Someone is currently playing through Fire emblem engage and is currently on Chapter 11. I'll be posting what he has said about the game so far along with images. Will start coverage at Chapter 8 and beyond as that is when the preview embargo was up to.
Gonna start posting the leaks after the opening post so as to avoid accidental spoilers for those that want to go in blind, be warned
Here are two new characters that are playable from the artbook to start
Chapter 8
Diamante and amber join no jade
Map seems like it will be very hard on the harder difficulties
Ivy's skills even on normal seem very strong, she has no HP tho so you can just one shot her tho
You get roy at battle start and lief at end
30k gold after battle
Saphir is seen briefly, she's a royal guard
Shop has rewarp staff, warps the user up to 5 spaces away
Adds 1 master seal and 3 second seals
Chapter 9
If a chain attack kill a unit before your main one attacks they still get full xp
Jade joins with diamont or alear talk
Ivy surprisingly doesn't join yet
Maxed out sommie just got a notebook page entry
Maybe something else happens later
Solid map with a nice anti turtling incentive of saving Jade
Chapter 10 Warning before you start the chapter that it is a series of battles
Hyacinth has Lyn
Hortensia has byleth
Hortensia moves agro right for the magic artillery if open
Hyacinth uses all of Lyn's abilities the arrow strike and clones
He gets eaten at the end of the chapter wow Sombron betrayed him
the person who killed lumera was veyle and she's sombrons daughter
Zephia says she's a mage dragon?
Veyle steals all the rings and the time crystal
the enemies all swarm you very fast on the map start, theres pillars but could be a spicy map on higher difficulties
Here is a picture of the first of the series of battles
Chapter 11
No emblem rings
Units on the map have the emblems equipped
Win if alear escapes the map
You can equip bond rings before the battle starts
Staff called Fracture that can inflict break at range 10
Ivy joins with her retainers during the mission with Lyn and Lucina
The hounds join and start chasing you putting you in a clock because they're way stronger than you with 2-3 revive crystals
this map is going to fucking suck on maddening
lief and roy make this super annoying and celica can warp nuke people
tempest trials are open now as well
shops add more weapons and more seals
Off to solm now, no hortensia yet
This map seems insane and the story seems to get crazy pretty early
Also Morion(the King of Brodia) was killed and sacrificed to fully awaken Sombron, and was also turned into a corrupted
Leaker confirms she killed Lumera, but does think that she may become playable eventually, her personal skill fell protection is a parallel to Alear's skill, same with her class(Fell Child)
You do you, but I'm a little curious as to why that is a deal breaker for you, considering they're not the central focus of this game(hell none of the emblems are, not even Marth).
from giving food to sommie you only get 100 bond crystals, random drops on the map is just food or 50 bond crystals
running around between chapters is not worth it
the only "mandatory" thing you really need to do is make food for a team buff and do 3 arena training for free XP, the workout training takes forever and literally gives 1 STR 1DEX or 2HP its shit, maybe it gives more when i unlock the harder tiers but for now i just have normal
for people saying its like 3H where you felt you had to run all over the map its for sure not
the map shows you where items are and if theres any new conversations to make it easier
from giving food to sommie you only get 100 bond crystals, random drops on the map is just food or 50 bond crystals
running around between chapters is not worth it
the only "mandatory" thing you really need to do is make food for a team buff and do 3 arena training for free XP, the workout training takes forever and literally gives 1 STR 1DEX or 2HP its shit, maybe it gives more when i unlock the harder tiers but for now i just have normal
for people saying its like 3H where you felt you had to run all over the map its for sure not
the map shows you where items are and if theres any new conversations to make it easier
its very "anime" so far which is fine for me
but i am liking it alot we'll see what the twist is cuz im sure there is one
my fav character is lapis by a mile, the best supports so far are her, flamme, etie because theyre all dorks
What I think is that the Sexualization of Women in gaming thread will have a lot more to talk about after the mostly good Three Houses & Three Hopes (shhhh, ignore female Byleth & the one character from the Blue Lions route)
He only has seen the hounds together for one scene, but Mauvier seems like Veyle's sworn shield, or at least is tied to her more than the other hounds are
His characters are all lvl 15-17 unpromoted
Promotions and reclassing seem tough with the requirements of getting weapon proficiencies from emblems
What I think is that the Sexualization of Women in gaming thread will have a lot more to talk about after the mostly good Three Houses & Three Hopes (shhhh, ignore female Byleth & the one character from the Blue Lions route)
But it's a very Fire Emblem thing to heavily focus the sexualization on a handful of characters. That Ivy screenshot is extra bad and very akin to Heroes art.
So far, the maps seem pretty good. Not on the level of Conquest, but fairly competent.
The story doesn't seem good at all. From the broad strokes we've been given so far it seems really predictable, unoriginal and even discounting the predictability of the story what's there isn't compelling whatsoever. If it's any consolation, there doesn't seem to be anything as bad as Fates so far - but what we've seen (and perhaps there's a detail that makes everything much better that we haven't seen) seems to be a massive step down from Echoes and Three Houses. That being said, so far we only have a high level overview of the plot and I'm hoping the details make things better.
I also really don't like how Ivy defects so early on - as I think having her slowly question her country's motives before defecting would make for a far more interesting character arc for her - and it's a shame because conceptually her character had a lot of potential.
Yeah i knew it
This topic gonna go "fire emblem is bad, Nintendo need to stop with this licence forever and bring back F zero, it's because of IS if there is no new Fzero or kid icarus"
"Every fire emblem game since 1991 is full of nudity and sexuality"
"The story isn't political, it's BAD."
I mean seriously i read the whole preview thread it was already like this and it will be the same for the next FE even if it's a remake of Genealogy of the holy war (as many are assuming , apparently there is some leaks).
Come on... the only character that feel like "camilla" (and i hate Camilla for FE Fates as you do, it's miles above xenoblade chronicles 2 cringe) , there is only one villain from the game. Even Ivy don't seem to be...like that.
As for the story, it was supposed to be simple , just by the first trailer of september since it's apparently an "anniversary game" that was supposed to be out in 2021 for the 30th of the saga. I knew since the announcement that this would go "awakening" territory. Even on the map you can recognise "FE Heroes" icons .
Yeah i'm kinda the devil advocate on this game but i think resetera is too hard on the Fire Emblem franchise.
As for the leaks, if this is true that
Intelligent System withdraw the "time crystal" for the player starting chapter 11, this is a very BOLD move from them. And i find this AWESOME.
This is like "ok ok you love those features, but hey, try a real fire emblem experience this time, ok?"
Yeah i knew it
This topic gonna go "fire emblem is bad, Nintendo need to stop with this licence forever and bring back F zero, it's because of IS if there is no new Fzero or kid icarus"
"Every fire emblem game since 1991 is full of nudity and sexuality"
"The story isn't political, it's BAD."
I mean seriously i read the whole preview thread it was already like this and it will be the same for the next FE even if it's a remake of Genealogy of the holy war (as many are assuming , apparently there is some leaks).
Come on... the only character that feel like "camilla" (and i hate Camilla for FE Fates as you do, it's miles above xenoblade chronicles 2 cringe) , there is only one villain from the game. Even Ivy don't seem to be...like that.
As for the story, it was supposed to be simple , just by the first trailer of september since it's apparently an "anniversary game" that was supposed to be out in 2021 for the 30th of the saga. I knew since the announcement that this would go "awakening" territory. Even on the map you can recognise "FE Heroes" icons .
Yeah i'm kinda the devil advocate on this game but i think resetera is too hard on the Fire Emblem franchise.
As for the leaks, if this is true that
Intelligent System withdraw the "time crystal" for the player starting chapter 11, this is a very BOLD move from them. And i find this AWESOME.
This is like "ok ok you love those features, but hey, try a real fire emblem experience this time, ok?"
Resetera has a huge Fire Emblem fan base and many of the game are beloved. You know that parts of a game can be criticized without implying hatred, right?
I can see myself spoiling the entire game for myself unlike Three Houses and Three Hopes. I really, really don't care for anything about the story and cast this time around.
The story looks more thought out and ambitious than anything Fates, so that is good to hear. It's still very predictable and generic, but I will have to see the execution to see if it's truly worse than something like SD or 6.
Gameplay looks fun so far, though. A lot of nice ideas that I really like and map design looks decent. Glad they stepped that up after Houses.
I'm just tired of the stigma that Fire Emblem is carrying as "this is a weeabo dating novel sim with sexuality cleavage stuff"
I mean apparently Fire Emblem Engage focus less on the story (which is a disappointment i agree) , to focus much more on the gameplay, strategy, tactics.
Each new emblem ring is like a new mechanic insert into the game, and apparently they achieved to balance it very well (i was afraid we would crush the game like duo characters in Awakening). This could be good for future games (with better stories).
I'm just tired of the stigma that Fire Emblem is carrying as "this is a weeabo dating novel sim with sexuality cleavage stuff"
I mean apparently Fire Emblem Engage focus less on the story (which is a disappointment i agree) , to focus much more on the gameplay, strategy, tactics.
Each new emblem ring is like a new mechanic insert into the game, and apparently they achieved to balance it very well (i was afraid we would crush the game like duo characters in Awakening). This could be good for future games (with better stories).
This is far too niche of a fanbase to be having those kind of hot takes. Resetera generally ignores Heroes and instead focuses on the other mainline games. Hence the complaints about Fates but admiration of Echoes & Three Houses. Complaining about bad designs in Engage isn't gonna kill the franchise or talk about the other positives in the series. This forum, but especially this thread, is gonna attract way to focused of an audience too make that a concern. We can easily say that Ivy's design is god awful AND acknowledge any improvements in strategy & map design.
I don't find Ivy design awful.... I find it much more better than Camilla or that teacher character from Three Houses.
As for "too niche" i'm still wondering (and i don't know if we should make a topic about this) , if Fire Emblem in 2023 is still considered to be "niche" game. Because 4 millions sell for three houses isn't "niche" for me... but maybe we need to define what's "niche game" is ^^
Ivy is fine, the Camilla comparisons have always felt like a reach imo.
I still feel extremely surprised that this supposed anniversary "fanservice" game doesn't have much focus on romance, that seems like quite a bold direction imo.
Ivy is fine, the Camilla comparisons have always felt like a reach imo.
I still feel extremely surprised that this supposed anniversary "fanservice" game doesn't have much focus on romance, that seems like quite a bold direction imo.
I even wonder if the Somniel island was added during the covid and lenght expansion time of development , when they saw people liked social activities with units. Maybe if the game was out in 2021 it would be even more straightforward ? Every preview said it's more like a bonus and you can skip everything about it.
I honestly don't how Carmilla is the frontrunner for bad IS character designs, She's tame compared to "other" recent designs, such as Nowi, Tharja/Rhajat and Nyx. Ivy is giving me real bad Aversa vibes in design and arc, so I guess we'll see how that goes
On topicwise this is on my watch list to maybe get, hoping the leaker can let us know on length and replayability.
I honestly don't how Carmilla is the frontrunner for bad IS character designs, She's tame compared to "other" recent designs, such as Nowi, Tharja/Rhajat and Nyx. Ivy is giving me real bad Aversa vibes in design and arc, so I guess we'll see how that goes
On topicwise this is on my watch list to maybe get, hoping the leaker can let us know on length and replayability.
Have you seen the cinematic introduction of Camilla in the Birthright campain? It's the worst thing i've ever saw in any fire emblem.
Aversa is a villain. Tharja isn't that bad. Rhajat... i could agree with you. As for Nowi i agree.
I am surprised that IS went full villain with Veyle, they tend not to do that stort of stuff with characters like that. Given her high stats I imagine she is one of the endgame bosses
Also regarding the story I don't think its bad at all, at least imo. Some things being a bit predictable sure, but the twists seem fairy well executed and pretty wild are pretty wild for being so early in the game. Nothing has particularly screamed bad to me, seems like a solid FE story, maybe a bit above average honestly. Though obviously full execution and non-minutia needs to be seen by playing myself
Nice, thanks snikdasnek for keeping up with the pre-release info. Fully intend to spoil myself with this one lol. So far what I'm reading is at least more interesting than I was expecting. I hope the story surprises us.
