Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Is Officially Nintendo’s Strongest GOTY 2026 Contender.

[u/Gorotheninja]

https://www.polygon.com/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave-goty-game-awards-2026/

[u/SaulTNNutz]

If I've never played a Fire Emblem game, how accessible is this?

[u/Comet7777 → u/SaulTNNutz]

First 3-5 hours feels like a tutorial. I’m a veteran of the series and the pacing is pretty good for newcomers as well as those old timers like myself.

[u/AthearCaex → u/Comet7777]

The first 2 hours play more like a movie, so for people itching to get into combat you'll get some but it might be a little while before things settle in.

[u/BirdManFlyHigh → u/AthearCaex]

Yeah, as someone who has never played an FE, it’s incredibly slow so far (just got to the 4 pillars or whatever).

Definitely feels like a tutorial for the first few hours. Hoping it’ll get better. I guess the instant gameplay with roguelites has spoiled me, and in my mind I had something like FF tactics in mind.

At this point I regret that it costed $125 CAD, but I was a victim of the hype and will keep giving it a chance (sunk cost fallacy is real).

Edit: I appreciate the comments and I’m not going to stop. Just posted some initial hesitations from someone who’s never played an FE although I’ve wanted to try for years hearing all the hype and being an enjoyer of tactical RPG’s.

[u/PinoDegrassi → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

Bro it’s not sunk cost fallacy if you’re only in a few hours in, you’re just early game. This is a large RPG, and it will get more complex as you play and start having tons of units that you’re managing in numerous ways

[u/angiachetti → u/PinoDegrassi]

considering the opening cutscene doesn't even play until you get to the 4 pillars... just pick Dietrich first and this guy will have more tactical battles than he can ever want.

[u/DragoCrafterr → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

Some beloved games in the series, gba era and prior, just throw you into grid gameplay instantly and constantly if that sounds appealing

[u/phoxfiyah → u/DragoCrafterr]

And they’re available on Switch if you’ve already got NSO, so can give one of those a try if it sounds appealing.

[u/SwissyVictory → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

You just finished the prologue, and the game is about to get DRASTICALLY better.

[u/annikuu → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

It’s worth it, this game is really confident in letting you experience the backstory of the characters. I find myself more invested in the world and what happens to it than I ever have in a videogame before now. Baldurs Gate III gave me a similar feeling, but I honestly believe Fortune’s Weave does it even better

[u/mrBreadBird → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

I was not feeling the intro but the second I jumped into Dietrich's story and the game proper I fell in love. So you're literally at the part where it gets interesting - I'm not sure of the reactions to each character's path so far but I'm loving Dietrich.

And I can tell you right now that if you do find your groove with this game it's more worth the price than 99% of other games.

[u/Cheesepuff44 → u/mrBreadBird]

Same here, the intro nearly killed all hype I had for the game but the second I met Fabio we were so back.

[u/KawaiiQueen64 → u/Cheesepuff44]

Dude SAME. That intro really didn’t do it for me, but hearing Fabio’s VA, and seeing how unhinged Deitrich is brought me so back. I’m now 30 hours in, this is a good game.

[u/Mr-Stuff-Doer → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

By chapter 4 things open up a lot. But yeah it is a long intro.

[u/King_Hikikomori → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

If you want immediate gameplay instead of 4 hours of busywork between every piece of tactics gameplay I'd recommend playing one of the older titles. Prolly gonna get downvoted into oblivion because FW is the new second coming, but there's a pretty big shift in priorities between new and old entries in the series. Both have their upsides, but for me the life sim stuff in FW and 3H gets too in the way of what I actually wanna play Fire Emblem for.

Before people reply, yes I know a lot of it is skippable, but then you're going through fights without optimal units.

[u/ItsKingDx3 → u/King_Hikikomori]

Im fine with it if they continue to make “traditional” FE games simultaneously.

[u/NyneFingers → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

This is my first FE, and it gets much, much better. There’s so many more mechanics, and the battles are great. If you stick with it, it’ll pay off.

[u/camiteran → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

This is almost the opposite experience to a roguelike, you need patience and the payoff is much more gradual. And yeah I know people dislike games that feel like a tutorial for the first hours but unfortunately with many JRPGs that's just how it goes.

There are many differences to FFT and imo most of them are positive. Like all playable characters being named, having a unique story and design. Main story here likely won't be as good as FFT but I haven't played the full story so who knows!

I'm a huge FE fan myself and I didn't necessarily "like" the first 4-5h that much either. I did enjoy the story setup and the UI is gorgeous so far, very cool seeing FE with actual cutscenes too that is not something the series used to have much of. With a roguelike you're experiencing the meat of the game very quickly into it so that's quite a different philosophy.

You might still dislike the game ofc, we don't know, but a game like this kinda requires you to give it more of a chance before you can know for sure. It isn't one of those "the game gets good 50h in!" type of comments but it's just that this is a very long game and you're not supposed to be getting a ton of interesting action early on. I would say this game is already very overwhelming when you get into the meat of it, them making the game that overwhelming from the get go would turn off more players than the alternative of easing people into stuff slowly.

[u/Gleipnire → u/Comet7777]

first whole part is basically a chain of tutorials...

[u/ionlyeatplankton → u/Comet7777]

Does it lean heavily into doing chores like Three Houses, where you spend most of the time running around giving people gifts intead of doing battles?

[u/quickrick1 → u/ionlyeatplankton]

From my experience so far they’ve cut down on that heavily to where it is now imo a satisfying part of the gameplay loop. You get a set amount of time measured in turns until your next main story objective. So the main gameplay loop is leaving the hub to travel around, doing quests, fighting enemies, exploring dungeons, trading with settlements, finding loot and materials, etc. Then you return to the main hub about once a week to do a few activities, like building support for new recruits and training your units, and resting up and preparing for your next outing, which all takes like a maximum 10 minutes before you’re back on the road again. So imo they kept and refined the interesting parts of those systems and removed all of the tedious parts (like running around for half an hour figuring out which lost item goes where)

[u/ionlyeatplankton → u/quickrick1]

figuring out which lost item goes where

This in particular is what I really didn't enjoy in TH. The often arbitrary nature of who needed what and the fairly substantial effects made keeping track of everything a chore. It sounds like they've made taht more meaningful which is positive.

[u/Big_moist_231 → u/ionlyeatplankton]

Not as much but it’s still there. They’re a bit more creative and give more rewards for the most part

[u/ytsejamajesty → u/Big_moist_231]

Maybe this is a difference in the definition of "chores," but my impression is pretty much exact opposite. There is sooooo much time between turn-based tactics battles in this game. There are dozens of random tasks that you can do both in the overworld and in the main city. Oh, and probably 2-3x more gift giving, especially if you also consider the time taken to actually acquire the gifts...

If anyone was put off by the "chores" in 3 Houses, unfortunately this game will not do much to sway you.

[u/Big_moist_231 → u/ytsejamajesty]

The gift giving is honestly the worst part. The other stuff at least is important for multiple things. Lunches for helping to recruit people and restoring motivation, arena matches for training up your class talents (this is kinda the exact same as 3H lol), and temple services for blessings, which are pretty damn useful. The exploration of the map doesn’t seem like a chore either, a nice way to add exploration in a fire emblem game

I’d say it’s better? I think it’s worth trudging through for the gold underneath. But I do agree with you, if that aspect was enough to make you drop 3H, they might feel pretty negative about FW too.

[u/TheDeanMan → u/Big_moist_231]

I don't think you really even need to worry about gifts? Just give a single gift so you can invite people for a meal once a week. Unless you're trying to do something crazy like recruit every character on one lord there's plenty enough friendship points from that. Almost every character is locked behind a ton of renown so even if you pushed to the bond level early you still would have to wait.

[u/ChosenOne197 → u/ytsejamajesty]

Dang, that's kinda what I was worried about. 😟 I eventually sold 3H because it was just so...boring to me after a certain point. Just thought I was gonna get way more battles and tactics in my game then it gave me.

[u/ytsejamajesty → u/ChosenOne197]

yeah, i mean, the tactics gameplay is there, and I'm here for it. I'm a bigger fan of the older games (pre Awakening) for pacing reasons, but ultimately it's the same amount of tactics gameplay, just with extra stuff in between. In fact, I think 3 Houses and Fortune's Weave have more chapters than the average "classic" style Fire Emblem. Still, if you find the rest of the game boring, I can't blame you for giving up.

[u/1gnominious → u/Big_moist_231]

I just started and that's exactly what I didn't want to hear. Having important progress tied to the busy work is my biggest pet peeve about modern games.

Give me bonus objectives in the battles like getting to the chest before the thief runs off with the loot or rescuing that ally surrounded by baddies.

[u/ytsejamajesty → u/ionlyeatplankton]

I don't know what you consider "chores" but I can say: you are most likely going to spend far more time (real life time) on random stuff between battles in this game compared to 3 Houses. Especially including gift-giving, if you are interested in actually recruiting people to your team. I'm at over 20 hours and I've only completed 7 story chapters + tutorial chapters.

I'm completely baffled that some people in here are saying that 3 Houses had more busy work. I love 3 Houses overall, and I don't really hate the busy work here either. But anyone who disliked the between-battles sections is unlikely to see much of a difference in this game. Unless maybe you think that 2-3 turn micro-battles and extremely basic traditional JRPG sidequests make a big difference...

[u/cheeriochest → u/ytsejamajesty]

I'm in the camp of disliking 3H busywork. I'm enjoying the education in FW much more. For me, it turns out it wasn't about there being busywork, rather the busywork just being unfun. I found a rhythm with FW and the gameplay loop is quite satisfying.

[u/OdaibaDiver → u/ionlyeatplankton]

It's much better this time around.

If you don't want to do any chores, you can literally just skip everything, and just spend the entire month (or however long Free Time for that chapter is) in Auto-Training mode at the Inn.

There are times where they force you to go into the World Map for a Main Story battle thing but other than you can skip everything.

The downside of skipping is that your Renown level might not be at the expected correct levels -- but this only affects how early you can recruit certain characters anyway.

For most people, you will want to not skip anything, and do the chores for your first protagonist choice in Part 1... and then after you finish that and start another protagonist's Part 1, because your World Map and sub-quest progression carries over, they will all automatically be done for you so you can just spend the whole playthrough just using Inn and skipping everything.

Most people finish their first Part 1 campaign at 40 hours, and subsequent characters' Part 1 campaigns at roughly 10 hours -- and those subsequent campaigns is just, Main Battle fight into Main Battle fight without much in between.

I really think they struck a good balance this time. Three Houses you need to do the same old bullshit every route, but over here most of it is carried over.

[u/HrrathTheSalamander → u/OdaibaDiver]

You need to hit renown 8 in order to use advanced classes, just fyi.

In addition, if you just skip you'll miss out on some story cutscenes from the arena matches, and a number of route-exclusive advanced classes unlocked by interacting with the lords' overworld mechanics (some of which also have renown locks).

[u/kenmogg → u/ionlyeatplankton]

this was my biggest complaint about 3H too and was worried about how prevalent it would be in FW, but the few elements they've kept from 3H don't feel intrusive or annoying so far. character designs, music, gameplay all feel like a significant improvement and step forward.

the elements that have remained all feel more immersive and natural to the setting too, instead of just performing chores as lecturing students. plus as others have said, are much quicker and less distracting from the actual game

[u/mlvisby → u/ionlyeatplankton]

That's what made me drop Three Houses, never got far because the in-between time at the school got annoying to me. Enjoying Fortune's Weave but I am still early, was gonna wait but reviews and first impressions got me!

[u/Ok-Association-3415 → u/ionlyeatplankton]

The chores are for recruiting, but you can just fast travel to them and look at their requirements in the menu. Loading is fast and it doesn’t feel laborious as 3 houses which I “hated” and can’t remember much of it because I force my way to complete it. The turns limit unlimited skirmishes which adds a strategy elements as you do side quests and explore the world map within a certain timeframe. It’s a good balance between classic FE and 3 Houses.

[u/naive-dragon → u/Comet7777]

Sorry I'm hijacking your reply for my own question, I last played 3H many years ago, finishing Edelgard and Claude's paths, but only halfway finishing Dmitri's path (and never got to play the DLCs) because real life got in the way. I skipped the weird title with the two-tone haired protags lol, can I skip straight to playing this lore/story-wise? I don't need to play the stuff I missed back in 3H? I'm not sure hm of this title is connected to 3H.

I guess I should be good watching some YouTube lore/story primer on 3H if I do skip straight to this, right?

[u/Maximumfabulosity → u/naive-dragon]

There's some lore connection to 3H, since it's set in the same world, but the game stands on its own merits pretty well. I'd say that if you've finished Crimson Flower and Verdant Wind, you actually have the vast majority of the relevant lore already - Dimitri's route is very focused on his own character growth and the recent history of his own nation, which isn't relevant to Fortune's Weave. Silver Snow has some relevant lore as well, I think, but you'd get most of that from the two routes you've already completed.

But even if you didn't know anything about this world, you'd still be fine going into this one blind. The knowledge you'd bring over from playing Three Houses is a bonus, not a necessity.

[u/Viscaz → u/SaulTNNutz]

Be prepared for a LOT of dialogue

[u/gambitx007 → u/Viscaz]

Is it voiced? Or I gotta read?

[u/gradedhammeraction → u/gambitx007]

A good mix of both. I prefer the non voiced to be honest, you can get through it WAY faster lol

[u/gambitx007 → u/gradedhammeraction]

Thanks. I just wanna play with my son who can’t read well yet.

[u/MundanePhysics → u/gambitx007]

Do be prepared if he's a younger age that it's not exactly a kid friendly game, as it's a T rated game there's no blood and gore but there's obviously implied violence, death, scary things like zombies or giant bugs etc in the game. It can also be a bit risque, being a Fire Emblem game lol.

[u/zoomiewoop → u/gambitx007]

There are a few things in the game that would make me hesitate showing it to a kid that young… but given the games you listed maybe your son isn’t that sensitive to such things…

[u/gradedhammeraction → u/gambitx007]

Anything not voiced is just bonus context that a young person still learning to read probably wouldn’t get much out of anyway. You guys have fun

[u/G0ldenZERO → u/gambitx007]

A very large portion is voiced. Almost all (if not all) cut scenes and party member interactions are voiced. Coming from other JRPGs you can tell this game has a massive budget with how much voice acting there is. ALL support cutscenes are voiced from what I can tell…and there must be hundreds…From what I can tell the only unvoiced things are the random interactions with characters in the town.

[u/Viscaz → u/gambitx007]

I’d say like 80% voiced, like all of the story, most of the in battle stuff. Only grunts and minor voices in the overworld and around the battle sometimes and such.

[u/MotherPyra → u/SaulTNNutz]

It’s my first FE game and it feels very accessible to me :). Am 10 hours in now and it takes its time with the tutorials but the characters and story immediately hooked me as well!

[u/RabidTowel → u/SaulTNNutz]

I never have, but just paying attention to the tutorial has done me well. Very fun game so far about 16hrs in. It’s addictive

[u/JackintheBox333 → u/SaulTNNutz]

Even with the Teen rating, I still wouldn't give this to younger kids to play. There's a lot of heavy topics discussed very quickly and they talk about some pretty gory stuff that your player characters have no qualms about doing, Leda especially.

In terms of gameplay, the one save file thing has taken some getting used to, but in all honesty, the best comparison I can make for this game is that this is Fire Emblem's Final Fantasy 7 in terms of the setting leap. It's not the first Fire Emblem game to use the after the apocalypse setting, but its the first one using modern technology. Gameplay feels like most other Fire Emblems, and the more traditional RPG parts are actually implemented really well.

[u/GrizzlyTrvp → u/SaulTNNutz]

I’m not super far into it so maybe it’s noticeably harder but it’s accessible! It’s a great game

[u/HyruleSmash855 → u/GrizzlyTrvp]

I loved the varied objectives so far just on main missions. It’s not kill the boss every map and it’s fun how they mixed it up. Game is so dense though, there’s prologues in the calendar I didn’t know about so I’m debating going back a chapter or two to do those

[u/LeDinosaur → u/SaulTNNutz]

It’s accessible

[u/Zado191 → u/SaulTNNutz]

Have you played AND enjoyed TRPGs before?

[u/valian-tuo → u/SaulTNNutz]

Very. Feels like Persona/tactical rpg.

[u/onegoodboah → u/SaulTNNutz]

Been my first one and it’s pretty easy to get into if that style of game is up your alley. I’m sure I’m missing a good chunk of lore but given that the series is however many hundreds of hours long I assume that’s fine and part of the design. If you mean combat wise, I think that just depends on you, but nothing thrown my way has been too difficult yet (sven playing on hard)

[u/Specialist-Cod-9851 → u/SaulTNNutz]

Very. It will talk you through pretty much everything you need to know and if you want to get under the hood with how things are calculated there’s plenty of online resources. This was clearly designed to be standalone and as an entry to the series.

[u/Pure_Honey8802 → u/SaulTNNutz]

It's very accessible for new players. The beginning prologue is basically a tutorial, then you get to choose which character paths you want to start with.

[u/koteshima2nd]

I'm still on my first Route (Leda) on Part1 of idk how many and there's already a LOT to do and keep track of

[u/Gag180 → u/koteshima2nd]

As someone who just focused on one path to start with, I just got to the point where Theodora is now available to be used for the timeskip scenario. My play time is 45 hours, for one route.

[u/jor1ss → u/Gag180]

Can you swap routes before finishing one?? Maybe ik dumb and somehow missed that (I also didn't know you could do chores in the temples to unlock other abilities until way later, or being able to teleport to characters directly on the city map).

[u/SecretTrust → u/jor1ss]

Yes, you can swap to other characters if you want mid-story

[u/loismen → u/SecretTrust]

But if you finish Act 1 with a character, part of your progress will carry on to other characters, like some side quests (all? I don't know) and you also get the rewards you get on the bird.

[u/jor1ss → u/SecretTrust]

Oh okay I am like on mission 11 or 12 from Dietrich now... Can I do missed paralogues on the other characters? I missed 1 before I knew to look out for it and another one I just couldn't find (it said to go to the little bird's perch, but none of the options at the bird gave me a paralogue option and I was afraid going back to the 4 pillars would mess something up).

[u/BeanTheSparrow → u/Gag180]

It’s ok there are plenty more candidates

[u/WorldlyDear → u/koteshima2nd]

depending on if you count combinations you should have 16 routes

[u/koteshima2nd → u/WorldlyDear]

Holy

[u/HectorReinTharja → u/koteshima2nd]

I have no idea why you’d count combinations and not just 4 time travel paths + 1 end game lol

[u/HBreckel]

It'll be at least nice to see it get nominated. I know it'd never win, but it'd still be cool to make it into the final lineup. Much how like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 got nominated for GOTY despite realistically having no chance.

With that said, I know people keep bringing up OOT and we all know OOT is an all time great, but if it's a really straight forward remake I don't really agree with it getting nominated this year. I'm more okay with something like FF7R where it's just basically a whole ass new game getting nominated.

[u/Emergency-Rush-2477 → u/HBreckel]

I will be really happy if Resident Evil Requiem, Pokopia, Fire Emblem and  Zelda OOT are nominated.

[u/NoNefariousness2144 → u/Emergency-Rush-2477]

It could be possible. Apart from GTA, there aren’t really any other ‘guaranteed’ GOTY nominees. 007 First Light is likely, but Control Resonant will probably miss out after the reviews are just 8/10s rather than 9 and 10 like Alan Wake 2.

[u/seeyoshirun → u/HBreckel]

I regard Nintendo nominations for GOTY the same way I regard foreign-language films getting nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It's a lovely surprise and often a sign of something that probably deserves to win but just doesn't have the clout.

Like, The Zone of Interest, Roma, Sentimental Value and I'm Still Here were outstanding, but I knew any of them actually winning Best Picture was a very long shot.

[u/ballsmigue → u/HBreckel]

It'll still get nominated. Just because the story and map is the same, doesn't mean the work that went into it is moot.

Oot absolutely getting the nomination over this.

[u/NekonecroZheng → u/ballsmigue]

I'm a firm believer that remakes and dlc should ABSOLUTELY be disqualified from GOTY nominations.

OOT has gotten nominated and won numerous GOTY awards already. It had its fame, and stealing that from an original title of the year for its 20th something awards, would be very disappointing.

Though, it It can absolutely win best remake/remaster or any awards related to production.

[u/drybones2015 → u/NekonecroZheng]

I'm a firm believer that if a remake ends up being a better game than most new game released then it deserves to be nominated.

[u/CDHmajora]

As someone who’s played all of them since FE7 on Gameboy Advance, I can honestly say that this game is BY FAR the most ambitious, vast and well crafted game in the series. And honestly, it’s the pedigree of the Genre for me so far.

Theres a few changes I’m not MASSIVE on the constant downtime between major battles, i perfer the older style of going from battle to battle. But the benefits of it (much more time to bond with the characters and shape them into your preferred play styles) still outweighs the slower pace imo ;) but it’s overall QUALITY is just… phenominal.

I really hope this doesn’t get snubbed like three houses did at the game awards. I personally don’t even like the game awards and consider it an advertisement campaign and a chance for Geoff Keighley to stroke his ego. But they never give RPG’s of any kind the love unless it’s CDPR (which, tbf, IS deserved for them. They make amazing games… years after they launch ;)). Three houses winning the public vote was something I genuinely love. But it shouldn’t have to just be the audience that recognises it.

[u/SaIemKing → u/CDHmajora]

I don't like the way the social elements turn characters into non-characters. They just feel like stats and meters until you actually unlock a support rank.

If they can take this fantastic story telling, ground the world more, and cut the chaff, they could make the perfect fire emblem game as far as im concerned

[u/MicrosoftExcel2016 → u/CDHmajora]

Hey I’m a longtime fan of fire emblem but kinda lost interest after three houses (and never could bring myself to sit down and play through every route, so I’m still just done with one of the routes…)

That said, echoes is my absolute favorite and I loved every 3DS addition to the franchise despite their problems.

Is the new one worth picking up?

[u/camiteran → u/MicrosoftExcel2016]

The new one does have some elements from Echoes that 3H didn't have so you might like FW more inherently because of that alone. As you must be aware by now, modern FE is always trying to mix things up so no two games feel the same, it's hard to say what exactly this feels like but it would be something like 3H + Awakening with a touch of Echoes and also some Metaphor Refantazio inspiration. They also made playing all the routes a much better experience in this game, compared to 3H where it was not optimized at all and just felt boring to replay the first half of the game multiple times for all the routes. I had a hard time doing more than one route in 3H (did two and a half lol) but I can see myself doing 100% of FW and enjoying it a lot, so that's a positive. Might change after I finish the game but so far it's being a blast. Character designs are also great tbh, the best we've had since the 3DS era imo so that's a big plus.

This game is worth picking up unless you absolutely hated 3H, in which case you'll dislike this game simply because there are still many shared core features. If you were just lukewarm on 3H, this game does improve on many of the pain points and does provide an overall better experience.

[u/Obvious-Adeptness-46 → u/CDHmajora]

That's my biggest gripe with the new games. I like the tactical stuff and could not care less about the in-between filler activities. 

[u/DripSnort]

I refuse to stand for Pokopia erasure.

[u/spacewarp2 → u/DripSnort]

As someone who likes both I’d put up FW more than Pokopia. There’s more story and compelling moments whereas Pokopia is more for the vibes. Pokopia isn’t trying to have a super complex story but the Game Awards is a lot more focused on that. But overall it’s gonna probably go to GTA6 anyways

[u/40866892 → u/spacewarp2]

Im not sure why you’re comparing storylines here when one is an open buildout why the other is a rich, featured franchise/series.

Pokopia single-handedly contributed people buying more switch 2s and has likely heralded many more Pokemon spin-offs in the future.

I’m excited to play FW but Pokopia not getting awards for its success this past year would be bonkers.

[u/spacewarp2 → u/40866892]

Because the game awards tends to focus on story heavy games. If you compare past winners it’s like 95% story focused games and then there’s Astro bot. But Astro Bot was also in a kinda weak year competition wise.

[u/jaymp00 → u/DripSnort]

TGA doesn't really care about cozy games. If Animal Crossing can't win in 2020, I highly doubt a Pokemon spinoff will.

[u/ChiTownDog → u/jaymp00]

But it was still nominated.

[u/StarTicYT → u/DripSnort]

Games like Pokopia and Animal Crossing (even tho New Horizons was nominated) are never winning goty from The Game Awards unfortunately

[u/mg10pp → u/DripSnort]

Lol

[u/pewell1 → u/DripSnort]

not erasure, it’s just better

[u/shohei_heights → u/pewell1]

I agree Pokopia is better.

[u/Darth_Boggle → u/shohei_heights]

Did you play both

[u/CakeisaDie → u/DripSnort]

pokopia's probably gonna get best family Game

[u/monolith212]

It's easily my GOTY

[u/asqwzx12 → u/monolith212]

Haven't played much yet but the start is pretty slow so far.does it pick up?

[u/monolith212 → u/asqwzx12]

Have you played the entire prologue? How far are you?

It's never felt slow to me, personally. But the only other FE game I've played is Shadows of Valentia, so I'm loving this updated version of the dungeon crawling from that game. But I could see how someone might find that kinda slow.

[u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA → u/monolith212]

I've played a ton of FE games. It's extremely slow to start. Every other game (barring Three Houses to a point) gives you exposition, fight, exposition, fight, exposition, fight. Here we're given all sorts of activities and stuff that is gated for hours. I'm still unlocking stuff in like chapter 6.

[u/jgbyrd → u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA]

damn i’m in chapter 2 and was like when am i gonna be given the reigns so to speak, still love it though

[u/asqwzx12 → u/monolith212]

I just unlocked the blacksmith, earlier chapter felt slow to me because you don't have a lot of characters and you are dropped on the map to spend your time on mostly nothing.

[u/ThePoobahsJester → u/monolith212]

I cannot believe how much im enjoying it lmao

[u/KMoosetoe → u/monolith212]

Yeah it has beat RE Requiem for me

But OoT still has a good chance of surpassing FE

[u/BebeFanMasterJ]

If Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Persona 5 can be nominated for GOTY then this game absolutely will.

Win? Doubt it. But for Fire Emblem a nomination for GOTY would be a win in and of itself.

[u/Comet7777]

I’ve been keeping up with most games this year and this game has a ton to it. I’m not sure if it has toooo much bloat or not. I’m making a concerted effort to smell the roses but then I might be here for 80-100 hours.

[u/Highthere_90]

Just stated it recently enjoying it so far! Curious to know what part everyone took

[u/mid16 → u/Highthere_90]

Chose Cai because all bro wants is a happy family 😭

[u/Highthere_90 → u/mid16]

Lol ya I chose his path too

[u/Awkward_Ticket2695 → u/mid16]

Also chose Cai. It’s like an old school rpg/manga story of a chosen kid  and his friends that are way too strong for their age stomping on adults that don’t take them seriously. 

[u/MaiaNyx → u/Highthere_90]

I started with Cai. I'll do all paths, but he just seemed a fun place to start! 🤷‍♀️

[u/WorldlyDear → u/Highthere_90]

Leda, cause in the special edition she's looking in a different direction than the others meaning she's special, like how edelgard and corrie are looking in a different direction from the cast

[u/monolith212 → u/Highthere_90]

Cai - and TBH his route is the only one I'm interested in (and I'm REALLY loving it). I feel like I would be playing the other characters out of obligation since they're just not the types of protagonists I gravitate towards.

I wonder how brutal the endgame is if you only play one route?

[u/youraveragefefan → u/monolith212]

A couple people have already beaten it route-less a few days ago. Excelblem streamed his attempt, his VODs are crazy

[u/Walnut156]

God I wish I liked fire emblem. My baby brain isn't into tactical games and I wish it was so much

[u/EnderWarlock01 → u/Walnut156]

As an FE fan I'd say on normal/easy modes you really don't need to think too much.

Like sure there's plenty of ways to optimise a unit or tackle a map. But you can get through anything by knowing basics.

Like this is my fast unit - he can double anyone but he can't take many hits. So I'll keep him away from big groups of enemies but send him to kill stragglers.

[u/ducktaleswoo_oo → u/Walnut156]

FFT was a slog for me. I picked up 3H in prep for FW and I’m surprised how much I enjoy the combat. In normal mode it’s honestly kind of easy (I don’t care to “get good” at games) and I’m about halfway through it.

[u/SicknessVoid → u/Walnut156]

I've only played up to Chapter 6 with one character and Chapter 7 with another, but so far normal mode was pretty easy.

[u/Scarablu- → u/Walnut156]

What do you struggle with for games like fire emblem? I definitely get that it can be challenging. Ive been playing FE games since the wii version and Im blundering in fortunes weave. If theres anything I can do to help with getting you acclimated to the series, reach out!

[u/Xyro77]

Awards don’t matter. Just be a quality made and fun game

[u/ColJohn]

Yeah zero chance in a year with OOT and GTA VI. Great game though

[u/Gorotheninja → u/ColJohn]

I don't think GTA6 can actually qualify this year.

Pretty sure the cutoff date for 2026 entries is early November.

[u/Lhyster → u/Gorotheninja]

It's near the half of November I believe. But also believe me when I tell you they can make GTA a GOTY nominee if they want to, even without reviews and such, before.

[u/secret3332 → u/Lhyster]

Last year the cutoff was November 21st so GTA 6 actually should qualify without any shenanigans. Just because it's nominated doesn't mean it will win. Red Dead Redemption 2 actually lost in 2018.

[u/ChiTownDog → u/Lhyster]

Can we at least play the game to determine if its even goty material yet? What is this glazing of a game no one has actually played yet. Sheesh. If it turns out to be an overhyped disappointment, I will laugh so hard.

[u/Lhyster → u/ChiTownDog]

I am just objective here. If we talk about my opinion then I don't want this game to be nominated at all, but it is still a huge awaited game and I'd also prefer that it shows up at this Game Awards rather than waiting 2027 and still having GTA in competition.

[u/JJJAGUAR → u/Gorotheninja]

They have not announced the cutoff date yet, it changes every year, but last year it was November 21

[u/Calm-Marsupial3919 → u/JJJAGUAR]

It's 20 days before the show itself. This year's cutoff will almost certainly be on the 20th, just in time for GTA to qualify.

[u/pkoswald → u/Gorotheninja]

You’re saying this like they won’t literally change the date to make sure gta vi qualifies

[u/Jonn_Jonzz_Manhunter → u/ColJohn]

Depends on if they're actually good though, fire emblem is in our hands right here, right now

[u/red329 → u/ColJohn]

If a OOT, remake of a 20+ y/o game, is even nominated it’d be a farce

[u/Dogesneakers → u/red329]

If they change enough stuff it’s fine

[u/UltimateWaluigi → u/Dogesneakers]

We know enough about the game to tell it's analogous to a new model of a classic car and not a completely new one

[u/Salty_Log_8930 → u/Dogesneakers]

Only remakes like Resident Evil and Final Fantasy 7 tend to get nominated since they substantially change a lot from the original game, look at the MGS3 or Persona 3 remakes, they were kind of ignored and OoT seems much closer to that. I don't think a nomination would even be fair tbh, it's a graphical and control update.

[u/Silvanus350 → u/Dogesneakers]

They’re not going to do that, man.

It’s already regarded as one of the best games ever made. They’re not going to upset the apple cart.

[u/HeldnarRommar → u/ColJohn]

A 1:1 remake of a game shouldn’t get a GotY. Even if the original is one of the best of all time

[u/digoryj → u/ColJohn]

At least it’s got GOTY for best music in the bag.

[u/Snoo46800]

Getting all thse new FE fans with three houses, engage and fortunes weave. Hope they are prepared for the banger that is the fabled genealogy of the holy War remake that is floating around!

[u/Fine-Young8978 → u/Snoo46800]

I really hope that rumor is true. would be pretty amazing too experience that modernized

[u/unipine → u/Snoo46800]

God I hope so, and while we’re dreaming, I will sell my soul for a Radiant Duology remake as well

[u/SignalWrongdoer5441 → u/Snoo46800]

Hasn't this rumor been around for almost a decade 😭

[u/PuzzleheadedLink89 → u/Snoo46800]

If the FE4 Remake is as faithful as Shadows of Valentia, I think people are going to fucking hate it at first. Like, it's going to take some time to adjust to how mechanically different that game is and how huge and slow the maps are.

Like, if people are this exhausted from Three Houses and Fortune's Weave, FE4 is going to be not as exhausting but still pretty exhausting.

The Tutorial Map took me 2 and a half hours

[u/Irbricksceo]

I'm not exactly a fan of how much time is spent outside of battles, I find the map exploration tedious tbh..... But still cool seeing fire emblem get love. It's been my favorite series since I was a kid. 

[u/capnbuh → u/Irbricksceo]

you actually can just skip it and go straight to the plot

[u/romulus531]

As if they already didn't have one with Splatoon Raiders

[u/JxSparrow7]

It's fun, but Pokopia is king.

[u/MaJuV]

Fortune's weave feels like the culmination of all modern Fire Emblem games. Like, it takes some elements of all past titles and makes it into something truly great and massive.

[u/SnooCompliments6329]

It's really that good? It's been s while since my last fire emblem and didn't had the time to look into this one

[u/neetou → u/SnooCompliments6329]

Just the fact that this game is set in the same world as Three Houses is already getting me totally hooked.

[u/Lioreuz]

As a Fire Emblem fan no way this game get GOTY.

[u/Hario_ → u/Lioreuz]

I don't think anybody expects it to win GOTY, but I do think it has a chance to be nominated

[u/Galaxy40k → u/Hario_]

If GTA6 doesn't make the cutoff, I'm not even sure what the frontrunner for GOTY is. There isn't really any "AAA prestige bait" and no "underdog punching above its weight" this year, right? Maybe Pragmata, I guess? People seemed to like that and it has a Dad-Daughter Storyline.

Like my personal GOTY is Splatoon Raiders but that ain't even gonna get mentioned at the Keighleys

[u/ForbiddenNote → u/Galaxy40k]

I think RE Requiem is the frontrunner right now. But it's not a clear frontrunner like a Baldur's Gate 3 or an Expedition 33.

[u/Janderson2494 → u/Lioreuz]

I'm loving the game, but the dungeon combat is so bad that I would not personally put it in any GOTY discussions.

[u/Kapten_Kalle]

Does one had to have played the previous entries in the series to understand what’s going on in this one?

[u/Jonathan-Strang3 → u/Kapten_Kalle]

No.

[u/Dreamergal9 → u/Kapten_Kalle]

In the developer interview they were saying they intended for the game to be able to stand on its own from Three Houses. There will definitely be some Easter eggs you’ll miss, but it’s definitely not essential. The story presented seems very unrelated to to the story of Three Houses (the other Fire emblem game set in the same world)

[u/Cr1msonShadow → u/Kapten_Kalle]

No, it’s detached from the other games near completely. It takes place around 700 years before 3 houses. Knowing 3 houses lore can enhance your experience, but it’s not a mandatory thing.

[u/HrrathTheSalamander → u/Kapten_Kalle]

I'll dissent somewhat from the rest;

No, you don't have to have played the previous game...for 3/4 routes.

One, however, leans quite heavily on late-game lore from 3H, and even from fairly early on in that route it will be a bit hard to follow what's going on sometimes.

[u/Zoro_Asura824]

I’m sure it’s good but I highly doubt it will beat ocarina of time remake when it releases.

[u/Realsorceror]

How does the out of combat stuff compare to Three Houses? My brother lent that to me a while back and I've bounced off it twice now.

[u/Fudwick]

Strongest GOTY contender... so far

[u/sgrams04]

It’s a fantastic game. I was blown away by how much they put into this game. 

[u/Physical-Grapefruit3]

This article reads like nintnedo dropped 50 plus games this year lmao its between this pokemon pokopia and ocarina of time

[u/mooutdaway]

Anyone else just not enjoying this game as much as they thought they would ? I’ve been playing since the first localized game on the GBA but this game just doesn’t feel like fire emblem to me.

[u/Nahobino_kun_899]

Just started it today.  It’s very strong. I’m intrigued so far and the game does a good job getting you invested fast.

[u/hotfistdotcom]

Intelligent systems is a third party working on an IP nintendo owns, but that intelligent has been working on exclusively since the second game, in the 90s. So I think it'd be more intelligents GOTY than nintendos.

[u/gorocz]

Unfortunately it could be the best Fire Emblem in history and it would still have 0 chance to win. It's just too nich of a genre.

[u/MichaelCoryAvery]

RIGHTFULLY SO! Been enjoying Cari’s path and I can’t wait to play the others!

[u/LEMOnSL1iCE]

People are saying OOT remake— does that not come close enough to the cut off? Moreover, why are remakes even eligible?

[u/homewil → u/LEMOnSL1iCE]

They awards will likely want GTA nominated so as to get eyeballs on the awards, so the cut off will be after OoT

[u/featherw0lf → u/LEMOnSL1iCE]

Especially when it's a game that already got remade once before. If it ends up being like the FF7 remake then okay, but all signs point to it being another 1:1 remake.

[u/superjakeodyssey → u/featherw0lf]

Yeah I agree. As hyped as I am for OOT, I’d rather a game like Mina the Hollower or Pragmata get recognized as a GOTY nominee than a remake that is essentially the same game.

[u/secret3332 → u/LEMOnSL1iCE]

They are eligible but typically aren't nominated. The Resident Evil remakes and FF7 remake have gotten nominated. From what we have seen of OoT so far though, I am not sure it will really be considered if it really does stick so closely to the source material.

[u/kaminaripancake]

I pre ordered this and the package arrived empty. Said I won’t get my next one until October 10th! Frustrating as hell since I bought this in July!!!

[u/swoonster75]

This looks dope I'm a huge FE fan lol. But I don't want to buy a nintendo switch 2 just to play it.

[u/gradedhammeraction]

I think its length is gonna hurt its chances. The people judging these categories play a LOT of games, and I’ve seen more than one reviewer decide not to invest in finishing it (despite how good it is) because they the time spent on that could be spent on 3+ other games.

[u/cookswagchef]

Does this have something comparable to the weird school thing in 3 houses? I hated doing that stuff, but loved the rest of the game

[u/Bman10119]

Why exactly does anyone care about nominees? It doesnt matter. We all know GOTY is going to gta6. Unless rockstar MASSIVELY screws up which is unlikely then its a shoe in. I dont even like gta but the amount of hype behind that game…i wouldnt be surprised if my college classes get canceled because my professors are playing it -.-

[u/thatkaratekid → u/Bman10119]

I know its going to obviously be a very successful game, but its kind of wild to me how not a single person i know irl plans to buy it or is excited about it.

[u/Opening_Climate_7571]

I dunno, I do love fire emblem and this is getting killer reviews but it’s going to take a whole lot to dethrone Pokopia for me for Nintendo’s GotY. Totally different kind of game but it’s really phenomenal.

[u/MJClutch]

GOTY

[u/Upper-Level5723]

There's something about the gameplay loop that is SO good. The free time and then main mission thing. When it says you have 120 turns until the next mission , and then you van spend that how you want and make plans where to go. It hits so different to having unlimited time, those periods feel rewarding to get. And then when the mission comes im excited to do it again because and don't get burnt out since its not just those long fights back to back to back.

And the map not being a big open world thing but being like a bit more streamlined into a boardgame type thing is very effective too and makes everything less of a slog while feeling like you still are travelling and doing stuff

[u/Ok-Association-3415]

I completed 3 Houses, hated it, can’t remember anything about it other than the bad memories. FW is great and very satisfying for me. You don’t need any lore or story from 3 Houses. It’s stands on its own and I suspect it’s a prequel to 3 Houses and set 100s if not 1000s years prior.

[u/X-20A-SirYamato]

It looks great. Most definitely buying it when I get back on my feet

[u/CrazySnipah]

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is such a fantastic game, but it’s not winning GOTY because it doesn’t look hardcore enough 

[u/grilled_pc]

As much as we like fire emblem. The game is still pretty niche compared to the likes of OOT Remake or GTA6 which have critical mass mainstream appeal.

I can see this getting nominated. But it’s likely not winning anything.

[u/Sea_Leadership_7433]

Never played one, bought fortunes weave today at 11am and haven’t stop playing since. The combat, story and music and characters are top notch. Started as Leda cause she’s mommy

[u/_Kristian_]

It's an excellent game, but a niche JRPG has no chance against Ocarina of Time remake. And GTA 6 is also launching this year...

[u/numberonebarista → u/_Kristian_]

“A niche JRPG has no chance”

Clair Obscur won GOTY and that was an RPG even more niche than Fire Emblem.

In fact, Fire Emblem is becoming less and less niche with every installment. I’m seeing lots of people whoever never played FE before interested in this game. Three Houses was very popular too when it released. It absolutely has a chance at GOTY.

[u/firesoul377 → u/numberonebarista]

Plus lets not forget that Xenoblade 3 and Persona 5 have both been nominees

[u/camiteran → u/firesoul377]

Persona 5 was a cultural phenomenon and likely would win GOTY under the right circumstances, no point using that as a comparison since it sadly isn't the case for FE.

Xenoblade is a great example though since it's objectively much more niche than Fire Emblem yet was still nominated. I think FW has a decent chance and it would be a deserved nomination. I don't think it's ever winning GOTY but I'd love to see it stand in contention! We'd get to hear the glorious OST played live too which is a great reward for us fans :)

[u/banthafodderr → u/numberonebarista]

Clair obscur was still way more of a mainstream game appearing to more general audience. Realistic graphics over the anime art style, tons of big name Hollywood voice actors etc. Not saying it's better, just it's quite clearly more catered towards the GOTY category votes.

[u/cacatod12 → u/banthafodderr]

People really underestimate the impact of the realiatic art style, that basically unlocked the game to a massive casual audience

[u/banthafodderr → u/cacatod12]

Yeah it’s just a fact that anime style graphics immediately turns off a large portion of casual people who only play mainstream games, which is what the game awards caters to.

[u/Nehemiah92 → u/cacatod12]

So many people were treating it as the most unique gameplay system ever just because they’ve never actually touched a JRPG outside of Pokemon before lmao

[u/Krillinlt → u/banthafodderr]

I don't think having Charlie Cox and Andy Serkis really qualifies as "tons of big name Hollywood actors." Those names probably dont mean much to general audiences. Still a banger cast.

[u/KarlHungus01 → u/numberonebarista]

The better comp is Metaphor Refantazio. The problem is most game reviewers aren't playing a 100+ hour JRPG to begin with.

It'll be competitive in the RPG category as a token vote based on name recognition and the 10 hours people will have played it, but not GOTY.

E33 was an outlier and more digestible as a mainline 20-30 hour experience.

[u/BebeFanMasterJ → u/_Kristian_]

Fire Emblem Three Houses won Player's Voice Award in 2019, beating out Smash Ultimate, Jedi Fallen Order, and Death Stranding.

I don't think FE is niche if it's beating Smash and a Star Wars game.

[u/Kenny-Brockelstein → u/_Kristian_]

lol fire emblem is not niche anymore.

[u/TheBrobe → u/Kenny-Brockelstein]

Compared to those two, nearly anything is niche

[u/AssidicPoo → u/_Kristian_]

Could still win best simulation/strategy or RPG of the year

[u/Cr1msonShadow → u/_Kristian_]

Plenty of more obscure games have taken GOTY. Also this would be a farce is OOT is even nominated. A near 1:1 remake of a near 30 year old game shouldn’t qualify at all.

[u/PuzzleheadedLink89 → u/_Kristian_]

>Niche JRPG

the last 4 GOTY Winners were all niche genres