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Pre-Release Fire Emblem Engage — Pre-release Discussion Thread

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The style has grown on me, but some of the character designs I am not a fan of. The same was true for Three Houses, though, and it did not hinder my enjoyment back then. So I doubt it will this time around.

The story/premise I don't particularly care about. As long as the gameplay is on point, everything else is just a bonus to me.
 
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Looks too good for Switch imo.
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If you played multiple FE you should know the answer to this. They never stick to the same design unless its a sequel (there have been only 3 in 18 games)

They have found the most sucess with the series with the character sexualization and the anime loli look. Let me doubt the will go back to a more somber and mature look.
 
If you played multiple FE you should know the answer to this. They never stick to the same design unless its a sequel (there have been only 3 in 18 games)
The GBA ones have a rather consistent style Secret Stone did not move far from 6 and 7), Awakening and Fates where also not thaaaat far removed in game, and Echoes was still closer. This looks further removed then usual on the same platform in my opinion. The series doesnt have a consistent style, but the jump here is not the norm in my opinion.
Also, I don't wanna hear nothing about "oh, people were wrong about Three Houses based on early trailers," because I wasn't

My partner and I knew what that game was going to be like tonally from the jump, and had the timeskip pegged from "promise you won't forget me"

This game has presented itself very consistently: I think we can safely assume how it's going to be
yeah, i also dont get what people are talking about. I mean, some where speculating heavily about the weirdest shit after the first trailer, and how baren it al looked. later trailers put everything in context, and from scenes the timeskip was foreshadowed in earlier trailers.
 
That was a great trailer. I figured there would only be the twelve rings and some would be in enemy possession, but I didn't anticipate Evil Marth.
 
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I feel like it needs to be said that for the time they were being released, both Holy War and Thracia had anime as heck designs too.

Those shoulder-pads ... my god. DBZ Piccolo would be proud and jealous.
fire emblem always had anime inspired designs for their characters, it's just that the series is so old that the popular style of animes changed multiple time in the years and fire emblem style changed together with it.
 
They have found the most sucess with the series with the character sexualization and the anime loli look. Let me doubt the will go back to a more somber and mature look.
This is categorically false. Three Houses is easily and by far the best-selling entry in the entire franchise, and its sexualization is very low compared to other Awakening-era games. Its spin-off Musou game outsold every single Fire Emblem that came out before Awakening!

This art style change has yet to prove itself in terms of appeal, and there's no reason to assume it will be the standard going forward
 
They have found the most sucess with the series with the character sexualization and the anime loli look. Let me doubt the will go back to a more somber and mature look.
Well no. Cause 3H is the best selling game in the franchise and by far the most popular. Saying they wont go back is a unfounded statement.
 
I feel like it needs to be said that for the time they were being released, both Holy War and Thracia had anime as heck designs too.

Those shoulder-pads ... my god. DBZ Piccolo would be proud and jealous.
People think their upset about Engage being too anime, wait until more people get their hands on that FE4 remake if they don't do some heavy rewrites.
 
The GBA ones have a rather consistent style Secret Stone did not move far from 6 and 7), Awakening and Fates where also not thaaaat far removed in game, and Echoes was still closer. This looks further removed then usual on the same platform in my opinion. The series doesnt have a consistent style, but the jump here is not the norm in my opinion.
I think it would have been hard to drastically pivot styles with the hardware, specially in handheld. Plus the gamble of "is this series gonna take of?" made them do a safe approach. But now that they have more power they can experiment.

But yeah, while different the style its not a drastic change a la Kirby which it had like 10 styles in handhelds lol.
 
People think their upset about Engage being too anime, wait until more people get their hands on that FE4 remake if they don't do some heavy rewrites.
Oh man I cant wait. I hope they do a Great Plateau type of trailers with this one.

And we will get the usual: "Too much Fire Emblem".
 
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I know I’m in the minority in places like this but as one of the few people who didn’t instantly write this game off the second it was announced, yes please this game looks excellent. I adore Three Houses but I’m glad to return to the more fun and creative designs of Awakening/Fates. Story seems pretty basic but not needing to replay it 4 times to get the whole story is a massive boon (even though I’ve played TH 6 times already lmao).

Really wish we saw some gameplay as that honestly has me more intrigued that the story. But I feel like we might get some some of Fire Emblem Direct in late December or early January to fill in the details.
 
I think there was not a single scene of gameplay in this trailer lol. Just some (what sounds to me like) random dialogue and cutscenes.

Also, I've seen enough of this game. Im buying this anyway, I want to go in blind. I'll avoid everything related to this.
 
I don't think that's it. If you pause the first trailer during the gameplay segments there's no inventory slot for the emblems to have other weapons. I think what'll happen is that as the Emblem bond increases, they'll unlock memories of their more powerful weapons which replace their starting ones. Marth as an example has a rapier in the gameplay footage, but it's hard to imagine he won't eventually get the Falchion.

I think it's fair to assume that they're not going to have emblems forcibly change weapon type though.
 
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I'm not 100% sold on the VA and dialogue (it doesn't sound as good or fitting as TH, but that's hard to judge from just a trailer, so we'll see) but pretty much everything else about this looks good. The colors and environments are very nice.
 
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I was optimistic initially, but after this trailer it's a "wait for reviews". Just not feeling the character designs in general.

Hopefully it'll be solid in terms of gameplay, at least!
 
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Maybe im still sleepy but as a FE fan thats played every american FE release except Echoes and Radiants, the trailer did nothing for me. The world/story doesnt seem interesting at all.

I was lukewarm on TH before its later trailers so maybe this will be the same.
 
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People also just seem to have gotten used to 3H more "ANIME" designs, especially for characters like Female Byleth, Kronya, Cornellia, or most of the female students after the time skip like Hilda, Dorothea, and Petra. Those exact same designs and characters could show up on Engage and people would be screeching.
Not necessarily, Kronya was a mess of a design in TH, stood out badly from the rest and still is now. It’s just that for the main part, the characters from TH were pretty stylish and fitted the background of the faction they were from (although F Byleth suffered the same thing as the protagonist here, where the female MC design for some reason needs to look much younger than the male one). Kronya, like much of this lot and the cast of Fates, just seem like random designs from different games thrown together, and that’s not even going near the frankly bizarre sexualization that happens to her as soon as she betrays the party. I get that this isn’t a new thing in JRPGs by a very long way, I just preferred the sweeping lines of the outfits in TH and PoR/RD to ‘everyone looks random’. Having said that, I much prefer the return to ‘epic fantasy campaign’ to the school in TH taking centre stage for the first half, so I can’t exactly complain, that FE changes things up on the regular in terms of scenario, art direction etc is a good thing.
 
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This is categorically false. Three Houses is easily and by far the best-selling entry in the entire franchise, and its sexualization is very low compared to other Awakening-era games. Its spin-off Musou game outsold every single Fire Emblem that came out before Awakening!

This art style change has yet to prove itself in terms of appeal, and there's no reason to assume it will be the standard going forward

Well no. Cause 3H is the best selling game in the franchise and by far the most popular. Saying they wont go back is a unfounded statement.

Three Houses continues the anime style trend from Awakening/Fates. I don't see how its art style differs that much from those games. However, Three Houses is not the biggest suscess the series has seen and clearly not the mirror Engage is looking itself.

Fire Emblem Heroes became the first Nintendo mobile title to reach $1 billion in lifetime global player spending, making it the most successful Fire Emblem game to date across platforms. And the sexuallization and anime tropes in Heroes are over the top.

It's worrying for me that the first game that started development after Heroes' success (Three Houses was already in development after Heroes launched and sky rocketed in revenue), it's a carbon copy of most things which are bad about it. I am not talking just about the art style and the sexuallization, but also about the hall of fame lords collection the game features which obviously is a nod at all the Fire Emblem Heroes fans for whom these characters area already recognizable and may be attracted to this game for that reason.
 
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Three Houses continues the anime style trend from Awakening/Fates. I don't see how its art style differs that much from those games. However, Three Houses is not the biggest suscess the series has seen and clearly not the mirror Engage is looking.
Three Houses looks nothing like Awakening or Fates, from art style to character design. The only thing similar between them is that they both use an anime art style, and if that’s the issue I have bad news about the rest of the Fire Emblem series.
 
Three Houses looks nothing like Awakening or Fates, from art style to character design. The only thing similar between them is that they both use an anime art style, and if that’s the issue I have bad news about the rest of the Fire Emblem series.

"Looks nothing like"? Seriously?

Three Houses is perfectly in line with Awakening and Fates. If you look at the art styles the series has had through all its games, Thee Houses is way closer to the post-Awakening games than to the pre-Awakening ones. I don't think there is a discussion here.

However, my grip is with Engage which is Fire Emblem Heroes level of ridiculousness. Three Houses I can tolerate.
 
Yeah I thought TH was different to Awakening/Fates and closer to PoR/RD again. Although to be fair I also thought Awakening/Fates was partly down to them thinking what looks good rendered on a 3DS screen, which is cartoonish exaggeration rather than sleek lines and detailed fashion/clothing. All of which I found understandable even if I vastly prefer the latter.
 
I actually found Fates to be the best looking Fire emblem games. And they have a big negative In a lot of characters design.

But boy. Those map designs, enemy designs, friendly unit designs. That Chapter in Conquest where you fight Hinoka for the last time is such a beautiful map.

It’s better then anything in Echoes, Three Houses, and Awakening from the recent titles.
 
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I feel like it needs to be said that for the time they were being released, both Holy War and Thracia had anime as heck designs too.

Those shoulder-pads ... my god. DBZ Piccolo would be proud and jealous.
Yeah...let me try and formulate it in a way that isnt to obviously biased...

FE was always anime. rather contemporary anime, maybe lacking 4 years behind the anime productions of the time.
The GC one was less so anime, but that was kinda technical limitations?
Even TH was really anime. But this one just screams... mass produced? generic anime game shader?
The character designs seem more loli. Kinda reminds me of a lot of isekai and anime action rpg games?

TH tried to do "serious" anime. This is more bubblegum isekai with melodrama?

(I like TH more in this regard, even if i still think that the decision to split the story in 4 routes ruined every potential the story had for good drama.
It never felt like they could commit in the second half, because every rout should stay valid, but they also where overlaping, and depending on side you did not see different sides of characters, they behaved just straight as if they where different characters.
To give a good example how you show a story from a different side: 2. run of nier automata, almost all dialogue is the same, some aditions, and it still manages to make you see the portagonists and their views, values, positions to the world from a totally different perspective without invalidating the first experience)

Heck, can we not have a down to earth political drama where the mystical and fantastic stuff only happens in the last quarter? Kinda like Binding Blade?
And not multiple routes, or random sumoning from people that are "Emblem People"... because they are known...
 
I am not calling anyone out, or trying to say something pretentious, like that that other people will one day become enlightened like me. (I have barely read any of your messages, just enough to get the feeling that people didn't like the trailer.) I'm just sharing my personal feelings. Years ago, I would have disliked, as a matter of principle, them bringing back old lords for this game. But over time I have come to realize that those feelings were simply me acting like such things were below me. Nowadays, I don't care about trying to prove anything to myself. If they want to feed me nostalgia, I will eat it right up. I thought the trailer was delicious!
 
Yeah...let me try and formulate it in a way that isnt to obviously biased...

FE was always anime. rather contemporary anime, maybe lacking 4 years behind the anime productions of the time.
The GC one was less so anime, but that was kinda technical limitations?
Even TH was really anime. But this one just screams... mass produced? generic anime game shader?
The character designs seem more loli. Kinda reminds me of a lot of isekai and anime action rpg games?

TH tried to do "serious" anime. This is more bubblegum isekai with melodrama?

(I like TH more in this regard, even if i still think that the decision to split the story in 4 routes ruined every potential the story had for good drama.
It never felt like they could commit in the second half, because every rout should stay valid, but they also where overlaping, and depending on side you did not see different sides of characters, they behaved just straight as if they where different characters.
To give a good example how you show a story from a different side: 2. run of nier automata, almost all dialogue is the same, some aditions, and it still manages to make you see the portagonists and their views, values, positions to the world from a totally different perspective without invalidating the first experience)

I'd say by going with Isekai-vibes and Vtuber designs they just follow the latest mainstream anime trends, just as they did back in Holy War / Thracia with the big volume hair and shoulder-pads everywhere.

I'd say it fits for the GBA / GCN time too, where it was all a bit more down to earth.

And to be clear, i like the Three Houses artstyle more than Engage's too, but since they're really staying true to their artstyle schtick, i'm not complaining ... i get used to it.
 
Fire Emblem's aesthetic has always been "anime" and people trying to use it as a catch-all pejorative are being silly.
 
However, my grip is with Engage which is Fire Emblem Heroes level of ridiculousness. Three Houses I can tolerate.
The series should probably explore more of that as it continues to stay fresh. There are quite a few sticking points I have with the series in certain departments.
Yeah...let me try and formulate it in a way that isnt to obviously biased...

FE was always anime. rather contemporary anime, maybe lacking 4 years behind the anime productions of the time.
The GC one was less so anime, but that was kinda technical limitations?
Even TH was really anime. But this one just screams... mass produced? generic anime game shader?
The character designs seem more loli. Kinda reminds me of a lot of isekai and anime action rpg games?

TH tried to do "serious" anime. This is more bubblegum isekai with melodrama?

(I like TH more in this regard, even if i still think that the decision to split the story in 4 routes ruined every potential the story had for good drama.
It never felt like they could commit in the second half, because every rout should stay valid, but they also where overlaping, and depending on side you did not see different sides of characters, they behaved just straight as if they where different characters.
To give a good example how you show a story from a different side: 2. run of nier automata, almost all dialogue is the same, some aditions, and it still manages to make you see the portagonists and their views, values, positions to the world from a totally different perspective without invalidating the first experience)

Heck, can we not have a down to earth political drama where the mystical and fantastic stuff only happens in the last quarter? Kinda like Binding Blade?
And not multiple routes, or random sumoning from people that are "Emblem People"... because they are known...
The bolded is not the way I would describe it nor do I think it is a good descriptor here.
 
It's worrying for me that the first game that started development after Heroes' success (Three Houses was already in development after Heroes launched and sky rocketed in revenue), it's a carbon copy of most things which are bad about it. I am not talking just about the art style and the sexuallization, but also about the hall of fame lords collection the game features which obviously is a nod at all the Fire Emblem Heroes fans for whom these characters area already recognizable and may be attracted to this game for that reason.
I feel like your worries are unfounded. First, you dont know how long this game has been in dev, remember that KT did most of the work for 3H. IS has almost 200 employees and not all of them were in 3H (I doubt they all went to Warioware or Paper mario). Sure, it might have started after Heroes came out but Heroes reach the billion this year, I doubt there were looking at that for inspiration from a gatcha game. That does not translate to a console game.

Like saying 3H continues the anime style is an odd statement. Like since when has this game had realistic graphics, its like the man on the moon meme. Its always been anime, its just different artist.
 
I'd be shocked if they don't do some heavy rewrites for FE4.
I actually see absolutelly no reason for that. People overestimate th "problematic" content of FE4.

Yes, there is incest in the game. But it's very important for the plot and portrayed as something bad, done by the enemies to revive a evil dragon. Not something sexualized or something that's portrayed as good. The only exception would be some cousin marriages and ONE questionable Support dialogue if you pair some specific characters together. What else would be there they would have to "heavy rewrite"? FE4 is not as problematic or controversial than many people claim.
 
I actually see absolutelly no reason for that. People overestimate th "problematic" content of FE4.

Yes, there is incest in the game. But it's very important for the plot and portrayed as something bad, done by the enemies to revive a evil dragon. Not something sexualized or something that's portrayed as good. The only exception would be some cousin marriages and ONE questionable Support dialogue if you pair some specific characters together. What else would be there they would have to "heavy rewrite"? FE4 is not as problematic or controversial than many people claim.

The whole part before the incest. You know, the wife getting kidnapped, brainwashed and mindbroken, and put into a place where her half-brother is going to find her.

That, on top of the incest, is kinda ... even more bad and controversial than the incest itself would be.
 
I actually see absolutelly no reason for that. People overestimate th "problematic" content of FE4.

Yes, there is incest in the game. But it's very important for the plot and portrayed as something bad, done by the enemies to revive a evil dragon. Not something sexualized or something that's portrayed as good. The only exception would be some cousin marriages and ONE questionable Support dialogue if you pair some specific characters together. What else would be there they would have to "heavy rewrite"? FE4 is not as problematic or controversial than many people claim.
This is true to an extent, but Fire Emblem being a higher profile Nintendo franchise still means they may want to "sanitize" some of these elements.

I was also referring to what they did with Shadows of Valentia. At minimum expect some new characters and scenarios in FE4.
 
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The series should probably explore more of that as it continues to stay fresh. There are quite a few sticking points I have with the series in certain departments.

The bolded is not the way I would describe it nor do I think it is a good descriptor here.
youre right, its a bad descriptor. but the female characters seem younger, more childlike overall, thats probably closer to what i meant.
I'd say by going with Isekai-vibes and Vtuber designs they just follow the latest mainstream anime trends, just as they did back in Holy War / Thracia with the big volume hair and shoulder-pads everywhere.

I'd say it fits for the GBA / GCN time too, where it was all a bit more down to earth.

And to be clear, i like the Three Houses artstyle more than Engage's too, but since they're really staying true to their artstyle schtick, i'm not complaining ... i get used to it.
maybe im misremebering, but wasnt that artstyle back then rather universally liked and the diversity in anime artstyles was not yet that high as it is today?
Like its not to far from berserk, sailor moon (in places), Escaflowne, heck even cowboy beebop.
Now i feel that there are subsets in anime design that are more asociated with groups of fans.
And while isekai is a prevalent genre andhas a lot of mass apeal, its also one of the most criticised.


(The generally to bright almost plastic looking shading is a thing that i realized has become a little... like, its everywhere.)
I would still say that stuff like orbital children, demon slayer, Attack on Tytan, Sky X Family, Chainsaw Man, Made in AbyssDr Stone , Mob Psycho all look rather different.
I know im nitpicking, but thats also the point, it feels like they are taking inspiration from the masses, not the critical darlings. Then again, those shaders for that look probably already existed (Gust -> Atelier....) so it was probably a cost reduction measurement.
 
Three Houses continues the anime style trend from Awakening/Fates. I don't see how its art style differs that much from those games. However, Three Houses is not the biggest suscess the series has seen and clearly not the mirror Engage is looking itself.

Fire Emblem Heroes became the first Nintendo mobile title to reach $1 billion in lifetime global player spending, making it the most successful Fire Emblem game to date across platforms. And the sexuallization and anime tropes in Heroes are over the top.

It's worrying for me that the first game that started development after Heroes' success (Three Houses was already in development after Heroes launched and sky rocketed in revenue), it's a carbon copy of most things which are bad about it. I am not talking just about the art style and the sexuallization, but also about the hall of fame lords collection the game features which obviously is a nod at all the Fire Emblem Heroes fans for whom these characters area already recognizable and may be attracted to this game for that reason.
Fire Emblem Heroes is not a mainline entry in the series; you're right htat Engage is very probably a direct response to the success of Heroes, as it is very much "What If Heroes Was a Real Fire Emblem"

That said, we do not yet have any indication that this decision will translate to sales, which is the metric that I was talking about—whole game sales. Worry if and only if the game outsells Three Houses, which is a very high bar to clear

Also you're simply wrong about the character designs of Three Houses compared to Awakening and Fates. It is much more in line with pre-Awakening vibes
 
The whole part before the incest. You know, the wife getting kidnapped, brainwashed and mindbroken, and put into a place where her half-brother is going to find her.

That, on top of the incest, is kinda ... even more bad and controversial than the incest itself would be.
I mean, we're normal people here, we understand that something that is done by a bad guy is bad and not something that is being showed in a good light. It's not something so awful that needs to be censored. Also it's literally the pivotal moment of the entire game, how can they even change it?
 
The whole part before the incest. You know, the wife getting kidnapped, brainwashed and mindbroken, and put into a place where her half-brother is going to find her.

That, on top of the incest, is kinda ... even more bad and controversial than the incest itself would be.
... in the hands of a good writer those aspects can work. Its not that those aspects are inherently wrong in a story. Im just 100% confident that the writer for a FE game would not have the skill to make it work and not feel ...wrong.
 
Even in FEH, they don't really sanitize FE4. Events are alluded to that need not be said outright. They're not walking back the horrible things done by horrible characters that are meant to be seen as nothing but horrible.
 
Looks like there is a whole country of Black characters? That's super nice. Representation matters. I hope they are portrayed in a good way.
Same here.

But already they're doing something a bit more interesting than the latest entrant in a certain OTHER mainstream fantasy franchise~!
 
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Can't wait until 2024 when a new FE game is announced and people complain about it being "too anime" and wishing for Engage's style to return.
 
youre right, its a bad descriptor. but the female characters seem younger, more childlike overall, thats probably closer to what i meant.
Childlike is closer but still how I would describe it. Probably closer to vtuber since we see a few more female characters in this trailer which give that vibe.
maybe im misremebering, but wasnt that artstyle back then rather universally liked and the diversity in anime artstyles was not yet that high as it is today?
Like its not to far from berserk, sailor moon (in places), Escaflowne, heck even cowboy beebop.
Now i feel that there are subsets in anime design that are more asociated with groups of fans.
And while isekai is a prevalent genre andhas a lot of mass apeal, its also one of the most criticised.
Isekai is the most criticized because there are just a lot of bad ones out there with studios trying to cash in as cheaply as possible. Even then there are still a wide amount of variety between isekai
(The generally to bright almost plastic looking shading is a thing that i realized has become a little... like, its everywhere.)
I would still say that stuff like orbital children, demon slayer, Attack on Tytan, Sky X Family, Chainsaw Man, Made in AbyssDr Stone , Mob Psycho all look rather different.
I know im nitpicking, but thats also the point, it feels like they are taking inspiration from the masses, not the critical darlings. Then again, those shaders for that look probably already existed (Gust -> Atelier....) so it was probably a cost reduction measurement.
It really has nothing to do with taking inspiration from critical darlings or the masses but what the developer in question is comfortable with. Since it is a Gust production then it is going to have a certain look to it. Just like how 3H has a certain look to it because of Omega Force.
 
Oh man it looks very good visually. Personally I love the garish colors.

I’m ready to accept that this game isn’t what I wanted (tonally and character design wise I wanted more Three Houses) but something else I might also enjoy. I just hope that they return to something like TH in the future.

The female characters are…more horny and same-y than I’d want. There’s only so much insult I can take wrt horny anime designs and it’s toeing the line lol
 
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