Yesterday, several media outlets shared their previews of Fire Emblem Engage. Because there was so much new footage to cover, I’ve divided the analysis into two parts; the previous part can be found here.

As a reminder, it seems everyone played the first 8 chapters of the game, stopping around the defence of the Brodian castle.

Again, in no particular order…

Note: Here’s a playlist of all the featured previews.

Suliven Gaming

This is a French preview that shows a little bit of everything.

Near the start, the player goes through a bit of the character selection. As usual, you can choose your name, birthday, difficulty, mode (Casual or Classic) and network (likely online features, like Lost Spirits). Curiously the “Growth Method” option seen in Japanese screenshots isn’t present.

Afterwards, we see bits of Alear waking up at the Somniel, with a surprised Clanne and Framme present. Followed by Alear at Lythos, outside the Divine Dragon’s Castle, presumably before the Corrupted appear and attack?

The video then skips ahead to Alfred introducing the continent of Elyos to Alear.

We know that Eve rules Firene, Morion rules Brodia, Hyacinth rules Elusia and Sfoglia (tentative name) rules Solm. However, we haven’t seen Queen Sfoglia’s face before. It’s a bit obscured here, but better than nothing!

Next, is part of a cutscene where Louis and Chloé are protecting Céline from Corrupted, at the start of Chapter 4. Presumably they’re giving Céline a chance to escape, then she meets up with Alear and company and they go to rescue her retainers.

It then skips to a different cutscene at the end of Chapter 4, where Alear is assaulted by a Corrupted that they neglected to spot and end up getting rescued by Veyle, who’s “passing by”.

Going back a bit, during the Chapter 4 fight, even though Louis and Chloé are stranded, they begin as playable characters, it seems. However, they do have Talk options with Céline.

A while later, the player summons some Bond Rings in the Ring Chamber. I don’t think we’ve seen it before, but Alm is one of Celica’s Bond Rings and her first one too. Others include Saber, Lukas, Delthea and Conrad (seen here).

Here’s Azelle, one of Sigurd’s Bond Rings. I had a feeling they’d use Genealogy‘s official art, but it’s a little jarring to see it alongside the rest of the more modern-looking art. Presumably Sigurd’s top-most Bond Ring will be Deirdre. Seliph could be an option too, unless he’s among Leif’s Bond Rings.

After that is some footage of Chapter 5 at the Firenese castle, which is pretty old hat by this point.

Sandwiched in-between is some brief footage from Lumera’s tutorial, which may be Chapter 2. Sadly, the player doesn’t go and check Lumera’s stats. I’m pretty sure her class is Divine Dragon, like Alear’s promoted class, but I do want to see it still. Plus what sword or weapon does she have?

From here, we have a tour of the Somniel. There’s a look at one of Alear and Framme’s support conversations. Plus a bit of strength training.

This one’s for our resident Prince of Iris. The player offers Chloé a gift and they actually choose the Horse Manure. I can only imagine Chloé’s reaction…

After that is a bit of battleground exploration, of the Chapter 4 map, then we’re back at the Somniel again. The player briefly checks out the stables and also donates to Firene (covered here).

A bit later, we see more of the Chapter 4 cutscene between Céline and her retainers. As I suspected, Céline’s retainers tell her to flee, so she can warn Alfred of Elusia’s invasion.

To finish off, we’re shown the class roll, which I’m guessing plays if you idle at the title screen. Lapis is repping Sword Fighter, while generics are repping Lance Fighter and Axe Fighter.

Lance Fighter is understandable, because nobody starts as one, but Boucheron and Anna are Axe Fighters… At least Etie is repping Archer afterwards.

Nintendo Life

Nintendo Life’s preview also showcases a bit of everything.

The video opens with various random shots. Of the lot, this one grabbed my attention. It seems Lumera is explaining something to Alear. Perhaps about Alear’s long sleep?

Teronda seems to be the boss of Chapter 6, at the Firenese village ruins.

Another shot showing battleground exploration, of the Firenese castle, at the end of Chapter 5. I’m really looking forward to checking them out myself!

(Random aside: I recorded the Valentia Out-of-Bounds video series, where I roamed various battlegrounds in Shadows of Valentia, via hacking. But I’ve always wanted to try it via normal gameplay.)

I think this is when Céline meets up with Alear and Alfred during Chapter 4. I’m guessing after Céline offers the ring, Alear lets her keep it for now.

Gonna fast forward a bit, since it’s mostly footage we’ve seen before. Here’s a bit from Alear and Etie’s support conversations, I’m guessing.

I think this conversation happens at the end of Chapter 4, probably when Veyle mysteriously vanishes after Alear looks away for a second, or something like that. Hmm, I wonder when’s the next time we’ll see her?

Thanks Mom, for the tutorial.

Also, there’s a tutorial message for Chain Guard. Basically, Qi Adept classes like Martial Monk can use the Chain Guard command to protect adjacent allies. When an ally gets hit, the Chain Guard user will take the hit instead, sustaining up to 20% HP damage. Chain Guard can’t be used unless at max HP.

Have we seen the Somniel menu before? Maybe in Japanese, but I don’t think in English. The options are all pretty self-explanatory. Except Reference, which is where you can check Supports, Bonds, Ally Notebook, Ring Reference and your Profile Card.

Skipping ahead some more, Marth’s Sword Agility 3 grants Avoid +20 at the cost of Crit -10. Also, he confers Sword Proficiency at Bond Level 8. This lets characters enter classes that require Sword Proficiency.

Although Alear is often advertised with Marth, you could consider giving Marth to non-Sword characters, so they can eventually wield swords.

Here’s the player using the Draconic Time Crystal during Chapter 6: The Stolen Ring. We’ve seen it before, but it’s interesting that the crystal seemingly has infinite charges. It sounds like charges may be limited on harder difficulties though.

Also, I think the chapter info explains a few things. Namely where Micaiah’s ring comes from. It seems Yunaka joins in this chapter, judging from this conversation we’ve seen. Did Yunaka end up stealing this ring from somewhere? These rings are meant to be stored safely, by royalty etc.

Later on, there’s portions of Alear and Alfred’s support conversation. It’s fun comparing it with the Japanese version.

Here’s another quick look at the Achievement menu. Had to pause the video at the exact moment to get this shot without the UI covering up most of the screen.

The player cycles through Chloé’s default outfits, I’m assuming.

New to FE, there’s a photo mode that you can use in the Somniel! Apparently these can only be done outdoors. You can also customise your Profile Card using your photos. I’m looking forward to messing around with this.

Otherwise, enjoy some random Somniel shots.

Game Informer

This video begins in Chapter 6, at the Firenese village ruins during night. It also shows off the world map a little, before moving towards the Somniel.

There’s nothing too notable about the Chapter 6 segment, but we do get to see one of those Gold Corrupted again. When defeated, it looks like they drop Gold. Hmm, do Silver Corrupted give more experience, maybe?

Actually, I was just wondering because of the appearance of the Gold Corrupted, but yes, this is a skirmish. I think the rare Corrupted only appear in skirmishes, or that’s the impression I got anyway.

Something minor: I think you need to deal damage to inflict Break. Normal, Arts beat ranged weapons. So this Art-wielding Ruffian should have broken Alcryst. But the key difference is that they suffered no damage. Alternatively, Alear’s Divinely Inspiring skill did trigger at the start of combat and I don’t think we know its effect.

Afterwards, we get to see the world map again. It seems the world map regularly refreshes, with skirmishes appearing and disappearing. Presumably after major fights or when enough time has passed, like in Awakening and Fates.

Something neat. Not all skirmishes involve Corrupted. There are “training” skirmishes where you can fight soldiers! This explains the screenshots of you fighting Firenese soldiers inside their castle. I mean, I guess a coup d’etat is still possible, but I believe they’re always in the Chapter 5 map. If there were a coup, I’d expect it to happen later and in a more complicated map.

The player opens the fast-travel menu and quickly hovers all the locations, revealing the possible materials, ingredients and animals you can obtain.

Of note, it’s confirmed that Chapter 8 is at Brodia castle. This is where you defend the castle from Ivy’s assault.

In addition, we’re shown the location of the Somniel: floating high above Lythos. I guess that makes sense; it has to be somewhere!

Alear beats up Anna in the standard Arena. We learned this from somewhere, but in addition to experience points, you can build up supports this way too. Your opponents in the standard Arena are random though and limited to three per visit.

During the loading screen, the tip along the top explains Céline’s personal skill, Gentle Flower. It allows healing items used within 2 spaces of Céline to heal 50% more HP.

A bit later, we get to see Alear and Anna’s full C support conversation.

At the Farmyard, we learn some vital information. You cannot pet the animals, strangely. There is an “Action” prompt, but I believe it makes the animal perform an action. Well, you can pet Sommie at least…

You ready for some strength training? It seems a random character will man the training area. However, the real brains behind the operation is, dun dun dun, Prince Alfred!

Also, Jean is exercising in the background.

Depending on the exercise, you can boost Alear’s stats.

• Push-Ups boosts Str
• Sit-Ups boosts HP
• Squats boosts Dex

Each exercise has multiple difficulties too: Normal, Hard, Expert and Iron Muscle.

If you want, you can have Sommie assist you. I’m guessing it protects you from getting a “Bad”, but perhaps at the cost of your score.

GameXplain (2)

To break things up a bit, here’s another GameXplain video, showcasing three things.

The first thing is part of the opening to Chapter 7, the battle at the Brodian bridge. When Alear meets Alcryst. Other previews also featured parts of this, but it’s cool to see more of it.

Ah, so that’s the context behind the shot of Alcryst pointing his arrow from “The Divine Dragon Awakens!”

The second thing is gameplay from Chapter 7. Again, we’ve seen plenty of this.

Of note, Yunaka’s personal skill is officially Trained to Kill.

We also get to hear Rosado’s English voice. As a reminder, Rosado is stated to be a he.

The third and final thing is a support conversation between Clanne and Framme. I had a feeling, but this is where Framme’s line in the relationship chart comes from.

Nintendoros

Here’s a Spanish preview. It has some familiar footage, but features a glimpse of some game menus.

Chapter 5 is titled “Liberate the Castle” or along those lines. It’s when Elusia takes over the castle and tries to coerce Queen Eve into handing over her Emblem Ring.

Some auto-battle options are displayed, I think. If anyone knows Spanish, please do let me know what they are. I’m guessing they’re Advance, something, Protect and Retreat.

Here’s a glimpse of the boss, Nelucce’s stats. They’re an Axe Fighter, with a Hand Axe and lootable Seraph Robe. Plus his face, if you haven’t seen it before.

Not really a new observation, but it seems at least Hortensia and Rosado have slight differences depending on the difficulty, perhaps?

In Nintendo World Report’s footage, Rosado has slightly higher stats and an additional skill (Stalwart). Also, here, Hortensia is missing Lucina’s ring, despite having it in other footage. Presumably this footage is from Normal mode.

Here’s a rare shot from Tempest Trials, the first battle. If you missed it, Tempest Trials is a consecutive battle challenge accessible via the Somniel.

The player opens the systems menu. Some of the options include:

• Combat Animations – No
• Dance Animations/Healing – No
• Engage Animations – First Time
• Game Speed – Fast
• Skip Actions – No
• Unit Control – Direct
• HP Bars – Yes
• Grid – (black bar)
• Config. Additional Info [on ZR key] – Unit Type

Thanks to TipperTheScales for the translations!

Ooh, here’s the blurb for Chapter 6, at the Firenese village ruins. After liberating the Firenese castle, the group marches towards the shrine that houses the ring of the Maiden of Dawn. This explains things a bit more. Presumably Yunaka got hold of this intel although I wonder how…

We have confirmation that the first paralogue is actually Jean’s paralogue, at the Tea-Field Village. This unlocks after completing Chapter 5 at the castle. Presumably Anna’s paralogue unlocks after Chapter 6.

At Café Terrace, the player browses some of Yunaka’s support partners.

• Can support: Etie, Louis
• Cannot support: Chloé, Clanne, Céline, Framme

Here’s a quick look at the “Reminisce” menu in My Room at the Somniel. I think the options are:

• Supports
• Bonds
• Awakenings (presumably the cutscenes at the start of each Emblem overview video)
• Videos
• Music

Also, enjoy being woken up by Vander.

This part, at the amiibo Gazebo, confirms how Fire Emblem amiibo work.

As I suspected you get one costume ticket and one music ticket per amiibo. These can be exchanged for any of the 12 amiibo costumes or music tracks. Not sure if you can re-scan the same amiibo multiple times. Can the game even check this?

I think these are poses you can choose for the Somniel photo shoots? Rather than foolishly trying to translate these, I think I’ll surprise myself when I eventually get the game, haha.

Here’s some battleground exploration of the Chapter 6 map. Looking at the mini-map, it looks like you can explore most of the map!

Finally, more on how Tempest Trials work.

First, you can choose a map. I think they’re the same types as in Relay Trials. I’m guessing each map has different number of fights. The Plains map has 3 fights.

Next, you can choose your own difficulty! There’s a recommended one, which perhaps scales to your Level? The lower you go, the less rewards and experience you get.

High Level rewards include materials for enhancing Engage weapons, such as Def Crystal or Dragon Bane. Plus basic and advanced books? Tomes? Unsure what these are for.

Digital Foundry

You may know about Digital Foundary; they’re well-known for putting games through graphics and frame rate tests. How does FE Engage fare on that front? Well, it seems pretty positive so far, but that’s not what I’m here for.

Here’s another look at the robed mage about to kill Alear, presumably at the end of Chapter 3.

A cool thing about the world map is that you can pan the camera to look wherever you want. I assume this is the limit they were allowed to show for the previews. From what we know, Solm is the last of the 4 countries that you visit.

Previously, we’ve seen bond fragments obtained from Lost Spirits. It seems you can obtain random items from them too. Which is pretty standard.

This conversation is probably from the end of Chapter 5. Right, Eve also has an accent in her name… Also, this is where her line from “The Divine Dragon Awakens!” comes from.

Presumably she’s referring to Micaiah’s ring, which leads into Chapter 6.

Yeeees, we see Lumera in action, during the Chapter 2(?) tutorial. As I expected, she’s a sword wielder, presumably with Alear’s promoted Divine Dragon class. I didn’t expect she’d use Alear’s sword though. Is this a copy or did she borrow the sword? Bit lazy to check other footage right now.

This conversation is probably from the end of Chapter 3. Ah, of course, Alfred didn’t come to seek Alear’s help right off the bat. He was intending to request Lumera’s assistance, but of course, things happened…

Finally, during Anna’s paralogue, Anna begins as a NPC unit.

Video Chums

This preview has largely unedited footage from Chapters 1 and 2.

It confirms Chapter 1: Awake at Last is when Alear and Vander get separated from Clanne and Framme when Corrupted suddenly appear and attack. This is also when Alear summons Marth for the first time (after awakening, anyway).

In addition, as I suspected, the “premonition” chapter is simply the Prologue. Also, it occurs at Lythos Castle, likely after the scene with the four royals fighting the Corrupted, ending with Alear and Marth pushing open this door.

The only time we’ve properly seen the premonition map itself is in Gaming Boulevard’s preview, featured near the end of the previous analysis article.

At the end of Chapter 1, after Lumera rescues Alear from the Corrupted remnants, there’s a cool 2D artwork of Lumera embracing Alear. Aww, feels especially sad knowing what happens to Lumera two chapters later…

Lastly, here are some boss conversations with Lumera during the tutorial in Chapter 2.

Right, Alear doesn’t have the Libération for this chapter, so it does look like Lumera borrowed it. At the start of Chapter 3, Alear has Libération again.

Vandal

Here’s a Spanish preview with assorted gameplay clips, from various chapters and the Somniel.

In the Spanish version, Roy’s Engage attack (the slightly wordy “Crimson Lion’s Flame Dance” in the Japanese version) is along the lines of “Blazing Lion”. Which is simply Roy’s epithet.

I feel like we may have seen this elsewhere, but it’s tough wading through all the footage at this point. Anyway, one of Micaiah’s sync skills is along the lines of Healing Glow.

Crucially, Micaiah grants Dagger Proficiency at Level 6. I was wondering who might give Dagger. Naturally, this is probably inspired by her partner, Sothe.

GameSpot

This video goes over a few of the changes in FE Engage. Pretty straighforward stuff, if you’ve been keeping up. Otherwise, it’s decent viewing.

During the battleground exploration section, it shows the mini-maps for Chapters 4 and 5. Looks like you can explore nearly all of the village in Chapter 4! Meanwhile, the Chapter 5 exploration map appears to be the throne room, where Queen Éve was held against her will.

Not mega important, but here’s the English version of this Chloé dining screenshot.

When the player is browsing the Boutique, one of the outfit descriptions shows what the adjective form of Lythos is: Lythian. There’s also Firenese, Brodian, Elusian and Solmic. I wonder what Gradlon would be? Gradlonite?

You can figure this out from earlier footage, but Marth’s sync skill Break Defenses grants an extra attack with 50% damage if the unit triggers Break on the foe.

Similarly, we saw hints of this, but Celica’s sync skill Resonance deals 2 extra damage at the cost of 1 HP.

Finally, here’s another look at the Achievements menu. It does seem like you can get a lot of bond fragments easily from these. The player has nearly 3000 here; you need 100 to summon a Bond Ring and 100~300 to increase an Emblem’s Bond by one Level (up to Level 10).

GameXplain (3)

What’s this? Yet another GameXplain preview? Well, can’t complain if it means more info to dissect.

This particular preview is mostly a discussion of the game’s features with minimal new footage.

Of note, the last 5 minutes or so goes over the romance aspects of the game, or rather the apparent lack of. Previously, we’ve seen support ranks only go up to A, so we’re not looking at Awakening or Fates level of romance.

However, it’s a little bizarre if there’s no romance at all, given how popular it’s been. Still, I imagine there’s probably a way for Alear to choose a S Rank near the end of the game, like in Three Houses. Or at least choose a favourite character like in Three Hopes.

Multiplayer.it

This is a, I’m assuming, Italian preview.

First up, a clearer look at the Prologue map, which appears to be a premonition. This occurs at Lythos Castle.

As seen in Gaming Boulevard’s preview, Sombron is a tome wielder in his humanoid form, wielding Obscurité.

Some more S Rank Bond Rings. Thanks to UnwaveringHope_ for pointing out that Mae S has a unique skill called Great Thunder.

Sanaki S has no unique skill.

Likewise, Merric S and Faye S do not have skills either.

In Micaiah’s Skill Inheritance list, Cleric (enables staves in any class) is not available. Inheritable skills include Resistance +2, +3, Silence Ward, Staff Mastery 1, 2 and Healing Light.

We don’t get see Jean in battle much. Here he is Engaged with Micaiah.

Chapter 8 is along the line of “Kingdom of Warriors”. This is where you defend the Brodian castle from Ivy’s assault. Similar to the previous chapter where Hortensia was joined by her retainers, Ivy is joined by her retainers, Zelkov and Kagetsu.

Finally, here’s a quick glimpse of fighting Ivy as a boss.

N1-UP (2)

Last but not least, N1-UP uploaded the full opening movie for the game. We’ve seen it already, but not the whole thing, unedited.

It’s certainly different, haha.

That should be all the notable previews. Even though I’ve covered a lot already, if you think I missed anything, feel free to poke me!