Gun & Ball? No, thanks! Story & Sword!

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Speak Up Sesh

Before we get to today’s topic, I’d like to note that Psycho Sleuth is now out! This is a mystery visual novel where thirteen people with mental conditions are placed in a murder game. In a cult-controlled world, these individuals must commit murder without being exposed to ascend to godhood. Because the mental conditions are contagious, these characters can cast their warped perception of reality upon others, which can affect how they perceive the crime scene or communicate with each other. The game also presents debates as turn-based combat in which you must choose the correct statement within a time limit.

As the game only came out today, I personally have not played it yet and so can’t give an impression of how it is, but you can check it out if any of that sounded interesting to you! The premise had interested me ages ago when I was looking for more deduction games to get my fix after replaying Ace Attorney and saw it in the Steam store.

Nintendo recently announced that Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave sold over 1.34 million units as of September 30, 2026. This puts it as the seventh top-selling first-party Switch 2 games, below Kirby Air Riders (1.94 million). This is significant since the game had only come out two weeks prior on September 17, 2026. Obviously, it being the first exclusive Switch 2 entry in the popular and long-running Fire Emblem series helped, along with it being the sequel to the extremely popular Three Houses, but its strong reviews certainly helped promote it. Speaking of which, you can read our review here.

I haven’t beaten Fortune’s Weave yet. I’m still very early in the game, in fact, because I jump from protagonist to protagonist after every chapter instead of focusing all my time and attention on one route. However, there are so many little annoyances in that first and heavy chunk of the game that I can understand why the title feels rather controversial. Not that, of course, a lot of games are without “controversy” these days, thanks to how many people’s opinions we see on the Internet and how social media can amplify the most negative opinions for engagement.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. I like Fortune’s Weave. It’s got fun combat, interesting characters, and an intriguing story. But it’s just too ambitious, and the mechanics in place to achieve its grand vision can work against it. There being four converging routes is cool, but the strict auto-save that must be to maintain the logic of these convergent characters can force you to replay an entire chapter just because you accidentally clicked the wrong button on the world map and now it’s too late for you to do something in Dagsion. The fact that this can lock you out of a character unless you restart the chapter only adds to it.

While this is my only real gripe in the game so far, it’s a pretty annoying one. The characters more than make up for it. (And personally, I don’t mind the lack of supports, even if I’m baffled at choices like a lack of a support chain between Leda and Catania or no B to finish off Theodora and Bonaventure’s support chain.) Fabio in particular has been a most pleasant surprise.

I remember the days after they released his teaser image! People were making nasty comments about his lazy eye, saying that it was refreshing to see ugly playable characters in a video game, and guessing that he would betray Dietrich’s team. But the switch-up has been crazy now that we know what he’s like, as well as what role he plays in the story. It’s amazing how much the writing redeems a character who can be genuinely and objectively unpleasant with how he views the people around him, not only with his relationship to Dietrich and Esmeralda, but also with how damn funny he is.

That’s a real strong point of the Fortune’s Weave writing—this ability, intentional or not, to make you like characters that you might have written off in the beginning. Zarcone looks and literally is the random barbarian mob you might kill in an early Fire Emblem mission. But he’s chill and cute with how he views his family of pillaging bandits. Ziroc has, like, no support conversations or real story significance, but his lore and backstory with Talimun (as well as how good he is as a unit when you get him) makes him endearing. Do I even need to explain the goat himself, Guzran? Or, as most people call him now, the Guzzler? Dadao… Well, um… Dadao is… Anyway, moving on…

Fortune’s Weave is hard to recommend, mostly because of how expensive it is and how first-party Nintendo games, like, never go on sale. It’s a great investment because you get a lot of game for what you’re shelling out. But then again, if the issues with stuff like the auto-save and central hub gameplay are too much for you, it’s not like you’re taking advantage of this value. Something like Pokopia, in comparison, has a lot more general appeal. While Pokopia also has auto-save, it certainly doesn’t feel as punishing as Fortune’s Weave’s does! Hopefully, Intelligent Systems will release a patch to alleviate how aggressive the auto-save is, which may make the game feel more welcoming to players on the fence.

Top 10 Stories of the Past Week

1. Goddess of Victory: NIKKE PC Launcher Tampered With by Third Party - The stream of cyberattacks is honestly so scary.

2. After 29 Years, Fans Find Official Lilith Recruitment Method in Tales of Destiny - And here we thought it was just a myth.

3. Honkai: Nexus Anima Final Closed Beta and Release Window Dates Set - Players can get a free copy of Blade and his dog, too. They know what their audience wants, I guess.

4. Wendy’s Releases Free WendyQuest RPG on Steam - With real-world food rewards, too.

5. Hyperspace Neptunia Unlimited Appears in English in 2027 - Will have physical copies and a limited edition.

6. Double Fine’s Thank You Bus Driver Game Relies on Its Gimmicks - A rogue-like driving game that’s like an opposite to Crazy Taxi.

7. One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Losing Film Red Song Pack - It’s for licensing reasons. It’ll be delisted in late November, and if you want to download it after this date, you need to buy it before then.

8. Suzie Yeung Cast as English Voice of Hachiware in Chiikawa - Suzie Yeung also voices Yuffie in the FFVII remake trilogy, Hinako in Silent Hill f, and Makima in Chainsaw Man.

9. Resident Evil 3 Remake’s Tension and Design Keep It Terrifying - Something scary on a meta level is that the original game is usually more expensive than the remake during sales.

10. Lawson Getting The Legend of Zelda Master Sword and Heart Container Keychains - I’m not even a Zelda fan or player, and these are adorable!

Upcoming Releases

Dude, so many games are coming out on the 12th alone…

• Shrek 2 Remastered - PS5, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox (November 10, 2026)

• Metaphor: ReFantazio - Switch 2 (November 12, 2026)

• Pikmin 4 - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy - Switch 2 (November 12, 2026)

• Moomin: Midsummer Madness - Switch, Switch 2, PC (November 12, 2026)

• Barbie Rewind - PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Switch, PC (November 12, 2026)

• Sonic Pico Park - PS5, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox Series X, PC (November 12, 2026)

• Grand Theft Auto VI - PS5, Xbox Series X (November 19, 2026)