Full disclosure: I consider Fire Emblem: Three Houses my favorite in the series. Why does this matter? Because Engage is almost everything 3H isn't, improving the gameplay at the cost of the story, and if you appreciated 3H's strong points, you may be disappointed by Engage.
The plot is quite the Cliché Storm- Alear, a Divine Dragon, has awoken after 1,000 years, and must gather the 12 Emblem Rings to seal the Fell Dragon Sombron. The plot is rather predictable, especially since it borrows story beats from other FE titles and is forgettable at best.
The cast is mixed. Alear is a decent hero with good voice acting, but isn't compelling enough to serve as the sole lead without a Lord to support. The royals and other recurring characters can be interesting, but before long, their only role is reacting to events. The secondary characters are rather one-note, and that tends to show in their supports; I generally only found the ones between the royals, as well as those of a few others I won't spoil, to be worth completing.
The villains are lackluster. The Big Bad is one-dimensionally evil. Of his minions, the Four Hounds, three of them have poorly written backstories that fail to elicit player sympathy, while the fourth may not count as a villain.
The main draw is the Engage feature. Each unit can be equipped with a ring that has the spirit of a past FE hero, granting them access to passive abilities as well as the power to Engage, and use even more powerful abilities, giving you many options for battle tactics and character customization.
These are powerful advantages, but you'll need them, since the game is quite difficult. Your enemies are fairly strong, and this isn't even counting the bosses that can use Engage rings, so you won't stand a chance if you don't use every advantage. Many of the maps have special mechanics, such as Fog of War or periodic AOE attacks, which provide variety but can be frustrating and gimmicky. Engage is much harder than Three Houses; I completed Crimson Flower on a MaddeningClassic New Game, but eventually had to switch Engage from Hard to Normal.
The graphics are excellent, and the animations are fluid. I wasn't fond of the character designs at first, but they grew on me. There are many UI improvements, but a few flaws- for example, they made the "danger radius"(attack range) for individually selected enemies too similar to the color for the entire enemy army, making it harder to read.
As an FE game, Engage is well-made, but it's not one I'd recommend to the uninitiated due to its high difficulty and many references to past titles, including those not released outside Japan. 3H is the better starting point for newcomers, due to its lower difficulty and standing better on its own, but if you're an experienced FE player who wants a challenge and/or didn't care for 3H, I recommend Engage.
VideoGame More for Fire Emblem veterans than for newcomers
Full disclosure: I consider Fire Emblem: Three Houses my favorite in the series. Why does this matter? Because Engage is almost everything 3H isn't, improving the gameplay at the cost of the story, and if you appreciated 3H's strong points, you may be disappointed by Engage.
The plot is quite the Cliché Storm- Alear, a Divine Dragon, has awoken after 1,000 years, and must gather the 12 Emblem Rings to seal the Fell Dragon Sombron. The plot is rather predictable, especially since it borrows story beats from other FE titles and is forgettable at best.
The cast is mixed. Alear is a decent hero with good voice acting, but isn't compelling enough to serve as the sole lead without a Lord to support. The royals and other recurring characters can be interesting, but before long, their only role is reacting to events. The secondary characters are rather one-note, and that tends to show in their supports; I generally only found the ones between the royals, as well as those of a few others I won't spoil, to be worth completing.
The villains are lackluster. The Big Bad is one-dimensionally evil. Of his minions, the Four Hounds, three of them have poorly written backstories that fail to elicit player sympathy, while the fourth may not count as a villain.
The main draw is the Engage feature. Each unit can be equipped with a ring that has the spirit of a past FE hero, granting them access to passive abilities as well as the power to Engage, and use even more powerful abilities, giving you many options for battle tactics and character customization.
These are powerful advantages, but you'll need them, since the game is quite difficult. Your enemies are fairly strong, and this isn't even counting the bosses that can use Engage rings, so you won't stand a chance if you don't use every advantage. Many of the maps have special mechanics, such as Fog of War or periodic AOE attacks, which provide variety but can be frustrating and gimmicky. Engage is much harder than Three Houses; I completed Crimson Flower on a Maddening Classic New Game, but eventually had to switch Engage from Hard to Normal.
The graphics are excellent, and the animations are fluid. I wasn't fond of the character designs at first, but they grew on me. There are many UI improvements, but a few flaws- for example, they made the "danger radius"(attack range) for individually selected enemies too similar to the color for the entire enemy army, making it harder to read.
As an FE game, Engage is well-made, but it's not one I'd recommend to the uninitiated due to its high difficulty and many references to past titles, including those not released outside Japan. 3H is the better starting point for newcomers, due to its lower difficulty and standing better on its own, but if you're an experienced FE player who wants a challenge and/or didn't care for 3H, I recommend Engage.