One of the good style to drop off 60 hours of your life
Fire Emblem Engage , like its duotone champion , is a game that splits itself down the middle . At certain moments , it ’s a level of heartache and deprivation . In others , it ’s a slapstick hoarded wealth hunt through a conveniently fraction nation . But diving deeper proves there ’s a spectrum of color hidden between those diametrically opposed theme , from Engage ’s plot to its gameplay .
A Familiar Story with New Faces
Fire Emblem Engage ’s story is a familiar one . Long ago , an ancient evil threatened to destroy the macrocosm . And through the effort of a audacious hoagie , it was seal away – but at great disbursement . That legendary hero fall into a 1,000 year slumber , only to come alive again on the same Clarence Day the ancient evil lead off to rouse itself .
That fabled submarine is Alear , the Divine Dragon . She and her entourage of vassal , royal , and bewildering misfits must take on that ancient evil , the Fell Dragon , before it tries to destroy the world again . And to do so they ’ll need the help of 12 Emblem Rings , stock within them the essence and cognisance of familiar poor boy from other macrocosm .
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It ’s a story that does n’t take many creative leaps , and it ’s likely you’re able to promise its twists and turns long before they happen . But as the level unravels , it grow progressively good . The first half - dozen chapters were almost painful to sit through . I cringed every time someone fell over themselves to grayish brown at the Divine Dragon ’s foot . But as the story reached its third act , those abominable minute were forgotten . In those final minute , the writing became excellent . Characters are yield depth , fight , and increment . They take on animation all their own . It felt like another biz entirely , and it ’s here that we see the full largeness of color that Fire Emblem Engage was hiding all along .
In those final hr , the authorship became excellent . Characters are given depth , fight , and maturation . They take on life story all their own .
But that ’s by and gravid what Fire Emblem Engage is . It ’s a nuanced game that get hitched with levity with moment of sombre . And by the last chapters , I was absolutely immersed . But this story feels secondary to the true marrow of the game : the combat organization .
Combat That Inspires Experimentation
Fire Emblem Engage , like past games , is a go - establish scheme RPG that has you overtop a wide of the mark salmagundi of units . Each unit has their own trenchant stats and growth rate , with over four dozen likely category options and promotion . Your nervy thief ? They can manage a fizgig while astride a wyvern if you so choose , and that ’s what produce this secret plan so enthralling .
But Emblem Rings offer a raw wrinkle . These souvenir volunteer their wearer a legion of benefits , from stat hike to unique , heritable skills , and even familiar weapons from years prospicient past . Using Emblem Rings requires a new mechanic called Engage , hence the biz ’s deed of conveyance . And once a building block is Engaged , a impermanent status effect , they ’ll have admission to a special , individual - consumption move that either does devastating damage or especial healing .
There are hundreds of style you may pick out to work up each whole , from their equipped accomplishment to their likely division promotions . And one of the best things about Fire Emblem Engage is almost every character you recruit is viable on the field of battle . That is , if you do n’t let them slip behind your independent team . Skirmishes and chapter you ’ll encounter grow more difficult , making it harder to bring an underleveled social unit into later chapter .
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And that leads me to where Fire Emblem Engage abide . There are very mild and censor spoilers beforehand , so feel free to bound off the next two paragraph . Almost midway through the game , you ’ll suffer entree to one of the most substantial components of class building . These portion are directly tied to weapon technique , a essence composition of class promotion .
You do regain these powerful resources , but they ’re returned in an order that makes specific course inaccessible until deep in the game . This significantly hinders your power to experiment with build , cutting one of Fire Emblem Engage ’s best parts for several chapter .
From a story stand , this deterrent did everything it necessitate to do . The frustration and weakness I felt was mirror perfectly by the Divine Dragon and her regular army . But that ca n’t take aside from how fun and mesh most of the maps are . They ’re well - balanced and well - craft , with most chapter and skirmish being challenging enough to keep you on your toe . After all , you do n’t desire your favourite characters to expire .
Hiya Papaya! A cast of loveable weirdos
Fire Emblem Engage is absolutely rife with the most ridiculous fictitious character , both in design and personality . At first glance , they can seem a little one - distinction . The princess of the peaceful floral land screw tea leaf . The wolf - riding knight is obsess with everything cool .
But you’re able to delve deeper into each character ’s personality . The Support System offers a aggregate of 4 potential cutscenes between each recruited character and the Divine Dragon . And you gain approach to these cutscenes by either having the Divine Dragon battle while next to a graphic symbol or plying them with a variety of gifts , which they might like or dislike . Horse Manure , which you ’ll have in abundance , is universally disliked for example . But almost no one will say no to a Spirit Gem .
Through these cutscenes , we get a genuine sense of who each part is . you could even proffer one character a Pact Ring . This ring is essentially a symbol of ageless partnership , and it can be given to anyone in the Divine Dragon ’s army . There is no gender lock ! But that does n’t mean all relationships are amatory . Some are firmly platonic , as they should be .
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Unfortunately , the Divine Dragon herself does n’t offer much in condition of personality . She ’s kind and considerate and … that ’s about it . The keep relationships between recruited characters are far more interesting . It ’s through these interaction we see the most subtlety and personality , and if you indue enough sentence you ’ll likely grow adoring of the foreign cast of weirdos who have decided to subsist and break down by your side .
Fire Emblem Engage has an cautionary combat system , a story that becomes moreengagingas it snuff it , and a kooky hurl that grow on you with each glide by chapter . But beyond all of that , it ’s a plot that ’s genuinely fun to encounter . I spent more than a few nights going , “ One more chapter , ” only to see that I ’d play well into the former hours of the aurora . And that ’s the brightest gold star I can put on any title .
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A copy of this game was provided by the newspaper publisher for brushup . survey on Nintendo Switch .
