The Japanese Amazon reviews for the latest entry in the “Fire Emblem” series have stalled at just 2.9 stars, while the US listing sits at 4.5, the UK listing at 4.1, and Metacritic’s user score stands at 8.9 (89 points) — a stark mismatch across countries and rating platforms that’s become a hot topic on 5ch’s hardware/industry (“geha”) board. Thread posters split between two theories: that longtime fans are handing out harsh scores out of frustration with the series’ new direction, or that the low ratings reflect a deliberate review-bombing campaign. Commenters also pointed to the “Xenoblade” series, which reportedly saw a similar pile-up of negative reviews in the past.
What people said
1AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:14
Smells fishy.
12AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:21
With long-running series you often get old-school fans throwing an emotional hissy fit and tanking the score — I don't put much stock in it.
14AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:22
Reviews for Chinese products running cashback deals aren't reliable, but other than that I've never seen an obviously fake rating. There are 200 reviews here, so this is probably just the real deal.
18AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:30
Re: #14 They went and hedged their bets before anyone even called them out — pathetic, you damn shills (lol)
16AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:23
Re: #12 Has this happened with other games too? Let me know, I want to see it.
26AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:34
Re: #16
31AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:36
Re: #26 Ratings based on like 2 reviews aren't reliable to begin with — that's just common sense.
20AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:32
So does anyone actually use Amazon reviews as a reference for games?
22AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:32
Re: #20 No way anyone does.
21AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:32
Feels like it's old-timers who can't move on from classic FE giving it the low scores.
29AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:35
Re: #21 But wouldn't those people be the core buyer base? If they ignored that and put out something totally different, then a low score is a low score, fair's fair. It's like an enka singer suddenly busting out rap — of course that's getting rated low.
30AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:35
Isn't it just plain creepy that there are people out there manipulating scores just to drag the rating down?
32AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:36
Re: #30 If specific, accurate details show up right after release, you can probably assume it's from someone who actually played it.
34AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:36
They'll just get deleted eventually anyway — these people never learn.
38AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:38
Re: #34 About when do they usually get deleted? Rough estimate's fine if you know the timeframe.
43AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:42
If it's fun, give it a 5, if it's boring, give it a 1 — that's fair, isn't it? Who decided the rule that you can only give a 1 if the game literally doesn't boot?
46AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:44
Re: #43 Why are you so worked up about this all of a sudden?
45AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:43
Same thing happened with Xenoblade, so none of this is exactly news.
51AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:47
Re: #45 So basically a Fire-Emblem-complex on par with the Xenoblade-complex has just been born (lol)
53AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:48
They're at it again…
92AnonymousSep 24, 2026 21:03
Re: #53 Probably got targeted because Wolverine dropped right before it.
54AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:49
I skimmed Xenoblade's reviews and the rating looks high though?
67AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:52
Re: #54 That's because they scrubbed a ton of the smear-campaign reviews. It was brutal right at launch.
61AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:51
Re: #57 So it's fixed now, right? Then it should be accurate now, at least.
72AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:53
Re: #67 I heard that trick doesn't even work anymore these days — though I wouldn't really know.
75AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:55
Re: #72 It still works — you can still leave a review without ever buying the thing, same as always.
77AnonymousSep 24, 2026 20:56
Better bookmark this thread — apparently the score's about to shoot back up after this. Should be fun to watch.
97AnonymousSep 24, 2026 21:05
Hey, which one of these looks off to you?
Metascore
https://www.metacritic.com/game/fire-emblem-fortunes-weave/
METASCORE 89
USER SCORE 8.9
US Amazon
https://us.amazon.com/Fire-EmblemTM-Fortunes-Weave-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B0H4NV2MVN/
⭐︎4.5
UK Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nintendo-Fire-Emblem-Fortunes-Weave/dp/B0H4RHBK9V/
⭐︎4.1
Japan Amazon
⭐︎2.9
99AnonymousSep 24, 2026 21:06
Re: #97 Yeah, they're definitely up to something here.
100AnonymousSep 24, 2026 21:06
Re: #97 Looking at this, seems like they're putting in some effort in the UK too.
Background and Points of Debate
Amazon lets anyone post a review whether or not their purchase is verified, so right after launch a handful of low or high scores can swing the average sharply. Rating tendencies and how invested reviewers are also differ by country and platform (US/UK Amazon, Metacritic’s user score), so a regional gap in scores alone isn’t proof of “manipulation.” In the thread, the view that longtime fans were reacting harshly to the series’ change in direction clashed with suspicions of an organized review-bombing campaign, but no evidence was actually presented confirming fraudulent posting took place — both remain speculation among the participants. It’s also worth noting that Metacriticjs user score is likewise just a tally of anonymous submissions, though the thread itself never brought that up.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “geha”) thread “[Not Really News] FE ‘Mankou,’ Amazon Rating 2.9” (“Mankou” is a mocking nickname posters use for the game/fandom).
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