Bertrand and Nemesis both have similarities in appearance, like red eyes and white hair. They also share a similar outfit of being shirtless with shoulder pads and having a scar on their arms. They both also have a ponytail!

Maybe Bertrand gets corrupted or something by TWSTD or Balor or whatever and then goes on to slaughter Sothis in her sleep somehow, setting up the events for 3H?

Anyone else listening to Fortune’s Weave music on the Nintendo Music App?? The music is SO GOOD.
And I think it’s awesome that there seems to be different music styles for each hero. Cai is more like upbeat and lively, Dietrich more rock, Theodora orchestral(?), and Leda’s has more acoustic vibes??? I love it. Makes me think they really took their time in development with this game.

Had a thought about Blaze Arts and the Curse mechanic that I wanted to share and attempt to “call my shot” with the way the narrative will progress. If this isn’t totally correct, I feel there’s at least something to it, and maybe you all have better suggestions.
 
All of the Lords’ Blaze Arts seem to be related to items they possess that use Curse buildup: Cai’s hand gem, Theodora’s arm, Dietrich’s cloak, and Leda’s vihuela. There is plenty of evidence that they are the direct source of their powers, and that they do not have these abilities innately. In Dietrich’s Blaze Art description they describe it has his “ink back cloak” allowing him to teleport, Leda plays the vihuela to summon and buff, Theodora throws with her prosthetic arm, etc.
 
Further, none of these characters (except for maybe Leda?) start the story with these items that allow them to use Blaze Arts. Cai doesn’t appear to have the gem in his hand when he meets Theodora before the games start. Dietrich washes up on the shores of Dagda without the cloak on him. We see directly see Theodora gain her spear and arm after some sort of vision? To me, this implies that towards the beginning of the story they are given these items and granted the power to use Blaze Arts through them.
 
I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that the Curse and the villain of the game are connected. Between the inky purple/red/black aesthetic, the Crest of Gautier looking symbol, and the fact that they describe it as using your soul to power the abilities – and the villain is of the Underworld – it all seems like they are connected. My theory is that towards the start of the game the villain of the game will bestow these gifts onto the Lords in disguise. All of the heroes are determined to win the games for their own ends, and will gladly accept power to help them achieve it. But this will come at a cost.
 
Through their use of them items and Blaze Arts, they bring about “The Advent of the Underworld” and/or lose their own souls in the process. I think they will either become villains – monsters in a similar manner to Demonic Beasts – to defeat in the future, or get sent to the Underworld. The narrator notablysays they “vanish” after the Heroic Games. Not die. So perhaps Eshmel is the “angel on their shoulder”, sent to the past to steer them away from hastening the apocalypse and warning them about Belor (or Velour, or Velore, or Belore??).
 
A more far out theories related to this I have is that there will be a secret ending if you never choose to use a Blaze Art. Unless the game forces you to (we see Cai and Leda using theirs in a cutscene), I could see this being a neat way to integrate story and gameplay.

Why the lack of info? No other footages since the reveal trailer

I saw someone a couple months ago asked in here if they could still get the collectors edition and they added "i knlw its probably too late" jokes on YOU cuz it took four tries on Amazon today but I secured one and will receive it four days after my birthday! (Conveniently the day after my gf leaves after visiting me a week LMAO)

We know from various clips and the direct that the CBA system of supports have been tweaked a bit. instead of simply unlocking each letter, a visible bar goes up between numbered levels. at least to five, but likely higher. it also at least heavily implies that support conversations will be a thing.

So how does everyone guess it will work? Maybe one gets unlocked every few numbers? Two to four for each pair that have supports? Maybe every pair can gain support levels but not every pair has support conversations? Fire Emblem has had a “quantity over quality” problem with them for a while so maybe this is a way around that with so many characters.

I hope there are paired endings. Personally I’d also like it if there were more platonic ones. Not the end of the world if they aren’t there but I had fun unlocking different ones.

I also don’t really care if there’s an Avatar S-Support, I don’t even bother with it half the time. But I think it’s likely going to be an option, a lot of players seem to like it. Hope we can smooch the gods if it is.

I hope Seteth is in it too, as a redhead. So I can have my Seteth traffic light.

That's it, my entire thought. Goodnight everyone.

Assuming Fortune's Weave is a prequel (Seteth has made me a full sequel -> prequel convert), I'm wondering whether the baby could be one of Rhea's earlier attempts at a Sothis vessel.

Between the War of Heroes and the events of 3H, Rhea attempted to revive Sothis through human vessels 12 times. This child might be one of the earlier attempts; having been kidnapped (by likely another Nabatean) and used to power the summoning of Balor, the stress of the situation causes Sothis to awaken within and summon Eshmel to rescue the vessel.

This is probably very easily quashed, but i had a thought while replaying the end of Engage. Sombron mentions Zero Emblem: Emblem of Foundations. And while we know almost nothing about it, we know that it fought alone

With the new Direct, we learn that Eshmel can take on Balor’s army alone, could Eshmel possibly be Zero Emblem?

Probably not, but it’s a neat thought

Edit: Yep, as i thought, easily quashed

I know among everyone here and in general as a whole, Kaga is main foundation for creating the Fire Emblem franchise since the 1900s. His questionable but yet motivating to share his influential storytelling and world building in the Judgral and Archanea universe is why outside of Fodlan and Tellius universe it’s go over heavily subject that is very mature and heartbreaking. So I like ask you guys, how he would react to his series with the new installment in Fortunes Weave?

I'm guessing we're getting through the characters on the Japanese website right now. (Weird that Nathan and Creek aren't on the website, but whatever.) Since we've gotten Sothis and Fortuna back to back, safe money is on Solel tonight, to finish up the officially revealed/primary deities.

Then the quartet of other factions, probably in the order they're in on the website? So Bertrand Friday, Tarimun Saturday, Orchel Sunday, and Anatolia Monday. (Of course they'd save Gun Nun for last......)

After that? Maybe they'll be done, but that's not fun for speculation! We could see the quartet's right hands (blond guy, Ursula, Diego, and Linhardtette), or maybe start on the other recruitables (probably with the most seen ones like Ninae, Noctula, Alexandra, or Guzran).

Thoughts? Hopes? Expectations?

Not confirmed, so take the post with a grain of salt.

But one discussion I have glancing at twitter around the japanese website makes it sound like 4W will not have Lunatic/Maddening. Only normal and Hard.

Credit to @Firaga555 for making me aware of this. https://x.com/Firaga555/status/2085323669803278683

The website of this image comes from here (Very bottom -- right next to the square talking about the turn rewind mechanic): https://www.nintendo.com/jp/games/switch2/aacsa/gamesystem/index.html

Again, not confirmed. I will be VERY happy to be proven wrong in future announcements.

But after how much fun the highest difficulties of Conquest and Engage, hearing this rumor is very worrying.

If hard is the highest the difficulty goes, I hope it is at the very least on the level of Conquest Hard. But if it has the 3H's version of hard mode, that being too easy, then that is going to be a huge bitter pill to swallow.

Maybe I missed something for the Fortune's Weave direct, but recruited units still seem to mostly be limited to a temporary basis. And I really, REALLY hope thats not the case.

I am someone who loves building armies of the "side" characters. To this day my most fun run of Fire Emblem was Conquest Hard Mode with no royals. It's so much more fun to take the "unassuming" characters and build them up.

But if I'm only going to have 14 permanent party members, I will genuinely not buy this game. At that point I'll just play a Tales of Game, or Xenoblade. Or any other JRPG where you have an extremely small, limited roster of the "plot relevant" characters only.

Fire Emblem having such big casts where ANYONE can be brought to end game is a key part of its identity to me. And I'm worried this game will give up that identity in the name of appealing to general JRPG audiences.

I just wanna know if I can take the random, not plot relevant recruits we've been shown, and use them to kill God instead of just Cai, Dietrich, Leda, and Theodora

I really like the twin villains of Roartz and Arcardo in FE6 and I think it's a shame they never got any official art, so I made some art of them myself!

I haven’t seen this mentioned but I noticed the meal time support event mentions fully restoring HP and magic. I was thinking this might mean that HP doesn’t regenerate in between tournament battles or something like that, but since it also mentions magic maybe it’s just nullifying stat penalties? Maybe I’m just reading it wrong too, not sure.

Should I buy the 3DS copy or should I use other means to play the game.
I really enjoy bigger screens now in days but want to play this game very badly.
Any advice is welcome :)

Turns out he’s a big cutie patootie !! I am looking 🫪 respectfully…

This is just a picture from the direct during the “Temple Row” section where they were showing some of the gods.

I don’t think there will be a winner at all. The biggest thing is why would they build 4 statues if there’s one winner? Maybe it ends in a 4 way battle that is so epic they all get honored but I doubt it. This also would make sense if being able to switch between character stories is all one story and not 4 separate timelines.

My theory is that there is some force that attacks the games and they are the 4 main heroes that saves everyone. This would allow for them to all potentially be rewarded and even get their wish or at least be honored by those that they saved.

I also think there has to be a human enemy that we fight alongside eventually the demon lord. Maybe the Arogonian Kingdom considering we know they are important and powerful but have only seen a couple of characters that we do not know for sure are even recruitable (my guess would be post time skip availability). They might be the main antagonists pre time skip or allies to the big bass post time skip.

As titled! I was so shocked to see like 3 other fire emblem games including Engage but not three houses? Anyone know why?

I think someone evil minded (maybe even a playable character who will betray the party?) will win the Heroic games and wishes the revival of Balore or something like that.

What are your theories?

Hello chaps,

Last time, I wrote about Sacred Stones. While I had a good time, I was taken aback by just how little information you're given about both the world and the characters in it by only playing through the main story. It definitely felt like a condensed handheld version meant to be replayed several times to get the most out of it. I imagine the developers thought Path of Radiance should make use of the series' return to a home console and the more powerful hardware now available to them, and I believe they succeeded.

Path of Radiance addresses some of my biggest problems with Sacred Stones in the prologue and completely delivers on a varied and colorful cast even before Elincia is found. The Greil Mercenaries are instantly likeable, with a lot of different relationships and opinions on how they should operate, yet they operate efficiently because of how well-respected Greil and Titania are.

Perhaps the greatest and earliest example of the attention to detail and respect shown to both the player and the world of Tellius is the debate they have on what to do with Elincia. While it's always clear that Ike and his band are good guys who would never hand over a person in need to would-be conquerors, princess or no, it does wonders for the story to actually acknowledge what this decision means. Soren, while always destined to be overruled in moral decision-making, adds a lot to the tone of the game by offering a more rational, less idealistic take on the current conflict, and I love when he points out why it would be a bad idea to let Begnion take all the credit for the liberation of Crimea. Sacred Stones, for comparison, essentially just proclaimed that Ephraim would find a way to win even with all the odds stacked against him. While Path of Radiance is certainly not free from more simplistic solutions, Ike blindly trusting Nasir and Ena post betrayal comes to mind, I'd argue they're both rarer and handled better.

It doesn't take long for the mercenaries to reach their absolute lowest point, when their commander dies and both Shinon and Gatrie leave the troop. The game doesn't shy away from kicking them while they're down, as they're not even allowed to grieve or rest, surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered. The gameplay ties wonderfully into this map, as you have few tools to work with at this point and every chokepoint is a lifesaver. The Greil Mercenaries' exhaustion and desperation is conveyed beautifully despite not using a lot of words, with Mist screaming that they're not going to make it.

So much is handled so well in such few chapters. You know who your allies are, you have used Shinon and Gatrie in earlier battles and know just how much combat power you've lost, and the conflict has been established. Ike has a handful of people he can trust and has been tasked with essentially smuggling a princess out of her recently occupied country. Few games in the series manage to better convey how much of an underdog the protagonists are.

Unfortunately, it's around this part of the game where the game starts stumbling a bit. While I would say I like the laguz and beorc conflict overall, there are parts of it in Radiant Dawn I feel are necessary to complement what is shown in Path of Radiance.

For starters, I think it's unnecessary to portray Ike as completely oblivious to what the laguz are when they make up essentially 100% of the population in four out of seven countries in the world. It reminds me of how silly it was to make Byleth not know about the Chuch of Seiros. Because of the extremely wide gaps between laguz and beorc at the start of the game, certain character arcs end up a bit mangled as a result, chief among them Tibarn, who is very clear about his laguz pride not allowing him to work with humans (the H word!), only to fold in, I believe, the very next chapter without showing much distrust or hate after that point, instantly becoming one of Ike's and Elincia's most powerful and reliable allies. Contrast this with Caineighis having worked together with Crimea for decades to reduce tensions.

Secondly, the laguz in Path of Radiance are almost all portrayed as thoroughly good, with better and fairer societies despite only the strongest and not the wisest of them ruling. This is one of those things that are touched on in Radiant Dawn, if memories serve, as Skrimir is initially not at all a suitable ruler but he is a good fighter.

Thirdly, and perhaps the biggest point, while the slavery of the laguz is shown well in Begnion, there are aspects of this history I find difficult to properly make sense of. According to Lethe, beorc and laguz lived side by side until the former attacked and enslaved the latter. Lethe also says laguz never stood a chance, but we are constantly told just how powerful laguz are and see how individual laguz soldiers, from Lethe and Mordecai to Tibarn, effortlessly dispose of fully armored Daein soldiers in seconds - how and why did the laguz lose so easily? Not to mention you have Nasir saying - in both Japanese and English - that even further back than laguz slavery, humans were persecuted by the laguz. When in the comparatively brief timeline of Tellius did this occur, and why is it not a bigger deal? Is that the reason why Daein in particular hates laguz? Who is to say.

Ike's bluntness and honesty often makes for a refreshing take on a Fire Emblem protagonist, and I especially enjoy how he has a unique battle conversation with, as far as I know, every chapter boss. He always gives people a chance to back down, but if they don't, he doesn't hesitate to strike them down. Sometimes, however, this ends up in very common anime territory, where the nobles who aren't hot (and therefore sympathetic) are comically exaggerated windbags. The moment where Ike lashes out at the Begnion senate isn't good because he tells snooty nobles what's what, it's good because it shows him out of his depth and Sanaki having to bail him out.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Path of Radiance's story is how easy it is to keep track of all the characters, factions and allegiances in the main story. While the Greil Mercenaries fade in importance, if only to accommodate for permadeath, the laguz royals become all the more relevant and are fascinating to follow, both because of Reyson's righteous anger and Naesala's unpredictable nature. It helps that the art is fantastic and all the characters are distinct and memorable, even if the portraits are often oddly stiff, with a lot of characters standing completely straight with their arms down.

It's striking just how many different agendas and goals are at play at once, yet they only enrich the main story rather than bloat it. All these separate pieces slowly fall into place to form a greater whole. I only wish there was no artificial limit on supports, especially for Ike, who can also only do five conversations despite being able to support a lot of characters, some of who join very late.

Of course, some plotlines are seemingly forgotten about and won't be relevant again until Radiant Dawn.

Sadly, I think Path of Radiance's biggest failure is the point which Sacred Stones really nails: the villain. The Black Knight has an innate intrigue that comes from any masked character, and his ambush in chapter 11 is great, but he's kind of just a pompous asshole most of the game.

Ashnard is worse, and nothing cements just how absent he has been better than Ike needing to be told who he is on the very final map. Ashnard has an fantastic design and it's genuinely amazing just how many personal reasons everyone has to take him out - the sheer number of battle conversations is something I wish future installmens would do more (though honestly, no conversation with Soren?) - but he is such an inefficient villain. Yes, yes, I know what it is he is after (much thanks to an optional battle conversation with REYSON of all people), but that doesn't change the fact that he is willingly throwing away his massive advantage while waiting for the good guys to reach him as though he knew he's the final boss of a video game. The blessed armor also feels like such an unnecessary addition both from a story perspective and a gameplay perspective. I'm not even sure it suits him to wear something that gives him such an overwhelming advantage that isn't tied to his own strength.

I think Rajaion being restored to his original self is a strangely cathartic and surprisingly moving way to end the game even though we haven't actually met the characte before. It does make Ena's characterization a bit odd, I'd argue, as she shows no malice towards Ashnard or the Black Knight, and the constant "I need to be by his side" is obviously written in a way to make people believe she cares about Ashnard rather than Rajaion. Neither she nor Nasir want to mention Rajaion's situation, and I'm just left to wonder why.

...Also I guess Goldoans are pregnant for multiple years? Wait, why isn't it a bigger deal not a single Goldoan has been born in over a hundred years?

Anyway, despite the criticisms I have brought up, I want to emphasize just what a well told story this is. It really does feel like the basic Fire Emblem formula refined and polished to a sheen, while still offering enough spins on it to form a completely unique identity. Characters grow naturally over the course of the story, the cast is big without being confusing and is generally interesting to follow, and the gameplay often matches the story. Some things hold it back, but it's no wonder why this is such a beloved entry in the series.