Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave – Everything We Just Learned From The Direct

You won’t have to play through Fortune’s Weave four times to get the full story

You won’t be locked to the story of a single hero when you play Fortune’s Weave, as you can freely switch between them during the campaign. Thanks to a little time travel magic, you can save your progress with a current hero and return to an earlier point in the story when you choose a different champion, allowing you to experience each story in parallel.

What are the Heroic Games?

A series of matches held in tribute to Dagda, the Empire’s first king, the Heroic Games are overseen by the empire’s current monarch, Solel. Victory is no easy task, but to the winner, Solel will grant one wish.

There’s more to Fortune’s Weave than battle

While the core gameplay revolves around the established Fire Emblem formula of tactical turn-based gameplay, unit management, and improving members of your army, you’ll also have a chance to explore what lies beyond the arena. Between battles, you can prepare for fights by purchasing new equipment, earning blessings from the local temples, and improving your skills with training exercises. You can even venture outside the city walls–if time permits between matches–to strengthen your team further and gain new allies.

On the world map, you can visit local towns to gather information and take part in skirmish battles, explore dungeons, and take on quests from villagers.

Class warfare

Mastering classes is the key to success of Fire Emblem, and in Fortune’s Weave, you’ll have plenty to choose from. There are five beginner classes to choose from when the game starts, and each one forms the foundation of how your soldiers will move and attack. At this level, players can choose to have all-rounder Gladiators, magic-wielding Diviners, and Ornius Riders with increased movement on the battlefield.

Once you reach the stage of specialty classes, you can choose from 10 variants. From what Nintendo has revealed so far, each one of these classes is fine-tuned toward a particular role and includes Armored Knights for defense, Wing Soldiers who can leap over obstacles, and Charioteers who can strike multiple enemies when they move in a straight line.

Finally, advanced classes are masters of their craft, with some of the options here being armored infantry Catapharacts, Guardians who can use both white magic and spears, and Elephant Riders who can stomp out any opposition. 

Combat and Blaze Arts

Every weapon in Fire Emblem has limited durability, but if you’re in a pinch, you can sacrifice the longevity of your tool with Combat Arts. These attacks have more power and other advantageous effects, and when used at the right moment, they’ll turn the tide of battle. Alternatively, Blaze Arts are special moves that are fueled by health points, so you’ll want to reserve these moves as a last resort. Cai can unleash a wall of flames, Dietrich can warp out of danger, and Leda can buff allies.

Let’s do the time warp again

Want a redo? With Fortuna’s Blessing, you can turn back time to any previous point in battle after you make a move–perfect for when you need to rethink your tactics.

Fire Emblem has guns now

Or firearm-inspired gauntlets, to be exact. But we know a gun when we see it, and some characters are definitely packing heat in Fortune’s Weave.