Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Is Among the Best Games This Series Has Seen, With Compelling Stories Spread Across a Huge, Branching Campaign

The Fire Emblem series has always prided itself on how it teaches you to become a master tactician on the battlefield, using its turn-based battle system to push you to truly think strategically. In its more recent games, strategy became an important aspect not just while waging war, but between battles as well: How will you make the most of your time before the next skirmish? Who needs extra training, or perhaps a nice shared meal to increase camaraderie? Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave doesn’t just take the next step down that path, it makes an ambitious leap forward. It expands the scope of how you manage your budding heroes and explore its unexpectedly engaging map, and introduces some of the most harrowing and clever battles I’ve seen in the series to date. Its branching story intertwines into a grand epic that always seemed to have a new twist up its sleeve, and even after a hundred hours, I’ve still got more unique paths to tread that I’m itching to dive back into. Like a gladiator risking it all, Fortune’s Weave never stops aiming for the top – and it rarely misses that mark.

This story begins with an undead apocalypse already in progress, but while your customizable character is asked to stop it, you’ll soon learn that salvation is only to be found in the past. Thanks to some very on-brand time travel shenanigans, you must go back and ensure four legendary heroes survive the trials and tribulations that surround a series of colosseum matches known as the Heroic Games, each with their own path full of distinct, large-scale battles. 2019’s Fire Emblem: Three Houses similarly let you choose your own story path, but its first act played out largely the same before the second diverged depending on your faction choice. Fortune’s Weave not only flips that structure on its head, it also manages to make its finale more robust and impactful depending on how much of its main cast you reach the last act with.

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Gameplay Screenshots

This works thanks in large part to a single save file system that helps funnel each path toward one merged conclusion. I’ll admit that I had my reservations at first, as just one save slot initially seemed to limit replayability. However, Fortune’s Weave has a surprisingly good solution for managing these multiple paths. A nifty little hub room allows you to not only pick which story path you want to progress at almost any time, but even go back and replay any chapter you’ve done, no matter which act it’s in. Looking back will give you a snapshot of the army you had at the beginning of that chapter, who you’d recruited, and how strong they were – and if you choose to redo it, the snapshot for the following chapter will update with any differences, allowing you to keep progressing along this new playthrough without wiping data from any subsequent chapters further down the line that you’d already completed. It’s a smart way to weave the time travel theme into a mechanic that would be invaluable regardless, and lets you see nearly everything Fortune’s Weave has to offer without having to start from scratch on a new playthrough.

Each story path is wonderfully unique, offering different glimpses of life in the Dagdan Empire: Cai, the exuberant country kid in over his head as he tries to find a way to rescue his father from execution; Dietrich, the detached (and slightly unhinged) swordsman from a distant land who really only cares about finding worthy opponents for his blade; Theodora, queen of a southern kingdom seeking relief and acceptance for her people; and Leda, a talented musician and dancer on a quest for revenge against her father’s murderers. Each has an intriguing tale to tell as their personal quests lead them to the empire’s sprawling capital, Dagsion (imagine Rome if it was literally ruled over by the pantheon of gods), and I loved discovering the larger conspiracy lurking beneath it all as their journeys start to intertwine.

These four heroes are initially out to win the grand Heroic Games and win their heart's desire, but I was delighted to see how the paths they take to get there all have their own twists and turns. Rather than treading the exact same ground, each branch had me alternate between colosseum matches and more personal storylines. I’m happy I chose to play as Leda first, as her tale of vengeance was a wild ride to watch unfold. The story doesn’t shy away from how badly her desire for revenge affects those around her (which is spurred on by a cursed instrument she carries), and even though things never get as dark as they could have, she isn’t above gleefully describing to people how much they’d suffer if they got in her way.

I also came to admire how each of the paths in Fortune’s Weave are their own specific strands on a larger web of intrigue. It’s not exactly a new concept to have a secretive evil group pulling strings from the shadows, but it's the way each hero uncovers certain pieces of their motives and operations that compelled me the most. It never felt like I was stumbling through the dark trying to figure out what was going on, but more that each path provided new context to the events that were unfolding, which then leads to a dramatic twist in act two that was quite effective.

When stacked against these champions and their quests, my own character (who defaults to the name Eshmel) came off a little lackluster at first… but oddly enough, I didn’t really mind that. Compared to Byleth from Three Houses, who constantly fought for my attention between the other main characters, Fortune’s Weave is wise to put Eshmel in the background for the first half of the story while the others establish themselves, only swooping in at critical moments with their best Tuxedo Mask impression to ensure the heroes survive until the present day. Otherwise, Eshmel is content to chill out in town disguised in the form of a cute, plump little bird that everyone seems to love. In the final act, they take on a more commander-in-chief role, and though they end up sharing a lot of moments with the goddess helping you achieve your goals, their main role is support – and it’s something they do very well, bolstering your chosen squad with their incredible powers.

While their smaller role is ultimately a smart choice, it is a shame that Eshmel is largely silent outside of a few specific sequences, mostly chiming in through inconsequential dialogue choices accompanied by a simple, non-verbal gesture. Given how good the voice acting is across the whole cast, I didn’t really feel like I gained anything from these attempts at roleplay (aside from occasionally having companions interact with me in bird form, and then trying to pick the appropriate bird-response so I could… observe them… you know what, never mind).

Still, the visuals have improved greatly overall, from fluid zoom-ins as characters clash to the briefly animated and expressive character portraits during dialogue. Even sprinting or warping around the major hub city loads way faster than Garreg Mach Monastery in Three Houses. I still wish some scenes that weren’t cinematics had a bit of their own flair – I can only watch the screen fade to black and then have a single slice effect cut through it to signify someone did something with a weapon so many times. Thankfully, there are plenty of entertaining cutscenes saved for the bigger moments.

The meat of any Fire Emblem game is its tactical turn-based combat, and Fortune’s Weave does not disappoint on that front. Building off of Three Houses, the classic weapon triangle is replaced by other advantages and weaknesses ready to exploit on the battlefield. Little touches, like lances dealing more damage to cavalry or fist weapons making units more evasive, are just the tip of a strategic iceberg that got me to think differently. As my army clashed and my units increased in power, so too did their repertoire of combat arts and skills, adding increased power, evasion, or even the ability to stun and confuse opponents at the cost of a weapon’s durability.

One of the best additions to this battle math takes the form of incredibly rare swords that can cleave through undead enemies that would otherwise receive reduced damage from most sources. As I started to encounter more and more of the undead, figuring out who to bestow these weapons upon and where to deploy them became critical to my survival. At one point, I had a small squad fending off attacks from all sides, with their lone magical blade trading hands from one fighter to the next each turn so everyone had a fighting chance. Managing them is a cool wrinkle to consider that’s also full of thematic flavor.

Even though most battle maps have fairly standard objectives – take out leaders, rout the entire enemy force, etc. – plenty of the main missions throw some increasingly nasty curveballs at you. They continually forced me to adapt my tactics on the fly, reform my lines to deal with unexpected threats, and keep my team mobile to avoid new hazards and obstacles that appear all over the place. Rarely could I be complacent enough to slowly move across the map and let the enemy army slam into me bit by bit. Instead, I had to juggle split up squads, make risky strikes into well-defended territory, and ensure no one got left behind in the process.

My favorite addition by far is the introduction of a handful of cursed artifacts and the Blaze Arts they bestow upon many of the main characters. Their inclusion not only changed how I approached every battle, but made each of the four story paths even more unique. These cursed objects can let Cai launch a flame blast to hit several units, or let Dietrich teleport through barriers to close the distance on foes who thought themselves safe. I was very glad to have Leda on my first playthrough, as her ability to play a cursed instrument can buff a large number of allies at once, and her repertoire eventually expands to a song that gives everyone the ability to negate that undead defense bonus that had given me so much trouble.

There’s a clever and ever-building risk/reward system tied to these artifacts, as using Blaze Arts costs a bit of HP, which could easily leave my heroes exposed to a killing blow. These arts (along with using other cursed weapons and artifacts) increases a blaze gauge that boosts a unit’s stats when filled halfway… but reduces their maximum HP for the rest of the battle if the gauge fills completely. As the story continues to expand, so too do the opportunities to use these arts in some really exciting and strategic ways that I did not expect, making it more and more tempting to put lives on the line to ensure my team’s overall survival.

While Fortune’s Weave starts off fairly tame, the difficulty ramps up by the end of its first act, which took me about 50 hours to finish. Foes start to appear with better weapons than I could muster, promoted to even more advanced classes. By its much more condensed second act, I was running into all sorts of trouble, forcing me to turn to the gods for help. Expanding on a time rewinding feature first introduced in Three Houses, you can now invoke a god’s blessing to try things differently if your units start to drop – but Fortune’s Weave has built upon this idea with the ability to earn blessings from multiple gods.

Aside from the time rewind function, blessings can only be used one per turn in exchange for finite resources. I was able to literally pray to the gods of RNG to grant my team temporary bonuses like increased hit chance, evasion, and damage absorption to survive until the next round. This is entirely optional, of course, but it’s not just some “easy mode” crutch meant to entirely negate the difficulty. You’ll need to be smart to equip the right blessings before each battle starts, and know when to spend your limited currency to avert an incoming disaster and snatch victory from the impending jaws of defeat.

Much of my time between battles was spent wandering the streets of the capital city of Dagsion, and while it’s not exactly crowded, it does have a fair amount of hustle and bustle. I could explore the temples of the gods, mingle with the other gladiatorial hopefuls to scout potential recruits, and partake in other activities like weapon skill training or sharing meals while waiting for the next main mission. Unlike Three Houses, your exploration isn’t limited to just a few free days per month – instead, each day was mine to do as I pleased, and the more my renown grew across the land, the more facilities I gained access to.

Time won’t pass just by training your units or sitting in the bathhouse, however, for the open road is where adventure truly lies. A sprawling map of the continent is laid out for you to explore like a grand board game, and in it hides a surprisingly deep layer of strategy and time management as you uncover roads that lead to points of interest across every corner of the land. Those include spots to feast or forage for supplies, random bands of enemies to test your mettle against, towns to visit and trade with for valuable gear, and small dungeons to delve into teeming with riches and upgrades. Four steps across the map costs one turn (which translates to a fourth of a full day), and the more I uncovered, the more I realized how important planning out my travels were given the campaign’s limited timeframe.

With anywhere from a few weeks to over a month between rounds in the Heroic Games, it was a fun challenge to juggle uncovering spots on the map that led me toward sidequest markers with finding the right moment to make my way back to the capital in time for certain special events – like spectating other teams in the competition to gain skill experience. I soon found myself eagerly devising plans for each of my outings across the world, looking for ways I could knock out a few nearby quest markers as I uncovered a new region.

If that somehow wasn’t enough, each hero has unique exploration skills that fundamentally changed how I planned my expeditions. Theodora, for instance, is the only hero who can recruit battalions at towns and employ them in battle to unleash devastating area of effect attacks (something your enemies will start doing even if your chosen hero cannot), while only Cai can find spots to tame wild animals to serve as personalized rides for mounted units, giving them additional stat boosts the more they bond with their ride.

Since many of the activities both in the city and out in the world replenish each week, there was more motivation to bounce back and forth between the two and divide my time as best I could. That said, the allure of a giant, ever-expanding map often proved too enticing to ignore, and I happily allowed myself to be distracted from returning to “home base” in favor of uncovering new ground — especially with so many hidden dungeons to find.

Unlike the traditional top down skirmishes found elsewhere, dungeons build off of ideas first introduced way back in Shadows of Valentia for the 3DS. You pick a small group of five from your larger army when you enter one, and each is teeming with enemies you can either sneak and dash around or lunge toward to initiate combat. These clashes are more akin to a battle you’d see in a classic JRPG, with both teams forming a line and alternating attacks. Though it’s a fairly simplified system, there are short bursts of fun to be had here, almost like a minigame.

Just like in the larger battles, picking the right fighter to attack against an opposing unit that is poised to retaliate can be the difference between cleaving off a chunk of your team’s shared HP and negating their strike with the right foil. I’ll admit, early on it sometimes came down to just having a highly defensive tank in the party to soak all incoming blows – but as the difficulty ramped up, so too did the enemy variety. Thankfully, the ability to link up attacks or have one ally heal while another struck out meant my group could survive even longer in these dungeons, allowing me to find cool treasures like those cursed weapons.

It’s not truly a Fire Emblem game unless you’re slowly building an army out of a rag-tag crew of miscreants from all walks of life, and while Fortune’s Weave doesn’t break from that tradition entirely, it opts for a slightly different approach. By the time each of the four main heroes reaches the Heroic Games at Dagsion, they’ll have their own small crew of (mostly) trusted allies. But the colosseum fights are much bigger skirmishes, and you’ll need to bolster your ranks if you want to survive. As luck would have it, wandering the capital can feel a bit like window shopping for the deadliest mercenaries in the land.

Almost every potential recruit has their own conditions that need to be met before they’ll agree to join your group. Most will want you to have achieved a certain level of renown from questing, but you’ll have to build enough support so that they trust you as well, a process that involves things like taking them out for fine dining or to the theater. Some may even have a final negotiation to resolve, like handing over certain items or money (one character actually quizzed me on the region to see if I’d been paying attention in my exploration). Fortune’s Weave even cleverly mixes up these requirements depending on who you’re playing as, and some may not want to join certain characters at all, giving you an extra incentive to explore other story paths. This creates another fun wrinkle in the time management between missions, as I had to ensure I was properly scouting recruits who were the best fit for my team and allocating time to spend with them while in the capital (as well as finding gifts for them while traveling abroad).

I was unsure about this system at the start, especially what it meant for the overarching story. Picking up random mercenaries at unpredictable points means they don’t really add much to the main story (though you can still unlock your fair share of support conversations with them). Instead, each hero usually trades words with only the small group they form at the start of their story during important moments, which makes everyone else feel less important. However, I soon realized this approach works out for the better for a few reasons.

For one, it allows for a more intimate story to unfold, without having to worry about some random bandit I picked up chiming in with something thoughtful. The second reason I did not anticipate is that it makes room for your main gladiator “rivals” to shine. It’s not just the four champions you choose from that are in the running to be crowned winner of the Heroic Games, as you’ll soon spot other teams around the capital led by some pretty charismatic characters.

Much like how each story path touches on different aspects of the main antagonists, you’ll also have different interactions with the other team leaders. Early on, you’re even able to team up with some of them during qualifying rounds to get a taste of their power, and it turns out they’re just as capable as you. I really enjoyed getting to temporarily command leaders like the laser gun-toting Anatolia (no, I will not elaborate) or the mask-wearing priestess Orchel, as they had their own unique spin on Blaze Arts that differed greatly from any of the main heroes. (My only slight disappointment stemmed from getting spoiled on one character’s mysterious backstory by… their own info page, which described their true nature while they were a guest in my party, before it was formally revealed.)

These rivals become more formidable when it's your turn to face off against them, and depending on which story path you’re on, it’s even possible to help them out with special missions after they drop out of the Heroic Games. These “paralogues” might be low in quantity, but they were all extremely fun and challenging. My favorite included helping one character escort civilians out of a map dominated by a giant beast summoning tentacles all over the place – getting everyone out alive forced me to be extremely precise, stunning the ridiculously powerful creature at just the right moments while I made a break for the exit. Completing these paralogues also had some pretty great and far-reaching effects on the story at large, which once again made the idea of going back to see the ones on another path all the more enticing.

With so much to consider and plan around outside of combat, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and lose sight of your immediate objectives. At one point, I felt myself starting to get torn as I tried to do everything at once, which is when the true appeal of Fortune’s Weave became clear to me. It’s better to think of its story not as a five-course meal you need to march through as you try and finish everything, but rather as an all-you-can-eat buffet. You’re not expected to eat the entire buffet!

Instead, I focused on exactly what I wanted: recruiting a handful of characters that caught my eye, doing weapon training whenever I happened to be back in town to promote my units to better classes, maybe giving away a few gifts, and trying to complete a few quests out in the world before coming back to town. Anyone I didn’t end up recruiting would still be there for another story path, and the same was true of any dungeons I didn’t uncover or the far reaches of the map I didn’t have time to travel to. I was always allowed to be as comprehensive or as relaxed as I wanted to be. Sure, exploring a mine could mean I find materials to refine or repair weapons to use more combat arts, but I could also just use those arts more sparingly, and then spend that time leveling my units until the next mission to compensate.

Fortune’s Weave even extends that freedom of choice to its second act in a pretty wild way, though I’ll avoid specific spoilers. As the story escalates, whichever hero you’ve progressed with most is drawn into a string of intimidating, large-scale battles where the calendar and exploration elements are removed. It’s a much more condensed arc, and its battles become incredibly grueling across maps that are much larger than those in the first act. What surprised me is that entering this second part of the story informed me that I could opt to skip it entirely , which would then auto-level my units appropriately for act three and provide a TL:DR version of how the story advanced.

Along with being able to replay these missions whenever I wanted, the ability to skip them outright is a pretty thoughtful one for subsequent playthroughs using different heroes… but I was a little shocked it gave me this option on my first run. I, of course, declined this offer, and was much happier flexing my strategic muscles on these satisfyingly tough battles (though that happiness turned to outright horror around the time I found myself staring down four giant war elephants on a bridge, all charging in my direction).

Brendan's Favorite Fire Emblem Games Ranked

All of this leads to Fortune’s Weave’s final act, and while I still won’t delve into plot details, it’s worth touching lightly on just how insane things get. It took me around 70 hours to reach this point, and the momentum could have easily become a slow shamble to the finish line as it retreads familiar ground. And yet, it wasn’t until this point – when all of the individual stories merged into one – that Fortune’s Weave evolved from a great adventure into a truly phenomenal RPG.

The way its grand world map is recontextualized from something I had spent countless hours exploring into a centerpiece for tactical warfare gave me an immense thrill. This section had smart answers ready for how I could best make use of an army that had grown awfully crowded (regardless of how many or how few individual story paths I had completed by that point). It introduces not only great new methods to manage those troops, but does so in a way where nobody was truly left without a purpose, and it encouraged as much multi-tasking as I wanted to delve into (and man did I ever delve). In nearly every respect, it was the perfect culmination of strategy and management that I had been honing over the course of this story, providing just as many challenges as new tools to overcome them. Even Eshmel finally gets their chance to shine, using their otherworldly power to lead the charge.

Truthfully, I probably spent way more time than needed doing everything I could before the final showdown, but I never once felt compelled to simply run down the clock. There were so many ways I wanted to optimize my forces, and even then my adversaries were definitely not taking it easy on me. These final missions tested the limit of my ability to see all my allies safely through to the end thanks to some downright devious battlefields filled with punishing traps, and I wouldn’t have a high-stakes conclusion be any other way.