Fire Emblem Engagecharacter designer Mika Pikazo has taken to social media to share some of her impressive-looking hero artwork from the upcoming strategy RPG. The next mainline installment in theFire Emblemseries is releasing later this week asthe first big Switch exclusive of 2023.
Prior to her work onFire Emblem Engage, Mika was best known as the illustrator of theApocalypse Witchmanga series, which began publication in late summer of 2019. She also has a long track record ofcreating VTubers for streamersand is credited as the sole designer of Sei Shounagon, a character from hit Japanese visual novel gameFate Grand Order.
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In a series of tweets posted over the last several days, Mika shared nearly a dozen high-definition character illustrations created during the development ofFire Emblem Engage. The impressive-looking artwork is consistent with her background in creating VTubers and manga illustrations, as all the shared designs feature tricolor palettes, abnormally colored hair, and purposefully exaggerated features. That style of illustration is also a hallmark of pretty much everyFire Emblemgame in existence, which was presumably the crucial factor in Intelligent Systems' decision to commission Mika’s talents for the development ofFire Emblem Engage.Click here to see the rest of the artwork.
Looking at its hero roster,Fire Emblem Engageis poised to be one of the most colorful series installments to date. That said,some fans aren’t happy with its protagonist’s designand have previously taken online to voice their displeasure with the game’s art direction, describing Alear’s look as “too much.”
Be that as it may, the franchise is no stranger to eye-catching character designs which started long beforeFire Emblem Engageand arguably date back to the originalFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Lightfrom 1990. Even Alear’s multicolored hair isn’t a series first, asFire Emblem: The Blazing Bladeintroduced green-and-white haired archer Heath all the way back in 2003.Fire Emblem Fatesexperimented with some comparably adventurous designs over a decade later, as best underlined by the pink-blue haired spear wielder Peri.
Art direction aside,Fire Emblem Engageis quite an exciting entry in the long-running strategy RPG series. Not only is the game returning to the rock-paper-scissors balancing mechanics of the classical weapon triangle, but it also promises to deliver a better balance between battles and 3D exploration introduced inThree Houses. Another massive change it’s set to introduce isthe omission of the weapon durability mechanic, which could completely transform the manner wherein most players approach combat.
Fire Emblem Engageis scheduled to hit Nintendo Switch on June 10, 2025.
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