Fire Emblem Engage
is a 2023 tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the seventeenth installment in the Fire Emblem series and follows Alear, a dragon in human form, who awakens from a thousand-year slumber and quickly becomes embroiled in a conflict with the forces of the Fell Dragon Sombron. Alear travels the land of Elyos gaining allies while fighting against the armies of the rival Kingdom of Elusia and Sombron's resurrected undead forces; the player controls and maneuvers Alear's army in these battles. One of the core parts of both the setting and the gameplay are twelve magic rings that contain phantasmal copies of characters from previous Fire Emblem games. Characters wearing these "Emblem Rings" can "Engage" to gain vast power from summoning and merging with these phantoms. Both Alear and Sombron seek to gain control of the rings; possession of all twelve will allow a feat of immense magic to be performed.
Intelligent Systems designed the game to have a fresh new art style, with colorful characters and 3D animation models, in comparison to earlier games in the series that would often show 2D still portraits for dialogue and other scenes. It was intended to be a heroic fantasy quest that followed a protagonist growing and maturing into a heroic role to save the world. As with previous Fire Emblem entries, the turn-based gameplay consists of maneuvering characters within an army across grid-based maps, who then battle foes.
Fire Emblem Engage received generally positive reviews from critics. However, it was not as well-received as its predecessor, Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Reviewers had positive sentiment toward the main gameplay of Engage, considering it both strategically deep and enjoyable. While its gameplay innovations, music, and visuals were praised, critics felt that the story, characters, and worldbuilding were lackluster and unmemorable. The game received a downloadable content season pass, including a full new side story. The game sold over 1.6 million copies in the three months after its release.
Gameplay
Fire Emblem Engage is a tactical role-playing game. Players control the main character whose name and gender can be specified at the start of the game; by default, the main character's name is Alear. The player controls Alear and their allies through a series of battles as the plot advances; there are also optional "skirmish" battles and "Paralogue" side missions if the player wants to further strengthen their team. In-between these story battles, the player can have their characters relax and engage in social activities with each other. New characters will regularly join Alear's team as the game progresses; these characters have their own personal starting statistics, stat growth rates, and unique personal skill. Each character has a specific set of other characters they can gain "support levels" with. As their support level increases, units unlock conversations and increased bonuses when fighting nearby in battle.The battles feature a grid map, similar to a large chessboard, where both the characters under player control and enemy units are laid out. The flow of the game is turn-based, with the game alternating between a player phase where player units move and act and an enemy phase where hostile units move and act. The maps feature a variety of pathways and obstructions. As an example, rivers are impassable to ground-based units and only traversable by flying units. Other terrain grants defensive bonuses; for example, fortresses give an occupying unit an evasion boost and regenerate a portion of the unit's health at the start of the turn.
Units have a character class which determines their available weapon types, movement capabilities, and affects the growth of their personal stats. For example, an armored class might have low movement and slow speed, but have a high defense stat allowing them to take little damage from enemy physical attacks. Characters are equipped with weapons, magical tomes, and other items by the player which the characters use to attack hostile units or heal friendly units. Magical staves allow characters who can use them to perform other utility actions such as creating temporary obstructions on the map or warping units across long distances. When a unit is commanded to engage in combat, the stats of both the attacker and defender are compared to determine how powerful and accurate the attacks are. The game features a "weapon triangle" seen in earlier games of the series: swords have advantage over axes, lances have advantage over swords, and axes have advantage over lances. Additionally, brawling attacks have advantage over bows, daggers, and magical tomes. If a unit attacks with weapon triangle advantage and hits their target, the defender is inflicted with a "Break" status that stops them from counterattacking both in the current combat and their next combat. Two new mechanics are Chain Attacks, which allow certain classes to chip in and help an ally's attack on a nearby foe, and Chain Guards, which allow certain support classes to completely nullify an attack on an adjoining ally. In addition to three difficulty levels, Engage has both a "Classic" and a "Casual" mode the player selects from. In Classic mode, if a character falls to 0 HP and is defeated, they are lost forever, never to be deployed again. In Casual mode, defeated characters are only unavailable for the remainder of the map, but will be restored for later chapters of the story.
A core mechanic unique to Engage is equipping characters with powerful Emblem Rings which allow the character to fight alongside the heroes of previous Fire Emblem games. Emblem Rings allow the character to learn new weapon proficiencies and inherit skills related to the Emblem, even if the ring is later moved to another character. While a ring is equipped, the character gains stat bonuses and new skills. Additionally, characters can "Engage" with their Emblem to transform into a fused state for a limited number of turns. Engaging unlocks additional passive skills; access to the Emblem's weapon; and a single-use Engage action, usually a powerful attack. After the Engage expires, characters refill an Engage meter by partaking in regular combat. When the meter is full, the character can Engage again. In addition to the main Emblem Rings, there is a system of "Bond Rings" where characters who don't have access to an Emblem Ring can be given weaker rings. Characters featured as Emblems in Engage include Marth from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and its sequels; Celica from Gaiden and its remake Echoes; Sigurd from Genealogy of the Holy War; Leif from Thracia 776; Roy from The Binding Blade; Lyn from The Blazing Blade; Eirika and Ephraim from The Sacred Stones; Ike from Path of Radiance; Micaiah from Radiant Dawn; Lucina from Awakening; Corrin from Fates; and Byleth from Three Houses. Just as characters can gain support conversations and bonuses with each other, characters and Emblems can increase a bond level between them, which unlocks conversations and grants bonuses in battle.
After battles are completed, the characters can return to the Somniel, a floating refuge that acts as a hub location. It is somewhat similar to the role of Garreg Mach Monastery in Three Houses. On the Somniel, the player can shop for new equipment, forge their weapons to be stronger, play minigames, have Alear talk with both human allies and Emblems, and interact with social simulation elements. For example, in the Somniel cafe, the player can arrange meals via previously collecting ingredients, having the chef cook them into a dish, and picking units to share the resulting meal with. Other minigames include working out, fishing, polishing Emblem Rings, riding a flying wyvern through an obstacle course, battling in an arena, and more.
While the main game is single-player, there are two optional quasi-multiplayer modes available with a Nintendo Switch Online account at the Somniel: cooperative Relay Trials and competitive Outrealm Trials. The computer AI still controls enemies rather than another player directly, however.
Plot
Setting
Engage is set on the continent of Elyos, a land divided into five regions: Lythos, Firene, Brodia, Elusia, and Solm. Lythos is a central holy land reserved for the Divine Dragon and their attendants. The realms of Firene, Brodia, and Solm largely cooperate with each other, while the kingdoms of Brodia and Elusia are on hostile terms, fighting frequent skirmishes over their borderlands. Most citizens of Firene, Brodia, and Solm revere the Divine Dragon as their deity, while most Elusians worship the Fell Dragon. Dragons live in human form the vast majority of their long lifespans, with only a select few capable of transforming into a classic draconic form, and even then doing so only rarely, an aspect similar to other games in the Fire Emblem series.One thousand years prior to the events of the plot, a great war was fought between Lumera, the Divine Dragon and Sombron, the Fell Dragon. Sombron was gravely wounded, and the country he had ruled, Gradlon, was sunk beneath the ocean. The most important weapons of the ancient war were the Emblem Rings, twelve magic rings that gave their wielders incredible power. To prevent any one person from easily gathering and misusing their power, the rings were spread across Elyos, with six of the rings entrusted to the human countries, and Lythos keeping the remaining six rings under the personal watch of Lumera and her stewards.
Story
Alear, a dragon, is awoken from a one-thousand-year slumber. They have amnesia, and only vague memories of fighting against Sombron one thousand years ago with the aid of Emblem Marth, and are told they were wounded in the struggle. It quickly becomes apparent that Sombron is recovering, too, as his allies enter Lythos to capture its Emblem Rings: undead known as Corrupted and an army from the Kingdom of Elusia. An unknown young woman working with the invasion force kills the Divine Dragon, Lumera, leaving only her child Alear to take on her mantle as the Divine Dragon. While others are surprised to learn that the supposedly childless Lumera had a successor, adherents quickly accept Alear as the new Divine Dragon.Alear and their allies decide to set out on a quest to gather the scattered Emblem Rings and use them to defeat Sombron, while Corrupted undead wreak havoc and Elusia's armies vie with Alear in the struggle to take control of the Emblem Rings. Alear visits both Firene and Brodia, gathering rings and recruiting allies. Alear also meets and befriends Veyle, a mysterious, naive young woman who is searching for her lost sibling. Alear attacks Elusia in a bid to prevent the restoration of Sombron's full power, but fails to arrive in time, as King Hyacinth of Elusia had already successfully performed the sacrificial ritual to revive Sombron. Sombron devours Hyacinth for even more power, and takes personal control of Elusia. Worse, it is revealed that Alear's friend Veyle and the unknown enemy commander who killed Lumera are the same person. Veyle, saying she is Sombron's daughter, steals the six Emblem Rings that Alear has gathered so far, meaning their associated Emblems will serve Sombron. Defeated, Alear and their allies flee from an army of Corrupted, Veyle, and a team of Sombron's most trusted generals called the Four Hounds.
The heroes gain renewed hope when Ivy, Hyacinth's daughter, and her personal retainers come to Alear's aid, bringing two of the Emblem Rings that Elusia had controlled. Alear starts a new quest to gain Emblem Rings with which to challenge Elusia's armies and travels to Solm, the desert queendom; returns to Firene; and invades Elusia a second time, all while fighting against Veyle and the Hounds. It becomes apparent that Veyle has two personalities: one innocent and trusting, and another cruel and loyal to Sombron. The Hounds and Alear come to the realization that Alear, too, is a child of Sombron and the lost sibling that the innocent Veyle had been seeking. Lumera had adopted Alear after they defected from Sombron's forces during the ancient war.
In a climactic struggle back at the ruined castle of Lythos, the evil Veyle is defeated, allowing the innocent Veyle to break the magical mind control placed on her. However, Sombron kills Alear, who dies protecting Veyle, and collects all twelve rings. Sombron uses the power of the Emblems to raise the fallen land of Gradlon and open the way into the broader multiverse. Veyle uses her fell powers to temporarily resurrect Alear as a Corrupted, and the two recover the twelve rings discarded by Sombron, although Corrupted Alear soon begins disintegrating. The Emblems unleash a secret power to resurrect a person and revive Alear as the new thirteenth Emblem, the Fire Emblem. After defeating Sombron's minions and disabling a magical barrier, Emblem Alear and the party chase after Sombron, who has left for a gateway to the multiverse. There, they learn that Sombron was originally from another universe, and had been exiled to Elyos along with an Emblem known as the Emblem of Foundations. After seemingly being abandoned by this "Zero Emblem", he sought to find it again, and had arranged his wars to gain power sufficient to leave his exile. Emblem Alear is unwilling to let him escape from his crimes, and kills Sombron in a final battle. Alear becomes the new Divine Dragon Monarch, while Veyle becomes the ruler of Gradlon. The Emblems are seemingly lost forever with the closing of the multiverse gate, but a post-credits scene suggests that they may yet still function.