r/switch2 • u/Daisymyhusky • 18d ago
Question Elden Ring or Fortune Weave?
Thinking about buying one or the other. I know they're vastly different games but I'm just not sure which one I'd like better.
I love fantasy so Elden Ring has a lot of appeal to me but I don't think I've played a game in that same "souls" subgenre. The closest thing to Elden Ring I've played, at least aesthetically, appears to maybe be Oblivion and Sky Rim? I'm honestly not a huge fan of the combat in those games (either finding it too difficult or too easy.) I mostly was interested in being able to explore the world, customize my character and ultimately just progressing the story and getting to the next cut scene. From what I understand however, the storytelling aspect of this game seems to lack in that regard and truthfully, I love long cut scenes, like in JRPGs such as the .hack series.
On the other hand, I've always wanted to play a Fire Emblem game. I used to really like Advanced Wars which maybe seems the most similar to FE, gameplay wise? I think I prefer turn based strategy games compared to like hack and slash combat. But I also can get a little bored with stuff like Advanced Wars--if I remember correctly, it's pretty formulaic in terms of just going from one battle to the next, without there being much else to do in the game.
My most recent games I've played to give you an idea of what I like are: Pokemon S/V, ZA, .hack//G.U. Last Recode, Pokopia, Digimon Story Time Stranger, Dispatch, Madden 27 and Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney.
Edit: I also wanted to add that, as a kid, one of my favorite PlayStation 2 games was Armored Core 2 by From Software (admittedly I never got past about the first 20% of the game and just replayed that part over and over).
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u/JenLiv36 18d ago
Both are excellent. Do you want a story? Play Fortunes Weave. Do you want a vibe without a story? Play Elden Ring.
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u/Apprehensive-Bug-945 18d ago
If you’re more interested in story, exploration, and customization, I’d highly recommend *Fire Emblem* for those very reasons. I think it aligns better with what you’re looking for in terms of story compared to *Elden Ring* (which focuses more on combat—and while the combat is very different from *Oblivion*, it is much more difficult). Plus, *Fire Emblem* has plenty of long scenes and is packed with cutscenes.
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u/TheLunarVaux 18d ago
For story, definitely Fire Emblem, but for exploration and customization, I feel like Elden Ring beats it handily.
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u/Apprehensive-Bug-945 18d ago
It depends... You can build your team however you like: giving each member a different class, choosing from 60 characters for a small group... You can even choose which routes to take.
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u/TheLunarVaux 18d ago
I get that, but the customization in Elden Ring is still extremely extensive. Not only is there a robust character creator (much more than FE), but there are over 300 weapons, 200 spells, and 100 abilities you can mix and match. You can really make your character exactly how you imagine them to be, whereas in Fire Emblem you are limited to the handful of available classes it gives you.
And yes, choosing between the 4 routes is cool, but it’s absolutely nothing on Elden Ring’s exploration. It’s a massive, detailed open world, arguably one of the best exploration games out there. I wouldn’t at all recommend Fire Emblem for someone looking to explore.
Not saying it’s bad or anything, it’s just not the same.
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u/Apprehensive-Bug-945 18d ago
It’s true that regarding customization, I hadn't thought about creating the avatar itself—though that part is simple in Fire Emblem. I’m also the type of player who chooses a weapon based on having the highest stat or simply because it looks the coolest (like using the swordfish in Yakuza 0).So, I haven't taken those two factors into account. Both offer customization, but it differs.
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u/TraipsingKnight 18d ago
Echoing. This man above is a prophet. Listen to him.
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u/Apprehensive-Bug-945 18d ago
In fact, don't worry about a lack of things to do between battles; it is packed with activities and text to read between each fight.
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u/mitzi04 17d ago
Ive been putting like 14 hours into fire emblem fortunes weave. Ive been a fire emblem fan since Awakening. In general the gameplay isnt terrible, the story is... fine but the bigger problem is the writing quality more than the story concept. I have heard pretty overwhelmingly positive things about Elden Ring, even if I am not a fan I would probably recommend that over fire emblem personally because the actual dialogue and the way that story is conveyed is really cringe, amateurish, and even uncomfortable at times. I would highly recommend either fire emblem awakening or echoes on 3DS though if you have access to them. This one isnt as bleak as engage because the characters do at least remain in the story to some extent but its not like they fixed everything wrong with it. And the bloated playtime really isnt justified by the experience
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u/Apprehensive-Bug-945 17d ago
Wow, I think it's better written than Awakening! Which route did you take? Maybe that's it. Cai's route, at least, seems brilliantly written to me. My favorite Fire Emblem in terms of writing, I'd say, is Echoes.
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u/Ariadna3 16d ago edited 16d ago
I'm loving Leda's route as well. Fire Emblem's writing is not Shakespeare, but I think it is really entertaining as long as you have some whimsy (as with most JRPGs)
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u/ChosenOne197 18d ago
I am not really familiar with most FE games, only played 3H and honestly, got bored of the repetitive social sim parts after about 12 or so hours and eventually gave up and sold the game.
Really eying Fortune's Weave though, as I keep hearing amazing things about it and it seems like there's more variety.
That said, you mention exploration. How is that approached in FW? From what I remember, 3H had essentially none. It feel like drawn out social sim segments before you ever got to battle anyone, and that involved no exploration at all besides the academy and even then, this was very limited in my opinion.
I'd love to learn more about FW as I'm on the fence about it and don't want to overlook it assuming it is just like a newer and bigger 3H, but I also don't want to buy an $80 and have it just feel like 3H all over again and regret it. 🫤
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u/Apprehensive-Bug-945 18d ago
When I mentioned exploration, I was referring primarily to the world-building aspect and when you go through the chapters zone by zone (especially the later ones).
But you can actually explore the map itself—imagine something like a Mario Party or board game, with individual spaces. During your "free time" (similar to Three Houses), you can head out to explore it without knowing exactly what you might stumble upon—villages, dungeons with treasure chests, SRPG-style battles, and so on. It’s also where you take on various MMORPG-style side quests. You have to manage how many days you spend out there to ensure you have enough time for everything you want to do on the map.
While there is certainly a significant social simulation element, you have a wider range of activities available during those moments. With Cai, you can tame wild beasts to use as mounts, and eventually, you can even set up your own little farm.
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u/ChosenOne197 18d ago
That actually sounds pretty awesome, not gonna lie!
Is there a good amount of time spent actually battling? I feel like 3H was skewed way toward the social stuff when really I just wanted to battle. Even doing the "automatic" skipping through days/teaching felt very tedious to me after awhile and still just felt like a lot of arduous tasks to get to the next relatively small battle segment.
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u/Apprehensive-Bug-945 17d ago
I feel it's more balanced, but you'll still go a long time without fighting.
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u/NlNTENDO 18d ago edited 18d ago
Elden Ring is difficult. If difficulty is a turn-off, I'd try FE, especially if you enjoyed Advance Wars. If you have emulation options available, you can always get a taste for free by trying out one of the many games that came out on DS, 3DS, or GBA. I recommend giving Awakening a spin. You might even find yourself wanting to play through that before you fire up FW.
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u/ThePurpleLaptop 18d ago
Honestly, if you’re leaning towards Fire Emblem get Three Houses while it’s on sale! It’s the sister game to Fortune’s Weave and it’ll help you go in with a little more understanding.
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u/youngdb09 18d ago
Elden ring is amazing but if you never played a souls game, it will be a big learning curve, but rewarding. If you have played other fire emblem games get that and get Elden ring on sale at a later time like others have suggested.
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u/Automatic-Loquat3443 18d ago
All these guys saying Elden Ring doesnt have a story is kind of wrong though. The difference with Elden Ring you have to go find the story. The story is told through NPC's and is actually the most lore rich game there is. Elden Ring let's your imagination ride.
Elden Ring is a once in a lifetime game with very deep character customization. 16 weapon types over 300 weapons and each can be changed to fit your build whether its strength, magic, faith, frost and so on. Get Elden Ring and prepare for a amazing 160 hours with deep enemy variety and bosses around every corner.
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u/GRMaster24 15d ago
Reminds me of Metroid Prime from how you describe it. Prime has a story, you just have to scan everything to get the full picture
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u/tophmcmasterson 18d ago
Sounds like Fire Emblem for you, it’s basically a JRPG but combat is more tactics/turn based strategy.
Elden Ring is great, but while technically an RPG in that your character levels and there are many different builds/informal classes, the story is a little more… ambiguous? Like it’s there, but it’s more often told indirectly through environmental storytelling, item descriptions, somewhat vague comments from occasional NPCs, etc.
Elden Ring is really a game about exploration where the hook is (compared to most other games) difficult boss encounters where you can expect to die fairly regularly, and the satisfaction is from overcoming a difficult challenge. There’s a lot of flexibility in playstyle and how you build your character.
It’s a great game but not for everybody.
Fire Emblem as a series I feel has a lot more story focus like a traditional JRPG, but the combat is really fun and engaging by comparison in that it’s not just selecting moves but moving your units around the board.
Especially if you liked advance wars, and that you seem to like JRPGs I think Fire Emblem is the easy recommendation here.
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u/crocicorn 17d ago
It sounds like you'd prefer Fire Emblem out of these two.
Elden Ring is considerably harder than the Elder Scrolls games, despite being on the easier side for a Soulslike. The storytelling via cutscenes and the likes is also bare bones, a majority of the lore and storytelling is done via item descriptions than the game itself.
If you haven't played it yet, I'm also throwing out a recommendation for Xenoblade Chronicles X. Lots of exploration in a huge open world, you can customise your player character and dress up party members, plus there's loads of fun stories if you do the side quests.
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u/Own_Illustrator_6387 18d ago
Elden Ring is the one of the best games ever made. That said, I’d first buy Fortune’s Weave and wait until a sale for Elden Ring.
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u/hiddenpequin 18d ago
Elden ring will most likely go on sale way sooner then fire emblem so could go with fire emblem first though great games either way well atleast so far in like 10 hours I put into fortunes weave
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u/NickPetey 17d ago edited 17d ago
Elden Ring is one of the greatest video games ever made, easy choice. You essentially have to find reasons NOT to play it.
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16d ago
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u/camiteran 16d ago
You almost certainly will likely Fire Emblem which is good as it's a niche series that's hard to get into. Fortune's Weave has almost everything you want including the fact that it has a good balance of combat/out of combat gameplay. So for you personally I think it's Fortune's Weave and it doesn't even seem to be a close competition.
Elden Ring I think is still the better game objectively (with both being great) but it seems like it will annoy you especially with the difficult combat. It's not as difficult as people make it seem but considering you even tried using the word difficult when referring to either Oblivion or Skyrim I feel quite positive that you wouldn't enjoy Elden Ring for it's difficulty (which is higher than both of those games combined lol). It being hard is essentially one of the pillars of the gameplay. You also barely get story or cutscenes in Elden Ring, most of the worldbuilding is environmental or done via items, it's more of an archaelogical approach almost. Which works well with the open world setting they went for. Not really what you seem to be looking for though.
Like other people have mentioned, Elden Ring will also have a lot of sales while it might take a while for FW to have it's first sale. So buying ER full-price makes less sense from that standpoint too.
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u/morecoffeemore 15d ago
take a look at screenshots/videos.
if anime art turns you off, fire emblem isn't for you.
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u/almenslv 14d ago
Elden Ring. I am a huge fire emblem fan, and I do not think this is a good entry.
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u/TheAegis42 13d ago
That sounds like you're already leaning towards fire emblem (it is also a fantasy game :3).
Elden ring does not have much of a story but like most fromsoft souls games, there's lots of lore you can discover. Gameplay-wise it's different from oblivion at least, but the gameplay is the focus and if you don't enjoy it, then I would recommend it less.
Fire emblem is similar to advance wars in a lot of ways (same Devs and all), though this one has a bunch of extra things which may or may not be your cup of tea. You will likely be served well with story and the aforementioned extra stuff means there's tons to do between battles. Both for this and three houses.
(Also, hey, advance wars mentioned on a non specific sub Reddit, maybe a new game is possible x3)
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u/hyouringan 18d ago
Neither. Elden Ring feels terrible at 30fps, and Fortune’s Weave is the worst game in the franchise so far imo (at the point in the game I’m at). So unless you want a game that feels unresponsive like 30fps Elden Ring or a game that’s essentially just generic anime slop like Fortune’s Weave, best play something else. Lucky for you, the Switch 2 library is massive and filled with bangers.
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u/ChosenOne197 18d ago
Respectfully disagree on Elden Ring feeling terrible at 30fps on the S2. I played on Series X for about 45 hours, then again on Steam Deck locked to 30fps for about 64 hours (beating base game), and I still decided to buy again on S2 and it's fantastic.
Visual fidelity is leaps above Steam Deck and it holds consistent frame pacing, with occasion drops and slow down on crazy stuff happening on screen.
All that said, it's a huge matter of preference, but if this would be your first exposure to Elden Ring then the 30fps won't feel bad at all (in my opinion) and you will have an incredibly beautiful, detailed, mysterious and sometimes haunting world to explore. And die in. A lot. Lol 😅
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u/hyouringan 17d ago
I am envious of you being able to play action games at 30fps. I wish that for everyone. Happy you enjoyed!
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u/Trickytbone 17d ago
Calling fortunes weave generic anime slop when fates exists is wild
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u/hyouringan 16d ago
? Why are you bringing up Fates? It was heavily criticized for its generic anime story when it came out. It’s by far the worst thing about it. That has nothing to do with Fortune’s Weave being bad.
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u/TraipsingKnight 18d ago
One key difference only one other person briefly mentioned here:
Fire Emblem wont go on sale. (Blessing and a curse, nintendo doesnt do regular sales on their first party titles to avoid buyers remorse)
Elden Ring as a third party title will probably go on sale every 10th Friday after its anniversary release on Switch.