It's been a while since I've done one of these, but we finally have another Nintendo release! Thank goodness, after two months of no releases I was about to go insane!
Jokes aside, it has kinda felt like it's been a bit, even if it hasn't been that long since the last release. It's probably because of how frequently we were getting new releases through most of the year so far, making the complete blank spot in the calendar that was August feel pretty jarring.
Well, regardless, we've got a big one to talk about, as Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave finally arrives today, a year and 4 days after its initial announcement in last year's September Direct! And when I say a 'big one', I mean it, as I've seen this game described as being one of the most ambitious and expansive games Nintendo has ever published. It's easy to see why, though, with 4 protagonists, each with their own campaign, storyline, backstory and motivations, all of which can be played in parallel and building up to a shared climax.
For a long time, I wasn't sure if I was going to pick this one up. I've gone on record saying that Fire Emblem is the one major Nintendo franchise I have never engaged with, though not for lack of desire. I wanted to try Three Houses when it came out, but at the time, I was a high school student with very limited funds, and with games like Super Mario Maker 2 and Astral Chain coming out around the same time that I was far more interested in, I ultimately ended up passing on it and never getting around to picking it up later. A similar thing happened with Engage, where my priorities were elsewhere at the time, specifically in making sure I was ready for the then forthcoming launch of Tears of the Kingdom.
After the June Direct this year, where Fortune's Weave was further detailed, I was scared off by the $80 price tag for a physical copy. A lot's changed since then, though. The Fortune's Weave Direct that happened early last month did a lot to intrigue me, and as we've gotten closer to launch and I've seen the hype for the game build, I couldn't help but get caught up in it. Eventually, I learned that Amazon was offering pre-orders of the physical copy for the $70 price point of the digital copy, and so, I decided it was finally time to take the plunge into the series representing the biggest blind spot on my Nintendo game playing resume.
That's a really long winded way of saying that my copy should be arriving today, and that I am incredibly excited to make Fortune's Weave my first Fire Emblem game! I have no idea if it's going to click for me, especially with my struggles to get into tactical RPGs in the past- I didn't get very far in Wargroove when I tried it upon release, and even something like Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle lost me in the third world because I was growing frustrated to the point where I wasn't having fun anymore- but I'm gonna go into it with an open mind! I intend to give it a few weeks of my time, and if it doesn't end up clicking, I'll move on, satisfied that I gave it a fair shot and found it to not be for me. And if it does click? Well, who knows how much time I'll end up sinking into it.
I'm not going to know whether it's for me until I have the game in my hands and am actively playing it, but I'm super excited to find out! And whether you're like me, getting roped into the hype and diving into Fire Emblem for the very first time, or have been a fan of the series for years, I hope you enjoy your adventures in the Dagdan Empire!
Let the Heroic Games begin!
