#Fire emblem engage plot upgrade#

It’s a lot to take in for the game's opening hours, and there were elements I hadn’t even encountered until I was deep in the campaign, but I highly recommend engaging with all these systems as soon as they become available. Your army’s home base, The Somniel, has a slew of rooms, shops, mini-games, interactions, inventories, and even chores to oversee if you are to get the most out of your team.

#Fire emblem engage plot upgrade#

To get the most out of the combat one must first indulge the game in a heavy level of tutorials and upgrade systems. The fun of infinite possibilities will come at a bit of an entry fee, however. Combat can be approached in near unrecognizable fashions after finding the right combinations of rings and units. Classic unit types are allowed to defy their usual limitations in exciting ways, granting a new level of freedom and customization to battles. These can enhance a unit's weapon type, grant them the skills of another, or just generally increase their combat prowess. Equipping a unit with an Emblem Ring grants them special abilities and stat boosts. Formations and team compositions create near-endless combat possibilities, and the Emblem Rings add yet another layer.

Each unit type plays an invaluable role in overcoming each mission with as little, or preferably zero casualties. Fire Emblem’s classic weapons triangle and various unit types return at their best. While many of its presentational elements feel lacking in one way or another, it’s within combat that Engage truly shines. That all said, fans of Fire Emblem’s often cheesy narrative stylings will still find a lot to love, especially with the return of many fan-favorite emblems, but if the stories of prior installments didn’t grip you, don’t go into Engage expecting to be swayed. They’re brief but allowed me to appreciate the characters much more, even if they were just units on a board or background elements of a cutscene. I found the most memorable interactions to be instead found through the support and bond conversations that allowed characters to break out of the usual panic of battle.

The emblem heroes fare slightly better in this regard, although with many being the main protagonists of their respective titles, they mostly fall into similar archetypes. The conflict and chemistry that initiates great character moments are simply missing through many scenes. Many of the noble cast blend together, leading to moments where the dialogue circles between characters with little to add to the conversation. For me, that'd be Vander and Etie who are encountered early on, but overall the cast this time around is fairly weak, at least until reaching some of the late-game chapters. Like any Fire Emblem game, players will inevitably gravitate to a few heroes as their favorites. Of course, this army consists of numerous units with their own backstories and personalities.