Japan, Ado, and Fire Emblem

I recently got back from a trip to Japan and South Korea. I brought no laptop. This was intentional. The plan was to relax, eat good food, dive, snorkel, and not think about work for a while. It worked pretty well. Then I got back to work and realised the industry had moved so fast it felt like I had been away for a year.

Japan Was Great #

Okinawa was probably my favourite part of the trip. Snorkelling and diving there was awesome. Clear water, warm weather, and a lot of fish that were completely uninterested in whatever happened on the internet that day.

Tokyo and Yokohama were also great. I was lucky enough to see an Ado concert in Yokohama, and it was fucking awesome. Everyone had an Ado lightstick, and the lights were synced across the entire audience. The whole venue moved together. It looked absolutely insane from the stands.

Her songs are perfect for that kind of concert. She can go from the aggressive chaos of Usseewa, Show, and Odo to something much more emotional and dramatic. Her voice is ridiculous, and every song feels like a full performance rather than just someone standing on a stage and singing.

I also spent time in Kyushu, visited Beppu, did the sand baths in Ibusuki, and went to Osaka. South Korea was also part of the trip and had its own kind of chaos and charm. There was a lot of walking, a lot of food, and generally very little time spent looking at a screen.

It was exactly what I needed.

Then I went back to work. Work had piled up a little, and getting back into the normal rhythm was harder than expected. The industry had moved forward so quickly that it honestly felt like I had been away for a year, not just on vacation.

It is strange how quickly you can get used to not thinking about work. Then suddenly you are back at your desk, looking at a backlog, and trying to remember what everything was about.

Fire Emblem Is the Real Reason #

The much more important news is Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave.

It is coming to Switch 2 on 17 September 2026, and the previews look great. It seems to take the Three Houses formula and make it even bigger. Strategic battles, relationships, story choices, and lots of characters I will get attached to before accidentally getting them killed.

This is probably the only reason I will buy a Switch 2. I know that sounds irresponsible. It is. But Nintendo knows exactly what they are doing. Give me one new Fire Emblem game and suddenly I am trying to explain why a new console is actually a reasonable purchase.

I was also considering buying the Switch 2 while I was in Japan. That turned out to be more complicated than expected. You cannot just buy the international version there, and the Japanese-language system is restricted to Japanese. A lot of the games and system features are region locked to the Japanese system as well. So instead of returning home with a cheaper Switch 2, I returned home with some nice memories and the same old console situation.

Very disappointing. I was ready to make a bad financial decision in person.

The previews for Fortune’s Weave have not helped my self-control. It still has the things I like about Fire Emblem: tactical battles, a big cast, relationships, and decisions that will make me stare at the screen for ten minutes. I am also curious about the new systems and mouse controls. It sounds strange, but Fire Emblem has survived stranger ideas.

If Fortune’s Weave is as good as it looks, Nintendo has already sold me a console. I just need to wait until I can buy the correct version.

Mangs Makes Me Want to Play the Old Ones #

I have also been watching Mangs videos while waiting for Fortune’s Weave.

Mangs is not exactly a world-class Fire Emblem player, but that is not really why I watch him. He is a massive nerd about the characters, story, and lore, and he has played basically every game in the series. He knows all the little details I have completely missed.

His videos have actually made me want to pick up some of the older games and play them on my phone. Emulators have come so far, and it is suddenly much easier to play the older Fire Emblem games without digging out ancient hardware or paying silly prices for old cartridges.

It is also cool to see someone else from Norway enjoy the series so much. Fire Emblem is still a bit more niche than the usual games, so seeing a Norwegian creator talk about all the games and their stories is awesome.

Back to Reality #

Japan was a great break. No laptop, no dashboards, and no thinking about how much the industry was changing.

Coming back to work was a bit of a shock. Work had overflowed a little, and getting back into everything felt harder than it should. It honestly felt like I had been away for a year.

Luckily, Fortune’s Weave is giving me a very good excuse to buy a Switch 2.

I am going to do it anyway.