Fire Emblem Engage review: turn-based tactics in their purest form

Through every iteration, the Fire Emblem series has always been about finding people you can trust, worry about, or seem unable to help. . When Fire Emblem Engage, developer Intelligent Systems puts the process at its heart. Almost all of the accessories are piled up on the cutting room floor.

Structurally, Fire Emblem Engage It unfolds like a typical fantasy adventure. As the main character, Aria, you travel across a ring-shaped continent, fighting demons, bandits, and villains in turn-based battles, recruiting new characters along the way. In between encounters, you return to Somniel. Somniel is a floating castle and base of operations where you buy supplies, train recruits, upgrade weapons, and strengthen your interpersonal relationships.

why did you say that? Collect 12 powerful ’emblem’ rings to power up good dragons and defeat bad dragons. It’s the plot in a nutshell, and honestly, in a nutshell, this plot is worth everything. It’s laced with tropes from the exhausted (the camera slowly pans from her feet to her cleavage, introducing a number of female characters). Its dialogue oscillates in that awkward realm between camp and cheese, confidently never committing to either. Your army looks up to the protagonist, who has goofy, brooding dialogue at every turn. From the script’s point of view, engagedThe story of is terrible.

But I can’t help but admire engagedA commitment to simplicity. Almost half of the total cutscenes (I’m not exaggerating) are like this:

1. Alear and teammates approach a location in search of an Emblem Ring
2. One character points out how safe the place looks
3. Another character shouts. bandit?”
4. The cutscene ends and the battle begins.

2019 three houseone of the best outings in the series (my top spot is Awakening 3DS) made excellent use of social simulation in an academic setting to teach, console, criticize, and ultimately shape a small group of students over two periods. I’ve written a lot about how to do that. engaged Since they are different from their predecessors, I won’t go into detail comparing them here. suffice it to say, engaged doesn’t pull from school of RPG relationship simulations, with complex interpersonal story arcs and calendar-focused loops. It’s as laser-focused as any tactical game I’ve played in years, and the characterization and drama comes largely from the turn-based battles themselves.

Some of these battles take place on prairies lined with rivers and bridges, providing important chokepoints for heavily armored units. On beaches, high tides can disrupt a unit’s movement and dodge stats every few turns until the water recedes. engaged It also rewards players for participating in additional battles. Participating in many “skirmishes” will earn gold, items, and greenhorn useful experience for his units in rotating battles that pop up in previously completed nodes. These landscapes can be repeated.

Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

But there are plenty of other variables that make grind-oriented fights appealing. series” Rock-Paper-Scissors Weapon Triangle came back after three house Omitted.And a range of possible character classes, including support monks, poison-wielding assassins, and shit wolf rideris spacious enough for several playthroughs.

engagedThe ring system adds another layer of strategy. By equipping one of the 12 Emblem Rings sought by Aria, the character can borrow the abilities of the Hero corresponding to the ring. These heroes make up the mainstay of Fire Emblem, the “charming” figures. MarsThe ring amplifies a character’s sword skills and temporarily unlocks a 7-step strike.Activate Ike‘s ring grants an area-of-effect earthquake attack that bails out surrounding fighters. Activating the Emblem Ring can turn the tide in many particularly intense brawls.

There are also bond rings that simply boost career stats. By using a dedicated currency (Note: there is no way to use real world money. engaged, breathe easy) At Somniel, you receive Bond Rings of random stats and grades. By combining multiple rings with the same name and grade, you can increase your ranking.

Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

The result is an elegant system that allows you to change the strengths and weaknesses of your army in minutes. It can be overwhelming at first. Since most of a character’s abilities are “inherited” by an emblem from his ring, they can be taught to any unit as long as they form the necessary bond with the corresponding emblem his hero. A single visit to Somniel can teach a mage how to wield an axe, a medic how to throw fireballs, and Wolf his rider how to summon nasty pillars of ice. It’s his one of the most flexible progression systems the series has ever implemented. And change the composition of my army enough that even repeated skirmishes can startle me.

On one such re-read, about 10 hours into a 40-hour playthrough, I was caught off-guard. It took place in a coastal village, with stalls and debris littering the alleys between thatched huts. Our first encounter on the map was a series of progressive moves. My front line strategically destroyed debris and drove the enemy through makeshift chokepoints. In the end, it was an orderly battle, relying heavily on the stalwart shields of Jade, Louis, and the ax-wielding horseman Bunette to hold the line as we moved through town.

Arrogance came with me when I returned. I chose a team of low-level soldiers, confident in the strategy I used when I first ripped apart the village. But this time, the enemy spawned a dozen units on the sea. Riding wyverns, they moved swiftly to our flanks, and by activating Lyn’s Emblem ring, Fogado rained down magic arrows on the swarm before smashing my back into his line. caused confusion. What was once the arena for aggressive excursions has become the arena for desperate amphibious defenses. It was really thrilling and made me feel more and more attached to the recruits who survived the storm and the veterans who protected them.

Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

That’s why I gravitate towards tactical games. They’re uniquely suited to a kind of self-telling urgent narrative.Intelligent He’s become one of my favorite characters because Systems tediously explained his backstory in his 10-minute cutscene. It didn’t work. He became my favorite character after marching headlong into countless breaches so my mages and swordmasters could follow suit. I didn’t come to protect Framme—I kept her safe. Because I grew up to be a skilled medic who can do it.An enemy to the afterlife.

All good turn-based tactical games have too much to dilute their systems with over-scripting and control-freak level exposition. I am absolutely grateful for the rare expert hands who can (Chaos Gate – Demon Hunters We did this in spades) and when a game hits gold it’s always a disappointment when it just fills it with a lot of dirt again. Did.

engaged, Whether you’re obsessed with stats, weapons, or training, you’re always rushing to the next battle. Because there is a story. This is a distillation, not a reinvention of the genre.Nowhere near the crescendo three house Done, and it certainly hasn’t achieved longevity AwakeningBut it’s consistently great. And confident enough to let me take the reins.

Fire Emblem Engage It will be released on January 20th on Nintendo Switch. This game was reviewed using a pre-release download code provided by Nintendo. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.