This morning’s Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave Nintendo Direct featured a 20-minute gameplay deep dive into the upcoming strategy RPG. The presentation featured a breakdown of the classes, non-combat activities, and the reveal of the game’s true structure.
As previously detailed, Fortune’s Weave centers on four playable protagonists who enter the Heroic Games, a gladiator-style arena tournament, to have their wish granted. Cai, Dietrich, Theodora, and Leda. You can switch between playing each one at any time, with progress for each one saved, allowing you to experience each character’s narrative in parallel. This plays into the game’s main theme of multiple fortunes intertwining.
However, the twist is that this era is actually set in the past. Fortune’s Weave’s true plot is set five years in the future, where the world has been destroyed by the returning demon god Balor. The progenitor god Sothis has summoned the one soul capable of stopping him, a nameless hero clad in white who is the game’s true protagonist. To avoid facing Balor alone, this hero travels to the past to influence the fates of the four champions in order to assemble them in the future to save the world.
Arena combat involves choosing a team of units and placing them on the field in traditional Fire Emblem fashion. Units can wield swords, gauntlets, spears, axes, bows, and magic, each with different properties and even forms (such as a gun(!)). Unleash Combat Arts deal greater damage at the expense of weapon durability, while Blaze Arts unleash more bespoke special moves at the expense of HP. For example, Kai can fire a fireball that deals burn damage, Dietrich can instantly teleport to new squares, including passing through objects, and Leda can buff surrounding allies and summon a monster to the field. After each move, you can rewind to any previous point in battle to redo any mistakes.
The game’s classes are divided between Beginner, Specialty, and Advanced. Here’s a breakdown of each one, as detailed by Nintendo.
- Beginner – There are five Beginner Classes, each dedicated to playing a foundational role in combat. They include gladiators who excel in handling weapons, diviners who wield magic, ornius riders with increased movement range and more.
- Specialty – There are over 10 Specialty Classes, each with specific abilities. Armored knights offer ironclad defense, wing soldiers can leap obstacles and cover long distances, charioteers can strike multiple enemies in a straight line, and more.
- Advanced – These classes are masters of their skills. Cataphracts have the mobility of horses and are heavily armored; guardians are skilled with white magic and spears; and elephant riders fight astride their giant mounts, to name a few.
Between matches, Free Time occurs. You can prepare for future battles by training in the arena or by watching rivals battle to gather intel on them. The shopping arcade offers new weapons and enhancements. At Temple Row, you can volunteer at certain temples to temporarily gain stat buffs in battle, such as reduced damage. Taking certification exams lets units learn a new class, provided they have prerequisite skills. You can also take on quests from townsfolk, which must be finished within a deadline. Certain citizens can be recruited to your cause, though some require gifts or a meal to convince them to join. Inns let you lodge, eat, and pass time to gain resources automatically. Bonded characters converse in cinematics, raising their bonds.
Outside of Dagsion, you can explore a world map to visit towns, gather information to find treasures, and battle in random encounters. You can also find dungeons to get materials for weapons and other rewards. Interestingly, dungeon battles unfold as traditional turn-based battles instead of taking place on a grid.
The presentation concluded with smaller updates. Nintendo Music will be updated to feature a selection of tracks from Fortune’s Weave, such as the main theme. The Nintendo Today app also has new Fire Emblem themes coming tomorrow, along with new information leading up to launch. A new Ask the Developer article will be published on September 15.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is coming to Switch 2 on September 17.
