I've spent 10 hours playing Fire Emblem Engage so far, and in that time, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the games that came before it. It's hard not to think back on previous games when one of Engage's strongest features has you wear rings that let you channel the abilities and strengths of Fire Emblem characters past. With the likes of Marth from the original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Lyn from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, and Celica from Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, these familiar faces are a firm reminder of how many fantastic tactical RPGs the series is home to.
As I get stuck into battle with a lineup of classic characters, Engage just intensifies my ongoing desire to revisit past entries on the Switch. Any time a Nintendo Direct gets announced, I find myself creating a summoning circle with my collection of Fire Emblem amiibos in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, I'll at last get the announcement I've been waiting for above all: Fire Emblem Fates and Awakening get the Switch treatment, along with older installments like Sacred Stones and Path of Radiance.
Sure, it seems less likely that we'd see the more recent 3DS games brought back, but I would be absolutely ecstatic to see Nintendo port over or re-release more installments that originally came to the GameCube or GameBoy Advance. Not simply for my own enjoyment, but so younger generations can easily access and experience them on modern hardware.
Legacy
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As much as I'm enjoying Engage for what it is, it hasn't hooked me in quite the same way as Fire Emblem: Three Houses did some five years ago. This isn't so surprising to me given that Three Houses is up there among one of my favorite games of all-time, but it got me thinking about why exactly that is. I love the appearance of legacy characters in Engage and the special abilities they afford you, and it continues to offer up its signature strategy battles. But Three Houses did such a fantastic job at making it feel as though I was having an impact on not just the direction of the story, but the students I was actively helping and instructing.
But even if I don't feel as connected to the story or party in Engage, I'm still having a great time, and I don't think I've thus far not enjoyed a Fire Emblem game. Such a realization not only speaks to the strength of the series overall, but why I'm dying to see more games make a comeback on the Switch, or potentially whatever the much-rumored Switch 2 ends up being. It's not entirely outside of the realms of possibility either, given that Fire Emblem is already available on the virtual Game Boy Advance console on Nintendo Switch Online. Back in 2020, we also saw the release of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light on the Switch to mark its 30th anniversary, making it officially available in the West for the first time. Unfortunately, for some reason, Nintendo decided to make this a limited-time release, a fact which still irks me to this day.
Fire Emblem Awakening and Fates have been firm favorites of mine for a long time now, and perhaps it's wishful thinking to hope they return anytime soon. But from the stellar storytelling to the satisfying strategic challenges, I'd kill to have another excuse to play them all over again in a Switch remaster or port. Awakening is home to some of the series' most memorable characters, while Fates offered distinctive routes that felt like three games in one - not unlike Three Houses. Plus, the bonding system felt all the more impactful in both games because it had different generations of characters, with every pairing on the battlefield potentially leading to marriage and children, which introduced new recruits to the fold.
I can and do revisit both on my 3DS, but as lengthy games that require quite a lot of investment of your time, I would love to be able to boot them up on my Switch and play them on a big screen. As I've gotten older, the ability to have the option to play in TV mode is the real beauty of the Switch console. With the re-release of so many visual novels on the platform, for example, I can play them all on a big screen without having to crane over a smaller handheld for hours on end. The PS Vita was likewise fantastic for playing visual novels and longer RPGs thanks to the PS TV, which let you do much the same thing, and I would love to be able to revisit classic Fire Emblem games from the comfort of a larger screen.
Outside of my own comfort, the older games cost a pretty penny to pick up these days, particularly if you're looking to tuck into any of the GameCube titles like Path of Radiance. And from a game preservation standpoint, the closure of the 3DS store just continues to reiterate the need for Nintendo to give players a way to access its back catalog of games for future generations to be able to enjoy.
At this point, I'd be happy to see any one of the Fire Emblem games added to the Switch. Perhaps the next time a Nintendo Direct rolls around, my summoning circle might actually work and my prayers will at last be answered. But even if it doesn't, I'll keep on getting my amiibos at the ready and crossing my fingers and toes for more Fire Emblem goodness.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is just one of the best Switch games you can play right now.
