Yeah, it’s still basically chess.Credit: Nintendo
The Nintendo Switch 2 has had a pretty bangin’ first 14 months or so by new-console standards, but one common refrain I hear is that it’s lacking a big, meaty exclusive RPG. Well, I think we have one now.
To be specific, I’ve gotten to play a medically and legally inadvisable amount of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave ahead of its Sept. 17 release date. I’m only permitted to talk about the early portions of the new turn-based strategy RPG from longtime series developer Intelligent Systems, but based on those opening hours alone, it’s clear that Fortune’s Weave is exactly the game people are asking for when they demand something they can sink their teeth into for dozens (yes, plural) of hours.
Frankly, though, I think my personal interests are more important than those of random strangers who yell about video games on the internet. From where I stand, Fortune’s Weave is the true successor to 2019’s fantastic Fire Emblem: Three Houses. There were things to like about 2023’s Fire Emblem Engage, but it felt like such a hollow storytelling experience in comparison to both Three Houses and what I’ve played so far of Fortune’s Weave.
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There are four protagonists, but let’s be real. Leda is the coolest.
Hell yes, dude.Credit: Nintendo
A recent Nintendo Direct livestream dedicated solely to Fortune’s Weave revealed that there’s a little more to it than meets the eye narratively, but for the sake of this preview, this is a game about four very different people from diverse backgrounds competing in a big combat tournament. The winner of the tournament gets to have one wish granted by the Divine Sovereign, a head of state who also seems to be a literal god.
The tournament takes place in a huge arena in the resplendent city of Dagsion, capital of the enormous Dagdan Empire. It doesn’t take long for Fortune’s Weave‘s fantasy setting to stand out, thanks to a melting pot of real-world inspirations, including Persia, Rome, and Spain. One thing that helps a lot in that regard is that Fortune’s Weave extensive cast of characters, including some of its protagonists, features significantly more people of color than most anime-style fantasy RPGs that I’ve played in recent years. There’s just a litany of incredibly cool-looking people in this game.
Anyway, let’s talk about the heroes of the story. Cai is a 15-year-old boy from a village near Dagsion who is fighting to get his father out of prison. Dietrich is a mildly off-putting creep with a very cool sword and a thirst for increasingly powerful opponents in combat. Theodora is the queen of Saramis, a semi-autonomous kingdom that is nonetheless subservient to, and seemingly philosophically at odds with, the Dagdan Empire.
I’m a big fan of Buccar, one of Leda’s homies.Credit: Nintendo
All of them are cool and compelling protagonists, but the fourth and final one, Leda, stole my heart first. She’s a musician and dancer on a bloody quest for revenge after her hometown was sacked and her father was killed. Leda travels around Dagda killing everyone on a special list, and she then uses the blood of her victims to cross their own name off the list. She also plays a magical vihuela that seems set to be a big part of her story arc.
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In case it wasn’t clear from the previous paragraph, Leda is so damn cool, man. Just from the early chapters of her story, you can tell she’s struggling to reconcile her normal human warmth and kindness with the cold, laser-focused revenge she seeks every second of every day. Those around her care for her, but are also concerned that this path she’s walking will only lead to ruin, a notion of which she is not convinced.
Also, very crucially: You can now save and suspend one character’s campaign to jump into another’s at any time, if you wish. Three Houses also had multiple story branches, but playing through them all was much more annoying than it is here. I love this feature a lot.
Half the fun of Fortune’s Weave is outside the tactics battles
You can eat meals with people to become friendly enough to recruit them.Credit: Nintendo
I am not traditionally a big Fire Emblem guy because I am not traditionally a big turn-based tactics guy. Three Houses hooked me because there were hours and hours of gameplay outside the tactical sequences, which provided important breaks in the action while also making each sequence feel cathartic and important when it did occur.
Engage, meanwhile, had a completely hollow and uninteresting hub world you could run around in between battles, but there wasn’t much reason to do so. It also had absolutely nothing going on in the story and basically every character’s motivation was that they wanted to hang out with the super cool special dragon protagonist guy. The battles were good, but I bounced off of it because there was truly just nothing else there for me.
I’ve already established that Fortune’s Weave has plenty to chew on in the story, with characters who have solid reasons to compete in the tournament. What really makes at least the early portions of the game sing, though, is what you do outside of battles. The city of Dagsion operates as a fully three-dimensional hub world full of shops, side quests, optional recruitable characters, and various other ways to fill up meters to make battles go more smoothly. It’s also a fairly lovely place to vibe in for a little while, which is nice.
NPCs will give you quests with valuable rewards.Credit: Nintendo
The real meat, however, is in a world map that allows each hero to traverse the continent of Dagda, board-game-style. Between every major story milestone, you’re given a certain number of turns with which to travel around and upgrade your army as you see fit. Moving a few spaces on the world map takes one turn, so being careful and budgeting your time are important parts of the Fortune’s Weave experience.
I like this, personally. At least in the early chapters, you’re given an ample number of turns to get ready for the next story battle, so the time limit is less about stressing the player out and more about making sure they’re always moving towards the next goal. Each protagonist also has special actions only they can perform on the map; Leda can perform music at taverns for special rewards, Cai can farm and capture animals to ride on in battle, and so on. It makes each campaign, at least from what I’ve played, feel different.
And the turn-based tactics battles are there, too, and are still pretty fun, even if you’re not normally into that sort of thing. Modern Fire Emblem is great about giving you exactly as much information as you need before making a decision, and Fortune’s Weave is no different. I really dig the pace of battles here, too. I’ll get into this in more detail in my full review to come, but rest assured, that part of the game is still good.
Needless to say, at this point, Fortune’s Weave makes a very good first impression. I won’t judge anyone who picks another character, but please understand that all the cool kids are picking Leda.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on Sept. 17.
TopicsNintendoNintendo SwitchVideo Games
Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.
