Some fans still had questions after Nintendo revealed they would be changing a scene in Fire Emblem Fates. Thankfully, this time they shared a clearer and more detailed response.
In announcing they would be changing a scene that was interpreted as depicting gay conversion therapy, some fans were worried they may have gone further than changing that one scene.
And so, Nintendo shared this statement:
Making changes is not unusual when we localize games, and we have indeed made changes in these games. When we localize a game we do so in order to make it appropriate for that particular territory. All our choices were made from that point of view.
In the Conquest edition a male main character created by the gamer can pair up with another male character (Niles) which ultimately leads to marriage. Similarly, in the Birthright edition, a female main character created by the gamer can pair up with and eventually marry another female character (Rhajat). Like married couples of the opposite gender, these same-sex couples enjoy the stat boosts that come with marriage, which means when they are paired up in battle they are stronger than when they are apart or paired up with another character.
In the third edition, Revelation, that will be released as DLC in the eShop on March 10, a same-sex marriage is possible regardless of the sex of your main character, as both Niles and Rhajat can be encountered in this edition.
These are consistent with how the games dealt with same sex relationships in the original Japanese games, Fire Emblem If. On the side, both Niles and Rhajat are bisexual, so you can marry either character whatever gender your character has.
Nintendo has been prudent in understanding the diversity and representation issues in localizing Fire Emblem Fates, but one hopes their developer, Intelligent Systems, will do a better job in handling these depictions in future Fire Emblem games.
Fire Emblem Fates will be released for the 3DS on February 19, 2016. Now that it’s all been said and done, will you actually be buying Fire Emblem Fates? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
