Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch 2
Available On: Nintendo Switch 2
Release Date: September 17, 2026
Nintendo Switch 2 games have been very active in recent memory. With games like Star Fox, Pokepia, and more, they have been relentless in their releases. Among them is one game that a lot of JRPG gamers such as myself have been excited about, and it is Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is one of the biggest Nintendo Switch 2 games to be released recently. The game’s genre is broad, as it focuses not only on RPG elements but also on action gameplay. This game is one of the most underrated but highly anticipated games, and players will learn to know what makes this game so good that a lot of Nintendo gamers are into it now.
The game takes place 149 years after the incident in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The map focuses in the southern continent of Fódlan called the Dagda Empire. The Dagda Empire is not only big, but it also consists of various regions filled with unexpected and strange mysteries governed by so-called gods and goddesses. There are four main protagonists in this game. First is Theodora, the loyal citizen-first warrior queen who aims to restore the honor of her people. Then, there is Cai, a young village boy whose main goal is to seek out ways to save his father from execution. Dietrich is a swordsman from Fódlan who is determined to find his own strength and face difficult challenges. And lastly, Leila, a traveling performer who has one goal in mind, which is revenge.
Each of these characters will have their stories intertwined in the game, but among the four, there is one character who will be helping them and is the main protagonist who is known as the White Raven. The White Raven is actually a character who came from the future and plans to guide these four main protagonists in helping save their world once more. Pretty amazing, if you ask me, and I kind of like the idea that you’re trying to intersect these four characters into one story, in one timeline. This is a perfect formula that Fire Emblem developers have done once more.
The combat gameplay of Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave is still the same, as it still utilizes the same system it used in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but even better, as now players have something called Blaze Arts. Blaze Arts are similar to Combat Arts, but the difference is that you sacrifice a portion of your health to use these skills. So it’s quite advisable for gamers who are into JRPG games to have high-HP characters in their party in order to survive. For example, when I use Kagero, I like to use her ability to do area-of-effect attacks, and bingo, I can easily kill them off. But I want to make sure that I have good healers or high HP to do so, and that is quite an important factor for this game.
Aside from the Blazed Arts feature in this game, there is also the turn-based style of gameplay where you have to use positioning and learn what is effective against your enemies. However, for the first time in Fire Emblem history, players will not only be using this system but also a similar combat system which is designed with the same features as in Final Fantasy X. That’s right, there are two types of turn-based now: one for positioning, the other is face-to-face turns. And I’ve got to say, that’s actually quite refreshing. I never actually had a chance to play games like these in a while, but I am quite happy that it could give me a good challenge enough and it doesn’t bore me too much. Plus, this is one of the best ways for me personally to level up my characters and gain more resources as well.
Fire Emblem‘s gameplay, aside from the combat system, is quite challenging. When I say challenging, I mean in a way that it is very good because in the previous Fire Emblem games, you have a calendar of activities that you need to follow up on and make sure that you follow that schedule. However, in Fortune’s Weave, it’s all about time management. Yes, there are deadlines for completing quests and all, but they are giving you an option on how you could spend it freely. For example, every week, you could have meals with your compatriots and invite new mercenaries to join your team. Not only that, you could use that time to train your abilities. If you want to focus on becoming a hunter by increasing your sword skills and archery, you can do that too in the arena. But what’s important in this game is that learning to manage your time is important, and this is like one of the most important things to do when playing Fortune’s Weave on the Nintendo Switch, too.
The graphics settings and features of Fire Emblem Engage are quite astonishing, especially since this is the first Fire Emblem game to be released for the Nintendo Switch 2. It still has some similarities to the previous Fire Emblem games, but it is not all cartoonish-looking, as it still uses an art style similar to Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I could say for a fact that this art style is perfect for this game and should not be overlooked. This is like one of the most important things to discuss, since if you’re putting a setting in the game, you need to make sure that the visual representation of the game is as important as what the gameplay is being offered to the players as well. Personally, I believe that is a very important factor.
Now, the map of the game is very big. When it comes to exploring the main part of the game where you have to explore the facilities that you’ll be using in Fire Emblem Engage, technically it is not that bad. However, exploring outside of town is quite stressful. Technically, the more you travel outside, the more time you consume, and I kind of wish that they had a chance to do shortcuts to reach their places. I get that there is a carriage system where you could go to one location very fast. However, the problem is though is that the map movement and the busy user interface can feel cumbersome during downtime, and I feel like it could have been done better if it gave players a cheat or a chance to explore more of the outside world without putting deadline restrictions. Not only that, the time management pressure in this game is quite strict, and sometimes finding the right resources that we need to strengthen our characters feels more stressful than adventurous in this game.
After playing the game for almost 120+ hours, I would say that Fire Emblem Engage is very colorful in terms of story, gameplay, and exploration. However, despite all that, it also feels time-restricted because after playing the game and trying to complete certain quests and missions, it feels like the pressure of completing them within the time limit becomes more and more difficult.
I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing, but I would like to see them find a more justified or more reasonable reward for completing them within the deadline. I like the fact that we have to increase our characters’ levels through battles, through exploration, and their status in the game, but I would also like to receive better rewards.
Overall, I would say Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave deserves praise and makes up for the mistakes that they learned from the previous Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem Engage. Now, I would say that if I were to recommend this game to any of my Nintendo gamers and friends who are first-time players, I would say this game is quite good, and I would recommend them that they should try playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses first to get to know more of the lore of what Fire Emblem Engage has to offer.
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (Nintendo Switch 2)
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave deserves praise and makes up for the mistakes that they learned from the previous Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem Engage. Now, I would say that if I were to recommend this game to any of my Nintendo gamers and friends who are first-time players, I would say this game is quite good, and I would recommend them that they should try playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses first to get to know more of the lore of what Fire Emblem Engage has to offer.
The Good
- Story content is extensive as it connects well to Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- New classes to explore and use in this game as the combat system shows us that games aren't limited just to one style of gaming
- Visual Representation of the game is quite satisfying and is not cartoonish
The Bad
- Time Management in this game is important however, the rewards given to us in this game feel lack luster as they are not rewarding enough to strengthen our parties
- Map size of the game is big however, exploration feels limited as their are time restrictions
