Should You Play Casual Or Classic Mode In Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave?

As a series, Fire Emblem has had two standout features compared to other tactical RPGs. First, characters can build relationships with their allies, and in more recent entries, even become romantically involved. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave doesn't focus on the seduction side at all, preferring to show the camaraderie between teammates. The second feature, one that's been there since the first NES game, is that characters can permanently perish in combat.

Fortune's Weave gives you this option at the beginning of the campaign as Classic Mode. Be warned: this is only for those seeking a brutal challenge. Casual Mode, on the other hand, is a more forgiving way to play through this gargantuan RPG, taking away the stress of potentially leading your allies to their demise. You also choose Normal or Hard difficulty modes, options that are separate from the Casual/Classic choice, so below we'll explain the differences between these key decisions.

Normal vs Hard Difficulty Mode

The first choice is actually between Normal and Hard modes. The game describes Hard mode as "For experienced players", while Normal is for newcomers and "intermediate" players alike. If it's your first playthrough, we recommend going with Normal. If you wish for a challenge, Hard Mode adds extra constraints and ups the difficulty in several key factors. Here are the differences between them both:

Casual Mode vs Classic Mode

If you've never played a Fire Emblem or similar tactical RPG before, go with Casual Mode. This eliminates all permadeath from the game, instead forcing fallen friendlies to retreat from the battle, returning only after its conclusion.

Another more universally accepted term for Classic is 'Ironman Mode". If anyone in your party dies in combat, that's it. While you can always reverse time, either by restarting the chapter via the pause menu or sprinkling some of the Time Dust Fortuna bestows on your current Flame Lord early in their campaign, it's more useful here if any one of your roster kicks the bucket.

However, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave adds a wrinkle to Classic Mode's definition of character death, and that's what happens when guest characters in any Heroic Games match fall in battle. If anyone who isn't designated as a group leader is defeated in combat, they will retreat. Since they're not currently part of your roster, you can still find them in Dagsion, give them gifts, invite them to share a meal, and eventually recruit them to your ranks.

Can I Change These Settings Mid-Campaign?

Yes, but it will take some time for them to kick in. On the title screen, provided you saved in the Obelisk as your named character (the default name is Eshmel), you can select the 'Descend Again' option. This lets you replay the prologue while giving you the opportunity to change the difficulty, swap between Casual and Classic modes, and tinker with your protagonist.

The catch is that you need to replay the entire prologue. Thankfully, you can skip many things with the plus button, from cutscenes to battle screens and most dungeon fights. You will need to replay two full battles, but they're not that difficult to complete because your party is overpowered even in Hard Mode. Once you reach the Obelisk Chamber Base, you can continue each Flame Lord's story where you left it. You can also reduce the difficulty from Hard to Normal at the Shrine of Causality (the big glowing sun at the top of the stairs in the Base), but not increase from Normal to Hard.