Reviews Praise Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave as a Vast, Open Switch 2 Tactical RPG

The game is designed around four main hero routes and a final act that ties them together, allowing players to experience multiple stories in one large playthrough. According to The Verge, players can swap between heroes and storylines from early on, and can merge stats from characters used in multiple routes to create a supercharacter later. TechRadar said players choose any of the four Flame Lords' paths from a central hub after a brief prologue, and can play them in any order. The paths center on the Heroic Games, a grand arena event in the city of Dagsion, whose champion is granted a wish by Divine Sovereign Solel, who rules the land of Dagda and its capital.

The structure is split into parts. The Verge reported that part one follows a chosen hero competing in a grand tournament in Dagsion, part two carries the hero's squad into a war, and part three shifts to the true protagonist leading a fight against the undead. The Verge said parts one and three give players leeway to train, recruit allies, explore a vast map for resources, and take on skirmishes, with a calendar counting down to the next main story event but no requirement to spend days in a fixed way. Part two, according to the review, is mostly one battle after another with little pre-battle preparation.

TechRadar described the four routes as distinct in tone, with each Flame Lord having personal ambitions and close allies. It cited the vengeful Leda with bard Sirocco and warrior Buccar, and Dietrich with Esmeralda and eccentric missionary Fabio. The review said cross-path storytelling reveals information that answers or raises questions about events in other routes, changing how players see certain characters. Recruitable allies include foes from the Heroic Games and other parties in Dagsion, with recruitment requirements often varying by story.

Combat remains turn-based strategy. The Verge said players choose allies and spend turns attacking, healing, or using support moves, with different classes making diverse squads important. Some battles have objectives such as defeating thieves before they escape while fighting giant birds. On standard difficulty with permadeath off, The Verge said it did not have much trouble, but often used god blessings that allow abilities such as rewinding a move after a mistake. The Verge also said some dungeon and story battles play like a more typical turn-based RPG, which it found less interesting and often skipped using an autoplay feature to gain experience and stat boosts.

TechRadar praised the turn-based combat and fresh mechanics, gripping storytelling, dialogue, and dungeon sections that add variation, while noting that support grinding can feel repetitive. The Verge said completing all four hero routes in parts one and two took about 100 hours in total, even after reducing battle animations, skipping already-seen cutscenes, and fast traveling. TechRadar said it had spent more than 200 hours in the game, played through each of the four Flame Lords' paths, and taken the battle to the demonic god Balor, with more still to see. Part three, according to The Verge, adds the ability to juggle multiple squads at once instead of roaming with a single team, which initially felt daunting but became manageable.

Both reviews emphasized the scale and freedom of Fortune's Weave. The Verge said the game's many progression paths and team customization options made it engrossing, while TechRadar said its multi-path story offers hundreds of hours of content and that the world is large enough to sink hundreds of hours into without seeing everything. TechRadar also highlighted the game's visuals, cast, and soundtrack.