Hey, why do you like Engage, its story and its characters so much? I completely agree with your take on Fates being misunderstood (in fact, it's why my gay ass came here), but Engage... not so much lol. 😅 I think it's not a good story at all, so given you put so much on media analysis as a whole, I'm kinda surprised you hold the game in high regard.
I'm not saying you're wrong, obviously, everyone's entitled to your own opinions. In fact, can you please explain why you like it so much? I'm interested to hear your take.
If I can sum it up as simply as possible, it's because it knows what it is and what it wants to be. It wants to be fun, flashy, distinct. Most of all it wants to be a game that celebrates the series it's in.
So from a foundational level, if a story is very clearly written with a clear goal and identity, then IMO it becomes easier and more enjoyable to read and pick at.
A lot of people think the story is one note and tropey, but I counter that with the belief that it's actually really focused. It sets up the conflict and the drama immediately: Sombron is back, you gotta get strong enough to face him and most of all, you got to collect the macguffin rings to get even more power. Along the way you get more rings, get arrogant and reckless because of more power, end up losing a lot because of that attitude, you pick yourself back up again and eventually defeat the major evil after learning from your mistakes.
It's the classic hero's journey, sleek and clean. And because of that simple structure, the inner details and themes then become more apparent and eye-catching.
The simple structure becomes a backdrop for a story about self-discovery and identity, found family, atonement and growth. Alear starts from nothing; knowing nothing and struggling to adjust to the idea of being a person of great importance. They do what they do out of a promise to Lumera, but don't feel as if they embody the idea of what a Divine Dragon should be at multiple steps of their journey.
But that's just it! It's not the title or the lineage alone that makes them divine; hell, the mere fact that they can summon Emblems without them being corrupted is itself just evidence to what they already bring to the world: love, kindness, courage and guidance.
It's why so little time is spent on the reveal of their origins, because at that point, it doesn't matter that they're Sombron's child. They spent 20+ chapters being the Divine Dragon that everyone hoped they would be, because they were just being themselves.
Similarly, take the other main characters for example. Alfred is unabashedly himself, gregarious and kind, and it's symbolic of how Firene as a country is direct and authentic, hence why Brodia and Solm can have peaceful relations with it. Timerra is fun loving and spirited, but also level headed and grounded, symbolizing how Solm is a country that puts up good relations but will always be prepared to take care of itself without relying on anyone else. Alfred and Timerra represent examples of staying true to themselves and how that leads to success, prosperity and good fortune.
Diamant and Ivy, on the other hand, represent how locking parts of yourself away is bad in the long run. Despite disagreeing with his country's militaristic nature, Diamant goes along with it at first anyway, because that's what his dad expects and that's what he knows. He believes that's what he needs to do to be king, and the lesson learned is that he was mistaken; that he should have tried harder to raise his objections to his dad's impulses, and that he lost Morion because he wasn't true to himself.
Ivy is the same. By secluding herself away from the rest of the aristocracy, she became accustomed to being distant from the things happening within, including Hyacinth's descent into fanatacism. By the time she realized how far he fell, it was too late, and she believed she had to simply follow his orders in an attempt to get things back to how they were. Yet again, that was a mistake; she lost her father by not being decisive, by not making her allegiances clearer, sooner. Losing her father and losing Elusia were the consequences of that.
Hell, even Veyle herself is an example of this! By trying to atone early on in the story by taking out the Corrupted and do everything herself, she gets exhausted, making her actual personality prime to be replaced by her warped one. By not reaching out, by denying her nature and her being, by closing herself off, she ended up inadvertently hurting more people in the long run than she would have had she opened up earlier on.
It all loops back to identity and discovery; learning about oneself and your strengths and weaknesses, making bonds with people who support you because of you, not just because of who you are and where you came from, but because of who you choose to be. That messaging extends to the younger royals and their various complexes towards their siblings; it extends to the stewards and retainers; it extends to characters like Yunaka and Seadall. It even extends to the villains! Zephia wanted to have a family and became the kind of person she thought she needed to be to get one; Griss as well, lived as he wanted. Marni turned around on her allegiances because she wanted to. Sombron became a vile tyrant because he thought he needed ultimate power to see the Zero Emblem again. They all died because the harm you inflict is not easily erased by the pain or desires that you harbor.
Yet even still, the desire is there. The drive to be the person you wish to be is there.
And to cap it off, it's why the Emblems exist: to guide people to their respective pinnacles. When they're corrupted, their service is compulsory; they're no longer guides or beings of wisdom, they're tools of destruction. Because power and knowledge can only lead to peace and prosperity in the hands of those who wish to hear the words wisdom and kindness behind them. Alear embodies what a Divine Dragon should be by being themselves, and eventually becomes an Emblem because they wish to do for others what the Emblems did for them. Serve as a guide and someone to look to for inspiration and reassurance towards becoming who they wish to be.
Overall, it's messaging like that-stuff that's so clear and thought through-that really makes Engage great for me. Any problems I can think of (like the mechanics behind the time crystal or even the time travel near the end of the game, or cutscene pacing) are so very miniscule to how well crafted I think the story structure and themes of the game are.
Thanks for the ask!
