How do you solve a problem like Fire Emblem: It’s time to stop treating queer romance like it’s a spoiler
Nintendo was more than willing to flaunt Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ inclusion of same-sex romance before the game launched, but given the way these relationships panned out, it’s understandable that the company kept tight lipped on the specifics until launch.
Two weeks before the RPG launched on Switch, USG reported Nintendo had confirmed the inclusion of same-sex relationships for both a male or female player character, but when asked about which characters would be open to these relationships, the company didn’t want to name any names “so as to not spoil anything for players.”
When the game was finally in the hands of the public, gay fans discovered that these relationships amounted to one singular relationship, and two that appear to be romantic only to be bait and switched into something strictly platonic.
For a male protagonist, three companions have an “S Rank” support conversations, which are meant to imply a romantic relationship, and only one can be initiated in a playthrough. But with two characters: Alois and Gilbert, the S Rank conversations don’t imply romance, with Alois even calling himself a “big brother” to you.
Women who wanted to date women also had the short straw, but still had far better options than what gay men were given
From a design standpoint Three Houses is dishonest, feigning a care for inclusivity while actively tricking gay players into wasting their time with the game to end up with either no relationship at all, or being implied to have entered a heterosexual relationship in the epilogue and remained the best of friends with the man they were pursuing for the entire game. This is its own seperate problem, one that has been discussed at length both on social media and at outlets like Paste, but Nintendo’s cagey approach to even discussing the prospect of same-sex relationships is a deeply rooted problem in the games industry.
Recognition
Studios want to be recognized for including queer characters, but when it comes to pre-release discussion they’re relegated to a bullet point.
Mass Effect: Andromeda featured romantic scenes between a male protagonist and a human female and a female-coded alien in its marketing, and when a female protagonist-equivalent trailer was released Bioware opted to showcase a heterosexual relationship with a male alien. Meanwhile, when asked upfront by fans about details on potential gay romances, Bioware’s Aaryn Flynn said he could confirm the romances existed, but wouldn’t get into any specifics until after the game launched.
Ultimately, at launch Andromeda had two gay romances, with characters who weren’t showcased in promotional trailers, featuring less content than any other romantic relationships, all culminating in an inability to achieve the game’s Matchmaker trophy, which can only be unlocked by experiencing three different romantic sublots, as a gay man.
The controversy eventually led to Bioware making an additional male character romanceable by male protagonists, but not before gay players had to go digging through the game to find they were only barely represented.
Good news
When it’s good news a studio is more than happy to say it, however. Take Fallout 4, which featured several romances, all of which were accessible regardless of the protagonists’ gender. Bethesda announced this four months before the game’s launch.
While Mass Effect has had some questionable history of being upfront about its queer characters, Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Dorian Pavus was revealed as the series’ first “fully gay” (as opposed to bisexual like every previous queer party member in the series) companion from the outset, without any chance for speculation to arise.
And while the game had its faults in the post-game DLC, Ubisoft had confirmed Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey would allow you to enter a relationship with any romanceable character regardless of your gender within a week of its E3 unveiling.
Bad news
But for studios who have bad news to give, the solution has been to give no news at all. These decisions are calculated, hidden in the blindspots of preview embargoes and often gone unseen until queer critics and players get their chance to follow them through. When romance is treated like any other feature or story beat in a game, you can position a character’s identity as a spoiler, excusing you of any withheld information, regardless of whether that omission is shared across the spectrum of your player base.
When I read Fire Emblem: Three Houses was going to feature same-sex relationships, it had me hopeful that it would be an entry point for me to get into the series, and I imagine that was exactly what companies like developer Intelligent Systems wanted gay men like me to feel when they saw those headlines.
When studio heads are hesitant to talk about things like microtransactions and available features, we typically treat that as a red flag and assume the worst. But with inclusion of queer characters and relationships, we’ve been conditioned to feel these aren’t a given, so when they’re confirmed it’s immediately treated like a celebration.
But if Fire Emblem is any indication, confirmation with no follow through is a sign of something upsetting to come. As long as queer identities are treated like a spoiler to be hidden away, perhaps it’s safe to just expect the worst.
About The Author
As long as queer identities are treated like a spoiler to be hidden away, perhaps it’s safe to just expect the worst.
Solving Fire Emblem’s game design problem only requires an update (free dlc) removing the restrictions and an artist to draw the Byleth and the S partner together. The real issue is the developer/studio. They are the ones deciding what goes into a game, and Nintendo’s great and all, but how many LGBT characters have they made? As a general rule of thumb for LGBT representation, however deep the press is how robust the representation will be.