Impressions of Fire Emblem Engage: a drastic departure from Three Houses

if Fire Emblem: Three Houses was a zig Engage Fire Emblem is the resulting zag. While the 2019 epic dived headlong into relationship simulation between turn-based combat, this is what’s to come Insert focuses almost exclusively on the militaristic side of things.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any any social elements Insert. During the first eight chapters (the chunk I’m allowed to talk about here), I spent a lot of time in the Somniel, the game’s base of operations. I’ve eaten with some teammates, trained with others, and gifted my allies a variety of items I’ve found around our HQ. Occasionally, the “support rank” between two characters has improved from a “C” rating to a “B” rating, promising proximity buffs in subsequent missions.

InsertThe intermittent social elements of are superficial and deal less with character development and more with how those interactions will manifest in the next fight. Three houses gave you a concrete group of students to teach, train and fall in love with during your campaign Insert returns to the traditional formula of recruiting new soldiers as you traverse the world map. In fact, it hurls new recruits with you. By the time Chapter 8 ended, I’d already used the same dozen characters for most of the fights, consistently leaving the extra eight or so in reserve.

Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

Enabling the permadeath option may require relying on greenhorns more often, but I turned it off for this playthrough to avoid missing out on enticing subplots. With a few exceptions, however, the cast all feel like raw drafts – one loves to cook while another likes to lift weights. Her 10-second support cutscenes are all about (you guessed it) cooking and weightlifting. In InsertCharacters rarely go beyond the hobbies or two that define them, and the resulting web of relationships is just as tenuous.

So, no, you won’t spend your time in the Somniel getting to know a small group of characters personally – instead, you’ll micromanage your fighters’ skills, collect cooking ingredients, do push-ups to gain buffs in the next skirmish, and adopt them a veritable zoo of barnyard animals to grant you supplies. if Three houses took inspiration from Persona’s calendar-focused and character-focused gameplay loop, Insert feels more like a management sim where you return to base to perform simple tasks and maintenance before the action begins again. The overall loop feels more like Fire Emblem games used before Three houses shook things up. (I remember last year’s too cult of the Lamb.)

As deficient as Insert is on the social side, it levels up in its turn-based combat. The maps in the first eight chapters are varied, with rivers, ramparts, siege equipment and fog of war creating irresistible obstacles to solve and exploit. Sending a heavily armored unit (in this case, Louis, a royal bodyguard) into a group of bandits is a real delight before blasting him from afar with a lightning bolt from a mage (Clanne, a powerful mage who ranks as a lower Peon started ) covered ) and do the rest with cavalry, archers and experienced swordmasters.

Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

In front-Three houses, Fire Emblem games used a rock-paper-scissors system for weapons, and here it returns: Alfred, a crown prince, who starts the game with strong spear skills can, for example, prevent enemy sword wielders from counterattacking. The same swordsman can break any of my soldiers with axes. After all, axes are the bane of spears. The Vulnerability Cycle adds another consideration to each of your steps.

InsertThe biggest departure from previous games might be how these characters actually master new weapons, classes, and abilities. Enter: the ring system. By “binding” to various emblem rings (whether by wearing them in battle or through a useful activity in the Somniel), characters can inherit the abilities of the character associated with the ring, each of which is a character from the franchise’s past. For example, strengthening the bond between a character and Marth unlocks sword-handling skills, allowing that character to enter sword-centric classes. You’ll also get new attacks, defenses, and passives, all vaguely inspired by Marth.

Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

Any character who wears an Emblem Ring in combat can also perform the eponymous “Engage” maneuver, which essentially charges them for three turns and grants them game-changing abilities. My favorite requires the ring from Micaiah (from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn): It heals every ally in battle, but lowers the user’s hit points to one.

InsertThe ring system of is difficult to analyze at first, but now that I’ve spent hours navigating the menus, I’ve discovered one of the more flexible class systems in any Fire Emblem to date. By allowing any character to learn any weapon (regardless of their initial character traits), Insert leaves the door open to a dizzying array of military possibilities. My current army relies heavily on mages, cavalry, and an armored front line, but I’m already developing several other army compositions when I’m not playing.

As of now, Insert got me hooked. Its social elements are absent and I imagine that a a lot of from people who came along with the series Three houses be disappointed and/or overwhelmed by this new excursion. In fact, in retrospect Three houses now feels less like a blueprint for the future series and more like a departure from its previous trajectory.

But as someone who appreciates tactical games that allow me to find my own stories amidst a diverse group of fighters, I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s always frantic to get to the next battle where one of my weaker archers can deal the killing blow to a troublesome enemy, rise in rank, earn a new class, and become one of my most valuable snipers. Engage Fire EmblemAt least the first eight chapters are all about the nuances of turn-based combat. Everything in between is just preparation.