New previews of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave point to an unusually large adventure. Nintendo has confirmed that players can move between four heroes and follow their campaigns in parallel, but the game’s scale appears to extend well beyond its multiple storylines.
From its scheduled battles and social-style preparation to its broad world map and unusual science-fiction touches, Fortune’s Weave is shaping up as one of the most ambitious entries in the series. For more gaming coverage, visit RETROCADE’s Arcade Blog.
A large world built around a fixed deadline
The structure has some clear similarities to Persona. Players know when their next major contest in the Heroic Games will take place, yet they can decide how to spend the time before it arrives. The tournament is a gladiatorial event central to the story, making preparation an important part of the experience.
- Buy useful equipment and supplies.
- Train at the grounds.
- Complete certification tests to unlock new classes.
- Leave Dagsion, the capital city, to gather raw materials.
The world outside the capital includes other towns, Temples and dungeons, creating plenty of space for optional exploration. Dave Aubrey writes in VGC that the map is surprisingly expansive, with material gathering, settlements and dungeon expeditions all contributing to its breadth.
Dungeons also use a different combat format. These encounters, called clashes, are fast, turn-based battles rather than the series’ traditional tactical encounters. Players select a small group of characters and choose their attacks, with both sides striking back and forth until one party is defeated.
Four Fire Lords, four substantial perspectives
The four playable leads are known as the Fire Lords of Dagda. Although their stories can be experienced alongside one another, the previews suggest that each hero has enough personal history and motivation to stand as a fully developed protagonist.
Following one character reveals the wider cast, while switching perspectives adds further detail about their backgrounds, personalities and reasons for entering the Heroic Games. That approach could make the parallel-story structure more meaningful than simply replaying the same events from different viewpoints.
Covering Fortune’s Weave for GameSpot, Steve Watts highlights the contrast between Leda and Theodora. Both are dealing with the deaths of their fathers, but their responses are very different.
- Leda is driven by revenge.
- Theodora is determined to become stronger so she can protect her throne.
Theodora also has a magical prosthesis, another detail that gives the fantasy setting a more distinctive form of representation and suggests that Dagda’s technology and magic may not follow familiar Fire Emblem conventions.
Could this be the series’ most futuristic setting?
The combination of a magical prosthesis and plainly depicted firearms hints that Fortune’s Weave may move beyond the franchise’s usual sword-and-sorcery foundation. Its opening reportedly features a post-apocalyptic landscape, synth-driven music, Eshmel’s new body being grown in a tube and giant laser batteries protecting a holdout.
One preview also describes an ally killing an undead enemy with several close-range shots. Alongside the game’s fantasy elements, those details suggest a world shaped by advanced technology, catastrophe and magic rather than a conventional medieval kingdom.
Several previews have compared the game with Fire Emblem: Three Houses in terms of setting, storytelling and overall tone. Others have pointed to Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia on 3DS, particularly its dungeon-crawling mechanics. With release still about a month away at the time of these previews, Fortune’s Weave already appears to be combining several distinct ideas into one unusually broad adventure.
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