Engage also introduces a new type of unit: the Qi Adept. The foe is then unable to counterattack for the turn, which makes it possible for other (maybe less advantaged) characters to face said foe without taking any damage. Optimizing the use of your units to repel waves of enemies has always been pure joy, and Fire Emblem Engage provides this at its fullest, with even more complex and compelling strategy gameplay.įor example, you can now disarm opponents when using the correct weapon - this is called Breaking. There's also a big difference between using physical attacks and magic. The cornerstone of Fire Emblem gameplay are the advantages and disadvantages of unit types and the weapons they use in battle: lances best swords, swords best axes, bows slaughter flying enemies, and so on. The gameplay takes place on a map with a grid, seen from above, and the player is given several units to move each turn to meet the current objective. While Japanese RPGs are becoming increasingly action-oriented, Fire Emblem has stood firmly by its long-standing heritage as a turned-based SPRG. All that makes the women cuter and the men more handsome, which in turn makes this newest entry especially. So the combination of a strong anime inspiration and modern graphics is what's particularly impressive here. On thinking about it, Engage actually returns to the type of designs used in Fire Emblem Fates, save that Fates was a 3DS game with relatively bland graphics. The characters' expressiveness has also improved a lot, most notably in terms of facial features, and a lot of care has clearly been put into designing great outfits (an area where Three Houses was quite timid). It's like night and day compared to Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, which itself is just six months old. Three Houses certainly wasn't bad in that department, but Engage is magnificent, especially as at the same time the character models have made a giant leap forwards in quality. What catches the eye when initially starting Fire Emblem Engage is the drastic change in character design it's much more anime-oriented than its predecessor. Additionally, the relationship between the mysterious young girl Veyle and the protagonist, which turns out to shape the whole story, feels everything but natural. This is surely the weirdest direction to take the closing challenge. The pinnacle of incongruity happens when the final boss actually offers to pull back in order to explore other worlds and leave everyone in peace. The scenario is also a bit flat and suffers from occasionally blunt writing and strangely soft antagonists. There's just not that "something more" which made more recent entries particularly mind-blowing, like the second generation of characters in Awakening, or the full scale war in Fates or Three Houses. Fire Emblem Engage tends to remain a bit too much in a Manichean "Good versus Evil" comfort zone.īut this more traditional approach doesn't mean the story can't be enjoyed it boasts a couple of surprising and impressive plot twists, illustrated by superb cut scenes revolving around strong feelings like revenge and sacrifice. Ironically, that's pretty much the entirety of the plot. You travel to every kingdom of the world, eventually persuading every prince and princess to join the fight. The protagonist you play as, called the Divine Dragon, is a godlike figure who wakes up from a long slumber to vanquish its evil alter ego, the Fell Dragon. While keeping in mind the novelties introduced since Fire Emblem Awakening in terms of narrative structure, it's fairly interesting to witness how Fire Emblem Engage feels much closer to older, classic Fire Emblem titles, especially Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. So does Fire Emblem Engage stumble, or does it leave its mark on JRPG history like its direct predecessors? But growing fame also means greater expectations that the series has to keep up after each successful installment Fire Emblem is now at a point, thanks to the incredible success of Three Houses, where any misstep could seriously kill its momentum. By Thomas Froehlicher, posted on 18 February 2023 / 5,510 Viewsįire Emblem has gained wide international recognition ever since Fire Emblem Awakening released in the west roughly ten years ago.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |