Fire Emblem Engage review: Excellent meaty strategy RPG combat meets a less compelling world

fire emblem Back in 2020 it’s 30 years old, but it’s understandable to think of its latest, Fire Emblem Engagement, as a belated 30th anniversary celebration. It has a wild, celebratory energy; a Fire Emblem game with everything, plus the kitchen sink, and then some. The pros and cons of this approach to development are pretty much the same — but it’s hard not to be enticed by the sheer size of the package Engage offers.

As a series, Fire Emblem is very similar in structure to games like Final Fantasy and Persona, in that each game is usually relatively closed. There are crossovers and the occasional direct sequel, but for the most part each game stands on its own, connected mostly by strategic RPG mechanics that are tweaked and seasoned in each game with unique gimmicks . That’s the case with Engage, but simultaneously augmented and simplified with the series’ past fan service. Although this seems contradictory.

For this title, the gimmick is called the Engage System, and the titular mechanic is also the main conduit through which the title’s nostalgia flows. Especially regarding special items equipped with “signal rings” that somehow contain the essence and consciousness of past heroes from every past Fire Emblem adventure. Emblem characters cannot exist as standalone units on the battlefield, but any character can appear on a character-specific ring, and then gain abilities, weapons, skills, and general upgrades, either passive or when you interact with the ring, combining the wearer and Badges merged into super power status.

The 12 Launch Emblems and the fact that they can be equipped on Engage’s various traditional new Fire Emblem unit kits bring a surprisingly powerful new depth to the gameplay mechanics, which are actually the most strategic in general Fire Emblem for a while. More than that, however, it actually gives this Fire Emblem something truly unique and outstanding in the series’ pantheon of combat systems. Other recent Fire Emblem games stand out with systems other than combat. However, Engage is keen to flex its SRPG muscles.

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Nostalgia is often a conceptual meringue in such an old series, but here it’s put to good use. Yes, it’s exciting to see people like Marth, Ike, Lyn, and even Lucina again – but it’s equally exciting to experiment with how their abilities can be deployed on the battlefield – and through whom. Each badge has some really powerful abilities, though how often they can be used is limited–meaning you have an interesting strategic dilemma in terms of when to use them and who each ring should be equipped to.

It’s a good strategy RPG with a strong nostalgic flavor. But that comes at a price–and it’s set in an area that may disappoint fans of the last major game in the series, the smash hit Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The story is just…not that good.

In my opinion, it depends a lot on the structure of the game. The character-building “Paralogues” now focus heavily on badges, taking players on a nostalgic journey, with badges briefly revisiting their past battles and games fans will remember, including remixed music and recreated battle maps. At first, it’s great as an immersive nostalgia–until you realize it’s coming, in part, at the expense of Engage’s original characters and world.

This, combined with the game’s decision to give you a fairly aggressive stream of new fighters, leveled up and ready to tackle the next story mission, means you have less pressure to spend a lot of time dealing with new characters. When you actually start to get to know them better, many feel that the traits are relatively thin, with little nuance found in the third house. Yes, Three Houses is an anime ass thing. No denial. But it has surprising depth. Participation is far less than that.

In fact, outside of combat, it’s a bit of an Engage theme. For example, the main narrative is too straightforward, and while Somniel’s central area has more side and distracting activity than Three Houses, I didn’t actually rate half of them. Everything is optional, but so optional that the perks and rewards of participating in most of these systems have little effect on your adventure. And when things do make a difference, it’s still widely believed that the tools surrounding Somniel are more irresistible than Three Houses’ monastic downtime.

In fact, the monastery’s best energy has now been replaced by a brand new feature, the ability to walk in areas that represent the surroundings of each battle. Here, you can debrief with your fighters, talk to locals you’ve helped, and earn some collectibles. It’s a chill little time and I really like it. BTW, another thing I really like is that the Persona-style calendar and time system is gone. Each time you return to Somniel, you’re free to kill the time or move on to the next battle. This makes Engage easier to play as a strictly strategy role-playing game.

To be clear, I don’t like the story and character work. I’ve always enjoyed spending time with Ana – for my money, she should be featured in every game, just like Final Fantasy always had Cid. There are some strong story moments. The bright character designs, including the main character, actually impressed me over time. I love that this game has a nation, Solm, with people of color and multiple dark-skinned playable party members. You see, not all fantasy worlds have to be all white!

Yes. I don’t hate Fire Emblem Engage’s story, nor what it does outside of combat. Although it’s also fair to say that this side of the game feels a bit underwhelming compared to Sannomiya. Although there is more of everything due to the kitchen sink approach, not all of it is of high quality in quantity – which is a shame.

On the other hand, however, Fire Emblem Engage is definitely better than Three Houses, a strategy role-playing game. For those more experienced in the series or genre, it might be a bit easier on normal mode – but crank it up to hard and it’s a real blast, and the most satisfying mechanic in years one of the games.

In some ways, shifting the focus back to SRPG basics feels like a possible course correction after Sannomiya’s conspicuous “anthropomorphism.” On the other hand, the game still feels like it’s trying to marry old-school Fire Emblem with those new ideas. As a fan of old-school Fire Emblem and strategy games in general, I’m delighted to see the depth of combat and the level of absolute focus you can achieve during combat. That’s still true, even if Engage doesn’t get the balance right in its execution in a way that might turn a small number of Three House lovers back. Remember, it’s still a very satisfying experience. It’s fascinating – sorry I had to put this in – and an easy recommendation.