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Fire: Emblem Engage is the seventeenth installment of the Fire Emblem franchise. It was announced in September 2022 and then released worldwide on the Nintendo Switch on January 20, 2023. It's developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems, with character designs by Mika Pikazo (Fate Grand Order, plus several light novels like Apocalypse Witch: Houshoku Jidai no (Saikyou) tachi e and the avatars for the Virtual Youtubers Haekos Baelz and Kaguya Luna).
One thousand years ago, the land of Elyos was besieged by the Fell Dragon Sombron. Thanks to a group of powerful warriors utilizing the powers of heroes of other worlds, Sombron was sealed away. After all of this, Elyos enjoyed a millennium of peace throughout its five realms (Firene, Brodia, Elusia, Solm, and Lythos); additionally, it developed connections with other worlds (technically, the previous FE titles) through the Emblems, special rings representing the spirits of heroes and heroines like Marth, Celica, Sigurd, Leif, Roy, Lyndis, etc. As time passed, however, the seal holding back the Fell Dragon has begun to weaken. . .
The Player Character is Alear, a Divine Dragon with the (non-customizable) looks of a human young man or woman. He or she awakens from a thousand-year slumber in Lythos and becomes a central figure in combating the looming threat of forces attempting to free Sombron and take over Elyos itself. In order to accomplish this goal, Alear must seek out the twelve Emblem Rings, some of which are held by forces loyal to the Fell Dragon; in the mean time, they must also try dealing with the loss of their memories during their "nap", seeing how the world has changed as they slept, and interact with the people they meet as they travel through Elyos to keep it safe from Sombron. . .
- Alas, Poor Villain: Marni, and her death is not easily forgotten. Future confrontations with Zephia have Mauvier and Veyle throwing it back in her face that she killed Marni, and the DLC expands on her loss in the Mauvier/Madeline and Veyle/Madeline supports.
- Age Lift: Inverted - the Annas are normally young adults, but this one is a pre-teen. No wonder her supports with Alear were made more platonic.
- Amnesiac Hero: Alear has slept for so long s/he ends up as this when s/he awakens.
- Anime Hair: Just... look at Alear's half-red, half-blue hair.
- Cliché Storm: And unabashedly so.
- Bowdlerise: The English localization turned Louis's girl-watching habit into people-watching, presumably to make him sound less perverted...but it ended up implying he's openly bisexual. Especially in his supports with Rosado.
- Dark Magical Girl: Veyle, holy crap.
- Additionally, Alear him/herself can be seen as having been one in the past. Before Queen Lumera showing them kindness and adopted them
- Denser and Wackier - Lighter and Softer: Three Houses and Three Hopes were games with quite the deep world building and serious themes. Engage, on the other hand, is quite more light-hearted. That said, it also has its share of drama bombs, particularly in the second half.
- Deadly Distant Finale: Alfred if Alear doesn't S rank him, and Lindon due to old age. Most notably, the latter is the only case where S ranking Alear does not extend his life.
- Rafal's solo ending states that his skeleton was found centuries later, after he sacrificed himself to save the world
- While Mauvier's solo ending deliberately avoids mentioning death, it strongly implies this is the reason for his "disappearance".
- Downloadable Content: There will be four DLC waves
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Rosado, Rosado, Rosado... oh, and did anyone say Rosado?!
- Floating Continent: Somniel, an island that becomes Alear and their allies' headquarters a la Garreg Mach.
- Fusion Dance - Summon Magic: How the Ring of Power's magic works, more or less.
- Guilt Based Gaming: Of the shunning variety. If you bench any units, they'll comment on it during post-battle explorations and give you a few Bond Fragments to drive the point home.
- Players will give Alfred the Pact Ring to rescue him from an early death, even believing he deserves it most for this reason.
- Heel Face Door Slam: Poor, poor Marni...
- Heroic BSOD:
- Poor Veyle has more than one, particularly when she discovers what her evil side has been doing under the powerful control of Zephia's magic.
- Just narrowly averted with Alear when they're told (rather mockingly) by Griss that they're actually the Fell Dragon's child, and therefore a fraud. However, Emblem Sigurd is able to keep them from completely falling apart by explaining that while Alear is Sombron's child, they're still the true Divine Dragon because a) the Emblems under their control have free will and b) Lumera infused them with her own power and blood to save their life.
- Implied Love Interest: Mostly averted, as only Alear has paired endings and the game never tries to steer the player towards any Pact Ring partner over another. However, three characters come close:
- Prince Alfred of Firene visited Alear constantly when they were in their thousand-year sleep, Alear calls him "the first friend they made" upon waking up, and the two have a lot of screen time together. Plus, giving Alfred the Pact Ring grants him a long life, compared to his solo ending where he dies young.
- Princess Ivy of Elusia has been worshipping the Divine Dragon for years, and gets incredibly anxious when meeting Alear in the flesh. She outright tells them she loves them - granted, she explains it's as a worshipper loves a deity, but some of her dialogue otherwise suggests she has a romantic crush on them.
- Lady Nel from the Fell Xenologue DLC was canonically in love with Alear's alternate Elyos counterpart, and goes through an arc of learning to care for the main world's Alear for who they are rather than as a shadow of their other self.
- Mysterious Waif: Veyle. Actually, Alear's long-lost sister.
- Our Hero Is Dead: Alear, twice. First taking a fatal blow protecting Veyle, then fading away after being revived as a Corrupted and using all their energy to re-awaken the Emblem Rings. It takes a literal miracle to revive them.
- Player Character: Alear. The level of Character Customization, however, is rather low: not unlike Byleth or Shez, one can choose their gender, birthday, and name but not much more. The player can dress them in different outfits on the Somniel, though.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Sommie
- Ring of Power: The Emblems themselves, bound to the Spirits of powerful warriors.
- Smug Snake: Downplayed with Zephia. While she is incredibly smug and loves her evil monologuing, she's actually quite dangerous.
- Theme Naming: The name patterns in some of the Kingdoms:
- Edible Theme Naming: The Queedom of Solm
- Floral Theme Naming: The Kingdom of Elusia
- Rock Theme Naming: The Kingdom of Brodia
- In a non-Kingdom example, the Four Hounds are named after colors.
- Turn-Based Strategy: Like near all the FE titles before them.
- Visual Pun: The continent itself is shaped like... a ring. Really.