Fire Emblem Engage is the most recent addition to the Fire Emblem franchise, being released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on January 20, 2023. This game has been going strong so far, with already two expansion passes released and more to come to keep fans entertained.
As with most Fire Emblem games, the highlights of the game are the battles and maps, but Fire Emblem Engage has a great area for the players to rest in and do activities in between battles – the Somniel. The Somniel is a floating island where the main character, Alear, slumbered for 1000 years and is now using it as a base for their army. It is similar to My Castle and Garreg Mach from previous Fire Emblem games, Fates and Three Houses, but better in many ways.
6 Ordering a Meal
Similar to Three Houses, the player in Engage is capable of inviting characters to eat a meal with. In Three Houses, it is a random NPC that does the cooking. However, in Engage, it is one of the player's units that handles this.
This activity allows the player to boost the stats of units depending on the dish cooked. This usually lasts until the end of the next battle and can be a tide changer. Another advantage players receive from this activity is bond growth between the chosen characters to eat with, this can help the player access Support Conversations quicker.
5 Training Sigil
The Training Sigil is undoubtedly one of the most useful places to head to in the Somniel. After each battle, the player gets 3 standard trainings and unlimited Emblem Trainings that cost bond fragments. The standard one helps the player level up units through training battles against other random units. This can help to push under-leveled units.
The Emblem Training makes inheriting skills and bonding with Emblems extremely easy. It makes going from level 1 bond to level 20 bond quite simple. Otherwise, it takes a lot of time to bond with Emblems and gain new skills normally.
4 Stable
After adopting animals from across the continent of Elyos, the game gives the players an option to display and profit from their finds. The game gives countless options for animals to adopt, from small rabbits to huge camels from Solm. Each animal species drops a special item to collect for the player during their visit to the Somniel.
The game allows the player to pick up to 5 animals to place outside the stable, and with that, the player can collect the dropped earnings after each battle, which can range from something like silver from dogs, to berries from rabbits. Each player should personalize their stable based on their needs or based on what animals they like most.
3 Markets To Stock Up
While the player is able to buy from the armory and item shops anywhere, the Somniel holds more shops that the players have access to. They provide a wider variety of items to buy. In the main area of the Somniel, the player has access to 4 shops – the armory, the item shop, the Smithy, and the Boutique.
The Armory is where players can buy weapons and staffs for battle, while the Item Shop is where players can find items such as vulneraries and torches. The Smithy allows players to enhance already owned weapons and the Boutique is a place to buy clothes for the units. An additional shop called the Flea Market is available to buy gifts for units.
2 The Tower Of Trials
The Tower of Trials is the perfect spot to overcome challenges and defeat many maps. This place has three options - Tempest Trial, Relay Trials, and Outrealm Trials. At the start of the Tempest Trials, it’s possible to adjust the difficulty of battles. After this, the player will be thrown into multiple consecutive battles. This usually grants the player augment crystals.
During Relay Trials, the player teams up with another player online. Doing so, the players will take turns playing to defeat the map. And finally, the Outrealm Trial is reminiscent of the online battles in Fire Emblem Fates, both allow the player to play against other players online.
1 Central Pedestal
The Central Pedestal is available in the Ring Chamber on the Somniel. This showcases all the Rings and Bracelets that are in the player’s possession and allows the player to interact with them through activities. The main use of this pedestal is to inherit skills from Emblem Rings and Bracelets after developing a certain bond level with them.
Another interesting thing to do there is to create Bond Rings – rings from the worlds of the 12 Emblem Rings with different Heroes in them. They can provide a boost to units, depending on the ring equipped. In this chamber, it’s also possible to enhance Engage Weapons through the use of Augment Crystals. To help advance the bond between the unit and the Emblem, it’s also possible to let units clean the rings.