Fire Emblem Engage Part 2: Chapters 4-5

This is the second part of my ongoing coverage of my playthrough of Fire Emblem Engage. This time, we will cover Chapter 4 and 5, and while there won't be too many spoilers, that will eventually change.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these are my first impressions, and not only can they be revised over time, but I'm also writing based off of memory, and may not recall all details(for example, the names of minor characters).

Chapter 4 Continued

I tried the chapter again, having learned from my mistakes the previous time. It was a bit challenging getting my forces to Chloe and Louis in time, but I was able to manage it in the end; maps in which you have to reach a single allied unit surrounded by enemies can often be frustrating.

The boss is an armored unit that is immune to being broken under most circumstances, and doesn't appear to be any slower than a standard infantry unit. I know armored units have a bad reputation for not being very useful, but this is overcompensating.

Once the battle is over, Celine and her retainers join Alear, and  ask her to help Celine and Alfred's mother, Queen Eve, since she's in the castle.

One thing I'll point out about Classic mode is that while all units whose HP reaches 0 are lost forever, not all of them die. If, for example, Chloe's HP hits zero, she will die lamenting that not all fairy tales get a happy ending, but if Celine's HP reaches zero, she will flee and insist on helping out in her own way(if Alear's HP hits zero, she dies and you get a game over if you can't rewind). This is one shortcoming of Fire Emblem's permadeath mode- since most characters are expendable, they have virtually no impact on the story, but the ones who can't be written out are usually forced to withdraw if they lose all their HP, cheapening the impact of their "deaths." Of course, an exception can be made for the Lord characters- Chrom in Awakening, Alm and Celica in Shadows of Valentia, and the house leaders in Three Houses- as well as the player avatars.

After the battle, there are significantly more people to talk to- not just your units, but also villagers.  You can also adopt a dog to take home to Somniel, although there seems to be no gameplay benefit to doing so.

Two merchants from the village- a weapon maker and an item shop- offer their services to Somniel, which were available from earlier on in several other games (although in Fates, you have to spend a Dragon Vein Pont to build a weapon shop and additional points to upgrade the shop).

Usually, weapons in the series can only be used a limited number of times before breaking, and while better weapons are usually more powerful, that power is counterbalanced by being rarer/more expensive, having a higher skill requirement, being heavier* being less accurate and/or having lower durability. In Fates and this game, however, weapons are unbreakable, and I suspect that stronger weapons may have some drawback; in Fates, Silver weapons are strong, but lower the user's strength after an attack. I personally prefer breakable weapons, since selecting the right weapon to use in a situation is a key part of strategy.

*Speaking of weight, in combat, the unit with a large enough speed advantages attacks twice- if attacking, it's before and after the defending unit, but if being attacked, it's after the attacker(assuming neither unit can use Vantage or Desperation).

Once you leave, the world map opens up. Like Awakening, there is a world map with one space for each mission. Supposedly, you can skirmish with Corrupted, but I have yet to see any on the world map.

Once back in Somniel, I saw support conversations between Vander and the twins. In Clanne's case, he was bitter about having menial tasks like delivering letters in lieu of actual steward work. In Framme's case, Vander got on her case over forgetting her duties, and implies that he's looking after her on her parents' request. Meanwhile, the twins, in their support, are the co-presidents and sole members of the Divine Dragon fan club. The supports seem to be providing a bit of backstory but aren't terribly deep overall.

Chapter 5

The next mission takes place in Firene Castle. An arrogant and cowardly Elusian officer tries to interrogate Eve as to the location of Celica's ring. His smarter and crueler superior Zephia takes over and reveals that she knows Celine escaped from the castle, so it's likely that she took the ring with her.

Alfred, Celine and Alear's party arrives, and Zephia decides to kill them all into get the ring.

This chapter is the first in which you don't get any new units- to recap, Vander joins in Chapter 1, the twins become playable in Chapter 2, Alfred and his retainers join in Chapter 3, and Celine and her retainers join in Chapter 4. Another shortcoming of Fire Emblem's permadeath system is that in order to avoid penalizing players who continue after losing units, the game hands out a large number of units over the course of the game. Part of the problem is that, from a narrative standpoint, it's hard to give much characterization to all those units, and from a gameplay standpoint, it's difficult to keep all the units leveled up appropriately. Some games with relatively small rosters, like Three Houses, avoid these problems, at the cost of making "ironman" runs- play through the game withot reloading or rewinding time, even if you lose units- much more difficult.

The map is relatively simple- get to the throne room and kill the boss- but has a side path that leads to treasure, along with a wall you can break through to reach the throne room. A Thief seeks out the treasure and tries to escape with it, but if you kill him, you'll get what he took with him.

The boss has a twist- if you reduce his HP to zero, he will simply restore his HP to full. It's slightly reminiscent of Three Houses' Demonic Beasts, but they had additional mechanics- armor that must be broken, additional abilities that unlock when their health bars empty, area of effect attacks and the ability to fixate on a unit who can be used as a distraction, among others.

After the enemy commander is defeated, he beats a hasty retreat. Alfred and Celine are relieved to learn that their mother was unharmed, and Eve introduces herself to Alear, apparently having known Alear's mother. Alear is still feeling the pain of Lumera's loss, and has to take a moment to compose herself. After she does, Eve reveals that Firene has another ring- that of Micaiah from Radiant Dawn- hidden near the border to Brodie. Alfred and Celine are surprised to hear this, since while Alfred had learned of a secret location, he didn't know that there was a ring hidden there.

Elsewhere, in a village, the boss of the level escapes, but Zephia catches up to him and kills him for his failure. She then reports to her mistress- the woman who killed Lumera- and reports on the situation. The fact that the woman's appearance is concealed and happens to share Alear's gender leads me to suspect that she may be like Awakening's Hierophant- a dead ringer for Robin who happens to be the Fell Dragon Grima from the future.

Back at Somniel, I saw a support conversation between Celine and Louis, in which the latter makes tea for the former. Usually, lord-retainer supports reveal a bit more about the two's relationship, even in the C support, so this is disappointing.

I donated to Firene. The investments are rather significant- 5,000 gold for the first level and 10,000 for the second- but each level offers increasingly useful rewards.

I took part in a minigame in which you can do various exercises, represented by button-mashing minigames, for a small stat bonus to the next mission. It isn't all that engaging, and seems like more trouble than it's worth.

I also visited Somnie, a strange dog-like creature whom Lumera apparently looked after, whom you can raise as a pet. You can feed Somnie food, just like Lilith from Fates, but while Somnie will apparently help you out, the benefits have yet to be revealed. Like other Somniel mechanics, it probably will be helpful but not essential.

At this point, I saw two option- Chapter 6 or the first Paralogue- and decided to stop for now.

My Thoughts So Far

I'm starting to see more of the game's features, and realize that some of my initial judgments, such as about the lack of auxiliary battles or Paralogues, were hasty. This is part of the point of chronicling my experiences. However, the story is still rather lackluster, as are the characters.

The villains in particular seem rather one-note and forgettable, especially the chapter bosses. In Three Houses, most of the chapter bosses were characters in their own right; while Lonato appeared in only one chapter, his character was fleshed out through Ashe's monastery conversations and his supports, such as with Dimitri, Gilbert and Catherine. Lonato was a complex figure- as a kind lord who gained his subjects' respect, but led them to their deaths in his crusade for revenge, and who treated Ashe well but could turn against him if Ashe tried to stop him. Here, the villains are largely one-note and almost cartoonishly evil.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for the next installment.