We're late on this one (it launched September 17, before Lanbrew's daily roundups got rolling), but Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is too big to skip. Intelligent Systems' Nintendo Switch 2 strategy RPG sends you back in time from an undead apocalypse to the Heroic Games of 1449, where you follow four heroes, Cai, Leda, Dietrich and Theodora, each with their own story path, recruits and battles, before everything comes together in a shared finale. Critics are close to unanimous: the tactical battles are being called the best the series has ever had, and the sheer amount of content is staggering (reviewers clocked 80 to 100+ hours). The common complaints are a single save slot, grindy support-building and side content between fights, a weak dungeon Clash battle system, and pacing that slips late. But the consensus is that this is one of the best Fire Emblem games ever made.
Aggregate Scores
- OpenCritic: 89 Top Critic Average, 99% of critics recommend (95 critic reviews) – opencritic.com
- Metacritic: 89 Metascore (90 critic reviews), 8.6 user score – metacritic.com
What the Critics Are Saying
- IGN (10/10): "Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave provides an excellent pairing of combat strategy and management, with compelling stories spread across each of its four heroes that come together to form one phenomenal RPG." – https://www.ign.com/articles/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review
- Eurogamer (5/5): "A synergy of everything that has made the series great for generations, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave hits the pinnacle of combat design, and is a sumptuous feast of a game." – https://www.eurogamer.net/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review
- GameSpot (9/10): "Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is a sprawling masterpiece of a strategy RPG, building upon the successes of past Fire Emblem games with new interconnected elements, expertly designed combat puzzles, and an emphasis on flexibility and choice." – https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-is-the-series-new-peak/
- Polygon (unscored): "Fortune's Weave demands much — both in terms of time and of mental investment — but gives just as much in return." – https://www.polygon.com/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review/
- Game Informer (8.8/10): "Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave will easily eat up all your time for months to come, and it's worthwhile to see these Heroic Games through to their conclusion." – https://gameinformer.com/review/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave/let-the-games-begin
- Shacknews (9/10): "Intelligent Systems delivers supreme tactical combat in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave with refined mechanics and a plethora of options to choose from, and a story that is uniquely structured in a way that encourages fans to overturn every stone." – https://www.shacknews.com/article/150724/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review-score
- Destructoid (9/10): "A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage." – https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review/
- TheSixthAxis (9/10): "A multi-stranded strategy RPG masterclass, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is absolutely a part of the conversation for being the very best game in this venerable series." – https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2026/09/16/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review/
- DualShockers (9/10): "Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave continues the franchise tradition of combining addictive strategy combat with an expansive, complex story in a huge fantasy kingdom." – https://www.dualshockers.com/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review/
- Metro GameCentral (8/10): "The best Fire Emblem game of the modern era and a staggering achievement in terms of the volume of content and the variety of gameplay – with even the plot taking some unexpected detours." – https://metro.co.uk/2026/09/16/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review-bigger-better-ever-29620942/
- Nintendo Life (8/10): "On the whole, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is dense, deep, and really rather delightful. It can sometimes feel like a bit too much of a good thing, with the pacing slipping in the later chapters, thanks to an unnecessarily complicated protagonist hierarchy and some grindy map management, but the battles have never felt better, and there's no knocking the sheer amount to do." – https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch-2/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave
- GameRant (8/10): "Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is a massive game with excellent turn-based tactics battles, but some of its side content drags." – https://gamerant.com/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review/
One note before you dive in: Giant Bomb, which still liked it, flagged the writing as the game's major weak spot ("vacuous writing -- and lots of it"), and Eurogamer and Destructoid both warn that the opening (a big exposition dump and slow tutorial battles) is a tough onboarding. Push through and, by most accounts, you've got months of tactics ahead of you.
More Reading
- OpenCritic: https://opencritic.com/game/20819/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave/reviews
- Metacritic: https://www.metacritic.com/game/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave/
- VGC review: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave/
- Giant Bomb review: https://giantbomb.com/reviews/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-review
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