Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave review: 160+ hours in, and I want more

Let me start with a number. I was at 140 hours by act three and past 160 by the finale, about the same as RPG Site‘s reviewer (161). I played on Normal, docked on an OLED TV and in handheld, and finished the game. In short: the best combat in the series and a hub you don’t want to leave. But you can tell part of the game was held back for the expansion.

What it is about

You play a time traveller sent back to the Heroic Games of 1449. The job: keep four future lords alive (Dietrich, Theodora, Cai and Leda). In the first act each gets a campaign of their own, the second and third change the format, and everything meets in one finale.

My order: Cai, Leda, Dietrich, Theodora. I cleared all the first acts, then two of the second acts (skipped the other two), and moved on to the third.

Four lords

Theodora has the strongest story. Dietrich has the best characters and the liveliest relationships between them, everything works there. That is exactly what Theodora lacks: the plot holds, but her companions are shallow. Cai’s path is the most down to earth.

Each path could be a Fire Emblem game of its own: this is not one campaign repainted four times. IGNVideo Games Chronicle

Battles

The combat is excellent, no caveats. Tactics and progression work so that every map is a new problem, and the large roster gives you plenty of ways to build a squad.

The fight I remember most is the second act’s final boss. And one I didn’t expect: a seemingly random worm that the story ties to Anatolia. The boss battles in the third act deserve their own mention. The late maps are properly hard: traps, reinforcements, bosses you need a plan for. GamesRadar+Siliconera

The maps are great and varied, and the caves and other side activities break up the main campaign well. Newcomers to tactics games are welcome too. Destructoid

Between battles

Time between fights runs on a Persona-style calendar: travelling the map, the city, training, errands. Some critics call it busywork that slows the story. For me it was the opposite: that routine helped me switch off from real-life problems and hooked me as much as the battles.

I love games with a hub where you can chat with the crew (Mass Effect, Horizon Forbidden West, StarCraft 2, Hades, Expedition 33, Baldur’s Gate 3, Divinity 2). Making characters feel alive and connected rarely works out. Here it does: not with everyone, but with many of them.

What does get annoying at times is the calendar’s time limits.

Each lord has their own crew, and you recruit everyone else yourself in Dagsion: give gifts, take people out to dinner or the theatre, and once your Renown and support level are high enough, they join. DestructoidIGN

You can recruit the same characters in different lords’ campaigns, but the conditions change every time: with one lord a character joins almost right away, with another only near the end. Anyone you skip is still waiting on the next path. Then in act three all your units from the earlier campaigns come together, so the same character can show up in several versions. TechRadarVooks

A small tip: you can merge those versions into one. The game never tells you, which is a shame, because it’s a great feature.

What’s wrong

It is clear that a lot of content was cut ahead of the expansion already announced for 2027. You feel it most in supports: many characters have none with each other, and some just stop. Example: Theodora and Bonaventura. Their B support leaves lots of questions, and there is no A support, even though he is the lead’s right hand. Most likely the expansion will add new characters, stories and supports. The support depth of Three Houses is missing. Siliconera

Smaller things: basic animations, repeated NPC faces and simple solutions overall. Also worth knowing: there is a single save slot, and long-play rewards can make later paths easier. Eurogamer

No technical complaints. The game runs at 30 frames per second, but it didn’t bother me docked or handheld. VooksTechRadar

The music, sound and voice acting are great. But sometimes the voice cuts out mid-scene or is simply missing: that happened in a fight with a bard close to the finale.

Next to Three Houses

Three Houses was one of my first big, real JRPGs, and it is what made me love the genre. Its characters feel more alive and the story is told a bit more consistently. But the lore, and how gripping the plot is, are better in Fortune’s Weave. But its first act is the same on every route: I loved it, yet by my third run I was openly bored, and the maps repeated and didn’t match where the battle was happening. In Fortune’s Weave the first act is four different stories, so that problem is gone.

Fortune’s Weave wins on combat, roster, variety and maps. So Three Houses wins on how alive its characters feel, and Fortune’s Weave on almost everything else.

Who it is for

I strongly recommend it to anyone who loves tactics and anyone who loves games with a hub. If you go and talk to the whole crew after every battle, this game is for you. For me, it’s a game of the year contender. My score: 9 out of 10.

Where to buy

Nintendo eShopSwitch 2↗AmazonSwitch 2, physical↗

What critics sayCritics roundup →

average of 13 reviews94

Vladyslav Hulin9/10

Critics often call the routine between battles a weakness. For me it was a strength.

Vladyslav Hulin

Also onMMetacritic↗HHowLongToBeat↗

Developer

Intelligent Systems

Publisher

Nintendo

Release

17 September 2026

Based on my own playthrough. Prepared with AI tools; text and score by Vladyslav Hulin.