When Fire Emblem Engage first came out toward the end of January, players immediately had mixed feelings about it. Taking everything from mechanics and story into consideration, there were certain aspects of the game that definitely made better first impressions than others.
Still, many players were at least willing to give the game a chance and see it through ‘til the end.
Now, over a month has passed since release, and more players have completed the game and had time to think about whether or not their initial opinions still stand. Reddit user Motor_Interview opened the conversation with other Fire Emblem players to discuss how their thoughts on Engage have changed. A lot of players still have mixed feelings.
Based on the post, the initial response to Engage was that the gameplay was great while the story was severely lacking. The new feature of Emblem Rings created another layer of things to consider when preparing for battle and strengthening your units. On the other hand, the plot failed to keep many players interested and “engaged” right from the start. The lack of investment in the story and characters also really weakened the emotional aspect usually tied to the franchise’s iconic permadeath feature.
Many players still stood by their initial feelings, saying the “gameplay is great” and the “story is trash.” Other opinions, however, did get better or worse.
When it comes to characters, fans agreed the cast grew on them over time. One gamer said: “At first, didn’t have much to say on the characters. Close to the end of the game and I LOVE this cast! They’re so fun! Also, Alear turned out to be a much better protagonist than I expected!” Another added, “I got out of Firene and met some characters that had more interesting personalities, or at least didn’t exclusively talk about tea.”
There are so many units in Fire Emblem Engage that there’s a high chance players will eventually run into a few characters they like or learn to love by the end of the game.
Another hot topic focused on the player experience in Maddening Classic mode. DimBulb567 said, “Maddening is ridiculously brutal when you fight promoted enemies and don’t have enough emblems,” which was backed up by many other fans.
In response to this, fans were divided once more. Some fans say the DLC helped make their Maddening experience more manageable, while others say the DLC made it too easy and ruined the challenge of the most difficult mode.
With three waves of DLC so far and one more on the way for Engage, the new content will continue to change the game and the opinions of its players.
Wave 4 is set to bring new scenarios, characters, maps, and class types.
