Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave beautifully blends tactics and character-driven stories

I've played Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave and made meaningful connections while becoming a master of strategy on the battlefield.

Ahead of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave’s arrival on the Switch 2 in September, I got to play through an early chunk of the game, getting a feel for its tactical gameplay and learning about its fresh roster of characters. I was immediately drawn in by the unique and intertwining stories, and was compelled by the various systems working in tandem to create a complex tactical experience.

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave stars four main protagonists (Cai, Dietrich, Theodora, and Leda), known as Flame Lords. They each hail from different areas in the world and are driven by individual passions that cause their paths to cross in unexpected ways. Fortune’s Weave takes a unique narrative approach by allowing the player to play through each of the Fire Lords’ stories in any order they like. You can even switch to another Flame Lord’s storyline prior to the completion of another.

The stories run parallel to one another, roughly taking place over the same stretch of time. In true Fire Emblem fashion, Fortune’s Weave is stuffed with characters that ooze a unique sense of style, both visually and mechanically.

As you progress the story, the protagonists can recruit new characters to join their team. This is done by raising a character’s support level, which is accomplished by giving them gifts and sharing meals with them. When interacting with a character, a brief biography reveals their favorite gifts, giving the player clues as to what items will raise their support level the most. Players will also need to increase their Renown by completing quests and smaller tasks for NPCs. Each recruitable character has a support level and renown level required for their recruitment.

Once you hit the battlefield, the work you put in outside of the arena comes into play. Recruited characters make up your roster, and you can deploy them to fill your slots in a battle. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave continues the series’ format of utilizing grid-based tactical combat. The player team alternates turns with the enemy team, moving around the map and attacking with equipped weapons. A character’s attack damage, movement distance, and ability to dodge and endure incoming attacks are all influenced by their individual stats. Stats increase as characters level up, as do unique skills that allow them to wield specific weapon types and ride on mounts.

Characters can continue to build support in battle, as fighting adjacent to ally units will slightly increase their support level. When an ally heals another, they get a support boost. In addition to boosting their performance, raising support levels can also unlock unique scenes between characters.

Battles can be navigated with the Joy-Con’s analog sticks and face buttons, but also with mouse controls. The Joy-Con 2 can be used in mouse mode to command units on screen during a battle, clicking and dragging like in a PC tactics game. When you turn your Joy-Con 2 onto its side and place it on a surface, mouse mode automatically activates. When you lift it from the surface, mouse controls deactivate. It’s a seamless process that offers a new way to play.

One of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave’s new additions is Clashes. These are turn-based battles that happen without a grid, with characters facing each other in a row, à la Dragon Quest. You still use the same weapons, abilities, and resources, but without the tactical element. Characters still level up and earn skill exp, too. Clashes are primarily used in dungeons, areas of the world that can be manually explored for a quest or to harvest resources.

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave feels like the spiritual successor to Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Like that game, it leans into the relationships between characters, using them to inform the game’s combat and climactic moments. There’s a lot of downtime between the big story battles, and that time is typically spent forging bonds, exploring the world, and interacting with interesting characters. We’ll have to wait until Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave launches on September 17 to see how it all comes together.

This review is based on a digital code provided by the publisher. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave launches on September 17, 2026, for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Sign up for our monthly roundup of exclusive content, top stories, and updates from Shacknews - once a month, no spam.

Shacknews staff does not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their content. Shacknews strictly prohibits the use of its content for AI training or to generate text, including text in the style or format used for this publication. Shacknews reserves all rights to this work.