The first Fire Emblem game came out for the Famicom in 1990, but it was in Japan only. The series remained a Japanese-exclusive for 12 years until Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade finally launched worldwide in 2003. Since then, we've had many Fire Emblem games on multiple Nintendo platforms.
It's now 2026, and the series makes its glorious debut on the new Switch 2 console. Despite the series being nearly as old as me, surprisingly, this is the first time I have ever played or reviewed a Fire Emblem game. Thankfully, you don't need prior knowledge of the previous games because each entry features different characters and a new story.
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave has an interesting story because it first takes place in the future, where the Underworld has taken over the world and turned it into a wasteland. The player creates their own character and is tasked with saving the world from future destruction.
In order to achieve this, the player character, nicknamed Eshmel, has to somewhat go back in time to assemble the four Flame Lords (basically The Avengers) to defeat the demon underworld from taking over the world in the future timeline.
The prologue centers on Eshmel and tells their story of when the world is at its worst. After the prologue, you can go back in time to experience the stories of the four Flame Lords to guide them to the future timeline and make sure they survive. The four characters you can play as are Cai, Dietrich, Theodora, and Leda.
Each character's campaign is set in the city of Dagsion during an event called the Heroic Games. To keep things short, I'll just describe Leda's story for now. The reason Leda joins the Heroic Games is to get revenge on the man responsible for her father's death.
After finishing the campaigns of the Flame Lords, they all join Eshmel in the future to fight the demons from the Underworld who have ruined the world. If you want to 100% the game, you can easily get around 80 to 100 hours of gameplay!
Presentation-wise, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave has great 2D graphics that perform well at 30 fps at all times. Not to mention, the game has excellent and exciting cutscenes with full voice acting for most major characters. The voice acting is immaculate because the characters evoke raw emotion anytime they are distressed or in danger.
In terms of gameplay, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave features two different styles of turn-based combat. In main story battles, the game uses grid-based combat, forcing you to place your characters onto the battlefield to get a tactical advantage.
For example, characters that can use bows and arrows are able to attack enemies from afar, while characters who deal in magic can bypass bad guys with shields. Grid-based combat also introduces hostile terrain in some levels, forcing you to place your characters away from danger.
Speaking of danger, sometimes you can find turrets and other weapons on the field that can help your party out. That said, turrets can also be used by the enemy as well, so placing your units away from danger becomes an intense game of chess.
The other side of turn-based combat is the traditional Final Fantasy version where your team attacks enemies inside of a dungeon. These clashes are somewhat easier than the grid-based combat I mentioned before because you don't need to worry too much about placement and positioning.
One of the coolest things about the grid-based combat matches is that you can rewind time to retry any bone-headed decisions you make during battles. For example, the enemy wiped my team out, and it was game over, but I rewound time to an earlier part of the match to retry the battle again using different tactics. The rewind option saved me lots of times and is the most useful mechanic in the entire game!
Another cool part of combat is that you are free to change the class type of your characters. Each enemy has their own strengths and weaknesses, so it pays to have a balanced party. I remember having two archers, two healers, and many tank characters to cover all bases of combat and defence.
As for the game's exploration, there are also two parts to this, too. Characters can freely explore towns to accept side quests, buy weapons, sell items, and more. Towns also allow you to visit inns to replenish health and magic points.
Outside of towns, you can visit the world map, which has a board game-like design. You have limited turns in the World Map before you start the main quest. In the World Map, you can move around to find dungeons, kill enemies, or start travelling to other towns that may have better weapons and equipment to buy.
This is usually the part in my review where I say something negative about a game, but there's nothing I can think of in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. The only type of people who may dislike this game are those who are terrible at turn-based RPGs. However, the game uses lots of tutorials and tools (like the rewind system) to make sure battles aren't cheap or unfair.
Overall, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave might be my favourite Switch 2 exclusive in the console's short lifespan so far. Not only is it graphically gorgeous, but the gameplay and story are highly engaging and intense. If you are a fan of RPGs in general, pick this game up ASAP!