Fire Emblem Engage

[Holla]

​

Fire Emblem Engage releases tomorrow. Anyone else planning on getting this game?

I’ve ordered the Divine Edition and it just shipped today so I might get it tomorrow if I’m lucky. I’ll admit when first announced I wasn’t sure how to feel about the whole pairing up with emblems thing. Also the main character design sure is something… It’s grown on me a bit though so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I am a pretty big FE fan after all.

Anyways, feel free to use this thread to also discuss anything about the game but please use spoilers when necessary, thanks!

​

 

[Midoriya]

I'm interested in getting it. May hold off though because I still haven't finished all the routes in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Lol.

 

[solace]

Woo-hoo! Big FE fan too! I also ordered a Divine Edition and a regular copy for game use. Ordered at GameStop so that I could get the tarot cards.

I agree that the main character design was a bit shocking. Hopefully, it will grow on me too!

Just super excited. It's been over 3 years since Fe3H. So ready to play some tactical style gameplay. Def will be sharing some FE stories, thoughts and reactions with this community

 

[Holla]

Woo-hoo! Big FE fan too! I also ordered a Divine Edition and a regular copy for game use. Ordered at GameStop so that I could get the tarot cards.

I agree that the main character design was a bit shocking. Hopefully, it will grow on me too!

Just super excited. It's been over 3 years since Fe3H. So ready to play some tactical style gameplay. Def will be sharing some FE stories, thoughts and reactions with this community

I had a preorder initially at GameStop too but seems only the US GameStops are getting the cards so I cancelled mine after securing a Divine Edition copy at TheSource. Preorder bonuses are almost always worse or non-existent here for some reason. Oh well I’m just happy I got a Divine Edition as they keep selling out within minutes of going live.

I look forward to reading what you have to say about the game. It really has been a while since Three Houses though I do prefer game devs to spend more time on a polished game even if that means waiting a few years in between. (Take a hint Pokemon, lol).

 

[Ryumia]

I pre-ordered the game, but my copy of it isn't coming until the 25th. Did my pre-order with GameStop and just went with the standard edition. Found out on reddit that online customers would have to get their pre-ordered bonus at one of their stores instead of being shipped with the game. It's pretty upsetting that I would have to get them that way.

 

[Holla]

Looks like I got lucky and my Divine Edition was delivered today! I have work for a few more hours and an errand to take care of after but I look forward to being able to open it when I get home tonight.

 

[solace]

I had a preorder initially at GameStop too but seems only the US GameStops are getting the cards so I cancelled mine after securing a Divine Edition copy at TheSource. Preorder bonuses are almost always worse or non-existent here for some reason. Oh well I’m just happy I got a Divine Edition as they keep selling out within minutes of going live.

I look forward to reading what you have to say about the game. It really has been a while since Three Houses though I do prefer game devs to spend more time on a polished game even if that means waiting a few years in between. (Take a hint Pokemon, lol).

It really is a shame that the US GameStop is the only one (that I am aware of) that is actually giving a pre-order game bonus.
I am really happy that you were able to secure a Divine Edition as they are sold out! So yay!

Been playing a little this morning and I got over the character design because Alear's personality is pretty amazing.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as well!

And I totally agree with you on waiting until the devs to get it right. LOL.. Pokemon... so sad

I pre-ordered the game, but my copy ofi isn't coming until the 25th. Did my pre-order with GameStop and just went with the standard edition. Found out on reddit that online customers would have to get their pre-ordered bonus at one of their stores instead of being shipped with the game. It's pretty upsetting that I would have to get them that way.

Sorry to hear that. I would be really upset as FE is one on my favorite games and it looks like it means a lot to you too. I didn't receive my Pokemon Scar/Viol pre-order bonus from GameStop either. What is up with these companies being so uptight with pre-order bonuses recently.

Looks like I got lucky and my Divine Edition was delivered today! I have work for a few more hours and an errand to take care of after but I look forward to being able to open it when I get home tonight.

Yay! I hope your day goes by super fast! It is release day! Prepping dinner for tonight and once I am done, I will be playing all day/evening. Having so much fun already!


Decorated my gaming room FE style with my gaming cat by my side for FE Game Day! Husband ordered two Divine editions and a standard game so we received 3 sets of tarot cards.

Happy FE Game Day everyone!

 

[Trundle]

I'm curious on people's first impressions. I heard the gameplay is good but the story is worse than Fates-level cringe (one opening cutscene in particular). I'm still not sure if I'll pick it up yet or not.

 

[Ryumia]

Sorry to hear that. I would be really upset as FE is one on my favorite games and it looks like it means a lot to you too. I didn't receive my Pokemon Scar/Viol pre-order bonus from GameStop either. What is up with these companies being so uptight with pre-order bonuses recently.

Yeah. It's really disappointing for me to find out about their pre-order bonus this way. They couldn't even bother to e-mail this information and I was lucky enough to be scrolling on reddit. Visited two GameStop stores today and they didn't have them in stock yet. One store told me to try again on Monday for the pre-order bonus and the other one wasn't sure when they were coming. So... I guess I'll have to try again on Monday for it. Never knew pre-order bonuses were gonna be this much of a pain.

Anyways... Congrats @solace and @Holla on getting your copies of the game.

I'm curious on people's first impressions. I heard the gameplay is good but the story is worse than Fates-level cringe (one opening cutscene in particular). I'm still not sure if I'll pick it up yet or not.

First Impressions? For me... I wasn't expecting too much of the game when the first trailer of the game came out. Seeing the design of the Avatar character revealed that as much to me as well as some of the design of other characters. So... It's kind of hard to take the game seriously, but I don't think that would make the game less fun for me.

Not sure if the story of the game is worse as Fates since I've never played any of those games. From what I've seen in the game trailers... The story seems pretty straightforward and generic. I read some comments on reddit that the hard difficulty does make the game a challenge though. So if the story seems lacking then gameplay could make up for it.

 

[LoyalDragonfly]

I wish that Fire Emblem games would let you go back to customizing the MC like in Awakening and Fates. I took one look at the avatar characters and pretty much lost all interest in this game. Why have they been so down on character customization, anyway?? It was one of my favorite parts of those older games...

 

[Holla]

I wish that Fire Emblem games would let you go back to customizing the MC like in Awakening and Fates. I took one look at the avatar characters and pretty much lost all interest in this game. Why have they been so down on character customization, anyway?? It was one of my favorite parts of those older games...

I can totally understand wanting customization but at the same time I can see why they’ve chosen not to lately. Fates and Awakening both suffered from mediocre animated cut scenes due to how generic they had to keep Robin and Corrin in them due to being fully customizable. Robin always had their hood on in these scenes and I think I most we saw of Corrin was their hands? It really hurt the immersion of your unique looking character imo even though I do enjoy customizing characters.

Since only doing a set character for male and female in Three Houses and Engage they’ve been able to fully animate them in these scenes with full facial expressions as they only need to do it for 2 looks and not 100s. Which makes these scenes much better imo. I also must say Alear is the first “MC” who actually has an interesting personality. I found, Robin, Corrin and especially Byleth were basically generic MCs that were pretty bland for the most part. Alear is fully voiced too which I absolutely love when compared to Byleth. Yes Alear’s visual design isn’t the greatest but the gameplay in Engage has been so much fun it doesn’t bother me too much.

Also funny you call Fates and Awakening old games. They aren’t new sure but I wouldn’t call them old. The actual old games didn’t have a character where you were technically them at all and those are some of the best games in the series in my opinion.

Anyways I don’t mean to invalidate your comment on wanting customization I completely get it, but just wanted to share my thoughts on why they likely haven’t been doing it lately.

 

[LoyalDragonfly]

Anyways I don’t mean to invalidate your comment on wanting customization I completely get it, but just wanted to share my thoughts on why they likely haven’t been doing it lately.

No worries; everyone doesn't need to have the same opinions. Anyway, I don't mean to be pedantic, but I did say older, not old; as in, Awakening and Fates are older games than Engage and Three Houses.

When it comes to the games that are older than Awakening and Fates, I have only played Fire Emblem 7/Blazing Sword all the way through. I actually like the player avatar in that game maybe the most, as far as characterization goes; I felt it was fairly easy to insert myself into the role of silent tactician, and I felt connected to the other characters in the story without having to be forced into the role of chosen one. The only thing that I was sad about was that I couldn't participate in combat as a unit. So when Awakening came out and let me do just that, I was ecstatic.

I agree that the characterization of the avatar in Awakening and Fates is quite weak (I actually rather strongly dislike how 'Corrin' is written in Fates, in particular). The appeal of the customizable avatar in those games is that, for me, I like to make OCs and those games allowed me to make OCs that could actually participate in combat as playable units. Yes, you can say that these characters are Robin and Corrin and not whoever it is that I was making, but I could mostly ignore the main story and focus on my own head canon for these characters. Starting with Three Houses, this option was taken away, and thus I lost interest in the series moving forward; the appeal was gone. I could no longer be either a self-insert (like in Blazing Sword) or make my own OCs (like in Awakening and Fates).

Personally, my ideal situation would be to not even have customization tied in with the avatar at all, but rather end up something like Final Fantasy Tactics, with the ability to create generic units. That way they can still characterize their own characters the way they want to, and I can still make my own OCs as part of the army without also having to have my characters shoehorned into the role of chosen one, or otherwise characterized in an unsatisfying way.

 

[Ryumia]

I finally received my copy of Fire Emblem Engage in the mail today. Plus... The art cards and steel book that I've ordered on Mercari. I had decided to just give up on trying to get my pre-order bonus from GameStop. They've been making me go around in circles for it and I was just so exhausted from it all. If I had known this was going to happen then I would have probably pre-ordered the divine edition instead of the standard edition. But... I am glad that I was at least able to purchase the art cards and the steel book from someone.


Just got up to chapter 5 in the game at the moment and I am currently waiting for my Nintendo Switch OLED to finish charging up. I'm liking the game so far and can't wait to get the rest of the Emblems. Most excited to get Eirika's ring in the game.

 

[Midoriya]

Just started the game. I'm only on chapter three, but I'm having a lot of fun with it already. The engage mechanic opens up SO many possibilities and is just really cool in and of itself.

For reference, Awakening was my first FE game. I technically beat the Golden Deer route in Three Houses, so I gave myself a pass to start this one even though I haven't finished all the routes in that game.

Oh, and I'm playing on Hard/Classic. Thought about going for Maddening right from the get-go, but didn't want to torture myself, lol.

 

[Bluelady]

I’m on chapter 13 and the story has been fun thus far. However, I do hope that they patch the skirmishes eventually. Grinding exp for Anna, Chloe, and the tanky units is difficult outside of chapters and the Arena. They’re too under leveled.

 

[Midoriya]

I’m on chapter 13 and the story has been fun thus far. However, I do hope that they patch the skirmishes eventually. Grinding exp for Anna, Chloe, and the tanky units is difficult outside of chapters and the Arena. They’re too under leveled.

Yeah, this is exactly why I've been spamming Chloe in the arena and probably will for tanky units as well.

I'm on chapter seven now. Taking my time with it and enjoying everything that there is to offer. Somniel really does have a lot of cool features, and isn't too spacious, which is how I felt about the castle in Three Houses.

 

[Midoriya]

Just completed chapter seven last night after having done some skirmishes and paralogue battles. Chloe is absolutely wrecking everything now, and she's a Griffin Knight now. Case in point she took on the entire squadron at the end of chapter seven by herself and won. They tried to pincer her with the boss attacking last, but the boss missed and she took out the boss thanks to Emblem Claude. I've also upped Citrinne to be a Sage, so I have someone with good magic skills. Looking forward to the rest of the game.

 

[Midoriya]

I'm on chapter 13 now, and am really really REALLY loving this game. Everything about it is great so far.

Also, somewhat spoilers but

Spoiler: story spoilers

I thought it was funny how they took away all of our rings at the end of chapter 10, yet at the beginning of chapter 11 my Chloe still had the Three Houses ring. Guess they couldn't take any unofficial ones.

Solm looks really interesting. I'm excited to play more battles on it. I'm currently trying to beat the special map for Lyn, but am getting rekt every time. I got close last time though. Here's hoping I get it when I play next.

 

[Foreverfox]

Our copy just came yesterday! I’m excited to start it, but need to finish S/V and Harvestella before starting haha. How is it compared to FE3H?

 

[Holla]

Our copy just came yesterday! I’m excited to start it, but need to finish S/V and Harvestella before starting haha. How is it compared to FE3H?

Engage is definitely different than Three Houses but in a good way for most people including myself. It’s more akin to Awakening according to most people and I agree. While I liked Three Houses the monastery stuff became way too repetitive to the point I’d just auto through most of it. Sure Engage has the Somniel which is similar but not nearly as grindy feeling plus most of the stuff feels optional. Skipping stuff in 3H made you feel like you were majorly gimping your team this isn’t really the case in Engage.

The actual level gameplay is very solid as well. The engage mechanic feels well balanced to me. You can’t be engaged all the time and there are definitely points were you really need to use it to be successful. It would be overpowered if you could just easily complete the game without it (like mega Pokémon in X/Y and ORAS for example) but thankfully it’s not like that at all.

I personally like this game more than Three Houses but everyone’s opinion is going to be different.