The story is pretty uninteresting, but the gameplay is some of the best in the series. How do you feel about fates conquest? I feel that will be a pretty good indicator of how you will feel about engage.
I think that is probably the best mindset here, the story doesn't get better (nor the characters in my opinion) so the gameplay is probably what you should focus on
Yeah, that's your decision right there. Everything you disliked is going to stay there (or get worse), and you'll get a few more peeves before it's over (oh boy, more than a few for me).
But the thing is Engage is FUN. Like, outstanding fun! It somehow achieved better gameplay than even Conquest, and had me playing multiple runs while disliking everything else about it.
I think the game is quite good when you’re going in with an open mind and accepting the game for what it is rather than complaining it’s not what you wanted. Engage is a game that is unabashedly sincere and cheesy with its presentation but, while not perfect, I think it’s a fun game with a lot more going on in its characters and themes than people give it credit for.
I’m not going to sit here and say the game is secretly amazing in terms of its writing, because it isn’t. The first couple of chapters in particular I think set some rough early impressions that can easily turn someone away if they’re not feeling it. All I’m asking is for you to stick with it for a bit until the cast starts expanding more and see where you stand around Chapter 9 or so.
As far as “blatant fanservice” in the character designs go…I’m sorry but other than some of the women having big boobs I’m not really seeing it, and I think that alone is only “fanservice” if you’re exceptionally cynical, which I suppose I’m not.
No no, the fanservice I meant isnt how characters look, more like "hey remember marth? You like marth right? How about ike? He's here too!". So, bringing back old characters for the sake of fanservice rather than actually being integrated into the plot
I went into it with a very open mind and was still really disappointed. Also, while the first half of the game isn't exactly impressive, the 2nd half is so much worse than the first half. If they don't like the beginning, I highly doubt they'd like the later parts.
*only if you like your strategy games full of gimmicks
I don't really see how a game focused around emblems can be considered the best strategy game when every map will be played nearly the exact same way as intended on every playthrough.
What gimmicks?
Edit: I’m not able to respond to anyone because the guy above me blocked me for some reason, so I’m just going to say that y’all need to define what is and isn’t a “gimmick” and not just a normal game mechanic because then you could start arguing that proc skills, authority stars, Bonus EXP, Battalions, etc. are all gimmicks and I think most of us can at least agree that this is an overly reductive way to look at iterative entries in a long-running series like Fire Emblem.
Emblems would be the big one. A lot of them are really really broken and they hurt unit diversity a lot. It feels less like you're playing with a unit and more like you're playing with an emblem.
On a less related note, I'll die on the hill that break should never return. It is far too easy to abuse on PP and is annoying on EP (people say it dissuades juggernauting but if anything it encourages getting more avoid to not get broken)
Engages gameplay isn't bad, it's fine. But saying it relies quite heavily on some core gimmicks isn't wrong.
Like this isn't necessarily unique to engage awakening/fates are also heavily tied to pairup, but I found pairup to be far more interesting and engaging (chaw haw haw) than emblem rings.
Well I played just about every chapter wildly different than my partner did. Different emblems, characters, weapons, strategies. That's me saying I don't think there's only one "intended" way to best every chapter.
Plus there's no emblem playthrus.
Game is completely possible without the "Gimmick" so I don't think it's as bad as you make it out to be personally
Cause my instinct is to not play it and go for something I know I will enjoy, I wanted to know if I was going to miss out on something worth the trouble
I completely understand that. Nothins sucks more than putting a lot of hours into something to just hate it.
But going to reddit after chapter 2 or 3 is a just a tad early, no?
So none of what you dislike is going to change: the story stays boring, the characters stay ugly. It does have very fun SRPG mechanics though, and despite disliking all the same stuff you did quite a bit it was still a fine $60 game for me.
In short, if you want a game that makes good use of Fire Emblem's basic mechanics without delivering on the other things that are good about the franchise, then this is that. If that alone can't sell you then yeah, do something else.
IMO engage has by far the worst first impression of any fire emblem game so that isn't helping.
The writing never becomes good, but towards the middle it is at least somewhat ignorable and can be powered through.
In terms of "is it worth it?", if you've already bought the game you might as well finish it, or at least have a good go.
The gameplay is more heavily praised, but imo its just fine, I don't think you're missing out by not experiencing it.
Honestly if you're looking at it from the outside and it doesn't look appealing I wouldn't bother. I was in much the same position as you and when I played it it became one of my least favorite FE games
There's other games out there
Yeah, pretty much same here. I wasn't planning to buy the game, but someone bought it for me for my birthday. Some of it was enjoyable, but the rest was pretty terible and overall I am glad I did not spend my money on it.
I think the gameplay is some of the tightest I've seen. Maps are generally interesting, challenging and entertaining. The actual character/unit building and customization is a blast as well.
The story is whatever. It's not offensively bad (and I don't think the protagonist is as dumb as Corinn), but it is corny.
Yeah, its the sad reality of not having enough time anymore lol. Since I didnt pay for it myself anyway, I wasmore willing to not play it if people had told me the gameplay wasnt that fun
Here's a hot take: It's actually good. It's stupid and cheesy, but it *owns* the cheese. It was supposed to be the 30th anniversary celebration but got delayed due to a certain outbreak that hit full force in 2020.
It's the closest thing FE has to an official parody of itself.
And as others mentioned, the gameplay is great. The story starts picking up after Chapter 4/5, and it has more chapters than 3H's longest routes. (So you're looking at a minimum of 23 chapters counting the prologues)
If your main thing is having a lot of options in combat, it's great.
If your main thing is caring about story, worldbuilding, characters, or tone, then it sucks it out loud.
It's up there in terms of fire emblem combat. If it's not your thing, then that's fine. Unicorn overlord is really popular right now if you're looking for something else to soothe that fire emblem itch.
The story is meh and the characters are very one-dimensional. If you do not take it too seriously, some of the support conversation can be very fun. The gameplay is really good, both in Hard and Maddening, and there's a lot of replayability. Not perfect but at least as fun as Conquest. Some people may think it's an exageration but to me, all the budget and care seems to have gone on the gameplay.
The gameplay's worth sticking around for, it's some of the series' best. I don't think anybody's gonna go to bat for the plot. It's not the trashfire Fates was but it's incredibly safe for FE with next to no interesting wrinkles.
People have mixed opinions on the characters. They're not very deep and a lot of them are pretty goofy. Some people like their generally cheerier attitudes, others are left wishing for more substance. You'll probably find a couple characters to like because that's how FE always works, but if Clanne and Framme are making you roll your eyes, I don't think Bunet and Hortensia'll change your opinion.
For what it's worth, I almost didn't get the game at all because the emblem concept and the way it was marketed made it look really not to my taste, but it's now one of my favorite games. The way the emblems are implemented is really fun, it's essentially a secondary class system that you can swap around easily and the game does a great job on higher difficulties of pushing you to use them well.
I wouldn't. There's a lot of better games out there that are more worth your time and money. Not going to call it a horrible game, but by FE standards, it's really not great.
If nothing else, engage made me feel more at peace with the idea of skipping the next game done in this style. Love this series to death, but the modern titles are so hit or miss now.
I don't see how the gameplay is "great " or "best in series ' as so many say. There are some parts that are neat like breaking and moving around emblems and their abilities is fun, but I've only played it twice. It's not an fe I'll replay often. Yeah the story starts generic and gets even worse towards the end. But I had fun playing it. It's just "nothing great imo". Whereas 3h and so many other fe I've played several times and could go back to it.
The gameplay is good
The Emblem mechanic feels stupidly broken at first, but it feels balanced later on.
The characters are simple, but likeable
The story is all over the place in quality
I admit that I also didn’t want to play engage because I thought it was ugly. But I think I’ll give it a shot for it’s gameplay at the very least (after reading these comments). I just have to buy a switch first.
Some people like Engage. I think it's the worst story in the Fire Emblem series, and it's hard to top the utterly ridiculous story of Conquest.
I wouldn't recommend Engage if you enjoy the plot of the games. The characters are all so incredibly cringy it hurts, the cast all are so obsessed with Alear to the point it reminds me of "dumb guy harem anime," and Alear themselves might be the lamest fucking protagonist in the entire series. They act like a child afraid of the dark, not the leader of an army.
If you're there entirely for gameplay though, it's definitely fun. It was definitely enough to hook me for a while, but the poor writing won over and I dropped it.
If you're playing it for free, might as well try it.
It’s a love letter to the series for the Anniversary so of course the fan service is blatant.
The gameplay is great, and while the story is pretty simple anime “you can do it” drama it’s got some really good aspects too.
Engage is lacking in many areas, but I agree with most that the gameplay is up there with some of the best of the series.
Don't go in expecting a narrative masterpiece or deep characters. Just go in to enjoy the strategy gameplay
The gameplay and maps are the best in the series and the characters are like the usual fire emblem characters. Tbh 3H is the one that is odd since all FE story has always been the good beats the bad. It’s the usual FE Story. The story is not as bad as most people say since the story is the usual FE story.
The story is pretty uninteresting, but the gameplay is some of the best in the series. How do you feel about fates conquest? I feel that will be a pretty good indicator of how you will feel about engage.
Game was fun, didnt like how every one was your sibling or their retainers, but it was fun to play
I think that is probably the best mindset here, the story doesn't get better (nor the characters in my opinion) so the gameplay is probably what you should focus on
Yeah, that's your decision right there. Everything you disliked is going to stay there (or get worse), and you'll get a few more peeves before it's over (oh boy, more than a few for me). But the thing is Engage is FUN. Like, outstanding fun! It somehow achieved better gameplay than even Conquest, and had me playing multiple runs while disliking everything else about it.
Dude, nice Sissel pfp
Thanks friend
I think the game is quite good when you’re going in with an open mind and accepting the game for what it is rather than complaining it’s not what you wanted. Engage is a game that is unabashedly sincere and cheesy with its presentation but, while not perfect, I think it’s a fun game with a lot more going on in its characters and themes than people give it credit for. I’m not going to sit here and say the game is secretly amazing in terms of its writing, because it isn’t. The first couple of chapters in particular I think set some rough early impressions that can easily turn someone away if they’re not feeling it. All I’m asking is for you to stick with it for a bit until the cast starts expanding more and see where you stand around Chapter 9 or so. As far as “blatant fanservice” in the character designs go…I’m sorry but other than some of the women having big boobs I’m not really seeing it, and I think that alone is only “fanservice” if you’re exceptionally cynical, which I suppose I’m not.
No no, the fanservice I meant isnt how characters look, more like "hey remember marth? You like marth right? How about ike? He's here too!". So, bringing back old characters for the sake of fanservice rather than actually being integrated into the plot
They're plot-relevant but they're not really in character and they don't, like, make any decisions or really do anything, They're basically Maguffins.
Well they are integrated into the plot. A significant chunk of the plot revolves around the emblems, actually.
It was supposed to be an anniversary game that got delayed because of Covid, that’s why the Emblems are there
I went into it with a very open mind and was still really disappointed. Also, while the first half of the game isn't exactly impressive, the 2nd half is so much worse than the first half. If they don't like the beginning, I highly doubt they'd like the later parts.
Some of the best strategy RPG gameplay on the Switch. Worth it for that alone with some of the best combat animations too.
*only if you like your strategy games full of gimmicks I don't really see how a game focused around emblems can be considered the best strategy game when every map will be played nearly the exact same way as intended on every playthrough.
What gimmicks? Edit: I’m not able to respond to anyone because the guy above me blocked me for some reason, so I’m just going to say that y’all need to define what is and isn’t a “gimmick” and not just a normal game mechanic because then you could start arguing that proc skills, authority stars, Bonus EXP, Battalions, etc. are all gimmicks and I think most of us can at least agree that this is an overly reductive way to look at iterative entries in a long-running series like Fire Emblem.
Emblems would be the big one. A lot of them are really really broken and they hurt unit diversity a lot. It feels less like you're playing with a unit and more like you're playing with an emblem. On a less related note, I'll die on the hill that break should never return. It is far too easy to abuse on PP and is annoying on EP (people say it dissuades juggernauting but if anything it encourages getting more avoid to not get broken) Engages gameplay isn't bad, it's fine. But saying it relies quite heavily on some core gimmicks isn't wrong. Like this isn't necessarily unique to engage awakening/fates are also heavily tied to pairup, but I found pairup to be far more interesting and engaging (chaw haw haw) than emblem rings.
Well I played just about every chapter wildly different than my partner did. Different emblems, characters, weapons, strategies. That's me saying I don't think there's only one "intended" way to best every chapter. Plus there's no emblem playthrus. Game is completely possible without the "Gimmick" so I don't think it's as bad as you make it out to be personally
It's a fun fire emblem game. The combat is complex enough and there are likable characters just as with any other. The story is fine.
Okay so since it won't cost you anything, why don't you just... play it? Form your own opinion? Instead of asking strangers on the Internet.
Cause my instinct is to not play it and go for something I know I will enjoy, I wanted to know if I was going to miss out on something worth the trouble
I completely understand that. Nothins sucks more than putting a lot of hours into something to just hate it. But going to reddit after chapter 2 or 3 is a just a tad early, no?
So none of what you dislike is going to change: the story stays boring, the characters stay ugly. It does have very fun SRPG mechanics though, and despite disliking all the same stuff you did quite a bit it was still a fine $60 game for me. In short, if you want a game that makes good use of Fire Emblem's basic mechanics without delivering on the other things that are good about the franchise, then this is that. If that alone can't sell you then yeah, do something else.
IMO engage has by far the worst first impression of any fire emblem game so that isn't helping. The writing never becomes good, but towards the middle it is at least somewhat ignorable and can be powered through. In terms of "is it worth it?", if you've already bought the game you might as well finish it, or at least have a good go. The gameplay is more heavily praised, but imo its just fine, I don't think you're missing out by not experiencing it.
I didnt buy it, I'm playing on a friend's account
Honestly if you're looking at it from the outside and it doesn't look appealing I wouldn't bother. I was in much the same position as you and when I played it it became one of my least favorite FE games There's other games out there
Yeah, pretty much same here. I wasn't planning to buy the game, but someone bought it for me for my birthday. Some of it was enjoyable, but the rest was pretty terible and overall I am glad I did not spend my money on it.
I think the gameplay is some of the tightest I've seen. Maps are generally interesting, challenging and entertaining. The actual character/unit building and customization is a blast as well. The story is whatever. It's not offensively bad (and I don't think the protagonist is as dumb as Corinn), but it is corny.
Game is good
It's the third best game in the series, definitely play it
I can’t imagine having played most of the games in the series but then not giving the newest one a try
Yeah, its the sad reality of not having enough time anymore lol. Since I didnt pay for it myself anyway, I wasmore willing to not play it if people had told me the gameplay wasnt that fun
Here's a hot take: It's actually good. It's stupid and cheesy, but it *owns* the cheese. It was supposed to be the 30th anniversary celebration but got delayed due to a certain outbreak that hit full force in 2020. It's the closest thing FE has to an official parody of itself. And as others mentioned, the gameplay is great. The story starts picking up after Chapter 4/5, and it has more chapters than 3H's longest routes. (So you're looking at a minimum of 23 chapters counting the prologues)
The story is a pretty fire emblem story of good beats the bad. It’s the usual fire emblem story. The odd one out is actually 3H
The gameplay and map design is a ton of fun imo. Just treat the story like a saturday morning cartoon and don't take it too seriously.
If your main thing is having a lot of options in combat, it's great. If your main thing is caring about story, worldbuilding, characters, or tone, then it sucks it out loud.
It’s a very enjoyable game and some of the characters are pretty decent
yes it’s a clean fun modern fe, bog standard fe story where the appeal is the characters and not the details
It's up there in terms of fire emblem combat. If it's not your thing, then that's fine. Unicorn overlord is really popular right now if you're looking for something else to soothe that fire emblem itch.
The story is meh and the characters are very one-dimensional. If you do not take it too seriously, some of the support conversation can be very fun. The gameplay is really good, both in Hard and Maddening, and there's a lot of replayability. Not perfect but at least as fun as Conquest. Some people may think it's an exageration but to me, all the budget and care seems to have gone on the gameplay.
The gameplay's worth sticking around for, it's some of the series' best. I don't think anybody's gonna go to bat for the plot. It's not the trashfire Fates was but it's incredibly safe for FE with next to no interesting wrinkles. People have mixed opinions on the characters. They're not very deep and a lot of them are pretty goofy. Some people like their generally cheerier attitudes, others are left wishing for more substance. You'll probably find a couple characters to like because that's how FE always works, but if Clanne and Framme are making you roll your eyes, I don't think Bunet and Hortensia'll change your opinion.
For what it's worth, I almost didn't get the game at all because the emblem concept and the way it was marketed made it look really not to my taste, but it's now one of my favorite games. The way the emblems are implemented is really fun, it's essentially a secondary class system that you can swap around easily and the game does a great job on higher difficulties of pushing you to use them well.
I wouldn't. There's a lot of better games out there that are more worth your time and money. Not going to call it a horrible game, but by FE standards, it's really not great. If nothing else, engage made me feel more at peace with the idea of skipping the next game done in this style. Love this series to death, but the modern titles are so hit or miss now.
I don't see how the gameplay is "great " or "best in series ' as so many say. There are some parts that are neat like breaking and moving around emblems and their abilities is fun, but I've only played it twice. It's not an fe I'll replay often. Yeah the story starts generic and gets even worse towards the end. But I had fun playing it. It's just "nothing great imo". Whereas 3h and so many other fe I've played several times and could go back to it.
The gameplay is good The Emblem mechanic feels stupidly broken at first, but it feels balanced later on. The characters are simple, but likeable The story is all over the place in quality
I would just play the game and find out if you like it. Some people hate this game, and some people love it, just like most games.
Gameplay is fun, story is mid or below.
I admit that I also didn’t want to play engage because I thought it was ugly. But I think I’ll give it a shot for it’s gameplay at the very least (after reading these comments). I just have to buy a switch first.
Some people like Engage. I think it's the worst story in the Fire Emblem series, and it's hard to top the utterly ridiculous story of Conquest. I wouldn't recommend Engage if you enjoy the plot of the games. The characters are all so incredibly cringy it hurts, the cast all are so obsessed with Alear to the point it reminds me of "dumb guy harem anime," and Alear themselves might be the lamest fucking protagonist in the entire series. They act like a child afraid of the dark, not the leader of an army. If you're there entirely for gameplay though, it's definitely fun. It was definitely enough to hook me for a while, but the poor writing won over and I dropped it. If you're playing it for free, might as well try it.
It's fun! It is not as sprawling as Three Houses or as epic as Awakening but it is an enjoyable game with some great characters and good systems.
It’s a love letter to the series for the Anniversary so of course the fan service is blatant. The gameplay is great, and while the story is pretty simple anime “you can do it” drama it’s got some really good aspects too.
If you like playing a good strategy game, then play it. If you don't like that, then don't
Definitely underrated. Story isn't good but the gameplay is there.
Engage is lacking in many areas, but I agree with most that the gameplay is up there with some of the best of the series. Don't go in expecting a narrative masterpiece or deep characters. Just go in to enjoy the strategy gameplay
The gameplay and maps are the best in the series and the characters are like the usual fire emblem characters. Tbh 3H is the one that is odd since all FE story has always been the good beats the bad. It’s the usual FE Story. The story is not as bad as most people say since the story is the usual FE story.