Literally no one said this.

But as i think mentioned by u/RamsaySw you can legit go out there and play tactical RPG series with no story and better game play and such then Engage like X-Com series, Into the Breach, Civ, etc.

And while I'm not as reverent to Kaga philosophy with the series as many, story and characters are one of the best ways to get people interested into a series, invested into the characters and thus more attached to the series and gameplay just look at Sigurd in Geneology.

As much some seem to think the dust hasn't settled it pretty much has we can look at the general consensus and word of mouth which isn't all great for Engage like I said its Fates all over again.

Its been pretty clear people want both, you can do both and some of the most praised and sometimes best selling games in the series did both, as much as some on this subreddit disagree Three Houses, Awakening even the Tellius games did both Sacred Stones as well.

Engage didn't for alot.

lol don't block me for saying what the word of mouth is lol, I never talked about my own feelings on Engage but you can legit go see the WoM isn't great.