I recommend: Fire Emblem Engage (Review)
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- čas přidán 16. 01. 2023
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Fire Emblem Engage reaches back into the history of the franchise, exhuming old heroes and re-focusing the game on combat rather than social sim. That's cool if you like Fire Emblem combat, but as someone none too keen on it, I really miss the social sim stuff.
#FireEmblemEngage #Review #nintendoswitch
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Thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring the video. If you want to set up your own website (and get a discount while doing it), hit this link for more info: www.squarespace.com/skillup
I actually do want to set up a website so thanks man.
I have to say it is a bit odd that so much of this video sounds like heavy criticism despite the title; I'm about 17 minutes in and so far it just sounds like "game has good graphics but everything sucks and is kind of shallow".
How many units dit you lose in the playthrough?
Skill up I know it's a few years late but you should totally do a 3 houses review
_One of these days, he's going to start a video "This video is brought to you by sexual partner and confidant, Squarespace."_
Am I the only one constantly checking the title of the video as Ralph is talking about how underwhelmed he was with it?
Yes! I'm like... How is this a recommend?
@@eppielicious a recommend, but not a strong one. he said the overall experience was positive and the experience was mostly smooth on the switch. he just happened to like the dating sim more and this doesn't have much there
Fire emblem has always been a mixed bag. It succeeds in many things but also falls short in just as many respects.
@@YuriG03042 yeah but he even said the combat was uninspired and bland. It was like he talked badly about the whole game and then at the end went "but I had fun". I wanna know whats good about it if its a recommend
Yeah. Like, he points out what is good about it and it would be good for a lot of people. But it was not for him or for a lot of people who want more story or interactions or lore/development with the world. So he can recommend it for only a very certain subset of people. Which normally would yield a, "I do not recommend" from most reviewers haha.
Finally someone starts talking about Bort. Definitely the most underrated Lord in the franchise and frankly I’m ashamed at the fan base for not giving him the credit he deserves.
I really thought he was talking about Bord from Shadow Dragon/Mystery, I didn't bat an eye til he said he made the last name up.
Bort in next smash bros or riot
My favorite lord’s name is also named Bort
@@tehbeernerd nearby lord named Bort: … I’m sorry, were you talking to me?
Y’all are clearly forgetting lords Barclay, Barry, and Bert
I still can't get over the main character's colgate colour palette
Well, that means it's memorable and thus, has achieved its goal.
Plus, I think it looks cute ^^
@@arsenelupin9697 It's very jarring and Immersion breaking when it looks like a Japanese Pepsi mascot
They look like they'd be a yugioh protagonist lol
Toothpaste chić
9 out 10 dentists recommend this game
I’m not a Fire Emblem player but a common complaint I’ve heard from some of the fans is that the recent games focus too much on the dating sim aspects and not enough on the tactical combat aspect. I suspect this will be a hit among that crowd.
I don't think so because we wanted the dating fanservice to be replaced with a good story, and apparently they replaced it with... fanservice again, but without dating.
Yes, I've been playing Fire Emblem since the Gameboy Advance, and I absolutely do not like the social sim crap, the waifu gawking and petting activities, the mini-games, the insane focus on romance, and generally all the non-combat busy work.
These games are highly replayable, and so having to spend so much of your time on this non-combat stuff to optimize your playthrough on harder difficulties is a huge problem and just becomes a tedious grind.
I am not looking forward to the Somniel. I know a lot of people say it's scaled down, but I don't think it will be on harder difficulties otherwise why add it to the game? It's there for a reason and that annoys me a lot. I wish Intelligent Systems would just stop with these mini-games and crap.
But three houses didn't have dating at all it was an optional end cutscene that complaint doesn't fit three houses that complaint was about dates which just show horned in child units for no reason
@@arasonyth3243 The OP didn't even mention "fanservice" ^^
As one of those people the comments about flat map design kinda worries me. The monastery caused me to bounce off 3 Houses before getting anywhere but this feels like an overcorrection. The last FE I played before 3 Houses was Fates and that had a terrible story with terrible writing but interesting maps with some interesting tactical scenarios that pushed me toward the end. This feels like Awakenings which was a quintessential 7/10 onboarding point for new players and not much else. I was preparing to grab this at launch but I think I might hold off on this for awhile. I have so many more far interesting games to dig into. For SRPGs I've got Tactics Ogre Reborn ready to go on my PS4. That remaster's rebalancing and reworking made that game new again. I don't feel comfortable dropping 60 bones on this right now. I think I might actually hold out for a sale and watch someone stream it.
Fire emblem without a good social system just isn't the same for me. How are you supposed to care about your team and keeping them alive if you barely interact with them?
True, I want to care about my squad and keep them alive. The social sim adds that flair. I recall in the older FE games I just sacrifice people I don't care about.
This is doubled on top of seeing the other Lords were you'd probably be saying "I'd rather play almost any of the other Lords games" than this celebration game. Warriors actually did this well Engage unfortunately doesn't.
Happy New Year! Grateful to see you back!
Good to see you back my man. Hope you fully recharged.
The way he describes this game in relation to 3 Houses reminds me of my problems with Fates compared to Awakening. The writing was so questionable in the second set of games it made slogging through difficult, and the characters were mostly less interesting than Awakening/3H too. On the other hand, the gameplay was/is improved. One day they'll get it all right in the same game
Agreed! Fates had some really fun stuff gameplay-wise, it felt fresh and things like balancing the Pair Up mechanic made it feel more tactical to me. But the story and characters dragged it down immensely, and that was a real shame.
I felt the same way about Awakening and the other 3DS entries. I adore Three Houses, and while the combat loop is very fun and satisfying, it was the well written characters and their relationships that really pushed me through multiple playthroughs of the game. I don't really agree with the complaining about the monastery, fast travel pretty much makes it a non issue. So this game being ONLY the combat with really thin forgettable characters... I'll probably still buy it, but I'm a little apprehensive.
It's likely due to the fact that there are two separate teams that work on FE games. Almost none of the people that worked on Three Houses worked on this one. Three Houses/Three Hopes was mostly done by Koei Tecmo with IS. Engage is mostly IS, and they are probably well underway with the next Echoes game
They have gotten it right in previous games. Thracia, PoR, RD, even SoV maybe. Also, I don’t think the gameplay in 3H was bad particularly, it’s the maps and the fact that you need to do the monastery activities all the time
I guess I’m the only one that actually really loved the social aspects of 3 houses and Awakening.
Nah. I love that stuff too. Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses social stuff made the journey memorable. Gameplay is number one, but I love the flair of social sims.
Nah many people did which is why Three Houses is the best selling one in the franchise. Honestly don't know what the devs were thinking.
@@joed5150 it's the best selling because it was on the switch, not because it was the best
@@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034 It's the highest selling because of the huge critical praise it got. Engage is releasing on a much larger install base and I guarantee the sales don't come close to Three Houses
I much rather play 3H sim aspects than Persona 3-5 lol. The waifu bait is always going to weird to me so 3H pretty much focusing on everyone else but the MC made it genuinely engaging. I was more excited to see how other characters interact outside of the campaign. Everyone felt like actually people with their own opinions and beliefs.
Persona as much as I enjoy the series the dick riding the characters do for the MC is insane especially in 5. All social links need to have some drama of sort and can't be resolved without the MC. 3H characters deal with stuff with and without Byleth example being Ingrid & Felix.
Woohooo! skillup is back! Welcome back, Ralph!
He's back! Happy New Year Skillup!
ShillUp is back!!! Happy New Year mate
I felt the same way towards the end of my time with Three Houses. The maps stopped being much of a challenge and if felt like a slog to run around the map to talk to everyone after each mission to make sure every story kept moving forward when the main story wasn't pulling me along to encourage me to keep going.
I ended up not finishing it because I got too bogged down in the social aspect eventually and it was too much to keep up with
Three Houses really suffered in the time skip because I just wanted the story to keep moving rather than going back to the monastery and doing activities for an entire month. On harder difficulties, you can't really skip this either without handcuffing yourself to a large degree.
And don't get me started on multiple playthroughs. The Monastery far outstayed it's welcome. I really liked how grand it was - it did a lot for world building and immersion, but it's nothing I want 20 hours of my 40+ hour playthrough to be based around. That is so excessive.
@@Katie-hb8iq Idk, I really liked running around the monastery and minmaxing every single thing I could on Maddening NG and proceeding to blitz the next chapter because I cooked enough bullheads haha
Its like my castle from fates but your force to go there 5 times in a row before being able to do a story mission
@@Katie-hb8iq You can skip (most of) it. That's what NG+ is for.
Finishing FE3H right now and I can already tell I’m going to miss the deeper dialogues and personalities of my characters. Great review.
Sadly I don't think we'll get another fire emblem like three houses...
@@subarunatsuki2102 the “fans” are being total goofs about this game too.
I'm at the point where I'm wondering if I should even bother getting Engage or if I should give three houses a second playthrough.
@@subarunatsuki2102 For whatever its worth, there are rumours that Engage was practically developed alongside 3 Houses as part of the series 30th anniversary, hence all the nostalgia baiting with the old characters from across the series.
However, Covid pushed back its release and the extra time was used to give it a bit more polish. I could be very wrong, but I suspect that it'll be the NEXT FE game that shows us whether IS is more interested in taking on board the positive reception of 3H.
@@tadhgmcgrath1409 If by "total goofs", you mean "idiotically worshiping the game despite it removing so much", then yes.
9:30 is an excellent point. I got chills as soon as I saw that background because it's the first level in my (and many's) first Fire Emblem game, but it probably doesn't do anything for people who are unfamiliar
Hope you have a great 2023 SkillUp!
I was really hoping there would be more character interactions (especially with emblems). Some of my favorites moments in Fire Emblem games are the narratives and banter.
I really enjoyed Three Houses because it leaned into the Persona-like stuff and really got me really invested in the world and characters. I could understand if that's not everyone's cup of tea.
The Midnight Suns comparison was really good. I was thinking about that the whole time. That game is such a gem. If only the writing was a bit better.
I think it’s understandable that the social aspects aren’t on the exact same level as 3Houses, but definitely disappointing that it appears the character writing and story is not good. I think FE is at it’s best when it synergizes and balances its gameplay, story, and characters; not single-minded focus on any one element
It’s basically like older Fe games
Exactly, the best FE games never have to focus on just one thing. There are definitely criticisms to be had for the people who don't like just how much the social aspect took up in Three Houses (even though I personally loved it), but that game, at least in certain routes, had a great story, characters, gameplay, music *everything*, not just gameplay like Engage. I feel like as this is Skill Up's first real intro into the series, he doesn't quite see what all is missing to the formula when you dumb it down to *just* the gameplay and animations being good while missing everything else that makes Fire Emblem what it is.
@@kleitos6162 I don't really agree. If we take the 3 criteria that are story, character and gameplay, I would say that no Fire Emblem manages to have a good story, good characters AND a good gameplay. At this level, Three Houses also has a lot of problems, the monastery and the customizable side of your characters, it's cool during the first 2 roads but after the replayability starts to fall. The minigames of the monastery are fun during the first 10 hours, but after you force yourself because they are essential to play efficiently (same for the lessons). In other words, the replayability of Three Houses is non-existent, which makes me say that its gameplay is not necessarily a good point (as well as the design of these maps (it remains a tactical).
As for the story, as much as I loved the writing of Three Houses, it also has its flaws:
-Part 1 is the same for all roads (which impacts even more the replayability and is quite boring)
-All scenarios are not equal (black eagles is rushed, church routes is too similar to verdant wind). Result: Azure Moon and Verdant wind are the only routes that seem to be finished (even if they also have their inconsistencies like the death of Rodrigue in Azure Moon.
-The character of Byleth, who slows down the narration because of his role as a mute avatar without personality but whom everyone seems to admire.
So even Three Houses has big flaws like its gameplay, and some flaws in the story (which remains solid).
We could make an analysis of this kind for all the fe (ex: FE4: incredible story/gameplay that has not aged well; Fe Fates Conquest: horrible story:good gameplay...)
In the case of Engage, I don't expect much from the story and writing (which reminds me of awakening), but I know the gameplay will surely be fun. And for the characters, I tend to think that they can be interesting if you decide to dive into their support: for example Fates has a bad writing and its characters can seem to be gimmick characters but with their supports, you can discover that they are much more interesting (it was the case of characters like Nyx or Forrest for example).
Personally, I am rather positive for engage. The license has become too broad to say that it only boils down to what Three Houses (or any other FE) has done. Fire Emblem has many faces and even if we all have our preferences, Engage seems to represent good and bad aspects of the series like all its predecessors (even if I remain not a fan of the artistic direction of Engage)
@@slol7109 I agree with most of this for sure. That's why I really only believe AM and to a certain extent VW have all three of the positives that I mentioned, and I would argue that both the story and characters are the best in the franchise in AM, but 3H overall has very solid gameplay.
I don't agree with replayability being an issue in 3H however. In NG+ all of the monastery content to upgrade professor level is skippable, you'll know you only need to talk to your own house members (even that isn't a requirement if you're focused on gameplay, like an iron man or other challenge run), and things like battalion management won't take up as much time considering you bring them over from your first playthrough. I feel like aside from White Clouds needing to be replayed (which is definitely an issue for a lot of people, I didn't mind it personally), it's the most approachable FE game to replay by far.
I would generally argue though that a good chunk, if not most of the FE games hit at least 2/3 when it comes to characters, story, and gameplay. I will concede that it is rare for ones like AM to hit all three, but I've also seen the majority argue Echoes does as well, even if I don't agree with that personally, and I'm sure a small handful of others (like FE4). FE7, while non remembered for it's story, had some fan favorite characters and solid gameplay. Same for FE8.
The main problem I see with Engage is that, if reviews are to be believed, it doesn't really hit *anything* correctly aside from gameplay, animations, and music. Hell, even Fates and Awakening had good character design and art direction.
@@kleitos6162 So we haven't seen the same reviews. Because, I personally saw a lot of people say that through their supports, some characters like Yunaka turned out to be very interesting and that overall the cast was endearing (something that we could just say for the cast of FE7).
Even if I'm personally not a fan of the art direction, I don't think it's bad at all, it's colorful and the artwork of Pikazo is magnificent (I even think that I prefer it to the art direction of Kozaki), but some chara design just looks dumb (like Panette or Alear).
Even though I haven't seen anyone praising the story, I still think that all FEs have some charm in their writing (even the bad ones).
Regarding Three houses replayability, my opinion does not change. The fact that the first 11 chapters are always the same is a very bad point for a game that has several scenarios (even during part 2, you replay on similar maps (with differences, but that's still a problem because these map are genreally large and too simple). And although the tactical remains fun, it is among the weakest in the series. The new game plus is an interesting feature but you still have to develop the students that you did not have in your first game. And even if you can go faster in new game plus, you can't avoid the monastery (increase motivation, forge links with other students).
And for the story, as said before, I appreciate it a lot but you still have to take into account the 4 scenarios together and not say to yourself "Yes, this route has problems but since the other one is good it is means that everything is good"
And having myself seen some leaked support conversations (I won't go into detail), I can say that most of the conversations seem ok or even very good and that I've don't seen a lot of meme-support(even if C support in general seems pretty simplistic) . So while I've don't seen a lot of support , I'm not worried about the characters.
In any case, I'm not going to worry too much, after all, no fire emblem has really been a disappointment for me. Reviews are helpful but I prefer to make up my mind while playing the game (after all, at the time, most reviews of Fates said the story was amazing)
HAPPY NEW YEAR RALPH! missed ya bud, what a treat to wake up to
Longtime Fire Emblem fan here. Great review, I really appreciated the section discussing the emergent storytelling of Fire Emblem gameplay. That's a really good way of putting it.
This is the SMT to Three House's Persona.
Smt 5 was comparitively worse than persona 5 so this is a good analogy.
Blyehrth is my main in Smash Ultimate, finally someone acknowledged him. Bort is a great secondary too, if you're interested.
Welcome back Ralph, hope the break was nice and look forward to your next This Week in Video Games.
Thank you for respecting so much the viewers' attention and time with your honest reviews.
If Skill Up had finished even one route of 3H, I think he might've been less bummed by the lack of that content in engage. It shine of the "social sim" aspect wears off after your first play through, and I believe that's the reason that lots of "fans" of the series got a little burnt out by it, since they likely spent 100's of hours finishing multiple routes. The social sim stuff does NOT make long/repeated play-throughs much easier, unlike solid gameplay. I hope people who were wanting more social stuff still give this one a try, because the gameplay looks to be far more interesting and rewarding this time around, despite a relatively lackluster script.
Same can be said for any aspect of any game. Map design and enemy encounters can get boring after your first playthrough.
I was not burnt out at all by the romance. Would've liked more tbh... I did everyone's end scene and played each route and dlc then replayed Black Eagles route several times after.
That bummer or no, I'm pretty sure this guy is just... Not capable of enjoying what FE is.
The point seems to have been missed at close to any turn, and no doubt the game was played on normal here. Which hardly validates the claims of not feeling pushed.
I'm all for welcoming new people to the community, but stuff like this makes me a little nervous about trusting in the newbies
@@1stCallipostle haha oh man, fire emblem elitist are so cringe it hurts. M8 stop pretending like you're gatekeeping on accident, we all know your kind looves gatekeeping. Feeling superior for no real reason. Its p-athetic mate
@@1stCallipostle Im gonna push back a little bit. Skillup isn't a typical video game reviewer, the guy is generally competent at games. I would buy it if he said his review was based off of a hard play through. It does seem to be a series that just doesnt fit his sensibilities tho.
Glad to have you back man
Hope you took a well deserved rest 👊🏿
He took a break?
@@slax4884 yeah
a Christmas break
Probably spent the whole time on destiny :p
@@robinnouara3681 😂😂 that would be so on brand for him
Glad you're back Skill Up! Hope you enjoyed ya break
You know you're doing something right when a fan (me) keeps checking your channel every day to see if you've uploaded something new.
Admittedly, i was hoping you'd review One Piece Odyssey, not the new Fire Emblem, but i'm gonna watch the video anyway because of how much i enjoy your analysis and narrative.
Keep it up, man.
fuck yeah :] three houses calendar system was okaaaaay but there comes a point in time where everything surrounding the monastery just feels like a bloated chore that you have to do, or else you'll have a bunch of units with really bad weapon ranks. not having to participate in busywork to make my units usable is only a good thing in my opinion
I really love the social sim part but I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed at a point in FE3H so I think I'll enjoy this, even if I think a middle ground would be nice.
Happy new year Shill up!
Welcome back. Was waiting for this one.
skillup be pushing out so many content while i'm still trying to get that Seraph seal
you have over a month left, keep pushing
shoot, thanks for the reminder
Stripped back story for a bigger emphasis on tactical gameplay. Sounds like classic FE, I'm in!
Welcome back! Earlier than expected, which is nice :D
sooo good to have you back man.
A thing i love is how different is every entry
yup exactly
Thank you for keeping it real, Skill Up! I love FE combat, but I'm also a fan of the social sim elements. So I'm split, I'll probably still buy it.
Good to have you back mate, wen FPS podcast??!
I love that you named your character "Shill up" lol. Thanks for the excellent video, enjoyable and informative as usual.
Glad to hear this is not overburdened with Three Houses school/social stuff between the tactical gameplay that I want from Fire Emblem games.
Great review as always, Ralph - fantastic nuance.
I loved Three Houses and was on the fence with Engage - you've given me much to consider. 👍
Happy New Year mate!
He is back, letsgoooo. I missed my weekly skillup videos.
Great review as always, maybe they'll go the route of making 2 different Fire Emblem games to cater to both crowds, as what you mentioned here seems more aligned to FE Fates and Awakening. But they could be making a divide going forward where they cater to different crowds, similar to how smt and persona are both jrpgs but quite different, maybe FE might do the same with their three houses model.
I would be very interested in your opinions on Three Houses. Actually more so Awakening. Feels like Fire Emblems heart really is it’s character stories and I just can’t imagine why they seem to be pulling away from that aspect. But that could be because I truly started with Awakening and that story grabbed hold of me in a way I didn’t know it could by changing the positive notions of trust, perseverance, and positivity that define so many of the other FE heroes and uses them as shackles to this lords seemingly inevitable demise. To have to be saved from your own ideals is an interesting concept, music is incredible too. Feels like every game gets some aspect spot on and it almost seems like whatever game you happen to start on is what you think Fire Emblem is and you either adapt to the next one, move on from the series cause it’s not the same, or bide your time until they inevitably make what you like best about Fire Emblem the focus again. For better or worse it’s a series that never stays the same and I suppose thats commendable in its own right.
Welcome back Skillup!!
OMG the MESSIAH IS BACK!!!!! Glad to have you again, can't wait for this week's in video games!
Also, if you're not feeling the crunch of strategy, you're playing on the wrong difficulty. Hard Mode difficulty on Classic Mode (aka permadeath) is incredibly tense, especially when one wrong move can cost your character.
m doing maddening difficulty with casual ......dont know how to maneuver without sacrificing team members(bait) in maddening difficulty
This was something I was wondering in his review. The criticisms about the map design being uninspired are fine, but I wonder if that's a consequence of difficulty level. Even the best-designed Fire Emblem titles won't be particularly challenging if you're playing on Normal Casual mode.
There's people that don't play on permadeath?
@@rawrdino7046 why would you. It just means reloading maps everytime someone dies
I have to tell you, you saw literally everything Gareg Mach Monastery had to offer with your 30 hours in Three Houses. Every month becomes 100% identical if you care about a reasonably optimal use of your time. First week, you do battles. Second week, you run around Gareg Mach for whatever the event is (fishing, house meals, etc.) Third week, you do battles. Fourth week, it's the main mission. The chores around Gareg Mach become extremely boring and repetitive. Just that: chores. The problem with Gareg Mach is that it MASSIVELY overstays its welcome, and the story is heavily crippled by the mechanical need to return to it after every main chapter, even when the story is actively damaged as a result of this dependency. It's only cool for the first... half, or so, of the game. Which is what you saw, and I'm glad you had fun with it. But it was a controversial addition for a reason, and I'm glad to see it reduced.
I completely agree. It was a neat idea that could be improved upon in the future, but it got stale pretty quickly for me. The story and characters kept me engaged in three houses, but the repetition of the monastery and the mediocre map design and combat definitely hindered my enjoyment a bit. I still really love three houses, but it isn't a perfect game imo. Overall I'm glad to see engage focus more on the combat, but a little sad to hear that the story/characters/support conversations are a bit of a step backwards from three houses.
Yep. I really do not understand why people loved that aspect, it was a fucking chore.
Like he said on the review he only played 3 houses for around 50 hours or so, so probably 1 - 2 routes, I've had the same opinion as him after doing one route of the game, but..... 7 playthroughs and 250 hours later you can clearly see the cracks of the monastery, its way too repetitive and not that compelling.
Agree i couldnt play three house third time because it is painful replay half of the same mission. And do all this hub activity to drag the game progress
reviewrs play the game one time in a series known for its replayability if you play 3h one time of course you find the monastery fun but 6-7 playthroughs and it not that fun to do
I've missed this sweet sultry Aussie voice! Happy New Year!!
Glad to see you back!
I hate how much I have to admit I missed you lol the critical analysis, deep dives, witty humour and weekly videos!
Hope ya had a fantastic break mate, welcome back!
Same 🤣 he can have some pretty off opinions but I religiously watch him every week
@@swmtothemoon6660 obviously opinions are subjective but, I think for what it’s worth he has generally the most levelled and fair opinions of a critic you can get. Now for this week in videos! Gimme! Lol
This review really makes me want to play the game. And that game is Valkyria Chronicles 1-4. Even years later I still remember the feeling of really caring for the characters, both while playing on-field and conversing with them off it.
Lol, same here. Weird.
Man fell in love with the series around 3 kingdom, still need to finish that game and 3 hopes but excited for this as well
Welcome back Ralph! 😁
Even if you’re not the biggest fan of the series I love your opinion. As a lot of the 8 minute reviews out now don’t go this in depth. On top of being one of my favorite reviewers 💯 I’m stoked to get away from the calendar and monastery and the focus on battles is exactly what I want
he's alive!
The polishing minigame made me remember that in the DS versions of Pokemon D/P you could do that with the medals
I loved the social sim stuff in Three Houses, gutted to see its been stripped back but I think I'll still pick this up.
I started playing three houses last month and I can't stop playing it, it's one my top5 games now. can't wait to play this day 1.
3H needs about 4 playthroughs to feel like you got the whole story.
Good luck.
@@ItamarO93 yeah I have only done one playthrough, and midway on second path. I will give it a pause and play engage when it's out.
@@wrathava good plan ^^
FYI: Bord is an actual Character that exists in Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
currently in the middle of radiant dawn which is the only one i didn't play yet so a little excited for this one
I would've sworn you were taking January off! Welcome back!
Personally I really like the social aspects of three houses. Sad to see them do away with it again.
I never felt as invested in a FE as I did with three houses due to the game having me slowly get to know and spend time with the cast.
I figured as soon as I saw "emblems" that we going to skimp out on story for fan service. Unfortunately as I only got into FE with Awakening, this is pretty much lost on me.
I'll probably still play it, but it's gonna have to take a back seat to the PS5 version of MH Rise and the Persona 3/4 rereleases.
Hopefully it hits the right notes for the classic FE crowd.
He showed Corrin in the video. Corrin is a horrid protagonist and should have been swept under the rug
Go play a dating sim and keep that shit out of Fire Emblem
I understand you just got into fire emblem with awakening, but you do understand that other fire emblem games have great story and combat. This didn't used to be a trade off. I'm not saying you think this, but if you think no fire emblem game had a good story before awakening you are delusional
@@seanjenkins5505 FE4 had great story and radiant dawn but really there it ends
@@sakutaro3musik486 yea so other fire emblem games. I didn't say fire emblem 1-12 all have great stories. 6 and 7 are also both fine.
Three Houses was the Fire Emblem that got me hooked in. I was hoping Engage might be a bit more of that but I can appreciate that it focuses more on the combat. I'll still play this simply because of the combat but I'll fully admit that I will miss the other good stuff that TH brought to the table.
Sooooo when are we getting more of that style of Fire Emblem?
Chasing Daybreak, my favorite track in 3H, you have good taste.
Good to see you back.
Still gonna get Engage but I definitely wish it would become a bit closer to 3 Houses when it comes to character relations and story. Sounds like a middle ground between the 2 games would be pretty perfect for me imo
God i hope this franchise goes on forever. Theyve gotten so good at their own formula that it only makes me angry that it took almost 2 decades for the series to even be considered for localization.
It’s a shame honestly. And there’s also no other developers that copy them either so when I’m burnt out on the FE games I’ve played 100 times and want something new but in their style there’s nothing else out there. It’s frustrating
@@Delby5 tactics ogre let us cling together, fell seal, disgaea - there are some trpgs aside from FE, just examples.
@@Delby5 Check out Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga. Great game. There's also Lost Eidolons but I haven't played that yet.
@@Delby5 There's Dark Deity that pays tribute to the GBA FEs art style and animation wonderfully but everything else is just kinda thin. It'll scratch your itch for a while though, and at a cheap price
Like like like, you are back finally! Hope 2023 brings you success Sir
ahhh its good to have SkillUp back
Great to see you back, Ive actually never played any of the Fire Emblem games. I must be missing out.
You should. It's a great series fam.
Very fun games overall definitely worth playing
As someone who so often resonates incredibly much with most of your reviews and what you value in interactive experiences, it's very interesting to me how positively I'm responding the many of your grievances with Engage. Where I was cautiously interested in Engage before I'm now kind of excited to pick it up and see how it feels.
@@ih1763 I will never be tired of that, it's what I love the most lol
Different strokes for different folks
But I do also enjoy the battles in Fire Emblem
@@MewCocoa I did enjoy it to an extent but eventually found Gareg Mach to be a bit grading. Especially running around the whole place.
It's the reason I never did a second playthrough despite the latter half having four different routes.
I have never personally played any of the Fire Emblem games, so i have finally decided to jump in and give them a go. Hopefully i will discover a new series (for me) to explore and get excited about.
Welcome back man 🎉
Got FE Sacred Stones free from Nintendo on 3DS as apart of their ambassador program and I have been a FE fan since then I am really looking forward to this game. I may be a little bored of the overly anime astetic but graphically this game looks beautiful and the character designs look better than previous games
This is the kind of FE I need. I loved Three Houses but I'm ready to go back to a basic, tactics driven FE game like the good old days.
It sounds like Engage is worth it for you then. But I think we'll all miss the storytelling that gave those battles meaning and weight and memorability.
@@Senyuno I couldn't tell you half the plot of Shadow Dragon anymore, and it hasn't been long since I played it last.
We're kinda used to that aspect going up and down around here
"We’ll all." Thanks for speaking for everyone, Emperor. Three Houses probably went too far, this one is an over correction. When I.S. hits the perfect balance between the two the majority of players will be happy.
@@Senyuno lol... the story will always be there
@@Senyuno I mean people are acting like Engage has no story. It might not the best story out there but it's still there to follow. Three houses story was nice but i think that game also had alot of issues, espacially in the latter half. Some routes felt unfinished lore wise.
Well look who’s back, baby!
I can’t wait to polish Marth’s Ring tomorrow.
Ironic that FE: Engage does away with the engagement portion of FE.
One major flaw with Three Houses was that the first half, the period before war breaks out, was largely identical regardless of which House you chose to lead - this meant that for quite some time, repeat playthroughs were quite tedious. Oh, sure, there were a couple of unique scenes (such as finding Dimitri wandering the monastery at night, if you're leading his House), but it was 95% identical, only diverging halfway through.
I, for one, HATED this as I had no motivation to do NG+ and go down a different path, as it meant I'd be bored stiff for a significant chunk of time. Ugh.
Another issue I had with Three Houses was the whole calendar and Activity Points systems, since it artificially limited what I could do in my playthroughs - I like grinding, to some extent, which I could do whenever I wanted and for however long I wanted in Awakening and two-thirds of Fates, so these systems irritated me.
Hopefully these systems are gone, in Engage.
Yeah i think the social aspects was nice, but they did wear out their welcome after a while. And espacially when replaying the game. I think they could have still had them but done it better.
Because it wasn’t meant to be like persona 5
@@therealjaystone2344 I realise that, and I did find the comparisons to Persona to be quite inaccurate - 3H only lets you act on Sundays, for one, whereas Persona usually has the entire week explorable; Persona doesn't have activity points artificially limiting actions either, with each activity organically spending actual time, in a series known for it, whereas 3H just bolts it on (you can have lunch multiple times, for instance, or have multiple tea parties, without time visibly passing since FE as a series doesn't have a day/night system).
Oh, and needing to increase your Flying, Heavy Armour and/or Cavalry skills in order to access those classes, and characters only being able to unlock a new class once a week, is quite frustrating too - in older games all you needed was a Second or Master Seal (or for Fates, a Partner Seal once married) to change class whenever you wished. That was leagues more flexible than 3H's system.
Not to mention how your skill levels also influenced which students you could recruit in 3H, in the Academy half - when there were very few opportunities to level up Flying (especially for male Byleth due to gender-locked classes again, when Fates largely removed that), Heavy Armour and Cavalry since very few staff members had these as tutorable options.
That was annoying.
You can more or less skip everything bar the missions themselves on ng+ playthroughs tho, you can literally just skip at the calendar to the end of the month, you dont have to engage with anything you dont want to really.
Was really hoping this was a review for Fire Emblem N-Gage!
Hey! Welcome back from vacay bro! :P
I typically don't get into skillup's recommended games but I've been wanting to get into Fire Emblem for a long time and this seems like the best one for new players to jump into
If you like turn based, then I think you'll love FE games. This one in particular seems to focus on the gameplay aspect than the sim so it's more straightforward, less convoluted, and in line with traditional FE games.
As a die hard FE fan i can't wait.
This sounds perfect to me. Loved three houses, but it was a bit much
It is definitely a series that would benefit from more frequent, specialized releases. Because they've now got a larger audience and each part of it wants different things.
Yay Shillup is back! I’ve missed your silky smooth voice 😂
SkillUp is back babyyyyy, and for one of my favorite franchises of all time.
Man, this seems like a bummer. I've been a fire emblem fan since the GBA days and I thought the monastery stuff from three houses was just the revitalisation the series needed
6:57 that FE3H MUSIC MAN SO FKN GOOD
Didn't know what was missing in my life until I saw a skillup upload
I loved the sim aspect of three houses.
It sounds like closer to older FE, bigger focus on battle and more minimalistic story/sim aspect.
I'm totally fine with it, but I can see it might feels lacking for those who started from 3DS titles onward.
We’re fucking back baby
Finally, another skill up video
I was considering picking this one up since i heard and seen so much good things about Three Houses and thought this one would have something similar just with exstra system, shame.
Maybe if i can ever pick it up on a sale, but knowing Nintendo i'll have to wait long.
better pick up 3 houses if you prefer good story and character development
@@sakutaro3musik486 I will, when i have time for it, its one massive game.
Thanks for this review. It seems like the divide for this game will come down to who likes older FE games and who came in on 3H. Engage seems like a love letter to the older games and while that sounds like a downgrade for people who played 3H you have to understand for a lot of fans of FE, 3H WAS the downgrade.
You mean the critically aclaimed 3H was a downgrade to them?
Different standards then.
@@sylents8005 I mean, at the end of the day Three Houses struck a lot of uncommon points for Fire Emblem. It’s understandable that people might not want the same things from the games even if I personally loved Three Houses.
I wish the story was better. 3houses had a amazing story.
@@SaintMarianne wasnt it the same thing before 3h?
@@sylents8005 3H was a downgrade to fans who didn't want a Persona game.
Oh I'm going to play this