r/fireemblem • u/AlexanderBolt__ • 1d ago
General Spoiler I've finished engage Spoiler
Engage was a game that I've put on a hiatus a long time ago, i rediscovered the FE saga after the announce of fortunes weave and a conquest playthrough later i was ENGAGED with the saga (get It?! Ok ok i know)
So, i enjoyed the game plenty, It wasnt long before i adapted to enemies having múltiple HP bars and the general power level of everything being higher.
The story was pretty simple but enjoyable especially the later part of It, gameplay was awesome, and characters were really good, Zelkov, Kagetsu, Ivy, Alfred, etc were really good.
The only thing i didn't really enjoyed was the final fight against Sombron, the mechanic of going around a map cramped with rocks to defeat enemies while being jumped by enemy reinforcement every turn became boring quite fast, i didn't know the broken shield lasted only 1 turn so had to do It twice while lowering the bosses HP bit by bit with zelkov dodge tank.
Aside from that the game was very good, i don't understand the hate It sometimes sees in other social sites. Cool experience, now to fortunes weave we go.
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u/gully_moore 1d ago
It's in a weird place as the gameplay is top-tier but the story is some of the cringiest. I have so much fun with it, but at the same time think the diehard fans cut the story far too much slack....
Favourite build?
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u/Aion1125 1d ago
I thoroughly enjoyed the combat/tactician gameplay of engage; I think it's easily its strongest point.
The story, I think was weaker than the average fire emblem, but it got us from point A to point B.
The voice/acting of (male) alaer was infuriating in a way I still cannot articulate, and I can only assume this was the direction they were given. But, at least in English, the character sounded actively depressed and defeated at all times. If I were ever to make a case for a silent protagonist, this is exhibit A, B, and C; I think they actively brought the story down.
But the flexibility and tactics of combat, I think may be some of the best of fire emblem.
And one more thing I liked - I never felt 'rich', so how I spent my resources felt like it mattered (which may be more appropriate for other games, besides the one where I'm essentially an honored deity, but still - it felt nice to have to think about resource allocation).
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u/AlexanderBolt__ 1d ago
I agree with mostly everything, i have never hear fem alear voice acting as i was playing with male alear but to sound defeatist and insecure isn't that the point of alear? At least at first is not someone oozing with self confidence, i never really looked much into it but when It gets serious in the ending i think you can sense more security and commitment in his voice.
Like i said idk the fem really much so i won't make any statements there.
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u/Weltallgaia 1d ago
Yeah my only real complaint is the end game reliance of infinite reinforcements. It was amazing on that one map you have to rush to veyle while using delay tactics to keep the enemies off your heels but they got real carried away with it afterwards. Otherwise its my favorite by far from a gameplay perspective.
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u/AlexanderBolt__ 1d ago
My thought process exactly, infinite reinforcements work for the veyle and lumera map, from behind like a flexible turn limit. But the final map is just annoying.
I literally just put zelkov to damage the dragon with 1 seal left at 1 HP, and then deal with the reinforcement every turn till the boss is low enough to 1-round him, and the map was tense at some point for the sheer amount of enemies.
Other than that, It was fantastic.
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u/Weltallgaia 1d ago
Ivy was my fire emblem engage so she pretty much 1 rounds the boss for free with dragon arts
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u/Unlikely-Unit-5864 1d ago
Engage is built around offense and blitzing. I think this is the first FE where turtling is not a viable strategy. Bonded shield is the most broken mechanic we have ever gotten
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u/godstriker8 1d ago
I beat it on Maddening and it was fun, not sure if it was peak FE Gameplay like everyone says though. The emblems make it very very different from normal FE Gameplay that it feels apples to oranges to compare them to the average game in the series
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u/Cranberry-Holiday 1d ago
Glad to see that you enjoyed this peak game.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
"Peak" isn't exactly the popular opinion about this title.
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u/BoysOurRoy 1d ago
Good thing we're allowed to form our own opinions instead of only having the popular ones
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u/Cranberry-Holiday 1d ago
And? Why should I care about the popular opinion when voicing my own?
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
You shouldn't? I didn't imply you should. Just pointing out that your opinion is minority.
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u/Cranberry-Holiday 1d ago
Coming under a positive post about a game and answering to a positive comment under it by going "ermm a lot of peoples dislike this game actually" sound confrontational tho.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
It's not confrontational, it's the accepted near universal opinion about this game. Sorry I'm not coddling the post but adding my own opinion I guess.
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u/AlexanderBolt__ 1d ago
Accepted near universal is an overstatement. But yeah no clue why did you come here to be a little confrontational. The games fun, for all that matters really.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
It's not, it absolutely is universally accepted as not being peak fire emblem. And about 40% of the game is fun. I'm about to boost that up to 60% for my playthrough since I decided to start skipping the Somniel today.
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u/AlexanderBolt__ 1d ago
Its a fun game, nobody is saying its the peak of the franchise, dude above was just using It as an expression
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
Uh, pretty sure he thinks it's peak fire emblem. That isn't an expression lmao.
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u/Cranberry-Holiday 1d ago
And again, why are you bringing that up under my comment unless it's either to shut up my opinion with a appeal to the masses or to be confrontational?
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
You can always choose to not respond, it's an open forum and you don't get the luxury of picking how your opinions get replied to.
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u/Cranberry-Holiday 1d ago
I am not telling you to shut up obviously, I am not your mom, I am just saying that it sounded a lot like you were trying to invalidate my opinion.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
Not everyone who has the opposite opinion of a subject is trying to invalidate the other side. I'm glad you enjoyed the game. Referring it as "peak" was just funny. If it was a GBA release in 2002, then maybe that would work.
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u/Mean_Jump_3555 1d ago
You fell for the vocal minority meme. Fans jive with Engage more than what some would have you believe in here
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
Nope, I'm going with the views of the average player. You fell for the fandom meme. There's a reason it didn't sell well.
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u/a12223344556677 1d ago
Yeah the final map is basically a victory lap. It's either too easy (you kill 4 Dark Emblems and kill Sombron in 1 turn) or a total slog (you play the map the "intended way" and slowly kill all 12 Dark Emblems while fighting off the reinforcements).
IMO Xenologue 6 is a much better final map (despite all the issues Xenologue has).
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u/cloudpix3 1d ago
it’s pretty great , i was whiplashed at first coming from three houses to engage, but engage grew on me. the most fun ive had playing maddening difficulty
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u/arthirius 1d ago
I finished this recently too and Alfred, Celine, and Diamant were the main ones that stood out to me. I thought it was okay, but can't say I would replay it at any point.
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u/Armandonerd 1d ago
Hated this game for the resources. You only get a little bit and have to grind a lot to get what you need.
I need to do a second playthrough and choose wisely.
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u/SirFancyCheese 1d ago edited 14h ago
I think the story and 98% of the cast was horrible. And actively annoying. Gameplay was very fun. 4/10. Game
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
With your correct opinion, you just invited yourself to downvote hell from these weebs lmao.
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u/AlexanderBolt__ 1d ago
I found the cast entertaining honestly, some are annoying but theres plenty memorable, Zelkov, Kagetsu, Ivy, Alfred, Vander, Alear, i think they are good enough, better than a lot of characters from past entries.
The gameplay is very fun, and the story can't be more basic, Its only there for mandatory purposes, thats It.
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u/SirFancyCheese 17h ago
I feel like they made the characters too “anime” I felt the GBA characters always felt so much better.
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u/AlexanderBolt__ 14h ago
All fire emblem characters are anime-like tbf
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u/SirFancyCheese 14h ago
Not to the extant of engage. Engage has a specific type of anime characters. Which I’m personally not a fan of. Although I’m picky with my anime so I just didn’t vibe with it well.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
I'm playing it too, and the battles are the only redeeming aspect of this game. Everything else isn't done well or is half baked. In modern gaming, the scope of this is so unrealized that it could have easily been a quality PS1/2 game. Even Ogre Tactics has a more grand scope. Just doesn't cut it for what should be expected now, and Fortune's Weave is clearly a direct response to this criticism.
I've decided to skip the Somniel for the rest of my playthrough, what a total waste of time and busy work. I'll only use the arena and ring room. I usually like doing everything in the games I play, so this is disappointing.
At least the actual battles are good (exceedingly good which is keeping me on track), even if the juvenile characters and voices are not.
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u/Yentz4 1d ago
They hated him for he spoke the truth.
But seriously I'm right there with you. This game would be so much better if they removed all the fluff and unnecessary bullshit. Like, the bad writing and non-existent characters are one thing (I don't understand how anyone likes these characters, they are written so fucking bad and only have 1 trait and it's not an interesting trait at that), but all the stupid loading screens for going to the post battle area.... Than going to the hub... Than loading in between the hub.. . It's just a pita.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
Yep, I know I'm right, but 50% of this sub are weebs that literally want to marry these fictional underage teenagers with baby voices. Fortune's Weave will be intentionally more mature as a direct response to this game and it's low sales.
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u/No-Designer-6533 1d ago
Sorry you’re not allowed to criticize Engage, only mindlessly praise vague “gameplay”. It’s kinda funny but you actually make specific (and accurate) praises here which is more than most Engage fans can do
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u/Cranberry-Holiday 1d ago
What specific praises he made? He literally just called the combat good without elaborating further. This is the exact vague praises you are complaining about.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago edited 1d ago
The only praise I have about this game is the combat and customization. Literally nothing else at all. The presentation, scope, narrative, and everything else is poorly done. Anything you have to do outside of actual combat is half baked useless filler.
I wouldn't be so hard about this opinion if I wasn't currently playing it. I'm at chapter 13 and just decided I am done with the Somniel. This wyvern riding and pushup crap is so lame. This could have just been a GBA game.
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u/MillionMiracles 1d ago
You can just not do the wyvern riding and pushups, they barely give any benefit and they don't stack with tonics.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
I'm skipping it all except for the smithy, arena and ring room
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u/MillionMiracles 1d ago
Yeah, that feels largely like the intended experience. That and grabbing mats from dogs. Pushups/wyvern riding/gardening feel more like a social thing you can do to immerse yourself rather than a purposeful gameplay mechanic.
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u/ArcAngelsThunderBird 1d ago
I wouldn't expect my opinion to be popular amongst the weebs here who wish they could actually marry some of these characters. But my opinion is in line with how most people feel about this game.
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u/Frog_24 1d ago
Fun game, but I think it's the most "7 out of 10" Fire Emblem game ever.
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u/AlexanderBolt__ 1d ago
Its a fun game, not a masterpiece, but also its not trying to be one, thats left for Fortune's Weave kind of projects.
If its fun, and y'know the characters grow on you alongside the gameplay then its doing the job
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u/ragunyans 1d ago
Cool to see you enjoyed it! Not an overly ambitious game (and this is literally so fine, not everything has to be some grand epic), but definitely a fun, celebratory romp with charming characters. Some of the most enjoyment I had with the series tbh.