Fire Emblem Engage: A Nintendo Switch exclusive already essential? Our video review!

A more classic story than Three Houses?

Like all episodes of the saga, Fire Emblem Engage tells a unique story that takes place in a universe of its own. All the action takes place on the continent of Elyos, a region made up of four kingdoms that surround the holy land of Lythos, land of the Divine Dragons. A thousand years before the events of the game, the continent has been ravaged by a war waged against the Fallen Dragon, an obviously evil entity. To overcome this, the different kingdoms have called on the powers of the Emblem rings which contain the spirit of the heroes of other worlds, that is to say other Fire Emblems. During the final struggle, our avatar, the Divine Dragon, overcomes his adversary, but falls into a deep sleep from his mortal wounds. A millennium later, our hero finally wakes up as the Fallen Dragon seems to be about to return, as evidenced by the appearance of monsters called aberrations. To defeat this threat again, our quest will be to collect the rings of Emblems distributed among the different countries in order to have the necessary power to defeat the evil entity.

Compared to the previous game, Fire Emblem Engage therefore offers a much more classic story, with on the one hand the good side and a well-defined demonic antagonist.. We are far from the harrowing conflict of Three Houses which pushes us to face those who were previously our students and comrades of the Abbey. In addition to this Manichean story, we also note that the player has much less choice than the previous episode, which therefore makes the experience more interventionist than what we have known in the past. Despite the fact that it is ultimately stitched together with white threads, the story remains pleasant to follow thanks to its cast of likeable characters who benefit from colorful designs.

Going from one kingdom to another, we discover different cultures and heroes with a strong character with whom it is pleasant to interact in Somniel, the headquarters of the title. And then, there is also fan-service with well-known faces from previous games occupying a discreet role, but which will still please the fans. Beyond that, we are entitled to well-staged cutscenes with neat choreography for the most important scenes in history, as often in Fire Emblem. On the other hand, as regards more lambda conversations, we note that the staging is much simpler, even basic, with simple shot-reverse shots for example.

Flexible and spectacular fights

As for the heart of the experience, Fire Emblem Engage remains a tactical role-playing game in which we link turn-based combat in which the placement of units is central. From this point of view, the levels of Engage are very similar to those of Three Houses since we find all the same comfort options which make the confrontations more fluid. We think in particular of the possibility of going back if we have taken the wrong action, the way of moving on the map or even the fact of easily switching from one weapon to another for example. Among the novelties, we note that the interface has been redone to be both more readable, but also to display all the necessary information at the bottom of the screen so as not to get in the way.

But the strong point of the fights of this Fire Emblem Engage, it is especially the animations which have been the subject of particular care on the part of the developers. As soon as a duel between two units is triggered, we witness an impressive confrontation where the blows follow one another with naturalness and great fluidity., which gives the impression of having to do a real choreography. If it seems to be a detail element, given the number of duels with which we associate during the adventure, we are very happy that the fights are so pleasant to watch. The other great novelty of Fire Emblem Engage is obviously the emblem fusion mechanism which allows you to merge with the spirit of the hero present in the ring. In this merged form, a unit gains access to new skills that obviously differ from the hero present in the ring. Among these new techniques, we find for example the possibility of attacking an opponent at the other end of the map, boosting his allies, summoning doubles, creating blocks of ice or simply chaining shots.

If at the start we were afraid that this mechanic would simply make any unit stupidly overpowered, even if it meant breaking the balance of the game, this is not the case in fact. Emblem Fusions are actually used to access various skills that reveal their full potential depending on the situation, to get the player out of a bad patch.. So, hardcore Fire Emblem players rest assured, this mechanic isn’t broken because it doesn’t make any unit overpowered with the snap of a finger. In addition, the transformation only lasts three turns and the appropriate gauge must be recharged before it can be reactivated, which prevents constant abuse. And then, in terms of difficulty, we can as usual choose between several modes, with the possibility of activating or not the permanent loss of a unit if it dies on the battlefield.

Somniel, an essential hub

But Fire Emblem Engage isn’t just about fighting becausewe also spend a lot of time in Somniel, a floating island that serves as a base of operations for our heroes. This is where you buy equipment, healing items and take care of your units to prepare them for the next mission. For this, we can train them, make them change classes, but above all discuss and spend time with them in order to be closer and that they are more effective on the battlefield. Of course, your fighters can also close in on each other, which also grants them stat bonuses when they find themselves side by side on the field. But compared to Three Houses, we note that this aspect of managing social relations is still less present., while being sufficiently developed for those who appreciate it, so that everyone is happy. Unfortunately, preparing your units before the next one is not always a cakewalk because of laborious menus where it is sometimes difficult to find your way around. At this level, we would like things to be a little more fluid and for the interface to gain in readability in general.

But beyond that, the great novelty of this Fire Emblem Engage are the emblem rings that allow you to improve your units outside of combat. For those who are equipped, they can learn techniques that give them passive bonuses against points recovered during combat. But if there are only twelve emblem rings, it is possible to create more for the rest of your units thanks to a random summoning system that does not guarantee what can be obtained. Well, this is clearly a mechanic found in gachas, these free mobile games that offer portals to invoke, but from which we are never sure what we will recover.

In Engage, we thus recover rings which represent the spirit of minor heroes of Fire Emblem and which, once equipped, allow you to benefit from a slight passive bonus in terms of statistics. It is therefore finally a rather anecdotal aspect which has little impact on the gaming experience and which we could have simply done without since we have to make a game paying at full pot. However, this is not the first time that we find gacha mechanics in a Nintendo game since it was already the case with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 released in 2017. And as in Fire Emblem Engage, these systems are only based on in-game resources and do not constitute additional purchases, which makes their presence all the more strange.

A nice Nintendo Switch game?

To end this overview of Fire Emblem Engage, let’s dwell on the question of the graphics that surprised us more than once. It’s simple, for the Nintendo Switch, the rendering is visually really clean, without too many visible technical defects such as aliasing for example. The 3D models of the characters come out detailed and colorful, which, combined with the animations, makes for a really pleasing look. And as we said before, the cutscenes staged for the important moments help to put these characters all the more in front.

But besides that, we note during conversations and fights that the sets and environments are quite poor, with ultimately few details, which contrasts with the characters on which the emphasis is placed. And anyway, it’s no wonder that a game like Fire Emblem Engage benefits from a more pleasing rendering to the eye than games like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 or Bayonetta 3. Due to its tactical role-playing nature, the experience is on a smaller scale and presents more restricted environments, which explains the quality of its graphics.

Conclusion

With Fire Emblem Engage, the Nintendo Switch offers itself a first quality exclusivity at the beginning of 2023. If the fights are still as fluid as in Three Houses, they now benefit from more spectacular animations than ever and gain in depth thanks to Emblem Fusion. In addition to the quality of the design of its friendly characters, the title also shines with its successful graphic rendering for the Nintendo Switch, even if some shortcomings persist. Finally, it is more by its not always practical menus, its static staging and its classic story and more interventionist than Three Houses that the experience is a little fishing.