One of the biggest surprise announcements from Nintendo’s September 2022 Direct wasFire Emblem Engage. Previous leaks had shown off the game’scontroversial red-and-blue colored protagonist Alear, a Divine Dragon, but they aren’t the focal point for what makesEngagestand out. Characters from previous titles, called “Emblems,” will be summoned to Elyos to aid in combat. Similarities with Intelligent Systems' gacha gameFire Emblem Heroesare not merely skin deep, as some Emblems use alternate costumes and weapons from the mobile title - pointing to room for more fan service with interchangeable outfits.
The reveal trailer includes a stained-glass mural featuring12 Emblem characters inFire Emblem Engage, each coming from a different title: Marth, Celica, Sigurd, Leif, Roy, Lyndis, Eirika, Ike, Micaiah, Lucina, (female) Corrin, and (male) Byleth. Ike and Lucina are the stand-outs among this crowd, each drawing fromHeroesrather than their original adventures. Ike uses his “Brave” design with the Urvan axe, whereas Lucina uses her “Legendary” design with the Thogn bow. Just about every confirmed Emblem has alternate costumes inHeroesand their original titles, so it would make a lot of sense for players to mix-and-match as they please.
RELATED:Fire Emblem Engage’s Fan Service Already Looks Better than Warriors
Balancing Fire Emblem Engage’s Class Representation
It’s unclear whether more Emblem characters appears beyond the aforementioned 12, but if there are it likely won’t be an extensive list.Fire Emblem Engage’s story leans on a finite number of Emblem Ringsthat were used 1,000 years before the events of this game to seal a Fell Dragon. Having a modern-day character fromEngageuse an Emblem Ring will result in “merging appearances,” as well as inheriting weapons, skills, and more according to the game’s official product page. It would be unrealistic to expect compatibility with the thousands of characters featured in prior entries.
With that in mind, it makes sense for Brave Ike and Legendary Lucina to be amongEngage’s list of Ring characters given they fill an axe and bow niche. LikeAlear can bond with Marthand the mage Celine with Celica, archers would be compatible with Lucina. There were other options to fill these slots, such as substituting Lyndis for Hector or Corrin for Takumi, but this makes the decision to useHeroes' alts feel more intentional.
Fire Emblem Engageappears to be the next mainline title in the series by all accounts, not a spin-off as its connection to a mobile gacha game would suggest. It’s a full-fledged $60 release with aDivine Edition box set, and overall the game’s file size is 15 GB - aboveFire Emblem: Three Houses' 11.6 GB requirement listed on Nintendo’s storefront. Looping inHeroescontent potentially means any of its additions to the canon are free game.
RELATED:Fire Emblem Engage Could Share DNA with Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
How Alternate Costumes in Fire Emblem Engage Could Benefit Gameplay
Ike and Lucina have four and five alternate units inHeroes, respectively, with more straightforward armor sets for Brave and Legendary summons balanced by silly holiday outfits like a bunny-themed Spring Lucina and flower-wielding Valentine’s Ike. The same can be said for characters like Lyndis, Marth, and Micaiah, who are all popular enough to have multiple holiday and Brave/Legendary appearances. Looking beyond the confides of this mobile game, player characters like Corrin and Byleth could have alternate gender variants, meanwhile Ike could have different ages based onPath of RadianceandRadiant Dawnala his inclusion inSuper Smash Bros.
Letting the Emblems swap out costumes wouldn’t be farfetched considering the “Somniel” base of operations has an accessories shop where seemingly every modern-day unit can change their outfit. Changing an Emblem’s outfit wouldn’t necessarily have to change their weapon akin to swapping a traditional unit’s class withAwakening’s Second Seal orThree Houses' Certification Exams. However, opening that possibility could makeEngage’s teambuilding much more dynamic.
While the current slate of Emblems appear chosen to balance traditional classes and weapons,Fire EmblemEngagewill undoubtedly have multiple units like archers who will be stuck sharing Lucina’s Emblem Ring. However,Heroes' Brave Lyn uses the Mulagir bow that could be swapped in if the player doesn’t need another swordsman to Engage. Ike could similarly break out Ragnell, or Corrin could shift between her Dragonstone and the legendary Yato depending on what costume is equipped. Whether players want a diverse army or a squad full of swordsmen merged with Lords of yesteryear, alternate costumes could be a great excuse for the gameplay benefits.
Fire Emblem Engagereleases for Nintendo Switch on July 14, 2025.
MORE:Fire Emblem Heroes Spent Five Years Catching Old Games Up to Modern Popularity
