Fire Emblem Engage is almost perfect

Fire Emblem Engage is great but lacks story depth

Welcome back! It’s another Tuesday, which means tonight there will be a new episode of the Spot Dodge Podcast exclusively on Destructoid. Topics: The Spot Dodge crew discusses the latest entry in the Fire Emblem series, Fire Emblem Engage. The team also predicts when the next Nintendo Direct will happen. Because there has to be one just around the corner, right? Right..!?

I’m loving Fire Emblem Engage so far. The combat is intense, the visuals are solid, and the pacing is damn near perfect. However, Fire Emblem Engage is lacking in a few important areas, story and characters. A key area previous Fire Emblem games thrived in.

Fire Emblem Engage ramps up quickly, it spends a lot less time on building up the world and characters than other recent Fire Emblem titles. Which has its ups and downs. On one hand, you’re thrust right into learning the strategic combat Fire Emblem Engage offers. Yay! On the other hand, the game doesn’t give you much of a reason to care about its huge cast of characters or their motivations.

To add to that, socializing with characters takes a backseat in Fire Emblem Engage. Getting into thought-provoking conversations has been a rarity for me so far. This is a pretty big letdown. Three Houses offered intriguing backstories and lore for most of its characters, along with a fantastic main narrative. Character conversations in Fire Emblem Engage are much less appealing or interesting.

I won’t judge the main story too harshly yet, as I’m midway through the game, but so far it’s just completely “fine”. Nothing exceptional but also not the worst thing on earth. It’s really easy to follow which is perfect for newcomers, but I’m hoping it ramps up a bit more in the second half. Now let’s discuss it more thoroughly on Spot Dodge!

Our lovely cast from around the web: Brett Medlock (me) and Mary Stowe from Destructoid, John Friscia from The Escapist, Greg Bargas from PC Invasion, and Brett Larsen, our extra special guest. Behind the scenes, Gamurs’ Eric Weichhart is live-editing this week’s show. Let us know in the comments!

Spot Dodge is a weekly Nintendo-focused Podcast here at Destructoid where we dedicate an hour or two to go over the latest Nintendo news and discuss the games we’re playing. If you’re a fan of Nintendo Switch, RPGs, or having a good time, Spot Dodge will be a great addition to your podcast rotation. So be sure to subscribe!

Spot Dodge is streaming live every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. ET on Twitch channel. ICYMI: We now have a dedicated Spot Dodge YouTube channel! All future episodes will be live-streamed and uploaded there.

Afterward, the show will be available on-demand for audio listeners via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. The live video version will remain on both YouTube and Twitch (don’t forget to follow and subscribe). So many options!

Brett Medlock

Head of video at Destructoid