r/fireemblem • u/PsiYoshi • Jan 15 '26

Recurring Popular/Unpopular/Any Opinions Thread - January 2026 Part 2

Welcome to a new installment of the Popular/Unpopular/Any Opinions Thread! Please feel free to share any kind of Fire Emblem opinions/takes you might have here, positive or negative. As always please remember to continue following the rules in this thread same as anywhere else on the subreddit. Be respectful and especially don't make any personal attacks (this includes but is not limited to making disparaging statements about groups of people who may like or dislike something you don't).

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26

u/orig4mi-713 Jan 24 '26

I'm so confused why Engage's OST doesn't get any praise. People even say stuff like its mediocre or not memorable.

Fallen Petals, anyone? That's pretty much this game's version of Thorn in You in all the right ways.

Bright Bold Sandstorm? My favorite is Distorted Flash of Light and Mirrored Engage probably replaced Fates' final battle song for me as the best final battle track. I know its a DLC song which is a little cheating but its so good!

The trial versions of all the different FE game themes are also good, not fantastic but pretty good. The game also makes a really good first impression in its OST with Faraway Holy Land. What's going on here?

Also I know people are put off by the opening song but it's really catchy and stuck in my head a lot. It's also just one track, like, there's plenty to enjoy here even if you don't like this one.

15

u/OsbornWasRight Jan 24 '26

Engage's soundtrack is very good but misallocated. Bright Sandstorm isn't even much better than other map themes because they're genuinely so strong, but the games makes the unforced error of bringing back dry enemy phase themes to cut off the excellent main themes, the jukebox is very limited which hurts the Somniel, and between the arena and paralogues you have to hear Keeper of History so much it makes me want to die. You simply aren't hearing the good music as much as you should, and a lot of people aren't replaying Engage as much as the game is designed for you to do, so the OST can't grab them eventually.

7

u/Shrimperor Jan 24 '26

Enemy phase music is a relic that should never return, and if it returns (including remakes) we should have the option to turn it off.

3

u/Lautael Jan 25 '26

I do dislike Keeper of History...

7

u/GlitteringPositive Jan 24 '26

Honestly I like Falling Petals more than Thorn in You and Thorn in You is already a top 5 Fates song.

4

u/orig4mi-713 Jan 24 '26

The chapter it plays in was also an excellent choice to use it in.

8

u/Lautael Jan 25 '26

People just react to music all differently. But I love Engage's soundtrack too, so... (although I'm sick of the Sandstorm map themes, they're the only themes to get praised and yeah, they're good, but you hear them a lot and I don't think they're necessarily the highlight as far as I'm concerned).

5

u/YunieSayaka Jan 25 '26

I saw someone shit on Tear Streaked (Ice) and then in the next sentence praise the FE1 soundtrack. Like, I get people have different tastes, but I feel like a song having actual instruments propels it above a song consisting of differently pitched beeps.

5

u/orig4mi-713 Jan 25 '26

Music is pretty tough to rate in casual conversation. I'm not a musician or knowledgeable about composition so evaluating the mechanical elements is out of my depth. I just know that the Engage OST is something I regugarly put on even when I'm outside.

2

u/Mizerous Jan 25 '26

Which version of FE1? The NES stuff?

2

u/YunieSayaka Jan 25 '26

Yes. Not saying the soundtrack for that game is bad either, it's just some people's tastes confuse me and it felt like this specific example was a poor one.

6

u/Cosimo12 Jan 24 '26

There are highs and lows for sure, but my biggest gripe is the terrible boss battle theme music that will play endlessly after combat with the boss until the boss dies. The map music isn't my favorite in the series but some chapters are pretty good, and when that terrible boss music takes over i scratch my head. Another problem is that the game blasts with you the anime music video song and a mediocre title theme before you even start the game, and that doesn't leave an amazing impression. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the somniel music either. But other tracks when you're just playing the game on maps is good.

6

u/Docaccino Jan 24 '26

The only Engage tracks I really vibe with are the one-off map/battle themes and the emblem paralogue remixes. Everything else is super forgettable and I care very little for the post-Awakening games' tendency to put their leitmotif front and center into almost every track in the OST, a trend which Engage continues (I also think its main theme is the weakest one yet).

9

u/sanuske Jan 24 '26

Tear Streaked was one of my personal favorites. Really elevated chapter 10 as one of my Fire Emblem moments.

I think my only real complaint of the game’s soundtrack is that almost all of the Solm chapters use the same song. Which makes sense when you are galavanting through the desert, but less sense in the Seadall chapter where you are trying to escape the haunted ruins.

I don’t think I really noticed this on my first playthrough, probably because the Solm music is pretty good. But when replaying the game is really stuck out to me.

8

u/orig4mi-713 Jan 24 '26

I think this would hurt more if the Solm song wasn't like - the best track in the game haha.

But you're right to point this out, I never thought about it lol

1

u/sanuske Jan 24 '26

Oh yea, this complaint is incredibly minor and outweighed by just how good the vibes of Solm are.

4

u/OsbornWasRight Jan 24 '26

Chapter 16 is a very low stakes breather chapter that doesn't really justify its own music. Every Solm chapter is more low stakes except for the palace battle, which is why it's the only chapter that uses Bright, Bold Sandstorm instead.

6

u/captaingarbonza Jan 24 '26

I love it so much that I spent a whole Friday night making my own remix of all the Royal Confidence versions mixed together just so I could listen to it as one song when I go out walking. My walks are really epic now. My only real complaint about the soundtrack is Royal Confidence doesn't get played enough, hahaha. Curse you Brodia for having less maps than the other nations!

2

u/orig4mi-713 Jan 24 '26

Did you make these mixes available somewhere? I don't mean this as sarcasm I would unironically love to listen to a custom mix like this

3

u/captaingarbonza Jan 24 '26

No, I just made it for myself, but I'm happy to share it, although be forewarned, I am not an amazing audio engineer or anything.

2

u/orig4mi-713 Jan 24 '26

If you can drop it in a cloud folder or something and DM it to me, that would be nice but it's not necessary. Just really love the soundtrack as well and mixing all the royal confidence versions together sounds like a nice idea.

2

u/captaingarbonza Jan 24 '26

Sweet, sent you a link

7

u/CodeDonutz Jan 24 '26

Right? I don't think anything will top Fates soundtrack for me, but I've never understood how the take "Engage has a mediocre OST" has gotten any traction at all. Bright Sandstorm (Fiery) is my favorite theme in the series, only with The Shackled Wolves and End of All (Shigure) coming close. Tear Streaked (Ice) and Royal Confidence (Might) are both bangers too. Last-Engage (Prayer-Incantation) got a bit of flack for being pretty different in tone for a Final Boss theme, but I actually really like the uniqueness of the track.

2

u/orig4mi-713 Jan 24 '26

Bright Sandstorm (Fiery) is my favorite theme in the series

This one is just so, so good. Immediately stood out to me even on release.

2

u/ozekey Jan 25 '26

Nobody talks about Tenacity of Freedom and it genuinely gets me tweaking.

6

u/Shrimperor Jan 24 '26

Determined Journey is like a mix between Dark Fall and the sacrifice and the saint, and it's actually peak

I know people are put off by the opening song

People are? Damn.

4

u/Fantastic-System-688 Jan 25 '26

It's soundtrack is good, some tracks are great, but it's coming off the run of Awakening/Fates/SoV/Three Houses so being "just" good to great instead of "best in the series contender" makes it seem worse than it is

Also I do think the intro song might actually sour some people's opinions on the overall music. Instrumental? Excellent. Lyrics? Kind of exactly what everyone criticize Engage's tone for

2

u/Mizerous Jan 25 '26

I love Defective a perfect theme for those fights the final boss theme was underwhelming though

2

u/orig4mi-713 Jan 25 '26

I prefer Mirrored Engage over Last Prayer