Fire Emblem Engage is a new installment in the already veteran tactical RPG saga. arrive at nintendoswitch after the warm welcome that won the title Three houses (and his musu version) so expectations were very high. On this occasion, we find ourselves with a visible effort to bring the genre closer to a wider audience, all covered with a generous layer of nostalgia from its most established fans.

This franchise Intelligent system it hasn’t always been a bed of roses, it’s had successes and failures over more than three decades, it’s been a pioneer of this type of strategy game since 1990 with 23 titles. Currently, it faces a big obstacle to overcome, to stay on top after the exceptional level of the previous work, which brought the genre to the zenith of success. in this regard engage it is quite far from the distinctive elements of its predecessor, even so it has kept big surprises to balance the scales.

this story sounds familiar

An epic battle of good versus evil, a divine being with great power, a hero sleeping for 1000 years, waiting to be awakened at the right moment to once again banish his powerful enemy… To be honest, this premise doesn’t exactly spin I could almost speak Zelda Breath of the Wild. However, the multiversal twist brings a bit of freshness.

let’s dive into the classics hero’s journey by hand Alloy, our new main character. On awakening from our slumber we found that the continent elyos is in danger Sombron, the fallen dragon, our opposite. His plan is to get 12 emblem ringsthey spread across the five kingdoms and use their power for their evil purposes.

In search of these rings, in which reside the spirits of heroes from past installments such as Ike or Marthwe will recruit our allies, discover spectacular places on the map and advance the plot.

In this regard, the van falls short narrative level against other titles. A story full of clichés, too flat (mostly) side characters whose development does not interest the player, and an archetype of the main character who, despite the tenderness of his personality, lacks charisma.

Further, if we enter the artistic themeAlthough it offers us a personality of sparkling colors and incredible settings, the design of the new characters is somewhat…random. Each secondary appears to be from a different game, with costumes that cover them up from classic knight style to contemporary fashion, the lack of aesthetic coherence does not balance the final result. Without going too much into the subject, it’s about time the team reconsidered this mania of hypersexualizing their female characters to a completely ridiculous level, it’s quite uncomfortable to watch.

But not everything is negative. in the field of nostalgia catches us fully, with a facelift on ours classic characters and a tour of the various illustration styles of past installments thanks to ”lasso fragments” that restore secondary characters from all eras. Those who carry multiple titles Fire sign they can refine their opinion of the game thanks to these details.

They are another strong point kinematicsSometimes it’s like being inside an amazing quality anime. It alternates between different styles for no apparent reason, which can confuse the viewer, but it doesn’t bother much either. Sometimes this point can work against you when you compare the quality of these scenes to the rest of the much more static animations in the rest of the game.

But we haven’t gotten there yet element leadpatience.

Take the battle to a new level

And here it is, the jewel in the crown. Gameplay is flawless, honors. With what they learned from the previous titles, they combined elements of the saga’s various combat systems and achieved the best fighting experience that a turn-based strategy game can offer.

Total classic and new instruments He won’t let you rest on your laurels. If you want to complete each mission with all your characters alive, you’ll have to work hard. This surprised me for good, I think it’s the title that challenged me the most in this regard, having to replay entire battles to create new, more effective attack strategies. we return to the classics triangular sword/spear/axe and we find breaking off, an action that prevents the unit from responding to attacks for the entire round. And we can’t forget the other dynamics: the effectiveness of bows against aerial units, the various grimoires and their effects, status ailments (like poisoning), unit types… every move can be decisive.

But you don’t have to suffer if you don’t want to. At the beginning of the game you can choose level of difficulty and if you want downed allies to die or return to the fight, also if you choose medium or high level and find you are better than others, you can always change it to easier (but not harder). We also have help ““Timegem”, an artifact that allows you to return to a turn that suits you without a limit of use if you screw up badly (which isn’t hard). Using this item is a bit like cheating as permadeath can wear off if you want.

And we come to the central theme of this story: k Signet rings. The heroes of the past will participate in each battle side by side with the rest of the characters. The longer your units and their emblem rings fight together, the stronger their bond will become. creating new attacks, unlocking weapons and upgrading their attributes. Along the lines of kinematics, animation critical hits of these fusions are exceptional. This form of combat may seem too strong, but they can balance their power by lasting a limited number of turns and having an energy meter that we have to fill to be able to use it again.

Walk around the map

Map, While it may not seem colossal, there is a trick to it. As in previous titles, in addition to the main missions we will discover detours (where you recruit members to our team or learn the background of the heroes of our emblems, they travel for their memories of past works) and the enemy will be able to return to locations that have been beaten several times. These confrontations will help us achieve gold and experience and will allow us to arbitrarily extend the hours of play.

The most prominent feature of the map is the floating island in its center sommiel. This place will be our base of operations and will offer a list (maybe too long). activities to do after each battle. This stage is quite large and can be moved around freely. Among other things, you can: gather resources, visit the animals you adopt in different places, take care of your personal pet, cook for your allies, give gifts to your favorite characters to create stronger bonds (with support system with A/B/C levels), train against companions or emblems (to level up, be able to change classes or level up Support, support), manage skills, buy weapons and other items… You can do it or not and I appreciate that you are not forced to use this place to beat the game. I admit that I spent a lot of time taking care of the cat and eating with my favorite sidekicks.

Other aspects of the game

if we are talking about how long is this adventure, there are several answers. On the one hand, if you focus on the main quests and aren’t too interested in wandering around Sommiel, you’ll get a gaming experience of about 30-35 hours. On the other hand, if you choose to jump into every battle, run through every detour that comes your way, and socialize with your allies after the fight, add a few extra hours to it.

This title brings another novelty with multiplayer mode. At our base of operations we encountered ”challenge tower”, which gives us the opportunity to join forces with other players and overcome a number of quite difficult challenges. These missions can also be done independently, but I warn you now that they are not exactly easy. We can also choose to fight each other instead of cooperating.

When we stop at more technical aspectthis installment maximizes the potential nintendoswitch, its graphics will surprise players again. He visual side always featured in the saga Fire signbut this title goes a little further as it not only has amazing cinematography but also captivates us in the fight animations and the scenes themselves in the game. Another point in its favor is how well it works both in portable console mode and on the big screen. It has its little things, of course others too Error or texture issues, but nothing catastrophic.

as for sound, effects and dubbing They stand out for their high quality, very colorful dialogues both in the interactions between the characters and in the battles themselves. sound track It fulfills its mission and manages to accompany the epic tone of the game without any problems, but it does not stand out from the other parts either.

In a nutshell

Overcome Fire Emblem Three Houses It was a tough task, focusing on the gameplay aspect over the plot was a risky move, but it worked in my opinion. Game engages and challenges you in every battle. Although its characters do not leave a mark and its story does not hold your interest many times, you can enjoy it from beginning to end.

They also masterfully managed to incorporate the element nostalgia, without forcing it. The heroes of the past are perfectly integrated and offer an original and comprehensive experience, which is one of its most notable points.

I personally recommend it Fire Emblem Engage. It will provide you with a significant number of hours of fun, it’s a quality game in many ways and you learn from everything, so I can’t wait to see what this saga will bring us in the coming years.

Fire Emblem Engage data sheet

Fire Emblem Engage is available on the Nintendo website for an official price of 59.99 euros, on the channel dedicated to video games and on global platforms such as Amazon, which is currently offering a 17% discount, keeping the price of the game at €49.49.