Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave First Impressions

I have loved the Fire Emblem franchise since I played one of the first games released on the Game Boy Advance. Of course, it has had less success in the US than in Japan, but since Awakening, Fates, and most recently, Three Houses, the series has grown into an RPG powerhouse in its own right. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is no exception, but because of its size, I wanted to do a First Impressions article because, frankly… I still have a long way to go before a proper review is ready.

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave packs 5 (technically 4, with one mandatory main plot throughout) interwoven narratives into one package. Because of that, don’t expect to go into this with just a 20 or 30-hour runtime. No, even if you only do one path and then the mandatory second path, you’ll likely have 50+ hours or more. However, because each story is so different and has such different gameplay elements to it, it doesn’t seem like it will be repetitive to do multiple stories, even all four.

Instead, as you play each route, you meet the various characters and are subject to a Persona-esque time limit for each section. You can do things such as farming, worshiping the gods, training your characters, sharing meals, exploring the world, and more. In fact, the first path you do is the most restrictive, because some resources carry over between paths, allowing you to do the second, third, and fourth paths more effectively.

As far as traditional Fire Emblem gameplay is concerned, it’s all here. From the tactical options to the class-building and support system, everything a fan could want is here. You can even pick difficulties and turn perma-death for characters on or off, as in previous recent iterations. There is one sticking point that people have had that is starting to annoy me as well.

There is only one save file, which isn’t an issue on its own, but there is also a fairly robust autosave, which can mess with carefully laid plans. I wish the autosave had its own slot. I understand how the single save slot was necessary with so many stories in play, but the autosave messing with things can be annoying.

Another mild annoyance for me is a reduced amount of support conversations, which feels like the game was a little rushed. I wonder if we will see an expansion pass that provides more story content in the vein of Engage’s expansion pass. If so, perhaps the developers will be able to add the other 4 storylines that were cut from the game’s original plan due to time.

In terms of other “new” things, I should also mention the dungeons. Technically, dungeons aren’t entirely new. They are more developed versions of the dungeons in entries such as Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. The exploration and turn-based gameplay actually makes me wonder if we might get a non-tactical, more traditional turn-based JRPG spinoff series of Fire Emblem in the future. I could actually see a Fire Emblem spinoff that plays somewhat like the Suikoden franchise working well.

Overall, without getting too into the weeds of things, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is definitely a GOTY contender. With its strong storytelling, great characters, and engaging gameplay, there’s a lot to love here. I’m curious about how I will feel when I get a few routes under my belt, and I’ll definitely be preparing a full review in the future.

A Nintendo Switch copy of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave was provided for the purposes of this article and review.