Review — Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave

I still remember picking up Fire Emblem: Awakening for the Nintendo 3DS nearly 15 years ago. While I was pulled in by the art style, characters, and music, I stayed for the addicting gameplay. I have been a diehard Fire Emblem fan ever since, playing new and older Fire Emblem games alike. Though Awakening saved the franchise from biting the dust, the series remained niche in comparison to Nintendo’s other IPs. At least, until the bombshell that was Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the original Nintendo Switch. Fire Emblem: Three Houses introduced a plethora of new mechanics that impressively made the game both more accessible to newcomers and more intriguing for long-time fans. I could gush about Three Houses for hours; the game was truly lightning in a bottle. But will lightning strike twice? Let’s dive into Three Houses’ official follow-up, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave.

Content

Violence and Disturbing Content

While no blood or gore is visible, disturbing topics such as war and genocide are prominent in this game. 

Language

Language such as d*mn, h*ll, and b*st*rd are used.   

Sexual Content

Nothing explicit. Some characters wear revealing clothing. 

Drug/Alcohol Use

Drugs are not present in this game, but alcohol and other fermented drinks can be purchased and gifted to units. Some units are frequent drinkers and may appear drunk in support conversations.

Spiritual Content

Gods are worshipped in this world, and are physically present in Dagda where this takes place. You can serve at the gods’ temples to receive blessings which can aid in battle. There is an underworld that serves as an antagonistic force. The main protagonist has angelic aesthetics.

Review

If I had to describe Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave in one word, that word would be massive. Nearly every aspect of this game is grand, including the lore, gameplay, music, and game length. To provide some transparency, my husband and I played this game together, splitting the four paths into two for each of us to play. As a fellow longtime Fire Emblem fan, his thoughts on the game have influenced my review. I have broken down my review into three main sections, each representing what I prioritize in Fire Emblem.  

Gameplay

While classic Fire Emblem gameplay is primarily maps and tactical battles, recent games in the series have provided players with an “in-between” space for downtime. Three Houses had the monastery, Engage had the Somniel, and Fates featured a castle in a pocket dimension. What made Three Houses’ monastery unique was that it became part of the main gameplay loop. Players had time in the form of an in-game month to teach units, boost supports, and stock up on equipment. Fortune’s Weave escalates this idea. Players are given a number of turns before the main battle to utilize what Dagsion and the greater Dagda has to offer. Exploring Dagda to collect resources and complete quests is an integral part of these phases. There are even dungeons reminiscent of those in Shadows of Valentia that feature their own combat system (which is essentially simplified turn-based combat – not my thing, I skipped it whenever I could). 

This downtime takes up a majority of the gameplay loop. There is of course the option to skip through the turns and get onto the next battle, but you would be missing out on recruiting, renown, and many other advantages that the game expects you to utilize. I could not help but be reminded of Persona during these phases. I immediately felt pressure to use my time efficiently and optimally. That calendar-style gameplay can be addicting in its own way, but this has never been an expectation in other Fire Emblem games (aside from Three Houses to a lesser degree). The tedium of these sections also increases at a certain point in the story. While fun in the beginning, this part of the gameplay loop eventually began to feel like a chore to me.  

Thankfully, Fortune’s Weave excels at its strategic combat. I had fun trying to overcome the puzzles of each map. There are some chapter battles that are reused among different paths, but generally each map is unique and fairly memorable. Some of my personal favorite maps were from paralogue quests. These are optional, but I highly recommend going out of your way to do them. Another thing to note is that the time rewind mechanic introduced in Three Houses is back. This is a great feature to have, especially given that the combat percentages in Fortune’s Weave feel… off. My husband might just have the worst luck in the world, but he was often missing 60%-80% hits whilst taking 8% hits. I also found myself relying far more on raw strength and defense rather than avoidance and crit rates (with the exception of Dietrich, whose 20% crit rates are actually 90% in practice). Is this just terrible luck or an underlying change in mechanics? Either way, the time rewind system is there to help. 

My biggest complaint regarding Fortune’s Weave’s gameplay (and possibly the game overall) is the lack of multiple save files. There is one save file for the entire game – this includes all routes and playthroughs. The game also autosaves over the single file regularly and without consent. This is practically unheard of for a JRPG. I mentioned earlier that the downtime phases in Dagsion were reminiscent of Persona… the tight time optimization in those games work because players can reload different save files. In Fortune’s Weave, there were instances in which I realized that I had mismanaged my time and wanted to reload, but because of autosaving and the lack of other save files, I was stuck with my poor choices. Now, this does not mean that the game provides no options to go back; any chapter can be restarted from the beginning. However, that is not a comforting thought after missing something five turns from the end of a 76-turn chapter. This may not be an issue for everyone, but fellow save-scummers beware!

Story

The story of Fortune’s Weave starts small, focusing on the Heroic Games. Each lord has their own reasons to participate in the tournament, and I had no trouble getting invested in each path. There were also some interweaving moments (pun intended) between differing paths which I enjoyed. I would highly recommend playing each lord’s Part 1. Not only will it make the future parts easier, but each path also provides different context for the overarching plot. The escalating stakes are also reflected through both the narrative and gameplay. I found the tone and content quite grim in comparison to most Fire Emblem entries, so please be mindful of that. Finally, Fortune’s Weave generally operates with the assumption that the player has already played Three Houses. Half of the fun of the game for me has come from the lore drops and implications that build on Three Houses.

Characters

There is a lot to love about the characters of Fortune’s Weave. First of all, the character designs are some of my favorite in the entire series. I adore the personality exuding from each character’s look, and appreciate the diversity in ages, skin tone, and aesthetics. The culture of Dagda and its differences from Fodlan are well expressed through these character designs, making the world itself feel more alive. The voice acting all across the board is also impeccable! 

Overall, the lords are some of my favorites in Fire Emblem. Their motivations hooked me immediately. I became not only invested in their goals, but actively cared for their well-being. These are not simple lords like Marth or Alear, who seek to save the world out of the goodness of their hearts – these lords have their own ambitions that drive them, and sometimes those ambitions drive them down dark paths. Their personalities are also charming and wholly unique from each other. Each lord also comes with a couple of other characters (usually friends or retainers) who help them along the way. All of these characters are layered and experience their own development. Most of the support conversations between these main characters are lovely and thoughtfully written. Though Eshmel arguably has even less personality than Three Houses’ Byleth, I never found it an issue given their role in the game. 

Recruitable units on the other hand are hit-and-miss when it comes to support availability. Optional recruits with sparse conversations have existed in other Fire Emblem entries, but the recruits in Fortune’s Weave don’t really feel optional. Let me explain with a personal example. 

The Foresight system will let players gain insight on their next main fight, so I had consulted this often. Before one fight fairly early on in Part 1, it suggested that I bring archers to face the upcoming flier-heavy map. I did not have any archers on my team yet, so naturally I intended to recruit an archer. Given that players can only recruit according to renown levels, I needed to find an archer that I actually had the means to recruit. I found Kiroc and recruited him. I used him on the next map, and he was helpful enough, but then I realized that he only has one C support conversation. One. In the entire game. So now I have a unit that feels disconnected from my team and hardly feels like a real character at all in practice. This happened to me again when I recruited Nuzzuo. To compare, even units I chose not to utilize in previous entries still felt like they were on my team because they were designed to be on my team and usually had support conversations to match. In Fortune’s Weave, even the characters I would think would be designed to be with certain lords (recruits like Yang Jie or Guzran who are free or cheap to recruit) lack the support conversations to thematically justify them being on the team. There are so many missed opportunities, like characters with shared backstories or family members who cannot get an A rank, or worse, lack even a single support rank. With all of the mechanics added to and expanded on in Fortune’s Weave, is it baffling to me that the support system for recruitable units was not one of them.

Conclusion

At the time of writing this review, I have yet to beat Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. But my husband and I’s combined playtime already surpasses 100 hours. It is hard to emphasize just how much there is to this game. And this is without considering the upcoming expansion DLC! The proverbial lobster being too buttery should not be a complaint. And truly, I imagine the grandness of Fortune’s Weave will be an attractive point to many players. But as for me, it feels like the effort put into this game was slightly misplaced. For example, I did not find the new map exploration or dungeons particularly fun. Instead of those features, I would rather they had put more effort into the support system, fleshing out the recruitable characters more. To me, the support system is so integral to Fire Emblem that it is a shame to see its wasted potential, and it feels like the developers may have prioritized adding new features over enhancing series staples. Regardless, this game is excellent. It is undoubtedly one of the best RPGs on the Switch 2 and a must-have for Three Houses fans. I just wish some of the fat was cut to allow a more seamless Fire Emblem experience.