HEROES TURN UP THE HEAT IN SUPER ROLE-PLAY FANTASY
Fire Emblem Engage (Nintendo Switch, £49.99) Verdict: Highly engaging
★★★★★
SOMEWHERE in the factory that makes video games, there’s a machine that comes up with random three-word titles.
It did its best work back in 2017, with Horizon Zero Dawn, but now it’s trying again, with Fire Emblem Engage. I jest, of course — because those words aren’t totally random. The ‘Fire Emblem’ part means that this belongs to one of the best series in gaming.
These games are tactical RPGs. Tactical, because they involve you moving your tiny knights and soldiers around board-like landscapes. And role-playing, because they involve you growing your characters through a grand fantasy story. Engage, the first mainline entry in the series since 2019’s Three Houses, definitely has the tactics ahead of the RPG. There had been a move towards more soap opera — everything seemed to be about getting your little warriors to smooch. But while Engage has some of that, it puts far more effort into its battles, which are more detailed, challenging and visually impressive than ever before. Then there’s the ‘Engage’ part of the title, which refers to the game’s biggest innovation.
Your characters can, well, engage with the souls of previous Fire Emblem heroes, gaining superheroic powers in the process. It adds new levels of gameplay.
If you’re a fan of the series, it’s great to see these heroes reincarnated. If not, don’t worry: Engage is still great and better than whatever the three-word machine will produce next. Scourge Boss Duct, anyone?