Nintendo’s Switch 2 is entering the latter half of 2026 with some games that seem to be pushing what’s possible for its soon-to-be $500 console. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave tries so many new things, testing the limits of the handheld’s graphical capabilities. It’s too bad it’s not always flexing what makes the Switch 2 so unique.
I still dream of a console-based strategy game that can marry the couch-based comforts of consoles with the versatility of a mouse-and-keyboard control scheme. It’s why I was so smitten with the Steam Controller. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave takes the Switch 2’s mouse controls and effectively makes the feature pointless, especially because it refuses to employ a typical mouse cursor.
The game series—going back to its Game Boy roots—has always relied on simple controls that fit their grid-based combat systems. That hasn’t changed with the latest title. You can use your controller or Joy-Con 2’s sticks to select various tiles and then send them close to enemies to attack. Otherwise, you can use the Joy-Con’s mouse mode to do the same. You don’t have a mouse cursor appear on screen. Instead, you roll over to the right character and tile, then use the Z1 button as the pseudo mouse click. Even selecting items in a menu is basically the same as if you were using a joystick.
We need more games that take the Switch 2 controls to their extreme, more than mere waggle features, gyro aiming, or easier block-breaking in Pokémon Pokopia.
At the very least, the first Fire Emblem game exclusive to the Switch 2 is making use of the hardware in other ways, mainly by looking so dang beautiful either in handheld mode or on a TV at 4K. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave has the highest production values in the series’ long history. Every time your units attack each other, the camera zooms down to the action to watch every swipe of the sword or bolt of fire. The characters roll or dodge out of the way of every missed attack in a way that’s so fun to watch, I rarely, if ever, wanted to fast-forward through the action.
Visually, the battles are easily the most evocative ever, especially when watching the game’s actions up close or in the battle maps. Every scene looks detailed, but it’s made all the better with a unique visual style that combines cell-shaded aesthetics with classical looks reminiscent of the early Roman Empire. The one knock in this presentation is the game’s walkable areas. The main city of Dagsion is full of unique architecture, but there are parts that feel surprisingly flat, with repetitive textures that blend one part of the city into the next.
I’ve only played through the game’s prologue and a huge chunk of the first of three chapters. I can’t say what else players may see in later parts of the game. Still, beyond aesthetics, the game offers more voiced dialogue than ever. The main cast of each of the four separate protagonists, plus a swathe of the recruitable mercenaries that can join your troop, are all voice acted during gameplay and during the special “Support” conversation cutscenes between characters. The only time you hear the typical JRPG grunts and barks is when running around doing side quests—most of which amount to little more than chores.
Recent Fire Emblem titles from the developers at Intelligent System, especially Fire Emblem: Three Houses, have leaned further into concepts popularized by Atlus’ Persona series, namely time-based mechanics. Chapter 1 is split between doing the main quest battles and the time in between, where you’re expected to train your crew to level up their abilities and pal around with them at a theater, bathhouse, or with dinner at the local inn. You’re also expected to wander around a massive map, fighting repetitive battles against brigands or wolves while desperately looking for any side content that can while away the hours.
From what I played of the game’s first chapter, there never seems to be enough side content to make up for all the time players have on their hands. It’s a credit to the game’s branching narrative that it always feels worth it to push through the side content to get to the main action. The four protagonists, Cai, Leda, Theodora, and Dietrich, are all working toward the same prize, a wish granted by the divine sovereign. While the paths they take intersect, especially during the headlining Heroic Games coliseum-style battles, you won’t know the full story until you play every character.
I can’t help but feel more fascinated by this version of Fire Emblem than any of the series’ previous titles since Path of Radiance on the GameCube. Nintendo has asked that I avoid most spoilers, but I will say that each main character is interesting in their own right. Leda, a dancer and musician running around with the equivalent of a cursed lute, especially drew me in with her calamitous upbringing watching her father killed in front of her eyes. Theodora, a deposed queen with a cursed arm, is equally interesting as she navigates a culture not of her own people.
If you’re determined to live out every day, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave will feel extremely massive. Collectively, I’ve put in more than 20 hours into the game, and I’ve only managed to scratch the surface. It’s going to prove a divisive game, as well, with all the humdrum sidequests and repetitive content. But of all the exclusive content coming to Switch 2 this year, it may be the most fascinating game on the console, even if everything it tries doesn’t always deliver. It may be the one game that helps you get over the hump between September and the inevitable launch of the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave launches on Switch 2 Sept. 17.
