Fire Emblem Engage previews share a haunting state of character development

We’re less than two weeks from the official release of Fire Emblem Engage, the next installment in the real-time strategy Fire Emblem series. The main character in Engage, Alear, will recruit colorful party members throughout their journey, using their unique talents during all kinds of strategic battles. However, these distinctive party members are turning out to have paper-thin personalities, especially compared to the fully drawn identities of the ones featured in the previous title, Three Houses.

Many of the previews shared today highlight how the characters have something that makes them unique, and that’s what they feature in their side stories. Someone who enjoys cooking will lean on that during their character interactions, which might feel hollow for players eager to learn more about the more intense backstories seen in the last mainline Fire Emblem game.

Related: A new Fire Emblem Engage trailer invites you aboard the Somniel, your floating island home base

It is important to note the previewers were unable to share beyond chapter eight of Fire Emblem Engage. For most Fire Emblem games that can reach chapters 21 to 24, that’s a third of the game. In addition, many of the character stories typically open up a provide a richer picture close to the back half of these games, so take these relatively early game learnings with a grain of salt.

Still, the initial character build-up is crucial for players to become invested in these characters throughout the game. The first few chapters might drop the ball because of how many characters are introduced in these sequences, focusing on beefing up a player’s roster rather than adding too much flavor to each person who joins Alear.

This was a fear many Fire Emblem fans were rumbling about as we drew closer to Engage’s official release date. Fans discussed how the handful of gameplay and story trailers seemed to have a flat black-and-white story, with good guys on one side and bad guys on the other. Based on these early previews, fans’ fear may come true.

That said, the strategic battles and clean combat were overly praised. We’ll have to find out how deep these character backstories go when Fire Emblem Engage releases to the Nintendo Switch on January 20.