Was Fire Emblem Engage censored in the West? Answered
Fire Emblem is no stranger to censoring content for its Western releases, taking out the headpats in Fire Emblem Fates. Fire Emblem Three Houses was also no stranger to this treatment, having some dialogue changed. Fire Emblem Engage has some censorship applied, though it isn’t for a significant part of the game.
Is Fire Emblem Engage censored in the West?
The censorship affects some of the conversations during romance. Alear is a 17-year-old individual, and some of the cast are younger than 18. Going into a romance with underage individuals could be problematic, thus the censorship. Instead of a romantic relationship, a partnership will be pursued in the dialogue.
Fire Emblem Engage Japanese vs. Western release differences
Signs of censorship were apparent before the game was released, with Twitter user Mondblut going through a datamine of Fire Emblem Engage’s script. Some changes in the script have been highlighted and compared to the original drafts.
1/2 It seems Fire Emblem Engage got even stronger censored by Nintendo's localization team than anticipated. Any romance lines with supports that were with minors were removed.
The entire script is currently datamined and discussed/dropped on various places (like 4chan's /feg/) pic.twitter.com/JrUPzxg6D7
Comparing the scripts in Japanese and English on the game’s final release shows the difference in messaging as well. The censorship doesn’t appear to have been applied to the Japanese voice-acting if you want to get around the changed dialogue in some way. For example, Anna’s romance scene in English reflects a partnership, whereas in Japanese, it would reflect an actual romance.
Fire Emblem Engage Localization pic.twitter.com/So1C1qY6e1
— エニ (@iuntue) January 21, 2023Fortunately, the censorship doesn’t change much about the game itself. You only have a different relationship with some of the younger cast if you choose to romance them. Outfits, weapons, and usefulness in combat all remain the same. No support conversations have been removed, and being in a different type of relationship doesn’t affect the romance status.
Apart from the dialogue changes, there are almost no differences between Fire Emblem Engage versions. None of the other content has been affected, such as outfits or gameplay features. The translations are different, but you can still hear the original voice acting in another language. The game will play exactly the same otherwise, and you will still be noted as having romanced the character.
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