GTA 6 and Fire Emblem Have a Weird Connection No One Expected

Published Sep 25, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT Don't have a (sea) cow, man Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo via Polygon I'm currently blazing my way through my second Act One playthrough in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, this time on Dietrich's route. It comes highly recommended by Polygon's own Josh Broadwell, and for good reason. The core trio — Dietrich, Fabio, and Esmeralda — consistently have hilarious banter and they absolutely whip ass on the battlefield. In an especially amusing early sequence, the two men rescue Esmeralda from a group of village cultists who have her tied up as a human sacrifice to appease the sea beasts. They are nasty, carnivorous seals with bulbous dangly noses, a far cry from the cuddly otters you see playing with beach balls and seashells. One of them even munches up Esmeralda's dad, but she's remarkably nonchalant about the whole thing. These things happen! Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo via Polygon Elsewhere in the gaming world this week, Rockstar Games revealed a new box of Grand Theft Auto 6 collectibles that costs a whopping $400 and quite rudely does not include a copy of the game. That's because 1) Rockstar isn't releasing physical copies in the first place and 2) if people are willing to pay $400 for a pair of sunglasses, a ballcap, and some other low-value tat, I suppose you may as well let them. Anyway, one of the items included in this box is a "Chunkee the Manatee Shot Glass," featuring a character from the in-universe animated show Macca the Gator, which has some serious BoJack Horseman vibes. Elsewhere in the promotional materials, you see various people wearing turquoise football jerseys emblazoned with Manatees branding, presumably Leonida's riff on the Miami Dolphins. Great Scott! It's sea beasts all the way down! The GTA 6 x Fire Emblem connection? Manatees! Is it a mere coincidence that two of 2026's biggest new releases both feature large, manatee-like marine creatures? Absolutely! But it's still noteworthy nonetheless. Outside Pokémon's adorable Gen 1 good-boy Seel, you don't see a whole lot of pinnipeds and sirenians in video games. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave has made me realize that my girlish heart yearns for more sea beasts of all variants in my interactive entertainments, whether they be the bellowing and grody elephant seals of Esmeralda's generational trauma, or the gentle, boozy sea cows of Vice City. Also coincidentally, my prayers have been answered by the good folks at Frontier Developments, makers of the upcoming sim Planet Zoo 2, which will be released on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X on Oct. 13. In a new trailer for the game published earlier this week, the team announced that the West Indian Manatee will be one of the many aquatic mammals you can add to your menagerie. Look at how beguiling they are! Cat-collecting minigames are a dime a dozen these days, and plenty of titles let you pet an adorable pup. While seals and their ilk might smell absolutely rank in person (trust me on this), pervasive stinks are not a deal-breaker in video games. Come on, developers! There's still time to make 2027 the year of seals, otters, manatees, and dugongs. We're long overdue. Free sign-up Get Polygon’s Wishlister newsletter A weekly cheat sheet to what you’ll eventually love to play. No buying, no commitment — just saving for later. Sign up free Free. Unsubscribe anytime.