Even with the generous rewind function that is now standard in Fire Emblem, I often found myself restarting entire chapters from the beginning because I wasn’t confident that my strategy was going to work out anymore. Aside from smart positioning the AI would also always make sure to capitalize on my mistakes it would inflict Break first when swarming my units, and it would always go out of its way to target any unit that could possibly be killed in that turn-even if that enemy in particular had no way of dealing the killing blow. This is something that I’ve never seen AI in Fire Emblem be smart enough to do before. As early as the very first battle of the game, I was surprised to watch an enemy unit that was already right next to me carefully reposition itself to make sure it was standing in terrain that let it evade my attacks more easily before it attacked me. The strongest units can be put into a bad situation after being Broken, so you’ll need to be careful of putting yourself into a spot where the enemy can take advantage of you.Īnd enemies will absolutely take advantage of you enemy AI appears to be much smarter this time around than ever before. The flip side of this coin is that it’s now substantially more dangerous to sit and wait for the enemy to come to you since they have equal opportunity to apply Break to your own units as well. This means that any unit, regardless of their own strength, can attack the afflicted target without any fear of retaliation, giving a big incentive to act more aggressively in battle. Those stat changes have been completely replaced by a new status effect called Break.Īttacking an opponent with advantage applies Break, which completely prevents them from counter-attacking until their next turn. In past games, weapon advantage would give a boost to your stats that meant you were more likely to hit your target and do a little extra damage. The basic concept of the weapon triangle is the same as ever-swords have an advantage against axes, axes have an advantage against lances, and lances have an advantage against swords-but what that advantage means has drastically changed. The biggest change by far is the complete overhaul of the weapon triangle, which has returned after a brief absence in Three Houses. It’s a good balance that makes the side activities clearly worthwhile, but they aren’t so necessary that you’ll feel like you’re missing out by ignoring them.īut Fire Emblem Engage isn’t just a game about mitigating its predecessors’ weaknesses it also showcases a number of innovations to gameplay to bring a new twist to combat. If you participate in the exercise minigame then you’ll receive a minor stat buff for the next battle, and stopping by the kitchen for dinner gives a special healing item that’s a little better than a standard vulnerary. Rather than focusing on long-term growth that becomes evident hours into the game, the minigames on the Somniel provide temporary bonuses to your units that immediately affect your next battle. In contrast, Engage’s Somniel is mercifully skippable while also being much clearer about its immediate benefits. In Three Houses I felt like the classroom-focused gameplay of the monastery was a bit too intrusive, largely being a rote and monotonous task that lost its appeal long before the game ended but was too essential for your units’ long-term growth to be ignored. The first thing I want to talk about-which is also the thing I’ve seen people online be the most hesitant about-is the Somniel: Engage’s equivalent to Garreg Mach Monastery from Three Houses. I have been playing this game non-stop since I received it and I’m confident now that this is the best I’ve felt about a new Fire Emblem game in the last decade. That meant that I was going into the game relatively blind, and I’m happy to say I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Only about three months passed between its original announcement and the game arriving in my hands, and I feel like I learned very little about it in that time. Fire Emblem Engage feels a bit like it snuck up on me.
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