The release of Fire Emblem Engage marks the 17th entry to the series overall. With a game that has returning characters, you'd expect there to be plenty of references and homages to past games.
With so much history to draw from, Engage is full of big and small allusions that any fan will immediately recognize while playing through. It's nice to see how far the series has come, especially for those who have been fans of Fire Emblem throughout the years.
9 Consistency With Voice Actors
For those of you who have played Fire Emblem Heroes, Intelligent System's mobile gacha game, you'll have noticed that through the years, certain main Lords have slowly built up a continuity with their voice actors, which is great to hear.
Yuri Lowenthal was the English voice of Marth in Super Smash Bros and has been the English voice behind every iteration of Marth in the series since. With all the main Lords who have been given voices for the first time in Engage, like Sigurd and Eirika, the voice actors from Heroes have reprised their roles. A nice detail for fans, and for the actors.
8 Remixed Medley From Each Game Plays When An Emblem Is Summoned
Every time you are given a new Emblem Ring in Engage, you'll see an animated cutscene play out as the hero appears. While this happens, some music will play briefly in the background.
If you've spent any amount of time in Fire Emblem games, you'll immediately recognize the tracks playing are remixed versions of a specific song or medley from the respective game. For instance, in the cutscene where Emblem Byleth is summoned, a remix of The Apex of the World plays. A lovely nod to the past games.
7 Sigurd References Seliph In An Optional Dialogue
The line of dialogue in question isn't voiced and is simply a throwaway comment he makes when you speak to him in Somniel if he happens to be there. It occurs very early in the game after you fight off the enemies storming the Ring Chamber and an event involving Alear's mother, Lumera.
If you know about the Genealogy of the Holy War game, you'll know what happens to Sigurd and how this changes his relationship with his son Seliph. He talks about his fear as a parent leaving their child behind to Alear in a convo, inadvertently talking about Seliph. It's pretty awesome that he talks about what was a very real fear of his during the Genealogy in Engage, and a nice nod to one of the more obscure Fire Emblem games.
6 Tempest Trials Is An Homage To Fire Emblem Heroes
For better or worse, Fire Emblem Heroes is an extremely popular mobile game. It's a free-to-play gacha game, but it combines all of the worlds and characters of Fire Emblem in one place and blends it all together to make a fine, Fire Emblem-y paste.
Tempest Trials is one of the recurring events in Heroes that sees you challenge multiple maps with the same characters. This is entirely the inspiration behind the Tempest Trials in Engage and one of the first times Intelligent Systems has implemented aspects of the mobile game into a mainline entry.
5 Celica Knows About Marth In Her World
This is another conversation that happens in Somniel and is entirely optional if you happen to talk to Celica. Celica will mention that she knows of Marth, as their homelands are canonically close to each other. They're also in the same Fire Emblem universe.
This is a reference to the fact that Valentia - as it was called in Fire Emblem Echoes, a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden - is just across the sea from Archanea. You'll know Archanea as Marth's home, and you get to visit the continent briefly in Echoes as well as recruit the White Wings who once traveled with Marth. It makes sense Celica knows this, so it's another little nod to the continuity.
4 Lucina Recognizes Anna In A Bond Conversation
Anna is a recurring character in Fire Emblem, disconnected from game to game, creating a new character using her name each time. It's the same as Biggs and Wedge from Final Fantasy or Patches from Armored Core.
In what could be the first time, a character has met another version of Anna in a different Fire Emblem world. In a bond conversation between Anna and Lucina, Lucina mistakes her for Anna from Awakening and asks what she's doing there in this world.
3 Emblem Battle Paralogues Take Place In Familiar Maps
With a couple of exceptions, the Paralogues you'll tackle in Fire Emblem Engage are old maps from previous games in the series. The first two you do are all unique to Engage, introducing you to Jean and Anna respectively. Once you reach a certain part of the story, you'll unlock Lucina's Emblem ring opening a new Paralogue on the map.
These Emblem-specific Paralogues are tied to each of the Emblems and the game they come from. Starting with Lucina, you'll notice that it's the Ferrox Arena from Awakening, where Chrom and Lucina duel. Another is the Tomb of Seiros from Three Houses, where significant story beats occur in that game.
2 Some Emblem Weapons Use Their Designs From Respective Games
If you've been paying attention to your Emblem characters, you'll have noticed that some of their weapons share the names of ones you'll find in Engage. These Emblem-specific weapons, like Roy's Lancereaver, use the same model based on its pixel form in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
While this isn't true for all Emblem weapons, this is the case for Marth and Eirika's Rapiers as well. It's not from the same game as Lyn, but her Parthia uses the design first seen in Fire Emblem: Echoes. Another delightful reference to Fire Emblem's storied history.
1 You Can Hear The Fire Emblem Main Theme In The Somniel Track
Spending time in Somniel is relaxing, to say the least. It's your base of operations in Engage, and it serves as the hub away from the main world map. For those of you who've played Fire Emblem Fates, this is a much more extensive version of the My Base system. It's also much smaller than Garreg Mach Monastery in Three Houses.
The best thing about Somniel, however, is the music that plays while you're wandering around. You'll notice there's a small and delicate medley played during it using the leitmotif of the Fire Emblem Main Theme track. Next time you're there, listen out for it.