New Preview Videos Dropping

[Deathcon]

Nintendo World Report posted a few screenshots (sorry that I can’t link them as I am on my phone but it should be on the Reddit) and some of them are pretty interesting. Shows off photo mode along with a few death quotes, Celine and Etie’s are notably surprisingly depressing.

[ciphertul]

9 minutes ago, Deathcon said:

Nintendo World Report posted a few screenshots (sorry that I can’t link them as I am on my phone but it should be on the Reddit) and some of them are pretty interesting. Shows off photo mode along with a few death quotes, Celine and Etie’s are notably surprisingly depressing.

Here they are:

Spoiler

 

https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/media/61522/1/165.jpg

https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/media/61522/1/168.jpg

https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/media/61522/1/166.jpg

 

 

[Hawkwing]

Gamesradar released a video earlier today:

Nothing too much to add that we didn't know already. They were a fan of the Break mechanic, as it allowed for some risky yet rewarding maneuvers and kept the "throw powerful unit at every problem" strategy in check, as even tanky units could be killed if you play recklessly.

The story seems simplistic but it gets to the point quickly. Unfortunately, while the characters weren't unlikable, they were very tropey in a dull way, and none of them stuck out. It should be noted they were still in the early parts of the game, but those were their first impressions.

They also thought the activities and minigames in Somniel were pretty random, but they're optional and nice to have for people who like more downtime between battles. Overall, they stated that the gameplay is the strongest aspect, while the characters were a step back.

[Keikyushi]

27 minutes ago, Hawkwing said:

Unfortunately, while the characters weren't unlikable, they were very tropey in a dull way, and none of them stuck out. It should be noted they were still in the early parts of the game, but those were their first impressions.

It's unfortunate that most reviewers have said the same thing about characters. I can only hope now that characters aren't too one-noted, tropey doesn't mean they don't have any complexity at least.

Actually, on second thought, I'm fine with tropey characters. Except annoying tropes, since, well, they're annoying. I just hate it when supports of a character feel too samey to each other, like in Fates. It gets old real quick.

Edited January 11, 2023 by kienquocsi

[KoriCongo]

I will like to stress that most Game Journalists, despite writing for a living, are not writers. I honestly don't trust their judgement on any kind of character dissection.

I'm pretty sure no one will be as deep as the average Three Houses character, but TH had the benefit of having a lot of time and dialogue with units, and a built-in way to showcase development with them. The worst these guys could be is Awakening characters, who I know for a fact the same journos never complained about despite being as shallow and quite annoying as they believe the Engage cast is.

oh and most journos kind of hate JRPGs by default. This is not a secret, they never put a fan of the genre in these previews.

Edited January 11, 2023 by KoriCongo

[PrincessAlyson]

2 hours ago, KoriCongo said:

I will like to stress that most Game Journalists, despite writing for a living, are not writers. I honestly don't trust their judgement on any kind of character dissection.

I'm pretty sure no one will be as deep as the average Three Houses character, but TH had the benefit of having a lot of time and dialogue with units, and a built-in way to showcase development with them. The worst these guys could be is Awakening characters, who I know for a fact the same journos never complained about despite being as shallow and quite annoying as they believe the Engage cast is.

oh and most journos kind of hate JRPGs by default. This is not a secret, they never put a fan of the genre in these previews.

As someone who writes, I have to thank you for pointing this out. A lot of game journalists, and journalists in general, don't actually know how to write well (I see so many typos, grammatical errors, and wonky sentences in news articles!!!) or do character analysis. I'm not expecting Three Houses characters, but I'm also not expecting anything as bad as a lot of these reviews say. I take video game reviews with a grain of salt nowadays. I especially don't trust IGN.

[Azz]

Also, considering their profession requires them to play a game by a certain date and do a write up about said game by a certain date, I can't imagine they really get to immerse themselves into the games they are reviewing so anything super subjective like story and characters I take with a grain of salt by default.

[Emobot7]

4 hours ago, KoriCongo said:

The worst these guys could be is Awakening characters, who I know for a fact the same journos never complained about despite being as shallow and quite annoying as they believe the Engage cast is.

The problem with the Awakening comparison is that it was when Fire Emblem really became more mainstream, so a lot of reviews didn't really compare the game with older entry. Which is propably why they never complained about the Awakening crew. I'm guessing they are comparing the characters in Engage to those of 3H since its the most recent entry.

Now, as for me, the argument that most reviewer aren't writer isn't really positive in my mind because, generally, not knowing a lot about writing characters usually mean you are less critique with other work, not the other way around. Which would explain some of the mixed view some reviewers seem to have. The truly worse one in term of the writing propably don't see much difference between the Engage characters or the 3H characters. 
 

2 hours ago, PrincessAlyson said:

A lot of game journalists, and journalists in general, don't actually know how to write well (I see so many typos, grammatical errors, and wonky sentences in news articles!!!) or do character analysis.

While I'll concede I don't think highly about quite a few gaming journalist skills as writers either, I just want to point that you shouldn't assume that because someone doesn't write well, (making typos and grammatical mistake) that he can't write or spot a great story when he see one (note that what make a great story or character is subjective anyway). The reverse is also true, its not impossible for someone to have a writing background and to write without ever mistake to make story that are considering dull by the people around him or her. Writing fascinating story and writing without making mistake are two different skills, even though its true that good writer generally master both. 

Look, I'm not saying we should be over negative and take everything they say as hard fact but I would recommend anyone not to look down too much on the few feedback we have and prepare yourself based on that. Gaming journalist aren't the greatest professionals in the journalist world but personally, most time I disregarded their opinion because I didn't like what I heard, I ended up dissapointed. I'm just talking out of experience but I'll be the first happy if I'm wrong. 

Honestly, I'm just hoping they are actually based their comparison on 3H characters if what they say is true and that the characters in Engage will at least be similar to those in Awakening and Fates. I honestly don't think it would be too bad if it were the case.

[Fabulously Olivier]

As someone who likes genres/franchises that near-universally don't get a fair chance with critics, I've learned not to take professional reviews seriously in general. Gaming youtubers who are actually a fan of that genre or franchise are actually qualified to tell you how it stacks up to other comparable games.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Fabulously Olivier

[zuibangde]

Based on the preview snippets and screenshots I’ve seen on support conversations, it seems that they’re leaning towards a more light hearted and comedic direction in this game which I honestly don’t mind.

During TH I kept thinking about how Fodlan needs an army of therapists to deal with the issues the characters have. It got a bit overwhelming to jump from one serious issue to another. 

Edited January 12, 2023 by zuibangde

[Fabulously Olivier]

3 minutes ago, zuibangde said:

Based on the preview snippets and screenshots I’ve seen on support conversations, it seems that they’re leaning towards a more light hearted and comedic direction in this game which I honestly don’t mind.

During TH I kept thinking about how Fodlan needs an army of therapists to deal with the issues the characters have. It got a bit overwhelming to jump from one serious issue to another. 

It's not the tone I look for in FE, but maybe we do need a bit of emotional catharsis inbetween "child soldiers with mental issues simulator 2019" and the rumored "literally anime Game of Thrones" (FE4 Remake).

[szechuan]

100% honest question bc it's been a while since I played 3H, but: apart from having more lore put into them (family and such), how were Three Houses side characters complex? I mostly remember EVERY single Bernadetta support revolving about her being extremely shy and annoying, Linhardt about being lazy, Lysithea totally not being a kid, or Petra being a foreigner... I don't really understand where that argument comes from. Post-Awakening FE (only games I've played) characters have always been walking tropes.

Sure, the alpaca guy is literally only going talk about alpacas, which will incredibly annoying, and Rosado just about being cute, which will be more tolerable, but I don't see how that's different from Sylvain's obsession with women, Charlotte's goal of marrying a rich men or Owain wanting to be a superhero.

And yes, the characters already look all visually like pre-teens (even the so-called "Vandad", who has zero wrinkles and the face complexion of a high schooler with a fake moustache on), and their personality will simply match to that.

Edited January 12, 2023 by szechuan

[Armchair General]

27 minutes ago, szechuan said:

100% honest question bc it's been a while since I played 3H, but: apart from having more lore put into them (family and such), how were Three Houses side characters complex? I mostly remember EVERY single Bernadetta support revolving about her being extremely shy and annoying, Linhardt about being lazy, Lysithea totally not being a kid, or Petra being a foreigner... I don't really understand where that argument comes from. Post-Awakening FE (only games I've played)

27 minutes ago, szechuan said:

 

have always been walking tropes.

Bernie becomes less paranoid and talks about painting and her abusive dad. Lin wants to become an researcher and teaches Casper how to punch as an manlet, which hilarious when you consider this scene from the spinoff

Petra fights to save Brigid from staying as an vassal state, in addition to learning more about Fodlan.

 

27 minutes ago, szechuan said:

Sure, the alpaca guy is literally only going talk about alpacas, which will incredibly annoying, and Rosado just about being cute, which will be more tolerable, but I don't see how that's different from Sylvain's obsession with women, Charlotte's goal of marrying a rich men or Owain wanting to be a superhero.

It's kind of early to say if Engage will be just an stereotype (although Framme certainly fits the bill), but with Charlotte, she's an gold digger to support her parents. Sylvain is actually kind of insightful, but insecure due to his brother trying to kill him over Fodlan's obsession with Crests (although, in his family's case, it's justifiable). With Owain, I genuinely forgot about him, but it didn't amount to much

Edited January 12, 2023 by Armchair General

[Use the Falchion]

1 hour ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

maybe we do need a bit of emotional catharsis inbetween "child soldiers with mental issues simulator 2019" and the rumored "literally anime Game of Thrones" (FE4 Remake).

That's what I've been taking out of it. Engage is a celebration and a palate cleanser. It's a fun homage to the past while making sure the future isn't all grimdark.

[Keikyushi]

39 minutes ago, szechuan said:

100% honest question bc it's been a while since I played 3H, but: apart from having more lore put into them (family and such), how were Three Houses side characters complex? I mostly remember EVERY single Bernadetta support revolving about her being extremely shy and annoying, Linhardt about being lazy, Lysithea totally not being a kid, or Petra being a foreigner... I don't really understand where that argument comes from. Post-Awakening FE (only games I've played) characters have always been walking tropes.

Sure, the alpaca guy is literally only going talk about alpacas, which will incredibly annoying, and Rosado just about being cute, which will be more tolerable, but I don't see how that's different from Sylvain's obsession with women, Charlotte's goal of marrying a rich men or Owain wanting to be a superhero.

And yes, the characters already look all visually like pre-teens (even the so-called "Vandad", who has zero wrinkles and the face complexion of a high schooler with a fake moustache on), and their personality will simply match to that.

What Armchair General said. While a good chunk of 3H characters are certainly not any less tropey than previous titles, they have reasons for being the way they are, and development over the course of the game. I bet folks will gladly forgive Framme's fangirling about the Divine Dragon if the game explains why she thinks so highly of them, how she was raised to worship them, and maybe show she will come to respect the Alear as another person, not literal Dragon Jesus, etc.

[Popers1328]

30 minutes ago, szechuan said:

100% honest question bc it's been a while since I played 3H, but: apart from having more lore put into them (family and such), how were Three Houses side characters complex? I mostly remember EVERY single Bernadetta support revolving about her being extremely shy and annoying, Linhardt about being lazy, Lysithea totally not being a kid, or Petra being a foreigner... I don't really understand where that argument comes from. Post-Awakening FE (only games I've played) characters have always been walking tropes.

Sure, the alpaca guy is literally only going talk about alpacas, which will incredibly annoying, and Rosado just about being cute, which will be more tolerable, but I don't see how that's different from Sylvain's obsession with women, Charlotte's goal of marrying a rich men or Owain wanting to be a superhero.

And yes, the characters already look all visually like pre-teens (even the so-called "Vandad", who has zero wrinkles and the face complexion of a high schooler with a fake moustache on), and their personality will simply match to that.

I haven't played Three Houses since Cindered Shadows came out because I can't stand the gameplay but I think I can provide at least some insight and my perspective on what Three Houses does well with it's characters. I'm drawing a lot off of memory and what also might just be my interpretations rather than author intent to some degree. Sylvain's character is one that I like a lot and I'll use him as an example. There's probably other people who have a much better analysis of him, but this is what his character means to me.

Sylvain's story unsurprisingly uses a theme that comes up a lot in 3H characters, the effect Crests (and the nobility associated with it) have on people's lives. As far as Sylvain is concerned, Crests have taken away any control over his life that he could have had. His Crest is the reason his brother tried to kill him which led to Miklan's disownment and eventual death. His Crest is the reason he will become the next Margrave Gautier and inherit all of those noble responsibilities. His Crest is the reason he'll never be able to marry a woman he loves and will eventually be forced into a political marriage. From his perspective, the only reason any girls even accept any of his advances is because they want him for his Crest and nobility, not for who he is. As a result, Sylvain has developed a jaded worldview. Nothing he does matters because his life is already set in stone for him. He chases women because it doesn't matter and at least until he graduates and inherits his title, he still has a chance to do what he wants, so he may as well take the chance to play around before his free time is up. He doesn't believe heartbreaking women matters because he genuinely believes they're trying to take advantage of him as much as he is them. At the end of the day though, he knows it's temporary and understands his duty to step up when the time comes for him.

The key thing is that while his flirtatiousness may seem simple, one-note, or repetitive, it's entirely informed by his worldview which comes from the world and his experience. Since everything is Sylvain's life has been affected by his nobility and his Crest, his story informs the player about the world and it's central conflict that drives Edelgard's actions. You can find this similar level of depth in pretty much every character and it's all important to giving the player a perspective on Fodlan and understanding a critical piece of the main plot. You don't get anything close to this with any of the characters in Fates or Awakening. Every character trait is explained in a simplistic way that doesn't inform the player on the world in any way, let alone in a way that's intrinsic to the game's central conflict. Charlotte wants to marry rich because she used to be poor, the end. Severa is a tsundere because she misses her mom, the end. Gaius likes candy because they thought it would be a funny quirk they could utilize while writing his dialouge. Lysithea likes candy because it's a trait that creates conflict between her true self and the version of herself she wants to be which has pretty much entirely to do with the way Crests have affected her life.

I think this is what most people are getting at when they say "Three Houses has such well-written characters." I don't think this is just a post-Awakening change either. Almost no characters have this kind of world-building behind their lives even in past games. Side characters that end up revealing something important about the world and connecting to the game's story like Joshua are rare, but well loved. I can appreciate this about Three Houses, despite it being my least favorite game in the series. I don't really want every character to be written in this way, any cast should have a mix of characters of varying significance. I like important characters like Jill and I like dudes who are just kind of there like Aran. I feel like the rare side character gem loses a lot of it's luster when everyone has to be well-written and important. I hope we get this out of the Royals in Engage, but it doesn't bother me at all if Framme is just a fangirl and that's it.

[Scaramuccia]

I've just looked through Nintendo World support screenshots and they doesn't look one-sided and tropey to me. Quite reasonable conversations about different things happening between characters. Doesn't look that different to early 3H or Awakening supports.

[Crubat]

As other have said, I don't mind a simple story or tropey characters as long as they're written well. Echoes is a good example of a basic story but has one of the best writing in the series imo, if we get that I'll be more than happy. As long as it's not bad I will be fine with it, I just want a break from three houses lol. 

Nintendo should just let 8-4 localize fire emblem games cause they do a much better job at writing than tree house.

[Saint Rubenio]

That's a fair point, actually. Do we know who is localizing Engage?

[Crubat]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That's a fair point, actually. Do we know who is localizing Engage?

If it's 8-4, I have no worries at all. If it's tree house then I'm just gonna expect mediocrity 

[Alear]

On 1/10/2023 at 5:14 PM, Lut-ang said:

So what's with the evil Alear schtick that the trailer kept showing? Is that just all BS? Are they recycling Grima storyline with that? Any reviewer that mentioned anything about that?

I heard a theory that Alear's hair is red and blue because he has both fell dragon and divine dragon blood in him but there hasn't been any evidence to back it up yet. If it turns out to be true, Alear's hair being all red would suggest a Grimalike plot.

[Crubat]

they posted this not too long ago, gonna watch it rn

[ciphertul]

2 minutes ago, Crubat said:

they posted this not too long ago, gonna watch it rn

Let’s us know if they answer the male flier question.

[Saint Rubenio]

I'll watch it in full later, there's a lot to unpack here. This dude really is singlehandedly carrying this game's markering campaign in the west.

Just one thing, though: these revival stone things are just the Azoth from TearRing Saga. Guess it's "Kaga Did It First" o'clock

[Azz]

TLDR for each section of the video;

Spoiler

The emblem rings are big mcguffins and important to story but the emblem characters themselves are rather unimportant and have no importance outside of their introductions, including Marth even. The Somniel is where you mainly interact with them. He feels Micaiah doesn't feel like she was written by someone who played RD

Normal, Hard and Maddening difficulties, Casual and Classic mode. Can decrease difficulty in game

You can't passively increase you engage meter once depleted, you need to actively charge it (combat, healing). Each action=1 section

Custom outfits for the Somniel only. Can't change Alear's hair except some F!Alear outfits have her hair in a ponytail

Growth method option seen in JPN tweets not available at start of game so he can't comment on it

Has played 3 chapters of maddening. Biggest change is enemies have new skills such as skills that negate break, effectiveness etc

Was incorrect about enemy AI prioritising getting into bushes being new, he thought it was

Dual audio available. Text is available in US English, Latin American Spanish, EU English, EU Spanish, French, Italian, German,  Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese (I CAN HAVE MY U BACK IN ARMOUR YES)

Stand out characters from the first 8 chapters are Yunaka and Louis. Great in writing and as units. Yunaka has a shady past and is a pathological liar but wants to turn her life around. Louis is really fun. He's kind of a weird dude who likes to people watch and likes to see people happy. Him and Yunaka have nice supports.

Can scan 5 amiibo a day.

Address the '10 second supports' allegation. Says that mainly sounds like the bond conversations with emblems. Actual supports are on par with the rest of the series in terms of length. Most similar to Awakening.

He talks about Jean for a bit. He didn't expect people would care about him. Is the villager archetype of the game. You are defending his village from corrupted. Joins the army to become a better medic (his father says he'll be a burden to Alear lol)

Talks about Somniel. We pretty much know everything so I skipped it. One thing he mentioned was that when allies wake you up, it's very ASMR and the game recommends you wear headphone. Sommie joins you in activities after you build your relationship up with him.

Characters don't have much unique dialogue in The Somniel. The mostly talk about where they are located in the Somniel and only a few characters talk about current story events.

Talks about poison and how it now makes it so you take more damage. Doesn't know exact numbers. Can stack three times. Lasts for entire battle unless you use antitoxen or staff.

No zoom in option for during battle. Default option is direct control of character, you have to swap to cursor option for moving character.

Red emblems are called Dark Emblems. Talks about him messing up with letting Hortensia kill Alfred with the Noble Rapier lol. It was his genuine first playthrough that he just happened to record so he was still learning the mechanics and new UI. Tutorial for enemy emblems says enemies can't actually engage with emblems so he presumed that Hortensia would only be able to use her tomes since the Noble Rapier is Lucina's engage weapon. 

Most bosses have revival stones. Basically extra HP bar. Makes it impossible to kill bosses in one round of combat. Show up from chapter 5.

Weapon triangle stuff. WT seems to only influence break and has no bearing on hit, avoid or damage.

No combat arts. Engage mechanics takes its place.

No mention of if men can fly but am gonna see if I can ask him again on twt and will hopefully get a response.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Azz