by Fire Emblem Engage has been officially announced as the next game in the Fire Emblem series by developer Intelligent Systems. September’s Nintendo Direct kicked off with a reveal of the new Fire Emblem, giving us our first official look at some of the characters and story elements of the upcoming adventure. The next entry in the long-running series is certainly a welcome addition to the exciting line-up of upcoming Switch games on the horizon, with what could very well be another memorable strategy RPG offering.
While Fire Emblem Engage has quite a following following the release of its successful entry Fire Emblem: Three Houses in 2019, it will be interesting to see if or how Engage shakes things up. Below, we’ve rounded up everything we know so far about Fire Emblem Engage, from story details to who you’ll be playing and that all-important release date.
Fire Emblem Engage release date
Alongside the reveal, Nintendo also set the release date for Fire Emblem Engage. The publisher revealed that the new tactical-RPG will be released on January 20, 2023 as a Nintendo Switch exclusive.
Fire Emblem Engage Divine Edition
Fire Emblem Engage pre-orders are already live and hard to come by. With the new Switch strategy game coming out on January 20th, there’s not much time left to lock down a copy of Fire Emblem Engage Divine Edition. This, by the way, is the limited edition that includes a physical copy of the game, an art book, art cards, a poster, and an exclusive steelbook.
The story of Fire Emblem Engage
As detailed on Nintendo’s official site (opens in new tab), Fire Emblem Engage takes place on Elyos, a continent said to consist of four kingdoms surrounding a central sacred land. A thousand years ago, a war between the citizens of Elios and the Fallen Dragon led the humans to summon Emblems to aid them. The Emblems, who are heroes from other worlds, were called to fight alongside the nations and thus successfully managed to imprison the Fallen Dragon. But, as we heard in the trailer, the Fall Dragon might just rise again, which will surely be very bad news for Elyos.
Fire Emblem Engage protagonist
In Fire Emblem Engage, we will take on the role of a character named Alear. In addition to a rather distinctive red and blue hairstyle, Alear also happens to be a being known as the Divine Dragon, who wakes up a thousand years after the war ended with no memory of his past – not unlike the protagonist in Fire Emblem : Three Houses (with a thousand years). Just like games of old, it looks like we’ll be able to choose between a male and female protagonist in Fire Emblem Engage as we set out to stop the resurrection of the Fallen Dragon.
As expected, the internet has already fallen in love with the new protagonist of Fire Emblem Engage. In fact, some fans have christened the lead character “Toothpaste-chan” in honor of their fresh mint.
Fire Emblem Engage characters and invite
Of course, the characters you meet along the way are always at the heart of the experience when it comes to Fire Emblem. Engage is set to introduce us to a cast of new characters belonging to each nation of Elyos, with some who will become our allies and our enemies as we venture through the story. As we saw in the trailer, we’ll also see some familiar faces thanks to the power to summon heroes from past Fire Emblem games. We’ll see Marth who appeared in the first Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light game, and Celica from Fire Emblem: Gaiden (which received a remake in the form of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia on 3DS).
Fire Emblem Engage game
Fire Emblem Engage will bring back the classic grid-oriented turn-based combat that the series is so well known for. Just like old games, we will also fight alongside other characters on the battlefield, only this time we will be able to use a mechanic known as Engage in our role as a Divine Dragon. In battle, we will be able to summon heroes like Marth and Celica by collecting and using Emblem Rings.
When you Engage, your appearance will merge with the hero and allow you to inherit weapons, skills “and more” from past game characters. We will also be able to customize new characters that fight alongside us. The Engage ability is sure to provide some exciting ways to strategize for victory as we try to stop the resurrection of the Fall Dragon.
Basically, this is the classic Fire Emblem game with a new twist on how characters come into battle. With just a few months to go until launch, we’re still waiting to see if Engage will build on any of the extra activities that helped make Three Houses so beloved.
See our selection of 25 best Switch games you can play right now, along with our ranking best Switch exclusives.
