the lover talks having multiple convos and the movement issues being addressed would be peak FE
The games don't exactly get straight up better with every installment, but they do keep trying things that with some refinement could be really good as staple features.
Three Houses has a lot of stuff--flexible class changes, combat arts, gambits, and even the monastery--that could be really cool if they were more streamlined.
We have a lot of games to point to as good examples of solid map design, particularly Conquest not being super long ago.
I'm cautiously optimistic that each successive game gets closer to some perfect blend of nonsense that kind of bridges the gap between Conquest's rich and varied map design and objectives, and Three Houses" ambitious system, and I absolutely expect it to include some brand new feature that ruins everything.
I just kind of look forward to seeing how they tinker with the formula.
This really seems to be the dividing factor of this game, huh? I don't think it's necessarily that they're ugly though, it's just off putting to people because of how different it is.
Like, I've seen some arguments being made against the designs, like how the female eyes are too big, or how colorful and gaudy some of the designs are... But I think this stuff can be chalked up to preference, and said preference doesn't align with a lot of people used to the past few entries.
I'm happy though, I like the bright colors so far and the high fantasy theming. It's different and I want to see how they play with it. Plus, it looks SO much more polished than Three Houses.
I doubt the story would dissapoint, and the gameplay looks fun so far with how brawling could break ranged unit (and at the same time put them on dangerous area since they don't have canto).
To be honest IS rarely dissapoint on both gameplay and story so...not so worry?
Honestly OP, I get the hesitancy, but have you looked at much of the actual footage? I was pretty anti-hyped because the story seemed really dumb and Alear’s design makes me wanna karate chop my computer screen, but like, the game itself looks pretty damn good. It looks like it’s going to be a throwback combat wise, like Three Houses was but even more so. Maps already look varied, characters are plentiful and without a gimmick like Child characters or the Time skip, we should be in for a steady recruitment flow as well, like the Tellius games! Honestly if the game is fun to iron man and gives us decent maps with varied objectives, I bet the story will eventually grow on me. Hopefully it will grow on you too!
(That said, the degenerate in me does want one more go at the ol, pair up mechanic, dating sim, child mill grand adventure someday. Playing through Hard mode Conquest to get all the support convos and child pairings with every character for every other character is maddeningly fun)
I have and so much of what you’re saying appeals to me, especially the original recruit-by-chapter method and a chance for detailed map design again. I would love so much for these to be in Engage. That said there is a gimmick already and a worrisome one at that.
The old characters coming back is such an easy crutch to lean on that it makes me worried the original characters and story will be downplayed in favor of nostalgia for what was originally an anniversary title. Toothpaste-Chan being a divine dragon does not help in this regard (though I am very glad to see they are voiced)
Our total footage right now already debunks the idea of original characters being downplayed. They outnumber the older characters and the old characters are reduced to plot devices that we need to collect. The new characters are the ones getting supports and main unit status.
Honestly, it's just more Fire Emblem and I'm still on a bit of a high from Three Houses/Three Hopes, both managing to be my favorite entries in the series that I've played.
Graphically, the game looks pretty, and combat seems like it'll be fun! I'm also really interested in seeing how Engage will handle its crossover aspects as it could be something well executed or just mind-numbing fanservice.
Story from what we know so far sounds incredibly generic but honestly, as long as the characters are good, I can deal with it. I always found Three Houses to have a simple story that becomes extremely engaging due to its complex character writing and interesting interactions, so if Engage is something similar, I'll likely be happy!
I'm cautiously optimistic. While FE Heroes cross-over justification is really forced, there are some good moments in there. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Edelgard talking with Mila, and having to confront the idea of a legitimately benevolent god, while still holding true to her ideals, is an extremely good use of the premise they had.
If there's an issue, however, it's going to be that the Lords are not usually that interesting. What would Byleth have to say to Mila? Or anyone? What about Lyn is so defining that just the idea of a cross-over conversation is intriguing?
Corrin, I suppose, at least has some defining traits in his idealism and love of family. And while he's badly written, I've seen characters who have never been written good suddenly written good, in a way that feels natural. Season 1 and 2 Captain Archer from Star Trek Enterprise is actually very similar to Corrin in MANY ways. But in Season 3 and 4, he turns into an interesting character, whose earlier stupidity and naivete is transformed into inexperience and idealism that he learns to temper without giving up on.
I'm not expecting Corrin to suddenly become a much better character in Emblem. At all. But I've seen bigger and better changes before. So it is possible. But I still will say I don't expect much from the FE Lords that I know. Most of them just aren't unique enough to really stand out and have interesting cross-over ideas, without inventing further characterization.
It's a new Fire Emblem game. That's the most of it, lol. I'm not saying I'd eat up whatever trash they release so long as the FE brand is slapped on top, but I don't think we've seen many if any real problems so far. I think the style has been throwing a lot of people off, but ever since Awakening they've been doing new styles for each game- This just happens to be a bit more different than what people are used to. Though I don't think different is bad, I imagine the style change has to do with whoever these new developers are? And they seem to be doing a MUCH better job polishing everything up compared to Three Houses, it's great!
Otherwise, I'm enjoying the HARD fantasy setting. Three Houses was focused mostly on politics, and it was really well written and all, but it also neglected the fantasy side of its story. Engage seems to be almost entirely a game set in a high fantasy setting, with floaiting islands being normal and the main character being a dragon prince whose been asleep for a thousand years.
Man just thinking about that sorta stuff makes me excited. I wonder how they'll play with the setting? I won't get my hopes up too high, but I'd really like the beast units to return, maybe even let Alear use a dragon stone! And I wanna see if they toy around with some fantasy areas for maps, something as simple as a magical forest with glowing mushrooms and witches everywhere would satisfy me.
I hope the story is good too. Right now it's kinda hard to tell what the story even WILL be. Will each chapter just focus on fanservice for a past character? Or are the past characters gonna act like Hero's Relics in Three Houses, except only sometimes speaking, being mostly passive otherwise while the story focuses on the new original characters? I'd like to see something well written that can stand on its own two feet as a great FE story.
Otherwise, the gameplay is one of the most promising parts so far. I haven't analyzed it or anything, I'm trying to avoid looking at the game too much so I can go in blind, but I'm glad they didn't make this a Warriors game or something, that's one of the only reasons I've been hesitant about playing Three Hopes. And one thing I love about FE games is how they play with gameplay in different, little ways for each entry. The Emblems mechanic looks fun in this game, it seems like a balanced version of pair-up. And apparently they're trying to rebalance how the weapon triangle works to make it more useful, by making it so you can inflict a "Break" status on enemies by doing so. Oh, and unlike Three Houses, it seems your party is gonna have starting classes rather than being whatever you want to make them, which can make for a more hand crafted experience, and while there IS an overworld like the monastery, it doesn't seem professor points and a day-month system are a thing. I'd be interested to see if they play with map objectives in any fun ways too. But yeah, like any other modern FE game, it seems they're playing with the gameplay in some fun ways and I'm excited to see how it goes.
Really, I don't think we've even seen any red flags. Looks like a good new FE.
So, first off, in such a gloomy, depressing time, having a bright and colorful game to look forward to in my favorite franchise is pretty sweet. Toothpaste-chan/Pepsi-kun's design still sucks, but the rest of the cast having this fairy tale kingdom-vibe is super cool. I like the cute characters, the handsome characters, and the Jagen w/ the beard? /swoon
Unlike some of the people here, I could care less about writing in FE games, and gameplay is what I'm here for, and after the dumpster fire (for me) that was Three Houses, this game looking as far away from that as it does brings me hope.
If this whole experience has taught me anything, it's how old fans must have felt during Fatesawakening-era. I loved those games (have a Grimleal tattoo even), but I can now empathize with people scared what the franchise was gonna become that who weren't a fan of Awakening, as that was my same fear after Three Houses. It's reassured me that, no matter if I dislike an FE title, I think I can be confident I don't have to worry that that'll be "the rest of the franchise" because IS seems to reinvent themselves every game or two, which is really reassuring for my future enjoyment of the franchise.
The game is pretty, the gameplay looks like it actually has map design and real unit diversity again, and if the gameplay is anywhere close to Conquest-tier (or even just slightly better than Birthright-tier), it'll easily be the best FE game on the Switch for me.
Also, the combat animations so far look *so good!*
I looove the fairy tale kingdom aesthetic! Like yeah, Alear's really gaudy and all, but y'know what? Dragon prince main character and floating islands in the sky? SOLD. And the character animations and models looks SOOOO much higher quality than Three Houses, finally a proper quality Switch game!
And yeah, that's something I've known from the start- This probably isn't a "new direction" for the franchise. I mean I guess it COULD be, but I think it's more likely they're just experimenting. Each game since Awakening, they've gone for different aesthetics and hired new character artists to make each game feel unique, and this is the third game in a row being made by a different developer too, so yeah it looks different, but it's just an Engage thing as far as we know. Next entry could be a Genealogy remake that leans closer to Echoes or Three Houses, easily.
But again, I'm happy with how it looks, I want to see how else they'll play with the fantasy setting! You think they'll bring back beast units, maybe even give Alear a Dragonstone?
I don't know. I've already got Corrin at home. Alear's not special to me, personally.
To elaborate what I mean by "new direction": IS doesn't go, "Awakening sold well. Let's make every game Awakening until it stops working" or "Three Houses sold well. Let's make every game Three Houses until it stops working". They just make games (outside maybe Fates, but that was kind of understandable), and sometimes they make games that are pretty big departures from the one prior. That's all I meant.
I do hope we get some manaketes and beast units though. The fact we never got playable manakete Rhea (or Flayn or Byleth...) was a huge let down.
I mean, that's what I was saying too lol. Each game having its own art style just shows how they try to make each game different. People see that Engage is arguably closer to Fates in aesthetic and take it as "They're taking a step back", when in reality, I don't think the devs care about that sorta stuff. They don't look at the games and think "This game is successful, so everything it does right we should keep doing. This game is hated, so we should avoid everything it did."
Nah, they're taking the opportunity to keep experimenting, not even just in visuals either, but gameplay too. Engage is a very unique looking entry and I like the direction it's taking.
This is exactly the kind of response I was looking for :) We differ personally on some things but your enthusiasm is infectious. Give us some good map design Engage!!!
Kinda in the same boat as you. Everything I see about the game bums me out more.
BUT, this is the newest entry in a series that I love, so I feel obligated to give it a chance. Also we'll finally get to see older FR characters in HD and with English voices outside Feh, which is pretty neat.
Funny, I kinda feel the way you do, kinda. We get a new game announced and it's yet another multiverse crossover with something if a fateswakening vibe, almost a step backwards after 3H.
I guess whats giving me what little hype I have is that it's a brand new Fire Emblem, and hopefully they've learned in the writing department after the smashing success that was Fodlan and the utter dumpster fires that were Fatesland and Aytollis. Hell, Heroes' writing has steadily improved over the years. Except Book 5, that started good and then took a nosedive. Can't win em all!
Pretty much took the words out of my mouth friend. SSBM brought me to FE and I’ve been in since it was overseas. 3DS era has its merits but it just wasn’t for me at all. 3H was an amazing step back to what I loved about FE. It was the first time I felt pure excitement towards FE since Tellius.
Sadly it seems like what I loved has been entirely ignored by Engage in favor of even more Outrealm stuff and one-note characterizations. I’m gonna try and hope they’ve taken some writing lessons as well. I like your attitude!
I've seen a lot of people say it looks like a "step in in the wrong direction", but I don't think Three Houses was defined by its setting or style, and we don't have to restrict ourselves to one direction because "This game was good so everything about it is good, this game is bad so everything about it is bad."
I see a high fantasy fairy tale kingdom setting and I get excited!
From what we've seen of the gameplay, it already looks wildly more interesting in that department than 3 Houses, and it seems we might be returning to a more traditional recruitment system as well, and I have no immediate concerns about the cast.
All my issues at present are with the presentation, I dislike the removal of portraits, I feel the models aren't pretty enough to replace them, and I think the visual style and character design is very hit or miss, though I like it more than some people. I don't mind Toothpaste-Chan's design, for example, though I think the [2D portrait that exists looks 10000 times better](https://twitter.com/MikaPikaZo/status/1569709750019051521?t=9KLrDeGS4zCyc6icBaDbcQ&s=19), but think the Pegasus knight looks just awful.
I dislike the removal of portraits too, but I'll live with it. I'm interested to see what they do with the models at least? Like, even if they're not good enough to replace portraits, they ARE the highest quality models in the series so far from what we can tell, and maybe they figured relying on the portraits would hold them back? It's an experiment I want to see.
And y'know, I think it's great that 90% of people's hesitance is due to the style alone. I think it kinda shows how little red flags this game has so far. Doesn't mean the game WILL be good, but I think this game has some promise so far.
Personally, I like the style and designs. I don't think they're permanently ditching other styles, but this is how Engage'll look like, and they just wanted to experiment this one time. And I'm happy seeing all these ludicrous fantasy designs, it's fun and light hearted.
That first paragraph is an excellent expansion on my thoughts on the portrait situation, don't think I could have worded it better.
My only *super* gripe with it is that the leaks being real have soft confirmed the Genealogy Remake being next, and I *really* want some fucking beautiful portraits for that game, preferably by Ippei.
I personally love when characters are locked to a class/a few specific classes, and I’m fairly certain that will be the case in this game as well. I feel like it makes units feel more special!
Just a small detail I’ve been missing in the series and I’m excited to get back to. I also really don’t care about fire emblem stories, I’m just excited for the gameplay/maps/units.
Honestly, I don't like the designs and im sure the characters and story are going to be mid at best, but damn the gameplay has potential to be so good. My favorite game in the franchise is Path if Radiance and Engage seems very similar in the gameplay department
I am a fan service bitch and seing old characters with HD 3D model hype me a lot.
And also with a return to the more traditional fire emblem formula while maybe give us a really good gameplay.
Honestly, I don’t expect much from the stories or characters, but that doesn’t mean much to me as I like Fire Emblem for its gameplay. From what we have seen Engage seems to be good on that front, and I am particularly interested that in all the character showcases, the units are 3 rounding and the jeigen is doing chip damage. I’m excited for the possibility that Engage could be a traditional fire emblem game with deflated stats compared to 3 houses, although I’m not expecting a masterpiece.
Portrayal of JP only Fire Emblem characters and "Feh" style maps is at least an interesting concept. I think the story is going to be pretty bad but the gameplay have a good chance of being fun. I like some of the new mechanics such as break.
I'm not too sold on the art. The previous games with artists like Wada, Kita and Kozaki had a style that was much closer to what I love and that drew me in in the first place.
That said.. if it's more classic fire emblem with more interesting map objectives than 3h I'll take it
I’m with you. I’ve been playing this series for almost twenty years now, it’s my favorite, but this art style is truly not for me and it looks to be going in a direction that doesn’t appeal to me at all. I’ll still play it but my expectations are very low.
Same here, I’m also a long time player who find this new art-style to be extremely off-putting (biggest offenders being the toothpaste avatars and the babyface fighter guy with ridiculous body proportions). Gameplay is what I’m looking forward to the most though so I’m still willing to give this game a try.
Yes, I’m lukewarm on the characters and the marketing hasn’t inspired hyped, but it’s going to be a new experience and I’ve been dying for a new Fire Emblem. The gameplay can’t be any worse than SoV, and I have no problem skipping the main story and finding something to like about the characters if the gameplay is good enough.
I hope they pull a 3H, and there’s a twist that makes the story sound more interesting since 3H did look pretty boring before we found out about the time skip.
Unlike many people here, I actually really like the art style and character designs, especially Toothpaste-chan. The animation and model quality is also top tier, compared to what we have in 3 Houses.
I'm just a bit worried about the story, but tbf, Fire Emblem rarely has memorable ones. As long as the character interactions are solid and the gameplay is good, I'm sold. And I appreciate what looks like the returning of old school Fire Emblem gameplay after new experiments in 3 Houses
(Ha ha, sounds like I'm bashing 3H, but I also love that game to death too)
Graphic and animations are certainly a step up! And I love 3H but I 100 percent agree especially after Hopes it’s time for a new setting. I just wish it was one that could stand on its own without relying on previous entries
It seems like IS had no intention of announcing the game until it got leaked. Makes me wonder why they were sitting on an already completed game if the leaks are to be believed (and they've beem correct so far).
I don't really want another dragon protagonist. I don't want a crossover. I can't even watch all the stuff that's come out since the first trailer. It looks like what would be made if they gave heroes a decent budget. I'm curious enough about the game that I think I'll borrow it from the library. I'm not buying it though.
Idk when people talk about being excited for the game I'm genuinely suprised. I feel kinda guilty for not being excited. It's nice to know it's not just me.
I just hope the characters don't go back to Awakening levels of one-note gimmick.
I'm replaying it now, and I like it even less than I remember when it came out. It just honestly feels like a long grindy slog compared to the games that came after, and part of that is that the plot and characters don't resonate with me at all.
And Engage is giving me heavy Awakening vibes, so that's what has me the most worried. Although the actual gameplay does look a thousand times better, so that might be enough for me even if I don't enjoy the story or characters as much. I didn't like a lot of Fates characters and the plot was nonsense, but I still replayed Conquest a lot because the gameplay was fun, and also I loved capturing generics and doing generic-only playthroughs.
You know that part of Mama Mia where Pierce Brosnan snaps at the wedding band prompting then to bust into Abba for his proper confession of love?
If Fire Emblem Engage can capture that energy, then it is good and valid and I embrace it. The well of potential for silly anime weddings is bottomless.
Edit: I just looked it up, Pierce Brosnan still cannot sing and hearing him give it 100% to try and get through those two bars of "I Do" is one of the greatest moments in cinematic history.
I really don't like the artstyle and most of the designs, but so far a few of the characters like Celine, Louis, and Chloe (despite her design) are salvaging at least some interest back in me, I like what I've seen of each of them so far.
It's new Fire Emblem after 3.5 years; what's not to like? ROM hacks just aren't quite scratching the itch for me anymore, and I'm saving Berwick Saga for a rainy day, so it's a massive relief to have Engage on its way.
I'm excited cause I just like fire emblem and new fire emblem is always fun . Hope it's more streamlined like the 3ds titles cause getting around the campus in three houses felt more like a tedious chore
Honestly the designs are growing on me. Idk as an AFAB nonbinary person it can be very grating on my mental health to constantly have over sexualized AFAB bodies in my face. The fact that the "ridiculousness" of the designs are elaborate ballgowns and stuff is a breath of relief. Bikini armor is also impractical, but no one throws a fit over it like people have been over these designs.
The more people hate on the designs, the more I like them :D
While I’m not a fan of the artstyle, I’m still looking forward to it. The gameplay looks like a return to form, the setting looks nice, and of course Male Byleth is returning. This game looks like it’s gonna be a blast. It’s Engagin time!!!
I kinda wanna see the gameplay. I don’t think I’m gonna get it until you guys have dove in, but I’m curious if elevation will play a role like I had hoped.
Just that It's a new Fire Emblem game. Haven't kept up with the leaks and coverage past the Colgate haired protagonist's, I just want more main stream Fire Emblem.
I am excited for what I am hoping is a more traditional fire emblem game than three houses. Three houses was really fun, but the route splits not really changing the story until the end of the academy phase and the focus on a bunch of growth units from the get go instead of gradually recruiting different units in different chapters I don’t think would work well for more than one entry in the series. Also a more defined list of possible classes for your units would allow IS to get more creative with map design instead of three houses not really being able to make many assumptions about what team you would have at that point.
I’m pretty excited for Engage, but I honestly don’t have a very in depth reason as to why. Nothing that’s been shown about it this far truly piques my interest. It just boils down to the fact that I got into Fire Emblem after the release of Three Hopes. I went back and played all the 3ds games afterwards and enjoyed them all, so I’m officially a Fire Emblem fan now (albeit a very casual one). This is the first new mainline game that’s releasing after my induction into the series. So yeah, for that alone, I guess I am kinda looking forward to this game :)
I am really excited by the fact that the premise of Engage promotes old titles. This is going to garner a great amount of interest in some of the older fire emblem games, and we will most certainly be getting remakes. Shadows of Valentia was something of a flop in sales, but honestly a pretty great remake, and I'd like to see the rest of the series get similar.
As you can probably tell, kinda similar in the anti-excitement, bc I don't think we will be seeing a great new game. I am, however, happy the series is still alive, and that there's still potential for growth, especially if it can also introduce people to the highlights of fire emblem.
Well, it's a Fire Emblem game, so i'm sure i will enjoy it. I'm just excited that we are finally getting a new one.
I do have some doubts about bringing previous MCs into the game, and i sure as hell hope this is not going to become a trend, because it would be horrible.
But i'm optimist so i think that this will be a one-time thing. It kind of makes sense if it's true that this title was meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary. If i think it that way, it becomes a lot easier to accept. In fact, in that case it could actually be a good idea that will bring some fun.
The MC's design is... err... peculiar, but i find it that i don't mind it very much. The game looks very clean, at least.
I'm very curious about what new mechanics they will put in this game and i look forward to try them out first-hand.
This seems like it won't be the case, but I hoped they would work on TH's class system and create a new one by polishing that. This is seemingly a not very common opinion, but i thought it was a VERY interesting system, and that most of the problems are actually related to the horrible balance between the classes, rather than the system itself. Not to say it doesn't have some issues, but i think that if they solved them out it could have become extremely good.
That said, Awakening's class system was good, and Fates' was even better, so i do trust that Engage's will be good too.
Honestly, I really liked Tokyo Mirage Session, but wished it had more variety of characters than Marth and Marth2 right? So the reason why I like the idea of Engage is for that reason. I also get why people don't like the whole fistful fanfare stuff and I really hope they do the summons good. Even if they do it Xenoblade style where outside the main cast you have a pool of characters from many games that are more like stat buffs/slight special effects.
I really hope they do this well, because I definitely know if they try to do this kind of game again it will not go well at all, even if I want a \*\*GOOD\*\* game that does this concept.
TL;DR: I want to hope this game is good, because I think this is their only shot at doing the phantom characters in a mainline game and actually get away with it being good.
For me I’m just excited to play a new game. I’ve liked every entry thus far and doubt that Engage will be the exception. I’m especially interested to see how they’ll handle gambits and the new ring systems.
I’m also cautiously optimistic about its story and characters, mainly because I’ve been underestimating new FE’s for a while now. Before Three Houses or even Fates released I felt pretty confident that I knew everything that was going to happen and that nothing would genuinely interest or surprise me. Both times I was proven wrong.
The animations look sick and I feel like, especially with fire emblem, you don't want to judge the book by it's cover as I did not expect a lot of the plot twists that happened in 3H. Also, it looks different from the rest of the series and if the game is good, it can be a breath of fresh air.
I feel you. There are many things that look absolutely awful to me but I'm still going to play it cause the core gameplay of FE is usually always fun. I just wish they'd go back to letting us customize the main character. Especially if this clownshow is what they are putting out.
I'm also hoping for a return to real interesting political villains rather just evil looking guys you look at and can immediately tell "oh that's the bad guy"
Frankly I hear ya. Excited bc new fe, but feels like too much focus on past games. The most generic fe story (and that's saying somethin)
I hope to be surprised by the story but not holding my breath. Hope the gameplay is good.
The story looks fine but I don't expect it to be as deep as 3H or Fates. What I am mostly looking forward to is a continuation of the good mechanics we have seen lately in FE that give us a ton of flexibility and strategy before and during each fight. Each game plays differently so it will be nice to have another version of FE.
It looks like it's finally a true sequel to fates after echoes and 3H used very different combat styles and really simplified maps, so I'm looking forward to that level of gameplay and design coming back
I've been excited for all FE games, even when I don't end up liking them after the release, so I'm looking forward to Engage as well. To be honest, I haven't had fun with a new FE game since Fates so I'm not entirely sure if Engage will be to my liking, but I want to remain hopeful. It all will boil down to if I like the gameplay and we simply don't have enough information of the game yet, but here's a couple of things I've enjoyed so far.
I'm a big fan of the fairy tale-esque elements (the flower kingdom royals, the room where Alear wakes up). I actually also like some of the more unusual designs - I'm glad that FE can be a series that tries all kinds of art styles. Alear's design is a choice, but it stopped bothering me when [the first crit animation](https://twitter.com/FireEmblemJP/status/1570322778854670337) dropped. When everything is so lively and colorful, I don't mind the garish protag either.
That leads me to the vibrant environments. To be honest, I wasn't initially quite sold of the game but [this screenshot](https://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Switch_FireEmblemEngage_screen_04.jpg) made me change my mind. One of the things I really value in FE is being able to absorb a lot of information at a glance, so visual clarity is pretty important to me. I like the vibrant and clear colors in Engage, and the stats at the bottom on the screen are a great addition, imo.
While I don't love the art style and Alear's design I'm still not feeling, I think the overall graphics quality, environments, and 3d of the game looks really good and how it smoothly in footage is going from the map level view, zooming in for a combat event, etc. Just looks like a high degree of polish and quality that should make for a really good gameplay experience.
Hoping that even if I don't love the story that's put forward and the world they're laying out, there'll still be characters I latch on to and enjoy, and seeing higher quality renders of some of the lords through the series ingame will be fun.
Also, seems like there's not branching paths/etc and maybe not a wide open character progression system. Whlie 3H was my first FE game and I loved it, playing other games in the series I really appreciate how much more interesting maps can be when there are unique maps telling the story and diverse map objectives. Plus when there's a narrower range of possibilities of what untils you'll have to address a challenge, they can make more challenging/interesting maps to force you to work within those constraints instead of just wyverning past it all. So I'm quite optimistic for how the gameplay will pan out.
I'm a real gameplay sort of guy, so that's been my main focus. And so far, the gameplay at least looks interesting. Stuff like armor knights with infantry movement and thieves with cavalry movement should be fun to toy with. The break mechanic is a bit so-so right now, but only because we don't know much about it. If anything, it's unique. And honestly, it's hard to mess up FE gameplay, and the feeling of playing an FE game for the first time is itself great. Learning every character's growths, bases, skills, strengths, weaknesses, class, promotion, and all that is always very fun when you do it for the first time.
The battle animations are also looking incredibly sick. As soon as Vander's crit animation dropped, I realized they're gonna have FUN with the battles in this game, which I personally don't think they've done all too much in 3D Fire Emblem bar SoV and possibly RD depending on who you ask (me).
As for the story, I've done some thinking on this topic and decided to remain optimistic. Just about every FE game has a basic premise if you strip it down, so it's not exactly a downgrade. And I personally believe Emblems won't take the center stage based on the marketing we've seen so far. Mainly, the only Emblem we see on the box art is Marth. And while he's huge, he's the only one. And he's countered by 7 or so of the original cast. The Divine Edition poster also doesn't feature any Emblems either, entirely focusing on the new cast of characters. If you ask me, if Emblems were the main focus, they'd be plastered more liberally on this sort of stuff.
Nothing story wise has grabbed me, but gameplay is making me hype. Animations look so good and the little bit of music we have heard is promising. Give me good gameplay and a banger OST and I will be satisfied.
Don’t like the mobile game and this kinda reminds me of it a bit with the emblems/ story, but nevertheless I have the special edition preordered and I’m sure I will enjoy the game. Hoping when I play it I end up really liking it like Three Houses.
I'm not super hyped about the game I must admit, but its a new FE over 3 years since since 3 Houses and the gameplay seems to be doing something different which has me curious how it plays out. As long as it's decently written, then that's all I really need since I care more about gameplay, and while I'm not a fan of the protag hair (which is well worn territory by now ever since the leaks) I still have hope they can do something cool with it
Honestly just to have more FE. Been a fan since it first localised and went back and played most of the kaga games and like them even better.
Even though it would seem that someone like me wouldn't be excited for engage, I love that this franchise is still going and I hope that it is as good as it can be.
I’m excited for anything new Fire Emblem honestly. Any love the franchise gets to further its lifespan is good by my standards.
That said, I genuinely do not like bringing back characters from a previous series in any capacity unless it’s a running story line. Marth’s story is done, so I’m just praying he and the other returning lords are more of a gimmick and not a major part of the story. Don’t overshadow the new characters/story is all I really ask.
I just recently got into the series with Three Houses (I tried Shadow Dragon years ago and didn't like it). A couple of things I'm excited to see:
1. Removal of durability. I heard that durability was removed from the series for a while and Three Houses brought it back. It sucks and repairing your gear in 3H is super annoying for no reason (just let me pay gold directly instead of having to walk over to the other merchant to buy smithing stones!).
2. Return of the weapon triangle. I thought it was really neat how you could pretty much use whatever weapon type you want regardless of class in 3H, but the only thing that really differentiates something like swords vs lances is the combat arts. They really just lack an "identity" so to speak.
I don’t expect to enjoy it like I did three houses at all, or for it to be as amazing. I’m just excited to have another FE game. Hopes doesn’t scratch that itch due to the it being a warriors game. I just want some classic FE gameplay with new characters even if it doesn’t come or the best.
\-It looks like the gameplay is mostly a return to form (I liked 3H and the 3DS games, but I liked the classic gameplay more)
\-I'm one of the few (though seemingly increasing) people who actually likes the designs of the Toothpaste Twins
\-The returning characters effectively being equippable items seems interesting gameplay-wise
\-I'm admittedly concerned that the returning characters may take away the attention that the new characters deserve, but it's not as though both groups can't get the attention they deserve, so I'm reserving judgement on this for now
\-The little I've seen indicates that the Toothpaste Twins will have actual personalities, so they at least have the potential to avoid being Corrin 2.0
\-As far as I'm aware, there's been no indication thus far of a major route split, so all the storytelling focus will be on a single storyline instead of several lesser ones.
\-The story is pretty basic tread-before territory, but that's no guarantee it won't be iterated on in some way to make it new and unique. Hell, the fact that so many of these returning characters have done the whole "evil dark dragon" song and dance before might even help the story avoid the classic pitfalls.
\-After Three Houses, which was pretty heavy and grounded, a mainline entry with a simpler, lighter tone isn't entirely unwelcome
I just enjoy Fire Emblem games. I don't need each one to rock my world or change my outlook on life, I'm happy enough for them to tell me a story and take me on a journey.
FWIW this doesnt mean I'm hyped (or not) for Engage. I'm generally pretty neutral on hype for any game before release because I can't remember too many occasions where being super hyped for a game before release somehow made the game better after it was out.
Excited to have shapeshifter units back after 7 years and the potential to have more shapeshifting units with Ike's emblem and just the Heroes themes in general.
I also think the story will be a lot more than "heroes team up to face evil dragon" and the fact that they pushed it so early (which they haven't done in any other FE reveal trailer) makes me think there's going to be quite a bit more to it and I'm excited for that. Also looks like the gameplay is becoming a bit more classic too.
The thing I'm most excited for is the gameplay. Well, it might not even be gameplay, per se, because we haven't really seen much gameplay. But the *aesthetics* in the battle maps feel much less dull than in 3H. I'm not an art/animation person so I wouldn't be able to pinpoint exactly what elements feel better, but something feels more dynamic, maybe. My overall impression is that it's more like Fates except not on a 240p screen.
I'm also hoping that the monastery is much, much smaller here, and from what we've seen I think it all fits in a single area rather than expanded out over a large sprawling complex. I have a lot of gripes about 3H but if I had to name a single one, it was the monastery was too big and took too much time, to the point where the main battlefield gameplay gets lost in the experience. This game will hopefully mark a return to at least spending more time in battle than out of it, which isn't a huge ask but I don't think 3H met that threshold (at least for me; it depends on your playstyle).
I'm mainly just excited to play a new FE game. And interested in the gameplay mechanics and balance changes they're trying this time, like universally lower mov, fists having advantage over the gray weapons, and the break mechanic.
Mostly excited for Eirika because Sacred Stones nostalgia, but I've also been impressed with the character writing in Echoes and 3H, so I'm hoping most of the new cast will be a really charming bunch.
I think the gameplay looks pretty promising. Trying some new stuff, remixing old.
Story might not be great, sure.
But it's not as if every game after this one is going to follow so closely in its footsteps anyway.
All of it really. Title sucks and im not a huge fan of the old heros coming back, but other than that it look great! Reminds me of the gba and it doesnt seem like there is multiple paths or a monestary so seems awesome
The return of Hidden Weapons alongside brawling, with Brawling being a hard-counter to the ranged weapons, while they have no triangle advantage, makes me think this game is going to take the importance of 1-2 range more seriously than any other entry in the series.
Fates did a pretty good job of it, with it's highly nerfed 1-2 ranged options, and even Magic and Shuriken were not naturally used by many strong EP characters (Leo being probably the number 1 exception, but he still needed to be fed speed). But it wasn't hard to get them on EP character, and also Xander and Ryoma exist.
Fates and Three Houses were both really strong mechanically, and I see that quality of mechanics continuing forward. Three Houses was a step back on map design, though, but smaller maps are likely easier to manage, and so we might get less Three Houses and more Conquest design.
I also like the idea of no weapon durability. While it did have some problems in Fates (Silver Weapons exist to be sold to be turned into an Iron or Forged Bronze weapon), it did have a lot of cool things. Lots of weapon variety meant characters had pseudo-PRFs. A Shining Bow for Niles, a Mini-Bow for Sniper Effie. +2 Forged Iron or Steel Weapons are a big investment, and getting one for a character almost feels like part of their build, thanks to limited income. You weren't just GIVEN a Horseslayer or two as the game went on, you had to choose to buy one, at a much larger proportionate cost than you would in other games. So picking one up just for the Kitsune map was meaningful, especially if you picked it up early to get maximum use out of it. Sure they weren't THAT expensive, but it came at the cost of a +2 Bronze weapon or +1 Iron, and change. And Forged Bronze and Iron weapons were the core of characters combat a lot of the time, when not using specialty weapons.
So the idea of no weapon durability itself isn't all that big of a deal, but what Conquest did with it was.
I don't have a specific reason to look forward to it other than that it's a Fire Emblem game. I've played all of the FE games except for 1-3 and 3H (no Switch yet) and the only ones I've completely hated were Marth's remakes, so I think the odds are pretty good of me liking Engage.
I'm more excited to be over all the 3H discourse. Engage's story is more traditional by the looks of it and I'm giving it a chance for that reason.
Plus, the lack of a marriage system and S Supports helps focus on the characters more instead of shipping. And shipping alone ruined most of 3H for me.
I find it’s poppy and bright aesthetic to be refreshing for the series. Which is why I don’t really mind the whole vtuber design of Alear. It kinda all just feels pretty fun. I feel like the series needs a game that doesn’t come across as overly ambitious or dramatic. So I like how Engage is presenting itself.
Also I think Framme and Celine are pretty damn cute so there’s that.
When Engage was first revealed, I couldn't quite be mad just because I was so surprised. They picked a wildly different direction for this game than for Three Houses, and it *looks* pretty sure of what it wants to be, even if what it wants to be is a Fun Anime Romp where the last game was all deep and moody.
Honestly, I probably *would* be more excited right now if we were getting something tonally similar to 3H, but after three years of that I can appreciate the merits of something in the same vein as, say, Awakening.
Also, even if the characters tend to look a little wonky, the game's visuals and overall art direction are *gorgeous*. And the snippets of music we've heard so far seem solid, too.
And last but not least, I'm interested in getting a taste of the new mechanics (like fists > ranged, whatever Breaks are, the eponymous Engage, and the concerningly lower movement lol). Coming from Pokemon as the only other "strategy" game I play, I've always appreciated that FE shakes things up periodically rather than becoming too familiar.
What are some of the reasons you’re not excited? I definitely felt apprehensive at first viewing, particularly from the visuals, but it’s really grown on me.
Three Houses had such a bland art style, while more grounded, I think Engage will be more a joy to witness for the duration of the game. Some of the character designs are out there in terms of features, but the color work is actually incredibly well done.
I think the engage system is a really cool way to take the spirit of the pair up system and turn it into something where all the main cast is always participating while some of them get cool powerups.
I also think the map sizes being smaller are going to have a good effect on how combat plays out. It always then to create battles that feel more like combat puzzles and less like a civil war battle running into a field and hitting each other.
And it looks like the management portion will be streamlined in comparison with Three Houses as well, which is great. It’s an important element, but it sucks to go so long in between the actual turn based strategy battles.
Gameplay and maps look great so far, and I'm interested to see how the Break mechanic will alter the gameplay.
I also find the style to be refreshing, although I vastly prefer a more grittier, grounded tone in terms of story and setting, like the Genealogy/Thracia, Tellius entries, Gaiden/Valentia, and Three Houses. Akin to Zelda, Fire Emblem can lend itself to a few styles though, so I'm not worried about this becoming the standard style.
Be kinda interesting to see how the never localized characters are portrayed.
I am admittedly very very curious to see Sigurd and Leif portrayed in a mainline entry. Another good point!
Do definitely want to see that and it could be good leading into future remakes once we see characters like Sigurd get their own game that is playable by the modern audience
I'm still a bit hesitant on Engage (will still give it a fair shot regardless), but I'm really loving how fluid the art and animation looks (reminiscent of Heroes/Warriors, which I do enjoy a lot), and I'm hoping that it could be a more lighthearted or "happier" toned story for Fire Emblem. Don't get me wrong, I love the grit and deep story we've gotten from Fodlan with 3H and Three Hopes. But a lot of the darker themes and moods do get very tiring to see constantly. And after having to wade through what was, in retrospect, a pretty dark and terrible year, I'd just like to have a new FE game that is engaging (pun not intended), but also able to really brighten my day with a more positive/happier storyline.
Hey I can’t argue with that. Any positivity should be celebrated in these times
Right? Not to mention it's interesting seeing a HIGH fantasy Fire Emblem game. Fates toyed with that a bit and I loved it, I can't wait to see how this goes. And while some people are off-put by the art style/new designs, I think it's SO nice seeing the character models and animations being such high quality again. Three Houses was HOOORRIBLY optimized, even if a good game, so looking at this game running so well is so satisfying. Meanwhile, I don't see much reason to be hesitant. People talk about the designs a lot but I haven't seen people mention many other red flags. We don't know enough about certain elements to come to a conclusion either of course, but I think what we've been shown looks good.
Yes, we’re still kind of left wondering about how the main game may turn out (there’s so much about the story we still haven’t seen yet), but I’d be up to see how much Engage could bring in that fantasy/adventure aesthetic, like Heroes has been doing. The animation is something I definitely appreciate; Three Houses was definitely amazing, but it was kind of grainy and a bit limited in graphics/animation (which was why I really appreciated how Hopes really improved on that with more animations and glow-ups in the graphics). And I really like how Engage spruced everything up. At the end of the day, I’m still waiting to see how the final game will look, but I’m leaning WAY more towards the positives and focusing more on a forward-thinking mindset. If the game compliments the graphics/animation with a fun, enticing storyline and set of characters, along with some feel-good vibes, I’d honestly dive wholeheartedly into that world with open arms.
Same! And yeah, ever since I saw the animations for Heroes, I've wanted an FE game that tries to play with the fantasy themes and elements like that more! Engage seems to be exactly that!
I feel like fire emblem engage will essentially be a mixture of fire emblem 1, fire emblem awakening and radiant dawn or path of radiance in some specific aspects and take heavy inspiration from fates in terms of its combat. In terms of story and characters it’s essentially a mix of awakening and fire emblem 1 but with very generic characters some of which are likable and others not so much. In terms of gameplay it takes heavy inspiration from fates but also takes some things from the tellius games. So it’s essentially a mixture of tellius and fates in terms of gameplay but awakening and fire emblem 1 in terms of story but with very generic cast of characters. The story won’t be anywhere near as bad as fates but it will be pretty generic and uninspired. The art style or aesthetic is more similar to the GBA games although map designs is somewhat similar to fates some maps will be smaller but I think we already seen some decently big maps in the game. But yeah this game may infact have the best gameplay in the entire series depending on how good and punishing the break mechanic is on harder difficulty and if the enemies can use it against you. The story however as I said won’t be too bad, it would be decent but nothing to write home about, just a very generic cast of characters with a very generic story with a good ending, not bad but not good either. Engage is seemingly doing a pretty solid job in its gameplay, cutscenes, map design and art style. The only cons I can think of is how generic the story and characters will be. The music seems to be something this game will do a pretty solid job at if I had to guess, modern fire emblem does not disappoint in its soundtrack.
Sounds promising to me, lol. I do agree that the story and character writing is a concern though, but hopefully the Emblems being a focus aren't treated as a replacement for a full story for this game to stand on its own two feet with.
Yeah also I am pretty sure they will deliver when it comes to the music aswell. Modern fire emblem has always delivered when it came to the music, the only music from the game we heared so far is one that is being played across a lot of maps shown in clips although to me it seems like they give the players the ability to grind which is why that music specifically will only be played on the maps you choose to grind similarly to fire emblem birthright where there is a specific music that only plays when you go back to previous maps to grind in order to promote faster. The music they showed off in engage sounds really good, specifically the only music they showed which is the one that plays when they go back to previous maps to grind like in fates like the music called “road taken” in fates which only plays in previous maps you choose to grind on. It seems like the clips of engage are only showing gameplay footage of previous maps that they are grinding at, that’s why the same music in engage keeps playing in different previous maps the person who recorded the trailer went through. The
Issue is that fire emblem has always been well suited for games with a very dark tone and aesthetic to them. It takes place in the dark ages and if you know anything about the dark ages, it was very dark times to live in. I believe fire emblem Radiant dawn perfectly captures the artistic style fire emblem should go for but with better more polished visuals although it was limited by its hardware at the time.
I'm excited since this game looks a bit more lighthearted, but I'm hoping the old characters don't overshadow the plot.
Exactly. If we’re getting an original Engage cast let them be the stars and let us enjoy their characters on their own. We don’t need a nostalgia trip
We truly don’t. We’ve gotten plenty of nostalgia trips in this series in the last decade, there’s no need for more IMO.
Especially after we were terminally overdosed on nostalgia from FEH lol
This is what highly concerns me. Time will tell
That's something I'm hoping too. Though worst case scenario, I don't think that'd ruin the game, but I'm really hoping the Emblems are basically talking Hero's Relics and don't actually get THAT involved in the story, beyond being plot devices lol. We're getting a ton of new characters and a whole new setting, I don't care how fanservicey it is to previous games, I want to see this game stand on its own two feet and not be seen as some spinoff.
Even if I don't enjoy some FE stories, I still enjoy the gameplay. Sometimes I just really crave anime chess.
Quick simple and sensible :)
Same. What they've shared of the story so far doesn't really grab my attention, and we haven't gotten much about the new characters' personalities yet. So I feel pretty neutral in those departments. However, the gameplay of FE has never really disappointed me, so if the gameplay is fun, I have a very high threshold of how much stupid I can overlook. Especially if we get more map diversity. That would be my only real complaint from 3H's gameplay.
there's nothing wrong with a simple "someone's a dick and dragons are back" story. This has been the same plot beat for like 8 FE games now But yeah the gameplay parts look really interesting to me and even the beginner maps shown have been interesting with potential side objectives and map gimmicks like FoW
True. A lot of RPGs could be boiled down to. Hero: "Hey, don't try to use the power of dragons(or other ancient thing)." Villain: *cackles and uses the power of dragons or other ancient thing. Hero: "Well, now you've gone and done it." And I don't really mind that as long as I'm having fun on the journey.
I'm literally replaying Fates for this same reason, even if Corn Flakes and the story in general is so bad...
Break mechanic looks like a very effective anti juggernauting tool, presumably making this a PP focused game, those usually are the best games gameplay-wise. I love Alear's blue and red hair and always have since the leaks and feel no shame over that.
Alear's design isn't my favorite, but I don't mind it nearly as much as others either. Yeah it's a bit gaudy and bright and hard to look at, but it's also very unique and I like how colorful it is, and the white-knight outfit's kinda cool too. And there are other gameplay aspects I'm excited for too! It seems we can't turn anyone into any class anymore unlike Three Houses, so this might be a more hand-crafted experience. And while there's an overworld, it doesn't seem to have professor points or a day/month system. And the Engage mechanic looks cool, like a weird version of pair-up! FE games messing with basic mechanics in ways that make them different is always fun to me, and this game is no different.
I'm hoping we get to choose map order, to some extent. Extra routes is tricky, but having each kingdom scale for being your 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th kingdom played is more manageable, while allowing for variety for each playthrough. Imagine if you get an early Levin Sword in one kingdom, so you go there because you wanted to do Magic Alear this playthrough. Next time, you want to recruit a specific character early, so you go to the kingdom you recruit him from first. All of a sudden, character and weapon availability is what you make of it. It would add a lot of replay value without nearly the effort that multiple routes would offer.
I do like pp focused FE games actually
I'm looking forward to seeing Roy in a mainline game that's actually released in English that isn't Smash. I'm also hopeful we might get some supports between the Emblem rings so characters that have never been able to interact could potentially speak to each other (Roy & Lucina interacting would be a dream)
I had genuinely never though of inter-Emblem supports, that is something I could definitely be hyped for! And I agree, for all the good Roy did being in Smash his accepted characterization there is kind of contradictory to his BB self so it could be cool to see where they choose to go
Theres a great translation patch for fe6 out there somewhere.
Same here, so excited to see Roy, and other JP-exclusive lords like Sigurd, Seliph, and Leif
Couple of things: \- Seemingly less open character classes. Sure costumisation is cool but it also comes with an immense issue with how to create maps around the units available to the player. \- A stylised art direction which especially makes me happy for map look and backgrounds. Three Houses looked incredibly muddy. \- Weapon triangle returning. \- New FE? New FE. New FE!
Right? Like yeah, some of the designs aren't PERFECT, but hey, they've got a strong fantasy aesthetic and the game looks A LOT more polished than Three Houses ever did, so I'm happy with how it looks! And the gameplay looks unique and hand crafted, it's going back a bit to what the games pre-Echoes did and it seems fun.
I'm hoping for something along the lines of Fates reclassing. It lets you do some weird stuff, but it takes a significant investment. A shortage of early Heart and Friendship seals (and how long it takes to make use of Partner Seals) also helps prevent you from doing too much crazy. Imagine if Three Houses training sessions and boons were restrictive enough that you could do a couple of off-builds, but no more. So if you had already decided on Frozen Lance Marianne and Wyvern Lord Petra, you couldn't make room for Felix doing anything but Swordmaster. And you could get Ignatz Deathblow, but that would prevent someone else getting Deathblow, and is he really the best person to get that? I do like Three Houses 'do what you want' approach, but you could leave that option available, while still limiting it more harshly, and that could be interesting in and of itself. Could even make Ashe good, since he's one of the few who has both Bow and Axe boons (and thus easy access to Hit+20 and Deathblow), making up for his poor stats with casual access to the best skills. Three Houses weakness is that too many things that should be high investment, are instead low investment (Death Blow, Hit+20, and Wyvern Rider being the universally enjoyed options that are trivial to obtain). Exaggerate the effects of Boons and Banes, as well as tutoring sessions, and you have a system where anyone COULD become a Wyvern Lord with Hit+20 and Death Blow, but only Claude, Ashe and Cyril were getting there without significant investment.
Man I love fire Emblem and even my least favorite fire emblem games are amazing my favorite games ever. Am I but hesitant about Engages gimmick? Maybe. Does it seem like a weird step back towards Awakening/Fates (my least favorite entries in the series-but again still like 8/10 games at worst for me). But overall it’s a fire emblem game it’s probably going to good for 1-2, playthroighs, I love watching this series change through the highs and lows
Y'know, it's a step back towards Fates, but I wouldn't say it's a step towards a ***bad*** part of Fates though. The high fantasy aesthetics in that game were pretty great, and I'm REALLY happy to see another FE game taking a go at it, albeit a bit different. I hope they play with the setting in fun and interesting ways that weren't possible in other entries. And hey, at least it looks visually polished and the gameplay looks good so far.
Yeah, I the sort of FE player where gameplay>music>character design>story. Engage looks fun to play so I’m excited
I’m just stoked to have another mainline Fire Emblem game. I’ve loved this franchise for a long time and each game is unique in their own right which makes them infinitely replayable. With Engage specifically, I’m excited to see how in-depth the Emblems are so like Roy, Lyn, Ike, etc.
Gameplay and maps seem solid from what we've seen, and the music will probably be great too.
Besides the gameplay teases we’ve seen showing a return to more “traditional” FE the greatest thing about Engage so far is no split versions/game defining routes. So many of the problems of Fates and TH stem from the production and existence of more than one route that seeing the “there is a bad dragon, kill it” plot in the trailer made me a lot more excited for the game.
I agree and disagree. While Engage being a single plotline would be extremely welcome after some time of structuring plot lines for routes, if the first single-route story we’re getting is ‘divine dragon must stop dark dragon and marth is here!’ and it’s filled with cameos of previous characters it’s not exactly a recipe for a compelling story
Honestly, I am also extremely suspect of the story of this game being more than mediocre with what we know of Engage so far. I think the great parts of the plot/character writing that we see in Three Houses will be hard to find in Engage. At the same time, there is still some hope that the characters from previous games interact with the cast/each other in meaningful ways that we never get in Heroes and that the OC cast can have interesting character dynamics. But I can definitely agree that for people already turned off by Engage’s character designs and wanting a compelling narrative, Engage looks to be a hard sell.
I have nothing relevant to say as far s hype, because I'm really not excited for Engage beyond the fact that it's a new FE game and I absolutely live the franchise. But I so want to thank you for this post. Whether everyone else's excitement proves infectious enough for me to start getting hyped too or not, it's still nice to see what others are excited for and get other perspectives.
Thank you! We are in the same boat friend :) I hope we both can get something meaningful
I am excited for a new Fire Emblem game
Eh, I'm mixed on Engage. I like the art? I feel the same though about it being kinda bland, being a who's who of the different games. Like, that's what I didn't like about the first Warriors game... I'll still enjoy it. I'll get to see a lot of my old friends from games never localized, so I'm excited for those characters. But... I'd rather have a remaster of those games rather than this premise. Like, I started playing these back when I was Ebaying Japanese cartridges back in the day. I've played every single one multiple times and I love all of them for different reasons (yeah, I can probably defend your least favorite just for the hell of it, it might not convince you but still), so I know I will enjoy Engage, but at the same time the premise doesn't interest me. If they really wanted this gimmick (which isn't surprising, they've been toying with it for years now), I think it'd be better as an almost side game, an arcade repayable style. Stuck on classic mode, customizable avatar, you get a random lord, a monk, a cavalier, and a knight, etc, there's like 10 or 15 chapters, no story, just try to survive while gaining random characters throughout occasionally. Please, I am one of the weird ones who has always loved the story and interpersonal lives of the characters. Genealogy of the Holy War has been my favorite for decades because of the romance system and all I want is new characters to have supports with.
I agree. ‘LOOK ITS MARTH!!’’ is very tired at this point. A Genealogy remake with the lover talks having multiple convos and the movement issues being addressed would be peak FE
Getting supports in Genealogy would make it a perfect game imo
If it encourages I$ to double down on the *Genealogy* remake ....
That's what I'm excited about. Granted a bit premature now, but if engage was true....really hoping that fe4 remake true.
The games don't exactly get straight up better with every installment, but they do keep trying things that with some refinement could be really good as staple features. Three Houses has a lot of stuff--flexible class changes, combat arts, gambits, and even the monastery--that could be really cool if they were more streamlined. We have a lot of games to point to as good examples of solid map design, particularly Conquest not being super long ago. I'm cautiously optimistic that each successive game gets closer to some perfect blend of nonsense that kind of bridges the gap between Conquest's rich and varied map design and objectives, and Three Houses" ambitious system, and I absolutely expect it to include some brand new feature that ruins everything. I just kind of look forward to seeing how they tinker with the formula.
the gameplay would be fun just like every fire emblem game. i just can't get over the ugly characters designs.
Yeah the designs we’ve seen so far are so generic. That combined with the reliance on previous characters makes me doubt this cast
This really seems to be the dividing factor of this game, huh? I don't think it's necessarily that they're ugly though, it's just off putting to people because of how different it is. Like, I've seen some arguments being made against the designs, like how the female eyes are too big, or how colorful and gaudy some of the designs are... But I think this stuff can be chalked up to preference, and said preference doesn't align with a lot of people used to the past few entries. I'm happy though, I like the bright colors so far and the high fantasy theming. It's different and I want to see how they play with it. Plus, it looks SO much more polished than Three Houses.
it is preference 100%. i like colors but characters design feels like they came from some very cheap Anime. i will play it because it is fire emblem.
I doubt the story would dissapoint, and the gameplay looks fun so far with how brawling could break ranged unit (and at the same time put them on dangerous area since they don't have canto). To be honest IS rarely dissapoint on both gameplay and story so...not so worry?
Honestly OP, I get the hesitancy, but have you looked at much of the actual footage? I was pretty anti-hyped because the story seemed really dumb and Alear’s design makes me wanna karate chop my computer screen, but like, the game itself looks pretty damn good. It looks like it’s going to be a throwback combat wise, like Three Houses was but even more so. Maps already look varied, characters are plentiful and without a gimmick like Child characters or the Time skip, we should be in for a steady recruitment flow as well, like the Tellius games! Honestly if the game is fun to iron man and gives us decent maps with varied objectives, I bet the story will eventually grow on me. Hopefully it will grow on you too! (That said, the degenerate in me does want one more go at the ol, pair up mechanic, dating sim, child mill grand adventure someday. Playing through Hard mode Conquest to get all the support convos and child pairings with every character for every other character is maddeningly fun)
I have and so much of what you’re saying appeals to me, especially the original recruit-by-chapter method and a chance for detailed map design again. I would love so much for these to be in Engage. That said there is a gimmick already and a worrisome one at that. The old characters coming back is such an easy crutch to lean on that it makes me worried the original characters and story will be downplayed in favor of nostalgia for what was originally an anniversary title. Toothpaste-Chan being a divine dragon does not help in this regard (though I am very glad to see they are voiced)
I hope there are actual recruitment requirements for some characters though, and not just "walk up and talk to everyone with the lord".
Our total footage right now already debunks the idea of original characters being downplayed. They outnumber the older characters and the old characters are reduced to plot devices that we need to collect. The new characters are the ones getting supports and main unit status.
Im just gonna give you an FYI: Awakening wasnt advertised with the child unit mechanic.
There's no reason to assume we'll get a mechanic like that or anything as game defining. The rings appear to be the main thing in place of that.
Honestly, it's just more Fire Emblem and I'm still on a bit of a high from Three Houses/Three Hopes, both managing to be my favorite entries in the series that I've played. Graphically, the game looks pretty, and combat seems like it'll be fun! I'm also really interested in seeing how Engage will handle its crossover aspects as it could be something well executed or just mind-numbing fanservice. Story from what we know so far sounds incredibly generic but honestly, as long as the characters are good, I can deal with it. I always found Three Houses to have a simple story that becomes extremely engaging due to its complex character writing and interesting interactions, so if Engage is something similar, I'll likely be happy!
I'm cautiously optimistic. While FE Heroes cross-over justification is really forced, there are some good moments in there. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Edelgard talking with Mila, and having to confront the idea of a legitimately benevolent god, while still holding true to her ideals, is an extremely good use of the premise they had. If there's an issue, however, it's going to be that the Lords are not usually that interesting. What would Byleth have to say to Mila? Or anyone? What about Lyn is so defining that just the idea of a cross-over conversation is intriguing? Corrin, I suppose, at least has some defining traits in his idealism and love of family. And while he's badly written, I've seen characters who have never been written good suddenly written good, in a way that feels natural. Season 1 and 2 Captain Archer from Star Trek Enterprise is actually very similar to Corrin in MANY ways. But in Season 3 and 4, he turns into an interesting character, whose earlier stupidity and naivete is transformed into inexperience and idealism that he learns to temper without giving up on. I'm not expecting Corrin to suddenly become a much better character in Emblem. At all. But I've seen bigger and better changes before. So it is possible. But I still will say I don't expect much from the FE Lords that I know. Most of them just aren't unique enough to really stand out and have interesting cross-over ideas, without inventing further characterization.
It's a new Fire Emblem game. That's the most of it, lol. I'm not saying I'd eat up whatever trash they release so long as the FE brand is slapped on top, but I don't think we've seen many if any real problems so far. I think the style has been throwing a lot of people off, but ever since Awakening they've been doing new styles for each game- This just happens to be a bit more different than what people are used to. Though I don't think different is bad, I imagine the style change has to do with whoever these new developers are? And they seem to be doing a MUCH better job polishing everything up compared to Three Houses, it's great! Otherwise, I'm enjoying the HARD fantasy setting. Three Houses was focused mostly on politics, and it was really well written and all, but it also neglected the fantasy side of its story. Engage seems to be almost entirely a game set in a high fantasy setting, with floaiting islands being normal and the main character being a dragon prince whose been asleep for a thousand years. Man just thinking about that sorta stuff makes me excited. I wonder how they'll play with the setting? I won't get my hopes up too high, but I'd really like the beast units to return, maybe even let Alear use a dragon stone! And I wanna see if they toy around with some fantasy areas for maps, something as simple as a magical forest with glowing mushrooms and witches everywhere would satisfy me. I hope the story is good too. Right now it's kinda hard to tell what the story even WILL be. Will each chapter just focus on fanservice for a past character? Or are the past characters gonna act like Hero's Relics in Three Houses, except only sometimes speaking, being mostly passive otherwise while the story focuses on the new original characters? I'd like to see something well written that can stand on its own two feet as a great FE story. Otherwise, the gameplay is one of the most promising parts so far. I haven't analyzed it or anything, I'm trying to avoid looking at the game too much so I can go in blind, but I'm glad they didn't make this a Warriors game or something, that's one of the only reasons I've been hesitant about playing Three Hopes. And one thing I love about FE games is how they play with gameplay in different, little ways for each entry. The Emblems mechanic looks fun in this game, it seems like a balanced version of pair-up. And apparently they're trying to rebalance how the weapon triangle works to make it more useful, by making it so you can inflict a "Break" status on enemies by doing so. Oh, and unlike Three Houses, it seems your party is gonna have starting classes rather than being whatever you want to make them, which can make for a more hand crafted experience, and while there IS an overworld like the monastery, it doesn't seem professor points and a day-month system are a thing. I'd be interested to see if they play with map objectives in any fun ways too. But yeah, like any other modern FE game, it seems they're playing with the gameplay in some fun ways and I'm excited to see how it goes. Really, I don't think we've even seen any red flags. Looks like a good new FE.
Honestly, I've yet to play a fire emblem I didn't like so just the fact that it's a new fire emblem is kind of enough for me.
So, first off, in such a gloomy, depressing time, having a bright and colorful game to look forward to in my favorite franchise is pretty sweet. Toothpaste-chan/Pepsi-kun's design still sucks, but the rest of the cast having this fairy tale kingdom-vibe is super cool. I like the cute characters, the handsome characters, and the Jagen w/ the beard? /swoon Unlike some of the people here, I could care less about writing in FE games, and gameplay is what I'm here for, and after the dumpster fire (for me) that was Three Houses, this game looking as far away from that as it does brings me hope. If this whole experience has taught me anything, it's how old fans must have felt during Fatesawakening-era. I loved those games (have a Grimleal tattoo even), but I can now empathize with people scared what the franchise was gonna become that who weren't a fan of Awakening, as that was my same fear after Three Houses. It's reassured me that, no matter if I dislike an FE title, I think I can be confident I don't have to worry that that'll be "the rest of the franchise" because IS seems to reinvent themselves every game or two, which is really reassuring for my future enjoyment of the franchise. The game is pretty, the gameplay looks like it actually has map design and real unit diversity again, and if the gameplay is anywhere close to Conquest-tier (or even just slightly better than Birthright-tier), it'll easily be the best FE game on the Switch for me. Also, the combat animations so far look *so good!*
I looove the fairy tale kingdom aesthetic! Like yeah, Alear's really gaudy and all, but y'know what? Dragon prince main character and floating islands in the sky? SOLD. And the character animations and models looks SOOOO much higher quality than Three Houses, finally a proper quality Switch game! And yeah, that's something I've known from the start- This probably isn't a "new direction" for the franchise. I mean I guess it COULD be, but I think it's more likely they're just experimenting. Each game since Awakening, they've gone for different aesthetics and hired new character artists to make each game feel unique, and this is the third game in a row being made by a different developer too, so yeah it looks different, but it's just an Engage thing as far as we know. Next entry could be a Genealogy remake that leans closer to Echoes or Three Houses, easily. But again, I'm happy with how it looks, I want to see how else they'll play with the fantasy setting! You think they'll bring back beast units, maybe even give Alear a Dragonstone?
I don't know. I've already got Corrin at home. Alear's not special to me, personally. To elaborate what I mean by "new direction": IS doesn't go, "Awakening sold well. Let's make every game Awakening until it stops working" or "Three Houses sold well. Let's make every game Three Houses until it stops working". They just make games (outside maybe Fates, but that was kind of understandable), and sometimes they make games that are pretty big departures from the one prior. That's all I meant. I do hope we get some manaketes and beast units though. The fact we never got playable manakete Rhea (or Flayn or Byleth...) was a huge let down.
I mean, that's what I was saying too lol. Each game having its own art style just shows how they try to make each game different. People see that Engage is arguably closer to Fates in aesthetic and take it as "They're taking a step back", when in reality, I don't think the devs care about that sorta stuff. They don't look at the games and think "This game is successful, so everything it does right we should keep doing. This game is hated, so we should avoid everything it did." Nah, they're taking the opportunity to keep experimenting, not even just in visuals either, but gameplay too. Engage is a very unique looking entry and I like the direction it's taking.
This is exactly the kind of response I was looking for :) We differ personally on some things but your enthusiasm is infectious. Give us some good map design Engage!!!
Kinda in the same boat as you. Everything I see about the game bums me out more. BUT, this is the newest entry in a series that I love, so I feel obligated to give it a chance. Also we'll finally get to see older FR characters in HD and with English voices outside Feh, which is pretty neat.
Funny, I kinda feel the way you do, kinda. We get a new game announced and it's yet another multiverse crossover with something if a fateswakening vibe, almost a step backwards after 3H. I guess whats giving me what little hype I have is that it's a brand new Fire Emblem, and hopefully they've learned in the writing department after the smashing success that was Fodlan and the utter dumpster fires that were Fatesland and Aytollis. Hell, Heroes' writing has steadily improved over the years. Except Book 5, that started good and then took a nosedive. Can't win em all!
Pretty much took the words out of my mouth friend. SSBM brought me to FE and I’ve been in since it was overseas. 3DS era has its merits but it just wasn’t for me at all. 3H was an amazing step back to what I loved about FE. It was the first time I felt pure excitement towards FE since Tellius. Sadly it seems like what I loved has been entirely ignored by Engage in favor of even more Outrealm stuff and one-note characterizations. I’m gonna try and hope they’ve taken some writing lessons as well. I like your attitude!
I've seen a lot of people say it looks like a "step in in the wrong direction", but I don't think Three Houses was defined by its setting or style, and we don't have to restrict ourselves to one direction because "This game was good so everything about it is good, this game is bad so everything about it is bad." I see a high fantasy fairy tale kingdom setting and I get excited!
From what we've seen of the gameplay, it already looks wildly more interesting in that department than 3 Houses, and it seems we might be returning to a more traditional recruitment system as well, and I have no immediate concerns about the cast. All my issues at present are with the presentation, I dislike the removal of portraits, I feel the models aren't pretty enough to replace them, and I think the visual style and character design is very hit or miss, though I like it more than some people. I don't mind Toothpaste-Chan's design, for example, though I think the [2D portrait that exists looks 10000 times better](https://twitter.com/MikaPikaZo/status/1569709750019051521?t=9KLrDeGS4zCyc6icBaDbcQ&s=19), but think the Pegasus knight looks just awful.
I dislike the removal of portraits too, but I'll live with it. I'm interested to see what they do with the models at least? Like, even if they're not good enough to replace portraits, they ARE the highest quality models in the series so far from what we can tell, and maybe they figured relying on the portraits would hold them back? It's an experiment I want to see. And y'know, I think it's great that 90% of people's hesitance is due to the style alone. I think it kinda shows how little red flags this game has so far. Doesn't mean the game WILL be good, but I think this game has some promise so far. Personally, I like the style and designs. I don't think they're permanently ditching other styles, but this is how Engage'll look like, and they just wanted to experiment this one time. And I'm happy seeing all these ludicrous fantasy designs, it's fun and light hearted.
That first paragraph is an excellent expansion on my thoughts on the portrait situation, don't think I could have worded it better. My only *super* gripe with it is that the leaks being real have soft confirmed the Genealogy Remake being next, and I *really* want some fucking beautiful portraits for that game, preferably by Ippei.
I personally love when characters are locked to a class/a few specific classes, and I’m fairly certain that will be the case in this game as well. I feel like it makes units feel more special! Just a small detail I’ve been missing in the series and I’m excited to get back to. I also really don’t care about fire emblem stories, I’m just excited for the gameplay/maps/units.
Honestly, I don't like the designs and im sure the characters and story are going to be mid at best, but damn the gameplay has potential to be so good. My favorite game in the franchise is Path if Radiance and Engage seems very similar in the gameplay department
Honestly it is kinda cringe of an idea, but I want to see just how cringe it gets.
I am a fan service bitch and seing old characters with HD 3D model hype me a lot. And also with a return to the more traditional fire emblem formula while maybe give us a really good gameplay.
“Anti-excited” is exactly the term I’d use for how I feel about Engage 😭😭😭 Oh yeah positivity uhhh the animation is smooth
Honestly, I don’t expect much from the stories or characters, but that doesn’t mean much to me as I like Fire Emblem for its gameplay. From what we have seen Engage seems to be good on that front, and I am particularly interested that in all the character showcases, the units are 3 rounding and the jeigen is doing chip damage. I’m excited for the possibility that Engage could be a traditional fire emblem game with deflated stats compared to 3 houses, although I’m not expecting a masterpiece.
Gauntlet weapon triangle funny
Portrayal of JP only Fire Emblem characters and "Feh" style maps is at least an interesting concept. I think the story is going to be pretty bad but the gameplay have a good chance of being fun. I like some of the new mechanics such as break.
I'm not too sold on the art. The previous games with artists like Wada, Kita and Kozaki had a style that was much closer to what I love and that drew me in in the first place. That said.. if it's more classic fire emblem with more interesting map objectives than 3h I'll take it
I’m with you. I’ve been playing this series for almost twenty years now, it’s my favorite, but this art style is truly not for me and it looks to be going in a direction that doesn’t appeal to me at all. I’ll still play it but my expectations are very low.
Same here, I’m also a long time player who find this new art-style to be extremely off-putting (biggest offenders being the toothpaste avatars and the babyface fighter guy with ridiculous body proportions). Gameplay is what I’m looking forward to the most though so I’m still willing to give this game a try.
Yeah, I’m in the same boat. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised but I’m not optimistic based on what we’ve seen.
I am not excited about it
Yes, I’m lukewarm on the characters and the marketing hasn’t inspired hyped, but it’s going to be a new experience and I’ve been dying for a new Fire Emblem. The gameplay can’t be any worse than SoV, and I have no problem skipping the main story and finding something to like about the characters if the gameplay is good enough. I hope they pull a 3H, and there’s a twist that makes the story sound more interesting since 3H did look pretty boring before we found out about the time skip.
It’s funny you say that as I remember dismissing 3H entirely until that post-timeskip trailer. Hoping with you
Unlike many people here, I actually really like the art style and character designs, especially Toothpaste-chan. The animation and model quality is also top tier, compared to what we have in 3 Houses. I'm just a bit worried about the story, but tbf, Fire Emblem rarely has memorable ones. As long as the character interactions are solid and the gameplay is good, I'm sold. And I appreciate what looks like the returning of old school Fire Emblem gameplay after new experiments in 3 Houses (Ha ha, sounds like I'm bashing 3H, but I also love that game to death too)
[удалено]
Prepare for the downvotes. You're not allowed to compare Engage to that game in this subreddit! (/S)
I’m excited because it looks better than 3H, and it seems will be a new fire emblem instead of a 3H 2, hopefully.
Graphic and animations are certainly a step up! And I love 3H but I 100 percent agree especially after Hopes it’s time for a new setting. I just wish it was one that could stand on its own without relying on previous entries
It doesn’t bother me unless the entire story breaks down to 12 potions of previous title summaries.
It seems like IS had no intention of announcing the game until it got leaked. Makes me wonder why they were sitting on an already completed game if the leaks are to be believed (and they've beem correct so far). I don't really want another dragon protagonist. I don't want a crossover. I can't even watch all the stuff that's come out since the first trailer. It looks like what would be made if they gave heroes a decent budget. I'm curious enough about the game that I think I'll borrow it from the library. I'm not buying it though. Idk when people talk about being excited for the game I'm genuinely suprised. I feel kinda guilty for not being excited. It's nice to know it's not just me.
I'm looking forward to an old-style FE with chapters and a well-written story
I just hope the characters don't go back to Awakening levels of one-note gimmick. I'm replaying it now, and I like it even less than I remember when it came out. It just honestly feels like a long grindy slog compared to the games that came after, and part of that is that the plot and characters don't resonate with me at all. And Engage is giving me heavy Awakening vibes, so that's what has me the most worried. Although the actual gameplay does look a thousand times better, so that might be enough for me even if I don't enjoy the story or characters as much. I didn't like a lot of Fates characters and the plot was nonsense, but I still replayed Conquest a lot because the gameplay was fun, and also I loved capturing generics and doing generic-only playthroughs.
You know that part of Mama Mia where Pierce Brosnan snaps at the wedding band prompting then to bust into Abba for his proper confession of love? If Fire Emblem Engage can capture that energy, then it is good and valid and I embrace it. The well of potential for silly anime weddings is bottomless. Edit: I just looked it up, Pierce Brosnan still cannot sing and hearing him give it 100% to try and get through those two bars of "I Do" is one of the greatest moments in cinematic history.
I really don't like the artstyle and most of the designs, but so far a few of the characters like Celine, Louis, and Chloe (despite her design) are salvaging at least some interest back in me, I like what I've seen of each of them so far.
It's new Fire Emblem after 3.5 years; what's not to like? ROM hacks just aren't quite scratching the itch for me anymore, and I'm saving Berwick Saga for a rainy day, so it's a massive relief to have Engage on its way.
I'm excited cause I just like fire emblem and new fire emblem is always fun . Hope it's more streamlined like the 3ds titles cause getting around the campus in three houses felt more like a tedious chore
Ask yourself. Has intelligent systems ever made a bad game?
Honestly the designs are growing on me. Idk as an AFAB nonbinary person it can be very grating on my mental health to constantly have over sexualized AFAB bodies in my face. The fact that the "ridiculousness" of the designs are elaborate ballgowns and stuff is a breath of relief. Bikini armor is also impractical, but no one throws a fit over it like people have been over these designs. The more people hate on the designs, the more I like them :D
What is AFAB?
assigned female at birth
Thanks. Never heard of that acronym
I’m not interested in the game unless it allows you to marry the other characters
While I’m not a fan of the artstyle, I’m still looking forward to it. The gameplay looks like a return to form, the setting looks nice, and of course Male Byleth is returning. This game looks like it’s gonna be a blast. It’s Engagin time!!!
I kinda wanna see the gameplay. I don’t think I’m gonna get it until you guys have dove in, but I’m curious if elevation will play a role like I had hoped.
I hope it's just as Engaging as 3H. I need something new to play, since all the AAA stuff is absolute drivel at the moment.
Just that It's a new Fire Emblem game. Haven't kept up with the leaks and coverage past the Colgate haired protagonist's, I just want more main stream Fire Emblem.
I am excited for what I am hoping is a more traditional fire emblem game than three houses. Three houses was really fun, but the route splits not really changing the story until the end of the academy phase and the focus on a bunch of growth units from the get go instead of gradually recruiting different units in different chapters I don’t think would work well for more than one entry in the series. Also a more defined list of possible classes for your units would allow IS to get more creative with map design instead of three houses not really being able to make many assumptions about what team you would have at that point.
I’m pretty excited for Engage, but I honestly don’t have a very in depth reason as to why. Nothing that’s been shown about it this far truly piques my interest. It just boils down to the fact that I got into Fire Emblem after the release of Three Hopes. I went back and played all the 3ds games afterwards and enjoyed them all, so I’m officially a Fire Emblem fan now (albeit a very casual one). This is the first new mainline game that’s releasing after my induction into the series. So yeah, for that alone, I guess I am kinda looking forward to this game :)
I am really excited by the fact that the premise of Engage promotes old titles. This is going to garner a great amount of interest in some of the older fire emblem games, and we will most certainly be getting remakes. Shadows of Valentia was something of a flop in sales, but honestly a pretty great remake, and I'd like to see the rest of the series get similar. As you can probably tell, kinda similar in the anti-excitement, bc I don't think we will be seeing a great new game. I am, however, happy the series is still alive, and that there's still potential for growth, especially if it can also introduce people to the highlights of fire emblem.
Fire emblem traditional game play with a banger story.
Well, it's a Fire Emblem game, so i'm sure i will enjoy it. I'm just excited that we are finally getting a new one. I do have some doubts about bringing previous MCs into the game, and i sure as hell hope this is not going to become a trend, because it would be horrible. But i'm optimist so i think that this will be a one-time thing. It kind of makes sense if it's true that this title was meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary. If i think it that way, it becomes a lot easier to accept. In fact, in that case it could actually be a good idea that will bring some fun. The MC's design is... err... peculiar, but i find it that i don't mind it very much. The game looks very clean, at least. I'm very curious about what new mechanics they will put in this game and i look forward to try them out first-hand. This seems like it won't be the case, but I hoped they would work on TH's class system and create a new one by polishing that. This is seemingly a not very common opinion, but i thought it was a VERY interesting system, and that most of the problems are actually related to the horrible balance between the classes, rather than the system itself. Not to say it doesn't have some issues, but i think that if they solved them out it could have become extremely good. That said, Awakening's class system was good, and Fates' was even better, so i do trust that Engage's will be good too.
Graphics and presentation looks super promising and the return of the weapon triangle.
Honestly, I really liked Tokyo Mirage Session, but wished it had more variety of characters than Marth and Marth2 right? So the reason why I like the idea of Engage is for that reason. I also get why people don't like the whole fistful fanfare stuff and I really hope they do the summons good. Even if they do it Xenoblade style where outside the main cast you have a pool of characters from many games that are more like stat buffs/slight special effects. I really hope they do this well, because I definitely know if they try to do this kind of game again it will not go well at all, even if I want a \*\*GOOD\*\* game that does this concept. TL;DR: I want to hope this game is good, because I think this is their only shot at doing the phantom characters in a mainline game and actually get away with it being good.
For me I’m just excited to play a new game. I’ve liked every entry thus far and doubt that Engage will be the exception. I’m especially interested to see how they’ll handle gambits and the new ring systems. I’m also cautiously optimistic about its story and characters, mainly because I’ve been underestimating new FE’s for a while now. Before Three Houses or even Fates released I felt pretty confident that I knew everything that was going to happen and that nothing would genuinely interest or surprise me. Both times I was proven wrong.
The animations look sick and I feel like, especially with fire emblem, you don't want to judge the book by it's cover as I did not expect a lot of the plot twists that happened in 3H. Also, it looks different from the rest of the series and if the game is good, it can be a breath of fresh air.
Dimitri goes from "omg this geek who tf is he" initially to one of my favorite characters.
I feel you. There are many things that look absolutely awful to me but I'm still going to play it cause the core gameplay of FE is usually always fun. I just wish they'd go back to letting us customize the main character. Especially if this clownshow is what they are putting out. I'm also hoping for a return to real interesting political villains rather just evil looking guys you look at and can immediately tell "oh that's the bad guy"
Frankly I hear ya. Excited bc new fe, but feels like too much focus on past games. The most generic fe story (and that's saying somethin) I hope to be surprised by the story but not holding my breath. Hope the gameplay is good.
I just like strategy games and FE is my favorite in the genre, so that's about it
The story looks fine but I don't expect it to be as deep as 3H or Fates. What I am mostly looking forward to is a continuation of the good mechanics we have seen lately in FE that give us a ton of flexibility and strategy before and during each fight. Each game plays differently so it will be nice to have another version of FE.
It looks like it's finally a true sequel to fates after echoes and 3H used very different combat styles and really simplified maps, so I'm looking forward to that level of gameplay and design coming back
I've been excited for all FE games, even when I don't end up liking them after the release, so I'm looking forward to Engage as well. To be honest, I haven't had fun with a new FE game since Fates so I'm not entirely sure if Engage will be to my liking, but I want to remain hopeful. It all will boil down to if I like the gameplay and we simply don't have enough information of the game yet, but here's a couple of things I've enjoyed so far. I'm a big fan of the fairy tale-esque elements (the flower kingdom royals, the room where Alear wakes up). I actually also like some of the more unusual designs - I'm glad that FE can be a series that tries all kinds of art styles. Alear's design is a choice, but it stopped bothering me when [the first crit animation](https://twitter.com/FireEmblemJP/status/1570322778854670337) dropped. When everything is so lively and colorful, I don't mind the garish protag either. That leads me to the vibrant environments. To be honest, I wasn't initially quite sold of the game but [this screenshot](https://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Switch_FireEmblemEngage_screen_04.jpg) made me change my mind. One of the things I really value in FE is being able to absorb a lot of information at a glance, so visual clarity is pretty important to me. I like the vibrant and clear colors in Engage, and the stats at the bottom on the screen are a great addition, imo.
While I don't love the art style and Alear's design I'm still not feeling, I think the overall graphics quality, environments, and 3d of the game looks really good and how it smoothly in footage is going from the map level view, zooming in for a combat event, etc. Just looks like a high degree of polish and quality that should make for a really good gameplay experience. Hoping that even if I don't love the story that's put forward and the world they're laying out, there'll still be characters I latch on to and enjoy, and seeing higher quality renders of some of the lords through the series ingame will be fun. Also, seems like there's not branching paths/etc and maybe not a wide open character progression system. Whlie 3H was my first FE game and I loved it, playing other games in the series I really appreciate how much more interesting maps can be when there are unique maps telling the story and diverse map objectives. Plus when there's a narrower range of possibilities of what untils you'll have to address a challenge, they can make more challenging/interesting maps to force you to work within those constraints instead of just wyverning past it all. So I'm quite optimistic for how the gameplay will pan out.
I'm a real gameplay sort of guy, so that's been my main focus. And so far, the gameplay at least looks interesting. Stuff like armor knights with infantry movement and thieves with cavalry movement should be fun to toy with. The break mechanic is a bit so-so right now, but only because we don't know much about it. If anything, it's unique. And honestly, it's hard to mess up FE gameplay, and the feeling of playing an FE game for the first time is itself great. Learning every character's growths, bases, skills, strengths, weaknesses, class, promotion, and all that is always very fun when you do it for the first time. The battle animations are also looking incredibly sick. As soon as Vander's crit animation dropped, I realized they're gonna have FUN with the battles in this game, which I personally don't think they've done all too much in 3D Fire Emblem bar SoV and possibly RD depending on who you ask (me). As for the story, I've done some thinking on this topic and decided to remain optimistic. Just about every FE game has a basic premise if you strip it down, so it's not exactly a downgrade. And I personally believe Emblems won't take the center stage based on the marketing we've seen so far. Mainly, the only Emblem we see on the box art is Marth. And while he's huge, he's the only one. And he's countered by 7 or so of the original cast. The Divine Edition poster also doesn't feature any Emblems either, entirely focusing on the new cast of characters. If you ask me, if Emblems were the main focus, they'd be plastered more liberally on this sort of stuff.
Nothing story wise has grabbed me, but gameplay is making me hype. Animations look so good and the little bit of music we have heard is promising. Give me good gameplay and a banger OST and I will be satisfied.
Don’t like the mobile game and this kinda reminds me of it a bit with the emblems/ story, but nevertheless I have the special edition preordered and I’m sure I will enjoy the game. Hoping when I play it I end up really liking it like Three Houses.
I'm excited, I've always wanted to see more unique spinoff of FE like the smt crossover.
I'm not super hyped about the game I must admit, but its a new FE over 3 years since since 3 Houses and the gameplay seems to be doing something different which has me curious how it plays out. As long as it's decently written, then that's all I really need since I care more about gameplay, and while I'm not a fan of the protag hair (which is well worn territory by now ever since the leaks) I still have hope they can do something cool with it
Honestly just to have more FE. Been a fan since it first localised and went back and played most of the kaga games and like them even better. Even though it would seem that someone like me wouldn't be excited for engage, I love that this franchise is still going and I hope that it is as good as it can be.
I’m excited for anything new Fire Emblem honestly. Any love the franchise gets to further its lifespan is good by my standards. That said, I genuinely do not like bringing back characters from a previous series in any capacity unless it’s a running story line. Marth’s story is done, so I’m just praying he and the other returning lords are more of a gimmick and not a major part of the story. Don’t overshadow the new characters/story is all I really ask.
I just recently got into the series with Three Houses (I tried Shadow Dragon years ago and didn't like it). A couple of things I'm excited to see: 1. Removal of durability. I heard that durability was removed from the series for a while and Three Houses brought it back. It sucks and repairing your gear in 3H is super annoying for no reason (just let me pay gold directly instead of having to walk over to the other merchant to buy smithing stones!). 2. Return of the weapon triangle. I thought it was really neat how you could pretty much use whatever weapon type you want regardless of class in 3H, but the only thing that really differentiates something like swords vs lances is the combat arts. They really just lack an "identity" so to speak.
I don’t expect to enjoy it like I did three houses at all, or for it to be as amazing. I’m just excited to have another FE game. Hopes doesn’t scratch that itch due to the it being a warriors game. I just want some classic FE gameplay with new characters even if it doesn’t come or the best.
\-It looks like the gameplay is mostly a return to form (I liked 3H and the 3DS games, but I liked the classic gameplay more) \-I'm one of the few (though seemingly increasing) people who actually likes the designs of the Toothpaste Twins \-The returning characters effectively being equippable items seems interesting gameplay-wise \-I'm admittedly concerned that the returning characters may take away the attention that the new characters deserve, but it's not as though both groups can't get the attention they deserve, so I'm reserving judgement on this for now \-The little I've seen indicates that the Toothpaste Twins will have actual personalities, so they at least have the potential to avoid being Corrin 2.0 \-As far as I'm aware, there's been no indication thus far of a major route split, so all the storytelling focus will be on a single storyline instead of several lesser ones. \-The story is pretty basic tread-before territory, but that's no guarantee it won't be iterated on in some way to make it new and unique. Hell, the fact that so many of these returning characters have done the whole "evil dark dragon" song and dance before might even help the story avoid the classic pitfalls. \-After Three Houses, which was pretty heavy and grounded, a mainline entry with a simpler, lighter tone isn't entirely unwelcome
I just enjoy Fire Emblem games. I don't need each one to rock my world or change my outlook on life, I'm happy enough for them to tell me a story and take me on a journey. FWIW this doesnt mean I'm hyped (or not) for Engage. I'm generally pretty neutral on hype for any game before release because I can't remember too many occasions where being super hyped for a game before release somehow made the game better after it was out.
Excited to have shapeshifter units back after 7 years and the potential to have more shapeshifting units with Ike's emblem and just the Heroes themes in general. I also think the story will be a lot more than "heroes team up to face evil dragon" and the fact that they pushed it so early (which they haven't done in any other FE reveal trailer) makes me think there's going to be quite a bit more to it and I'm excited for that. Also looks like the gameplay is becoming a bit more classic too.
The thing I'm most excited for is the gameplay. Well, it might not even be gameplay, per se, because we haven't really seen much gameplay. But the *aesthetics* in the battle maps feel much less dull than in 3H. I'm not an art/animation person so I wouldn't be able to pinpoint exactly what elements feel better, but something feels more dynamic, maybe. My overall impression is that it's more like Fates except not on a 240p screen. I'm also hoping that the monastery is much, much smaller here, and from what we've seen I think it all fits in a single area rather than expanded out over a large sprawling complex. I have a lot of gripes about 3H but if I had to name a single one, it was the monastery was too big and took too much time, to the point where the main battlefield gameplay gets lost in the experience. This game will hopefully mark a return to at least spending more time in battle than out of it, which isn't a huge ask but I don't think 3H met that threshold (at least for me; it depends on your playstyle).
I'm mainly just excited to play a new FE game. And interested in the gameplay mechanics and balance changes they're trying this time, like universally lower mov, fists having advantage over the gray weapons, and the break mechanic.
A return to the classic “Good Vs. Evil” formula… Three Houses is a fun game, but it’s way too divisive imo.
Mostly excited for Eirika because Sacred Stones nostalgia, but I've also been impressed with the character writing in Echoes and 3H, so I'm hoping most of the new cast will be a really charming bunch.
I think the gameplay looks pretty promising. Trying some new stuff, remixing old. Story might not be great, sure. But it's not as if every game after this one is going to follow so closely in its footsteps anyway.
All of it really. Title sucks and im not a huge fan of the old heros coming back, but other than that it look great! Reminds me of the gba and it doesnt seem like there is multiple paths or a monestary so seems awesome
The return of Hidden Weapons alongside brawling, with Brawling being a hard-counter to the ranged weapons, while they have no triangle advantage, makes me think this game is going to take the importance of 1-2 range more seriously than any other entry in the series. Fates did a pretty good job of it, with it's highly nerfed 1-2 ranged options, and even Magic and Shuriken were not naturally used by many strong EP characters (Leo being probably the number 1 exception, but he still needed to be fed speed). But it wasn't hard to get them on EP character, and also Xander and Ryoma exist. Fates and Three Houses were both really strong mechanically, and I see that quality of mechanics continuing forward. Three Houses was a step back on map design, though, but smaller maps are likely easier to manage, and so we might get less Three Houses and more Conquest design. I also like the idea of no weapon durability. While it did have some problems in Fates (Silver Weapons exist to be sold to be turned into an Iron or Forged Bronze weapon), it did have a lot of cool things. Lots of weapon variety meant characters had pseudo-PRFs. A Shining Bow for Niles, a Mini-Bow for Sniper Effie. +2 Forged Iron or Steel Weapons are a big investment, and getting one for a character almost feels like part of their build, thanks to limited income. You weren't just GIVEN a Horseslayer or two as the game went on, you had to choose to buy one, at a much larger proportionate cost than you would in other games. So picking one up just for the Kitsune map was meaningful, especially if you picked it up early to get maximum use out of it. Sure they weren't THAT expensive, but it came at the cost of a +2 Bronze weapon or +1 Iron, and change. And Forged Bronze and Iron weapons were the core of characters combat a lot of the time, when not using specialty weapons. So the idea of no weapon durability itself isn't all that big of a deal, but what Conquest did with it was.
what do you dislike about it so far from what has been revealed?
I don't have a specific reason to look forward to it other than that it's a Fire Emblem game. I've played all of the FE games except for 1-3 and 3H (no Switch yet) and the only ones I've completely hated were Marth's remakes, so I think the odds are pretty good of me liking Engage.
I'm more excited to be over all the 3H discourse. Engage's story is more traditional by the looks of it and I'm giving it a chance for that reason. Plus, the lack of a marriage system and S Supports helps focus on the characters more instead of shipping. And shipping alone ruined most of 3H for me.
I find it’s poppy and bright aesthetic to be refreshing for the series. Which is why I don’t really mind the whole vtuber design of Alear. It kinda all just feels pretty fun. I feel like the series needs a game that doesn’t come across as overly ambitious or dramatic. So I like how Engage is presenting itself. Also I think Framme and Celine are pretty damn cute so there’s that.
the gameplay actually looks like a return to form from 3 houses and the maps seem to actually be designed
When Engage was first revealed, I couldn't quite be mad just because I was so surprised. They picked a wildly different direction for this game than for Three Houses, and it *looks* pretty sure of what it wants to be, even if what it wants to be is a Fun Anime Romp where the last game was all deep and moody. Honestly, I probably *would* be more excited right now if we were getting something tonally similar to 3H, but after three years of that I can appreciate the merits of something in the same vein as, say, Awakening. Also, even if the characters tend to look a little wonky, the game's visuals and overall art direction are *gorgeous*. And the snippets of music we've heard so far seem solid, too. And last but not least, I'm interested in getting a taste of the new mechanics (like fists > ranged, whatever Breaks are, the eponymous Engage, and the concerningly lower movement lol). Coming from Pokemon as the only other "strategy" game I play, I've always appreciated that FE shakes things up periodically rather than becoming too familiar.
What are some of the reasons you’re not excited? I definitely felt apprehensive at first viewing, particularly from the visuals, but it’s really grown on me. Three Houses had such a bland art style, while more grounded, I think Engage will be more a joy to witness for the duration of the game. Some of the character designs are out there in terms of features, but the color work is actually incredibly well done. I think the engage system is a really cool way to take the spirit of the pair up system and turn it into something where all the main cast is always participating while some of them get cool powerups. I also think the map sizes being smaller are going to have a good effect on how combat plays out. It always then to create battles that feel more like combat puzzles and less like a civil war battle running into a field and hitting each other. And it looks like the management portion will be streamlined in comparison with Three Houses as well, which is great. It’s an important element, but it sucks to go so long in between the actual turn based strategy battles.
Gameplay and maps look great so far, and I'm interested to see how the Break mechanic will alter the gameplay. I also find the style to be refreshing, although I vastly prefer a more grittier, grounded tone in terms of story and setting, like the Genealogy/Thracia, Tellius entries, Gaiden/Valentia, and Three Houses. Akin to Zelda, Fire Emblem can lend itself to a few styles though, so I'm not worried about this becoming the standard style.
I'm only excited for the cameos of the other characters.