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| Nintendo's recently released Fire Emblem Fates |
Fire Emblem Fates released its two retail versions, Birthright and Conquest, 3 weeks ago on February 19th. I have been playing Birthright quite actively, and am planning to move on to Conquest shortly, after I finish my current play through. There is also a third download exclusive version that released just yesterday, Revelation. I am in love with the game. Mechanically speaking, the gameplay is hugely polished and improves the turn based style that the series is known for through a number of improvements to the formula. The maps are as unique as ever and add a great amount of depth to each chapter. The story is engrossing and powerful and each of the 3 versions introduces different twists and characters.
Another thing that I can't help but appreciate is the relationship system and the inclusion of same-sex marriage. During battles, having units paired up and working together builds bonds via a support system, these bonds increase the rating of their relationship (represented with C, B, A, and S/A+). When two characters reach S ranking, they can be married. In the series' past, only characters of the opposite sex could be married. Now, in Fates, while it is somewhat limited, marriage is allowed between two characters of the same sex.
Your avatar character, who we'll call Corrin for the sake of clarity, is not your typical avatar character. You can pick their gender, their design, and their name, but the character is still developed beyond player control, having a similar amount of dialogue to most of the main characters. Sexual orientation is something that is not pointed out at all in the plot of the game (neither for Corrin nor any other character), so it makes sense that that is among the things that the player has a choice in.
You aren't manipulating certain characters to be homosexual, characters that are straight are straight, nothing can be done about that, and that is fine. I discussed in the past that representation of alternate sexualities should be proportionally accurate to that of the real world, so it matches the truth of life that not everybody the player wants to be gay, for the option of marriage or otherwise, will be.
There are two characters in Fire Emblem Fates that are bisexual, and thus available for marriage to either gender. There is one male in Conquest and one female in Birthright. While this is a rather small representation, and I still would like to have seen an exclusively gay character or two, it is where this representation is happening that makes me hopeful. There are many games that have at least a partial purpose of being progressive and giving alternative groups representation that they can appreciate. Nintendo is not generally known to do this, and neither is Fire Emblem.
While this specific franchise does not have the strongest aim at children like some of Nintendo's other franchises do, the audience still exists without a doubt, evidenced by the new difficulty modes aimed at those who aren't capable of fully comprehending the strategy gameplay. Children are one of the best audiences to portray gay marriage to, especially in the way that Fates does it. Sexuality is never discussed, the support system simply is a place where the bond characters have built is displayed through endearing conversations. If you were to marry someone of the same sex to Corrin, it is treated no different than any other marriage. Most importantly, the marriages in the game are not sexual, they are simply a sharing of love. To show same-sex marriage as a bond that is created through love is tremendous, it shows normalcy in these relationships instead of trying to show it as some sexual deviation.
Fire Emblem Fates' contribution to the non-straight community's representation in gaming is small, but it's the fact that it wasn't trying that makes it great. Fates is just another game release, so the fact that it integrates homosexuality so well without it having been a major goal of the developers is what makes this occurrence stand out to me. I just hope more games come out in the future that follow in these footsteps.
Have you been enjoying Fates for the past couple of weeks? Are you happy with the inclusion of gay marriage and how it was handled? Let me know in the comments or wherever you see fit.
Have a tremendous day.
Your avatar character, who we'll call Corrin for the sake of clarity, is not your typical avatar character. You can pick their gender, their design, and their name, but the character is still developed beyond player control, having a similar amount of dialogue to most of the main characters. Sexual orientation is something that is not pointed out at all in the plot of the game (neither for Corrin nor any other character), so it makes sense that that is among the things that the player has a choice in.
You aren't manipulating certain characters to be homosexual, characters that are straight are straight, nothing can be done about that, and that is fine. I discussed in the past that representation of alternate sexualities should be proportionally accurate to that of the real world, so it matches the truth of life that not everybody the player wants to be gay, for the option of marriage or otherwise, will be.
There are two characters in Fire Emblem Fates that are bisexual, and thus available for marriage to either gender. There is one male in Conquest and one female in Birthright. While this is a rather small representation, and I still would like to have seen an exclusively gay character or two, it is where this representation is happening that makes me hopeful. There are many games that have at least a partial purpose of being progressive and giving alternative groups representation that they can appreciate. Nintendo is not generally known to do this, and neither is Fire Emblem.
While this specific franchise does not have the strongest aim at children like some of Nintendo's other franchises do, the audience still exists without a doubt, evidenced by the new difficulty modes aimed at those who aren't capable of fully comprehending the strategy gameplay. Children are one of the best audiences to portray gay marriage to, especially in the way that Fates does it. Sexuality is never discussed, the support system simply is a place where the bond characters have built is displayed through endearing conversations. If you were to marry someone of the same sex to Corrin, it is treated no different than any other marriage. Most importantly, the marriages in the game are not sexual, they are simply a sharing of love. To show same-sex marriage as a bond that is created through love is tremendous, it shows normalcy in these relationships instead of trying to show it as some sexual deviation.
Fire Emblem Fates' contribution to the non-straight community's representation in gaming is small, but it's the fact that it wasn't trying that makes it great. Fates is just another game release, so the fact that it integrates homosexuality so well without it having been a major goal of the developers is what makes this occurrence stand out to me. I just hope more games come out in the future that follow in these footsteps.
Have you been enjoying Fates for the past couple of weeks? Are you happy with the inclusion of gay marriage and how it was handled? Let me know in the comments or wherever you see fit.
Have a tremendous day.
I like this article, but I think you should of included something very important the inclusion of gay marraige.
ReplyDeleteIn the game marriages result in children, but by having a same sex marriage you actually miss out on being able to get one, or two of the children characters.
This left me with a real dilemma as the completionist in me wanted all the characters. Interestingly enough I like that they made you have to sacrifice getting these characters as it in some ways mimicked real life struggles of living as a homosexual.
That's a truly great perspective, same-sex relationships truly pose a lot of challenges, even if their relationship is still a sharing of love, I hadn't even considered that the developers may try to show this in gameplay. You're insight is appreciated. Thank you.
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