Fire Emblem Engage Review Scores

Fire Emblem Engage is here, and the critic review scores are also here. Based on the game's aggregated scores, is Fire Emblem Engage worth it? Is it suitable follow-up to the great Fire Emblem Three Houses, considered not only one of the best in the series but one of the best games for the Nintendo Switch of all time? We find out together in this article on Fire Emblem Engage review scores.

Fire Emblem Engage Review Scores: 82 on Metacritic

It is important to set expectations when playing Fire Emblem Engage for the first time. Engage returns to the roots of Fire Emblem, putting players on a linear story with no branching paths, but with the challenging turn-based tactics game that players expect from a game of this caliber. It draws back from the role-playing elements of Three Houses without completely taking everything new away, but the game is more Awakening than it is Three Houses.

For example, Fire Emblem Engage returns the focus of the game to its turn-based tactics gameplay. The game still has the relationships system that the series is known for, and it still has the central hub location where the player can do side activities to help them outside of combat. But the focus on these activities has been toned down so that they don't overpower the turn-based action anymore. For better or for worse, this is what Fire Emblem games really were like, and new fans to the series and some of those who loved Three Houses' innovations might find this change in focus disappointing. However, in terms of putting the series back on track and making sure that the game does not veer away from what makes Fire Emblem – Fire Emblem, Engage does this in spades.

Both users and critics alike appreciate this direction, though, and have shown that so far in its very positive reception. It received multiple perfect scores from Dexerto, Digitally Downloaded, and Siliconera.

Dexerto's perfect scored review reads: “Fire Emblem Engage feels like a step backward in ways that this writer appreciates. Gone are the lessons, and in their place is a genuinely affecting story with plenty of whimsy and epic tactical conquests. It's a great way to kick off the year for the Switch, and also happens to be one of the best-looking games on the platform, too.” Meanwhile,

Digitally Downloaded pokes fun at Engage's wacky main character, but still gives the game a perfect score in a review that reads: “The only thing that I would change in Fire Emblem engage is the design of the protagonist. Her combination of red and blue does come across as excessively garish to me, even within the context of a very bright and colourful game. I’d keep her character, which is great, but just give her green twintailed hair or something. That’s it, though. That’s the only change I’d make. In every other way, Fire Emblem Engage is everything I love about Fire Emblem, bundled up in a way that does justice to both the classics that got me into the series, and the production values of modern gaming. Brilliant.” I mean, if the only complaint you can throw to a game is about the main character's hair color, then that must be a really good thing for the game.

Siliconera also succinctly describes Fire Emblem Engage as “a wonderful way for Nintendo to kick off 2023.” Fire Emblem Engage definitely proves that the Nintendo Switch is still a competitor against the hulking giants of Sony and Microsoft.

As previously mentioned, not everyone would appreciate Engage's seemingly step backwards in terms of its progression as a series. The game does feel like a stopgap – as if Nintendo is buying time before they commission the next big Fire Emblem game for the next Nintendo console. VGC gave Fire Emblem Engage a review score of 3 stars out of 5 stars, with a review that reads:
“Fire Emblem Engage is a great strategy game, but we don’t think it’s a great modern Fire Emblem game. Whether the reverence for the social elements of Three Houses came as a surprise to the team or not, the dearth of those moments in Engage makes it feel like it’s missing half of its core at times.”

It definitely is hard to look over the fact that Engage is missing a lot of flair and innovations that Three Houses introduced to the series, and game critics are within their rights to take away from the game's review scores because of this. For example, Inverse argues in its 6/10 review that: “Fire Emblem’s tradition of focusing on character relationships hit a peak in Three Houses, and we all kind of assumed that would continue into Engage. Sadly, that’s not the case. Fire Emblem Engage scales its social interactions down to a bare minimum, leaving a cast of underdeveloped characters in its wake. At the same time, it features some of Fire Emblem’s best tactical combat, making the game feel as sharply divided as its protagonist’s over-discussed red-and-blue hair.”

However, one could also not gloss over the fact that even if Intelligent Systems aimed to return to the more traditional ways of Fire Emblem, it need not have sacrificed the quality of its plot or its character design and development. GamesRadar notes in what would be the lowest-scored game review for Fire Emblem Engage so far: “Fire Emblem Engage resurrects the weapon triangle to great effect, making the turn-based combat feel like a game of death and dares, while an unmemorable cast of characters and an unexplored world sadly drag behind it.”

Conclusion: Is Fire Emblem Engage worth it?

Fire Emblem Engage is a return to the Fire Emblem roots, for better and for worse. Following up on a masterpiece is a tall task, so it was smart for Intelligent Systems to pull back and aim for a less ambitious game this time around. Engage will certainly feel like a palate cleanser for Fire Emblem fans, and while it does not offer the same amount of content and intrigue as its immediate predecessor, it still delivers everything a Fire Emblem fan expects from a game of the series. As a Fire Emblem game, Engage is a great addition to the series, and fans of the franchise as well as of the genre should not miss the game – even if it's not as groundbreaking as Three Houses.

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