I’m convinced that Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave might be the best game in the series. It’s definitely the largest, as I’m over 100 hours in and still finding things on the map that I didn’t know existed. However, just because it’s so packed with content doesn’t mean it’s actually good, right? Well, I’m not entirely convinced, since everything I’ve seen and done so far has been fun and memorable.
So how do I feel about Fortune’s Weave after all I’ve done? Well, it’s much better than Fire Emblem: Engage, which I felt struggled to tell a coherent story, with weak writing and inconsistent villains, while still having one of the best battle systems. I’m not going to say this is a return to form because the series hasn’t necessarily taken any hits in quality. Instead, I found that Engage had a weaker story coming off the highs of its predecessor.
Thankfully, the latest Fire Emblem raises the stakes and delivers the biggest game in the series by a margin; it takes us to another continent from Three Houses, moving players from Fódlan to Dagda. It’s a smart move to return to a world fans responded to, and opening the lands to new adventures allows for much more context. For one, Fódlan never felt like you had true freedom, with so much of the game relying on a schedule. In Dagda, it is such a contrast: once you’re given a task, you’re free to head out and explore however you see fit.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is one of the biggest games in the series
But here I am, in a honeymoon phase with Fortune’s Weave, and yet it’s the game I’ve sunk so much time into over the last month that I still feel the same butterflies I did when I started playing it. Every day, I’d boot up my Switch 2 knowing I’d spend an afternoon battling in a coliseum, head to a remote village for herbs, or head to a port town for a specific item; there’s always a horizon hiding something worth exploring.
Fortune’s Weave is set in the Dagdan Empire. Its capital, Dagsion, hosts the Heroic Games, an event where warriors come together to battle, with the promise that a wish will be granted to the grand victor.
You play as Cai, a boy determined to save his imprisoned father; Dietrich, a swordsman seeking strong enemies; Theodora, a queen trying to fulfill a dream for her home; and Leda, a musician seeking revenge. Together, they are known as the Flame Lords, four individuals who must band together to stop Balor.
However, in a twist, you’ll soon learn that the goddess Fortuna has enlisted Eshmel, the primary protagonist, to travel five years into the past and change the fates of four heroes.
Each of the four Flame Lords has a playable campaign set in and around Dagsion. Each campaign is pretty beefy, too. It took me around 60 hours to reach the end of the first act, and my save is well into the 100-hour mark thanks to the massive map filled with icons to visit and collect.
Cai’s story resonated a lot with me as he and his childhood friends head to Dagsion to find answers about his father’s imprisonment. What unfolds is an adventure across the entire continent, continually leading the ever-growing group into new territory filled with troubles and wonders. If you’ve ever felt thrust into a situation far bigger than you’ve faced, Cai’s story will resonate because he’s thrown into a situation that threatens his family and existence.
Similarly, Dietrich’s story might resonate with you if you’ve ever self-sabotaged in your life. At the outset, Dietrich makes it clear he lives for battle and will do anything to keep fighting. He answers by entering the Heroic Games to fight strong opponents, but it stems from his inability to find anything that satisfies him. I can see myself in his decision to self-sabotage — at one point in my 20s, I was on a path of destruction that would’ve ended badly for me.
Four Stories Run In Parallel
Each hero’s story fills your time with subquests, like finding the right fish for your mount, searching for a specific woman within the city walls, or picking up a carriage wheel axle at backwater locations across the map. Each of the four heroes’ stories is filled with memorable characters, locations, and paths to explore, making each story feel unique before consolidating into a story path that brings everyone together. And for the first time in the series, you don’t need to pick one story path over the other. Through the Pale Raven’s Obelisk, you’re encouraged to swap protagonists whenever you wish.
This lets you hit a key story beat in Dietrich’s storyline and then move to Theodora’s path if you please. Some may find there is a lot of content to digest, and it is; I took around 25 hours to finish one pathway, while another took more and another less. Of course, there is some crossover content between the stories, but you’re essentially seeing a story play out from four perspectives, which mostly build into a second and third act that are pretty great.
The world map is expansive, as I mentioned previously, with many points of interest which might contain items you can search for, animals you can lure, and enemies you can battle. Some locations are only accessible once you’ve gained favour with the goddess, which opens fast travel locations across the map at other temples. You’re also encouraged to explore and check every place on the map, as these spots may open up even more locations which may host vendors, places to feast and recoup, or hints on where to find even more places to seek out.
The Four Flame Lords
The opening chapters for each hero introduce who they are, a bit of their backstory, and their journey to reach the Heroic Games, while later chapters branch off to set the stakes for the rest of the game. Early chapters focus exclusively on the Flame Lords and their friends and family, with the other Lords sometimes crossing over.
You can recruit dozens of characters, but it takes work to add them to your roster. Beyond simply playing the campaign, you need to speak with them and offer a gift to start the recruitment process. Building the party you want may take time, but I promise each interaction pays off once you enter battle.
From there, each character has unique conditions for joining your party. Nydine, for example, must have a Support level of 2 with your controllable character. That means you’ll want to speak with them when in Dagsion, shower them with gifts, have dinner with them and train with them each week to grow their fondness for you. Then you’ll have to raise your Renown level to 5, which you can do by completing quests and praying to the various gods at their temples each week. You then negotiate with the character by doing something for them or providing the items they request, which can range from weapons to other trinkets.
To get really strong, focus on building bonds with your party members. This might mean cooking up a feast while moving across the map. When you cook, you pick ingredients that restore health and magic uses, and these moments also set the stage for scenes that build your party’s camaraderie. You can also bond together over meals at the inn and while training with a partner.
Training is an important part of Fortunes Weave because it lets your party grow and gain access to new Combat Arts and spells based on the class they equip and the training they choose. You can essentially turn any character into any class as long as you invest the time and ensure they meet the standards to pass the test.
Meet Me In The Colosseum
Verdict
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is an ambitious entry for the series, and it delivers a memorable experience that’s hard to put down. Between the expansive Flame Lord campaigns, which feed into the Pale Raven campaign, there is a lot of story content to parse through. Many of the characters you meet are worth recruiting, and getting to know them over a meal is one of the better moments outside of training with them at the colosseum. What Nintendo has done with the latest Fire Emblem is nothing short of marvellous.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: Switch 2
