NintendoFire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is a big new strategy game on the way for Nintendo Switch 2, and it might be set in the same universe as Fire Emblem: Three Houses — seeing as the trailer ends with a shot of an adult Sothis. That’s tantalizing on its own, but actually not the biggest secret the trailer might hold. Three Houses, of course, was well known for its branching story that has you aligning with one class of students, although there are technically four different story paths. And after rewatching the trailer for Fortune’s Weave a dozen times, I’m absolutely convinced it’s got another branching story that, like Three Houses, will undoubtedly be filled with grief and trauma. And I’m so here for it. To be clear, we don’t exactly know anything about how this game is connected to Three Houses outside of Sothis. But considering how much she’s aged, it’s possible this game is set in the far future of Fodlan, or Sothis herself could end up being some interdimensional deity that hops between worlds. But past all that, the entire way this trailer is framed is extremely interesting. If you look at even the thumbnail for the video, we see four different characters equally framed. And interestingly, there’s not a single shot where two of these characters are on-screen at the same time. We never see them together. Each one also pretty neatly embraces an archetype of some of the series’ biggest characters. Cai is the upstart hero who comes from nothing, seemingly fighting through the colosseum to save his father. The zero-to-hero essentially. Theodora looks very much in line with Edelgard, as the commanding queen leading her people to victory. Dietrich definitely fits the dark prince aesthetic of Fates’ Xander, but is clearly on some life-defining mission. And then there’s Leda, who not only transforms like Fates’ Corrin, but is the protagonist out on a quest for revenge, with nothing else mattering. These four protagonists interestingly draw elements from archetypes the series has seen for decades, and while Nintendo hasn’t confirmed anything, it’s extremely likely they each have a different “path” through the overarching narrative. I don’t know exactly how that will be implemented, but if this game is a follow-up to Three Houses in any way, it makes sense to carry on that game’s defining feature. It seems entirely possible that Fortune’s Weave could be an Octopath Traveler kind of situation, with multiple overlapping protagonists. | NintendoBut what’s really interesting is the central colosseum setting of Fortune’s Weave, where something called the Heroic Games takes place. There are multiple Reddit threads that have already pointed out the game’s Japanese title. That being 万紫千紅 (banshi senkō), which roughly translates to “Ten Thousand Purples, a Thousand Reds.” As an idiom, you can think of it as meaning something like “a multitude of colors.”It’s a little more complicated than that, of course, but largely you can interpret that title as kind of an amalgamation of colors, or a collage, if you will. To me, that implies a larger narrative where each character feeds into it, where each character is a piece of a bigger picture. The colosseum seems to be the joining point for these four stories — or it’s even possible there are more “main” characters we’ve yet to see. Three Houses’ big twist had the different school classes becoming opposing factions in a grand war after the time jump, forcing you to eliminate students you’d spent time with, getting to know. It was a crushing event that felt intentionally uncomfortable, making you sit with your choices and the weight of your role in everything. I can’t imagine a follow-up to Three Houses not doing something similar, and can easily see a situation where you choose one protagonist and are forced to put the other down in the colosseum. Fortune’s Weave looks to have a new system called Blaze Arts, character-centric skills that take HP to use. | NintendoThat setting, in and of itself, is such a fantastic fit for a Fire Emblem game, since the series has long been about the nature of war and conflict, and the endless suffering both of those breed. There’s not a single place where that idea is more present than where the very idea of fighting it turned into a game. It’s emblematic of not only the series’ thematic storytelling, but its whole approach to strategy and army building. That’s exactly what has me incredibly hopeful for Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, even after just one trailer. If this game can carry on the thematic storytelling of Three Houses while touching up performance and gameplay issues, it could be a defining game for Nintendo. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave launches in 2026 exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.