too me it is already a classic
And with far better presentation than Three Houses as well. Cool game
I give a 9/10 for the details
Just to clarify, with presentation, I don't mean graphics. I don't care about that stuff. With presentation I mean how the game presents itself, the complete package. The world, music, characters and everything else combined. I want the game to make me care about it.
My main issue was with the story and presentation. As someone who's watched a lot of anime over the past 25 years, the story, characters and the world in Engage were completely standard and forgettable to me. Less than a day after completing it, I can't remember the name of a single new character. The story, the world, they were all like a mid-tier 2004-era anime. They were there, but nothing the game does is meant to make you care about that world. I think there was a harbor town that got destroyed but who cares? The game did nothing to make me care about that town. By the time I got to the final part of the game I just clicked my way through the story cause all the power of friendship stuff just got too much for me to handle. That's not to say it's bad or anything. It's perfectly servicable as it gives a reason for the combat, which is by far the best and most importart of any game. It's just something that can be done better, and in fact, has been done better before. It's a good game to me, just not a classic. And that's perfectly fine. I enjoyed my 51 hours with it and got my money's worth.
Honestly, I think the game would be at its best to someone who has a mild interest in typical anime stuff, but doesn't have a lot of experience with it yet. A lot of the characters would probably be fun if you experienced those tropes for the first time.
I liked Three Houses because it made me care about the world and the story. I loved the little segments in between the chapters that told about the daily life of the commoners and stuff going on with the world. They weren't there for a gameplay reason. They were just there to flesh out and make the world feel alive. While the combat itself wasn't as good as Engage, I can still remember the plot, a lot of characters, the world and the twist at the end. So that's something I hoped Engage would do as well, but didn't succeed at.
Anyways, that's just my two cents. I'm happy other people enjoyed it even more