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After the courier "missed" me while I was home. I got it yesterday. Have been playing a bit in the evening and in the morning after beating the first dungeon in P4G.
The story is definitely more stale compared to Three Houses, but everything else is quite the step up. I am currently chapter 6 and most characters are fine .
Chapter 6 done. I love the presentation , it's far from perfect and i feel it could be better at times but for their first in-house HD title, IS really put a lot of love into the graphics and animation departments.
The story is quite simple, not really interesting at the moment but it's serviceable and there are some goofy moments.
The characters are good too, not a fan of Framme like all my fellow Famiboarders but some characters like Yunaka and Boucheron are quite funny. I see a lot of potential even if it won't be as deep as in 3H.
The music is great, at the moment it doesn't reach the previous games but I imagine it will intensify with the next chapters.
The gameplay is phenomenal, the best in the series. The Emblem Rings system is the most interesting gimmick I've seen in a SRPG to be fair. It elevates the gameplay to something really special.
At the moment I'm in love with the game, I can understand people being disappointed but I really like what I'm playing and this is just the beginning!
Do we know how long the game is ? I imagine it will be on par with Awakening/Conquest ?
Not that I don't love dogs, but it seems like it's optimal to have a puppy party in the Somniel rather than a variety of little beasties, which is a shame.
3H and Engage have very different developers behind them on account of being developed by different teams.
None of the writers for 3H worked on this game, the main scenario director for Engage is Nami Komuro who is a writer at IS who worked on Awakening, Fates, and The Origami King.
Three Houses on the other hand had Yuki Ikeno, Ryohei Hayashi, and Mari Okamoto as writers, all of them from KT.
I really don't like support conversations. Whatever Fire Emblem game invented support conversations is probably the worst game in the entire series.
I also don't like running around the Somniel. If only there were a Fire Emblem game where forging, the weapon shop, the item shop, the arena, and relationship stuff were all in a menu. That would probably be the best game in the entire series.
The joke is that they're both Genealogy. Trust me, that's funny.
I wanna wait until I hear more of it in-game, but based on what I've heard from Engage's OST so far I think Three Houses has the better OST by a decent margin.
Does anyone happen to know what the typical maximum number of units you can bring in for the later maps is? I assume it's at least twelve so that you eventually can use all the rings, but playing on maddening, it'd be nice to know in advance when I should start dropping units from getting any exp at all.
Celica over Alm is funny to me. Even those it’s obvious why, it’s more his story in Echoes then hers. Lyn Over Eilwood is similar but Hector is cooler then Eilwood too, we got his son anyways.
It’s just shows.
Make more Leads that ain’t Male, IS! But I guess with Avatars. It might just alternate
A lot of stuff can be accessed from the menu before battle, so things like shops and the smithy and supports don't seem to actually require running around the Somniel at least. Because I agree - as someone who didn't mind running/fast traveling around the monastery too much, I find the Somniel a little unengaging. Pretty, and the music is chill, but it's a magic island in the sky that doesn't feel part of the world the same way the monastery did. The movement and narrow corridors it consists of also reminds me a lot of exploration in Echoes, which was its weakest aspect. Running around maps after battles is equally puzzling to be honest - you can't miss the bond fragments if you skip it, the items you find don't seem that exciting, and it's an exercise in discovering invisible walls. Framme also gave me the exact same dialogue between chapters after battle. I don't feel much incentive to bother with it.
Battles are enjoyable for me, but I'm still very early on. I'm not a particularly skilled player, so Hard Classic has been a decent challenge in that I have to play thoughtfully and cautiously in order to clear objectives, get the best use out of people, manage and replenish Engage uses, and fulfil any secondary goals like warning villagers or apprehending thieves. Louis is awesome in the early game. I hope it keeps this up and keeps improving.
Unit/ring/item development is a mixed bag. I think the rings actually work well, even though I find the fan service-y nature of them goofy - I think they'd be a really good concept if used in another title featuring original Emblem characters from that world's history, as a way to expand on new lore and explore legendary figures in the story we otherwise wouldn't see.
Weapon refining seems fine, but I'm a little annoyed that from my first look it appears that clothing (pointless, cosmetic) uses some of the same resources as smithing (not pointless, affects gameplay). And there are a lot of systems and activities where I'm not sure if they're a worthwhile use of my time and resources. Does sleeping do anything in terms of gameplay or is it just a sleep paralysis demon visitation sim?
And I've already said, but there are a surprising number of cutscenes with surprising length for a game with such a bland story that's poorly told. I think the only FE game where I've been less invested in knowing what's going to happen in the story is Heroes. I know a lot of people really don't care, but I do tend to play RPGs/strategy games partly to follow the units as characters and/or see how the battles relate to the world and the story. It doesn't need to be amazing, but personally I find the game very poor in this area. I like some of the VA work, but a lot of it...I don't really think this comes down to the actors at all, so this isn't a knock on them, but they are working with very little here and I feel bad about it. I don't even remember all of my units names, and several of them I have no clue what their customary one character trait is yet. I like the pretty ones? And the non-playable story characters are not giving. At all!
It looks really good to me (bear in mind I am still firmly last gen and earlier in terms of what I play), some character designs aside. I love adopting animals. Alfred yelling "my muscles are yours" when he uses Engage amuses me. I've given Sommie attitude via eyebrows. So I'm still enjoying myself despite the many shortcomings, though I find it easier to walk away from after each chapter and I think it could and should be better than it is. I'm glad this resonates more with people who found 3H a bad diversionary route for the series for the last however many years and didn't have the luxury of enjoying what it aimed for as much as I did, but I still believe there's a more complete package out there that could allow the next entry to hit more high notes without as many bum notes.
Somniel is just My castle 2.0 only now it’s slower cause it’s in 3D.
Fates was so small and condensed so it was pretty snappy. Here Alear doesn’t feel like they move as fast as they should. Plus needing to get accustomed to where everything is at, so I still get confused. I just been skipping this stuff. It’s very uninteresting to me
Running around maps after battles is equally puzzling to be honest - you can't miss the bond fragments if you skip it, the items you find don't seem that exciting, and it's an exercise in discovering invisible walls. Framme also gave me the exact same dialogue between chapters after battle. I don't feel much incentive to bother with it.
The maps would be interesting if the characters had something plot-related to say (like in Three Houses after every chapter) or if they could interact with each other (like in PoR/RD base conversations).
One thing I’m noticing about the music that I hope doesn’t continue - it seems like they’re often burying the really good version of the music track in the “in combat” portion when you’re actually fighting with an enemy. Three Houses had the base track be the main track and just added some drums and emphasis to the “battle” portion, but in this game it almost feels like the “main” track is the “battle” portion, and the regular music is a more stripped-down, chiller version. Which sucks, because that means you barely get to hear the really upbeat, interesting versions.
I think the Somniel as is would work a lot better in a game like Genealogy where battles could take anywhere from 2-4 hours for the average player. If you only went back to the Somniel a dozen times the entire game, then the cool down of fishing, petting Sommie, doing exercises, having a meal, tending to adopted animals, etc would make a lot more sense.
As it stands it feels like IS is stuck at a crossroads. They either need to fully commit to making the base half of the game feeling meaningful, or you need to get rid of it. Either option will alienate a group of fans, but it seems like nobody is pleased with this halfway house solution the Somniel presents.
Three houses had more interesting dialogue. But too big.
Somniel is more compact and more to do. But it’s all uninteresting to see.
Honesty. I think Monestary might be better since it affects your gameplay more with the Learning at the end with teaching.
At the end of the day. IS hasn’t nailed down the off-time in battles. It’s too little, but should it be more? Probably not. Just feels they haven’t nailed the “I need to do the My castle stuff” feeling.
Whew - I’m a few hours into my first ever play through of Three Houses and I am engaged enthralled. I’ll probably make an LTTP at some point as to not continue to pop in here with OT thoughts, but since the release of this game was what inspired me to finally pick it up I figured I’d report back in brief.
I went with Golden Deer as I like the idea of being the “other” group and a collection of ragtag kids. They seemed like they had the greatest opportunity to shape as a professor, versus the other two that seem pretty deeply settled into their ways already. I chose Male Byleth, and may soon regret that looking at romance options as a queer person. Ultimately I’ve decided just to stick it through though as romance doesn’t seem all too important to this game anyhow.
Versus my experience with Awakening way back on 3DS, I have a feeling I’ll stick to this game a bit better as the rhythm of activities is really my vibe. It scratches that same itch as life sims game tend to do that just gives me a very calm and centered experience as a player… as opposed to other open world experiences (eg. Pokémon Violet) it feels great to be more “on rails” in a game. Violet is actually a very interesting comparison as it has a similar school setup but without much reason to exist lol.
Oh, and the monetary is giving me HUGE FF My Life as a King vibes, which was an odd stand out highlight for me back in the Wii era.
Finally, graphical impressions… similar to Pokemon Arceus I am more than okay with this game’s rough edges because it prioritized a beautiful UI and a general high resolution. Simplicity is key and visually this game has that aside of a few odd choices here and there. Oh, and the voice acting? God damn is it well done!
It does overall seem like the qualities drawing me into this game are the same ones they scaled back in Engage, so I’m not in any rush to get to it. As a huge Hyrule Warriors fan, I also look forward to having Three Hopes waiting for me in the wings should I get through this!
Tiki’s paralogue is rough. Spent over an hour on it, and still didn’t finish. Those infinite reinforcements are brutal. Gonna have to go back to it later.
One thing I’m noticing about the music that I hope doesn’t continue - it seems like they’re often burying the really good version of the music track in the “in combat” portion when you’re actually fighting with an enemy. Three Houses had the base track be the main track and just added some drums and emphasis to the “battle” portion, but in this game it almost feels like the “main” track is the “battle” portion, and the regular music is a more stripped-down, chiller version. Which sucks, because that means you barely get to hear the really upbeat, interesting versions.
This is how Awakening and Fates were, Three Houses was the exception if anything. I actually prefer this style, as the Three Houses combat music is pretty boring to listen to outside of the game, whereas both themes are great in Awakening/Fates/Engage.
Three Houses is still my favorite soundtrack of the franchise though.
I think the Monastery definitely fit the world of 3H more and it added more to the gameplay, but I still appreciate the more streamlined approach here and I like being able to take a breather when I feel like it. I really just return to the Somniel after every numbered chapter rather than every single battle and I find that it hasn’t gotten very stale yet.
Not that I don't love dogs, but it seems like it's optimal to have a puppy party in the Somniel rather than a variety of little beasties, which is a shame.
Tiki’s paralogue is rough. Spent over an hour on it, and still didn’t finish. Those infinite reinforcements are brutal. Gonna have to go back to it later.
I think the Monastery definitely fit the world of 3H more and it added more to the gameplay, but I still appreciate the more streamlined approach here and I like being able to take a breather when I feel like it. I really just return to the Somniel after every numbered chapter rather than every single battle and I find that it hasn’t gotten very stale yet.
I like the Somniel as a location, I just wish there were more interesting things to do between each battle and/or that the rewards for doing activities was more impactful.
Tiki’s paralogue is rough. Spent over an hour on it, and still didn’t finish. Those infinite reinforcements are brutal. Gonna have to go back to it later.
This is how Awakening and Fates were, Three Houses was the exception if anything. I actually prefer this style, as the Three Houses combat music is pretty boring to listen to outside of the game, whereas both themes are great in Awakening/Fates/Engage.
Three Houses is still my favorite soundtrack of the franchise though.
I’m beginning to find that Three Houses was the exception to a lot of things I greatly prefer .
I wouldn’t mind the music being like that if there were an option to just have the “combat” version be the default. I know you can mess with setting the music how you like it in non-story battles, but that’s not helpful enough.
The Fire Emblem Hero Item set is pretty decent for characters you don't plan to give Emblem Rings or don't have any. Specifically, having both Sharena's lance and Ring on a Knight or Calvary makes the Unit a very solid tank. The item set also made me notice that some S rank Bond rings have abilities. I only have one S rank that has a bond ability, the other S ranks outside of the Hero set rings don't so far.
After spending about five hours on the game, first impressions.
Pepsi-ch- I mean Alear is a fun lord. When taking the Corrin’s, Byleths and what not into consideration she’s more of a character, despite the story being more serviceable.
The party worshipping her though is… a bit much. Woof. They’re just one step away from reaching obsession status. Well some of them are already there.
The gameplay… that’s where the action is and it’s soooooooooo good. Kind of reminds me of Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, in the best way possible as those two got me into Fire Emblem in the first place.
After spending about five hours on the game, first impressions.
Pepsi-ch- I mean Alear is a fun lord. When taking the Corrin’s, Byleths and what not into consideration she’s more of a character, despite the story being more serviceable.
The party worshipping her though is… a bit much. Woof. They’re just one step away from reaching obsession status. Well some of them are already there.
The gameplay… that’s where the action is and it’s soooooooooo good. Kind of reminds me of Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, in the best way possible as those two got me into Fire Emblem in the first place.
Monastery was better fitting the world narrative but man..was a slog
Somniel is more streamlined, but too "fairy tale" like, compared to the war takin place in the world
At least up to chapter 6
Anyway, production values and gameplay are the best ever, here
I just hate the way Alear runs and how it feels. When you turn the camera it’s like they’re going to keel over.
Anyway, a few questions: is donating to kingdoms a good use of money or is it better saved for other things? Can you ever re-enter old maps to explore again and get animals you couldn’t previously? And do paralogues ever “expire” (i.e. should you do them straight away or can you hold off)?
Also I fed Sommie something it liked and our affinity didn’t go up. That thing is on thin ice with me.
Which would be fine in context, if it was a one off, but in the reality of it being the third lead character of a new game in a row who is jerked off as the Messiah who can solve everything by their mere presence (after Corrin and Byleth), nobody would buy that as any more than the flimsy justification for the playerjerking that it is
What do people think is a good number of "main" units to use in this game? In most Fire Emblem games I tend to stick to around 10 or so, but I'm thinking about going with 12 for this game since there are more units I wanna play with, and there are also 12 Emblem Rings in the game I believe, though not sure if 12 is too many.
Which would be fine in context, if it was a one off, but in the reality of it being the third lead character of a new game in a row who is jerked off as the Messiah who can solve everything by their mere presence (after Corrin and Byleth), nobody would buy that as any more than the flimsy justification for the playerjerking that it is
It's fair to not like it, but the argument that Avatars are empty characters that exist just for masturbating the player is both overly simplistic and tends to overlook a lot.
Chapters 10-11 were great, both story-wise and gameplay-wise imo. It's getting better and now i'm legit invested in it and wanting to know what happens next
Someone at Int Sys seem to really like beagles, that's two games in a row with beagles roaming in your base. You all know I'm only putting beagles in that farm, this is so good.
It even has Lemon Beagles ! I'm currently at 3 beagles, 1 lemon beagle, and one calico cat roaming in my farm. The moment I find a 5th beagle though, the kitty goes back into the barn.
As this is only my second FE game (3H being my first), I am also a bit thrown off by all the differences in Engage (which I understand by everyone's comments is closer to the usual set by older titles). I was also thrown off my Engages story at first. It was very rough and tbh I did not like how rushed everything felt. The poor writting and rushed story maybe me not care about characters at first. After the first couple of chapters though I do feel the story is picking up and I am enjoying characters more now. I hope things continue in this direction, but by this point in time in 3H I was definitely way more invested in the characters. Right now Yunaka is def my fav and I like Louis as a unit even if I barley understand his personality lol tho I agree it would have been nice to have different text after battles or at the Somniel from characters rather than feeling like nothing happened for most characters.
As for the gameplay, I do find it more engaging (pun intended) than 3H. However, I find some of the UI choices weird. Like in 3H when you were swapping units on the map, you could easily switch them out for other units at the same time. In Engage you have to exit out of that menu and switch into another menu. It is harder to go between to check if you have chosen good coverage or not. Also, I wish I could manipulate the camera like 3H since some parts of the map are hard to see when only using the slight angle changes instead of 180 degree freedom. I also miss adding the added supports and combat arts, though I do get why they might have not been included.
Excited to see how the game and story evolves, but I do hope the next entry manages to take the best of both games to knock it out of the park. Enticing battles, but also an equally enticing story and great characters and character interactions.
1) Should I be liberally spending my SP to learn skills? The problem is that looking in the list, some skills that are really good are extremely expensive, so I'm worried about using SP on things I don't need later/skills that will become obsolete later. As a result I have yet to actually spend any SP
2) Are paralogues linked to anything like support conversations? I've had a grand total of two of them, IIRC, and I'm on chapter 9. Feels like I should have had more of them by now.
3) Are skirmishes auto-scaled to some kind of level? It feels a bit odd to me that that my current available skirmishes' recommended level is three levels above the recommended level of the next story mission. Especially since I kind of thought the point of skirmishes was to be able to train up units who might be lagging behind in XP, yet they're full of higher level enemies
Oof if you thought the Tiki paralogue chapter was hard just for the Emblem, don't even try it as a skirmish map to get the silver card. Oh my goodness who thought spawning in the middle was a good idea. Only way I was able to beat it was to only deploy a Louis, Yunaka, a healer with physics warp, a 3 range mage, and someone with a Javelin and canter. My entire army holed up at the top with Louis guarding the gate, meanwhile Yunaka stood on a pillar and was basically immortal ripping things to shreds. The 3 range mage and canter javelin user basically just took pot shots on player turn and stayed far away from the enemies. First time I've actually burned all my rewinds and had to start over.
Not gonna lie, at this point this is my biggest disappointment of the Switch generation. 3H is still my most played Switch game (300 hours over 10 playthroughs..), but I'm in Chapter 7 at the moment and it's just... not good.
The story's bland and boring (even worse the supports are way way worse than 3H, Awakening and even Fates), the characters all drool over the toothpaste-looking MC and Somniel is so lifeless compared to the monastery it's kind of sad. Even My Castle in Fates was far better, both for its customisability and snappiness.
The characters in particular are such a big step down. I don't care about anyone other than Yunaca and even with her it's not that much at this point. I'm playing on Hard/Casual (my first FE runs are always casual so I can collect all the supports) but I'm really wishing I went classic to kill off Flan, her Kya-ing over everything I do is embarassing to listen to even when noone else is around.
The battles themselves are fine, it's a Fire Emblem game. There's been a couple of cool moments like using
Sigurd's ability to blast through two enemies at once
but I preferred the battles of Three Houses too. I know it's early days for story maps so I can't give an authoritative judgement, but I was far more involved in the battles in 3H at this point of the game.
Not gonna lie, at this point this is my biggest disappointment of the Switch generation. 3H is still my most played Switch game (300 hours over 10 playthroughs..), but I'm in Chapter 7 at the moment and it's just... not good. The story's bland and boring (even worse the supports are way way worse than 3H, Awakening and even Fates), the characters all drool over the toothpaste-looking MC and Somniel is so lifeless compared to the monastery it's kind of sad. Even My Castle in Fates was far better, both for its customisability and snappiness. The characters in particular are such a big step down, I don't care about anyone other than Yunaca and even with her it's not that much at this point, I'm playing on Hard/Casual (my first FE runs are always casual so I can collect all the supports) but I'm really wishing I went classic to kill off Flan, her Kya-ing over everything I do is embarassing to listen to even when noone else is around.
The battles themselves are fine, it's a Fire Emblem game. There's been a couple of cool moments like using
Sigurd's ability to blast through two enemies at once
but I preferred the battles of Three Houses too. I know it's early days for story maps so I can't give an authoritative judgement, but I was far more involved in the battles in 3H at this point of the game.
Agree with pretty much all of this, although I am still having a really good time with it. I think the big difference is that, at least so far (it might change, who knows!) this game is more of a "I'll have fun with it for one playthrough, but it'll ultimately be pretty forgettable and I'll be unlikely to touch it again" whereas Three Houses invested me so much from minute one that I almost wanted to start a second playthrough immediately after finishing my first.
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