Experiencing Fire Emblem Engage: A Love Letter, Or An Insult

Really depends on how you look at it, frankly.

We played Fire Emblem Engage primarily because we were fascinated by the character art and the idea of something different than the Three houses style.

Clearly, there's an audience for the...pace...of this game.  But there was very little it had to offer for someone that enjoys rich experiences.

What I Liked

✅ It's way more colorful and rich with its graphics.  It's a pleasure to look at.

✅ Some of the female characters have really appealing art.

✅ There's plenty of English voice acting (though not all of it is good).

✅ For the most part and with slim exception, it was fairly fun to play the battlefields.

✅ Some of the underlying story was compelling.

What I Didn't Like

👎 The Supports were almost all nerfed in English, resulting in what we refer to as "FRIENDgage" - nearly all of the full Supports end in a friendzoning and very little real romance.

👎 The females with the sexiest designs act nothing like they look or sound.

👎 The story is told in a very fragmented way, and the impact is lost at multiple levels.  Part of this is because of all of the characters fawning over Alear (Alear is indeed the center of the story) which doesn't let them develop on their own.

👎 No New Game Plus, which means no way to really enjoy the game without the tedium.

👎 Some of the maps are needlessly lengthy.  Not large, just lengthy: winding, twisting hallways and the sort.

👎 Somniel, which is your hub between battles, is fairly sparse and uninteresting.  It doesn't feel "alive".

👎 Very few unique music tracks.

👎 The camera cannot be fully rotated or angled as with other Fire Emblem games - which for some maps is a frustrating experience.

Summary

In other words, Fire Emblem Engage is visibly nice, but lacks substance.  It's like an amazing looking female that has the worst attitude possible.