Nintendo says Fire Emblem: Fates changes cater to local tastes

The omission of a controversial plotline from 3DS title Fire Emblem: Fates was purely driven to standard localisation practices, Nintendo has said.

It was revealed yesterday that a plot involving a lesbian character who has her drink spiked to trick her into falling in love with a male companion would be removed from the European and US release of the title.

Making changes is not unusual when we localise games, and we have indeed made changes in these games,” the platform holder told Siliconera. 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 10th, 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.”