Do you need to play Fire Emblem: Three Houses before playing Fire Emblem Engage

Now that Fire Emblem Engage is available, the question of whether or not you really need to first play Fire Emblem: Three Houses before tackling Alear’s adventure on the Nintendo Switch, has come up.

There are some similarities and differences between these two titles. However, Fire Emblem Engage is not a sequel to Fire Emblem: Three Houses in any fashion. While many of the games in this franchise take place in the same universe, they have their own individual storylines in most cases.

It is to the player’s benefit if they have played some of the previous entries to understand who the Emblem summon characters are, but is it required? Let's find out.

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Should you tackle Fire Emblem Engage after Fire Emblem: Three Houses?

One of the great things about the Fire Emblem universe is that while they share a common ancestry, storylines, and features, they can often be played out of order. Fire Emblem: Three Houses tried something new, adding deeper social activities to the franchise. Players had to take part in a Persona-style time management system.

You had to teach classes, and keep up with the growth and education of your charges while also participating in heated, tactical battles. Most of that has been removed in Fire Emblem Engage. There is still a social aspect to the game, but it certainly takes a backseat to the improved tactical combat of this latest game.

This isn’t to say Fire Emblem: Three Houses was a poor entry in the franchise, because it’s frankly, one of the greatest. But it did several things differently from its predecessors. Which faction you started with mattered - each had its own group of characters with unique personalities, strengths, and weaknesses.

That went against the series’ roots, and Fire Emblem Engage returned to the way things were. You start with one character and a few allies and slowly build up your force as the game progresses.

Fire Emblem Engage’s map will also feel more familiar to fans of previous games. You’ll wander the map to complete whatever awaits in your chapter, besides tackling the occasional Paralogue (side mission).

In addition, the Weapon Triangle is back. A feature of older Fire Emblem games, this is a triangle that denotes which weapons are useful against others. Swords are strong versus axes, which are superior to lances in combat, and so on.

This is doubly useful when considering the new Break system. You can break the stance of your opponent with the right weapon equipped. That way, the enemy cannot strike back in battle, which could throw off someone who spent dozens of hours in Fire Emblem: Three Houses first.

So do you need to play Fire Emblem: Three Houses before you play Fire Emblem Engage? Absolutely not. You can play Engage having played none of the previous games, though again, it helps.

Fire Emblem Engage feels more like the earlier games in the series, but it does not fall short of breaking away from tradition either. For example, you can only have one S-Rank partnership in the game, which is only available to the protagonist. However, the focus is primarily on combat and gameplay.

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While you don’t need to play Fire Emblem: Three Houses first, you should play the game at some point. If you’re a fan of Persona and Fire Emblem, it will be worth your time. It offers hundreds of hours of gameplay across the three main factions and one alternate route for each of those groups.