We have another Fire Emblem Engage official Twitter post this week!
Following Alear and the Dragon Guardians, this time we have some details for Marth, the first Fire Emblem protagonist and likely the first Emblem you’ll acquire.
The Emblem Marth (VA: Hikaru Midorikawa), also known as the “Emblem of Beginnings” is a hero among heroes who’s extremely noble and charismatic. A prince of Altea, from the outrealm continent of Archanea.
“Emblem of Beginnings” is a fitting title for the first protagonist. Although I do wonder if it’ll have some story significance.
As usual, next up is a battle.
This appears to be the same verdant kingdom map that appeared in the reveal trailer.
On the left is the footage from today’s Twitter post; on the right is from the reveal trailer.
The only difference is that Alear is now equipped with Marth–and receives a stat boost because of this. (Also, Framme is still to the far left; she’s just blocked by Alear’s portrait right now.)
When Alear moves towards the enemy, we see the actions menu, which wasn’t shown in the trailer. The first option is Engage, which combines Alear and Marth. Next are Attack, Item, Convoy and Wait. Presumably Alear acts as the convoy, so he/she can access it whenever, while other characters must move next to Alear to do so.
Alear’s weapons/items include Libération, an Iron Sword and Vulnerary. Libération is a D rank sword it seems (that or it’s Alear’s sword rank that’s D). It’s said to be “for Divine Dragons only” and grants Engage Count +1 if the wielder lands the finishing blow on an enemy. Engage Count probably refers to the countdown before an Engaged character reverts.
During the battle forecast, we see that Alear will deal 9 damage while the foe will deal 10. Despite Marth being equipped, Marth doesn’t seem to actively contribute in combat. Pressing the + button will trigger Engage prior to the fight.
Left is the footage from today’s post; right is from the reveal trailer.
In both cases, Marth’s Perceptive (aka Nihil) skill kicks in at the start of battle. However, Marth doesn’t appear to fight in the new footage, whereas he seems to fight in the old footage (that said, the footage cut off before we saw Marth attack the foe).
I’m unsure why there’s a difference. I don’t think it’s like Dual Strikes from FE Awakening that have a random chance of triggering, because you can see (presumably) Marth’s damage number (6) on the right screenshot.
The only thing that comes to mind is the weapon triangle; Alear has a disadvantage in the new footage, whereas they had an advantage previously. Or perhaps it’s related to Speed? In the new footage, Alear cannot double attack.
Finally, here’s a conversation between Marth and Alear:
I think this occurs in the same area as this screenshot from the reveal trailer–basically, back at your base.
Apparently, Marth has been watching over Alear ever since they were asleep, so for around 1000 years? This has various implications; namely, the Emblems don’t just pop out of nowhere when they’re first summoned. Unless this is unique to Marth or something.
Besides that, I hope Marth has been keeping busy during those 1000 years! I get he’s a nice guy, but just watching somebody sawing logs for a millenium must be pretty dang dull. Perhaps Marth is only semi-conscious or something? Like in an idle or sleeping state himself, but still aware of what’s happening?
Also, what if Marth needed to save Archanea again during those 1000 years? Is he stuck inside his ring? Oh, I guess time could flow differently in Elyos. Or perhaps the ring is more like a window or doorway and Marth can somehow travel between Elyos and Archanea. Maybe I’m thinking too much, haha.
Update: Oh, there is one more thing I just noticed. When Alear is talking, you can see the reception desk (from the reveal trailer) behind him. Since Marth and Alear are outside when talking, this means that the area at the back is semi-outdoors.
