Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave DLC Revealed – Four More Stories, $35 More, and a Bigger Problem

Nintendo has announced the Expansion Pass for Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, and the biggest addition is exactly what fans have been wondering about: new stories featuring Bertrand, Talimun, Orchel, and Anatolia, arriving in 2027.

Look, I’ve been enjoying Fortune’s Weave, and these four characters have enough significance in the main story that I absolutely want to spend more time with them.

Then I saw the price: $34.99 on top of a game that already costs $79.99 physically. Even more if you got the collector’s edition… or two.

As someone who loves Fire Emblem, collects physical games, and already bought the Expansion Pass (are you even surprised?), I have some mixed feelings about that. Especially given what the developers said before the game launched.

But first, here’s everything Nintendo actually announced.

What’s Included in the Expansion Pass?

The $34.99 Expansion Pass contains three waves of DLC. They’re bundled together rather than offered as separate purchases.

Wave 1 – Available Now

Four prototype weapons inspired by the Heroes’ Relics of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, with one for each of the game’s four main heroes. It’s a fun connection to Three Houses and an immediate bonus for anyone buying the pass.

Wave 2 – Holiday 2026

Three powerful gods—Aurora, Smyrnos, and Jurah—become available as allies, alongside four alternate outfits for heroes and companions. More customization and new allies are welcome, although we’ll need to see how much they change the actual gameplay.

Wave 3 – 2027

New stories for Bertrand, Talimun, Orchel, and Anatolia, plus additional recruitable allies, classes, and other content.

This is easily the part I’m most excited about. These characters already matter to the story, and there’s plenty about them I’d love to explore further.

One important caveat: Nintendo hasn’t confirmed that these four stories are full-length campaigns comparable to the original protagonists’ routes. We know who’s featured, not exactly how substantial each story will be.

And then there’s the math.

Purchase	US Price
Digital base game	$69.99
Physical base game	$79.99
Expansion Pass	$34.99
Digital game + pass bundle	$104.99
Physical game + pass	$114.98

So if you bought the physical release at full price and want the announced DLC, you’re looking at roughly $115 before tax. The digital bundle brings it down to about $105.

Wait, Weren’t There Supposed to Be Eight Paths?

Here’s the part that makes this announcement feels… suspicious. 

Before release, the developers discussed how Fortune’s Weave was originally conceived around eight protagonists. They explained that the scope became difficult to manage and that they eventually focused the main game on four.

That’s a perfectly reasonable development decision. Games change constantly, and I’d rather a team finish four strong stories than struggle to deliver eight unfinished ones.

But if you’ve played Fortune’s Weave, you’ve probably noticed the eight statues. And you’ve definitely noticed that Bertrand, Talimun, Orchel, and Anatolia aren’t just random people standing around town waiting to hand you a fetch quest. They’re prominent characters whose stories seem ripe for further exploration.

So when the DLC announcement reveals new stories about those exact four characters?

Come on, Nintendo. You had to know people would notice.

To be fair, there’s no evidence that four completed routes were deliberately removed and sold back to us. The developers publicly described reducing the original concept because of its complexity, and additional content still requires work to create. I don’t want to present my suspicions as fact.

But I also can’t pretend the situation looks great from the player’s side.

The original concept had eight perspectives. The finished game centers on four. The other four now headline a paid expansion.

Whether or not that was always the business plan, it feels less like a new content and more like paying extra to get the complete content that was originally planned.

My $80 Game Is Actually a $115 Game

Look, Nintendo is FAR from the worst offender when it comes to DLC. And this problem shows itself in a variety of forms throughout the entire industry.

Looking at you GTA VI. 

But let’s call this what it is. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave isn’t really an $80 experience if you want everything being offered. It’s $105 digitally or nearly $115 physically, and Nintendo understands that plenty of fans are going to pay for the whole thing.

And now, just months after release, my cartridge will no longer represents the complete experience. The additional stories and classes will exist separately as downloadable content.

And what happens if Nintendo eventually releases a definitive physical edition with all the DLC included? Well, now they’ve got another opportunity to sell the same game to enthusiasts like me, again, who want everything preserved on a cartridge.

Depending on the price of a potential rerelease, we’re suddenly approaching or exceeding $200 spent on a single game. And that’s before considering anyone who already bought a Collector’s Edition!

From a business perspective? That’s fantastic! You’ve sold the game, sold the DLC, and potentially sold the game AGAIN to your most dedicated customers.

In a world where practically everything is getting more expensive, this kind of monetization is increasingly difficult to celebrate. I love supporting the games and developers I care about, but I don’t particularly love being given more opportunities to pay for the same game.

And unfortunately, physical collectors are especially vulnerable to this practice.

Sometimes I Want to Finish a Game and Move On

There’s another reason this practice frustrates me, and it’s not just about money.

There are SO MANY fantastic JRPGs coming out. My backlog doesn’t need more encouragement. When I pick up a game like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, I want to dive in, experiment with classes, enjoy the story, finish it, and move on to the next adventure.

And this game is already massive.

Now I have a choice. Do I finish the game and come back in 2027? Do I put it aside until everything releases? Will the new stories work as standalone experiences, or will I feel like I need to replay parts of the original campaign?

Maybe the answer will be obvious when Wave 3 arrives. Right now, though, it’s an unwelcome question.

And yes, I already bought the Expansion Pass.

I mean, of course I did, I’m a lore junky. I want to see these characters get their moments, and new classes could make the tactical side of things even more interesting and fun to break.

But being a sucker for Fire Emblem doesn’t mean the business practice behind it is good.

More Fire Emblem? Absolutely. This DLC Model? Ehhhh.

I’m not arguing that every expansion is a cash grab. Developers have budgets, deadlines, and ideas that don’t fit inside the original release. Good DLC can make a great game even better.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed is a fantastic example of this. 

Still, I can’t ignore the overlap with the original eight-protagonist concept, the nearly $115 total for physical buyers, or the fact that the complete experience now depends on content released separately from the cartridge.

That’s what bothers me about DLC, in general. I want to support developers, enjoy their work, and preserve it for the future. These days, those goals feel incresasingly harder to reconcile.

So yes, I’ll be there when the new stories arrive. Probably way too excited, too.

But I wish buying a new game and enjoying all of its content felt more like enjoying a complete experience and less like signing up for an installment plan.