I'm currently a quarter of the way through a Maddening playthrough and it is harrowing. Normal offers a reasonable challenge for players who may not want to utilize every system the game offers, while Hard delivers a tough experience that requires tactical forethought and some preparation outside of battle, and Maddening demands strategic prowess and full investment in all of Fire Emblem Engage's various systems. Normal difficulty gives you an unlimited number of rewinds, while the Hard and Maddening difficulties limit it to 10.ĭespite Fire Emblem Engage's forgiving nature, it is a well-balanced experience regardless of the difficulty and mode you choose. And, regardless of which difficulty you choose, there is a mechanic that allows you to rewind time to correct any of your mistakes. However, Engage is pretty forgiving on the Normal and Hard difficulties, so in reality you probably won't lose any units on Classic mode either. The mechanical impact of the skewed social elements at play is that, in the early hours, the larger number of bodies may offset some losses you might incur on Classic mode, which is Fire Emblem's permadeath mode. Most of the characterization happens in optional support cutscenes, but given how bloated the roster is at the beginning, some characters naturally fell to the wayside and, as a result, were too underleveled to properly utilize. Characters early on are introduced in rapid succession, and after a few battles I had forgotten about some of them entirely. The stakes are high at the outset, and the plot rarely gives you time to learn about or appreciate its large cast of characters outside of a few key figures who are critical to the story. Engage's story, on the other hand, feels safe and formulaic, so it can be easy to become detached from it.Īs you travel the world, you'll meet an eclectic cast of characters and visit some vibrant locales that serve as battlefields. While not perfect, Three Houses' approach of pitting different houses against each other and forcing you to make some huge decisions along the way was both ambitious and encouraged personal investment. You and your crew are the good guys, while the evil purple dragon and its followers are the bad guys. The premise is standard JRPG fare, and although there are some twists and turns along the way, these rarely feel like meaningful developments. You play as Alear, son or daughter of the Divine Dragon, and it's your destiny to save the world from the Fell Dragon. But this approach also puts the story in a brighter spotlight and, unfortunately, the extra polish doesn't hide the predictable and meandering plot, which overall falls flat. Some of the best games in the series follow this narrative style, and Engage's presentation and narrative are more polished thanks to its focused design. This traditional structure isn't inherently a bad thing. There are no major story decisions, and apart from a couple characters found in optional paralogue chapters, everyone will recruit the same characters at the same time.īy clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's While there are multiple missions available to you at any given time, the story sticks to a linear structure as you plot a course around the map. Your time is split between the tactical turn-based combat the series is known for and a hub-like area where you can interact with other characters and outfit your units with weapons and equipment. While Fire Emblem Engage certainly builds on the deep and rewarding tactical combat, the predictable story and repetitive side activities feel like a step backward for the long-running series.įire Emblem Engage follows a more traditional structure than Three Houses’ calendar-based progression. It only seemed natural that Nintendo and developer Intelligent Systems would build off Three Houses' success. While it didn't dramatically shake up the combat, its ambitious multi-campaign structure swung for the fences. Fire Emblem: Three Houses was a smash hit for Nintendo both critically and commercially.
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