Yesterday, Nintendo Japan shared a YouTube video for Fire Emblem Engage, explaining the Emblem Ring mechanic in great detail.

There was a lot of information, both obvious and not obvious, plus I was busy so the analysis is a bit later than usual.

Before I begin, above is the official English version of the same trailer.

Note: I started this analysis before this video was uploaded, so most of the screenshots are in Japanese.

By the way, this is merely Part 1 of the analysis of Tuesday’s Engage content. I’ll try and get Part 2 up tomorrow.

Introduction

The trailer opens with Alear Engaging with Marth, possibly for the very first time. We saw a similar scene near the end of the debut trailer, but this time it’s female Alear, rather than male Alear.

The transformation scene with the blue whirlwind is a little different–here, female Alear and Marth are holding hands. Whereas male Alear and Marth touched their swords. It’s probably just a minor detail though and I don’t want to spend long dwelling on it.

Here’s a nice, somewhat clear shot of Alear Engaged with Marth. We’ve seen it a few times during battle.

The reason I don’t want to dwell, is because there’s so much to go through, even at the very start!

The trailer moves on to describing the core of Fire Emblem. During this time, they quickly show off some basic stuff, like moving units, attacking etc.

First, we see a Level 19 Lance Armor Louis with a Spear. Other units on the map include Diamant (sword), Clanne (tome) and I think Bonet (axe cavalry). Bonet is the blonde-haired guy from the desert. The pauldron seems to match and he’s holding a shield, similar to his map sprite.

What’s most curious here is the map itself. The layout in the bottom-right corner looks extremely similar to Chapter 20x in the Sacae route of The Binding Blade. Especially the placement of the rivers and buildings. Not only that, but you can see a tent/ger along the bottom of the screen and it has a similar aesthetic to the Binding Blade ones (white with red pattern).

There are a few theories about the reused map layout, especially when it seems there are more maps that are apparently reused. Perhaps it’s just a neat throwback so fans can go “hey, I recognise this map”. Or maybe it’s tied to the Emblems somehow? Like perhaps it’s from a Paralogue map connected to Lyn.

Afterwards, there’s a boat map–we’ve seen similar maps in Path of Radiance, Awakening, Fates, Echoes etc. This particular map reminds me of the one from Awakening, but I don’t think it’s the same?

The unit being selected is Rosado, a Wyvern Knight. Given her low Level but high HP, I’m inclined to believe she’s promoted. Rosado is one of the girls accompanying Hortensia in the “Divine Dragon Awakens” trailer. Like other Elusians, she’s named after a flower/plant: Rose, I presume.

The other allies on the map include Diamant, Ivy, Alfred, Louis, Alcryst(?), Clanne, Seadall, Alear, Framme, Etie and Chloé. Not 100% sure of Alcryst, since we don’t see him on the map much. Seadall (Seadas) is a new Dancer character seen later on, likely from Solm due to their dessert-themed name. Can’t believe I’m saying that.

Rosado has a Silver Axe equipped and also has a lance in her inventory, so it seems Wyvern Knights can wield axes and lances at least. I believe Chloé has Byleth’s ring, while Etie has Lyn’s ring. There are also cannons on the map, with limited ammo.

Update 2: Just noticed that Rosado has 2 out of 4 skills, compared to 1 out of 3 skills. I’m guessing she gained one skill (and skill slot) for being in a promoted class. This seems to hold true for other characters in promoted classes throughout the trailer (at least for Alear and Merrin).

Update: The Chinese trailer has slightly different units on the map. Chloé is replaced with Hortensia, while Clanne has seemingly up and vanished. I think Framme is still here, but in a promoted class?

Interestingly, I think Alear is equipped with Leif. Alfred meanwhile has Ike. I don’t recognise Alcryst’s ring though: could it be Eirika’s or Lucina’s? I’ll need to check all the Emblem icons later…

The next three mini-scenes aren’t as interesting. First there’s Alear fighting in the (I’m guessing) Firenese castle. We’ve seen this map multiple times, like during Framme’s showcase. Nothing seems out of the ordindary here. Likewise, second scene is Etie fighting at night-time Elyos, similar to her showcase. Last one is Clanne in the same castle as before, just like in his showcase.

Yes, we finally get Clanne‘s English name! This appeared on the Japanese official website as well, but some of the names there were inconsistent (namely Timerra and Fogato) so I wasn’t 100% sure. Anyway, time to go back and change his name…

Basics of Emblems

Now the main meat of the trailer begins, with the narrator explaining how Emblems enhance the gameplay.

During this time, we see Alear & Marth taking down an Elusian, followed by Diamant & Byleth felling a Corrupted.

In the former, you may notice the player side can trigger 3 attacks, similar to this battle in the debut trailer. One of these attacks deals half the damage of a normal one. I’m not sure what causes it; Marth does have an Engage Skill–Divine Speed–that grants an additional attack, but they must be Engaged and the damage order is different.

Typically, like in the Diamant & Byleth fight, Emblems don’t grant additional attacks by default.

I think, for the first time, we see the full potential of the Break mechanic. If you missed it, if you have a weapon triangle advantage, you can prevent the enemy from attacking until the end of their next attack. In the past, the trailers always cut off the battle early or the enemy was KO’d. But here we see Diamant landing a Break, the enemy failing to counter and then Diamant KOs them on the second hit.

The next part shows Alear equipping Marth. We saw something similar during the debut trailer.

Equipping an Emblem is called “Syncing”. When synced, the character can gain stats, weapons and skills from their Emblem partner.

This time, the roster is visible along the left: Looks like the party before recruiting Céline and company (so Alear, Vander, Framme, Clanne, Boucheron, Etie and Alfred). In the backdrop, I believe it’s this Firenese map that we know and love–the one where Céline and company join. Presumably they join after the battle begins.

The available rings are just Marth and Sigurd. Alear has access to Marth’s ring near the beginning, when they’re at Lythos. I believe Alear receives Sigurd’s Ring from Lumera before he/she leaves Lythos.

Otherwise, Marth grants Str +1, Dex +2 and Spd +1 one here, versus Str, Dex and Spd +2 in the debut trailer. The Bond Level here is 3 versus 6, which is quite a big difference.

The difference between equipping an Emblem or not can be drastic. The next part shows Alear fighting by herself, versus fighting with Marth. In the first scenario, she doesn’t even take off half HP. Whereas in the second, their combined efforts KO the Corrupted.

Again, I haven’t figured out why Alear gains an additional attack (at half damage) in-between her two normal ones.

The next bit shows Alear Engaging with Marth. When Engaged, Alear can unlock Marth’s Rapier and two Engage Skills: Divine Speed and Lodestar Rush.

Before, Alear is equipped with their unique sword Libération. We learned this earlier, but the Libération is a D Rank sword that increases the Engage gauge by 1, when the unit KOs a foe during their turn. Making it faster to Engage. Meanwhile, Marth’s Rapier has an armour and cavalry effective bonus.

We also see Marth’s Engage Skills. These only trigger when Engaged.

Divine Speed grants an additional attack, dealing 50% of the usual damage. It can stack with similar skills. When used by a Dragon, the additional attack restores HP by damage dealt.

Not explained here, but Lodestar Rush grants 7 attacks dealing 30% of the usual damage. Grants 2 more attacks when used by a Dragon. So 9 attacks here.

The enemy here is a Lance Armor called Rhodan–perhaps the boss of this map?

Emblems Full of Personality

Moving on, we’ll get to see some of the individual Emblems. Excuse the slightly blurry shot–it was the best shot with the three new Emblems being showcased: Corrin, Byleth and Lyn.

We saw Marth already, so it’s Sigurd‘s turn first. The map shown in the Brodian defence map from the debut trailer. Everything looks pretty similar, but the unknown characters have been identified, for the most part.

The only one I’m unsure about is Amber, who I think is the Brodian blonde-haired lance cavalry. He’s a character revealed later in this trailer.

Anyway, the point of this exercise is to show Sigurd’s amazing Movement bonus, when Engaged. Here, he has a total Movement of 13, which is nuts! Normally, Alfred has 5 Movement in his Noble class and 6 with Sigurd equipped. I imagine Sigurd will be extremely useful for finishing maps quickly!

The next part shows the difference between not Engaged (but equipped) and Engaged. So 6 squares versus 13 squares.

After that is Sigurd’s Engage Skill, Override. We saw this skill used during the debut trailer. When used, the unit moves to the opposite end of the enemy unit(s) after dealing damage.

The map shown during the comparison and after using Override is the Brodian bridge map seen in Alcryst’s showcase.

The units on the map look the same. Lapis is the pink haired girl accompanying Alcryst. Over on the right, you can make out enemy Rosado and I think Hortensia. The latter is obscured by Sigurd, but it’s a tome wielder riding a mount with Lucina’s ring, but red.

This battle is probably during the confrontation with Hortensia; presumably, the other girl–Goldmary–is also present, hidden by Sigurd. This also matches with this scene of Hortensia with evil Lucina.

After the fight. in addition to triggering Override, Alfred triggers Momentum, like in the debut trailer. In the English trailer, this skill doesn’t appear for some reason.

Update: Thanks to Aggro Incarnate for reminding me that Momentum already appeared before.

Next in the spotlight is Emblem Celica, who seems pretty loaded. Like in the debut trailer, she’s Engaged with Céline, who’s in her Noble class.

Echo is an Engage Skill that lets you trigger two separate fights, using magic, but divides the damage by 50%. If you have two weak or low HP foes, you can potentially kill both with just one character! After using Echo for the first fight, it seems you can’t move for the second fight. (Otherwise it’d be truly busted.)

The map here is a second Firenese map, with NPCs along the north. This map has shown up from time to time–most recently in Boucheron’s showcase.

Warp Ragnarok is another Engage Skill, featured in the debut trailer. I don’t know the restrictions, but it seems you can warp within 2 squares of any foe within a massive range (the effect movement range here is 14 squares!), then cast Ragnarok.

The map here appears to be the Firenese castle, seen in Framme’s showcase etc. This time, we’re closer to the throne, where the boss is. The map is zoomed out, so it’s hard to make out the units. But I imagine there are no surprises.

We’re roughly halfway through. Let me grab a biscuit…

Now onto the newly revealed Emblems! Here are some snippets of the Emblems’ dialogue.

Corrin: You’ll be perfectly fine. I trust in you.

Byleth: …I’m Emblem Byleth. I feel like I’ve awakened from a long dream.

Lyn: You know, despite my looks, I’m pretty strong. Don’t underestimate me!

Our first new Emblem is Corrin, the “Emblem of Fates”.

Chloé is equipped with Corrin here. The map is new–from the windmills, I believe it’s in Firene somewhere. From the large map size and the fact Chloé is likely promoted, this could be later on in the game. What’s going on in Firene?!

The units on the map also give a clue: Ivy from Elusia, plus Timerra and Fogato have been recruited. Near the top-left corner, there’s an enemy dragon or monster with a Breath weapon icon. There’s also a collapsed enemy archer–an Elusian perhaps–nearby. Did the player do that or somebody else?

Update 3: Nevermind, that Elusian archer has an exclamation mark because Chloé is a Flier and weak to their bows.

Chloé is a Level 3 Griffin Knight here. This was a promoted class in FE Awakening. It was an Axe-locked class, but here it can wield lances, such as Chloé’s Silver Lance.

Her weapon borrowed from Corrin seems to be the Dual Katana, a double-edged weapon, from FE Fates.

Update: Thanks to Imadonkey for pointing out what weapon it is.

Corrin’s gimmick is the ability to utilise Dragon Veins, just like in FE Fates! There are many different Dragon Vein effects, although it’s unclear how they’re decided.

Here, the Dragon Vein provides a “Vein of Succor” effect, granting HP recovery tiles in the area 2 squares around the user.

Update: Totally missed this, but while Chloé is moving, for a split-second the cursor hovers over Timerra. Here, she’s in her promoted class: Picket (Pitchfork in the Japanese version). Her appearance looks similar to her base form, Sentinel, but she gains some plumage on her headpiece.

This next bit shows a different Dragon Vein–a “Vein of Water” that creates an Avoid -30 effect. The terrain changes from Dragon Veins can overwrite existing terrain changes, like the nasty Miasma tiles that reduce ally’s Def/Res by 20 and boost enemy’s Def/Res by 20.

The character here is Amber, who I believe is the mystery blonde haired cavalry in the Brodian defense mission. Right now, he’s a Level 7 Paladin, but I bet this is his promoted form. He’s wielding a Silver Lance and has many other lances in his inventory. Vander as a Paladin seems to be locked to Axes though.

Update: Aggro Incarnate found something very interesting. The Chinese trailer shows Amber as a Level 7 Lance Knight instead. Now he 99% matches the mystery cavalry unit from the defense map!

This time, Corrin has an additional weapon. At first glance, I thought it was a gun (I was really tired), but upon closer inspection, it may be the Kodachi, a throwing katana, from FE Fates.

Update: Thanks again to Imadonkey for identifying the weapon!

Lazy to label them, but the allies here include Framme, Seadall, Timerra and Ivy. So probably another midgame map. Near the top-right corner is another of those dragons/monsters.

Torrential Roar is an Engage Skill usable with Corrin. Here, Chloé is showing it off.

When used, it triggers Dragon Fang, damaging 3 enemy units in a row and applies the Water-based Avoid -30 effect underneath them.

Update: I was informed by StarNight139 that Torrential Roar is a reference to Corrin’s Final Smash in Super Smash Bros.

Afterwards, the Dreadful Aura and Draconic Hex skills are applied. The map seems to be the same one with Griffin Knight Chloé earlier. On the floor are the same type of recovery tiles created with the Dragon Vein skill.

Byleth‘s time to shine next! He’s known as the Emblem of the Academy.

Alcryst is Engaged with Byleth here. The map seems to be in a desert, so Solm. The enemies are wearing green, so likely Elusians–they sure do get around.

The axe cavalry here is probably Jade, the blonde-haired armour lady. On the map, she has a massive ponytail, which you can see a bit of from the linked screenshot. Her name never appears in this trailer, but it does appear somewhere else.

Goldmary is the brown-haired sword girl standing with Hortensia. We’ll learn her name very soon.

Yunaka is this red-haired hair lass. Oddly, she has no weapon equipped. Is this the map where you recruit her and there’s a story reason why she’s unarmed? Her name will also appear very soon.

As the player moves Alcryst, they briefly move across Goldmary and Yunaka. During this time, their stats appear along the bottom. We’ll get a better look at Goldmary in a bit, but Yunaka here is a Level 19 Thief (Covert type). She’s literally carrying nothing. Did she get robbed?!

Alcryst is a Level 1 Tireur d’élite, which is presumably his promoted class (it’s amusing they kept it French). Like his Lord class, it’s a Covert type. He’s equipped with a Silver Bow and has various other bows stashed away. However, he can also equip Byleth’s Failnaught.

Instruct is one of Byleth’s Engage Skills, referencing his tenure as a Professor at Garreg Mach. The one here is a Speed type that boosts Spd of allies within 2 squares by 5. There are other types, like one that boosts Luck by 10. Again, I don’t know what determines the type.

After using the skill, Alcryst gains support points with Fogato, Alear, Céline and Seadall. But not Timerra, Goldmary and Yunaka.

Here’s something that might be busted: Goddess Dance. This is an Engage Skill that allows up to 4 adjacent allies to move again. It must have restrictions though; when using Instruct moments earlier, this option available.

One of the units being refreshed is Goldmary, one of Hortensia’s possible retainers. Here, she’s a Level 3 Hero, using the Japanese spelling from FE Fates of “Brave Hero”. Her class type is Backup, shared with Lance and Axe Fighter.

You know, all this talk of retainers reminds me of FE Fates. I’ll likely go over this properly later, but it’s interesting how the roster setup is similar to FE Fates. We have 8 royals, potentially with 2 retainers each, but divided among 4 countries, instead of 2.

Goldmary’s equipped weapon is Steel Blade. The third weapon is peculiar–it’s a Spear, like the one Louis had near the start. Since it’s not greyed out, I suppose she can use it? We’ve never had Heroes with lances though, only axes. Still, there’s a first for everything.

Update: Thanks to Aggro Incarnate for pointing out what the third weapon is.

In the combat forecast, there’s something new: Chain Attack. Huh, getting Xenoblade vibes here. As it happens, Timerra is adjacent to the same enemy she’s attacking. Is Timerra the one assisting with the Chain Attack? The damage seems pretty low though. Sadly, we don’t see the actual combat. Boo.

Her foe is an Elusian Bow Knight with a Radiant Bow. This Bow Knight also has a lance in their inventory. So Bow Knights can apparently wield Lance and Bow.

Finally, here’s Lyn, the Emblem of Blazing.

Lyn has an Engage Skill called Call Doubles, an allusion to the after-images created by Swordmasters and her Blade Lord class. Not shown here, but it can create 4 clones around the user. These clones can then co-operate in Chain Attacks.

In this fight, Ivy (the wyvern princess from Elusia) is Engaged with Lyn. I think two of the clones are assisting with a Chain Attack? So maybe it’s like what I guessed–the ally/clone must be adjacent to (or able to attack) the same enemy. Again, the damage here is low, but better than nothing, I guess?

As for the clones themselves, it’s not clear whether you can control them or how strong they are. Or how long they last.

Astra Storm is another Engage Skill. It’s a long ranged (10 square away) bow attack that deals multiple (5) hits. Presumably with lowered damage.

Once again, Ivy is Engaged with Lyn. I believe many people thought this was a new character at first, since she lost the hat and looks very different! Right now, she’s a Level 17 Wing Tamer with Elfire equipped. But when using Astra Storm, she automaticallys swaps to Lyn’s Killer Bow.

Due to the massive range, the map is zoomed out, making it hard to see who’s who. But I’m pretty sure it’s the usual suspects. Nevermind, I tried to identify them all in the left-most screenshot above. I believe Jade, with the massive ponytail, shows up again, but on foot. Presumably most of them are still unpromoted (Wing Tamer is probably Ivy’s initial class).

Ivy’s foe is a Corrupted wielding a Tomahawk.

You can’t stay Engaged forever. The number next to the Emblem icon indicates the remaining turns until you disengage (starts at 3 turns).

Just in case, this is inside the Firenese castle again, before the gate to the throne room.

Also, of note, Alear & Marth have Bond Level 10 here. At this point, Marth’s Mercurius is available and Marth has gained an extra skill, filling up his skill slots.

I’ve noticed many Emblems at Bond Level 10 elsewhere (eg. Alfred & Sigurd)–is this the max Level? That said, Marth has space for one more weapon and it’d be weird if he didn’t have his Falchion!

After disengaging, the Engage gauge will be empty. But as the character performs actions, like defeating foes, you can recharge their gauge and Engage again! Alear’s sword, the Libération, will probably be useful for quickly Engaging again.

Emblems x Characters

Now for the final stretch, we’ll get to see various characters equipping various Emblems.

At the start, they show off some cutscene snippets we’ve seen before, like Diamant’s self-introduction, Chloé riding her pegasus, Alcryst and his retainers(?) and Fogato trying to look important.

The player enters the roster menu, to select an Emblem Ring for a character. The current roster includes: Alear, Framme, Citrinne, Alcryst, Céline, Etie, Clanne, Alfred, Louis, Vander, Yunaka, Lapis and Chloé who’s cut off.

These are all familiar faces by now, except Yunaka and Lapis.

As mentioned, Yunaka is the red-haired girl from the “Divine Dragon Awakens!” trailer. When showing off Alcryst & Byleth earlier in the desert, she was present as a Thief.

I’m unsure which country she’s from–her appearance vaguely reminds me of Hortensia, because of the star on her face. However, all the known Elusians are named after flowers/plants and I can’t anything for Yunaka (ユナカ). Hang, on there’s Unakite (ユナカイト), which is a type of granite. So is she Brodian?!

Lapis is the pink-haired girl shown with Alcryst. Her origins are easier to guess. Most likely, she’s named after Lapis Lazuli, placing her in Brodia. She’s also with Alcryst and Citrinne, both Brodians, so that much was obvious. I imagine she’s also Alcryst’s retainer, if we assume each royal has two retainers.

For those curious, we’ll get a better look at Lapis elsewhere.

Back to the menu, Alear’s stuff is pretty straighforward–we’ve seen most of it before. Framme’s skill is Crimson Cheer. Citrinne is a Mage with the Generosity skill.

The player chooses Citrinne and selects Celica’s Ring for her. In addition to Celica’s weapons and skills, we briefly see Marth’s.

Marth’s 3rd skill is Unyielding. Meanwhile Celica has a Seraphim tome and Recover staff. Her skills are Holy Stance (some kind of counter skill against Corrupted?), Resonance, Favorite Food, Echo (trigger two magical combat with half damage) and Warp Ragnarok (teleport and attack a distant foe).

The available rings include Marth, Celica, Sigurd, Corrin, Byleth and Lyn. These are, of course, the six Emblems they’ve properly showcased. The order is a bit odd. If it’s the order they’re obtained, it should be Marth, Sigurd and Celica. If it’s game order, it should be Marth, Celica, Sigurd, Lyn, Corrin, Byleth. Oh, perhaps it’s sorted by Bond?

Afterwards, Citrinne poses with Celica, similar to Céline in the debut trailer.

Then there’s a girl we haven’t seen before posing with Byleth in a similar manner.

Finally, there’s Framme showing off with Lyn.

These scenes should occur when they begin Engaging with their Emblems.

In the next scene, there’s a fight between Alear Engaged with Byleth and a Fabrication. Alear has Aymr equipped, while the Fabrication has a Spear. Framme’s Crimson Cheer triggers for Alear, while Racket of Solm triggers for the Fabrication. Huh, why Solm?

Update: KoriCongo reminded me that the skill icon for Racket of Solm matches Timerra’s skill, briefly seen earlier. Timerra is also nearby on the map, so it’s likely a debuffing skill that affects nearby foes.

Fabrication is a type of enemy seen during the Break showcase. Its Japanese name is Creation, similar to the creature at the bottom floor of the Thabes Labyrinth in Shadows of Valentia. Alear’s attack triggers Smash, which again reminds me of Xenoblade, haha. Here, it seems to end the fight straight away and knock the foe back one square.

After the fight, we see Alear’s class is now Divine Dragon, presumably their promoted form. In the Japanese version, it’s Divine Dragon King. In their inventory, they’re carrying a Body Art that’s usable. Meanwhile, Byleth’s inventory includes Aymr, the Sword of the Creator and the Vajra-Mushti.

Before, I wondered if Bond Level 10 was the max: of course not, it’s 20 here. As it happens, Byleth’s inventory is full and their signature weapon (the Sword of the Creator) is present.

Furthermore, I think this is another map that’s borrowed from the past: specifically Chapter 22 of Thracia 776. Ooh, er, getting flashbacks…

Swiftly moving on, we catch a glimpse of a new character: Seadall (Seadas in the Japanese version), who’s equipped with Corrin. They are a Level 15 Dancer (Qi Adept type) that can use Body Arts.

While the cursor is moving, it goes over Timerra, who’s a Level 19 Sentinel (Vigilante in the Japanese version), a Backup type that wields lances.

Other allies include Alear, Fogato, Diamant, Louis, Alcryst, Céline and Framme.

Seadall can perform the following actions: Engage, Dragon Vein, Chain Guard, Inventory and Wait. Chain Guard is likely a way to defend against enemy Chain Attacks, similar to Dual Strike and Dual Guard in Awakening and Fates.

On this occasion, they use “Vein of Ice” to create ice pillars on the ground, covering the Miasma.

Another new character! This time it’s Merrin Engaged with Lyn. She’s (I think it’s a woman?) a Level 10 Wolf Knight (Cavalry) that can wield Daggers and Swords. She also has access to Lyn’s Bows, of course.

I’m curious if Merrin is named after Meringue and she’s from Solm.

Anyway, Merrin uses Call Doubles to summon 4 clones around her.

Update 2: For the record, Wolf Knight is likely a promoted class. Since Merrin has a lot of HP and 2 skills, instead of 1.

The map is hiding two interesting things. One, I believe Anna is visible towards the left; compare with her portrait. We know from the leaks that she’s an axe user.

Two, the map layout seems to be based on Chapter 21 from Binding Blade.

Afterwards, Merrin engages a Fabrication. It seems her Knightly Escort skill triggers at the start. Merrin is wielding Mulagir, Lyn’s legendary bow. It seems all 4 of her clones participate in the Chain Attack. Also, we see that Chain Attack hits can critical, although the critical rate here is 0…

Update 2: Thanks to TipperTheScales for telling me that it’s Merrin’s own skill.

Not to be outdone, Vander shows up next, using Sigurd’s Engage Skill Override. He has the usual Ridersbane equipped.

To wrap up, here’s female Alear and Marth doing the sword thing. OK, so they do do it after it!

As usual, if you think I missed something or made a mistake, please let me know! Otherwise, I hope to see you around for Part 2~