Finished Fire Emblem: Engage
I've come to the conclusion that the game itself was a bizarre marketing campaign for the series as a whole that doesn't actually have any North American utility in the long run, because all it does is makes you want to play the older games, and yet it's nearly impossible to experience most of the older games. They're either Japanese-only, or the NA-released titles were in such small quantities that they are impossible to find (Shadow Dragon for DS is #1 on my gaming wish list, period, but it's NEVER in stock with used-game vendors).
So at this point, you're relying on finding ROMs that won't give your computer herpes, and you're also relying on finding English-language patches for each ROM that ALSO won't give your computer herpes, and that's a scary prospect.
As for the game itself: the overall idea of the story was pretty good, though the emotional beats and political intrigue that most of the series is renowned for were underwhelming, so the total execution was lacking.
The gameplay on "Normal" was way too easy, even with "Classic Mode" settings that feature permadeath for characters that die in battle... they don't come back for the next chapter, and there are no revival items, so they're gone for good. It WOULD affect strategy to a large degree, like in past games, if the "Emblem" mechanic weren't so OP. You pair up to 12 party members with one of 12 OG heroes (Emblems), and the party member can "Engage" with the emblem for 3-4 turns to get new weapons, attacks and skills that their base class doesn't have.
I can't imagine the final battle NOT being trivial, even on the hardest mode the game has, based on how powerful the Engage mechanic is if you strategize your pairings correctly. If you give your Horseback archer the Lyn emblem, who is also a gifted swordsman/archer, and level up their bond, you unlock a dragon-killing bow. You can use the "Astra Storm" special attack to hit up to 10 spaces away with 9 consecutive hits, eliminating almost any enemy in one go. This is too much power when most maps only have two or three truly threatening strategic situations built in.
I'll let the game sit for a bit and then try it on the hardest difficulty at some point just to see, though. If not, the game would be enjoyable with some Nuzlocke style self-imposed restrictions.
gamerant.com
